TRANSFORMATION AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE YAUZA RIVER

In the context of current problems of sustainable development of the modern city, the issues of present and future of coastal areas occupy a key place. In large cities there is a shortage of the natural component of the coastal zone environment, while the priority is given to transport infrastructure, which leads to environmental degradation and deprives the coastal strip recreational use. For many coastal territories the main problems remain: expansion of transport infrastructure; intensive process of urbanization and building up of coastal territories; loss of natural components and landscape identity of coastal strips and water areas. In Moscow, these problems are complemented by the monotony and typical character of the architectural design of coastal areas. Integrated development of the environment of coastal zones can be realized by various methods, created on the principles of a balanced infrastructure. The formation of urban and landscape directions and their relationship.

ARCHITECTURAL AND PLANNING ELEMENTS AS A FACTOR OF URBAN SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Cities are complex systems consisting of capital objects (architectural objects, transport system and other infrastructural systems), state and non-state institutions, social and economic processes, people (in their various aspects and types of activities), also natural components (topography, hydrography, climate). The article discusses issues related to these specifi c aspects and the relationship between the elements of the architectural and planning structure of the city as a space and a system. Within the framework of the study, a morphological analysis of planning and development was carried out using the example of Samara in the context of sustainable development in order to identify and systematize universal urban elements.

Water quality assessment of the rivers of the Southern Buh Basin within Vinnytsia Region as per integral indicator of pollution

Vinnytsia Region is a region of Ukraine that attracts people by its nature from ancient times to the present day and is subject to various active economic development efforts. Natural water (aquatic) objects such rivers, lakes, as well as their floodplains and watersheds, are among the ones that are intensively affected by human activities. Therefore, the author chose the basin of the Southern Buh River within Vinnytsia Region for establishing a degree of anthropogenic transformation in the river itself and for determining the state of its left tributaries. The paper highlights the results of field and laboratory studies of chemical and organoleptic state of water of the Southern Buh and its tributaries. The study of the Southern Buh Basin was conducted within Vinnytsia Region, as it is a region of early agricultural development and it has a large number of enterprises of various industries on its territory. Since the basin occupies a large area of Vinnytsia Region, it was reasonable to explore the main tributaries of the Southern Buh flowing through the main localities, and to identify the required sampling points. Currently, the problem of ensuring rational use of water resources is severe because of such factors as growth of water consumption, irrational use of natural resources, excessive and uncontrolled economic activity. All these factors lead to disruption of relations within geosystems, degradation of natural components and decrease of natural resources productivity. Therefore, the study of a degree of anthropogenic transformation of landscape complexes, including geosystems, allows identification of a possibility to reverse anthropogenic changes and display intensity and tendencies of natural processes after transformation of the complexes, as well as display of ability of natural components of the landscape to self-restore. All these components are necessary for field researches and form a basis for the author's research. The aim of the research is to conduct an assessment of the ecological status of surface waters, which serves as one of components of the general status of water bodies, as well as to determine their chemical status based on concentrations of high-priority hazardous pollutants. It establishes the fact that the quality of surface waters of the basin depends on a degree of pollution of water bodies that are subject to economic activity affecting the transformation of the basin system.

Recreational resources of the coasts of the southern part of Sakhalin Island and the southern part of the Crimean Peninsula (problems and solutions)

The possibilities of recreational-oriented use of the coast are studied on the basis of the trend analysis in the development of the coasts and regional features of the exploitation of the coasts of Sakhalin Island and the Crimean Peninsula. It is shown that the loss of recreational capacity of coastal territories is the result of both man-made and natural components of development. The conclusion is made about the degradation of a significant part of the recreational resources of the coasts. The concept of a model of integrated use and sustainable development of natural mineral resources, hydrogeological and recreational resources is proposed.

Evaluation of the Inhibitory Activities of Ferula gummosa Bioactive Compounds against the Druggable Targets of SARS-CoV-2: Molecular Docking Simulation

SARS-CoV-2, an infectious disease caused by a novel strain that belongs to a large family of coronaviruses, has emerged as a global health threat. This viral disease affects the epithelial cells of the respiratory system and eventually leads to pneumonia. Using medicine derived from natural and safe herbs could be an alternative way of preventing or even treating severe respiratory disorders. This research has been conducted to evaluate the anti-inflammatory potential of Ferula gummosa Boiss. in preventing Covid-19. Molecular docking simulation was performed on the 18 components of Ferula gummosa against known active binding sites of SARS-CoV-2. The results revealed that these compounds inhibited the vital proteins of SARS-CoV-2, including 6LU7, 6EX1, 6W9C, and 6M71. According to the docking scores (DS) and inhibition constants (Ki), the most potent anti-coronavirus activity is expressed in the order: Δ-Cadinen > β-eudesmol > Bulnesol. The docking results revealed that the natural components of Ferula gummosa, mainly Δ-Cadinene, could be considered a valuable resource for preventing the infection of SARS-CoV-2.

Phosphonates as Unique Components of Plant Seeds—A Promising Approach to Use Phosphorus Profiles in Plant Chemotaxonomy

Phosphorus is one of the most important elements essential for all living beings. Plants accumulate and store phosphorous in various forms that have diverse physiological and biochemical functions. In this study,we determine and then examine the phosphorus profiles of seeds of plants belonging to different taxa based on extractable inorganic phosphates and organic forms of phosphorus. We paid particular attention to the presence of natural phosphonates in the tested materials. The inorganic phosphates were determined colorimetrically, whereas phosphorus profiles were created by using 31P NMR spectroscopy. Our study on phosphorus profiles revealed that the obtainedsets of data vary significantly among the representatives of different taxa and were somehow specific for families of plants. It should be emphasised that the measurements obtained using 31P NMR spectroscopy undoubtedly confirmed—for the first time—the presence of phosphonates among the natural components of plant seeds. Hence, the classification of plants considering the phosphorus profiles, including the presence of phosphonates, may be a new additional chemotaxonomic feature.

NLR immune receptor-nanobody fusions confer plant disease resistance

Plant pathogens cause recurrent epidemics that threaten crop yield and global food security. Efforts to retool the plant immune system have been limited to modifying natural components and can be nullified by the emergence of new pathogen races. Therefore, there is a need to develop made-to-order synthetic plant immune receptors with resistance tailored to the pathogen genotypes present in the field. Here we show that plant immune receptors can be used as scaffolds for VHH nanobody fusions that bind fluorescent proteins (FPs). The receptor-nanobody fusions signal in the presence of the corresponding FP and confer resistance against plant viruses expressing FPs. Given that nanobodies can be raised against virtually any molecule, immune receptor-nanobody fusions have the potential to generate resistance against all major plant pathogens and pests.

Ethnobotanical and pharmacological profile of galinsoga parviflora

Galinsoga parviflora is a member of the Astraceaea family. Widely distributed in Central and South America, Europe, the West Indies, Mexico, Australia, Africa, and Asia are all home to it. In Asia it is mainly found in different areas of Pakistan. The herb is used in traditional medicines for wound healing, blood coagulation issues, colds, flu, toothaches, and other ailments, disorders of the skin and eyes. Galinsoga parviflora's therapeutic powers are attributed to the presence of a variety of secondary metabolites. The plant is non-toxic and utilised as livestock feed.It is also used as a vegetable in soups and salads by humans.Antibacterial, antifungal, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory nematicidal, urease, alpa-glucosidase activity, anti-cytotoxic anti-hyperglycemic, respectively properties have been observed in crude extracts and pure chemicals obtained.More than thirty-eight chemicals constituents have been isolated from Galinsoga praviflora. The current study focuses on Galinsoga parviflora's ethno-medicinal usage, isolated natural components, and biological activity.

MAPPING MULTI-SCALED LANDSCAPE TYPOLOGY OF LANG SON PROVINCE

The landscape of a territory is generated by natural components, and it is also influenced by human activities. The complexity of factors making up landscape and the relationship between them with humans has created a diverse and complex differentiation of landscape in Lang Son province. Three factors reflecting typical characteristics of Lang Son landscape: Digital Elevation Model (DEM), soil, and land cover have been selected in this study. The concept of multiscaled landscape classification based on the European Landscape Convention (ELC) is applied for combining the holistic with parametric approaches and combining typological with multi-scaled landscape classifications. A number of possible combinations between 9 land cover variables, 9 soil combination variables, and 5 topographic variables have yielded 40 landscape units for Lang Son province. The obtained results are basic documents for contributing to modern and practical landscape research on the one hand, and to territory planning for sustainable development of Lang Son on the other hand.

“AyurVirDB” Ayurvedic database for virus cure

Background & Objective: Ayurveda, the “Mother of all healing”, has existed for over 5,000 years and hence is considered to be the oldest healing science. Ayurveda states that the mind can heal and transform a person's whole being as the mind and body are associated. Herbs are the heart of Ayurvedic belief. They are used to boost defense against diseases and viruses and keep the brain, body, and soul in complete balance. Although ayurvedic medicines and herbs have natural components, they should still be used with certain precautions under the supervision of a medical practitioner. This study aims to manually curate information for the various ayurvedic medicinal herbs that have antiviral activity against harmful viruses. Methods: Detailed information is collected from the literature regarding the following (a) types of viruses (b) which particular category they belong to(c) the respective components of herbs that are responsible for curing viruses. We developed a web interface with the help of php and mysql to get the desired output. Results: The database consists of 104 viruses and 704 natural components. The web server is available at: http://ayurvir.com. Interpretation & Conclusion: We believe that AyurVirDB database will be extremely beneficial for the research community. It not only aids in investigations of Ayurvedic medicinal plants and their components. On the emergence or re-emergence of a virus, one could be able to predict the ayurvedic plants/herbs used for viral treatment based on virus similarity or disease symptoms.