Vol 28, No 4 (2020)

Buryatia as a part of Baikalian Siberia is one of the main centers of origin and morphological diversity of wormwood in Eurasia. There are 48 species and subspecies of wormwood within Buryatian flora, one of which is Artemisia gmelinii Web. ex Stechm. For the first time the composition of the essential oils of A. gmelinii growing in the rare community of Siberian apricot ( Armeniaca sibirica (L.) Lam) is presented in this work. Essential oils were obtained from the raw materials collected during the field works on the territory of the Republic of Buryatia (Kyakhtinsky district, surroundings of Tamir village - Southern slopes of the Tamir range) in 2020. The vegetation of the Tamir range’s slope is represented by shrub communities from the relict of Eastern Asia growing since the Miocene-Pliocene time - Armeniaca sibirica . The dominant components of essential oil’s of A. gmelinii from apricot community are 1,8-cineole, germacrene D, camphor, borneol, caryophyllene. Essential oils of A. gmelinii growing within the Siberian flora of one chemotype with a predominance of mono-terpenoids in the group composition form two subtypes, prevailing: 1) in the East Siberian populations of A. gmelinii with a predominance of sesquiterpenoids in the composition of essential oils; 2) in the West Siberian populations of A. gmelinii with a predominance of monoterpenoids in essential oils.

The article presents the results of experimental studies on the assessment of the phytotoxicity of soils contaminated with oil products of various fractions (gasoline, diesel fuel, fuel oil) in the process of their microbiological remediation with the introduction of humic preparations. The studies were carried out under the conditions of a vegetation experiment, in which the processes of bioremediation of soils contaminated with various oil products were simulated using microbiodestructors and humic preparations (“Ekorost” and “Gumi”). It has been established that the implementation of bioremediation measures using microbio-destructors does not allow for complete detoxification of soil contaminated with various oil products. The manifestation of detoxifying properties of humic preparations in relation to oil-hydrocarbon pollution of soils during their bioremediation was revealed. The severity of these properties varies and depends on the type of oil-polluting product, its concentration, as well as on the properties of the preparations themselves.

In this paper, we have developed a method that allows us to evaluate the radiation activity of radon-222 based on mathematical modeling in the design of residential buildings in accordance with the rules for designing anti-radon protection. The method is based on the numerical solution of the diffusion, heat transfer, and Navier - Stokes equations, supplemented by appropriate turbulence models, initial and boundary conditions, in particular, the process of natural decay and sedimentation of radon-222 in the room is taken into account. Verification of the method for residential premises of an apartment building located on the territory of Saint Petersburg was performed. Using the proposed calculation method allows you to identify the most radiation “dangerous” places in the room, rationally organize the air exchange and configuration of the room, prevent the development of “sick building syndrome”, etc.

The paper aims at studying and analyzing the language implementation of the development of people’s ecological consciousness in the present-day Russian and English-speaking media discourse environment. The modern media discourse has become an important source of various environmental lexical units which can affect people’s consciousness and change their behavior in a more eco-friendly way. The research is based on two parallel and opposite scientific approaches integrated in the media discourse which are ecologisation and anthropocentrism. The study is built on the analysis of the language models of ecological issues in different popular national and international media editions of Russia and English-speaking countries; in TV documentaries; on YouTube channels; in eco-friendly bloggers’ speeches and texts. The findings of the research showed that the media discourse environment is actively inculcating “green” ideas into people’s consciousness today both in Russia and abroad. More people are trying to follow the conscious consumption lifestyle. The media language is also becoming an important tool in introducing new environmental lexical units - neologisms - which are easily disseminated in the media discourse space and are actively being adopted by society. Overall, this research has confirmed the idea that the present-day language of the media discourse space is a powerful mediator of a new life sustainable development philosophy which helps human consciousness evolve in an eco-friendly way and try to make our planet a safer, healthier and more comfortable place for living.

At present, the results of photogrammetric processing of images obtained from UAVs (orthophoto mosaics, digital elevation models, etc.) are widely used for environmental studies. Such materials are especially relevant and in demand for environmental monitoring of hard-to-reach objects. In addition, UAV survey materials are indispensable for impact monitoring, in which observation, assessment and forecast of the state of the natural environment in areas where hazardous and potentially hazardous (NPP) sources of anthropogenic impact are located are carried out. Regardless of the method of georeferencing of images - direct or indirect - the accuracy of the generated product is evaluated by ground control points. The purpose of this study is to assess the accuracy of photogrammetric constructions depending on the number of strips when surveying linear objects from UAVs and on the number of control points used in indirect georeferencing. Five groups of experiments were carried out during the study, three in each group with a different number of strips (from one to three). Five groups are conventionally combined into two sections. In the first section, direct and indirect georeferencing techniques were used with three locally located control points. In the second section, the method of indirect georeferencing was used with a different number of ground control points: six, twelve and thirty-four. Estimates of the accuracy of various tests have shown that an increase in the number of strips does not always lead to an increase in accuracy.

The objective of the study is investigation of the impact of magnesium on psycho-emotional stress and functional activity of the cardiovascular system in foreign male students of African origin. A total of 33 male first course students were involved in the study. The examinees were supplemented with 150 mg/day of magnesium. Evaluation of serum and urinary Mg levels was performed using inductively-coupled plasma mass-spectrometry, whereas functional activity of the cardiovascular system and psycho-emotional stress were assessed using Angioscan-01 diagnostic complex both before and after a course of magnesium supplementation. It has been demonstrated that magnesium supplementation resulted in a significant 3% increase in serum Mg levels as compared to baseline. The observed increase in circulating magnesium levels was associated with a significant 26% decrease in stress index, whereas arterial stiffness index significantly reduced by 3%. A significant increase in absolute systole duration and time from the start of the pulse wave to a maximum of the early systolic wave was also observed. The results of the study demonstrate a significant decrease in stress index and arterial stiffness in response to magnesium intake, being in agreement with the existing data on protective effects of magnesium. Therefore, monitoring of magnesium supply and its improvement may be considered as a valuable tool supporting somatic and psychic health of students thus improving their academic performance.

The research on changes in the spatial-temporal dynamics of carbon in natural ecosystems on land is explored. The works of Russian and foreign authors on the analysis of the depositing ability of the cover are presented. Works on biomass reserves and primary production of biogeocenoses, research in the field of mathematical modeling of the carbon cycle in terrestrial ecosystems using remote sensing data are described. The article discusses modern approaches to mathematical modeling of productive processes and biological cycles of elements in plant ecosystems. The contribution of Russian and foreign authors to the spatial-temporal dynamics of carbon is analyzed. The research data in the assessment of the sequestration capacity of plant ecosystems, as the role of an ecosystem function, performing the function of a climatic ensemble of the state of the atmosphere is given. The various modeling-based methods for assessing and forecasting carbon stocks in forests, which have received international recognition, are presented, and the role of climate in managed forests in mitigating changes and predicting their carbon storage potential for the period up to 2050 under different forest management scenarios is examined. Among them: ISIS IIASA (Austria), EFIMOD + ROMUL (Russia), ROBUL (Russia), Information System for Determination and Mapping of Carbon Deposition by Forests (Russia, UGFTU), CBM-CFS3 (Canadian Forest Service), FORCARB2 (US Forest Service). The works based on the spatial model of the carbon cycle in the “atmosphere - plant - soil” system (A.M. Tarko) of the Computing Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences, used to assess the absorption potential in various regions of the world, are outlined.