Leptospirosis in the Southern Federal District of the Russian Federation

The retrospective and operative epidemiological analysis of leptospirosis morbidity on the administrative territories of the Southern Federal District during the period of 1990-2002 was carried out. The dynamics and tendencies of morbidity in individual administrative units of the region were shown. Materials on the negative influence of the emergency situation arising in the region as the result of the natural calamity in summer 2002 were presented. As shown in this work, timely decisions on the stabilization of epidemiological situation taken at the period of high flood and inundation in summer 2002 in the Southern Federal District and their efficient execution made it possible to keep the epidemiological situation in leptospirosis under control.     

Basic measures for prevention of the epidemiological consequences of a natural disaster in the North Caucasus in 2002

The system of organizational and prophylactic measures, carried out with a view to prevent epidemiological aggravations in connection with the natural calamity in the Southern Federal District of the Russian Federation in 2003, is described. Proposals on the improvement of the system of preventive measures, including the monitoring of the epidemiological, sanitary and hygienic situation, personnel training, technical provision, the cooperation of different services and departments, capable of ensuring the liquidation of the consequences of emergency situations of the natural character, are made.     

On the epidemiological situation in quarantine, natural focal and other infections on the territory of the Southern Federal District

The data on the sanitary and epidemiological situation in the Southern Federal District are presented. The analysis of morbidity in tuberculosis, measles, HIV infection, viral hepatitis A, typhoid fever, cholera and quarantine infections, Crimean hemorrhagic fever, West Nile fever, rabies, malaria has been carried out. Special attention has been given to "new and newly returning infections", and among them to the spread of SARS ("atypical pneumonia"). The role of regional epidemiological safety programs, in particular such program as "The prophylaxis of quarantine and natural focal infections and the sanitary protection of the territory of the Southern Federal District of the Russian Federation from the import and spread infectious diseases in 2003-2005", has been substantiated.     

Epidemiological situation on anthrax in the regions of the Southern Federal District in connection with the flood in June 2002

Data on the epidemiological situation in anthrax in the regions of the Southern Federal District, situated in the zone of inundation, are presented. In 2002 no epidemic complications in anthrax were noted in the affected territories. The causes contributing to the appearance of anthrax cases among humans and animals are presented. Recommendations on the improvement of anti-epidemic measures are given.     

Sanitary and epidemiological provision of the personnel of the units and border formations of the North Caucasus Regional Command of the Border Guard Service of the Russian Federation

The factors affecting the environment of servicemen doing their duties in connection with the task of guarding the state frontier of the Russian Federation are presented. The main trends in the activity of the sanitary and epidemiological service, carried out under regular conditions and the period of the liquidation of the consequences of high floods in the Southern Federal District in 2002 with the aim of preventing the aggravation of the epidemical situation, were shown to be determined, and the corresponding measures taken, in due time, thus making it possible to prevent the growth of morbidity in enteric and other infections among the personnel of the units and formations of the North Caucasian Regional Command of the Federal Frontier-Guard Service of the Russian Federation.     

Epidemiologic situation in the quarantine of natural focal infections in the Southern Federal District

Materials on the situation in quarantine natural focal infections (anthrax, plague, tularemia, brucellosis, leptospirosis, etc.) in the Southern Federal District are presented. Experience in the provision of the epidemic safety in the above-mentioned diseases, based on the systematic surveillance on the activity of epizootological factors on the territory of the natural foci of infections, are described. The causes of the possible aggravation of the epidemiological situation in a number of nosological forms in connection with changes in natural and socio-economic factors are given. The results of the realization of regional programs, making it possible to improve the system interaction between the administrative territories, services and departments aimed at ensuring the epidemiological safety of the region, are shown.     

Exoskeleton anomalies in taiga tick males from populations of the Asian part of Russia

Variation of the exoskeleton is described for 2630 males of the taiga tick Ixodes persulcatus Schulze, 1930 collected by flagging from vegetation in the Far Eastern, Siberian, and Ural Federal Districts of Russia. Two types of conscutum anomalies were found to be prevalent in all the samples. Exoskeleton anomalies were less frequently recorded in the Far Eastern Federal District than in the Siberian and Ural Federal Districts: 6.5 ± 1.05, 29.7 ± 1.03, and 25.8 ± 3.93%, respectively. The observed phenotypic variation seems to be unrelated to anthropogenic impact. In the meridional direction, the taiga tick samples with different frequencies of exoskeleton anomalies correspond to two races of the species.     

Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever in southern Russia

At the end of the 20th--the beginning of the 21st century activation of a natural focus of Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever (CCHF) in southern Russia was noted. As a consequence, in 2002 outbreaks and sporadic cases of this disease were registered on the territory of 6 out of 13 administrative units of the Southern Federal District. To minimize the epidemiological consequences of the aggravating epidemiological situation considerable efforts and means were required from health care organs and institutions of the state sanitary and epidemiological service, including essential financial expenditures. The results of natural foci of CCHF survey, obtained by 2002, as well as main trends of prophylactic and antiepidemic interventions are presented. Scientific research and practical observations made it possible to work out a number of methodological regulations concerning the diagnostics, treatment and prophylaxis of CCHF.     

Growth and development in school-age children from Rostov region,Russia: Comparison between urban and rural settings

The purposes of the current study were: (1) to describe growth and physical development and establish norms for schoolchildren from Rostov region in Russia; (2) to compare major characteristics of development between urban and rural children by sex and age.Nearly 200,000 children (198,712) aged between 7 and 17 years from 232 urban and rural schools of Rostov region (Southern Federal District of Russia) participated in the study. School age is a period of intensive growth and physiological and psychological development. Irregularities of personal development are caused by a multitude of factors, such as sex differences, heredity, socio-economic status of a family, standard of living, particular environmental conditions, and lifestyle.It has been established that children from the Southern Federal District of Russia had body mass index values higher than age-appropriate norms for all Russians (Total Russian, Rudnev et al., 2014) and World Health Organization charts. Children from urban settings were taller and heavier than children from rural settings.Sex is one of the most influential factors which play key role in determining specific characteristics of growth and personal development. According to our results, boys and girls both had similar age-related changes in weight and height, but their respective dynamics differed. Girls’ height and weight values accelerated at the age 10 to 12 years and plateaued after the age fourteen, whereas in boys height and weight steadily increased with age, showing slight acceleration at the age 12 to 13 years, and reached a plateau by the age of seventeen.     

Exoskeleton anomalies in taiga tick females from populations of the Asian part of Russia

Geographic variation of exoskeleton anomalies in females of the taiga tick Ixodes persulcatus Schulze, 1930 is described in populations of the Asian part of Russia. The total material examined comprised 3872 females collected by the flagging method from vegetation in the Far Eastern, Siberian, and Ural Federal Districts of Russia. Exoskeleton anomalies were found in all the populations studied, the “shagreen skin” anomaly of the scutum being prevalent in all the localities. Anomalies were significantly more frequent (63.4 ± 3.39%) in females collected north of 55°N than in those collected in more southern localities of the Siberian Federal District (33.1 ± 3.43%). At the same time, the frequency of anomalies was lower (24.4 ± 1.93%) in females from the Far Eastern Federal District than in specimens from territories with an extreme continental climate. The variation in the females’ exoskeleton structure observed in the Asian part of Russia may reflect the natural phenogeographic variability rather than result from anthropogenic impact.     

Demographic, social, and economic effects on Mexican causes of death in 1990

This study examined spatial geographic patterns of cause of death and 28 demographic and socioeconomic influences on causes of death for 31 Mexican states plus the Federal District for 1990. Mortality data were obtained from the state death registration system and are age standardized. The 28 socioeconomic variables were obtained from Census records. Analysis included 2 submodels: one with all 28 socioeconomic variables in a stepwise regression, and one with each of the 4 groups of factors. The conceptual model is based on epidemiological transition theory and empirical findings. There are 4 stages in mortality decline. Effects are grouped as demographic, sociocultural, economic prosperity, and housing, health, and crime factors. Findings indicate that cancer and cardiovascular disease were strongly correlated and consistently high in border areas as well as the Federal District and Jalisco. Respiratory mortality had higher values in the Federal District, Puebla, and surrounding states, as well as Jalisco. The standardized total mortality rate was only in simple correlations associated inversely with underemployment. All cause specific mortality was associated with individual factors. Respiratory mortality was linked with manufacturing work force. Cardiovascular and cancer mortality were associated with socioeconomic factors. In submodel I, cause specific mortality was predicted by crowding, housing characteristics, marriage and divorce, and manufacturing work force. In submodel II, economic group factors had the strongest model fits explaining 33-60% of the "r" square. Hypothesized effects were only partially validated.     

俄罗斯东部城镇化与生态环境协调发展的时空演变特征

以俄罗斯东部地区为对象,结合PES和PSR模型分别构建其城镇化和生态环境的评价指标体系,结合熵值赋权、变异系数赋权的综合确权法测算城镇化和生态环境的发展水平,利用耦合协调度模型探讨二者协调发展程度,划分其阶段类型。研究表明：2005-2018年,（1）俄东部城镇化发展水平呈上升趋势,经济城镇化的贡献份额最大;生态环境发展水平呈小幅下降态势,生态环境压力的影响作用最大;二者的耦合协调度呈增长趋势,但整体处于基本不协调阶段,其内部由城镇化滞后转变为系统均衡发展。（2）西伯利亚联邦区的城镇化发展水平高于远东联邦区,二联邦区生态环境发展水平差距较小,西伯利亚区协调发展程度略强于远东区;西伯利亚区内部由城镇化滞后→系统均衡发展,远东区内部始终为城镇化滞后。多数联邦主体处于基本不协调阶段、高级协调的数量最少。（3）空间上,城镇化、生态环境、二者协调发展度均呈"西高东低"的格局特征,核心高值区分布在新西伯利亚州-阿尔泰边疆区-克麦罗沃州-克拉斯诺亚尔斯克边疆区-伊尔库茨克州的串联区,边缘低值区位于阿尔泰共和国和楚科奇自治区。最后探讨了促进俄东部城镇化和生态环境协调发展的具体对策。     

Comparative study of the zooplankton composition of six lacustrine ecosystems in central Brazil during the dry season

Zooplankton community from six lacustrine ecosystems located in Federal District (Central Brazil) was studied based on samples collected during the dry season (July to September). A total of 71 taxa were recorded: 44 rotifers, 17 cladocerans and 10 copepods. The highest number of zooplankton species was recorded in oligotrophic Bonita Pond (32 species) and the lowest number in hypertrophic waste stabilisation ponds (7 species). This tendency of decreasing the diversity with increasing trophic level was consistent with a cluster analysis of the samples based on Sorensen index of similarity. From the overall similarity dendrogram, two groups of ecosystems were distinguished: one containing the natural ponds Bonita and Formosa and the other comprising the reservoirs Santa Maria, Descoberto and Paranoá. The role of morphometric features in determining the zooplankton community in such lacustrine ecosystems was also discussed.     

Law-medicine interfacing: patenting of human genes and mutations

Mutations, Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs), deletions and genetic rearrangements in specific genes in the human genome account for not only our physical characteristics and behavior, but can lead to many in-born and acquired diseases. Such changes in the genome can also predispose people to cancers, as well as significantly affect the metabolism and efficacy of many drugs, resulting in some cases in acute toxicity to the drug. The testing of the presence of such genetic mutations and rearrangements is of great practical and commercial value, leading many of these genes and their mutations/deletions and genetic rearrangements to be patented. A recent decision by a judge in the Federal District Court in the Southern District of New York, has created major uncertainties, based on the revocation of BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene patents, in the eligibility of all human and presumably other gene patents. This article argues that while patents on BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes could be challenged based on a lack of utility, the patenting of the mutations and genetic rearrangements is of great importance to further development and commercialization of genetic tests that can save human lives and prevent suffering, and should be allowed.     

Quantitative assessment of anthrax vaccine immunogenicity using the dried blood spot matrix

The collection, processing and transportation to a testing laboratory of large numbers of clinical samples during an emergency response situation present significant cost and logistical issues. Blood and serum are common clinical samples for diagnosis of disease. Serum preparation requires significant on-site equipment and facilities for immediate processing and cold storage, and significant costs for cold-chain transport to testing facilities. The dried blood spot (DBS) matrix offers an alternative to serum for rapid and efficient sample collection with fewer on-site equipment requirements and considerably lower storage and transport costs. We have developed and validated assay methods for using DBS in the quantitative anti-protective antigen IgG enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), one of the primary assays for assessing immunogenicity of anthrax vaccine and for confirmatory diagnosis of Bacillus anthracis infection in humans. We have also developed and validated high-throughput data analysis software to facilitate data handling for large clinical trials and emergency response.     

Molecular genetic analysis for taxonomic determination of fossil skull fragments of Warendorf-Neuwarendorf

The isolation and examination DNA segments from prehistoric and fossil bone samples has become one of the biggest challenges in anthropology within the past years. By using specially developed and/or adapted genetic methods, it is possible under laboratory conditions to amplify portions of DNA from bone remains in states of good preservation by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR). DNA sequence data can provide far more specific answers to palaeanthropological questions than one would expect solely by morphologic comparison. Here we introduce an alternative approach for the classification of total ancient DNA by means of Southern hybridisation techniques.     

Laboratory diagnostics in community-acquired pneumonia outbreak investigation in town Verkhnyaya Pyshma

Data on laboratory study of 367 clinical samples from patients with community-acquired pneumonia diagnosis, 70 samples of cold and hot water from the systems of cold and hot water supply, 15 samples of technical water, 4 samples from open basins, 35 lavage samples from environmental objects, which came to laboratory of control for biological factors in Center of Hygiene and Epidemiology in Sverdlovsk region during outbreak pneumonia caused by Legionella in town Verkhnyaya Pyshma in July-August 2007, were presented. Procedure for laboratory diagnostics was developed, complex of laboratory methods considering the pressure of time in outbreak situation was determined.     

Hierarchical genetic structure in fragmented populations of the Little Pocket Mouse (Perognathus longimembris) in Southern California

The geographic genetic structure, based onsequence variation of an 810 base pair fragmentof the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene,is described for populations of five subspeciesof the Little Pocket Mouse, Perognathuslongimembris, from Southern California. Oneof these, P. l. pacificus (Pacific PocketMouse), is listed as Endangered by the U.S.Federal Government. Sixty-two uniquehaplotypes were recovered from 99 individualssampled. Phylogenetic analyses of thesevariants do not identify regionallyreciprocally monophyletic lineages concordantwith the current subspecies designations, butmost haplotypes group by subspecies in networksgenerated by either statistical parsimony ormolecular variance parsimony. Moreover, asubstantial proportion of the total pool ofhaplotype variation is attributed to thesesubspecies, or to local populations withingeographic segments of each, indicating theirrelative evolutionary independence. The pooledextant populations of the endangered PacificPocket Mouse exhibit the same levels ofnucleotide and haplotype diversity as other,presumptively less-impacted populations ofadjacent subspecies, although the sample fromDana Point, Orange County, has markedly lowhaplotype diversity in comparison to allothers. These populations also show a geneticsignature of population expansion rather thanone of decline. Both pieces of evidence are atodds with current empirical populationestimates, which reinforces the fact thatpresent-day patterns of genetic diversity arethe product of coalescent history and will notnecessarily reflect recent anthropogenic, orother, perturbations. Comparison of haplotypevariation within and among extant populationsof the Pacific Pocket Mouse with those obtainedfrom museum samples collected more than 70years ago suggests that the pattern ofpopulation differentiation and diversity was inplace before the post-World War II exponentialurbanization of Southern California.     

Conservation genetics of maned wolves in a highly impacted area of the Brazilian Cerrado biome

Maned wolves are large canids currently considered vulnerable to extinction due to habitat loss. They are still commonly found within the urban mesh inside the Brazilian Federal District (Distrito Federal—DF), in nearby Protected Areas (PAs), and in surrounding farms. We evaluated the genetic diversity of maned wolves in three PAs of the DF, using both invasive and noninvasive techniques to obtain DNA that was later amplified for five microsatellite markers. We sampled 23 wolves: 10 with the noninvasive method, three captured in traps, six road-killed, and four rescued in urban areas. In águas Emendadas Ecological Station (ESECAE) we also used samples from six specimens captured between 1997 and 1998 for a temporal comparison. For maned wolves, non-invasive techniques are affordable and easier to conduct in the field, while laboratory costs are much lower for invasive samples. Hence, a sampling strategy combining both techniques may provide an interesting approach for molecular ecology studies requiring comprehensive coverage of local individuals. On the basis of such integrated sampling scheme, our analyses indicated that none of the investigated populations currently present deviations from Hardy–Weinberg expectations or indication of inbreeding. Furthermore, in ESECAE there was no reduction in genetic diversity during the last 9 years. Overall, maned wolves did not present evidence of genetic structuring among the three sampled PAs. These results thus indicate that individual exchange among PAs is still occurring at sufficient rates to avoid differentiation, and/or that the recent fragmentation in the region has not yet produced measurable effects in the genetic diversity of maned wolves.