Search

The article is a reflection of social anthropologists-specialists in Siberia on the topic of current changes in the field of communication and global mobility, caused by growing epidemiological risks reinforced by the pandemic situation, in particular the spread of the COVID-19. Local communities of Siberia and the Arctic can be characterized by special skills of the autonomous existence and use of local medical knowledge in a situation of remoteness from resource distribution centers and relative isolation. In the light of modern changes and the risk of spread of infections, the local medical knowledge and skills accumulated by the representatives of these communities are turning into an important resource, which allows using survival and health maintaining strategies in severe climatic conditions and in situations of supply shortages. The article is based on the extensive field experience of the authors working in three different regions of Eastern Siberia, and includes materials collected among Chukchis, Evenkis, Buryats and Soyots. The existence in a situation of a relative isolation and remoteness formed among local people special ways of interacting with the state, the economic sphere and the natural environment, aimed at maintaining the existing autonomy regimes based on following the rules of environmental ethics, rational and economical use of available resources, their secondary use and utilization. The authors analyzed examples of the local strategies that allowed to minimize the possible risks connected with the spread of diseases, as well as provide medical assistance in a situation of a relative remoteness. © 2021 Institute of History and Archeology of the Ural Branch of RAS. All rights reserved.

The zebrafish is extensively used as an animal model for human and fish diseases. However, our understanding of the structural organization of its immune system remains incomplete, especially the mucosa-associated lymphoid tissues (MALTs). Teleost MALTs are commonly perceived as diffuse and scattered populations of immune cells throughout the mucosa. Yet, structured MALTs have been recently discovered in Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.), including the interbranchial lymphoid tissue (ILT) in the gills. The existence of the ILT was only recently identified in zebrafish and other fish species, highlighting the need for in-depth characterizations of the gill-associated lymphoid tissue (GIALT) in teleosts. Here, using 3-D high-resolution microscopy, we analyze the GIALT of adult zebrafish with an immuno-histology approach that reveals the organization of lymphoid tissuesviathe labeling of T/NK cells with an antibody directed to a highly conserved epitope on the kinase ZAP70. We show that the GIALT in zebrafish is distributed over at least five distinct sub-regions, an organization found in all pairs of gill arches. The GIALT is diffuse in the pharyngeal part of the gill arch, the interbranchial septum and the filaments/lamellae, and structured in two sub-regions: the ILT, and a newly discovered lymphoid structure located along each side of the gill arch, which we named the Amphibranchial Lymphoid Tissue (ALT). Based on RAG2 expression, neither the ILT nor the ALT constitute additional thymi. The ALT shares several features with the ILT such as presence of abundant lymphoid cells and myeloid cells embedded in a network of reticulated epithelial cells. Further, the ILT and the ALT are also a site for T/NK cell proliferation. Both ILT and ALT show structural changes after infection with Spring Viraemia of Carp Virus (SVCV). Together, these data suggest that ALT and ILT play an active role in immune responses. Comparative studies show that whereas the ILT seems absent in most neoteleosts (“Percomorphs”), the ALT is widely present in cyprinids, salmonids and neoteleosts, suggesting that it constitutes a conserved tissue involved in the protection of teleostsviathe gills. &nbsp