Water Use of Asiatic Wild Asses in the Mongolian Gobi

Water is a key resource for most large bodied mammals in the world’s arid areas. With the growing human population, access to water for wildlife often becomes compromised. Equids are typical inhabitants of semi-arid to arid rangelands and need regular access to fresh water. However, their water needs are difficult to study under free-ranging conditions. In this study we investigated Asiatic wild ass (Equus hemionus) use of permanent water points in the Great Gobi B Strictly Protected Area (SPA) in south-western Mongolia. We combined observational data from one specific water point with high frequency GPS location data from one radio-collared Asiatic wild ass mare. Observations and GPS data revealed that wild asses come to drink during all 24-hours of the day without an apparent diurnal pattern. The majority of wild asses came to the water point alone or in small groups. Other ungulates were largely ignored by wild asses, but the arrival of humans and their transportation devices almost always resulted in flight behavior. The monthly drinking frequency varied from every 1.5 to 2.2 days during the hot and dry season in June and August to every 2.3 to 3.8 days in April, May and September. Longer intervals between successive visits to permanent water points may explain why Asiatic wild asses can make use of pastures further away from water than sympatric Przewalski’s horses (Equus ferus przewalskii). The lack of a clear diurnal pattern suggests that there is no specific time window in which wild ass are particularly vulnerable to disturbances at water points. However the high disturbance potential of humans and their transportation devices makes it desirable to restrict human impact at water points by re-routing transportation routes, or requiring a minimum distance from water for herder camps and wildlife viewing facilities

Water Use of Asiatic Wild Asses in the Mongolian Gobi

Water is a key resource for most large bodied mammals in the world’s arid areas. With the growing human population, access to water for wildlife often becomes compromised. Equids are typical inhabitants of semi-arid to arid rangelands and need regular access to fresh water. However, their water needs are difficult to study under free-ranging conditions. In this study we investigated Asiatic wild ass (Equus hemionus) use of permanent water points in the Great Gobi B Strictly Protected Area (SPA) in south-western Mongolia. We combined observational data from one specific water point with high frequency GPS location data from one radio-collared Asiatic wild ass mare. Observations and GPS data revealed that wild asses come to drink during all 24-hours of the day without an apparent diurnal pattern. The majority of wild asses came to the water point alone or in small groups. Other ungulates were largely ignored by wild asses, but the arrival of humans and their transportation devices almost always resulted in flight behavior. The monthly drinking frequency varied from every 1.5 to 2.2 days during the hot and dry season in June and August to every 2.3 to 3.8 days in April, May and September. Longer intervals between successive visits to permanent water points may explain why Asiatic wild asses can make use of pastures further away from water than sympatric Przewalski’s horses (Equus ferus przewalskii). The lack of a clear diurnal pattern suggests that there is no specific time window in which wild ass are particularly vulnerable to disturbances at water points. However the high disturbance potential of humans and their transportation devices makes it desirable to restrict human impact at water points by re-routing transportation routes, or requiring a minimum distance from water for herder camps and wildlife viewing facilities

Specific Effects of the 1988 Earthquake on Topography and Glaciation of the Tsambagarav Ridge (Mongolian Altai) Based on Remote Sensing and Field Data

Strong earthquakes could serve as a trigger for glacier detachment and associated ice–rock avalanches. The 1988 Tsambagarav earthquake (M = 6.4) initiated collapse of part of the glacier tongue and a further ice–rock avalanche with an abnormal 5 km long path in Zuslan valley, Tsambagarav ridge (Mongolian Altai). Early documentation of surface effects in 1988, remote sensing and field data gathered 16 and 30 years after this event allowed for the assessment of the seismic impact on a reduction of “damaged” glacier under conditions of global warming as well as estimating topography changes in this arid and seismically active area. Because of the earthquake, the glacier immediately lost 10.4 % of its area (0.1 km2 of tongue surface). Additionally, 56% of its area was lost during 1988–2015, shrinking much faster than neighboring glaciers of similar size and exposition. Collapse of snow–ice cornice in the accumulation zone could play a key role in rapid acceleration of the detached ice block and abnormally long path of the ice–rock avalanche. A large amount of debris material provided more than 16 years of ice melting. Downstream, the valley avalanche debris cover repeats the topography of underlying Pleistocene moraines, which should be considered in regional paleogeographical reconstructions. © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.Funding: The study was supported by State Assignment of IGM SB RAS and partly funded by Russian Science Foundation (grant 22-27-00447)

ENVIRONMENTS OF SOUTHWESTERN SIBERIA AND NORTHWESTERN MONGOLIA IN THE LATE HOLOCENE (BASED ON THE LAKE SEDIMENTS STUDY)

94-9

Mongolian Part of the Trans-Boundary Sailugem Natural Plague Focus in 2017. Communication 2. Modern Epidemiological Risks

Objective – to study the current epidemiological risks at plague enzootic frontier territory of the Bayan-Ulgy aimag of Mongolia. Materials and methods. Epidemiological analysis was performed according to the reporting documentation of the National Centre of Zoonotic Infections in Mongolia, results of anonymous questioning of 179 residents of the Bayan-Ulgy aimag of Mongolia, materials of the Department of Health of the Bayan-Ulgy aimag, the Aimag Centre of Zoonotic Infections and the Administration of the Aimag Governor. Results and discussion. Plague was first registered in the Bayan-Ulgy aimag in 1989. The total of 9 patients with plague and 4 lethal outcomes were revealed. In all cases marmots were an infection source, the infection occurred in the process of cutting the carcasses. The majority of the plague patients had bubonic form of plague. All patients were men aged 13 to 34 years. Public inquiry showed that 21,8 % of population considered meat of marmots as a delicacy, 54 % – hunted for the animals, 25,7 % – consumed uncooked organs of marmots as a folk remedy, 19,5 % – participated in cutting of marmot carcasses. Results of the inquiry indicated that a marmot was an object of active hunting for local population. Analysis of epizootic activity of the transboundary Sailugem natural plague focus, modern social and economic conditions in the Bayan-Ulgy aimag has showed that in this territory epidemic risks have shaped and act at present. They can be divided into two groups: epidemic risks capable to cause human sporadic plague cases and epidemic risks leading to anthropozoonotic plague dissemination among the population and exportation of Yersinia pestis beyond the limits of enzootic territories. Effective interaction of anti-epidemic Institutions of Mongolia and Russia and also the Agencies and Institutions of the executive power of all levels permits to counteract these risks

Современное оледенение хребта Цамбагарав (северо‑западная Монголия) и его изменение с максимума малого ледникового периода

Characteristics of glacierization of the Tsambagarav mountain ridge were determined on the basis of images obtained from satellites Corona, Landsat‑5, Spot‑4, Landsat‑8 together with results of field investigations. Inventories of glaciers located on the ridge had been prepared for three time periods: 1968, 2006, and 2015. Glacierization of the ridge during the Little Ice Age (LIA) maximum was then reconstructed. In 2015, 67 glaciers formed the ridge glacierization with their total area 68.41 km2. Mean weighed altitude of the firn line averaged 3748 m. The flat‑top glaciers accounted for almost 40% of the glacierization area, and the glaciers composed 6 complexes. For the period of the LIA maximum, 73 glaciers had been reconstructed, their total area was 128.4 km2, and the calculated firn line altitude – 3583 м; these glaciers were combined into two complexes where the flat‑top glaciers predominated as well. By 1968, the area of the glacierization decreased by 36%, and the firn line altitude increased by 89 m. By 2006, area of glaciers decreased down to 71.32 km2, and the firn line altitude increased more by 60 m. Finally, in 2006–2015, area of the glacierization contracted additionally by 2.91 km2, and the firn line altitude still more increased by 16 m. Over the whole period from the LIA maximum, the flat‑top glaciers reduced the most. The general rate of contraction of glaciers tends to increase. Reconstructed rates of retreating of the valley glaciers of the Tsambagarav ridge are similar to estimates of other researchers made for the nearest centers of glacierization. Continuation of the current trend to a rise of summer temperature and a growth of precipitation should result in primary fast degradation of the flat‑top glaciers and reorganization of morphological structure of the glacierization.На основе полевых наблюдений и дешифрирования космических снимков составлены каталоги и карты современных ледников горного хребта Цамбагарав, существующих в условиях аридного климата северо‑западной Монголии. Реконструированы положение, размеры и характеристики ледников хребта в малый ледниковый период и проанализированы особенности их последующего сокращения

Влияние землетрясения 1988 г. на оледенение и рельеф массива Цамбагарав (Западная Монголия)

Early documentation of the consequences of the Tsambagarav earthquake happened on July 23, 1988 (M = 6.4) compiled by Soviet and Mongolian specialists allowed the authors, using the example of Tsambagarav (Mongolian Altai), to assess the impact of the seismic process on the reduction of mountain glaciation and topography of the trough valleys in the arid region of Central Asia. In 1988, in upper part of the Zuslan river valley, 13 days after the earthquake, the release of a fragment of one of the glaciers gave rise to an ice-rock avalanche «on an air cushion». Its deposits with a thickness of up to 30 m blocked the valley over a distance of 5 km. Analysis of space images taken in different time together with field researches revealed that as a result of the earthquake the glacier № 15 simultaneously lost 0.1 km2 of its tongue (10.4% of total area), as the whole in 1988–2015 it lost 56% of its area, whereas neighboring glaciers № 16 and 17, similar in size and the same exposure, lost significantly less – 35 and 15% of the area, respectively. Rapid shrinking of not only the glacier tongue, but also of its accumulation zone; the established deficit of ice volume in the broken off ice fragment (in comparison with initial assessment), and the abnormally long path of the avalanche made it possible to clarify the factors and mechanism of its initiation: the fall of the ice-snow ledge from the accumulation zone could lead to the rapid release of the broken ice fragment in the tongue part of the glacier. In 2004, 16 years after the avalanche, the buried ice in its deposits was still partially preserved, having completely degraded by 2019. The long time of the ice degradation process was caused by the high content (about half of the volume) of debris that armored the surface of avalanche sediments. The debris material of the avalanche repeats the relief of the underlying Pleistocene moraines, which may complicate the reconstruction of the number, scale and age of glacial events in avalanchehazardous areas. The relatively high rate of leveling of the avalanche traces and, as a consequence, the difficulties of their subsequent identification in the relief allow us to assume a greater number of avalanche releases, including seismic ones, in the recent geological past than it can be established at present in the Altai ridges.Ледник № 15 (по [3]), потерявший в результате Цамбагаравского землетрясения 1988 г. магнитудой М = 6,4 фрагмент языка (10,4% всей площади) и часть объёма в области аккумуляции, в период 1988–2015 гг. сократился на 56%, что больше сокращения соседних ледников (15–35%). Погребённый лёд в отложениях ледово-каменной лавины, заполнивших долину р. Зуслан на протяжении 5 км, частично сохранялся и в 2004 г.; полностью он растаял к 2019 г. Обломочный материал лавины повторяет рельеф подстилающих плейстоценовых морен, что может осложнить реконструкцию ледниковых событий в регионе. Уточнены факторы, определившие возникновение лавины на «воздушной подушке»

Direct and indirect effects of 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine on pneumococcal carriage in children hospitalised with pneumonia from formal and informal settlements in Mongolia: an observational study.

Background: Within Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, risk factors for pneumonia are concentrated among children living in informal settlements comprised of temporary shelters (gers). We used pneumococcal carriage surveillance among children from formal and informal settlements hospitalised with pneumonia to evaluate the direct and indirect effects of 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV13) against vaccine-type (VT) pneumococcal carriage following a phased introduction of PCV13. Methods: We enrolled and collected nasopharyngeal swabs from children 2-59 months of age presenting to hospital. Pneumococci were detected using lytA qPCR and serotyped using microarray on a random monthly selection of swabs between November 2015 and March 2019 from two districts in Ulaanbaatar. PCV13 status was determined using written records. We quantified the associations between individual PCV13 status (direct effects) and district-level PCV13 coverage (indirect effects) and VT carriage using generalised estimating equations and explored interactions by settlement type. Findings: A total of 1 292 swabs from 6 046 participants were tested for pneumococci. Receipt of PCV13 and increasing PCV13 coverage independently reduced the risk of VT carriage. For each percent increase in PCV13 coverage, the adjusted odds of VT carriage decreased by 1•0% (OR 95% CI 0•983-0•996; p=0•001), with a predicted decrease in VT carriage rate from 29•1% to 13•1% as coverage reached 100%. There was a trend towards a slower decline within informal settlements (p=0•100). Adjusted PCV13 vaccine effectiveness against VT carriage was 39•1% (95% CI 11•4-58•1%, p=0•009). Interpretation: Substantial indirect effects were observed following PCV13 introduction, including among children living within informal settlements. Funding: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance

Mongolian Part of the Transboundary Sailugem Natural Plague Focus in 2017. Communication 1. Epizootic condition

Objective – estimation of current epizootic condition of Mongolian part of transboundary Sailugem natural plague focus. Materials and methods. Epizootiological survey was performed for the area of 2335 km2, 277 mammals and 516 ectoparasites were investigated for plague. Results and conclusions. Eight Yersinia pestis subsp. pestis strains were isolated, including 7 strains – from grey marmots (6 – from the remains of meals of predatory birds, 1 from a corpse) and 1 – from long-tailed souslik (corpse). Y. pestis DNA was detected in 52 objects. Serological samples showed 40 positive results. Epizootic manifestations, confirmed by isolation of Y. pestis cultures, detection of plague microbe DNA, and positive serological results, were observed across the area of 1611 km2 covering 69 % of the inspected territory. Epizootic results indicated high infection rate of mass mammal species and first of all grey marmots. The data demonstrated that the extended plague epizooty caused by Y. pestis of the main subspecies occurred in the inspected territory in the carrier settlements. For the first time the circulation of Y. pestis subsp. pestis was registered in the Mongolian part of the transboundary Sailugem focus

Structured headache services as the solution to the ill-health burden of headache: 1. Rationale and description

In countries where headache services exist at all, their focus is usually on specialist (tertiary) care. This is clinically and economically inappropriate: most headache disorders can effectively and more efficiently (and at lower cost) be treated in educationally supported primary care. At the same time, compartmentalizing divisions between primary, secondary and tertiary care in many health-care systems create multiple inefficiencies, confronting patients attempting to navigate these levels (the “patient journey”) with perplexing obstacles. High demand for headache care, estimated here in a needs-assessment exercise, is the biggest of the challenges to reform. It is also the principal reason why reform is necessary. The structured headache services model presented here by experts from all world regions on behalf of the Global Campaign against Headache is the suggested health-care solution to headache. It develops and refines previous proposals, responding to the challenge of high demand by basing headache services in primary care, with two supporting arguments. First, only primary care can deliver headache services equitably to the large numbers of people needing it. Second, with educational supports, they can do so effectively to most of these people. The model calls for vertical integration between care levels (primary, secondary and tertiary), and protection of the more advanced levels for the minority of patients who need them. At the same time, it is amenable to horizontal integration with other care services. It is adaptable according to the broader national or regional health services in which headache services should be embedded. It is, according to evidence and argument presented, an efficient and cost-effective model, but these are claims to be tested in formal economic analyses