Global energy transition and foreign environmental regulations: Impacts on Russian regions' export volumes.

This paper analyses the impacts of trading partners' environmental regulation on the export volumes of the Russian regions, using panel data covering about 140,000 observations in 84 Russian regions and 204 countries for the period 2013-2020. We employ the Gravity Model of international trade and Heckman Sample Selection methodology, with the fixed effects and random effects Poisson Pseudo-Maximum Likelihood techniques to analyse two subsamples of the Russian regions with different shares of environmentally sensitive goods in regional exports. As a robustness check, we utilize the non-parametric Driscoll-Kraay approach. The results of the econometric estimation demonstrate that environmental regulations enhance the export of regions with a high share of environmentally sensitive goods in export structure, while for the rest of the regions the environmental regulations negatively affect export volumes. The promoting effect is associated with a higher level of innovativeness of the regions and the role of the global energy transition process. We conclude that the environmental agenda is a challenge for some Russian regional exporters due to the lack of own environmental regulation, and to the specific features of the commodity and geographic structure of exports. To transform the negative impact into the positive one for all Russian regions, policy measures are necessary on the federal, regional, and company levels, encompassing environmental regulations and green development strategies, along with innovation and cluster policies, and the development of human capital and infrastructure.

Detection of two Microsporidia pathogens of the European honey bee Apis Mellifera (Insecta: Apidae) in Western Siberia.

Two species of microsporidia, Nosema apis and Nosema ceranae, occur regularly and cause significant losses in apiculture throughout the world. N. ceranae is thought to be an emerging pathogen of the European honey bee which is replacing N. apis. Microscopic analysis of honey bees collected in Tyumen region, South-Western Siberia, suggested presence of two microsporidial pathogens slightly differing in spore size and shape. PCR detection using species-specific primer sets 312APIS and 218MITOC followed by PCR product sequencing confirmed the diagnosis of N. apis and N. ceranae, respectively. Microsporidia were present in private apiaries through 2008-2010, and among 21 colonies from 7 localities, two colonies were infected with both pathogens, while infections with N. apis only were detected in 8, and with N. ceranae only in 13 colonies. These data suggest that N. ceranae is widely spread in South-Western Siberia alongside with N. apis and is able to persist in the regions with average January temperatures below -18°C.

Pneumonia in a Captive Central Bearded Dragon With Concurrent Detection of Helodermatid Adenovirus 2 and a Novel Mycoplasma Species.

A 4-year-old captive male central bearded dragon ( Pogona vitticeps) was presented for recurrent episodic dyspnea and anorexia with occasional expulsion of oral mucoid discharge. Despite empirical antimicrobial therapy and supportive care, the animal died and was submitted for autopsy. Defining histologic features included heterophilic and lymphocytic interstitial pneumonia, with occasional amphophilic intranuclear inclusions and prominent type II pneumocyte hyperplasia. Transmission electron microscopy revealed intranuclear 80-nm, nonenveloped, hexagonal viral particles within pneumocytes. Helodermatid adenovirus 2 (HeAdV2) was determined as the etiologic agent through pan-adenoviral consensus polymerase (PCR) chain reaction and sequencing. Nucleic acid from a novel Mycoplasma sp. (provisionally called Mycoplasma pogonae) was identified by pan-generic PCR targeting the mycoplasma 16S ribosomal RNA gene with sequencing and phylogenetic analysis. As bacteria morphologically consistent with Mycoplasma sp. were not observed by special stains and transmission electron microscopy, the detection of M. pogonae nucleic acid is of indeterminate significance; however, M. pogonae and HeAdV2 coinfection may have exacerbated disease.

Investigation of a Cyprinid Herpesvirus 1 Disease Episode in a Group of Pond-Reared Koi.

Fifteen adult koi (a variant of Common Carp Cyprinus carpio) simultaneously developed white cutaneous proliferations affecting up to 30% of their bodies. The onset of these lesions (in September 2014) was associated with their return to a remodeled backyard water garden after temporarily being maintained in a plastic swimming pool. A single water temperature taken during the outbreak read 21°C on November 17, 2014. The water garden had no extrinsic heat source, with average ambient temperatures ranging from 9.4 to 26.4°C during the outbreak (September 2014-January 2015). Representative skin biopsies were obtained from two fish; the histologic features included severe epidermal hyperplasia, dysplasia, keratinocyte apoptosis, decreased and haphazardly distributed goblet cells with the absence of club cells, keratinocyte hydropic degeneration, and moderate infiltration by lymphocytes and eosinophilic granular cells. Ultrastructural findings included intranuclear nonenveloped hexagonal nucleocapsids and abundant cytoplasmic-enveloped virions morphologically consistent with the Alloherpesviridae family. Polymerase chain reaction was performed on formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded shavings from the two biopsied koi targeting the thymidine kinase gene of cyprinid herpesvirus 1 (CyHV-1). Together with the aforementioned findings, these results are consistent with an outbreak of CyHV-1 in a population of adult koi.

Prevalence of enteropathogenic Yersinia in Estonian, Latvian, and Russian (Leningrad region) pigs.

Tonsils of 457 fattening pigs from Estonia (n = 151), Latvia (n = 109), and the Leningrad Region of Russia (n = 197) were collected between 2004 and 2007 to study the prevalence of enteropathogenic Yersinia in slaughter pigs. Yersinia enterocolitica and Yersinia pseudotuberculosis were isolated by selective and cold enrichment. Pathogenic Y. enterocolitica and Y. pseudotuberculosis were identified by PCR targeting the chromosomal genes ail and inv, respectively. The presence of the virulence plasmid was confirmed by PCR targeting the virF gene of Y. enterocolitica and Y. pseudotuberculosis. The prevalence of ail-positive Y. enterocolitica was 89% in Estonia, 64% in Latvia, and 34% in Russia, with 81% of ail-positive samples being virF-positive. A statistically significant (p < 0.05) difference between Estonian and Latvian pigs and between pigs from Latvia and the Leningrad Region of Russia was observed when assuming randomized sampling. Y. enterocolitica bioserotype 4/O:3 was the only pathogenic type found. The prevalence of inv and virF-positive Y. pseudotuberculosis was higher in Russia (7%) than in Latvia (5%) and Estonia (1%), with a statistically significant difference between pigs from Estonia and the Leningrad Region of Russia when assuming both randomized sampling and clustering at farms. All Y. pseudotuberculosis isolates were bioserotype 2/O:3. A total of eight pigs (2%), one pig from Latvia and seven pigs from the Leningrad Region of Russia, carried both pathogenic Y. enterocolitica and Y. pseudotuberculosis in the tonsils. Cold enrichment was found to be a more efficient method compared to selective enrichment to isolate both species. Pigs seem to be an important reservoir of human enteropathogenic Y. enterocolitica 4/O:3 and Y. pseudotuberculosis 2/O:3 in these countries.