First record of Anopheles claviger (Meigen, 1804) (Diptera, Culicidae) in Karelia, Northwestern Russia.

Anopheles claviger (Meigen, 1804) (Diptera, Culicidae) is widespread in the western Palaearctic Region, but it was recorded in Karelia (Russia) for the first time. This record is one of the northernmost ones in the Palaearctic Region and Russia, updates the northern border of the An. claviger range. Mosquitoes were collected from July to September 2023 in the southern Karelia (the village of Gomselga, Kondopoga District, and Petrozavodsk) using Krishtal trap (from human) and Mosquito Magnet® trap (Pioneer design, Octenol as attractant). Seven females of An. claviger were collected in Gomselga; one specimen was sampled from Petrozavodsk City parks. Morphological identification of eight females was verified by COI and ITS2 sequences. Phylogenetic analysis of ITS2 and COI sequences confirmed the collected specimens to An. claviger s. s., clustering in both cases in a strongly supported clade clearly differentiated from the closely related species An. petragnani. The high diversity of An. claviger haplotypes from Karelia is in agreement with data from other geographical regions and shows that the records of this species in Gomselga and Petrozavodsk are not accidental.

[75 years in the service of Karelia: to the anniversary of the State Medical Institution of the Republic of Karelia Bureau of Forensic Medical Examination]. / 75 let na sluzhbe Karelii: k yubileyu GBUZ RK «Byuro sudebno-meditsinskoi ekspertizy¼.

The article is dedicated to the 75th anniversary of the State Budgetary Healthcare Institution of the Republic of Karelia «Bureau of Forensic Medical Examination¼. The history of the formation of the forensic medicine service in the Republic of Karelia is briefly described. The data on the heads of the service and well-known forensic experts, the organizers of the forensic medical examination in Karelia, the course of forensic medicine of Petrozavodsk State University, the role of its employees in the work of the State Medical Institution of the Republic of Karelia «Bureau of Forensic Medical Examination¼ are presented. In addition to available literature sources, archival materials of employees and veterans of the forensic medical service of Karelia were used.

Forced Migration and the Childbearing of Women and Men: A Disruption of the Tempo and Quantum of Fertility?

It is well known that migrant fertility is associated with age at migration, but little is known about this relationship for forced migrants. We study an example of displacement in which the entire population of Finnish Karelia was forced to move elsewhere in Finland in the 1940s. This displacement was unique because of its size and scale, because we have data on almost the whole population of both men and women who moved, and because of the similarity between origin and destination. These aspects enable us to investigate the disruptive impact of forced migration, net of other factors such as adaptation and selection. For all ages at migration from one to 20, female forced migrants had lower levels of completed fertility than similar women born in present-day Finland, which suggests a permanent impact of migration. However, women born in the same year as the initial forced migration showed no difference, which may indicate the presence of a counterbalancing fertility-increasing effect, as observed elsewhere for people born during a humanitarian crisis. There is less evidence of an impact for men, which suggests a gendered impact of forced migration-and its timing-on fertility. Results are similar after controlling for social and spatial mobility, indicating that there may be no major trade-off between reproduction and these forms of mobility.

Hunt for the origin of allergy - comparing the Finnish and Russian Karelia.

The Finnish and Russian Karelia are adjacent areas in northern Europe, socio-economically distinct but geoclimatically similar. The Karelia Allergy Study was commenced in 1998 to characterize the allergy profiles in the two areas. Allergy prevalence had increased in Finland since the early 1960s, but the situation in Russia was unknown. The key finding was that allergic symptoms and diseases were systematically more common in Finnish children and adults than in their Russian counterparts. For example, in the early 2000s, hay fever in school children was almost non-existent in Russian Karelia, and only 2% were sensitized to birch pollen compared with 27% in Finnish Karelia. Adult birth cohorts showed that among those born in the 1940s, the sensitization to pollens and pets was at the same low level in both countries, but among younger generation born in the late 1970s, the difference was already manifold. Seropositivity to some pathogens, microbial content in house dust and drinking water seemed to confer allergy protection in Russia. In subsequent studies, it became apparent that on the Finnish side, healthy children had a more biodiverse living environment as well as greater diversity of certain bacterial classes on their skin than atopic children. Abundance of skin commensals, especially Acinetobacter (gammaproteobacteria), associated with anti-inflammatory gene expression in blood leucocytes. In vivo experiments with the mouse model demonstrated that intradermally applied Acinetobacter protected against atopic sensitization and lung inflammation. These observations support the notion that the epidemic of allergy and asthma results from reduced exposure to natural environments with rich microbiota, changed diet and sedentary lifestyle. Genetic studies have confirmed strong influence of lifestyle and environment. With our results from the Karelia study, a 10-year National Allergy Programme was started in 2008 to combat the epidemic in Finland.

A short history from Karelia study to biodiversity and public health interventions.

Contact with natural environments enriches the human microbiome, promotes immune balance and protects against allergies and inflammatory disorders. In Finland, the allergy & asthma epidemic became slowly visible in mid 1960s. After the World War II, Karelia was split into Finnish and Soviet Union (now Russia) territories. This led to more marked environmental and lifestyle changes in the Finnish compared with Russian Karelia. The Karelia Allergy Study 2002-2022 showed that allergic conditions were much more common on the Finnish side. The Russians had richer gene-microbe network and interaction than the Finns, which associated with better balanced immune regulatory circuits and lower allergy prevalence. In the Finnish adolescents, a biodiverse natural environment around the homes associated with lower occurrence of allergies. Overall, the plausible explanation of the allergy disparity was the prominent change in environment and lifestyle in the Finnish Karelia from 1940s to 1980s. The nationwide Finnish Allergy Programme 2008-2018 implemented the biodiversity hypothesis into practice by endorsing immune tolerance, nature contacts, and allergy health with favorable results. A regional health and environment programme, Nature Step to Health 2022-2032, has been initiated in the City of Lahti, EU Green Capital 2021. The programme integrates prevention of chronic diseases (asthma, diabetes, obesity, depression), nature loss, and climate crisis in the spirit of Planetary Health. Allergic diseases exemplify inappropriate immunological responses to natural environment. Successful management of the epidemics of allergy and other non-communicable diseases may pave the way to improve human and environmental health.

Historical Review of Ethnopharmacology in Karelia (1850s-2020s): Herbs and healers.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: The traditional medicine of various peoples populating Russia is strongly underrepresented in the international anthropological literature. In addition, it has a multicomponent structure, a long history of relations with official medicine, and is still a living system with many people using folk remedies and visiting ritual specialists. AIM OF THE STUDY: The article is a review of folk medicine in Karelia (north-west part of Russia) providing a short description of the history of medicine in this region and a comparison of folk medicine among Karelians and Russians. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The review analyzes and systematizes published and unpublished sources related to the main remedies used by the local populations - plants, animal products, minerals, etc. - from the 1850s-2000s, tracking the main tendencies in publications about the folk medicine of Karelians and Russians of Karelia. RESULTS: A total of 104 medicinal plants belonging to 46 families were mentioned as medicinal. In total, they represented 386 uses which demonstrate the leading role of plant remedies in the folk medicine of Karelia. The plant species with the most uses were Betula sp., Plantago sp., Rubus idaeus, Viburnum opulus, Vaccinium vitis-idaea, and Daphne mezereum. Medicinal uses of other origins had more modest numbers: animal remedies included 146 uses, and mineral ones 43 uses. Among animal-based remedies, physiological discharges of the human body were the most popular; fish oil and bear body parts were the most used from the wild, while from the household various components of cows, horses, and dogs were used. Animal remedies were mostly used for healing furuncles, scrofula, frostbite, hernia, and lanugo. The most diversely used mineral remedy was salt. CONCLUSIONS: Karelians and Russians are very disproportionally represented in the literature due to the lack of interest in the folk medicine of Russians in Karelia, in contrast to that of Karelians. The disparity does not allow adequate comparison, but nonetheless the available data demonstrate that the remedies shared by both ethnic groups are quite few. The review also contributes to research on the relationship of folk medicine and various state institutions in Russia/the Soviet Union.

First Description of the Metacercaria of Nematostrigea serpens serpens (Nitzsch, 1819) (Trematoda, Strigeidae) and Phylogenetic Affiliation of Nematostrigea vietnamiensis Zhokhov & Mishina, 2011.

BACKGROUND: The genus Nematostrigea comprises trematodes parasitising in fish-eating birds of Europe, Africa, and North America. Their life cycle is unknown. PURPOSE: To provide the first description of metacercariae of Nematostrigea serpens serpens, a nominative subspecies of the type species of Nematostrigea, and to record metacercaria of Nematostrigea vietnamiensis, with molecular data. METHODS: Encysted metacercariae of N. serpens serpens and N. vietnamiensis were collected from fish in Russia and Vietnam, respectively, and were processed, identified, and documented using standard morphological techniques. The 28S rRNA gene of metacercariae of both species and the cox1 gene of metacercariae an earlier studied adult of N. serpens serpens were sequenced and used for phylogenetic analysis. RESULTS: Metacercaria of N. serpens serpens have a spatulate body with a foliate forebody and a short hindbody, two long lateral rectilinear pseudosuckers, and the holdfast organ with bifurcated anterior and entire posterior external lobes. The analysis of the cox1and 28S rRNA gene sequences unequivocally showed the conspecificity of metacercariae and adult stage of N. serpens serpens. Based on the 28S rRNA gene sequence-based phylogenetic analysis, the genus Nematostrigea is a sister taxon to the group of strigeid genera Cotylurus + Ichthyocotylurus. Morphological and phylogenetic data demonstrated that N. vietnamiensis does not belong to the genus Nematostrigea and is possibly be affiliated with the crassiphialine trematodes. CONCLUSION: This is the first record of metacercariae of N. serpens serpens. N. vietnamiensis, renamed Prodiplostomulum vietnamiense comb. nov., must be moved to the crassiphialine 'Prodiplostomulum'-type metacercariae group.

Foraging in Boreal Forest: Wild Food Plants of the Republic of Karelia, NW Russia.

While the current consumption of wild food plants in the taiga of the American continent is a relatively well-researched phenomenon, the European taiga area is heavily underrepresented in the scientific literature. The region is important due to its distinctive ecological conditions with restricted seasonal availability of wild plants. During an ethnobotanical field study conducted in 2018-2019, 73 people from ten settlements in the Republic of Karelia were interviewed. In addition, we conducted historical data analysis and ethnographical source analysis. The most widely consumed wild food plants are forest berries (three Vaccinium species, and Rubus chamaemorus), sap-yielding Betula and acidic Rumex. While throughout the lifetime of the interviewees the list of used plants did not change considerably, the ways in which they are processed and stored underwent several stages in function of centrally available goods, people's welfare, technical progress, and ideas about the harm and benefit of various products and technological processes. Differences in the food use of wild plants among different ethnic groups living in the region were on the individual level, while all groups exhibited high variability in the methods of preparation of most used berries. The sustainability of berry use over time has both ecological and economical factors.

Baltic Group Tick-Borne Encephalitis Virus Phylogeography: Systemic Inconsistency Pattern between Genetic and Geographic Distances.

Tick-Borne Encephalitis Virus (TBEV) is a dangerous arbovirus widely distributed in Northern Eurasia. The area of this pathogen changes over time. At the beginning of the 2000s, the Ixodes tick populations in Karelia increased. At the same time, the area of I. persulcatus, the main vector of the Siberian TBEV subtype, also expanded. Herein, we sequenced 10 viruses isolated from ticks collected in three locations from the Karelia region in 2008-2018. PCR positive samples were passaged in suckling mice or pig embryo kidney cells (PEK). After the second passage in suckling, mice viral RNA was isolated and E-gene fragment was sequenced. Viral sequences were expected to be similar or nearly identical. Instead, there was up to a 4.8% difference in nucleotide sequence, comparable with the most diverse viruses belonging to the Baltic subgroup in Siberian TBEV subtype (Baltic TBEV-Sib). To reveal whether this was systemic or incidental, a comprehensive phylogeographical analysis was conducted. Interestingly, viruses within each geographic region demonstrated comparable diversity to the whole Baltic TBEV-Sib. Moreover, Baltic TBEV-Sib has a distribution area limited by three ecological regions. This means that active virus mixing occurs in the vast geographic area forming one common virus pool. The most plausible explanation is the involvement of flying animals in the TBEV spread.

An update of Micromyinae (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) taxonomy, with descriptions of a new genus and 13 new species from Northern Europe.

While about 100 new species of Micromyinae have been described from Sweden in the past ten years, ongoing research into the country's fauna continues to unveil previously unknown taxa. This paper provides scientific descriptions of another 13 new species from various parts of Sweden, belonging to six different genera, including a new genus. The new taxa, all to be attributed to both authors, are named as follows: Antennardia suorkensis sp. nov., Aprionus mossbergi sp. nov., Apr. oljonsbynensis sp. nov., Ladopyris baltica gen. et sp. nov. (found also in Estonia), Monardia (M.) lapponica sp. nov., Monardia (Xylopriona) abbreviata sp. nov., Mon. (Xyl.) obscura sp. nov., Neurolyga simillima sp. nov., N. taigensis sp. nov. (found also in the Republic of Karelia, Russian Federation), Peromyia elongatula sp. nov., P. lindstroemi sp. nov. and P. sofielundensis sp. nov. Two new junior synonyms of Aprionus Kieffer, 1894 were identified: Azygotricha Plakidas, 2017 syn. nov. and Ampullomyia Plakidas, 2018 syn. nov., both introduced for Nearctic species. The generic rank of Antennardia Mamaev, previously treated as a subgenus of Monardia Kieffer, is restored. Aprionus internuntius Jaschhof, 2003, previously regarded as synonymous with A. stylifer Mamaev, 1998, is restituted as a valid species. Peromyia assimilis nom. nov. is established as the new substitute name for P. despecta Jaschhof, 2017, found to be a junior homonym of P. despecta Jaschhof, 2010. Micromyinae discovered in Sweden for the first time are Antennardia saxonica Jaschhof, Aprionus heothinos Jaschhof, Apr. internuntius, Monardia (M.) lignivora (Felt), Monardia (Trichopteromyia) relicta Jaschhof, Neurolyga venusta (Mamaev Rozhnova), Peromyia abdita Jaschhof, and P. brandenburgensis Jaschhof.

Vascular Plant Herbarium at the Kandalaksha Strict Nature Reserve (KAND), Russia.

BACKGROUND: The present-day demand for digital availability of distributional data in biodiversity studies requires a special effort in assembling and editing the data otherwise scattered in paper literature and herbarium collections, which can be poorly accessible or little understood to present-day users and especially automatic data processors. Our project on developing the information resource for the vascular plant flora of Murmansk Region, Russia, includes processing and making digitally available all the data on the taxonomy and distribution of this flora. So far, published distribution maps are limited to the old set in the Flora of Murmansk Region (published in 1953-1966) and the Red Data Book of Murmansk Region (ed. 2, published in 2014). These publications did not take into account the main part of the herbarium collections kept at the Kandalaksha Strict Nature Reserve, which are the basis for numerous local publications that appear scattered and, therefore, little accessible nowadays. NEW INFORMATION: We present a complete dataset of all holdings of vascular plants in the Herbarium of the Kandalaksha Strict Nature Reserve, totalling 10,218 specimens collected during 1947-2019, which are referable to 764 species and 19 subspecies. All specimens were georeferenced with the utmost precision available. This dataset offers a complete and dense coverage of the Nature Reserve's territory (islands and adjacent mainland coastal areas of the Barents and White Seas, Murmansk Region and Republic of Karelia, Russia); these data are little represented in herbarium collections elsewhere.

Taxonomic review of Ablabesmyia Johannsen (Diptera: Chironomidae: Tanypodinae) from Oriental China, with descriptions of six new species.

Six new species of the genus Ablabesmyia are described and illustrated from Oriental China: A. (Ablabesmyia) lyrata sp. n. and A. (Ablabesmyia) pectinata sp. n. each based on the male adult and pupa; and A. (Ablabesmyia) huananensis sp. n., A. (Ablabesmyia) praegracilis sp. n., A. (Ablabesmyia) bifurca sp. n. and A. (Karelia) daiensis sp. n. each based on the male adult. The subgenus Karelia is recorded from China for the first time. In addition, A. (Ablabesmyia) alba Chaudhuri, Debnath et Nandi and A. (Ablabesmyia) maculitibialis Chaudhuri, Debnath et Nandi are redescribed based on the male adult, and new distribution records are given for A. (Ablabesmyia) prorasha Kobayashi et Kubota, A. (Ablabesmyia) amamisimplex Sasa and A. (Ablabesmyia) jogancornua Sasa et Okazawa.

Common environmental chemicals do not explain atopy contrast in the Finnish and Russian Karelia.

BACKGROUND: Atopic allergy is much more common in Finnish compared with Russian Karelia, although these areas are geographically and genetically close. To explore the role of environmental chemicals on the atopy difference a random sample of 200 individuals, 25 atopic and 25 non-atopic school-aged children and their mothers, were studied. Atopy was defined as having at least one positive skin prick test response to 14 common inhalant and food allergens tested. Concentrations of 11 common environmental pollutants were measured in blood samples. RESULTS: Overall, the chemical levels were much higher in Russia than in Finland, except for 2,2',4,4'-tetra-bromodiphenyl ether (BDE47). In Finland but not in Russia, the atopic children had higher concentrations of polychlorinated biphenyls and 1,1-Dichloro-2,2-bis-(p-chlorophenyl)-ethylene (DDE) than the non-atopic children. In Russia but not in Finland, the atopic mothers had higher DDE concentrations than the non-atopic mothers. CONCLUSIONS: Higher concentrations of common environmental chemicals were measured in Russian compared with Finnish Karelian children and mothers. The chemicals did not explain the higher prevalence of atopy on the Finnish side.

Identification of Missing Norwegian World War II Soldiers, in Karelia Russia.

This article presents the multidisciplinary effort in trying to identify the skeletal remains of 100 Norwegian soldiers serving in the German army, killed in Karelia Russia in 1944, from the recovery of the remains through the final identification using DNA. Of the 150 bone samples sent for DNA testing, 93 DNA profiles were obtained relating to 57 unique individuals. The relatives could not be directly contacted as the soldiers were considered as traitors to Norway; therefore, only 45 reference samples, relating to 42 cases of the missing, were donated. DNA matches for 14 soldiers and 12 additional body part re-associations for these individuals were found. Another 24 bone samples were re-associated with 16 individuals, but no familial match was found. More than six decades after the end of WWII, DNA analysis can significantly contribute to the identification of the remains.