Ekologiya cheloveka (Human Ecology)

BACKGROUND: This study is motivated by the increasing role of anthropogenic stress in child and adolescent growth and development.

AIM: To describe the ethnic features of population growth and development and adaptation to increased anthropogenic stress through the lens of peak height velocity and sexual dimorphism in stature, using Uzbek and Russian schoolchildren in Uzbekistan as a model.

METHODS: We used samples of Uzbek and Russian schoolchildren aged 7/8–17/18 years: 4713 examined in Tashkent in 1959–1960, 5964 in 1964–1965, and 7858 in 1976. We also used samples of Uzbek schoolchildren from Tashkent examined in 1926–1928 and 1949–1950 (100 per sex-age group) , Uzbek schoolchildren from the 2019 survey (Tashkent, Bukhara, Namangan; n = 3217), and Uzbek schoolchildren from Andijan in 2024 (n = 2200). Control samples included Russian schoolchildren from the cities Stavropol (1958, n = 1290; 1981, n = 1200) and Moscow (1959, n = 9260; 1978, n = 3918; 1981, n = 2123). We analyzed peak height velocity (PHV) , its growth dynamics, and sexual dimorphism (SD) in stature at 17 years.

RESULTS: With increasing anthropogenic burden, PHV age decreases (“rejuvenates”) and PHV intensity increases. This pattern was almost linear until the 1970s, when anthropogenic burden was accelerating. However, temporal PHV trends in Uzbek children in Tashkent from the 1920s to the 2010s show that against a background of distress-level anthropogenic stress in the 2010s, this trend not only stabilized but reversed. These findings support the idea that the soma has long-lasting ontogenetic memory, and that the somatic response to environmental factors is systemic. Sexual dimorphism in stature is as informative a marker of anthropogenic burden as PHV. Positive correlations of SD, together with higher positive correlations with 17-year-old male stature compared with females, indicate greater environmental sensitivity in males, consistent with the classical view of sexual dimorphism.

CONCLUSION: The findings suggest that the Russian samples and children from large million-plus cities are more accelerated than Uzbek samples and children from smaller urban agglomerations. In this context, “more accelerated” means earlier PHV. The greater sexual dimorphism observed in Russians may reflect greater environmental sensitivity of Russian boys relative to girls within their ethnic groups, compared with the more balanced sensitivity between sexes in Uzbek children.

BACKGROUND: The relationship between riparian vegetation status and organic water pollution dynamics in the subarid urban agglomerations of Russia, which are subject to thermal anomalies, remains understudied. The capacity of buffer ecosystems to offset climatic stress and anthropogenic load is unclear, leaving a gap in socio-hygienic water quality monitoring methodology for fisheries and recreational use.

AIM: To analyze the relationship between riparian vegetation status and organic pollution dynamics at sites with varying anthropogenic load in the subarid zone of the Volgograd urban agglomeration.

METHODS: A single-center observational study with retrospective analysis of long-term monitoring data (2008–2024) was conducted. Four state water quality monitoring points within the Volgograd agglomeration were selected: “Volga HPP Zone,” “7.5 km downstream of the HPP,” “2.5 km upstream of the HPP,” and “Akhtuba River Branch.” We analyzed the long-term dynamics of biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5) in relation to NDVI changes (from Landsat 5–9 imagery) and determined the slope of BOD5 and NDVI trends. The temperature effect on riparian ecosystems was assessed using land surface thermography (Landsat TIRS). To quantify riparian zone self-purification efficiency, we calculated the coefficient R_eff as the ratio of the BOD₅ trend slope to the NDVI trend slope.

RESULTS: Statistically significant opposite trends were observed: BOD₅ decreased (–0.076 to –0.239 mg O₂/dm³/year; p < 0.001) while NDVI increased (+0.00512 to +0.00657 units/year; p < 0.001) at all sites. A significant relationship was found between NDVI and BOD₅ trends (p < 0.05), with the strongest association in the Akhtuba River branch zone (r = –0,805, p < 0.001). The self-purification efficiency coefficient ranged from 11.79 (“7.5 km downstream of the HPP”) to 36.38 (“Akhtuba Branch”). A local heat island was identified at the site with the lowest Reff, where temperature-BOD₅ correlation was strong (r = 0.807, p = 0.002), in contrast to the Akhtuba zone (r = 0.570, p = 0.151), indicating suppression of buffer function by thermal pollution.

CONCLUSION: Riparian vegetation status is a significant indicator of watercourse self-purification potential in subarid conditions, but its efficiency is substantially reduced by thermal anomalies. Key limitations include NDVI insensitivity to species composition and the lack of direct aquatic microbiota assessment.

BACKGROUND: Despite the evident significance of natural and climatic factors for physiological function and adaptive responses, comprehensive zoning of the Russian Federation according to the discomfort effects of these factors on humans remains unresolved. In this context, the development of an integral discomfort coefficient is particularly relevant; unlike existing approaches, it would allow quantitative assessment of adaptation intensity in populations from different climatogeographic regions and ranking of territories by physiological stress level.

AIM: To develop an integral discomfort coefficient that enables quantitative assessment of the body’s adaptive responses in populations from different Russian climatogeographic regions using a medico-physiological approach, and to rank territories by physiological stress level.

METHODS: The study examined 256 healthy male volunteers aged 17–21 years from three locations: the Arctic zone (Murmansk), the Far North (Magadan), and the central belt (Moscow and Ulyanovsk). We analyzed functional system stress, thyroid function, respiratory status, basal metabolic rate, and carbohydrate and lipid metabolism. Using mathematical modeling, we calculated the discomfort coefficient for each population.

RESULTS: Our comprehensive studies produced a combined index that serves as an integral discomfort coefficient (DC). It enables quantitative assessment of the degree of deviation in functional parameters and identification of region-specific patterns. Analysis revealed a clear gradient in functional status: the Northeast, with an index of 100 arbitrary units, shows pronounced functional stress; the Northwest, with 73.05 units, shows signs of moderate maladaptation (elevated stress with a tendency to high levels); and the central belt, with a zero index, corresponds to an optimal state.

CONCLUSION: The developed index proved to be an informative marker for comparing functional stress across territories, providing a scientific basis for zoning northern areas and the Arctic based on biomedical mapping.