Sociodemographic aspects of the influence of factors on the health of the Arctic region population

Subject. This article examines the factor influence on human health depending on the socio-demographic characteristics of the population. Objectives. The article aims to analyze the factors that affect the health of the population of the Arctic area, and their impact on various groups of people. Methods. For the study, we used general scientific research methods. Results. Based on a sociological survey conducted in the municipalities of the Arkhangelsk Oblast, the article identifies the key determinants of public health and the change in the importance of various factors depending on the age of the person. Relevance. The results obtained can be used when developing and adjusting programme documents related to the Arctic demographic policies.

Military-Political Situation in the Arctic: Hotspots of Tension and Ways of De-Escalation

The article describes the politico-military situation in the Arctic, including the development of military capabilities of states in the region, the coastal infrastructure, the scales and the manner of military exercises, as well as the dynamics of the military landscape in the Arctic. The authors argue that the mili-tary capabilities in most parts of the Arctic remain moderate, primarily due to harsh climate restraints. However, military activity both of NATO member-states and Russia has increased considerably recently in the Euro-Arctic area adjacent to the North Atlantic, in particular in the waters of the Barents and the Nor-wegian seas. Mutual military deterrence in this area represents a "new old" normal that will shape the security situation in the Arctic in the long term. The article concludes by considering possible options for preventing escalation and minimizing the concerns of the sides by restoring a full, regular and institutionalized military dialogue between Russia and the rest of the Arctic states.

Towards an automatic ice navigation support system in the Arctic area

Conventional ice navigation through sea ice is manually operated by well-trained navigators, whose experiences are heavily relied upon to guarantee the ship's safety. Despite increasingly available ice data and information, little has been done to develop automatic ice navigation systems to better guide ships in sea ice. In this study firstly navigable sea areas for different types of ships were identified according to the navigation codes in northern regions. Secondly, three algorithms of path planning were adopted to automatically compute the safest-and-shortest ship routes based on the concepts of the Voronoi diagram, Visibility graph, and Visibility-Voronoi diagram, respectively. These algorithms and results were compared and evaluated in terms of different application scenarios. Results show that the Visibility-Voronoi approach seems to be the best viable solution in terms of computing performance and navigation safety. The work will provide a basis for further development towards an automatic ice navigation support system

Towards an automatic ice navigation support system in the Arctic area

Conventional ice navigation through sea ice is manually operated by well-trained navigators, whose experiences are heavily relied upon to guarantee the ship's safety. Despite increasingly available ice data and information, little has been done to develop automatic ice navigation systems to better guide ships in sea ice. In this study firstly navigable sea areas for different types of ships were identified according to the navigation codes in northern regions. Secondly, three algorithms of path planning were adopted to automatically compute the safest-and-shortest ship routes based on the concepts of the Voronoi diagram, Visibility graph, and Visibility-Voronoi diagram, respectively. These algorithms and results were compared and evaluated in terms of different application scenarios. Results show that the Visibility-Voronoi approach seems to be the best viable solution in terms of computing performance and navigation safety. The work will provide a basis for further development towards an automatic ice navigation support system

Determining the Ecological Status of Benthic Coastal Communities: A Case in an Anthropized Sub-Arctic Area

With the widespread influence of human activities on marine ecosystems, evaluation of ecological status provides valuable information for conservation initiatives and sustainable development. To this end, many environmental indicators have been developed worldwide and there is a growing need to evaluate their performance by calculating ecological status in a wide range of ecosystems at multiple spatial and temporal scales. This study calculated and contrasted sixteen indicators of ecological status from three methodological categories: abundance measures, diversity parameters and characteristic species. This selection was applied to coastal benthic ecosystems at Sept-Îles (Québec, Canada), an important industrial harbor area in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and related to habitat parameters (organic matter, grain size fractions, and heavy metal concentrations). Nearly all indicators highlighted a generally good ecological status in the study area, where communities presented an unperturbed profile with high taxa and functional diversities and without the dominance of opportunistic taxa. Some correlations with habitat parameters were detected, especially with heavy metals, and bootstrap analyses indicated quite robust results. This study provides valuable information on the application of environmental indicators in Canadian coastal ecosystems, along with insights on their use for environmental assessments.