Main radiation pathways in the landscape of Armenia.

PURPOSE: To investigate sources, accumulation, and vertical migration of radionuclides in Armenia, and their impact on biota. CONCLUSIONS: This review describes the radiation status in the landscape of Armenia and features of the impact of natural and human-generated radiation on human and non-human biotas, according to studies of Armenian scientists carried out since the middle of the last century. The mountain landscape demonstrates the diversity, speciation, and radioresistance of the biota, which arise under radiation exposure in a variable environment. Although the effects of radiation have been described for a long time, some of them require further study. It is important to present the data collected in order to produce a base line for future studies of radiation effects and interactions with other stressors caused by climate change.

Antimicrobial activity of preparations after combined cultivation of lactic acid bacteria and yeast strains.

Use of antimicrobials in both human and animal populations over the past several decades has led to the emergence of multidrug-resistant bacteria populations that are resistant to many commercially available drugs. For example, acquired resistance to first-line antimicrobial agents increasingly complicates the management of extra-intestinal infections due to Escherichia coli, which are a major source of illness and death. The continued development of new classes of natural antimicrobial agents, possessing antibacterial activity, has become of increasing importance for medicine and veterinary. So, selection of lactic acid bacteria and yeast strains for their combined cultivation with the aim of increasing of the activity is topical. It was shown that during combined cultivation of the lactic acid bacteria with probiotic properties and yeast strains, antimicrobial activity depends on the genus and species to which the strain of lactic acid bacteria and yeast belongs. They inhibited the growth of multidrug-resistant bacteria with better efficiency. Increasing of the antimicrobial activity can be explained by the synergetic effect of products of cultures metabolism and by interaction between lactic acid bacteria cells with the cell wall of yeasts. Our data showed perspectives of combined cultivation of yeast and lactic acid bacteria for creation of a new class of antimicrobial preparations with high antibacterial activity and broad spectrum of action. Preparation can be recommended for treatment of animals.