Vol 28, No 4 (2021)

The frequency of pandemics occurrence has increased, from every 200 years in period before the 18th century, to occurring every 10 to 50 years in the last century. The illegal and unsustainable wildlife trade, the devastation of forests and other wild places, and rapid human mobility were the driving forces behind the increasing number of diseases leaping from wildlife to humans. This article analyzes present human-nature interactions during COVID-19 and projecting future interactions after the pandemic, based on review on academic literature and reports from international development organizations. We found that global pandemic such as COVID-19 is altering human-nature interactions in three major global ecological issues: wildlife, urban emission, and land use. For wildlife, COVID-19 affects human perception towards wildlife consumption and trade, as well as animal conservation. For land use, COVID-19 makes countries reduced efforts for forest monitoring and conservation. For urban emission, lockdown/mobility limitation and physical or social distancing policies are proven to some extent resulted in better human-nature interactions that reduce environmental problems. Reduced emission occurred from decreased industrial activities and mobilities. But this positive impact on environment may end once COVID-19 ends and human activities return to previous pattern. Therefore, structural change is required to prepare a resilient sustainable development by continuing existing positive human behavior during COVID-19 as a new normal of human-nature relationships. It is proven to reduce emission and if it is continued, it can have long term impacts on climate change mitigation.

Introduction: Extreme natural and climatic conditions of the Arctic have led to development of a special type of glucose metabolism and its regulating links, although the evidence on age-related changes in these mechanisms among Arctic residents is still scarce. Aim: To study age-related changes in blood concentrations of glucose, proinsulin and insulin in residents of Russian circumpolar territories. Methods: In total 1 058 healthy individuals of both genders aged 16-74 years took part in a multicenter cross-sectional study. Of them, 629 permanently lived in the Arctic region while 429 were residents of the Subarctic areas. By age the participants were classified as 16-21, 22-35, 36-45, 46-60 and 61-74 years old. Concentrations of proinsulin and insulin were determined by the enzyme immunoassay methods while glucose level was assessed by spectrophotometric analysis. Between group differences in numeric characteristics were analyzed using Mann-Whitney tests with Bonferroni correction. Associations between variables were studied by non-parametric correlation analysis. Results. Blood glucose concentration increased with age. Among the 16-21-year-olds, higher concentrations of glucose was observed among Subarctic residents. Regional differences reduced in parallel with age. In the Arctic region, an increase in blood glucose in comparison with the youngest group began from 22-35 years while in the Subarctic region. The proportion of people with high glucose levels in age-groups 46-60 and 61-74 years was greater among the Arctic residents compared with their Subarctic counterparts (22.5% and 33.3 % vs. 14.7% and 27.9 %). This was combined with greater proportions of people in the AR with increased proinsulin levels (37.5% and 33.3 % vs. 24.7% and 28.8%) and decreased levels of insulin (57.5% and 53.8 % vs. 74.0 and 36.8 %). Conclusion: A gradual decrease in glucose utilization with age seems to be associated with a decrease in the intensity of proinsulin processing into insulin suggesting early depletion of the functional and receptor activity of pancreatic p-cells. The changes were more pronounced among the residents of the Arctic areas compared to their Subarctic counterparts.

Introduction: Monitoring of physical development in children and adolescents is an important public health routine. Recent decades have been characterized by a substantial increase in the prevalence of overweight and obesity among adolescents, although little evidence from Eastern Siberia is available in international literature. Aim: To study anthropometric characteristics of rural Buryat adolescents in Eastern Siberia over a 15-years period using WH0-2007 reference population to ensure international comparability of the data. Methods: Altogether, 344 Buryat adolescents aged 14-17 years took part in cross-sectional studies in 2003, 2008, 2011 and 2018 in Bayandai, Irkutsk region, Eastern Siberia. Height and weight were measured. The Anthro Plus software was used to calculate Height-for-Age and BMI-for-age Z-scores. The prevalence of stunting, underweight, overweight and obesity was calculated. Numeric data were analyzed using unpaired t-tests while categorical variables were compared using chi-squared tests. Results: The prevalence of stunting increased from 5.1 % in 2003 to 13.5 % in 2018. The girls were the most affected. The overall prevalence of overweight increased from 7.7 % in 2003 to 17.7 % in 2018. While no associations between overweight and gender were observed, only 2.0 % of girls were overweight compared to 9.1 % of boys (p < 0.001). Conclusion. An increase in the prevalence of overweight and obesity is in line with the global trend, although an increase in stunting among girls warrants further research. Urgent public health measures are warranted to reduce the prevalence of stunting and to prevent development of obesity in Buryat adolescents.