Relative rates of oesophageal, lung, and stomach cancer were also elevated among all workers, but did not increase with total years worked, age first hired, or year first hired, suggesting a non-occupational aetiology.

Puumala orthohantavirus (PUUV) causes nephropathia epidemica (NE), a mild form of hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) commonly diagnosed in Europe. The majority of HFRS cases in the European part of Russia are diagnosed in the Volga Federal District, which includes the Republic of Tatarstan (RT). The current study aims to analyze the genetic variability of PUUV in Pre-Kama region of the RT bounded by the Volga, Kama, and Vyatka rivers. In 2017, bank voles were caught in seven isolated forest traps in the Pre-Kama region and for the 26 PUUV-positive samples, the partial small (S), medium (M), and large (L) genome segment sequences were obtained and analyzed. It was determined that all identified PUUV strains belong to the Russian (RUS) genetic lineage; however, the genetic distance between strains is not directly correlated with the geographical distance between bank vole populations. One of the identified strains has S and L segments produced from one parental strain, while the M segment was supplied by another, suggesting that this strain could be the reassortant. We suggest that the revealed pattern of the PUUV strains distribution could be the result of a series of successive multidirectional migratory flows of the bank voles to the Pre-Kama region in the postglacial period.

The optimal conditions of cellulose acetate sulfate (CAS) homogeneous synthesis with the yield of 94–98 wt.% have been determined. CAS was confirmed to have an even distribution of functional groups along the polymer chain. The polymer was characterized by an exceptionally high water solubility (up to 70 wt.%). The isothermal diagrams of its solubility in water-alcohol media have been obtained. CAS aqueous solutions stability, electrolytic, thermal, and viscous properties have been defined. The main hydrodynamic characteristics such as intrinsic viscosity, Huggins constant, and crossover concentration have been evaluated. The parameters of polymer chain thermodynamic rigidity have been calculated. The formation of liquid crystalline structures in concentrated CAS solutions has been confirmed. CAS was recommended to be used as a binder for the medicinal forms of activated carbon and carbon sorbent for water treatment, hydrophilic ointment foundation.

In the European part of Russia, the highest number of hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) cases are registered in the Volga Federal District (VFD), which includes the Republic of Tatarstan (RT). Puumala orthohantavirus (PUUV) is the main causative agent of HFRS identified in the RT. The goal of the current study is to analyze the genetic variations of the PUUV strains and possible presence of chimeric and reassortant variants among the PUUV strains circulating in bank vole populations in the Trans-Kama area of the RT. Complete S segment CDS as well as partial M and L segment coding nucleotide sequences were obtained from 40 PUUV-positive bank voles and used for the analysis. We found that all PUUV strains belonged to RUS genetic lineage and clustered in two subclades corresponding to the Western and Eastern Trans-Kama geographic areas. PUUV strains from Western Trans-Kama were related to the previously identified strain from Teteevo in the Pre-Kama area. It can be suggested that the PUUV strains were introduced to the Teteevo area as a result of the bank voles’ migration from Western Trans-Kama. It also appears that physical obstacles, including rivers, could be overcome by migrating rodents under favorable circumstances. Based on results of the comparative and phylogenetic analyses, we propose that bank vole distribution in the Trans-Kama area occurred upstream along the river valleys, and that watersheds could act as barriers for migrations. As a result, the diverged PUUV strains could be formed in closely located populations. In times of extensive bank vole population growth, happening every 3–4 years, some regions of watersheds may become open for contact between individual rodents from neighboring populations, leading to an exchange of the genetic material between divergent PUUV strains.

Orthohantaviruses give rise to the emerging infections such as of hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) and hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS) in Eurasia and the Americas, respectively. In this review we will provide a comprehensive analysis of orthohantaviruses distribution and circulation in Eurasia and address the genetic diversity and evolution of Puumala orthohantavirus (PUUV), which causes HFRS in this region. Current data indicate that the geographical location and migration of the natural hosts can lead to the orthohantaviruses genetic diversity as the rodents adapt to the new environmental conditions. The data shows that a high level of diversity characterizes the genome of orthohantaviruses, and the PUUV genome is the most divergent. The reasons for the high genome diversity are mainly caused by point mutations and reassortment, which occur in the genome segments. However, it still remains unclear whether this diversity is linked to the disease’s severity. We anticipate that the information provided in this review will be useful for optimizing and developing preventive strategies of HFRS, an emerging zoonosis with potentially very high mortality rates.

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661.728.014:532.78 With the method of homogeneous synthesis, various salt forms of cellulose sulfate-acetate containing Li + , Na + , K + , Ca 2+ , Mg 2+ , Zn 2+ , and Co 2+ as compensating cations have been obtained. The flow curves, the concentration and temperature dependences of the shear viscosity of aqueous solutions of cellulose sulfateacetate have a form characteristic of liquid-crystal systems. For solutions of all salts except for potassium salt, spontaneous formation of the anisotropic phase in the form of individual spherulites, spherulite bands, structures of the fingerprint type, and other more complex formations has been registered. A new hydrodynamic criterion that permits predicting the realization of lyotropic mesomorphism in solutions of cellulose derivatives is proposed.At the Scientific-Research Institute of Physicochemical Problems of the Belarusian State University, for the first time a polymer electrolyte containing in each anhydroglucose link an acetate and a sulfate group and, as compensating counterions, one-and two-charge cations Li + , Na + , K + , Ca 2+ , Mg 2+ , Zn 2+ , and Co 2+ has been synthesized and isolated from solution of cellulose sulfate-acetate (CSA) in the salt form.Synthesized salts of cellulose sulfate-acetate are characterized by a high solubility in water (up to 70 mass %). High-concentration aqueous solutions of salt forms of CSA, except for potassium salt, exhibit stable birefringence. In the stationary state and in flowing they opalesce, changing their color from yellow-red to violet, which is one of the outward signs of the cholesteric mesophase formation [1][2][3].To register and predict the liquid crystalline (LC) ordering of cellulose sulfate-acetate salts, we have made rheological, polarization-microscopic, and hydrodynamic studies of their aqueous solutions in a wide range of concentrations.Experimental. Cellulose sulfate-acetate in the salt form was obtained by the method of homogeneous synthesis [4]. The degree of substitution (DS) for sulfate and acetate groups was, respectively, 0.9-1.0 and 0.8-1.0, and the polymer molecular mass was 46,000.Solutions of CSA salts were prepared by dissolving polymer samples previously dried to a constant mass at a temperature of 60 2 o C in water, water-salt and water-alcohol media at a different ratio of components. The dissolution process was considered to be completed under the condition of the absence of undissolved polymer fragments from the optical microscope field of view. Concentrated viscous solutions of CSA were deaerated for 48 h. The concentration of prepared solutions was refined by the gravimetric method [5]. To register the isotropic-anisotropic phase transition, a drop of the prepared solution was placed on a microscope slide and pressed by a cover glass. Then the thin solution layer obtained was observed in polarized light with an "Amplival" optical microscope equipped with two polaroids. The observed structural changes were recorded on a film by means of a photographic attachment. Rheological studies of ...