This work presents investigations of biologically active metabolites of Usnea barbata lichen. Extraction conditions for usnic acid and other biologically active phytocomponents using various solvent systems were chosen. Modern analytical techniques were used to study composition of the obtained extracts; usnic acid and phenolic compound contents were estimated. Antioxidant activity and antimicrobial properties of lichen dry extract against bacteria Bacillus subtilis and Pseudomonas fluorescens were studied.

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We experimentally carried out the synthesis of the tbf gene that encodes highly-immunogenic epitopes of pathogenic cholera strains, through the cloning of the tbf gene in pGEM-T Easy plasmid. Moreover, we tested the hybrid gene sequence for absence of mutations, using the Sanger sequencing. We also calculated the nucleatic sequence of the tbf gene. The obtained results have both scientific and practical significance.

The article describes the need to train highly qualified specialists sought after on the global labor market. Scientific and technical progress in a market economy places high demands on young professionals. In order to meet the requirements of the time, young people need to constantly update their knowledge, self-develop and improve. The choice of profession is a crucial stage in the life of every young person. Parents help young people to choose a profession.A large role in the choice of profession is played by various career guidance events held by universities. Modern higher education institutions offer a whole range of activities that contribute to the professional self-determination of students. Most activities are for students. But schoolchildren can participate in many activities. These are olympiads, quizzes, contests, exhibitions, open days, where schoolchildren can get an idea of their future profession.To increase the effectiveness of career guidance work, it is necessary to introduce a "school-university" scheme more widely. Interactive events such as workshops, meetings with renowned scientists and experts in various fields of science are very popular now at St. Petersburg Polytechnic University. This approach allows young people to better navigate the choice of their future profession

People are exposed to a significant amount of man-made hazards upon contact with technological systems, and foundry engineering industrial sites belong undoubtedly to such systems. Foundry shops are characterized by high noise and temperature thresholds that affect the human body. Unsatisfactory condition of the air is considered to be an acute problem in foundry engineering. In this connection, the state of air and its composition change, which can certainly affect health of workers, and the latter may be seen in the respiratory, cardiovascular, nervous systems, and digestive organs functional changes. However, up to date, the effect of health hazards of foundry engineering on the microbiocenosis of human intestine remains poorly studied. The paper apprizes the microbiota of human large intestine being exposed to integrated effects of foundry engineering factors. A structural change of the intestinal coenotype accompanied by a change of absolute dominants and opportunistic microorganisms appearance is established. Intestinal microbiocenosis disorder is accompanied by a high detectability of parasitic protozoa Blastocystis spp. in the sampling material. The obtained blastocyst isolates have pathogenic properties of varying degree of manifestation, which indicates their unequal etiological significance in the development of the pathological process. The isolated strains of protozoa have a high anti-interferon activity characterizing their persistent properties. This characteristic brings along the displacement of normal symbionts by blastocysts and colonization of the intestinal mucous membranes with these protozoa.