Vol 29, No 9 (2022)

AIM: The purpose of this study was to determine the primary indicators and main causes of mortality of the indigenous small-number peoples of the North (ISNPN) of the Koryak Okrug. We studied peoples of working age and the impact of various factors on the generalized mortality rates of the regional population. We then compared these mortality rates with those of the same age categories of the nonindigenous immigrant population of Kirovsk, an industrial city, with high mortality rate in a highly urbanized region of the Arctic Zone of the Russian Federation (Murmansk Oblast). Kirovsk has similar natural and climatic conditions but significant differences in the level of socioeconomic development, based on published scientific sources that study such mortality and socioeconomic trends during current times.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: We used the official death registrations archived in the Regional Government Registry Offices of three districts of the Koryak Okrug (3720 records) and the city of Kirovsk, Murmansk Oblast (2394 records) for the years from 1968 to 1991. The average annual mortality rates per 100 thousand of the studied population aged from 20 to 59 years were calculated based on the All-Union USSR Population Census of 1979+. The resulting indicators were standardized according to European standards.

RESULTS: The calculation of generalized regional mortality rates adopted in official statistics does not give a realistic model for the mortality rate and main causes of death of the ISNPN. Mortality rates of the ISNPN significantly exceeded similar indicators of the nonindigenous immigrant population in all classes of diseases. The maximum contribution to mortality rates of the ISNPN comes from the high level of addictive alcoholization, which causes death both as a result of its direct toxic effects, and indirectly, by being the cause of murders, suicides and accidents. Currently, obtaining data for calculating the population mortality rates of ISNPN poses significant difficulties and requires specially prepared and structured statistical diagnostic studies.

BACKGROUND: Because the COVID-19 pandemic has continued for a long time, it has become necessary to explore the dynamics of mental health phenomena during this period.

AIM: To identify the dynamics of the emotional component of the subjective wellbeing of the personality of students in the psychological and pedagogical areas at various stages of the COVID-19 pandemic.

MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study involved 911 students in the psychological and pedagogical areas at the University of Tyumen, Kurgan State University, and Ural Federal University. The research method used was the scale of subjective wellbeing by Perrudet-Badoux as adapted by M.V. Sokolova. Measurements were taken in April 2020, May 2021, October 2021, and January 2022.

RESULTS: In April 2020, at the beginning of the pandemic, the university students had the lowest indicators of the emotional component of the subjective wellbeing of the individual. A year later, in May 2021, there was an increase in subjective wellbeing, which, however, was not statistically significant. The trend of improvement in subjective wellbeing continued for six months to October 2021, when it became significantly higher than when the pandemic began. At the fourth measurement in January 2022, subjective wellbeing had stabilized, indicating that the students had adapted to the conditions of the pandemic.

CONCLUSION: The emotional component of the subjective wellbeing of the personality of students was subject to dynamics of the COVID-19 pandemic. During the two years of the pandemic, university students have adapted to the stressful situation of the pandemic as reflected by the improvement and stabilization of the emotional component of subjective wellbeing.

BACKGROUND: The Sami are a small group of indigenous people of the Russian Federation. The Sami have one of the lowest birth rates among all the peoples of the North of Russia. They often have more health problems than residents of other nationalities in the Murmansk region, due to a high incidence of acute respiratory infections. Extreme climatic and geographical conditions of the Arctic have a negative impact on immunological reactivity.

AIM: To identify the features of immunological reactivity in Sami women.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: Forty-nine practically healthy Sami women aged from 21 to 44 years living in the Lovozero Village in the Murmansk region were examined. A control group consisting of 50 practically healthy Russian women of the Arkhangelsk region of the same age range was used. The hemogram, phagocytic activity of neutrophils of peripheral venous blood, and the content of lymphocytes with CD3, CD4, CD8, and CD10 phenotypes were studied by indirect immunoperoxidase reaction (Sorbent, Moscow) and flow cytometry (Beckman Coulter Immunotech, France). Additionally, concentrations of IgM, IgG, IgA, sCD54, and sCD62L (Bender MedSystems, Austria) were determined by enzyme immunoassay, circulating immune complexes (CIC) were determined by the precipitation method. The total amount of microflora, cytogram, phagocytic activity of neutrophils, the sorption capacity of epithelial cells, the content of sIgA and CIC IgG were studied in the separated mucous membranes of the pharynx, intestines, and urine. For comparison between groups, the independent samples t-test or the nonparametric Mann–Whitney U-test was used depending on the distribution.

RESULTS: In Sami women, the frequency of deficiency of phagocytic activity of blood neutrophils and mucosal secretions was higher than in the control group. Increased reactions of cell-mediated and antibody-dependent cytotoxicity of lymphocytes were recorded. The frequency of elevated concentrations of CIC was higher in the Sami women than in the control group. A remarkable feature of the Sami immune reactivity was high concentrations of IgA and IgM against a background of low IgG content.

CONCLUSION: In Sami women, the percentage of actively phagocytic neutrophil granulocytes of peripheral venous blood and mucous membranes was lower than in the control. A distinctive feature of the immunoglobulin profile of the blood serum of Sami women was the low IgG content against the background of increased concentrations of CIC, including immunoglobulins of this class. Sami women had higher levels of leukocyte migration into mucosa-associated mucosal tissue, which was correlated with a decrease in the sorption capacity of epitheliocytes, phagocytic activity of neutrophils, and concentrations of secretory immunoglobulins.