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BACKGROUND: Chest computed tomography (CT) is the main modality used to diagnose lung lesions caused by COVID-19 infection. Since 2020, the use of this modality in the Krasnoyarsk krai has increased. However, the incidence of lung cancer decreased by 5.2%. The current situation has raised concerns about missing radiographic signs typical of lung cancer and has stimulated the search for new diagnostic modalities using artificial intelligence (AI) for data analysis. AIM: The aim of the study was to evaluate the feasibility of using an AI algorithm to search for lung nodules based on chest CT data obtained during the COVID-19 pandemic to identify lung cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The retrospective study included chest CT scans of patients from Krasnoyarsk krai diagnosed with COVID-19 reported in the PACS base between 1 November 2020 and 28 February 2021. The interval between chest CT and AI analysis ranged from two years and one month to two years and five months. Chest-IRA algorithm was used. AI detected lung nodules with a volume greater than 100 mm3. The radiologists divided the results into three groups based on the potential for lung cancer. The assessment of the economic benefits of using the AI algorithm considered the cost of wages and savings in the treatment of early-stage lung cancer, which affects gross regional product. RESULTS: The AI algorithm identified nodules in 484 out of 10,500 CT scans. A total of 192 patients with a high potential for lung cancer, 103 with no signs and 60 with inconclusive signs were identified, and 112 patients with a high and moderate potential for lung cancer did not seek medical care. AI confirmed 100 (28.2%) histologically proven cases of lung cancer, with stages I–II detected in 35%. Using AI instead of radiologists would save 25 months and 4 days of work, which is equal to 2 million 430 thousand rubles. Expected budget savings due to early detection of lung cancer vary from 10 million 600 thousand to 12 million 500 thousand rubles for each 10,500 CTs. The total economic effect for a five-year period would be from 259 million 400 thousand rubles to 305 million 100 thousand rubles. CONCLUSIONS: The use of AI to evaluate chest CT scans demonstrates high performance in identifying lung nodules, including those in patients with COVID-19, confirming its potential use for early detection of incidental lung nodules that might otherwise be missed.

The article deals with the materials of the most unusual of the burial grounds of the Golden Horde Azak. It is located on the eastern border of the city's residential area and is part of the chain of the outer arc of necropolises that girdles it and emerged during the reign of Uzbek Khan. The burial ground is located on both sides of the headwaters of the Kirsanova Balka. 154 burials were investigated on 8 excavations. The burials are very shallow. The grave pits do not form rows, but are grouped in clusters. They include burials very different in rite and often cover each other. All possible variants of inhumation are found. The corpse position is equally variable – from stretched out on the back to severely bent over. Grave goods were found in 24% of the burials. Earrings, beads, rings, knuckle-bone, mirrors and their fragments, knives, fire lighter, scissors and ram's bones were found. Such elements of the ritual as the use of fire, copper ongons, ceramics, and fragmentation of mirrors were established. Some of the burials can be classified as Muslim. They do not form individual areas and are not the latest. Coins found in the burials and on the territory of the burial ground allow dating the necropolis to the first half of the XIV century. Only for some burials it is possible to determine the ethnic and cultural affiliation. The burial ground has no analogies among non-Muslim necropolises of large Golden Horde cities of the XIV century.

The article presents short characteristic of bone-carving craft of medieval Azak according to materials of archaeological excavations in 2012–2013. It also suggests criteria for identifying bone-carving workshops at archaeological sites and lists some related difficulties. In the article is given the description of used raw materials and listed range of products. It is noted that quantity of manufacturing wastes on the one hand and blanks and products on the other is incommensurable. Some production techniques are reconstructed based on the traces of processing preserved on waste and blanks. For the first time for Azak a workshop where bone coin scales were produced is discovered. The conclusion is made about rather high qualification of local bone-carvers and it is noted that the ratio of bones from different animals among production wastes is proportional to meat consumption wastes.