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Abstract With its high rate of consanguineous marriages and diverse ethnic population, little is currently understood about the genetic architecture of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in Pakistan. Pakistan has a highly ethnically diverse population, yet with a high proportion of endogamous marriages, and is therefore anticipated to be enriched for biallelic disease-relate variants. Here, we attempt to determine the underlying genetic abnormalities causing ASD in thirty-six small simplex or multiplex families from Pakistan. Microarray genotyping followed by homozygosity mapping, copy number variation analysis, and whole exome sequencing were used to identify candidate. Given the high levels of consanguineous marriages among these families, autosomal recessively inherited variants were prioritized, however de novo/dominant and X-linked variants were also identified. The selected variants were validated using Sanger sequencing. Here we report the identification of sixteen rare or novel coding variants in fifteen genes (ARAP1, CDKL5, CSMD2, EFCAB12, EIF3H, GML, NEDD4, PDZD4, POLR3G, SLC35A2, TMEM214, TMEM232, TRANK1, TTC19, and ZNF292) in affected members in eight of the families, including ten homozygous variants in four families (nine missense, one loss of function). Three heterozygous de novo mutations were also identified (in ARAP1, CSMD2, and NEDD4), and variants in known X-linked neurodevelopmental disorder genes CDKL5 and SLC35A2. The current study offers information on the genetic variability associated with ASD in Pakistan, and demonstrates a marked enrichment for biallelic variants over that reported in outbreeding populations. This information will be useful for improving approaches for studying ASD in populations where endogamy is commonly practiced.

Mutations in MECP2 are responsible for the majority of Rett syndrome cases. MECP2 is a regulator of transcription, and has two isoforms, MECP2_e1 and MECP2_e2. There is accumulating evidence that MECP2_e1 is the etiologically relevant variant for Rett. In this study we aim to detect genes that are differentially transcribed in neuronal cells over-expressing either of these two MECP2 isoforms. The human neuroblastoma cell line SK-N-SH was stably infected by lentiviral vectors over-expressing MECP2_e1, MECP2_e2, or eGFP, and were then differentiated into neurons. The same lentiviral constructs were also used to infect mouse Mecp2 knockout (Mecp2(tm1.1Bird)) fibroblasts. RNA from these cells was used for microarray gene expression analysis. For the human neuronal cells, ∼ 800 genes showed >three-fold change in expression level with the MECP2_e1 construct, and ∼ 230 with MECP2_e2 (unpaired t-test, uncorrected p value

Abstract Creeping waves traveling around a volumetric electromagnetic scatterer provide a significant contribution to its radar cross-section. While quite a few efforts were devoted to suppressing creeping waves as a part of radar countermeasures, here we utilize specially engineered creeping waves to our advantage to create broadband, all-angle, and polarization scatterers. Metalized spherical surfaces, patterned with corona virus-like spikes are designed to provide a broadband constructive interference between the specular reflection and creeping waves, elevating the scattering cross-section. The demonstrated miniature corona scatterers utilize both resonant cascading phenomena and traveling wave interference to tailor electromagnetic interactions, outperforming a resonant dipole in terms of amplitude and bandwidth quite significantly. Our experimental samples are fabricated with an additive manufacturing technique, where a 3D-printed plastic skeleton is subsequently metalized. Micron-thick layers allow governing electromagnetic interactions as if the entire object was made of solid metal. Lightweight, all-angle, all-polarization, and broadband compact scatterers such as these, reported here, have numerous applications, including radar deception, electromagnetic beckoning, and many others.

The spatial and temporal dynamics of the Siberian larch (Larix sibirica Ledeb.) at the upper limit of its growth on the south-eastern macroslope of the Rai-Iz massif (Polar Urals, Russia) during the second half of the 20th to the beginning of the 21st century were analyzed. Current climate changes were accompanied by increased stand density on previously wooded parts of the mountain slopes and the appearance of new forest generations in lightly wooded or unforested parts of the studied area. Our original method for the automated recognition of boundaries among the key phytocoenohoras (closed forest, open forest, light forest, and tundra with single trees) is universally applicable and improves objectivity in selecting boundaries for these phytocoenohora types. With regard to the total area of the study site, the area of closed forest, open forest, and light forest, respectively, increased from 2.9% to 6.8%, from 9.6% to 13.1%, and from 7.5% to 15.6%, while the area of tundra lots with single trees decreased from 79.9% to 64.5%. Phytocoenohora type replacement in the course of the study period was characterized by a transition from forms with lower density to higher-density forms. Changes in the opposite direction were not discovered. Natural wind protection barriers for young larch tree generations included hummocks and groups of grown trees. The process of gradual tundra and forest tundra forestation then began on the leeward side of the barrier close to seed-producing trees.

Introduction. Previously, clinical studies have proven a pronounced antihypertensive effect of spironolactone in patients with true resistant hypertension. The effectiveness of spironolactone as part of first-line therapy, as well as the effect on vascular wall remodeling, has not been studied.Target. To study the effect of spiroconolactone as part of the first line of therapy when added to telmisartan on indicators of vascular wall stiffness in patients with hypertension at high/very high cardiovascular risk.Materials and methods 32 patients (54 (45; 59) years old) were randomly divided into two groups: in the main group receiving spironolactone at a dose of 25 mg in addition to telmisartan (ARB/spironolactone) and in the group receiving hydrochlorothiazide/ARB combination (control). group).Inclusion criteria: age of patients (30-65 years), hypertension at high/very high cardiovascular risk without antihypertensive therapy, no contraindications to prescribed drugs. At baseline and 6 months later, all patients underwent clinical (office) blood pressure (BP) measurements, ABPM, endothelium-dependent vasodilation (EDVD), vascular remodeling indicators: central blood pressure (CAP), augmentation index, pulse wave velocity (PWV). In patients in the ARB/spironolactone group, serum potassium levels were assessed at baseline and after 4 weeks of treatment.Results. In both groups, a significant decrease in clinical and average daily blood pressure was revealed, as well as a decrease in the augmentation index and CAP. PWV in the carotid-radial segment (CWCR) did not significantly decrease in both groups, while PWV in the carotid-femoral area (CWCF) decreased in the ARB/spironolactone group from 9.8 (9.0; 10.6) m/s to 8.6 (8.0; 10.2) m/s (p = 0.0007). The dynamics of SPWcr was 0.9 (1.3;-0.5) m/s in the ARB/HCT group. In all patients, blood potassium was within reference values.Conclusions. Spironolactone as part of first-line therapy, when added to ARBs in patients with hypertension at high/very high cardiovascular risk, led to a significant decrease in clinical and mean daily blood pressure, as well as a decrease in PWCF.

Background: the general lifespan has been prolonged greatly during the past century, and the incidence of age-associated diseases, including neurodegenerative ones, has increased as well. However, modelling of age-related pathologies is mostly conducted on adult rodents. We studied morphofunctional changes in the brain and peripheral blood of adult Wistar rats in comparison with old Wistar rats to determine age-related physiological changes and differences in adaptive reactions to AlCl3 exposure. Methods: the work was performed on adult and old male Wistar rats. The animals consumed a 100 mg/kg solution of AlCl3 each day for 60 days. Morphological changes of neurons and microglia, mRNA expression levels of pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines, microglia activation markers, amyloid-related proteins, and hallmarks of cellular senescence, monocyte, and lymphocyte subpopulations in the peripheral blood were examined. Results: old rats showed increasing hyperchromic neurons in the hippocampus; activation of microglia; upregulation of pro-inflammatory cytokines and cellular senescence markers; downregulation of anti-inflammatory cytokines; and Hif-1a and a decrease in B-cells and monocyte in peripheral blood. Conclusion: compared to young animals, aged rats respond to aluminum exposure with a severe decline of most cells’ function and irreversible neuronal loss. Regarding all reported data, neurodegeneration modelling and investigating of factors capable of accelerating or preventing it should be performed in experimental work on aged animals.

Background. Prosocial behavior is the key component of social and interpersonal relations. One of the elements of prosociality is helping behavior, which emerges already in early childhood. Researchers have identified several domains of helping behavior: instrumental helping, comforting another person, and sharing resources with others. The development of helping behavior can depend on a number of factors: children’s age, the social situation of development, communication skills, and the ability to understand the feelings and needs of another person. Objective. In Study 1, the main goal was to determine the effects of age and cognitive, language, and motor development on instrumental helping skills in early childhood. The goal of Study 2 was to estimate the effects of rearing in an adverse social environment by comparing the capacity for instrumental helping in family-raised and institutionalized children. Design. The authors examined toddlers’ (N = 198) ability to initiate spontaneous helping and the factors that may influence it. Cognitive, language, and fine motor skills were measured by the Bayley Scales of Infant and Child Development, 3rd edition. Children’s instrumental helping behavior was assessed according to the procedure presented by Warneken and Tomasello, with a few modifications. Results. Study 1 demonstrated that children’s ability to initiate helping was dependent on their age: the non-helpers were significantly younger than the helpers. Children’s language skills also played a significant role in their helping behavior. The children with higher language skills helped the adult more often and more quickly. Study 2 demonstrated that institutional placement per se was not related to toddlers’ ability to initiate helping. Language ability was associated with helping behavior both in institution- and family-reared toddlers. Conclusion. Instrumental helping in early childhood is related to children’s age, language skills, and rearing conditions.

Abstract Background Epigenetic memory plays a critical role in the establishment and maintenance of cell identities in multicellular organisms. Polycomb and trithorax group (PcG and TrxG) proteins are responsible for epigenetic memory, and in flies, they are recruited to specialized DNA regulatory elements termed polycomb response elements (PREs). Previous transgene studies have shown that PREs can silence reporter genes outside of their normal context, often by pairing sensitive (PSS) mechanism; however, their silencing activity is non-autonomous and depends upon the surrounding chromatin context. It is not known why PRE activity depends on the local environment or what outside factors can induce silencing. Results Using an attP system in Drosophila, we find that the so-called neutral chromatin environments vary substantially in their ability to support the silencing activity of the well-characterized bxdPRE. In refractory chromosomal contexts, factors required for PcG-silencing are unable to gain access to the PRE. Silencing activity can be rescued by linking the bxdPRE to a boundary element (insulator). When placed next to the PRE, the boundaries induce an alteration in chromatin structure enabling factors critical for PcG silencing to gain access to the bxdPRE. When placed at a distance from the bxdPRE, boundaries induce PSS by bringing the bxdPREs on each homolog in close proximity. Conclusion This proof-of-concept study demonstrates that the repressing activity of PREs can be induced or enhanced by nearby boundary elements. Graphical abstract

Here, the authors present a concept for targeted clinical magnetic resonance imaging for relatively small targets in the body. They use an artificial resonator for spatial redistribution and passive focusing of the radiofrequency magnetic flux and demonstrate feasibility for targeted breast imaging.

This article examines a group of lexical units which belong to the category of “socially disadvantaged individuals”: people with disabilities, physically challenged, people with impaired mobility, the unemployed, orphans, and those in need, and studies the peculiarities of their use in everyday speech and in legal discourse. The set phrase “person with disabilities” is analysed in detail as a hyperonym for more specific terms, i.e. a wheelchair person, an autist, deaf-blind and deaf-mute, etc. Interpretations given in traditional explanatory dictionaries emphasise physiological features over social ones, and the ideographic dictionaries of the Russian language tend to group the units studied according to the type of disease/disability. Semantically and pragmatically, the relevant factors include the foregrounding of individual elements of the meaning of the word in context and whether a unit can be used as a form of self-identification. The author studies the problem of lexical reference to these individuals as recipients of charitable assistance. The asymmetry and lacunarity of the lexical system become apparent since it contains plenty of units denoting the subjects of charity, whereas, for the addressee of charitable assistance, called the beneficiary in the language of law, an official name is lacking. The current system of names of socially disadvantaged groups and recipients of charitable assistance testifies to the development of social institutions of philanthropy. At the same time, the formation of the philanthropic thesaurus in the Russian language is complicated, as many lexical units are semantically opaque and loaded with ideological and emotional-evaluative connotations.

Alzheimer’s disease is one of the most common age-related neurodegenerative disorders. The main theory of Alzheimer’s disease progress is the amyloid-β cascade hypothesis. However, the initial mechanisms of insoluble forms of amyloid-β formation and hyperphosphorylated tau protein in neurons remain unclear. One of the factors, which might play a key role in senile plaques and tau fibrils generation due to Alzheimer’s disease, is inflammaging, i.e., systemic chronic low-grade age-related inflammation. The activation of the proinflammatory cell phenotype is observed during aging, which might be one of the pivotal mechanisms for the development of chronic inflammatory diseases, e.g., atherosclerosis, metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes mellitus, and Alzheimer’s disease. This review discusses the role of the inflammatory processes in developing neurodegeneration, activated during physiological aging and due to various diseases such as atherosclerosis, obesity, type 2 diabetes mellitus, and depressive disorders.

This paper presents results of analyzing the second half of the 20th–early 21st century changes in lateral spatial structure of Larix sibirica Ledeb. population in the upper treeline ecotone located on the Rai-Iz massif (Polar Urals, Russia). The GIS layers characterizing distribution of Siberian larch trees and undergrowth together with their crowns was produced for a 7.32 square kilometer area based on aerial images recognition. Using statistical models, we assessed probabilities for assigning trees to age intervals of 1–10, 11–40, and 40+ years based on the average radius of tree crown projection. These maps and layer showing locations of trees that grew in the upper part of the ecotone, and died during the Little Ice Age, allow for assessing specifics of forest cover proliferation at different parts of upper treeline ecotone, and comparing current location of the trees with one from the past. The proposed method for probability-based recognition of Siberian larch tree generations in the upper treeline ecotone using average crown radius can be used to reconstruct time and spatial forest dynamics at the upper growth boundaries for time spans up to 100 years and more.

This article focuses on the study of influence of Russian architecture of the Modern Age developed mostly under the influence of the St Petersburg architectural school on the artistic and spatial organisation of Nakhichevan-on-Don. It is not surprising that the architecture of the capital had a considerable influence on the forms and style of architecture of provincial cities. There are many scholarly works on the role of St Petersburg in the formation of the architectural image of provincial Russian cities. However, the role of the architecture of the capital of the Russian Empire remained virtually unnoticed in research devoted to Nakhichevan-on-Don. Hence, it is particularly interesting to examine the city’s architecture as Nakhichevan-on-Don was not a Russian city but one founded in 1779 by the Armenians who moved from Crimea to the Russian Empire. The analysis of the cultural and historical context of the formation of Nakhichevan-on-Don’s architecture aims to reveal the cultural dualism reflected in the architecture of the city and manifesting itself in the integration of the Don Armenians into the Russian cultural space on the one hand, and in their desire for national consolidation on the other hand. The work is based on a comprehensive study of archival materials, historical evidence of contemporaries, and on-site historical and architectural surveys of monuments. The leading methods of the research are comparative analysis, historical-genetic analysis, and stylistic analysis of the architecture of Nakhichevan-on-Don. The authors use a system approach which allows them to consider various aspects of the culture of the Don Armenians and study the architecture of the city in the context of its cultural environment as a whole.

The material presents the results of the discourse analysis of the representation of science and scientific issues by the statements of young people (students living in St. Petersburg, 53 people); identified their motives and contexts of participation in research activities; considered places and centres of science attractive for young people in St. Petersburg. There is a problematization of dialogue and interaction between the city and science. The study of relevant to the city as a world heritage site questions commenced: How is the attitude to science correlated with the identity of St Petersburg citizen? How are innovative projects woven into the structure of the city? How do they coexist in the context of the monuments and the world heritage site’ values? How is scientific discourse woven into the urban architecture, urban landscape?

The article discusses the conditions of effective communication, the key social and cultural process of society. On the basis of sociological survey among youth made in the social networks, the authors show modern trends of communication. The study draws on identity theory, cultural study, theory of consumption and motivation, as well as on psychoanalysis. The authors come to the conclusion that the appeal to a permanent process of identity-building by audiences is a prerequisite for the effectiveness of communication. Described structures, schemas, communication strategies allow to optimize communication, to come to a satisfactory and desirable results for both the communicator and the recipient.

The first results of the implementation of the initiative project realized by the employees of the ecological faculty of the RUDN-University are presented. The project is aimed at obtaining information on the environmental situation and the main sources of impact on the territory of the RUDN-University’ campus. Together with the achievement of this goal, the most important task is solved - the development of practical skills and competences, the formation of a professional ecological culture among environmental students. For the RUDN-University as a national coordinator in the Green Metric Green Universities international movement organized by the University of Indonesia, the project is a landmark and allows the university to demonstrate by its own example to students the opportunities for greening and achieving sustainability, even for non-productive organization.

The main tasks and the content of the environmental monitoring of the RUDN-University campus is justified. Theuniversitypresents the results of its activity in the annual international ranking - Green Metric World University Ranking. RUDN-University started successful in 2015 and since 2017 is a national coordinator of this program in Russia. The campus is situated in the intensive transport pressure zone, therefore the environmental monitoring program takes this specific into account. Information on the team performing the project and the availability and instrumentation necessary for its implementation is given. The monitoring network covers various functional zones of the campus, as well as the adjoining forest park zone selected as the background. As a result of the processing of data sets on the characteristics of the campus environment, anthropogenic load levels for functional campus zones were calculated.In the future, as information accumulates, the boundaries of functional zones and technogenic loads will be adjusted (as well as monitoring content). Calculations of emissions of various types of vehicles on one of the main roads, as well as measurements of the radiation situation, noise levels, typical pollutants of automobile emissions into the atmosphere in different periods of the year were carried out.A geochemical survey of the snow cover has been performed to assess the accumulation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Maps of atmospheric pollution and snow cover have been constructed, the values of exceeding the normative characteristics have been estimated, a survey of the state of vegetation at the beginning and end of the growing season has been carried out. The obtained data indicate a relatively favorable environmental situation on the campus and the need for further monitoring using more accurate analytical methods for analyzing natural environments, and developing models to predict changes in the components of the campus ecosystem.Such models will allow to reveal the trend of the behavior of pollution on the basis of their bioindication (landscapedestructive changes) under the conditions of specific impacts of oil products burned and other types of urban pollution. It is planned to carry out an inventory and certification of the green plantations of the campus, followed by an object-oriented assessment of vegetation, soil conditions under conditions of varying atmospheric pollution flows and emissions of road transport. As an instrument suggested to create the information and analytical system of monitoring.

The article reflects on the role of visualization in education. Modern society is characterized by rapid growth of information that people have to process in order to maintain progress and sustainability in science and development of education. The amount of information is growing so quickly that a person is no longer able to perceive actual data about the outside world and process it using traditional methods. The basis of the “image of the world” contains not only concepts, but the semantic images created with the help of visual thinking. In our study we assume that students are quite limited in their knowledge about cognitive phenomena or in their meta-cognition and do relatively little monitoring of their own memory, comprehension, and other cognitive enterprises. But we also assume that every student is potentially capable of meta-cognition, which is thinking of how better to perform cognitive actions and to be aware of how to learn. Developing meta-cognitive awareness is important because it helps learners become more efficacious and more autonomous. For many of them it can be identified as the most effective way of acquiring knowledge. Visualizing the very process of learning can help see how well it is going. Schema theory offers different ways of using schemas, especially in education. So far, there have been researches on schema as a tool for particular skills such as better comprehension, memorizing and retrieval of the knowledge received. It means students can use schemas to better understand the process of learning and skills acquired.

The development of international and local (federal) retail chains is significant for the development of the country's economy in the modern context. It can be stated that the problems of the retail chain development are reviewed in applied aspects more successfully than in theoretical aspects, which reinforces their urgency. This article is devoted to the factors of international retail chain development in Russia by regions, including Moscow and St. Petersburg. The authors cite the development of outlet centres in the Russian regions and the quality of retail space as factors with a considerably e influence on the international retail chain development. The developers' task is to intensively develop the construction of outlet centres in cities with a million-plus population, ensuring that retail chains, primarily international ones, become anchor tenants. The reason is that anchor tenants become centres of attraction that provide rental of retail space (usually from 5% to 15% of the total area of the outlet centre) and offer a wide range of goods to the outlet centre visitors at attractive prices. The purpose of this article is to study the factors of international retail chain brand development in the regions of the Russian Federation and to establish a connection between the opening of outlet centres and the development of global retail chains. To this end, the statistical data presented in the JLL 2015 Report and official statements of authorised representatives and agencies regarding the development of retail chains were analysed. It is suggested that a close relationship between the opening of outlet centres and the development of international retail chains in the regions of the Russian Federation will be established during the analysis, including the classification of cities for the development of global retail chains due to the effect of various factors.

The relevance of the research is caused by the need to monitor heavy metal content in ecosystems and human bio-substrates as the initial stage in assessing their impact on ecosystems and human body for determination the regional ecological standards taking into account natural and technogenic specificity of the region. The aim of this study was to evaluate soil content of Pb, Zn, Sr, Cu, Ni, Co, Cr, As, V at 30 monitoring sites of residential areas in the central, southern, eastern, northwestern, western and northern regions of the Crimean peninsula. Methods. The total content of Pb, Zn, Sr, Cu, Ni, Co, Cr, As, V in samples of soil was determined using x-ray spectrometer "Spektroskan Max-GV" in the laboratory of Soil Science Department in Academy of biology and biotechnology in Southern Federal University. Results. Exceedances of the maximum permissible concentrations were determined for Cr, Co, Pb, while As and Zn showed excess rarely. The maximum values of exceedances were as follows: 6,6 for As; 2,1 for Pb; 1,1 for V; 1,7 for Zn; 1,1 for Ni of maximum permissible concentration, 2,8 for Co; 2,6 for Cu; 1,7 for Cr and Sr of clarkes for settlements. The comparative analysis of heavy metals distribution in soil of the regions with different natural and anthropogenic conditions allows assuming that the revealed heavy metals exceedances are mostly of an anthropogenic origin. Further studies including the reserved territories of the Crimea are needed to identify the geochemical soil characteristics and their origin at different regions.

The article describes one of the most important events in the cultural life of Byzantium under Justinian I, namely, the closure of the pagan school of philosophy in Athens in 529 AD. Referring to legal sources, the author concludes that Justinian’s legal acts were not directly connected with the Academy of Athens but had an Empire-wide character. The Emperor’s policy in the sphere of education did not mean closing of certain pagan schools but the elimination of classical philosophy teaching in Byzantium as a whole. According to John Malalas, there did not exist a special decree ordering to close the School of Athens. Referring to the source studies by J. Thurn, the author concludes that the 529 decree concerned teachers of philosophy, soothsayers, astrologers, and owners of gambling houses. Further on, the decree was carried out by the local municipal authorities and by 531, the School of Athens had ceased to exist. Finally, the author points out the main tendency in the evolution of Early Byzantine higher school of the 6th century: its most suitable model was a classical one in its content, but Christian in its form of management.

Objective to determine the role of management in the functioning of enterprises in the poultry industry. Methods we used general scientific methods of cognition predetermining the study of socioeconomic phenomena processes and laws in constant development and interaction. While processing the information we used such research methods as statisticaleconomic calculatingconstructive and economicmathematical methods. Results the model of identifying measuring and assessing of the latent production reserves is proposed the main areas of operation are recommended that can be used in the practice of labor and intellectual resources management in the companies of the poultry subsector of the regional socioeconomic system. Scientific novelty increasing the scientific knowledge in the field of theory and methodology of identifying measuring and assessing of the latent reserves of poultry development in the region substantiation of the basic directions of modernization and innovative development of the poultry subsector taking into account the results of the prediction of its main parameters and basic features. Practical significance the main provisions and conclusions of the article can be used in scientific and industrial activity in the consideration of issues relating to quality management at the enterprise. nbsp

Effective mercury monitoring in ecosystems and humans is needed as a primary step to estimate regional ecological mercury standards based on environmental depositions and due to the technogenic influence. This aim of the study is to evaluate and summarize all the present data of environmental and biomonitoring alone and in combination to provide the most relevant strategies for medico-ecological monitoring in the Crimea. The methods used in the study. Mercury content in hair was determined by atomic adsorption analysis using mercury analyzer RА-915+ with PYRO-915 attachment in the laboratory of nuclear-geochemical methods of investigation at the Department of Geoecology and Geochemistry in National Research Tomsk Polytechnic University. The results. The authors have determined mercury heterogeneous distribution in biosubstrates (hair) of people living in northern, eastern, western, southern and central regions of Crimean peninsula that might be caused by environmental depositions and due to the technogenic influence with values not exceeding the maximum permissible concentrations. The lowest mercury values (min=0,033 mkg/g, max=0,072 mkg/g) were observed in hair of people living in rural areas of the central region and the highest content (min=0,178 mkg/g, max=0,312 mkg/g) was noted among people living in eastern and especially in southern (min=0,134 mkg/g, max=0,505 mkg/g) regions of the Crimean peninsula. Although the comparison with the data of environmental field studies based on the European standards (critical loads) estimation and assessment of their exceedances, as well as previously revealed physiological effects at similar levels of Hg indicate insufficient information provided by traditional hygienic standards alone and emphasize the areas for further research.

The Drosophila GAGA factor (GAF) has an extraordinarily diverse set of functions that include the activation and silencing of gene expression, nucleosome organization and remodeling, higher order chromosome architecture and mitosis. One hypothesis that could account for these diverse activities is that GAF is able to interact with partners that have specific and dedicated functions. To test this possibility we used affinity purification coupled with high throughput mass spectrometry to identify GAF associated partners. Consistent with this hypothesis the GAF interacting network includes a large collection of factors and complexes that have been implicated in many different aspects of gene activity, chromosome structure and function. Moreover, we show that GAF interactions with a small subset of partners is direct; however for many others the interactions could be indirect, and depend upon intermediates that serve to diversify the functional capabilities of the GAF protein.

The current importance is caused by the need to improve the methodological and instrumental support, which corresponds to modern conditions and regional features, being one of the fundamental challenges before the environmental monitoring systems. Screening approach to solving this problem will become more advanced analytical tool condition monitoring of water bodies, especially those located in remote and difficult to access areas with high anthropogenic impact - oil production areas, allowing identifying quickly the occurrence of abnormal and emergency situations, leading to a negative impact on the environment, and taking more effective measures to eliminate them. The aim of the research is to prove water resources screening control methodology of remote oil production areas for detecting emergency oil spills on the example of Tomsk region. The research methods. It is proposed to use a screening approach to obtain information on the quality of natural waters, as well as timely detection of emergency situations occurred on the oil production and transportation facilities, leading to oil discharges to water bodies, together with the use of automated remote sensing methods and GIS technologies. For this purpose the environmental and geochemical conditions of water bodies in the accommodation areas of oil and gas companies were analyzed. The results and conclusions. The evaluation of the characteristic substances in the surface waters of the Ob River basin is carried out. The excess of the established water quality standards in most cases is caused by regional features of formation of their composition. The main difference of waste water composition of oil and gas complex of Siberia from the regional surface waters is expressed in rather larger content of Na+, Cl- ions, the sum of the main ions. The petroleum hydrocarbon content in produced waste water, sludge pits waters differs significantly from their concentrations in wetlands and its associated rivers and groundwater, which confirms the need to improve the effluents control and implementation of emergency early warning systems. It is necessary to use direct indicators (total petroleum hydrocarbons content by the fluorescence response) together with the indirect ones (chloride ion concentration, conductivity) as screening criteria in the accident detection methodology in oil production and transportation areas. It is caused by the peculiarities of their identification in natural aquatic environments. It was ascertained that the detection of anthropogenic oil pollution would be most reliable at concentrations from 1 mg/dm3 at a distance from the potential sources not more than 500 m.