Search

The article highlights the impact of ammunition at military ranges on the natural environment of disposal. The results of complex studies are presented (soil, vegetation, small mammals) for two sites: in the Krasnoyarsk forest-steppe (N. 1), where in 2013 the disposal of projectiles was completed and in Kansk subtaiga (N. 2), where the disposal of projectiles continue. The scientific novelty of the work lies in the interdisciplinary consideration of the issue using instrumental research methods and satellite data. It was found that under the influence of explosions, a belligerative landscape is formed, funnels are formed, which are filled with water. As a result of the removal of soil (soil and underlying parent rocks) during explosions, the structural organization and physical properties of soils change at a distance of up to 15 m from the edge of the funnel. The authors note that the formation of communities takes a long time and begins from the pioneer stage as result of shedding of the walls an erosional succession type occurs in the blast craters. The direct impact of explosions is manifested as internal hemorrhage and impaired kidney in small mammals. An indirect effect is manifested in a change in the biotope: loosening the soil and the formation of reservoirs at the bottom of the craters, contributes to the formation of local settlements of tundra voles Microtus oeconomus Pallas. According to the results of the research, the parameters and spatial confinedness of disturbed by the explosions habitats were determined, which is necessary for the organization and monitoring of this anthropogenic impact. This problem has been little studied and requires further research.

The results of the assessment of biological resources in the dumps of the Borodinskiy coal mine are given. The habitats of the same ecological capacity are distinguished according to the developed classification and interpretation of space imagery. The habitats are allocated according to the technology of recultivation (4 options), the tendency of the formation of post-technogenic ecosystems (succession – 4) and the age of the dump (formation stage – 4). For each type of habitat, the composition and productivity of grass cover, forest stand, berries, mushrooms, and game are determined. Grass cover is recommended to be used “in the lifetime state”, for example, as honey plants. Haymaking and grazing leads to the degradation of vegetation cover in mountain dumps. The zonal norm of recultivated arable land (with the application of PSP) is reached not earlier than 30 years later. The experiments with planting crops (potatoes, carrots, beets, cucumbers) showed productivity significantly inferior to the zonal norm. Forest plantations (pine, spruce) are developing the most productive first site class and superior zonal norm. The most productive are zoochorny berries plants, while it should be borne in mind that the productivity of sea buckthorn for natural reasons drops rapidly. In addition, it creates a fire-hazardous structure of forest plantations. The yield of edible mushrooms symbiotic with tree species (pine, birch, aspen) is higher than the zonal norm by an order of magnitude. At the same time, in the first 3–4 years entomoparasites do not affect the fruit bodies of mushrooms (there are no worms). The animal population of the dumps is under strong pressure from synanthropic species (raven, forty, black kites), which are attracted by the city dump. At the same time, the productivity of hunting grounds at dumps is 4 times higher than the zonal norm, perhaps this is due to the protection regime of the coalmine. The methodical techniques used and the data obtained with their help allow us to estimate the biological resources of any dumps and predict (modeling) their states. The materials should be applied in assessing the projected impact of mining and the formation of rock dumps on biological resources and planning their further economic use.

The results of complex forest-ecological studies at the Khan-Khukhii Mountain Ridge in the territory of National Natural Park Khan-Khuhii-Khyargas-Nuur, Western Mongolia are presented. The forests at the Khan-Khukhii Mountain Ridge are isolated from the north by the desert, and from the other sides – by dry steppes. The location of the stands makes it possible to study climatic, geomorphological and economic factors, affecting forest formations along the border of forest distribution. Five sample plots in accordance with the variety of forest vegetation and geomorphological locations were established during the field surveys. Sample plots were placed at the lower forest boundary in the old-growth larch sparse stand experiencing the greatest pasture load, and in the herbaceous larch stand with zoogenic inhibition of undergrowth and fragments of selective felling of the lower part of the northern slope. Larch forests of green moss-red bilberry type with the participation of the Siberian stone pine are characteristic of the upper part of the slopes. The Siberian stone pine stand with dead ground cover is bordered by watersheds and a steppe southern slope and a herbaceous larch stand in the north. An intrazonal object was categorized as yernik (dwarf birch) on permafrost grounds. The geomorphological affiliation of the Siberian stone pine and larch formations to elevations above the sea level and slope exposition is shown. The zoogenic factors determining silvicultural processes limit forest restoration and lead to the formation of a savannah type of vegetation. Under adverse climatic conditions, primary pests of larch needles and root pathogens are detected. Forest logging leads to the growth of grass cover and movement of livestock into the forest zone, followed by the cessation of forest restoration. In the forests of the Khan-Khukhii Mountain Ridge there are no signs of fires (no cinder and fire scars on tree stems), which indicates a long pasture load and the impossibility of accumulation of combustible material. The results of the study made it possible to recommend the directions for silvicultural operations on the territory of the National Natural Park Khan-Khukhii-Khyargas-Nuur. First of all, it is necessary to identify factors of the curtain and highly dense forest regeneration on the border between the forest and steppe. If there is a continuing intensive pasture load, forest compartments will remain within the present boundaries or will be reduced. The impact of global climate change on the current distribution of forests has not been revealed.

Introduction. Diagnosis of the kidney transplant cellular rejection in the long-term after transplantation remains a challenge. Usual surrogate markers are not enough sensitive and specific. Rejection is an immune reaction to donor alloantigens. The kidney transplant biopsy to diagnose a dysfunction is an invasive procedure with the incidence of complications about 12.6% and can lead to transplant loss. In this regard, the search of immunological biomarkers for early noninvasive and accurate diagnosis of kidney transplant rejection is an actual task.Material and methods. This is a report of the observational retrospective single-center, comparative case-control study in two groups involving 44 patients who underwent kidney transplantation. The first group (REJ) included the patients with the chronic graft dysfunction caused by a biopsy-confirmed late cellular rejection (22 patients). The second group (STA) included the recipients who had no dysfunction in the posttransplant period (22 patients). Flow cytometry of peripheral blood cells was performed to identify immunophenotyping markers of late cellular rejection after kidney transplantation (we determined subpopulations of T, B lymphocytes, and dendritic cells).Results. As a result of our work, we found significant differences in the absolute count of effector memory T cells making 0.147 (0.115–0.260) × 109 cell/L in REJ group, and 0.106 (0.067–0.136) × 109 cell/L in STA group (р = 0.0167). Relative and absolute counts of myeloid dendritic cells were also different between the groups: 0.65 (0.36–0.73) vs. 1.05 (0.67–1.4) % and 0.039 (0.028–0.056) vs. 0.063 (0.049–0.076) × 109 cell/L, respectively (р = 0.0009, р = 0.003). The numbers of plasmacytoid dendritic cells were also different between the study groups: 0.0038 (0.0021–0.0054) vs. 0.005 (0.0035–0.007) × 109 cell/L for an absolute count (р = 0.0414), and 0.055 (0.04–0.085) vs. 0.09 (0.05–0.12) % for a relative count (р = 0.0197).Conclusion. The obtained data showed that the blood level of dendritic cells, which are the main “professional” initiators of immune reaction, and the level of effector helper T memory cells, which constitute the main lymphocyte subpopulation posing a destructive impact on the kidney transplant, can be considered as diagnostic markers of kidney transplant cellular rejection in the long-term after surgery.

Procalcitonin and c-reactive protein are routine inflammatary markers used in the perioperative period to detect surgical infectious complications. However, a number of studies have demonstrated that these laboratory markers appear less effective in identifying infectious complications in the early postoperative period in patients after liver transplantation, and their predictive power is limited. We hypothesized, that interleukin-6 could be a more reliable and precise marker of the development of infectious complications in this patient population.

Despite the fact that the key role of the liver in the formation of the immune response to injury is not in doubt, the mechanisms of weakening the immune response to infectious and noninfectious lesions in patients with hepatic failure remain unclear. We propose an original hypothesis of forming the ways to limit the amplitude of the systemic inflammatory response in patients with the end-stage liver disease. The basis of the hypothesis is the idea that as a result of reducing the intensity of the natural stimulation of membrane mCD14 receptors by the ligands of infectious nature, the basic mechanism of the systemic immune response induction by liver macrophages (Kupffer cells) is interrupted. According to the proposed hypothesis, in condition of liver failure, the synthesis of lipopolysaccharide-binding protein by hepatocytes is reduced. This leads to a decreased amplitude and intensity of the protective immune responses. This fact explains a number of clinical phenomena observed in patients with liver failure/dysfunction that consist in a reduced reactivity of the organism to the damage inflicted by infectious and noninfectious agents. The authors consider it possible to use this hypothesis in the search for new trends to prevent the immune system hyper-reactivity in sepsis, and to improve the therapeutic strategies for the management of patients at high risk of infectious complications after liver transplantation.

The paper presents the evaluation of the stock and structure of plant communities formed in the dumps of the Borodino brown coal pit (the eastern part of the Kansk-Achinskcoal basin). A comparison of different age dumps reclaimed with top soil (TS), planned dumps and slopes. The observations cover the period from 2007 to 2009 and 2013. Almost immediately after its creation, on the surface dumps with TS a solid grassy vegetation formed, which was characterized by high productivity. Over the next two decades, a biomass reserve decreased more than 2 times. The major portion of the biomass of 7 and 31–year–old community is concentrated in the 0–10 cm layer. The plant communities amount to the original level of stocks and the structure of the biomass of both aboveground and underground are as no earlier than in 25–30 years. Forest plantations making to force the accumulation of biomass of young biogeocenosis formed on poor substrate (litostratah). The stock biomass of pine man–made stands on 30 % less than in the grass lands to growing on the dumps with TS. Slopes of reclaimed dumps were slowly overgrown and emerging communities were characterized by a low cover and productivity. The major portion of biomass was located above ground. Significant seasonal variations in quantities of above–ground phytomass of plant communities of old dumps, indicating their«immaturity»in spite of thethirty years of the formation of vegetation.

The paper present the results of study of the floristic composition and importance of species of aquatic ecosystems on different types of technogenic surfaces of the Borodino coal mine and assessment of the impact of local factors on the structure and the dynamics of vegetation. The list of plant taxa containing 91 species of higher plants and 3 cha-rophytes. The largest amount of macrophytes species are Elodea canadensis Michx., Eleocharis palustris (L.) Roem. & Schult., Hydrocharis morsus-ranae L., Potamogeton alpinus Balb., P. perfoliatus L., Sparganium emersum Rehm., Spirodela polyrhiza (L.) Schleid., Typha latifolia L., Warnstorfia fluitans (Hedw.) Loeske, Chara contraria A. Braun ex Kutz., the basis (up to 67.6‒70.9 %) of vegetation mosaic of aquatic systems and differentiate its structure post-technogenic landscape. Sorensen index (QS = 0.63‒0.71) and Spearman rank correlation coefficient (rs = 0.29‒0.62, p < 0.01) values showed the greatest similarity between the species composition of the aquatic complexes arising on mineral surfaces planned dumps. The low level of similarity (QS = 0.13‒0.45; rs = 0.25‒0.34, p < 0.05) in spe-cies composition is typical fir ponds and wetlands formed around the perimeter of the heaps along the erosion of slopes. Non-parametric analysis of variance showed a statistically significant (p < 0.001) differentiation of the species composition of the variables values of the analyzed environmental factors: the direction of reclamation, type and age of geomorphic surfaces dumps. Aquatic complexes significantly complement and enrich the mosaic of man-made landscape of the Borodino coal mine, the potential of their diversity should be taken into account when developing plans and strategies for reclamation of disturbed areas.