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The article considers the problem of implementing the process of digitalization of the energy industry, using the example of the Rosseti group of companies, a partner of the state corporation Rosatom in the field of IT development, from the point of view of staffing in the current state of the labour market. The purpose of the research work is to develop relevant mechanisms, search for modern personnel management tools in the context of digital transformation of the electric grid complex of the Russian Federation. The scientific novelty of the research is reduced to the following provisions: the main directions of digitalization of an electric grid company are systematized, on the basis of which the organizational and economic mechanism of the process of digital transformation of an electric grid company is modelled; a classification of modern tools of the business process of personnel management of an electric grid company is proposed. Methodology and methods. To study trends in the digitalization process of electric grid companies, general scientific methods are used (theoretical analysis of scientific works, empirical, logical, classification and modelling methods). A review of publications is carried out, which made it possible to determine the subject area of the research work. Results. The main processes within the electric grid company that will be transformed in the process of digitalization are considered, using the example of the Rosseti Group of Companies. Taking into account the considered areas of digitalization of activities, an organizational and economic mechanism of the digitalization process of an electric grid company has been formulated, which is distinguished by the rationale for the author’s definition of digitalization on the scale of the energy industry. The role of high-quality staffing in the implementation of digital processes and activities of electric grid companies is determined and specific requirements for applicant’s characteristic of the energy industry are identified. The structure of the human resource management business process is considered, digital tools are selected for each subprocess that will help improve staffing levels and the efficiency of using labour resources of the electric grid company. Discussion. An effective personnel policy aimed at maximizing the company's staffing with qualified personnel is one of the key solutions in increasing the reliability and sustainability of the energy industry during the period of digitalization. Standard tools in the field of personnel management may not work in the context of both a demographic personnel shortage and the current migration of labour resources to the defence and military industries. Constant adaptation of the used methods and practices of personnel management is required, taking into account the digitalization of this business process and the challenges that the energy industry of the Russian Federation currently faces.

With the development of modern next generation sequencing based DNA diagnostic methods, it has become possible to study hereditary predisposition to oncohematological diseases. Germline variants (mutations) of RUNX1, CEBPA, GATA2, ANKRD26, DDX41, FANC- (Fanconi anemia), etc. genes, associated with the development of hereditary hematological malignancies, have been identified. Timely diagnosis of such diseases will allow for medical genetic counseling and testing of the patient’s relatives to identify or exclude the risk of developing the disease, select a donor for the patient (it is undesirable to use a mutation carrier relative as a donor), and personalize the choice of chemotherapy regimens (for example, patients with Fanconi anemia may experience increased sensitivity to chemotherapy). The aim of this review is to present a modern view of the genetic predisposition to the development of hematological malignancies.

Relevance. M. kansasii are one of the main nontuberculous bacteria pathogens causing mycobacterial infections in most European countries (including Russia). An important problem in the treatment of mycobacteriosis is the resistance of their pathogens to antibacterial drugs (ABDs). Bedaquiline (Bdq) is one of the new ABDs, the effectiveness of which is shown, in particular, in the most common mycobacteriosis – tuberculosis.Aim. To characterize the features of drug sensitivity of M. kansasii isolated from respiratory material at the Moscow Scientific and Practical Center for Tuberculosis Control (MNPC BT).Materials and methods. A total of 76 M. kansasii cultures have been studied. The MIC spectrum of Bdq was determined for M. kansasii, MIC50, MIC90 (the concentrations of Bdq providing inhibition of the growth of 50% and 90% mycobacterial strains, respectively) and ECOFF (epidemiological cut-off value) – the MIC value characterizing the upper limit for the «wild» population type, which was determined using the ECOFFinder statistical calculator – EUCAST. The drug sensitivity of M. kansasii to the main ABDs used in general practice for the treatment of the corresponding mycobacterioses was also evaluated.Results. It was found that the MIC of Bdq in relation to M. kansasii were distributed in the range of 0.003-2.0 (mcg/ml), the growth of most strains (73.7%) was be inhibited by the concentration of Bdq0.015 mcg/ml. Among all studied strains of M. kansasii, the number of isolates resistant to Bdq were 2 (2.6%). The data obtained are generally consistent with the data of other authors and show that Bdq can currently be an effective drug for the treatment of mycobacterial infections caused by M. kansasii.Conclusion. The results of the study, as well as literature data, indicate that M. kansasii is currently usually sensitive to Bdq. However, in some cases, resistance to this drug is already developing.

Introduction. Malignant central airway obstruction and malignant tracheoesophageal fistula in the context of tumor development are potentially life-threatening conditions which usually require immediate intervention. Airway stenting is one of the safest and most effective methods of airway patency restoration in patients with malignant obstruction of the central airways and restoration of continuity in patients with malignant tracheoesophageal fistula.Aim. To evaluate the significance of self-expandable metal stents in palliative treatment of patients with malignant central airway obstruction and malignant tracheoesophageal fistula.Materials and methods. Between 2017 and 2021 at the N. N. Blokhin National Medical Research Center of Oncology, 55 patients were observed and treated and underwent trachea stenting per the results of bronchoscopy in combination with esophagogastroduodenoscopy. The 1st group included 25 patients with malignant tracheoesophageal fistulas, the 2nd group included 30 patients with malignant central airway obstruction.Results. In the 1st group, stenting was successful in 25 (100 %) cases which allowed to adequately seal the fistula. Stent migration was observed in 1 (4 %) patient with tracheoesophageal fistula in the context of stenosing cancer of the thoracic esophagus. In the 2nd group, stenting was successful in 30 (100 %) cases. Stent migration was not observed in this patient group. In both groups, there were no complications after stent implantation. Installation of tracheal stent allowed to improve patients’ quality of life and provide a possibility for successful special treatment through low-trauma manipulation.Conclusion. According to the obtained data, endoscopic trachea stenting is the most important method of palliative treatment of tumor-related trachea lesions with development of tracheoesophageal fistulas, malignant central airway obstructions and associated sub- and decompensated pulmonary insufficiency.

This work employs ground- and space-based observations, together with model data, to study columnar abundances of atmospheric trace gases (XH2O, XCO2, XCH4 and XCO) in two high-latitude Russian cities, St. Petersburg and Yekaterinburg. Two portable COllaborative Column Carbon Observing Network (COCCON) spectrometers were used for continuous measurements at these locations during 2019 and 2020. Additionally, a subset of data of special interest (a strong gradient in XCH4 and XCO was detected) collected in the framework of a mobile city campaign performed in 2019 using both instruments is investigated. All studied satellite products (TROPOMI, OCO-2, GOSAT, MUSICA IASI) show generally good agreement with COCCON observations. Satellite and ground-based observations at high latitudes are much sparser than at low or mid latitudes, which makes direct coincident comparisons between remote-sensing observations more difficult. Therefore, a method of scaling continuous Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) model data to the ground-based observations is developed and used for creating virtual COCCON observations. These adjusted CAMS data are then used for satellite validation, showing good agreement in both Peterhof and Yekaterinburg. The gradients between the two study sites (ΔXgas) are similar between CAMS and CAMS-COCCON datasets, indicating that the model gradients are in agreement with the gradients observed by COCCON. This is further supported by a few simultaneous COCCON and satellite ΔXgas measurements, which also agree with the model gradient. With respect to the city campaign observations recorded in St Petersburg, the downwind COCCON station measured obvious enhancements for both XCH4 (10.6 ppb) and XCO (9.5 ppb), which is nicely reflected by TROPOMI observations, which detect city-scale gradients of the order 9.4 ppb for XCH4 and 12.5 ppb for XCO.

To improve the rheumatology service in the Russian Federation, it is necessary to determine the true extent of primary and general incidence of osteoarthritis (OA).The aim of the study is a detailed assessment of trends in the dynamics of OA incidence in the Russian Federation, the North-Western Federal district (NWFD) and the Arkhangelsk region (AR).Materials and methods. We evaluated trends in the dynamics of both incidence and prevalence of OA in the Russian Federation (RF), NWFD and AR in the period 1994–2018 based on data from the annual statistical reports of the Ministry of health of the Russian Federation (form 12). Data on the population of AR were obtained in the regional Bureau of statistics – Archangelskstat, for the northwestern Federal district and the Russian Federation from freely available statistical collections of Rosstat. We analyzed the indicators of the adult population (over 18 years old). To evaluate time trends, we used segmented analysis using the Joinpoint Regression Program (National Cancer Institute, USA) to analyze linear trends, evaluate their statistical significance, and identify time points of their change (joinpoints).Results. In the period from 2004 to 2012 in Russia was a decline in the number of annually detected cases of OA, the prevalence of OA increased steadily in the 2016 year recorded a decline in the number of cases of OA in NWFD and AR. The analysis showed a discrepancy in the trends of incidence of OA in the Russian Federation, the northwestern Federal district and AR, which was nonlinear and chaotic. In all territories, the prevalence was increasing. In the Russian Federation, the period from 2004 to 2008, when the primary incidence of OA fell sharply, was marked by a stable increase in the prevalence from 2041.6 to 3383.3 per 100 thousand population. Conclusion. Analysis of official statistical information on the both incidence and prevalence of OA shows a significant variation in indicators, their fluctuations are not related to changes in the practice of diagnosis and treatment of this disease and, most likely, are associated with gaps in its accounting. Improving the epidemiological assessment of OA is possible with the introduction of a system of personalized patient registration-the osteoarthritis registry.

The Sentinel-5 Precursor (S5P) mission with the TROPOspheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI) on board has been measuring solar radiation backscattered by the Earth's atmosphere and surface since its launch on 13 October 2017. In this paper, we present for the first time the S5P operational methane (CH4) and carbon monoxide (CO) products' validation results covering a period of about 3 years using global Total Carbon Column Observing Network (TCCON) and Infrared Working Group of the Network for the Detection of Atmospheric Composition Change (NDACC-IRWG) network data, accounting for a priori alignment and smoothing uncertainties in the validation, and testing the sensitivity of validation results towards the application of advanced co-location criteria. We found that the S5P standard and bias-corrected CH4 data over land surface for the recommended quality filtering fulfil the mission requirements. The systematic difference of the bias-corrected total column-averaged dry air mole fraction of methane (XCH4) data with respect to TCCON data is -0.26±0.56 % in comparison to -0.68±0.74 % for the standard XCH4 data, with a correlation of 0.6 for most stations. The bias shows a seasonal dependence. We found that the S5P CO data over all surfaces for the recommended quality filtering generally fulfil the missions requirements, with a few exceptions, which are mostly due to co-location mismatches and limited availability of data. The systematic difference between the S5P total column-averaged dry air mole fraction of carbon monoxide (XCO) and the TCCON data is on average 9.22±3.45 % (standard TCCON XCO) and 2.45±3.38 % (unscaled TCCON XCO). We found that the systematic difference between the S5P CO column and NDACC CO column (excluding two outlier stations) is on average 6.5±3.54 %. We found a correlation of above 0.9 for most TCCON and NDACC stations. The study shows the high quality of S5P CH4 and CO data by validating the products against reference global TCCON and NDACC stations covering a wide range of latitudinal bands, atmospheric conditions and surface conditions.

The anthropogenic impact is a major factor of climate change, which is highest in industrial regions and modern megacities. Megacities are a significant source of emissions of various substances into the atmosphere, including CO2 which is the most important anthropogenic greenhouse gas. In 2019 and 2020, the mobile experiment EMME (Emission Monitoring Mobile Experiment) was carried out on the territory of St Petersburg which is the second-largest industrial city in Russia with a population of more than 5 million people. In 2020, several measurement data sets were obtained during the lockdown period caused by the COVID-19 (COronaVIrus Disease of 2019) pandemic. One of the goals of EMME was to evaluate the CO2 emission from the St Petersburg agglomeration. Previously, the CO2 area flux has been obtained from the data of the EMME-2019 experiment using the mass balance approach. The value of the CO2 area flux for St Petersburg has been estimated as being 89±28 kt km−2 yr−1, which is 3 times higher than the corresponding value reported in the official municipal inventory. The present study is focused on the derivation of the integral CO2 emission from St Petersburg by coupling the results of the EMME observational campaigns of 2019 and 2020 and the HYSPLIT (HYbrid Single-Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectories) model. The ODIAC (Open-Data Inventory for Anthropogenic CO2) database is used as the source of the a priori information on the CO2 emissions for the territory of St Petersburg. The most important finding of the present study, based on the analysis of two observational campaigns, is a significantly higher CO2 emission from the megacity of St Petersburg compared to the data of municipal inventory, i.e. ∼75800±5400 kt yr−1 for 2019 and ∼68400±7100 kt yr−1 for 2020 versus ∼30 000 kt yr−1 reported by official inventory. The comparison of the CO2 emissions obtained during the COVID-19 lockdown period in 2020 to the results obtained during the same period of 2019 demonstrated the decrease in emissions of 10 % or 7400 kt yr−1.

Global climate change is one of the most important scientific, societal and economic contemporary challenges. Fundamental understanding of the major processes driving climate change is the key problem which is to be solved not only on a global but also on a regional scale. The accuracy of regional climate modelling depends on a number of factors. One of these factors is the adequate and comprehensive information on the anthropogenic impact which is highest in industrial regions and areas with dense population – modern megacities. Megacities are not only “heat islands”, but also significant sources of emissions of various substances into the atmosphere, including greenhouse and reactive gases. In 2019, the mobile experiment EMME (Emission Monitoring Mobile Experiment) was conducted within the St. Petersburg agglomeration (Russia) aiming to estimate the emission intensity of greenhouse (CO2, CH4) and reactive (CO, NOx) gases for St. Petersburg, which is the largest northern megacity. St. Petersburg State University (Russia), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (Germany) and the University of Bremen (Germany) jointly ran this experiment. The core instruments of the campaign were two portable Bruker EM27/SUN Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectrometers which were used for ground-based remote sensing measurements of the total column amount of CO2, CH4 and CO at upwind and downwind locations on opposite sides of the city. The NO2 tropospheric column amount was observed along a circular highway around the city by continuous mobile measurements of scattered solar visible radiation with an OceanOptics HR4000 spectrometer using the differential optical absorption spectroscopy (DOAS) technique. Simultaneously, air samples were collected in air bags for subsequent laboratory analysis. The air samples were taken at the locations of FTIR observations at the ground level and also at altitudes of about 100 m when air bags were lifted by a kite (in case of suitable landscape and favourable wind conditions). The entire campaign consisted of 11 mostly cloudless days of measurements in March–April 2019. Planning of measurements for each day included the determination of optimal location for FTIR spectrometers based on weather forecasts, combined with the numerical modelling of the pollution transport in the megacity area. The real-time corrections of the FTIR operation sites were performed depending on the actual evolution of the megacity NOx plume as detected by the mobile DOAS observations. The estimates of the St. Petersburg emission intensities for the considered greenhouse and reactive gases were obtained by coupling a box model and the results of the EMME observational campaign using the mass balance approach. The CO2 emission flux for St. Petersburg as an area source was estimated to be 89 ± 28 ktkm-2yr-1, which is 2 times higher than the corresponding value in the EDGAR database. The experiment revealed the CH4 emission flux of 135 ± 68 tkm-2yr-1, which is about 1 order of magnitude greater than the value reported by the official inventories of St. Petersburg emissions (∼ 25 tkm-2yr-1 for 2017). At the same time, for the urban territory of St. Petersburg, both the EMME experiment and the official inventories for 2017 give similar results for the CO anthropogenic flux (251 ± 104 tkm-2yr-1 vs. 410 tkm-2yr-1) and for the NOx anthropogenic flux (66 ± 28 tkm-2yr-1 vs. 69 tkm-2yr-1).

There has been a sharp increase in the number of diseases associated with potentially pathogenic microorganisms of the genus Mycobacterium, which differ from Mycobacterium tuberculosis. These bacteria are known as atypical mycobacteria or nontuberculosis mycobacteria (NTM), and the diseases they cause are called mycobacteriosis. NTMs include more than 20 species of acid-resistant microorganisms that are widespread in the environment and that are not members of the M. tuberculosis complex. However, the role of certain types of NTMs in the pathogenesis of human diseases is rather ambiguous. The aim of the paper was to analyse the current rise in the incidence of NTM diseases, as well as the main areas of research on early diagnosis of mycobacteriosis and the detection and testing of drug susceptibility of these microorganisms. The paper summarises current views on NTM species differences, their prevalence and pathogenicity for humans and animals. The authors analysed the main efforts aimed at diagnosis and treatment of NTM diseases. The paper cites the results of the study of NTM susceptibility/resistance to anti-tuberculosis drugs. The diagnosis of mycobacteriosis remains extremely difficult, mainly because of the similarity of the clinico-radiological evidence with that of tuberculosis. Detection of NTM multiple and extensive drug resistance to the majority of anti-tuberculosis drugs complicates the treatment of the NTM disease. Further study of various aspects of NTM diseases is especially important given the increase in the incidence and prevalence of mycobacteriosis all over the world, challenging differential diagnosis, and detection of NTM extensive drug resistance.

The purpose of systemic treatment in patients with breast cancer is based largely on the molecular characteristics of the primary tumor, but many clinical recommendations suggest also the study of metastatic nodes with an assessment of their receptor status (estrogen receptor ER, progesterone receptor RP, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 Her2/neu). This is due to the fact that according to numerous studies, the discrepancy between the status of the primary tumor and the secondary nodes can reach high rates: 3–54 % for ER, 5–78 % for RP, and 0–34 % for Her2/neu. At the same time, more and more data actively demonstrate the imperfection of immunohistochemical analysis and the need to study additional parameters to improve the quality of diagnosis of patients with breast cancer. Material and methods. A morphological and immunohistochemical study of the tumor tissue of the primary node and axillary lymph nodes was performed in 199 patients with breast cancer (T1-3N0-3M0) using standard methods, and RT-PCR was also studied with the expression of 24 genes. Results. The incidence of differences between the molecular phenotypes of the main tumor and metastatic axillary lymph nodes was 26 (26 %) of 99 cases. Most often, differences were noted in cases of breast cancer with luminal A type – 13 cases (50 %). According to the results of a comparative PCR analysis of tissue samples from the primary tumor and metastatic regional lymph nodes, only the expression of the CD68, ERSR1, GRB7 and MMD11 receptors was statistically significant. Conclusion. The results indicate the need for an integrated approach and additional methods for the diagnosis of breast cancer, which will undoubtedly improve the quality of planning and the effectiveness of systemic treatment in patients with breast cancer.

Introduction. Adjuvant systemic therapy remains one of the main options for treating breast cancer. Results of standard immunohistochemical studies are not always a criterion for selecting systemic therapy. Nowadays, multigene expression analysis is actively used to predict the response to chemotherapy in patients with earlystage breast cancer. We studied a 24-gene multi-gene panel for typing breast cancer.Material and Methods. A prospective analysis of 199 breast cancer patients (T1–3N0–3M0) was carried out. Surgical specimens were studied using the standard immunohistochemistry (IHC) and RT-PCR for detecting expression of 24 genes.Results. According to the IHC results, breast cancer was divided into 5 molecular subtypes: luminal A was detected in 59 (30 %) patients; luminal B (HER2-negative) in 52 (26 %); luminal B (HER2-positive) in 19 (9 %); triple-negative in 28 (14 %); HER2-positive 41 (21 %). RT-PCR showed that ST K15, MYC, MYBL2, BIRCC 5, BCL2, TERT, ESRP1, PGR, HER2, GBR7, MGB1 and MMP11 were the most significant genes in subtype distribution. The total percentage of matches between the two studies was 61.7 %.Conclusion. Studies have shown the need to add additional typing methods for breast cancer to a standard IHC study, which will undoubtedly increase the information content of diagnostic measures and will improve the effectiveness of the treatment.

The study objective is to evaluate the prevalence of Epstein—Barr virus (EBV), herpes virus, human papillomavirus (HPV), and cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection among patients with cancer of the nasal cavity and paranasal sinuses in the Arkhangelsk Region.Materials and methods. We examined surgical specimens from 100 patients treated in the Arkhangelsk Clinical Oncology Dispensary between 2010 and 2015. Tissue homogenates were used for DNA isolation. DNA amplification with subsequent detection was performed using polymerase chain reaction.Results and conclusion. The 36 % of study participants were infected with EBV; the second most common viral pathogens were CMV and human herpes virus type 6 (HHV-6), both found in 21 % of cases. Monoinfection was observed in less than one-third of patients (20 % — EBV, HPV type 16 — 6 %), whereas the remaining participants had mixed infections: EBV + HHV-6 (2 %), CMV + EBV (5 %), EBV + herpes simplex virus types 1 and 2 (HSV-1,2) (1 %), EBV + CMV + HHV-6 (3 %), HPV type 16 + HSV-1,2 (3 %), and HPV type 6 + HPV type 16 (7 %). None of the patients with stage I cancer had mixed infections, whereas participants with stage II, III, and IV cancer demonstrated mixed infections in 1 %, 11 %, and 9 % of cases respectively.After specific treatment, 11 patients (30.5 %) infected with EBV developed regional metastases and 5 patients (13.9 %) had relapses. All patients simultaneously infected with EBV and HHV-6 had distant metastases. Combination of EBV, CMV, and HHV-6 resulted in relapses in 100 % of cases and distant metastasis in 75 % of cases.

Purpose. To compare of the diagnostic accuracy of ultrasonography (US) with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) as a reference in the assessment of pathological changes of the soft tissues at the X-ray negative stage of knee joint osteoarthritis (OA).Materials and methods. Nineteen patients with X-ray negative stage of knee OA diagnosed in 2015 underwent US and MRI of the knee joints. We estimated the sensitivity and specificity, positive and negative predictive values for pathological changes in 7 distinct anatomical areas on US comparing to MRI.Results. There were no false positive results. The findings of US and MRI coincided for the presence of an excess amount of free fluid in the joint cavity and suprapatellar bursa synovitis and the presence of Baker’s cyst, 15 (79%) and 4 (21%) patients, respectively. More o en, false-negative results on US have been seen in assessing changes in the lateral meniscus and osteophytes: 2 (11%) diagnosed cases vs 15 (79%) for MRI, respectively. The degenerative changes in the medial meniscus were found in 10 (52.6%) on US compared to 15 (79%) for MRI, respectively. Method of US showed the low sensitivity in the detection of early pathological changes of the knee ligaments: sensitivity and predictive value of negative results accounted for the cruciate were 47% and 18%, for collateral ones only 24% and 13%, respectively.Conclusion. Ultrasound examination is highly effective in the diagnosis of synovitis, free fluid in the joint cavity and suprapatellar bursa and Baker’s cysts in patients with X-ray negative stage of knee OA. It helps to identify the group of patients with the highest risk of progression of OA. The method of ultrasound is significantly inferior to MRI in the diagnosis of early degenerative changes in ligaments, the menisci and cartilage of the joint.

The cross-comparison of different techniques for atmospheric integrated water vapour (IWV) measurements is the essential part of their quality assessment protocol. We inter-compare the synchronised data sets of IWV values measured by the Bruker 125 HR Fourier-transform infrared spectrometer (FTIR), RPG-HATPRO microwave radiometer (MW), and Novatel ProPak-V3 global navigation satellite system receiver (GPS) at the St. Petersburg site between August 2014 and October 2016. As the result of accurate spatial and temporal matching of different IWV measurements, all three techniques agree well with each other except for small IWV values. We show that GPS and MW data quality depends on the atmospheric conditions; in dry atmosphere (IWV smaller than 6 mm), these techniques are less reliable at the St. Petersburg site than the FTIR method. We evaluate the upper bound of statistical measurement errors for clear-sky conditions as 0.29 ± 0.02 mm (1.6 ± 0.3 %), 0.55 ± 0.02 mm (4.7 ± 0.4 %), and 0.76 ± 0.04 mm (6.3 ± 0.8 %) for FTIR, GPS, and MW methods, respectively. We propose the use of FTIR as a reference method under clear-sky conditions since it is reliable on all scales of IWV variability.

Objective: to investigate the incidence of acute rheumatic fever (ARF), chronic rheumatic heart disease (CRHD), musculoskeletal diseases (MSD), and connective tissue diseases in the pediatric and adult populations of the Arkhangelsk Region (AR) in comparison with the data on Russia and the North-Western Federal District (NWFD) in 2010–2015.Subjects and methods. The total and primary incidence rates of ARF, CRHD, and MSD were analyzed in the pediatric and adult populations of these regions in 2010–2015.Results and discussion. Among the adult population of AR, the total incidence of ARF was low (7 cases in 2010 and none in 2015), which is comparable with the data in the whole of Russia. No recurrences of ARF were registered in the AR. Among the adult population of AR, the total incidence of CRHD fell by 28% in 2010 to 2015. The similar trend was also observed in the whole of Russia. Patients newly diagnosed with CRHD decreased by 65% in the AR. There was a 14% increase in the total incidence of MSD among the adult population of AR and an 11% decrease in its primary incidence. Since 2010, the total incidence of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), osteoarthritis, spondylopathies (SP), osteoporosis (OP), and systemic connective tissue diseases rose in the AR. There were 22 and 140% increases in the incidence of RA and SP, respectively; the number of reactive arthritis cases decreased by 17.2% in the adults and increased by 7% in the children. This trend in the adults is seen of the whole of Russia (an 8% decrease), although the latter in the AR is not comparable to the All-Russian measures. In the AR, the incidence of OP remains low (50 and 73 per 100,000 population in 2010 and 2015, respectively); this is noted to increase by 46% in the past 5 years; the similar trend was observed in both the whole of Russia and NWFD (7.8 and 8.3%, respectively).

The article presents a clinical case of nonsecretory multiple myeloma, verified with immunohistochemical staining. It was hard to prove the diagnosis as the patient had extramedullar lesions adding to the bone destructions, the bone marrow was minimally infiltrated with plasma cells, ESR was normal, no monoclonal protein was present in the serum and urine.

Novaday problems of definition of toxoplasmosis on Crimea peninsula area are presented in the article. Monitoring studies of cats and sheeps are spent on existing of T. gondii agent in different sites of Crimea peninsula. Significant defeat of cats by T. gondii agent is established (21.8% of total studied cats). Homeless cats of cities’ populations had higher persent of toxoplasma invalion than animals of rural areas and consists 14.55%. Sheeps also had toxoplasmosis (average degree ofinvasion was 14.7%). Thus female animals had highest infection rate: invasion persent was 16.3%. Male animals had lower degree of toxoplasma invasion - 10.5% of sheeps had antibodies to Toxoplasma gondii in their blood serum. Sixty persent of invasious animals belongs to oldest groups (sheeps of 2-4 years old), 40% of animals earlier than 1 year were infected. Investigated animsl species are potential sources of infectious for human that is proved by statistical analysis. According to the data of department of statistics of medicinal parasitology of sanitary-epizootological station of Crimea Republic it is detected significant level of distribution of T. gondii invasion among peninsula’s population. Average invasioness of peoples by toxoplasma in Crimea Republic in 2015 was 12.02%. Peoples of 7to 20 years old had 4.23% of invasion rate, older peoples (50-60 years old) - 31.04%. In group of pregnanted women antibodies to toxoplasma agent is revealed in 37.03% of human .

Aim. Determination of critical concentration for chemotherapy drugs, widely used for tuberculosis treatment, for use in Mycobacterium tuberculosis drug sensitivity results evaluation by Sensititre MycoTB test-system. Materials and methods. Minimal inhibiting concentration (MIC) of isoniazid, rifampicin, streptomycin, ethambutol, amikacin, kanamycin, ofloxacin and moxi-floxacin against conditionally sensitive and conditionally resistant strains of tuberculosis mycobacteria (TBM), isolated from various diagnostic material, obtained from patients with various forms of lung tuberculosis being treated in MCSPCTC hospital and dispensaries for tuberculosis control of Moscow, were studied in Sensititre MycoTB test system. Results. Critical concentration of chemotherapy drugs for MycoTB test system was determined as a result of the obtained MIC values analysis as the minimal concentration that suppressed growth of 95% of sensitive strains and does not obstruct growth of 95% of resistant. The following MIC values were established: streptomycin - 1.0, isoniazid - 0.25, rifampicin - 1.0, ethambutol - 4.0, ofloxacin - 2.0, moxifloxacin - 0.25, kanamycin - 2.5 and amikacin - 1.0 pg/ml. Conclusion. The developed critical concentration of the mentioned preparations is currently used for evaluation of sensitivity/ resistance of TBM clinical isolates from MCSPCTC.

The article presents efficiency comparison of Sensititre test system and culture methods of Bactec 960 and Lowenstein-Jensen medium for drug susceptibility testing of tuberculosis mycobacteria.Cultures of M. tuberculosis of 137 patients have been studied. It has been found out that the part of coinciding results is fairly big for drug susceptibility testing by test system of Sensititre MycoTB and other methods. This system has the advantages related to standard procedures and capacity of drug susceptibility testing (degree) to 12 drugs simultaneously within a short period of time (7-14 days). Drug susceptibility testing of M. tuberculosis by testing system of Sensititre MycoTB is simpler from technical point of view compared to all other systems. Sensititre MycoTB has been tested abroad and in MSPCT and certified and it can be used for the clinical practice.

We shows the Russian Breast Cancer (BC) Register-based analysis, established under the auspices of the non-profit making partnership "Equal right to life" with the inclusion of 49784 BC patients under the examination and treatment in 18 cancer institutions of the Russian Federation between 1985 and 2014 years. Stage distribution in patients with BC, included in the Patient Register, is absolutely identical to the official statistics of malignant neoplasms in Russia (edited by A.D.Kaprin, 2014); it is the real situation in our country. BC early detection is not good enough in all regions of the RF: the proportion of non-invasive cancer (in situ) is less than 1% and stage I BC - 18,3% (15-26%). We have identified the important features of the population-based "portrait" of BC: women with advanced stages of BC (III andIV) are usually of old age in our country, but not the young one. It appears that, women older than 60 years do not participate in BC screening program and will visit the oncologist only when significant clinical symptoms of the disease are appeared. Stage I breast cancer has positive "biological" portrait: a high proportion of luminal HER2 negative subtype of cancer and the extremely low proportion of HER2+ subtypes; there are only 11,8% of patients suffering from stage I HER2+ breast cancer. Patients with locally advanced (stage III) and metastatic cancer (stage IV) have more aggressive forms of tumors; more than 40% of cancers are HER2+ and triple negative immunophenotype of BC. The modernization of BC early detection programs in the RF will not only help to improve the disease prognosis, but also to save spending on expensive medicines (cytostatic and targeted therapy) which are used for treatment in such cases.

Abstract. Vascular endothelial cells (VECs) are able to induce HIV1 replication in СD4+ Tcells, thus determining their resistance for apoptosis. The revealed facts are specific to EC/Tcell culture and are stipulated by the cellcell interactions between the VECs and HIV1 producing cells, thus being a consequence of activation of ‘productively infected’ T cells.

Atmospheric column-average methane mole fractions measured with ground-based Fourier-transform spectroscopy near Saint Petersburg, Russia (59.9° N, 29.8° E, 20 m a.s.l.) are compared with similar data obtained with the Japanese GOSAT (Greenhouse gases Observing SATellite) in the years 2009–2012. Average CH4 mole fractions for the GOSAT data version V01.xx are −15.0 ± 5.4 ppb less than the corresponding values obtained from ground-based measurements (with the standard deviations of biases at 13.0 ± 4.2 ppb). For the GOSAT data version V02.xx, the average values of the differences are −1.9 ± 1.8 ppb with standard deviations of 14.5 ± 1.3 ppb. This verifies that FTIR (Fourier transform infrared) spectroscopic observations near Saint Petersburg have similar biases with GOSAT satellite data as FTIR measurements at other ground-based networks and aircraft CH4 estimations.

This paper presents a validation study of SCanning Imaging Absorption spectroMeter for Atmospheric CHartographY (SCIAMACHY) carbon monoxide (CO) total column measurements from the Iterative Maximum Likelihood Method (IMLM) algorithm using ground-based spectrometer observations from twenty surface stations for the five year time period of 2003–2007. Overall we find a good agreement between SCIAMACHY and ground-based observations for both mean values as well as seasonal variations. For high-latitude Northern Hemisphere stations absolute differences between SCIAMACHY and ground-based measurements are close to or fall within the SCIAMACHY CO 2σ precision of 0.2 × 1018 molecules/cm2 (∼10%) indicating that SCIAMACHY can observe CO accurately at high Northern Hemisphere latitudes. For Northern Hemisphere mid-latitude stations the validation is complicated due to the vicinity of emission sources for almost all stations, leading to higher ground-based measurements compared to SCIAMACHY CO within its typical sampling area of 8° × 8°. Comparisons with Northern Hemisphere mountain stations are hampered by elevation effects. After accounting for these effects, the validation provides satisfactory results. At Southern Hemisphere mid- to high latitudes SCIAMACHY is systematically lower than the ground-based measurements for 2003 and 2004, but for 2005 and later years the differences between SCIAMACHY and ground-based measurements fall within the SCIAMACHY precision. The 2003–2004 bias is consistent with previously reported results although its origin remains under investigation. No other systematic spatial or temporal biases could be identified based on the validation presented in this paper. Validation results are robust with regard to the choices of the instrument-noise error filter, sampling area, and time averaging required for the validation of SCIAMACHY CO total column measurements. Finally, our results show that the spatial coverage of the ground-based measurements available for the validation of the 2003–2007 SCIAMACHY CO columns is sub-optimal for validation purposes, and that the recent and ongoing expansion of the ground-based network by carefully selecting new locations may be very beneficial for SCIAMACHY CO and other satellite trace gas measurements validation efforts.