Our objective was to study indicators and structure of primary disability due to malignant neoplasms among persons of retirement age in 2012-2018 and to determine the patterns of its formation. Material and methods: The continuous research was based on data of the Unified Automated Vertically Integrated Information and Analytical System for Medical and Social Expert Evaluation for 2012-2018, “7-Sobes” statistical reports, and statistical compilations of the Federal Bureau of Medical and Social Expert Evaluation of the Russian Ministry of Labor. The methods applied included data copying, descriptive statistics, analytical and comparative analysis, calculation of the mean error and statistical significance. Results: The study of primary disability rates due to malignant neoplasms among people of retirement age in Moscow in 2012-2018 showed that the number of people first recognized as disabled increased up to 13,827 people (+77.8%). This finding could be related to the increase in the number of people of retirement age by 21.2% in Moscow during the period under review. As for the severity of disability, then people with grade II disability prevailed but their specific weight and the rate of primary disability tended to decrease. At the same time, we observed an increase in the specific weight of disabled people of Grade III. The five-year survival rate of cancer patients increased by 30% from 51% to 65.4% in 2011-2018, and so did the proportion of cases detected in early stages. Conclusions: Disability caused by malignant neoplasms among the elderly in Moscow in 2012-2018 was characterized by an increase in the number of people first recognized as disabled from 7,782 to 13,827 people (+77.8%) and an increase in their specific weight from 59.4% to 61.3% (60.6% on the average) in the structure of those first recognized as disabled from these causes. An increase in the rate of primary disability from 27.7 ± 0.5 to 40.6 ± 1.3, averaging 30.2 ± 0.5, was also observed but it remained lower than that in the Central Federal District and the Russian Federation as a whole.

Introduction: The objective of the study was to characterize subjective perception of environmental, climatic and anthropogenic health risk factors by indigenous and non-indigenous urban population of the Far North. Materials and methods: In summer-autumn 2019, we conducted a questionnaire-based survey (n=446) in two cities of the Russian Far North to establish the main features of public perception of environmental, climatic and anthropogenic health risk factors. Results: We established that one third of the respondents described northern climatic conditions as “severe” or “rather severe” without any marked differences in opinion between groups of respondents formed by criteria of age, sex, and nativity. The specific local features perceived as having the most adverse health effects included the polar night, atmospheric pressure and temperature fluctuations, and strong winds. A significantly more negative perception and harder adaptation to the climate of the Far North were typical of all women and non-indigenous people. They were also more persevering in self-preservation to minimize adverse health effects of the local factors and practiced compliance with daily living routines, diet control, vitamin intake, etc. Conclusions: We found that adverse climatic conditions, high levels of anthropogenic contamination in the northern urban areas, and the resulting worries about children's health were the leading “push-out” factors of migration. Pronounced migration intentions were noted among both the locally born and bred people and the migrants. We also observed no significant differences between those groups in ranking the importance of climatic and anthropogenic factors in decision to leave.

Introduction: The petrochemical industry is significant in terms of potential hazard to human health. The objectives of the study were to assess the risk of overheating of the open-air oil production and treatment plant operators working in the subarid area and to develop a set of preventive measures aimed at optimizing the thermal state of workers. Materials and methods: We studied working conditions of crude oil treatment operators of two groups: desalination and dehydration unit operators and loading operators. To establish the workers' thermal state we measured their body temperature at five skin points along with the rectal temperature and estimated the weighted average skin temperature, the average body temperature, heat content, and heat sensations. Results: We found that in summer time crude oil desalination and dehydration unit operators and loading operators spent 52-54% of the shift time in the open air being exposed to high air temperatures. The average shift value of the heat load index allowed us to classify their working conditions as class 3.2 and to justify the factor of hot occupational environment as a leading occupational risk factor. The effect of high ambient temperatures was intermittent. Two variants of the heating microclimate, identical in general shift heat load, but with different intermittent modes and average duration of a single exposure to high temperatures, caused different degrees of tension of the thermoregulatory mechanisms of desalination and dehydration unit operators and loading operators. Conclusion: We proved the risk of disturbance of the thermal state of operators of crude oil production and treatment facilities located in the subarid area that was higher for loading operators and could be interpreted as “high”.

Background: The analysis of temporal changes in the value of occupational risk for workers based on evolutionary models helps predict long-term effects of occupational factors and develop effective preventive measures. The objective of our study was to test application of evolutionary modeling to assessing the relationship between prevalence rates of occupational and occupation-related diseases in workers induced by various factors of occupational environment and work processes. Materials and methods: We made epidemiological assessment of the association between workers' health and working conditions in compliance with the requirements of Guidelines R 2.2.1766-03. The parameters of paired mathematical models constructed for different exposure levels were used for risk evolution models accounting for accumulation of functional changes attributed to external causes. Results and discussion: The results of risk evolution modeling showed that 20 years of high occupational noise exposures exceeding the maximum permissible level posed a very high risk of developing sensorineural hearing loss by the age of 48, this risk being high and moderate in the age ranges of 36-47 and 24-35, respectively. According to the same model, 20-year-long high occupational vibration exposures exceeding the maximum permissible level posed a moderate risk of developing diseases of the musculoskeletal system and connective tissue in workers aged 46-65. The risk of developing diseases of the nervous system posed by xylene exposures below the maximum permissible level was assessed as negligible.

Introduction: To solve the tasks of preventing occupational diseases in workers of the mining industry, it is important to substantiate physiological indicators of tension of the regulatory systems of the human body under the negative impact of industrial noise and neuro-emotional work intensity and to assess the effectiveness of hearing personal protective equipment (PPE). Our objective was to identify physiological characteristics of adverse functional changes in workers of various professions in the mining industry exposed to the combined effect of occupational noise and work intensity to substantiate the use of hearing protection devices. Materials and methods: We studied indicators of concentration of attention, short-term memory, speed of perception of visual and auditory signals, and the index of functional changes in the circulatory system reflecting negative effects of occupational noise exposure combined with work intensity on the central nervous and cardiovascular systems. We assessed occupational noise exposure by the equivalent sound level on the A-scale of a sound level meter per shift, work intensity, and conducted physiological studies of mining industry employees. Results: In miners, we established a 5.6-fold decrease in concentration of attention from the initial level and a 5.9-fold increase in the index of functional changes in the circulatory system compared with operators of robotic complexes, in which all indicators varied within the physiological norm. The maximum change in the parameters indicates the work tension that was the most pronounced in miners. The same extent of workplace stress was observed in operators of mineral processing plants and engineering and technical staff exposed to similar noise levels (60-70 dB, sometimes exceeding 90 dBA), while the lowest one was observed in the operators of robotic complexes, thus indicating maintenance of a sufficient level of working capacity during the work shift. The estimated miners index of functional changes in the circulatory system (2.69±0.08 points) demonstrated the state of functional stress. The individual analysis indicateda significant percentage of people with reduced unsatisfactory adaptation and the state of its failure (3.0±0.05 points) in this very professional group. According to the results of establishing a causal relationship between the increase in the functional tension by indicators of the central nervous system and cardiovascular system and occupational noise levels, emotional stress and adverse shift mode, the workplace stress was justified as a marker of the combined effect of noise and intensity of the work process. Conclusions: A high level of workplace stress accompanied by intensive occupational noise and work intensity factors is an indicator of a decreasing working capacity and development of a prognostically unfavorable functional state of the human body.

Introduction: Fermentation is a biotechnological process of preserving the biological potential of raw materials and transforming them in order to impart new organoleptic properties and to increase nutritional value of the product allowing diversification of daily meals; thus, in some countries fermented products make up a significant part of the human diet. Despite the fact that fermented products are very useful for humans, the fermentation process itself remained rather complicated for reproduction during a long time. Currently, starter cultures are used in industrial production of fermented food products enabling the production of foodstuffs with a guaranteed range of consumer properties. Such species of lactic acid bacteria as Carnobacterium, Enterococcus, Lactobacillus, Lactococcus, Leuconostoc, Oenococcus, Pediococcus, Streptococcus, Tetragenococcus, Vagococcus, and Weissella play the main role in production of fermented food and drinks while L. mesenteroides plays the primary role in starting fermentation of many types of plant materials including cabbage, beet, turnip, cauliflower, green beans, chopped green tomatoes, cucumbers, olives, etc. Objective: To control and manage the industrial fermentation process, it is important to determine the main processes occurring at different stages and the types of lactic acid microorganisms responsible for initiation, continuation and completion of the process. Results: This review shows that, despite the variety of fermentable vegetables, L. mesenteroides species of lactic acid bacteria are of particular importance at the primary heteroenzymatic stage since during this very period the processed raw materials form conditions for inhibiting pathogenic and facultative pathogenic microflora and create optimal environment for subsequent development of targeted microorganisms determining the quality of finished products. Conclusions: When developing food technology, L. mesenteroides species of lactic acid bacteria must be an indispensable component of industrial starter cultures for obtaining final products of consistently high quality.

Introduction: Healthcare-associated infections are of great socio-economic importance and are characterized by a large number of different pathogens. Nontuberculous mycobacteria are ubiquitous microorganisms that can circulate in a medical organization. The purpose of this review of epidemiologic studies was to establish the main features of mycobac-teriosis as a healthcare-associated infection, taking into account the significance of the results and the compliance of the reviewed studies with the criteria of evidence-based medicine. Methods: We did a key word search for “nontuberculous mycobacteria”, “healthcare-associated infections”, and “mycobacteriosis” in several electronic bibliographic databases including Web of Science, PubMed, eLIBRARY, and ResearchGate and selected 127 out of 342 search results. Having analyzed the selected articles, we decided to include 34 of them in this study according to the topic of work. We established that nontuberculous mycobacteria can be found in various objects of health facilities, e.g. water supply systems, medical products and equipment. We also found that mycobacterial infection of nosocomial etiology could have various clinical manifestations (arthritis, keratitis, circulatory and skin diseases, etc.) determined by various aspects, such as heterogeneity of the group of nontuberculous mycobacteria, portals of entry (surgical procedures on various organs and systems of the human body, etc.), pathways of exposure and transmission factors. Resistance of nontuberculous mycobacteria to a number of disinfectants is a special question defining the importance of profound research in terms of ensuring sanitary and anti-epidemic (disinfection) safety within health facilities. Conclusions: Our findings indicate that mycobacterial infection can be considered as a healthcare-associated infection requiring an in-depth assessment from various perspectives including a microbiological monitoring of medical objects, statistical accounting of nosocomial infections, and clinical alertness in the diagnosis of mycobacteriosis by attending physicians and bacteriologists, etc.

Introduction: Hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome is the most common zoonosis in the Samara Region accounting for 90% of all zoonotic disease cases annually. Our objective was to analyze current clinical and epidemiologic data on hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) in the Samara Region. Materials and methods: We conducted an epidemiologic analysis of 1,031 HFRS cases in the Samara Region in 2016-2018. The most epidemically active natural foci of HFRS were the town of Zhigulyovsk with nearby villages, the forest surrounding Samara, and the forest-steppe zone in northeastern areas. The disease was mainly transmitted in the household while cleaning of country houses (34.3%), in the forest (21.0%), suburbs (17.9%), on agricultural grounds (17.3%), in industrial settings (3.4%), and in private fruit and vegetable gardens (1.2%). The majority of HFRS cases (97.7%) were working-age adults. Results: We analyzed the results of clinical examinations of 235 patients treated in the Infectious Disease Clinic of the Samara State Medical University for HFRS of varying severity by disease phases (initial, oliguric, and polyuric). Most patients (68.5%) were admitted to the hospital on the 5th-7th day of the disease (in the beginning of the oliguric phase). The disease was characterized by an acute onset. Hyperthermia with the maximum body temperature of 40.0°C was observed in the initial and oliguric phases (100%), remaining in the phase of polyuria in 58% of severe and 33% of moderate HFRS cases. Upon admission, permanent signs of the disease, especially in severe cases, included intense general weakness, headache, and dry mouth. The headache persisted during polyuria in 68% of the patients. Half of the patients reported lower back pain already at the end of the initial phase (48%) while 93% of cases complained of lumbago during the entire phase of oliguria and the majority - in the polyuric phase (72%). Visual impairment was reported by 52% and 89% of cases with a moderate and severe disease, respectively. The severe clinical course of HFRS was noted for nose and gum bleeding in patients in the initial (about 10%) and oliguric (about 20%) phases.

The objective of the study was to identify patterns of formation of combined natural foci of clonorchiasis, metagonimiasis and nanophyetiasis in the ecosystem of the Amur River, to analyze their structure, and to determine the risk of infection of the population by the pathogens of these invasions. Materials and methods: Landscape, ecological and malacological methods of studying faunal complexes of floodplain reservoirs were used. The study of fish for contamination with trematode metacercariums was carried out by the compressor method. Results: The studies helped characterize combined natural foci of clonorchiasis, metagonimiasis and nanophyetiasis, which were predetermined subject to the existence of a population of two common hosts in conjunction with the population of the pathogen and the formation of parasitocenosis or parasitocenosis of coinciding parasitic systems of “twin species”. In the floodplain-river ecosystem of the middle and lower reaches of the Amur River there remains the risk of infecting the population with the pathogens of these trematodoses when eating fish of various families caught in the river, its tributaries and floodplain reservoirs. Conclusions: The risk of infestation is attributed to loymopotential of the natural foci of these trematodoses. The areas with the highest risk for the population include the zones of removal of pathogens of clonorchiasis, metagonimiasis, and nanophyetiasis such as riverbeds and fairly large reservoirs permanently associated with rivers.

Introduction: The article is devoted to the results of an experimental study of the variability of indicators of the signs of different levels of importance (population, organismal, and molecular genetic) in order to assess the impact of electromagnetic radiation of extremely high frequency (EHF EMR) as one of the physical environmental factors affecting the human body. Materials and methods: The studies were carried out on the laboratory population of Drosophila melanogaster of the wild phenotype line (D-32). The fruit flies were grown in a standard nutrient medium in special vessels at the temperature of 24.0 ± 0.1 °C in a ТС-80М thermostat subject to the necessary conditions. Results: The model genetic object revealed the effects of the factor that determined the patterns of variability of the number of individuals in the population, their body weight and the RNA content in the body depending on the dose of EHF EMR under different forms of its regulation: at the level of functional asymmetry and in the genotype-medium context. Conclusions: It was demonstrated that radiation of extremely high frequency as a factor of natural and anthropogenic origin influencing vital signs of a developing organism requires attention in a comprehensive hygienic assessment of health effects of environmental factors. This approach is necessary in view of the modifying effect of EHF EMR with respect to the viability of individuals reflecting the morphophysiological and molecular genetic state of the parent generation and its offspring.