Vol 30, No 1 (2023)

The association of hemoblastoses, tumours of the central nervous system, with several other human neoplasms with various environmental factors of a chemical and physical nature has been previously established. Nonetheless, the mechanism of this relationship remains unclear. The author formulated the concept of environmentally determined oncogenesis with a key role of heme. According to the proposed model, the first stage of oncogenesis is the induction of environmentally determined oxidative stress, which is amplified by haem iron. Simultaneously, due to the ferromagnetic properties of heme iron reception, the induction and amplification of external electromagnetic fields occur with the formation of a feedback loop and additional stimulation of oxidative processes. Further, under the influence of active oxygen metabolites in target tissues with the greatest contact with heme, epigenomic dysregulation of semaphorin is developed. This leads to oncogenesis in actively proliferating cells of the axon growth cone, bone marrow, precursors of kidney cells, mesenchymal stem cells and endothelium. Consequently, benign tumours of the endothelium (hemangiomas), leukemias, lymphomas, tumours of the peripheral and central nervous system, as well as benign and malignant tumours of soft tissues occur. The proposed model illustrates the features of childhood oncology incidence with a predominance of hemangiomas among benign tumours, as well as hemoblastoses and tumours of the nervous system among cancers. In addition, the ability of heme to interact with electromagnetic fields advances our understanding of the relationship between neoplasms and solar activity.

AIM: To analyze the levels of contamination with heavy metals and radionuclides of wild mushrooms and berries growing in the Arkhangelsk region.

METHODS: Data on the content of heavy metals (cadmium, mercury, lead, arsenic) and radionuclides (cesium-137 and strontium-90) in berries and mushrooms were studied in accordance with the protocols of the Agrochemical Service Station «Arkhangelskaya» and the Center for Hygiene and Epidemiology in the Arkhangelsk Region and the Nenets Autonomous Okrug during the period of 2015–2021. Total 201 samples of mushrooms and 175 samples of berries were analyzed.

RESULTS: The levels of heavy metals did not exceed the maximum permissible concentrations in 94% of the studied samples of mushrooms and 86% of the studied samples of berries. All samples of mushrooms and berries corresponded the hygienic standards for the content of radionuclides. The mean concentrations of mercury (0.013 mg/kg) and cadmium (0.040 mg/kg) in mushrooms were higher than the average concentrations of these metals in berries by 2.1 (p=0.002) and 1.8 times (p <0.001), respectively. At the level of median concentration and 90th percentile, the content of mercury in tubular mushrooms (0.036 and 0.047 mg/kg, respectively) was 3.2 times higher in comparison to plate mushrooms (p=0.003). The highest content of arsenic (0.067 and 0.24 mg/kg, respectively) and lead (0.088 and 0.15 mg/kg) were found in the berries of the large-sized shrubs at the level of average concentration and the 90th percentile compared to other shrub species, but the differences were not statistically significant.

CONCLUSION: The comparative analysis concluded that although mushrooms and berries from the Arkhangelsk region contain low concentrations of heavy metals and radionuclides, mushrooms tend to accumulate higher concentration of heavy metals and radionuclides in comparison to berries.

BACKGROUND: Living in Russia’s Far North contributes to pronounced natural and social characteristics that exert an unfavorable influence on the human functional state.

AIM: This study assessed medical, physiological, and social factors determining the body functional state in northerners of different age groups.

METHODS: The research involved male residents of Magadan region, Caucasians by origin: 156 young men aged 17–21 (18.5±0.6) years, 56 men of the working age of 34–45 (37.4±0.5) years, and 45 elderly men aged 60–77 (65.9±1.1) years. The participants’ somatometric variables were measured. The functioning of cardiovascular and respiratory systems, insulin resistance, as well as the levels of blood biochemistry, vitamin D, trace element, and basal metabolism were assessed. The subjective tobacco smoking and motor activity rates were also analyzed.

RESULTS: We can conclude that the body systemic functioning is increasingly stressed out with age. The sampled people exhibited higher incidence of arterial hypertension, which was rated in total by subjective systolic and diastolic blood pressure, with the incidence growing with increasing age, from 49% in younger subjects to 108% in older men; more common insulin resistance, from 13% in the youth to 50% in the elderly; elevated blood glucose level which was ranging (29%, 30%, 43% with age, respectively); and deviation of the atherogenicity coefficient rising from 9% to 55%–60% with increasing age. We also observed the same dependence of bronchial obstruction variables on age: from 19% incidence among younger subjects to 71% and 74% in middle-aged and older men, respectfully, with impaired respiratory functioning and consistently high levels (40%–59%) of reported tobacco consumption.

CONCLUSION: The developed matrices illustrate the worsening observed in subjective functional reserves and increasing intensity occurred in body systems of examinees as they grow from ontogenesis of the youth to the elderly.

BACKGROUND: Observed global climate changes can significantly influence on the regional climate anomalies and recreational conditions over the Crimean peninsula.

AIM: To study the features of complex bioclimatic indicators changes on the territory of Crimea over a multidecadal period (~70 years), paying special attention to each month of the year, and on bases of obtained results to show the possible way of recreational activities development associated with these changes.

METHODS: For calculations, we used daily hydrometeorological data for each month from the archive of observations at the network of European weather stations E-OBS (v. 17.0) from 22 stations and NCEP/NCAR R1 reanalysis for the period of 1950–2018. The obtained arrays were verified in accordance with an open database of standard daily station observations in Crimea in 2005–2018. To assess the impact of climate change on the human body, the equivalent effective temperature, normal equivalent effective temperature, weight content of oxygen in the air (partial oxygen density) (ρO₂), wet wind chill index Hill (Hw) and index Bodmann dry wind chiller (S) were calculated. The features of their linear trends for each month in the Crimean Peninsula were analysed.

RESULTS: Monthwise analyses of the bioclimatic indicator trends demonstrated an increase or decrease in recreational comfort in certain seasons. The most pronounced positive normal equivalent effective temperature trends over Crimea were observed from winter to spring. This indicated improved complex recreational conditions in recent decades and the possibility to extend the duration of the holiday season. The pO₂, Hw and S indices had opposite tendencies throughout the year (except for December). According to the pO₂ index, in the period from August to October, a physiological oxygen deficiency may be experienced throughout Crimea. Windy and uncomfortable bioclimatic conditions tend to increase in the steppes of Crimea in December.

CONCLUSION: The patterns of changes in bioclimatic indicators revealed through this study can be used as a regulatory factor for effectively organising and conducting recreational activities in the territory of Crimea and thus ensure the duration of the recreational period.