Background: Departmental statistical observation forms of the Russian Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Well-Being (Rospotrebnadzor), along with the data of the Federal Information Fund for Public Health Monitoring, are an important source of information not only for evaluating the effectiveness of the Service and assessing prevented losses to public health, but also for preparing analytical reports of various levels. Their results depend, inter alia, on changes in the structure and contents of these forms.
Objective: To analyze variability and sustainability of statistical form data as input parameters for evaluating the effectiveness and efficiency of Rospotrebnadzor activities aimed to ensure sanitary and epidemiological well-being of the Russian population in 2017–2023.
Materials and Methods: We conducted a retrospective comparative analysis of structural units (rows and columns) of Rospotrebnadzor departmental statistical observation forms Nos. 18, 1, 1-control, and 13 taking into account regulatory changes in the field of sanitary and epidemiological well-being made in 2017 to 2023.
Results: Transformation of the regulatory framework during the study period amended the structure and content of the Rospotrebnadzor forms of statistical reporting under consideration. General trends towards a shift in control and supervisory activities towards an increase in the volume of preventive measures (the rate of decrease in the number of control and supervisory measures taken in 2023 compared to 2019 was 80.8 %), expansion and detailing of analyzed indicators (over 900 structural indicators were added or renamed), and a decrease in the volume of some data lead to a change in variability and sustainability of statistical data used as the main source of information for a wide range of analytical tasks.
Conclusions: Our findings show that revisions of reporting forms lead to changes in the dynamic series of long-term data, thus affecting the results of various solutions to analytical tasks. Recommendations are given for planning works associated with the restructuring of models of cause-and-effect relationships within the triple system of “Rospotrebnadzor Activities – Environmental Quality – Public Health”.

Introduction: The Clean Air Federal Project aims at a significant improvement of the quality of life of the population residing in cities with high and very high ambient air pollution through the mechanism of mandatory emission quotation.
Objective: To test the algorithm and mathematical apparatus for selecting quota objects based on health risk criteria.
Materials and Methods: The study object was the city of Chita. Calculations of ground-level air concentrations of more than 100 chemicals at 15 thousand points of the residential territory (188 industrial facilities, 28 thousand sources of autonomous heat supply, 391 sections of the street network) using the “Ecologist–City” software were performed. Carcinogenic, acute and chronic non-carcinogenic health risks were assessed using a standardized procedure. At each point and in the city as a whole, contribution of each chemical and each subject to human health risks was determined.
Results: A list of 29 business entities and other emission sources contributing the most to the inhalation risk and recommended for inclusion in the list of quota objects has been formed. For each object, a list of chemicals has been created, in respect of which it is advisable to develop measures to reduce, including within the framework of directive regulation. It has been shown that there is no validity of the mandatory reduction of emissions of priority substances on all objects. At the same time, some objects excluded from quotation make significant contributions to unacceptable health risks. It is advisable to include them in the list of regulated facilities.
Conclusions: The targeted emission reduction at facilities making the greatest contribution to violations of hygienic standards and health risks will most effectively mitigate the threat to citizens’ health. The transition from imposed emission reduction to the targeted planning of air protection measures appears both relevant and justified. Quantitative parameters of the required reduction in emissions should be adequate to the contributions of sources and chemicals to air pollution and unacceptable health risks.

Introduction: Activities of space industry facilities are often associated with the use of highly toxic components of liquid rocket fuel, which makes them a potential source of adverse impact on the environment.
Objective: To conduct a comprehensive hygienic assessment of environmental conditions in the vicinity of a space industry enterprise.
Materials and Methods: The assessment was carried out for the years 2018–2023 based on environmental quality monitoring results of the industry and public health surveillance data collected by Interregional Directorate No. 91 of the Russian Federal Biomedical Agency and the Office of the Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Well-Being (Rospotrebnadzor) in the Sverdlovsk Region.
Results: Pollution of the atmospheric air, soil, and river water with rocket fuel components and their transformation products was not established. Elevated iron and manganese concentrations in both surface and ground waters and high turbidity levels were natural. Nitrate concentrations in water samples taken from the urban well were up to 1.2 MAC. Due to the lack of water treatment facilities, the quality of tap water was determined primarily by its composition in the water supply source. The soil of the urban residential area was found to be contaminated with zinc (up to 4.0 MAC), manganese (up to 1.5 MAC), nickel (up to 2.7 MAC), cadmium (up to 1.2 MAC), and benzo(a)pyrene (up to 2,220 MAC).
Conclusions: The economic activity of the major hazard facility does not have a significant negative impact on the state of atmospheric air, soil, and surface water bodies. High nitrate concentrations measured in well water samples may indicate the effect of the industry on groundwater quality.

Introduction: When inhaled, fine particles can cause significant structural and functional changes at the cellular and subcellular levels. Despite ongoing studies of the interaction of particles with individual proteins, changes in the properties of fine mixtures in more complex environments have been poorly studied.
Objective: To establish transformation of fine particles from a mining and metallurgical enterprise in a culture medium containing biologically active molecules.
Materials and Methods: Fine particles smaller than 1 μm (PM1) were used for the experiment. Physical parameters of the initial particles and those after 1, 24, 168, 336, and 744 hours of exposure to the culture medium were measured by dielectrophoresis using an IG-1000 Plus nanoparticle size analyzer (Shimadzu, Japan). The culture medium consisted of bovine blood serum and the Igla minimum essential medium (Igla-MEM) with Earle’s salts and glutamine.
Results: Compared to other time intervals, we established a decrease in the size distribution ranges of fine particles (from 13.04 to 44.52 and from 17.54 to 110.64 nm), an increase in the specific surface area (up to 0.28 and 0.16 nm2/nm3) and diffusion coefficients (up to 2.33 × 10–14 and 1.34 × 10–14 cm2/s) after 168 and 336 hours of exposure to the culture medium, respectively. The distribution ranges, mean size values, specific surface area, and geometric shape of the particles were almost the same before and after the experiment.
Conclusions: The study of solubility of PM1 in an in vitro experiment showed the interplay between fine particles and the components of the culture medium manifested by changes in the physical parameters of the particles over a period of 1 to 744 hours. Time-dependent shifts in the size, shape, specific surface area, and diffusion coefficients of the particles were revealed.

Introduction: Diet quality is a key factor in physical and mental development of children. To assess it, special indices that take into account age-specific needs, national dietary guidelines, and eating habits are being developed worldwide. This article provides an overview of the main diet quality indices for children, methods of their construction, advantages and limitations.
Objective: To analyze various diet quality indices used globally to evaluate diets of the pediatric population.
Material and Methods: The search for publications on the development of diet quality indices, their substantiation and analysis was done in PubMed, Elsevier, Science Daily, and ResearchGate databases using the following keywords: childhood nutrition, children’s diet quality, healthy eating index for children, HEI–Toddlers, KIDMED, DDS for children, and MAD. We have reviewed 42 foreign and eight Russian scientific papers on the topic published in 2004–2025, of which 29 were issued after January 1, 2020.
Results: This review examines six key indices used in foreign practice to assess children’s diet quality based on food consumption data, namely, the Healthy Eating Index (HEI), Diet Quality Index for Children (DQI-C), Mediterranean Diet Quality Index (KIDMED), Dietary Diversity Score (DDS), and Minimal Acceptable Diet (MAD).
Conclusions: The Healthy Eating Index is suitable for monitoring at the national level while DQI-C with its more flexible scoring system is appropriate for comprehensive diet quality analysis in local studies. KIDMED evaluates adherence to the Mediterranean dietary pattern among children whereas DDS focuses on dietary diversity.

Introduction: Cleaning of the indoor environment with probiotic agents is an evolving environmentally friendly disinfection technology aimed at improving epidemiological and hygienic conditions by displacing pathogenic microflora from environmental objects with probiotic cultures.
Objective: To develop and validate the methodology for an automated probiotic cleaning of indoor environment using Bacillus spp. designed for a modern network software and hardware complex based on the Internet of Things system and to test it under simulating real-life application conditions on laboratory animals.
Materials and Methods: Having reviewed 32 literature sources, we estimated the regimen for automated probioticbased purification and tested the new technique in a 40 m3 closed experimental chamber. The solution of a commercial probiotic of Bacillus spp. was sprayed using an adiabatic humidifier connected to the control module of the Internet of Things system. We established the antimicrobial efficacy of cleaning using standard microbiological testing methods and evaluated health effects using integral indicators of the functional state and changes in gut microbiota in laboratory rats.
Results: We developed and substantiated the methodology for automated probiotic cleaning of indoor environment using Bacillus spp. To clean a 40 m3 room, 273 mL of the Bacillus-based probiotic cleanser containing (2.8 ± 0.4) × 10³ CFU/mL of microorganisms should be sprayed hourly for 28 days. Testing of this automated mode proved the reduction in the surface bioburden of Enterococcus spp. and Staphylococcus spp. with no excessive growth of Bacillus spp. No adverse health effects were observed in laboratory animals. The probiotic demonstrated anticlostridial activity in the large intestine of rats.
Conclusions: The developed and validated new methodology of automated probiotic-based cleaning of the indoor environment has undergone real-life scenario testing. Basic data on its impact on indoor pathogens and some physiological parameters of laboratory animals were collected.

Introduction: The wide distribution of ixodid ticks and their ability to preserve and transmit pathogens of many viral and bacterial infections determine the relevance of this study.
Objective: To characterize the structure and prevalence of genetic markers of vector-borne pathogens in Dermacentor reticulatus and Ixodes persulcatus ticks collected from vegetation in the Tyumen Region and in the middle taiga subzone of the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug.
Materials and Methods: We conducted a retrospective 16-year analysis covering the epidemic seasons of the years 2004, 2007–2011, 2013, 2015–2018, and 2021–2025 and including 5,473 adult taiga (I. persulcatus (n = 2,742)) and meadow (D. reticulatus (n = 2,731)) ticks collected from vegetation in the Tyumen Region and the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug by flagging. Tick species and sex were established. The presence of genetic markers of tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV), ixodid tick-borne borreliosis (ITBB), human monocytic ehrlichiosis (HME), and human granulocytic anaplasmosis (HGA) was detected in unpooled ticks using the polymerase chain reaction. We calculated long-term rates, analyzed nominal variables using the Pearson’s χ² test, visualized and systematized data in Microsoft Excel. Statistical analysis was performed using licensed IBM SPSS Statistics 22.0.
Results: The long-term study of ixodid ticks showed that D. reticulatus ticks were usually found in urbanized areas and parks of the Tyumen city, less often in the subtaiga and northern forest-steppe subzones. I. persulcatus ticks prevailed in the southern taiga subzone of the Tyumen Region and the middle taiga of the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug. In 2015, taiga ticks were found in Tyumen for the first time. Females and males dominated among I. persulcatus and D. reticulatus ticks, respectively. We observed markers of HME in 27.8 % and those of ITBB in 26.8 % of the taiga ticks collected in the northern forest-steppe subzone. Borrelia and anaplasma DNAs were detected in 1.8 % and 0.4 % of the meadow ticks collected in Tyumen. The ITBB DNA was found in 59.5 %, HME DNA in 14.6 %, HGA in 16.4 %, and TBEV RNA in 5.9 % of the I. persulcatus ticks collected in the southern taiga subzone while those collected in the middle taiga zone usually contained ITBB DNA (46.5 %), HME DNA (15.7 %), and TBEV RNA (7.1 %).
Conclusions: The findings demonstrate the leading role of I. persulcatus ticks in maintaining the epidemic activity of natural foci in the northern forest-steppe and southern taiga zones of the Tyumen Region and the middle taiga subzone of the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug.

Introduction: Under the influence of sublethal stress, non-spore-forming bacteria (including Salmonella spp.) are able to form dormant cellular phenotypes that do not grow on traditional differential diagnostic media.
Objective: To study the possibility of Salmonella Enteritidis changing the phenotype from vegetative to dormant upon seawater exposure.
Materials and Methods: Salmonella Enteritidis / food / Primorsky_krai_Artyem / S-28390 / 2024 (38.0 : 1.4) strain (VGARus ID prim001916) was incubated for 40 days in parallel in sterile saline solution and sterilized seawater to establish the possibility of transforming the vegetative phenotype into a dormant one. The reversal of the dormant phenotype to the vegetative one was carried out by alimentary infestation of laboratory mice previously verified for the absence of Salmonella infection. In addition to standard bacteriological methods, we used plasmidomic analysis, real-time polymerase chain reaction for DNA detection of Salmonella, and genome-wide next-generation sequencing (NGS).
Results: We found that long-term incubation in seawater triggered the mechanism of transformation of the vegetative phenotype of S. Enteritidis into a dormant one. Similar incubation of S. Enteritidis but in saline solution did not cause such a transformation, bacterial cells naturally died in the absence of nutrients, but the remaining viable cells did not become dormant. Reversion to the vegetative phenotype occurred after passage of the dormant form in orally inoculated laboratory mice. The identity of the genomes of the strains in the dormant state used for alimentary infestation of the mice and in the vegetative state obtained after passage was confirmed by a 99.8 % NGS contig match.
Conclusions: As an abiotic factor, sterilized seawater can trigger the mechanism of S. Enteritidis vegetative to dormant phenotype transformation. This requires detailing of hygienic requirements for recreational areas of seacoasts in terms of developing methods for detection of pathogenic bacteria with a dormant phenotype.

Introduction: The Khabarovsk Krai is home to multiple natural foci of tick-borne diseases noted for persistence and cyclicity. Of its 19 administrative territories, 16 are endemic for tick-borne encephalitis and other tick-borne diseases. In view of the above, monitoring of abundance, species composition, and infection rates in ixodid ticks is an essential element of epidemiological surveillance of this group of infections.
Objective: To analyze infection rates in embedded ixodid ticks removed from humans in the Khabarovsk Krai in 2017–2024.
Materials and Methods: In order to establish infection rates in ticks during the epidemic season (April–October) of the years 2017 to 2024, we tested 16,863 engorged ixodid ticks removed from humans in the Khabarovsk Krai. The enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was used to detect the tick-borne encephalitis virus antigen while the real-time polymerase chain reaction detected the DNA of Borrelia, Rickettsia, Ehrlichia, and Anaplasma. Real-time RT-PCR was used as a nucleic acid amplification test.
Results: Of the ticks tested, 76.0 % were of the genus Ixodes, 7.6 % were of the genus Haemaphysalis, 3.1 % were of the genus Dermacentor, and 13.3 % were ticks of unspecified genus. Genetic material of tick-borne pathogens including B. burgdorferi s.l. complex was detected in 39.2 %, B. miyamati DNA – in 6.6 %, A. phagocytophilum DNA – in 6.2 %, E. muris / E. chaffeensis DNA – in 5.72 %, R. sibirica DNA – in 0.4 %, and R. heilongjiangensis DNA – in 21.5 % of the samples. Multiple (four or more) tick-borne pathogens were a more frequent finding in ixodid ticks.
Conclusion: Results of the annual monitoring of infection rates in ixodid ticks prove the presence and activity of combined natural foci of tick-borne diseases in the Khabarovsk Krai.