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Twelve Galago senegalensis from the Moscow Zoo were presented with papular to nodular (2-11 mm) lesions on the pinnae, containing a white, waxy material. Microscopic examination revealed large numbers of mites consistent with the morphology of Demodex spp. mites. Nine animals were treated with ivermectin, 600 μg/kg/day topically, orally or subcutaneously for 3-10 months, while one remained untreated. All the treated animals achieved clinical remission. The control animal was still affected and died 11 months later due to pneumonia and possible eosinophilic leukaemia. No adverse effects were noted in any animals during the treatment. No animal relapsed in the 13-19 months follow-up period. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first report of demodicosis in G. senegalensis. The use of ivermectin in G. senegalensis was safe, although its effectiveness in the treatment of demodicosis needs further investigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Eight species of lichen-forming, eight lichenicolous and three non-lichenized fungi are reported from the Leningrad Region. Arthonia caerulescens, A. ligniaria, Hawksworthiana peltigericola, Micarea pycnidiophora and Trichonectria rubefaciens are new to Russia; Micarea lutulata, Protoparmelia oleagina and Stictis radiata are new to the North-Western European Russia; Lichenoconium lecanorae, Phaeocalicium populneum, Phaeosporobolus usneae, Ramboldia cinnabarina, Stictis brunnescens and Strigula stigmatella are new to the Leningrad Region. Most noteworthy records are briefly discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper deals with lichen flora of Vepssky Forest Protected Area situated in the Eastern Leningrad Region (northwestern Russia). In total 183 species of lichens and allied fungi are reported. Eight species of lichens — Biatora flavopunctata, Bryoria fremontii, Chaenotheca cf. gracilenta, Chaenotheca laevigata, Lecidea enclitica, Lepraria lobificans, Multiclavula vernalis, Pyrrhospora elabens and three species of lichenicolous fungi — Chaenothecopsis nigra, Chaenothecopsis viridi-alba, Dactylospora deminuta — are reported here for the first time in the Leningrad Region. Chaenotheca sphaerocephala and Lecanora cf. ramulicola are new for Russia. A total of 38 species are indicators of habitats with long ecological continuity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents an interview with Andrei Ovcharov of the IBR, a company analyzing the problems of nuclear power engineering in Russia. He emphasizes that the summit meeting of the Group of Eight in Saint Petersburg will include the problems of nuclear power engineering. He expresses his views on the move of Russian President Vladimir Putin to create centers to enrich uranium and store nuclear waste. He comments on the position of nuclear power engineering in the Russian economy.

Discusses the relationship of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) with Russia. List of countries that joined NATO in April 2004; Percentage of Russians who are convinced that the enlargement of NATO threatens Russia's national interests; Aim of the antiterrorist operations of NATO.

We present a lichen checklist for the northern shore of the Gulf of Finland in the limits of St. Petersburg, Russia. This area has diverse lichen biota within the city limits, and has been comprehensively studied since 1893, which gives a good base for analysis of historical changes in lichen diversity. The documented lichen biota comprises 469 species (430 lichenized, 24 lichenicolous, 3 facultatively lichenicolous, and 12 non-lichenized saprobic fungi), of them 191 species are known from herbaria and literature for the period before 1991, and 436 species were recorded since 1991 to 2019. Thirty-three taxa were excluded from the lichen list of the study area as erroneous or dubious records. Altogether 48 species are new to St. Petersburg, including: Lecidea malmeana and Micarea czarnotae - new to Russia; Caloplaca lucifuga, Gyalecta nigricans, Micarea soralifera - new to European Russia; Agonimia flabelliformis, Endococcus verrucosus, Lecania turicensis, Micarea fallax, M. tomentosa, Xanthomendoza huculica - new to Northwestern European Russia; Lichenoconium lichenicola, Ramalina europaea, Sarcogyne hypophaea - not known also from the Leningrad Region. The studied lichen biota is moderately rich compared to other city territories. The history of economic development of the region has caused its serious transformation, degradation of natural habitats and therefore partial loss of lichen diversity. At the same time, human-made substrates and anthropogenic plant communities are inhabited by lichens, including species unknown in the natural habitats of the study area. However, 44 species recorded in the study area are red-listed in St. Petersburg, with 13 of them known only from historical collections. Forest communities, as well as historical parks, in NW part of St. Petersburg are important source of biodiversity on regional level nowadays and hopefully in future, and deserve protection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: A fast adoption of a non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) in clinical practice is a global tendency last years. Firstly, in Russia according a new regulation it was possible to perform a widescale testing of pregnant women in chromosomal abnormality risk. The aim of the study-to assess efficiency of using NIPT as a second-line first trimester screening test in Moscow.Methods: Based on the first trimester combined prenatal screening results 12,700 pregnant women were classified as a high-risk (cut-off ≥ 1:100) and an intermediate-risk (cut-off 1:101 - 1:2500) groups followed by whole genome NIPT. Women from high-risk group and those who had positive NIPT results from intermediate-risk group were considered for invasive prenatal diagnostic.Results: 258 (2.0%) samples with positive NIPT results were detected including 126 cases of trisomy 21 (T21), 40 cases of T18, 12 cases of T13, 41 cases of sex chromosome aneuploidies (SCAs) and 39 cases of rare autosomal aneuploidies (RAAs) and significant copy number variations (CNVs). Statistically significant associations (p < 0.05) were revealed for fetal fraction (FF) and both for some patient's (body mass index and weight) and fetus's (sex and high risk of aneuploidies) characteristics. NIPT showed as a high sensitivity as specificity for common trisomies and SCAs with an overall false positive rate 0.3%.Conclusions: NIPT demonstrated high sensitivity and specificity. As a second-line screening test it has shown a high efficiency in detecting fetus chromosomal anomalies as well as it could potentially lower the number of invasive procedures in pregnant women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of our study was to study the changes in the clinical picture and outcomes of granulomatosis with polyangiitis (Wegener's) (GPA) over 40 years. Two hundred and forty-two consecutive patients with GPA were distributed into retrospective (1970-2003) and prospective (2004-2012) cohorts. Anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies were present in 82.6 % of patients. In 78.0 % of patients, diagnosis was confirmed histologically. We compared the clinical features of GPA and the incidence of the major and minor relapses and mortality in the two cohorts. The majority of patients in both cohorts had generalized GPA that involved upper respiratory tract (retrospective 89.5 % vs prospective 82.85 %), kidneys (60.5 vs 50.8 %) and lungs (64.0 vs 52.3 %). The total duration of follow-up in the retrospective and prospective cohorts was 468 and 397 patients-years, respectively. In the prospective cohort, we found trend to lower incidence of relapses (54.2 vs 66.2 per 100 patient-year; p = ns; odds ratio 0.82; 95 % CI 0.53-1.21) and significantly lower mortality (4.3 vs 7.9 per 100 patient-year; p = 0.04; odds ratio 0.54; 95 % CI 0.31-0.94). The leading causes of death in the retrospective cohort were lung disease (37.8 %), complications of immunosuppressive treatment (35.1 %) and kidney failure (13.5 %). In the prospective cohort, patients rarely died from terminal uraemia and pulmonary complications (0.0 and 17.6 %) while the proportion of cardiovascular events and complications of the immunosuppression as the causes of death increased (29.4 and 47.1 %). Modern treatment apparently reduced the incidence of relapses and mortality and modified the causes of death in the GPA patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fifty-one species of lichenicolous fungi are reported from Kamchatka, all but three being new to the area. Epinephroma gen. nov., Endococcus peltigericola sp. nov. (on Peltigera membranacea), Epinephroma kamchatica sp. nov. (on Nephroma parile) and Stigmidium buelliae sp. nov. (on Buellia disciformis) are described as new to science. Phoma lobariicola is new to Asia and Russia, Epicladonia stenospora, Plectocarpon peltigerae, Sphaerellothecium propinquellum and Tremella cetrariicola are new to Asia, Zwackhiomyces sphinctrinoides is new to Russia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Twelve species of lichenized and two lichenicolous fungi, and one non-lichenized calicioid fungus are reported from the Leningrad Region (Eastern, Western or Saint-Petersburg). Lecanora norvegica and Opegrapha lamyi are reported for the first time for Russia. Six taxa are also new to the whole Leningrad Region; four, Lecidella flavosorediata, Ochrolechia bahusiensis, Phaeocalicium praecedens and Tremella lichenicola - to North-Western European Russia, and one, the anamorphic lichen Dictyocatenulata alba is new to European Russia. Brief discussions on the species are included. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Twelve lichen species and two lichenicolous fungi, of them seven that belong to Micarea prasina group, are reported for the first time for St. Petersburg or the whole Leningrad Region. The lichenicolous fungus Intralichen baccisporus is new to Russia, and the lichen Micarea nowakii - for European Russia. A comparative table of characteristics for seven species of Micarea prasina group is presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ten lichen species and three lichenicolous fungi are reported for the first time for St. Petersburg, the whole Leningrad Region or its western part. The lichens Bacidina indigens and Lecidella asema are new for European Russia, the lichens Bryoria kuemmerleana, Caloplaca turkuensis, Scoliciosporum pruinosum, and the lichenicolous fungus Raesaenenia huuskonenii are new for North-Western European Russia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous studies indicate that solar clock (daily changes in the Earth’s surface illumination) is a mainzeitgeberfor human circadian system. It has been shown that human biological clock is weakly adjusted to such changes in social clock as daylight saving time (DST). There are two changes of social clock in Russian Federation: on 25 March 2011, DST has been replaced by permanent DST (DSTp), which was subsequently revoked on 26 October 2014 (non-DSTp). These manipulations with social clock may lead to prolonged disturbances of human circadian system. Our hypothesis is that during period of DSTp, the dissociation between social and biological clocks was greatest as compared with DST and non-DSTp periods. Here, we examine the effects of DSTp on the sleep timing, social jetlag (SJL), academic performance, and winter and summer seasonality of mood and behavior of 10–24-year-old inhabitants of European North of Russia. A cross-sectional retrospective analysis of questionnaire data (n = 7968) was performed using chi squared-test and analysis of covariance. Our findings indicate that SJL (F2,7967 = 31.9;p < 0.0001;η2 = 0.009), and winter pattern of mood seasonality (χ22,7967 = 10.5;p < 0.01) were increased in adolescents during the period of DSTp as compared with DST and non-DSTp periods. The largest increase in SJL was occurred in ages between 10 and 17-year-olds. The finding suggests that increase in SJL can be attributed to a later rise time on free days (F2,7967 = 44.9;p < 0.0001;η2 = 0.012). Similar changes were observed in three subsamples obtained in Syktyvkar, Petrozavodsk, and Vorkuta. Effect sizes of studied relationships were small or very small. The greatest effect sizes (η2 ∼ 0.05) were observed in Arctic city of Vorkuta indicating that in polar region, solar clock is still strongerzeitgeberfor human circadian system, than the social clock. In conclusion, we have shown for the first time that there is a greatest dissociation between social and biological clocks during the period of DSTp which potentially exerts a negative influence on adolescents’ sleep habits, mood, and behavior. Our data indicate that “non-DSTp” social clock system most suitable for prevention dissociation between social and biological clocks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Eighteen species of lichens and five lichenicolous fungi are reported here for the Leningrad Region or Saint Petersburg. Of them, the lichens Absconditella delutula , Calogaya pusilla , Flavoplaca flavocitrina and Rinodina colobina are new for the North-Western European Russia, and the lichenicolous species Abrothallus parmeliarum , Diploschistes muscorum , Lichenochora cf. polycoccoides and Nieslia peltigericola – for the Leningrad Region; Cladonia novochlorophaea and Lichenodiplis lecanorae are reported for the first time for Saint Petersburg. The most noteworthy records are briefly discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lichens from the genera Thelidium and Verrucaria in the Leningrad Region (including Saint-Petersburg) are revised. Altogether five species of Thelidium and 31 of Verrucaria are confirmed for this region. Four species (Thelidium minimum, T. olivaceum, Verrucaria maculiformis and V. trabalis) are new to the Leningrad Region, and 17 species (Thelidium aphanes, T. fontigenum, Verrucaria christiansenii, V. elevata, V. epilithea, V. helsingiensis, V. illinoisensis, V. inaspecta, V. invenusta, V. lignicola, V. pilosoides, V. polystictoides, V. pseudovirescens, V. rejecta, V. tectorum, V. tornensis and V. transfugiens) are new to Russia. Dubious records for the Leningrad Region include Verrucaria acrotella, V. floerkeana, V. fusca, V. nigrescens, V. obnigrescens, V. umbrinula and V. viridula. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thirty species of lichens, one lichenicolous fungus and two non-lichenized fungi are reported from the Leningrad Region (Eastern, Western or Saint-Petersburg). Candelaria pacifica, Lecanora compallens, Monodictys epilepraria and Vezdaea retigera are reported for the first time for Russia, Gregorella humida is new to European Russia, Micarea hedlundii and Strangospora microhaema are new to North-Western European Russia. Arctomia delicatula var. acutior, Coenogonium luteum and Lepraria aff. atlantica are new to the Leningrad Region. Brief discussions on most interesting records are included. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Four samples of sterile Caloplaca crusts (Teloschistaceae, lichenized fungi) were determined on the basis of their ITS nrDNA sequences. The samples, collected in NW Russia, mainly from Kotlin Island, Baltic Sea, belong to three species, C. dichroa, C. obscurella and C. phlogina, the first and last species being new to north-western European Russia and to Leningrad region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]