Vol 27, No 5 (2020)

The Onega District is among the first ten municipalities of the Arkhangelsk Region with the highest incidence of neoplasms warranting radiological studies. The aim of this research was to study content and distribution of natural and technogenic radionuclides in the urban soils of the Onega municipality and to identify the main low-intensity radioactive anomalies as well as to provide an objective assessment of radiation risks to health of the local population. Methods: A total of 99 soil samples were taken in several parts of the town. Specific activity of radionuclides was assessed using a gamma spectrometer. Standard soil-morphological, soil-geochemical, radiometric, mathematical-statistical and cartographic methods were applied. Results. Color contrast of the soils in different areas indicates the preservation of their relationship with the parent soil. The values of the effective specific activity of natural radionuclides in soil samples ranged from 28 to 99 Bq/kg. Low-intensity radioactive anomalies were revealed for the first time in town. It was determined that the composition of the town's soils ensures that the effective specific activity of natural radionuclides is not exceeded for materials of classes I and II used in construction. Conclusions. The revealed low-intensity radioactive anomalies can be associated with the influx of radionuclides into the soil as a part of coal combustion products in the local heating stations taking into account the active use of coal combustion products by the local population. It is necessary to assess the long-term effect of low-intensity radioactive anomalies on the population. Further research should concentrate on associations between the epidemiological patterns of diseases and radioactivity in Onega.

The problem of irrational use of antibacterial drugs and the rapidly growing antibiotic resistance can be viewed as an endoecological disaster and a threat to modern society. According to the forecasts of the World Health Organization and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the mortality rate due to infectious diseases by 2050 will constitute 10 million people a year and will join neoplasms and cardiovascular diseases as the leading causes of death. On the other hand, the development of antibiotic resistance is a part of the evolution of bacteria and their adaptation to new living conditions. Since the discovery of penicillinno antimicrobial drug has escaped the appearance of bacterial resistance. From the moment a new antibiotic is discovered until the first strains of microorganisms become resistant to it, 1-2 years pass, indicating a high variability and plasticity of the bacterial genetic apparatus. This literature review summarizes the evidence on the main evolutionary and pathogenetic aspects of the emergence of bacterial resistance ways to reduce the problem of antibiotic resistance. The mechanisms of action of both lethal and subinhibitory concentrations of antibacterial drugs on the bacterial population, aspects of selection of bacteria with an increased number of mutations, as well as methods for increasing the number of mutations of microorganisms due to the direct mutagenic effect of antibiotics, including oxidative damage, nucleotide pool imbalance and general reactions to stress are described. However, the most important mechanism for the evolution and adaptation of bacteria, including escape from the immune response, as well as the distribution of genes that increase virulence and resistance to antibiotics, is to obtain foreign DNA sequences from other organisms through horizontal gene transfer. Thus, the knowledge of the mechanisms of resistance can help prevent the misuse of antibiotics and become a critical step in understanding the ecology and evolution of bacteria and their symbiotic relationships with a human organism.

Asthma is a common and severe pathology in children with a potential for life-threatening complications. The development of asthma in childhood is determined by a complex interplay between various aetiological factors. Air pollution is one of the most important environmental factors contributing to the development of asthma in children. This review summarizes the available evidence on the impact of air pollution on the prevalence of asthma among children in different countries. The increase in the prevalence of asthma in childhood correlates with the concentrations of particulate matter <10 microns, nitrogen oxide, sulfur oxide and carbon monoxide in the air. The results of this review are of practical importance for development of public health measures for monitoring and prevention of asthma among children.

An increase in life expectancy is one of the main strategic objectives declared by the Russian Federation. Thus, an understanding of how this objective can be achieved with available recourses in the most efficient way is warranted. We propose an automated method for estimating the contribution of cause-specific mortaLity to Life expectancy. To iLLustrate the proposed method, we used the data from primary mortality databases in the Krasnoyarsk region - one of the largest federal subjects of the Russian Federation - and the data on the average population of the of the region from 1999 to 2018 from the Federal state statistics office in Krasnoyarsk, Khakassia Republic and Tyva Republic. A computer program "DeathAnaLytics" has been developed by the authors for automated calculation of the contribution of cause-specific mortality to Life expectancy. The main idea behind is to calculate an integral indicator that takes into account both the contribution of deaths from various causes and the absolute number of these deaths. The paper presents the stages of calculation, interpretation and a practical example. The use of the methodology presented in the article aLLows to identify the causes of death that have the greatest impact contribution to reduction of Life expectancy, which in turn aLLows to identify targets for pubLic heaLth measures that wiLL most effectiveLy increase Life expectancy of the popuLation.