Introduction: Habitation and the process of adaptation of the population of northern regions to the harsh environment are associated with the development of such syndromes and conditions as polar tension, polar dyspnea, the polar metabolic type, premature aging, and north-related hypertension, and aimed at maintaining homeostasis constancy to ensure full life activity in extreme environmental conditions, it which issues of preserving human health and labor potential remain highly relevant.

Objective: To review published data on physiological and genetic adaptation to adverse climate and environmental stressors and to establish informative genetic markers for assessing adaptabilities of northerners.

Materials and methods: The review includes data of Russian and foreign studies published in Russian and English languages in 1980–2021 and cited in the Pubmed, NCBI, eLIBRARY.RU, Scopus, Web of Science, and RSCI databases. Of 330 articles found, 40 full-text materials were selected for this review based on the following criteria: availability of data on polymorphic variants of genes involved in the genetic adaptation of humans to extreme conditions of the north; availability of data on epidemiology of genes associated with multifactorial diseases most common in the circumpolar zone; availability of data on adverse health effects of environmental factors in northerners, and ethnic features of gene pools of indigenous people and newcomers of the circumpolar zone. Methods of information analysis were applied to summarize the results of studies reviewed.

Results: A strategy for assessing the level of functional reorganization of the human organism in the North is proposed. The article also describes a panel of informative genetic markers selected for a comprehensive assessment of adaptability of northerners, including, inter alia, normal genetic variability of adapting people, with the purpose of creating region-oriented diagnostic maps allowing assessment of total risks of cold-related illnesses for timely correction of the lifestyle and taking preventive and therapeutic measures.

Discussion: In the genetic and epidemiological study of human populations living in extreme environments, it is expedient to use a comprehensive approach that includes personalized, preventive and predictive assessment of medical, psycho-physiological and genetic determinants of the functional state matrix, reflecting the current level of adaptation of northerners.

Introduction: The epidemic process of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) can be managed only through vaccination. Yet, despite the availability of effective immunobiological preparations, health administrators often face a negative attitude of the population, including healthcare professionals, to vaccination.

Objective: To establish commitment of workers of health facilities to vaccination against COVID–19 during different periods of the pandemic using modern online resources and to justify the need to develop effective practices of dealing with communicative risks in the course of vaccination.

Materials and methods: The study was conducted in several successive stages corresponding to five waves of the COVID-19 pandemic in the Russian Federation by means of an online survey of 5,304 health workers using Google Forms. We applied sociological and statistical methods of research.

Results: We observed that the attitude to vaccination against COVID-19 among the employees of health institutions was ambiguous and changed over time demonstrating a gradual increase in adherence to inoculations. The potential risk group with a negative attitude towards vaccination included female nurses and workers of non-medical specialties with less than five years of work experience. An insufficient level of commitment to coronavirus vaccination among the personnel of health facilities has been also noted in other countries, which is a serious problem on a global scale hindering the victory over this novel infection.

Conclusion: We assessed commitment to inoculations against COVID-19 among medical workers using modern online resources and found its inadequate level necessitating effective interventions aimed at awareness raising and training in modern practices of effective communications.

Introduction: Disappointing statistics of the World Health Organization on the growing number of new smokers, including those choosing electronic nicotine delivery systems, requires studies of both social factors and intrinsic subjective motivation to start smoking, where the main role is played by expectations of young people. The article discusses expectations of youth from smoking initiation and those from regular cigarette smoking. It also describes reported expectations and concomitant factors that preceded the initiation of smoking.

Objective: To study the impact of expectations of young adults on smoking initiation.

Materials and methods: An online survey of young people was conducted in January – May 2021 in the city of Khimki, Moscow Region, using Google Forms. All respondents were regular smokers (n = 360, 17–24 years of age; confidence level: 5 %, confidence interval: 95 %; criterion sampling). The study of youth expectations was retrospective and accurate enough in assessing subjective expectations from smoking initiation. Nonparametric statistics (Spearman’s rank correlation) was used for data analysis.

Results: The main reason for initiation of tobacco smoking is a social factor confirming expectations of “feeling like an adult” (78.3 %) in young smokers with the support of friends, where smoking in the company of peers prevails over other occasions of tobacco use (76.6 %). Smoking among young people with little experience is attributed to social dependence, and, above all, social expectations. Consequently, 30.0 % of young adults have a significant potential for quitting smoking. A high social significance of the peers’ perception of the fact of starting smoking as a way to emphasize the overcoming of negative physical expectations was also confirmed. Positive expectations from smoking, such as relaxation and emancipation, significantly exceed negative ones (discomfort and malaise).

Conclusions: Expectations have proved to be a determining factor in initiation of tobacco smoking among young people, which requires a change in the social component of smoking prevention techniques by bringing it to the level of the national idea of a healthy lifestyle (activity and longevity).

Introduction: The medical profession is characterized by high requirements for implementation of activities assessed by the quality of services provided and patient satisfaction with medical care. In this regard, healthcare professionals suffer from high psychological and emotional stress. The proposed COPSOQ III questionnaire contributes to identification and prevention of psychosocial factors affecting health and well-being of medical workers.

Objective: To study international requirements for the order of translation and cultural adaptation of the long version of the COPSOQ III questionnaire on assessment of psychosocial working conditions and health promotion in medical workers in the Russian health care system.

Materials and methods: The questionnaire was compiled in English. It contains 160 questions and criteria for assessing psychosocial working conditions of medical workers. The original version was translated into Russian; after that, back translation and the repeated translation was done for validation purposes and cultural adaptation of the COPSOQ questionnaire in the national health system. According to the recommendations of the COPSOQ International Network for translation and cultural adaptation of the text, we followed stages of validation and coordination of the stage outcomes and the final report.

Results: To assess the linguistic load of the Russian-language version of the long COPSOQ questionnaire, its testing was carried out with participation of ten general practitioners with the positive feedback received.

Introduction: HIV prevention and spread of this infection remain key issues of epidemiology. In this respect, appropriate preventive measures are taken in the Tyumen Region among prisoners, a specific group at risk of HIV infection and spread. In terms of epidemiology, it seems important to analyze HIV awareness among convicts for further elaboration or amendment of preventive actions currently taken in the region for this contingent.
Objective: To assess the level of awareness of HIV risks under conditions of the penitentiary system among prisoners.
Materials and methods: The survey method, descriptive-evaluative, analytical, statistical and epidemiological research methods with the calculation of intensive and extensive indicators are used in the work. The method of collecting primary sociological information is a questionnaire survey (November, 2021) of prisoners by entering answers into the author's questionnaire on paper. HIV-negative prisoners took part in the survey (n = 60; 20-50 years old; CI = 95 %; criterion sample).
Results: The questionnaire-based survey of 60 male prisoners showed that the respondents were confident in a zero risk of HIV infection. Half of them believed that they would never get HIV while 95 % (n = 57) considered prison to be a risk-free zone. Only 63.3 % (n = 38) of the inmates agreed that any sexual intercourse posed a HIV risk. Besides, 73.3 % (n = 44) had never used intravenous drugs (they used non-parenteral drugs or not on a regular basis); 16.6 % (n = 10) favored “light” psychoactive substances or their temporary use. Fifty-five percent (n = 33) of the respondents were unaware of the recommended frequency of HIV testing and 38.8 % (n = 23) of them had been tested for HIV more than a year before the survey. Consequently, the members of the risk group do not realize themselves part of the problem, are poorly informed, and know little about HIV prevention and factors contributing to the spread of this deadly disease.
Conclusions: The social group of prisoners is an important component in containment of the HIV epidemic process in the region. The survey results necessitate improvement of the HIV outreach program in the correctional system.

Introduction: Modern research on occupational medicine has shown that general diseases contribute the most to health deterioration in workers of hazardous industries and significantly affect the timing of the onset of occupational diseases.

Objective: To assess the impact of comorbid disorders on the probability of occupational fluoride toxicity in aluminum production workers.

Materials and methods: The paper describes existing international scales used to assess comorbid disorders and emphasizes the relevance of publications on the comorbidity of workers of hazardous and harmful industries. The comorbidity index was calculated for each of 201 aluminum production workers. Comorbidity index calculations, health indicators, and parameters of working conditions were entered in the electronic database. The article presents a method for determining the probability of occupational disease development using a logistic regression.

Results: A prognostic model was built using a logistic regression and comorbidity indices to determine the influence of human body systems on the probability of developing occupational fluoride poisoning (fluorosis).

Conclusion: Using the logistic regression, we have determined combinations of comorbidity indices having a strongest effect on the probability of fluoride poisoning for prediction and implementation of appropriate preventive measures. To reduce the likelihood of occupational diseases, it is necessary to treat comorbid disorders in workers of harmful industries.

Introduction. In the current variety of regulatory documentation for the characteristics of drinking water, it seems relevant to develop an algorithm for hygienic assessment and classification according to the degree of risk, which ensures compliance with modern methods.

Objective: optimization of risk assessment due to drinking water consumption of centralized water supply systems based on socio-hygienic monitoring data.

Materials and methods. In preparing the algorithm, normative documents were used to assess the risk to public health associated with chronic exposure to sanitary and chemical indicators of drinking water. These include R 2.1.10.1920–04 and MR 2.1. 4.0032–11. The algorithm was developed for three types of risk, which are given in these documents and are possible in the analysis of sanitary and chemical indicators: carcinogenic, non-carcinogenic and organoleptic.

Results. The actions of the preparatory stage of the risk assessment were determined to focus on priority indicators and exclude from the risk assessment those chemical compounds whose determination method does not allow determining the concentration or interferes with its averaging. The variability in the assessment of non-carcinogenic risk due to differences in the values of safe doses/concentrations, the procedure for calculating risk values and their interpretation was noted. A comparative description of the procedure for assessing carcinogenic risk and the classification of its levels are given.

Conclusion. The presented algorithm covers most of the aspects that hygienists face when planning a study on the impact of drinking water quality on public health and in the process of work. In particular, it allows optimizing the assessment of the risk associated with drinking water from centralized water supply systems based on socio-hygienic monitoring data. In addition, it summarizes the ambiguous procedure for risk assessment established in the regulatory documentation, supplemented by the experience of domestic long-term studies.

Introduction: Obtaining correct data on the chemical composition of food products is required for solving different problems, including those related to human health. It is important not only to organize the process of collecting sufficient data, but also to develop an analytical algorithm that considers different periods of data collection and types of foods.

Objective: To test and adjust the algorithm for obtaining statistically correct values of average concentrations and variability of the main micro- and macronutrients in bakery products.

Materials and methods: In order to test and then improve the algorithm, we used the results of laboratory testing of bakery products collected within the framework of the Federal Project on Public Health Strengthening in 2020–2021 by the laboratories of the Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing (Rospotrebnadzor).

Results: An increase in the sample size made it possible to identify new groups of bakery products. At the same time, the data of the sample combined over two years demonstrated the best convergence. The sodium content was determined as an additional clustering feature. The implementation of the algorithm on the pooled data enabled further reduction of the coefficient of variability.

Conclusion: Sequential processing of laboratory test results using the developed algorithm allowed us to update information on the chemical composition of bread currently sold by retailers and determine the presence of products that are critical in terms of their sodium content. It is of interest to expand capabilities of the algorithm in terms of automating the selection of priority indicators for clustering and, as a result, the possibility of processing similar data arrays.

Background: Abundance and diversity of blood-sucking Diptera, including mosquitoes and midges, is an epidemiologic and health problem in the Volgograd Region.

Objective: To examine the combination of pest control, organizational, and entomological measures aimed at reducing the number of blood-sucking Diptera when preparing and holding the 2018 FIFA World Cup in the city of Volgograd in order to ensure sanitary and epidemiological wellbeing of the participants and guests of this international gathering and to evaluate their effectiveness.

Materials and methods: We analyzed operational and historical materials of entomological observations of mosquitoes and midges, phenological monitoring of preimaginal stages of blood-sucking black flies (Family Simuliidae) in water bodies and adjacent areas during preparations to the 2018 FIFA World Cup matches in Volgograd. Entomological observations included population counts and collection of blood-sucking arthropods using standard methods. An airplane was used for larvicidal treatment of large areas of wetlands of the Volga-Akhtuba floodplain. We analyzed the effectiveness of disinsection aimed at exterminating preimaginal and winged stages of blood-sucking mosquitoes and midges.

Results: According to entomological observations, on the first day of the mass flight of blood-sucking midges, the number of attacks on sports facilities ranged from 10 to 20 and then decreased to 3–5 on the following days causing no disturbance. On the opposite, the number of attacks of midges approached 50 in the areas where appropriate insect control measures were not taken.

Conclusion: We managed to achieve a significant decline in insect populations, thus ensuring sanitary and epidemiological wellbeing during international football matches in Volgograd.