PHOTOPROTECTIVE, CYTOTOXIC AND PHOTOMODIFYING ACTIVITY OF LICHEN BIOMASS NON-POLAR FRACTIONS AGAINST HUMAN KERATINOCYTE (HaCAT)

In vitro, the photoprotective, cytotoxic and photomodifying properties of hexane and benzene extracts from the widely distributed in Belarus lichens Cladonia arbuscula, Evernia prunastri, Hypogymnia physodes, Ramalina pollinaria and Xanthoria parietina in the culture of human keratinocytes (HaCAT), are estimated. It was found that these extracts are not photoprotective, they have a photomodifying effect upon irradiation of keratinocyte cultures with ultraviolet light. Hexane extract of E. prunastri and benzene extracts of R. pollinaria and H. physodes at a concentration of 2.5 μg/ml are photoprotectors that weaken the effect of ultraviolet radiation by 1.6 ÷ 1.8 times. Extracts of C. arbuscula and X. parietina are photosensitizers – they increase the toxic effect of ultraviolet radiation by 10 or more times, regardless of the concentration of the extract in the nutrient medium. Hexane and benzene extracts of C. arbuscula and H. physodes lichens are cytotoxic to the HaCAT culture. With an increase in the dose of ultraviolet irradiation of keratinocytes from zero to lethal values, the benzene extract of R. pollinaria acted as a photoprotector at a concentration of 2.5 μg / ml, and as a photosensitizer at higher concentrations. The hexane and benzene extracts of E. prunastri and H. physodes exhibited sensitizing properties that increased with an increase in the concentration of lichen extracts. C. arbuscula hexane extract and X. parietina benzene extract were the most potent photosensitizers.

IDEAS OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN THE CONTENT OF SCIENCE DISCIPLINES

The article deals with the role of science education in explaining the modern environmental crisis and ways out of it. The urgency and peculiarities of education for sustainable development, its challenges to updating the content of natural science disciplines are considered. The directions of such updating are justified: reflection of modern state of science, fundamentality of knowledge, its interdisciplinary integration and worldview orientation. The conclusion is made that for understanding the interdisciplinary concept of sustainable development the set of special scientific pictures of the world is not enough. The problem of developing a natural-science picture of the world as an environmental component of education for sustainable development is posed. The article considers the basic categories of synthesis of natural-science knowledge into the natural-science picture of the world: nature, material unity of the world, development, system, self-organization, determinism, etc. It is determined that the natural scientific picture of the world, in its ecological aspect, is based on V. I. Vernadsky’s doctrine on the biosphere and biogeochemical migration of atoms, N. N. Moiseev’s doctrine on universal evolutionism, and the concept of sustainable development. It is concluded about the role of the natural sciences in the formation of the key concept of sustainable development – the ecological imperative.

OBTAINING NICKEL-CONTAINING PIGMENTS FROM LIQUID WASTE GALVANIC PRODUCTION

Spent electrolytes from galvanic production are characterized by a high content of heavy metal ions, which significantly exceeds their content in natural ores. The paper shows the possibility of processing spent sulfate electrolytes from nickel plating of galvanic production to obtain pigments, which will stabilize the operation of treatment facilities, prevent the ingress of heavy metal ions into the environment, which have toxic, mutagenic and carcinogenic effects, reduce the volume of wastewater sludge formed, and also obtain a valuable commodity product that is currently being purchased abroad. The results of investigations of the coloristic characteristics of the obtained samples of pigments are presented, the effect of Fe (III) ions present in the spent electrolytes of nickel plating as a contaminant on the color characteristics and purity of the color of the obtained samples is investigated. The dependence of the color of the obtained samples on the content of Fe (III) ions in the spent electrolytes was established, which made it possible to establish the range of coloristic characteristics of pigments obtained from spent sulfate nickel-plating electrolytes (green, yellow, brown and black colors). The results of the research carried out will reduce the impact of galvanic production on the environment.

THE IMPACT OF THE URBANIZED ENVIRONMENT ON THE EXAMPLE ON SOME PHYSIOLOGICAL INDICATORS (THUJA OCCIDENTALIS) OF THE CITY OF MINSK

In large cities a special temperature condition is formed, which is characterized by the increased temperatures that affects the duration of the growing season of plants. A decrease in the relative humidity of the air in the city is of great ecological importance for plants; this is especially noticeable in the summer. In urban conditions, a leveling of winds and the increased turbulence of air flows, which is associated with the planning features of urban development, lead to the accumulation of harmful atmospheric impurities. Smoke and dust content of the air in urban conditions retain up to 20 % of solar radiation, which has an adverse effect on the vital activity of plants. The urban environment is characterized by the features of the light regime, which disrupts the natural biological rhythms. In cities, the soils are exposed by a strong transformation and go through a complex anthropogenic impact. Compaction and contamination of the soil as well as asphalt coating negatively affect the temperature conditions, air and water exchange of the soils, and, as a result, the state of vegetation. The urban environment is distinguished by the originality of environmental factors, the specificity of technogenic impacts, leading to a significant transformation of the environment. Plants are the main factor in the ecological stabilization of the urban environment due to their vital activity, photosynthesis and the ability to accumulate pollutants. In this regard, it seems relevant to study the resistance of various plant species to urban conditions. Assessment of the ecological plasticity of plants and determination of their adaptive potential allows solving various ecological and practical problems. In the process of studying the influence of the urbanized environment on the example of the city of Minsk on some physiological indicators of thuja occidentalis plants, it was found that a change in cellular metabolism manifests itself in an increase in the permeability of cell membranes, a change in water metabolism of plants, an increase in peroxidase activity by 35% and a decrease in catalase activity by more than 1,6 times.

COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF SOFTWARES FOR ASSESSMENT AND PREDICTION OF RADIATION SITUATION INDICATORS

This article presents the results of comparative analysis of software tools for assessing and predicting parameters characterizing the radiation situation in the event of a hypothetical emergency at nuclear facilities. To analyze the output parameters and rank the software according to the degree of conservatism, an emergency scenario at the AES-2006 design facility was selected. This scenario is associated with a decrease in the coolant temperature and, as a consequence, a change in reactivity. The results of ranking software tools for use in the activities of the Information and Analytical Center of the Department of Nuclear and Radiation Safety are presented. It has been established that the highest degree of conservatism is embedded in the operational assessment codes (HotSpot and RECASS Express). These tools make it possible to provide quick simplified calculations for the early stage of an accident at a Nuclear Facility and can be recommended for use in assessing and predicting the radiation situation as the first tools. In this case, the status of the assessment of the radiation situation is recommended to be considered preliminary, additional to the main calculations performed, for example, with the JRODOS and RECASS NT design codes, the technical capabilities of which allow assessing the radiation impact, including at significant distances from the source, as in the case of emergency situations, and within the framework of the command and staff exercises.

DAMAGE CAUSED BY LARVAE OF MINING FLY (PHYTOMYZA AGROMYZINA MEIGEN, 1830) TO DOGWOODS IN URBAN GREEN SPACES

According to the results of the investigations, carried out in 2017–2020 in the green spaces of cities in Belarus, the damage caused by larvae of Phytomyza agromyzina Meigen, 1830 to Siberian dogwood (Cornus alba L.) and blood twig dogwood (Cornus sanguinea (L.) Opiz), based on determining the relative area of damaged leaf surface, was assessed. The values of this parameter for individual leaf blades varied in the range from 0.86 to 63.58 %, while the average for the samples did not exceed 24.47 %. The total area of Ph. agromyzina mines on individual Cornus leaf blades ranged from 0.23 to 3.65 cm2. Using the nonparametric Mann–Whitney and Kolmogorov–Smirnov tests, the differences in medians and the integral differences between the samples were estimated. These values were not statistically significant when comparing data for Minsk and Vitebsk, and different years for both C. alba and C. sanguinea. However, in the values of the relative area of the damaged surface between the samples of both Cornus species the differences were statistically significant (p <0.05).

EVALUATION OF ARTIFICIAL NEURAL NETWORKS EFFECTIVENESS FOR UNFOLDING GAMMA-SPECTRUM OF 137CS

Development of machine learning methods for spectrum processing is one of the most promising ways for gamma- spectrometry automation and accuracy improvement. Effectiveness of fully connected and convolution neural networks for quantitative γ-spectrometry analysis using scintillation detector NaI(Tl) and lead shielding is presented in the article. Semi-synthetic spectrums were used for the models training; the semi-synthetic spectrums are in channels additions of random spectrums measured at a short duration. The analysis shows advantages of artificial neural networks compare to the common analytical method of spectrum unfolding. The mean square error of activity evaluation is 2–4 times lower than the common method if measuring time is equal to 100 s. In highly standardized conditions of measuring, the advantages of convolution neural networks appear with increasing radiation source activity. Validation with sources not used in training of neural networks has shown fully connected and convolution neural networks can have advantages over the standard method when activity of γ-radiation source is relatively high.

METHODS FOR CALCULATING WATER USE FOR DAIRY PRODUCTS PRODUCTION ENTERPRISES, TAKING INTO ACCOUNT THE PROCESSED RAW MATERIALS AND TYPES OF PRODUCED PRODUCTS

Regulation of water use at industrial enterprises, especially at water-intensive enterprises, in a changing climate is an important economic and environmental task. One of the ways of sustainable water use at enterprises is the constant planning of water consumption and wastewater disposal in relation to the volumes and types of products produced. From a scientific point of view, at water-intensive enterprises, the most reasonable approach to optimizing water use is the development of individual technological standards for water use (water consumption and disposal). Dairy enterprises are quite water- intensive, the water use of which depends on a number of factors: assortment of raw materials for the production of products and types of products; diversification of production processes; the formation and processing of by-products, which often leads to an increase in the volume of wastewater formation in relation to the volume of water consumption; technologies for sanitizing equipment. Taking into account the specifics of production processes, a Methodology for calculating water use for enterprises for the production of dairy products, taking into account the processed raw materials and manufactured products, has been developed. The Methodology substantiates the need to change the terminology in terms of water use rationing, developed criteria for choosing two approaches to the development of individual technological standards for water use, detailed articles of water consumption and water disposal, and clarified certain parameters for their calculation. Approbation of the Methodology showed that the proposed approaches and individual parameters for calculating water use items allow the enterprise to more accurately predict the volumes of water consumption and wastewater disposal when planning production activities, which is especially important for water-intensive industries in conditions of limited available water resources.

CULTURES OF ALVEOLOCYTES I AND II TYPE FOR MEDICAL AND ECOLOGICAL RESEARCH

The alveolar epithelium is a dynamic tissue, consisting of cells of types I and II, covering more than 99 % of the lung inner surface and actively responding to various endogenous and exogenous stimuli. The technology of alveolocyte isolation is presented, which consists in mechanical disaggregation of tissue with subsequent processing of the resulting explants with 0.25 % trypsin solution in combination with filtration of the cell suspension through pores with a diameter of 100 µm and 50 µm. In two-dimensional static culture viable actively dividing rounded cells and large alveolar epithelial cells with cuboid or polygonal morphology, producing surfactant proteins, were visualized.

VEGETATIVE PROPAGATION METHOD INFLUENCE ON THE ANTIOXIDANT COMPLEX OF VACCINIUM CORYMBOSUM L. CULTIVARS

There are presented the results of a comparative study in an experimental culture in the central agro-climatic zone of Belarus, the influence of the method vegetative propagation of plants (cuttings and microclonal) on antioxidant and enzymatic (catalase, peroxidase and polyphenol oxidase)activity of fruits of early ripening (Weymouth) and late ripening (Elizabeth and Atlantik) varieties V. corymbosum L. It was shown that against the background of significant genotypic differences dependence of the studied characteristics of the antioxidant complex on the method reproduction, the fruits of meristemic plants were characterized by 5–21 % higher activity of catalase and especially peroxidase in comparison with traditional analogues, but at the same time 13 % lower activity of polyphenol oxidase in varieties Weymouth and Atlantik and 8 % higher in Elizabeth. Based on analysis correlations between the indicated components of the antioxidant a complex of plant fruits obtained in different ways, on the one hand, and the content in them of ascorbic and hydroxycinnamic acids, pectin substances, actually anthocyanins, leukoanthocyanins, catechins and flavonols, on the other hand, the differences between meristem and traditional plants have been established according to sources of antioxidant and enzymatic activity.