The Diversity of Spotted Fever Group Rickettsia Found in Ixodidae Hard Ticks Removed from Humans in Karachay-Cherkessia, North Caucasus, Russia.

Karachay-Cherkessia is the region in the Russian Federation that has been overlooked in terms of research on the human bacterial pathogens transmitted by ticks. In this study, we investigated the infection status of ticks with Rickettsia, Borrelia, Coxiella burmetii, Anaplasma phagocytophilum, and Ehrlichia chaffeensis/Ehrlichia muris associated with natural focal infections in Karachay-Cherkessia. A total amount of 159 ticks from three species across three genera (Ixodes ricinus, Dermacentor marginatus, Hyalomma scupense) removed from humans were collected for analysis. Additionally, we used 53 individual ticks and 40 tick pools from the vegetation of three species (I. ricinus, D. marginatus, and Rhipicephalus bursa). Screening of the studied pathogens was performed by using commercial qPCR kits. Sanger sequencing utilizing partial sequences of gltA and ompA genes was employed to identify the Rickettsia species. Our findings revealed the presence of DNA from five species within the spotted fever group Rickettsia, namely Rickettsia raoultii, R. slovaca, R. helvetica, R. monacensis, and R. aeschlimannii. Moreover, two distinct genotypes were identified within R. aeschlimannii, R. helvetica, and R. monacensis. Additionally, DNA from Borrelia burgdoferi s.l., B. miyamotoi, and A. phagocytophilum was detected in the tested ticks. This study provides valuable insights into the prevalence and the diversity of bacterial pathogens transmitted by ticks in the Karachay-Cherkessia region.

Grey Zone Healers and the COVID-19 Pandemic in Chechnya, Russia.

The Chechen authorities' focus upon population health is enacted both through the principles of Islamic medicine and approved biomedical practices. Any healing practices beyond these domains are met with deep suspicion. Practitioners of unofficial complementary and alternative medicine healers may abruptly find themselves regarded as enemies of the state. In light of this precarious circumstance, it becomes pertinent to inquire: How do these healers employ their daily tactics to negotiate the intricate power dynamics between the formidable state apparatus and the established biomedical order? Drawing from our meticulous fieldwork conducted in the year 2021, we investigated the intricate tactics employed by unofficial healers in the Chechen medical landscape during COVID-19. Our research centred on discerning the nuanced tactics aimed at mitigating potential risks. We conclude that healers, having embodied tactics to creatively manoeuvre within the confines of the authoritarian state, perceived the challenges posed by COVID-19 as merely another, often inconsequential, obstacle in their enduring struggle.

Ethnicity-specific BRCA1, BRCA2, PALB2, and ATM pathogenic alleles in breast and ovarian cancer patients from the North Caucasus.

BACKGROUND: Mountain areas of the North Caucasus host several large ethnic communities that have preserved their national identity over the centuries. METHODS: This study involved high-grade serous ovarian cancer (HGSOC) and breast cancer (BC) patients from Dagestan (HGSOC: 37; BC: 198), Kabardino-Balkaria (HGSOC: 68; BC: 155), North Ossetia (HGSOC: 51; BC: 104), Chechnya (HGSOC: 68; BC: 79), Ingushetia (HGSOC: 19; BC: 103), Karachay-Cherkessia (HGSOC: 13; BC: 47), and several Armenian settlements (HGSOC: 16; BC: 101). The group of BC patients was enriched by young-onset and/or family history-positive and/or bilateral and/or receptor triple-negative cases. The entire coding region of BRCA1, BRCA2, PALB2, and ATM genes was analyzed by next-generation sequencing. RESULTS: A significant contribution of BRCA1/2 pathogenic variants (PVs) to HGSOC and BC development was observed across all North Caucasus regions (HGSOC: 19-39%; BC: 6-13%). Founder alleles were identified in all ethnic groups studied, e.g., BRCA1 c.3629_3630delAG in Chechens, BRCA2 c.6341delC in North Ossetians, BRCA2 c.5351dupA in Ingush, and BRCA1 c.2907_2910delTAAA in Karachays. Some BRCA1/2 alleles, particularly BRCA2 c.9895C > T, were shared by several nationalities. ATM PVs were detected in 14 patients, with c.1673delG and c.8876_8879delACTG alleles occurring twice each. PALB2 heterozygosity was observed in 5 subjects, with one variant seen in 2 unrelated women. CONCLUSION: This study adds to the evidence for the global-wide contribution of BRCA1/2 genes to HGSOC and BC morbidity, although the spectrum of their PVs is a subject of ethnicity-specific variations. The data on founder BRCA1/2 alleles may be considered when adjusting the BRCA1/2 testing procedure to the ethnic origin of patients.

[Analysis of the provision of medical personnel in the subjects of the North Caucasus Federal District].

The article presents the results of a comparative analysis of the provision of medical personnel. Differences in the indicators of provision with specialists of various profiles have been studied. It is noted that in the North Caucasian Federal District the total values ​​of the medical service density indicator are lower than in the Russian Federation by 2.1%. The highest rates of provision with doctors are registered in the republics of Ingushetia with an increase of 32%, and in the republic of North Ossetia. Higher values ​​of the provision indicator with the heads of the organization and their deputies were established in the North Caucasus Federal District than in the Russian Federation. At the same time, in most subjects of the North Caucasus Federal District there is a shortage of specialists in the following specialties: anesthesiologists-resuscitators, pediatric surgeons, neonatologists, pediatricians, psychiatrists, radiologists, epidemiologists. However, the indicator of provision with dentists in the North Caucasus Federal District exceeded the Russian one by 2 times. Based on the analysis, the authors present recommendations, including the need to eliminate the shortage of doctors in a number of specialties, increase the admission to residency in them, strengthen social support measures, temporarily restrict the admission of applicants in the specialty of dentistry, etc.

Culture-Independent Survey of Thermophilic Microbial Communities of the North Caucasus.

The Greater Caucasus is a part of seismically active Alpine-Himalayan orogenic belt and has been a center of significant volcanic activity during the Quaternary period. That led to the formation of the number of hydrothermal habitats, including subterranean thermal aquifers and surface hot springs. However, there are only a limited number of scientific works reporting on the microbial communities of these habitats. Moreover, all these reports concern only studies of specific microbial taxa, carried out using classical cultivation approaches. In this work, we present first culture-independent study of hydrotherms in the Republic of North Ossetia-Alania, located in the southern part of the North Caucasus. Using 16S metabarcoding, we analyzed the composition of the microbial communities of two subterranean thermal aquifers and terrestrial hot springs of the Karmadon valley. Analysis of correlations between the chemical composition of water and the representation of key taxa allowed us to identify the key factors determining the formation of microbial communities. In addition, we were able to identify a significant number of highly abundant deep phylogenetic lineages. Our study represents a first glance on the thermophilic microbial communities of the North Caucasus and may serve as a basis for further microbiological studies of the extreme habitats of this region.

The genetic diversity of the genus Mus (Linnaeus, 1758) in the eastern part of the North Caucasus.

BACKGROUND: There are two species of Mus in the Caucasus: M. musculus and M. macedonicus. M. musculus is widespread in the Caucasus, where the species is found everywhere from the Black to the Caspian Sea. M. macedonicus is ubiquitous Transcaucasia. The most north-astern border of its distribution in the Caucasus, according to the literature, is located in the Derbent region, near the border between Dagestan and Azerbaijan. RESULTS: Cytochrome b mt-DNA of genus Mus research in this study in the Eastern Caucasus. About 70% of M. musculus haplotypes from the lowlands of Dagestan were recorded for the first time. One of these haplotypes accounts for approximately 25% of the total species diversity of haplotypes. M. macedonicus was found in only one locality, the Sarykum barchans, where this species prevails in number and accounts for 70% of the total number mice of the genus Mus. The species is characterized by low values of genetic diversity and nucleotide variability, which may indicate that the population originated from a small number of founders and may explain its relative isolation from the main range. The dating of the appearance of the ancestors of M. musculus in the east of the Russian Caucasus corresponds to 99-66 thousand years ago (at a mutation rate of 3-10% per million years). CONCLUSION: The results obtained suggest that the history of the appearance of M. musculus in the Eastern Caucasus is more ancient and is not associated with human agricultural activities. We believe that possibly the ancestral range of M. musculus covered the eastern and western coasts of the Caspian Sea in the territory of southern Dagestan, Azerbaijan, and Iran. In this paper M. macedonicus, a Balkan-Asia Minor species, was registered for the first time in the North Caucasus. This species was registered in the center of Dagestan, where it inhabits sympatrically (on the territory) and syntopically (on the same biotope) with M. musculus. The low values of genetic diversity of M. macedonicus in the North Caucasus suggest that the population originated from a small group of founders.

How practice in plant collection influences interactions with illustrations and written texts on local plants? A case study from Daghestan, North Caucasus.

BACKGROUND: It is only recently that written sources of local knowledge on plants are not being ignored by scholars as not belonging to "traditional" knowledge. Ethnobotanical texts, however, if they at all focus on knowledge from written sources, hardly ever pay any attention to the actual processes of interaction with written texts and illustrations. During our research, we examined people's interactions with texts, illustrations, and herbarium specimens of plants they collect or are familiar with. We focused on a small community of Shiri people in the mountainous village and in the lowland settlements in the Republic of Daghestan, Russia. In the paper, we address the following questions: how do Shiri people interact with illustrations, written text, and herbaria specimens? How is this interaction influenced by the practice of plant collection? What are the methodological implications of the ways people interact with illustrations, texts, and herbaria specimens? METHODS: Our research was based on long-term ethnographic fieldwork: co-designing of a booklet showing edible plants people collect in Shiri, semi-structured interviews, and video-recordings, and observing interactions between people and text/illustrations/voucher specimens. RESULTS: We identified three kinds of interactions between individuals and text/illustrations: "text-wayfaring"-predominantly a bodily interaction between an individual and illustrations and text; "fact/spelling checking"-predominantly discursive and information focused; "between wayfaring and fact-checking"-the mix of the two. Using the idea of textual poaching, as well as the knowledge-making approach, we show that the mode of interaction with text/illustrations influences what is acquired, and how. This process influences readers' LEK. The mere presence of an information in the text available to people does not imply that they will acquire it, make use of it, and change their LEK. Photographs and pressed specimens of locally known plants are often not (or only partly) recognized by the interlocutors. Video-recording is essential for analyzing the above mentioned interactions. CONCLUSIONS: In ethnobotanical research, it is important to pay more attention to people's interaction with their sources of knowledge, including text and illustrations. The discursive part of LEK is more easily influenced by written sources. The practice of plant collection is not as easily influenced. Ethnobotanists function in a particular context and are embedded in discourses oriented towards conservation of bio-cultural diversity that value heritage as such, so it is important to be aware of one's positionality. A methodology that relies on showing pressed specimens or photographs to interlocutors may be a very misleading way of collecting ethnobotanical data.

[The characteristics of medical demographic development of the Republic of Dagestan].

The issues of assessing medical and demographic processes and improving public health are very actual in Russia. The article analyzes the current state and regional characteristics of medical and demographic development using the example of the Republic of Dagestan. The positive tendency of the main fertility indicators was determined, including the analysis of the age structure of the population and population size alterations.

Antihypoxic and anti-ischemic properties of the North Caucasus flora plant extracts / Propiedades antihipóxicas y antiisquémicas de los extractos de plantas de la flora del norte del Cáucaso

Nowdays it is established that ischemic brain damage like ischemic stroke is one of the leading cause of death and disability in the population that assumes relevance development of anti-ischemic drugs. The work studied the anti-hypoxic and anti-ischemic effect of 7 plant extracts. Antihypoxic activity was assessed on models of hypobaric, hypercapnic, histotoxic, hematotoxic hypoxia. Anti-ischemic activity of test-extracts was studied on the focal cerebral ischemia model. Administration of Tagetes patula, Gaillardia pulchella, Sorbaria sorbifolia, Grossularia reclinata, Ribes nigrum, Rubus caesius and Lysimachia punctata extracts contributed to the necrosis zone reduction by 56.6% (p<0.05); 37.3% (p<0.05); 73.2% (p<0.05); 49.4% (p<0.05); 42.5% (p<0.05); 85.5% (p<0.05); 44.2% (p<0.05) and also restored aerobic metabolism in brain tissue. Test - objects increased of the animal lifespan under hypoxia conditions. Based on the data obtained, it is assumed that further studies of North Caucasus flora plant extracts as cerebro-protective agents are promising.

Hoy en día, se ha establecido que el daño cerebral isquémico, como el accidente cerebrovascular isquémico, es una de las principales causas de muerte y discapacidad en la población lo cual hace relevante el desarrollo fármacos antiisquémicos. En este trabajo se estudió el efecto antihipóxico y antiisquémico de siete extractos de plantas. La actividad antihipóxica se evaluó en modelos de hipoxia hipocrática, hipercápnica, histotóxica y hematotóxica. La actividad antiisquémica de los extractos de prueba se estudió en el modelo de isquemia cerebral focal. La administración de los extractos de Tagetes patula; Gaillardia pulchella; Sorbaria sorbifolia; Grossularia reclinata; Ribes nigrum; Rubus caesius y Lysimachia punctata contribuyeron a la reducción de la zona de necrosis en un 56,6% (p<0,05); 37,3% (p<0,05); 73,2% (p<0,05); 49,4% (p<0,05); 42,5% (p<0,05); 85,5% (p<0,05); 44.2% (p<0.05), respectivamente, además, de restaurar el metabolismo aeróbico en el tejido cerebral. Comparado con el control, se observó un aumento en el tiempo de sobrevida del animal en condiciones de hipoxia. Sobre la base de los interesantes datos obtenidos, se sugiere estudios adicionales de extractos de plantas de la flora del Cáucaso Norte como agentes protectores del cerebro.

Domains of Everyday Creativity and Personal Values.

We examined the applicability of the hybrid model of creativity, which specifies distinct domains that all express an underlying general creativity factor, in data from representative samples from Central Russia and the North Caucasus (N = 2,046). Using multigroup confirmatory analysis, Study 1 supported the invariance of a model with the six unifactorial domains (i.e., crafts, visual arts, performance, theater, products for work, and machine graphics) at the first level and a general creativity factor at the second level. Study 2 examined socio-demographic characteristics and 19 basic values that might be associated with creative activity. The more modern Central Russian region scored higher on global creativity and on all 6 domains. Of the 4 higher order values in the Schwartz model, Openness to Change values correlated positively and Conservation values correlated negatively with global creativity and with creativity in most domains. Variation across domains in the specific values that predicted creativity revealed that creativity in each domain had some unique motivators. We draw on culture and social structure to explain differences between regions in the value motivators of creativity.