Existential Foundations of the Clinical and Psychological Picture of Our Time Tragedy

The study presents a model of the clinical and psychological picture of our contemporaries' experience of tragic events related to the COVID-19 pandemic. It is shown that the deformation of everyday life under the influence of threatening circumstances sharpened the features of the clinical and psychological picture of everyday life of our contemporaries. As the most significant features, the authors note experiences of the type of traumatic stress (fear of losing a job, experience of limited movement, concern about the problems of the near and distant future, in connection with the transition to remote work, fear of the lack of clear prospects for the future), as well as experiences that create a risk of reducing social interest (a decrease in the level of direct interpersonal contacts, boredom due to a decrease in social and intellectual activity, feelings of helplessness and impotence, fear of loss of autonomy and independence). It is shown that the psychological characteristics of modern people, especially young people and adolescents (representatives of Y and Z generations), create obstacles to the application of the experience of coping with the difficulties of previous generations due to the widespread postmodern worldview with its characteristic features. The tendency of modern existential psychotherapy and positive psychology to accept suffering as an experience necessary for personal growth is shown. As a metaphor for the spiritual life of a contemporary and the inability to help people in need of help, the authors cite the images of the fil

Robots vs Coronavirus

Due to the world pandemic, plenty of doctors and other medical workers became infected. They don’t cape with COVID-19 and modern technologies came to the rescue. Everyone know about Coronavirus, but not everyone understand who helps paramedics to fight with this great disease. In my report I want to show people the role of robots in this difficult “fighting” with COVID-19 or , more simply, how technologies are helping to cope with the pandemic

Анализ динамики смертности COVID-19 в США

В конце 2019 года в Китае зарегистрирован ряд необъяснимых случаев пневмонии. В ходе исследований был выявлен новый штамм коронавируса – SARS-CoV-2, который является возбудителем острого инфекционного заболевания Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). За несколько месяцев эпидемия новой коронавирусной инфекции переросла в пандемию, охватившую более 200 стран мира. По статистическим данным, наибольшее количество заболевших приходится на Соединенные Штаты Америки. Представленный обзор включает актуальные данные по поло-возрастным признакам заболеваемости и смертности населения США

РАССТРОЙСТВА НЕРВНОЙ СИСТЕМЫ ПРИ НОВОЙ КОРОНАВИРУСНОЙ ИНФЕКЦИИ COVID-19

Расстройства нервной системы наблюдаются у трети пациентов с COVID-19. Они включают в себя вторичные инфекционно-токсические энцефалопатии, вирусные поражения периферических нервов и мышц, а также пост- и параинфекционные аутоиммуные поражения нервной системы. Отдельно рассматриваются острые нарушения мозгового кровообращения при COVID-19, развитие которых связано с явлениями гиперкоагуляции. Вероятность развития истинных вирусных энцефалитов при COVID-19 дискутабельна. Необходимы дальнейшие исследования в данном направлении

Design of a self-powered triboelectric face mask

Usage of a face mask has become mandatory in many countries after the outbreak of SARS-CoV-2, and its usefulness in combating the pandemic is a proven fact. There have been many advancements in the design of a face mask and the present treatise describes a face mask in which a simple triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) with an electrocution layer may serve the purpose of filtration and deactivation of SARS-CoV-2. The proposed mask is designed with multilayer filters, in which the inner three layers act as a triboelectric (TE) filter and the outer one as an electrocution layer (EL). The viral particles experience a mildshock in EL due to the electric field produced between the electrocution layers by contact electrification. Four pairs of triboelectric series fabrics, i.e. polyvinylchloride (PVC)-nylon, polypropylene (PP)-polyurethane (PU), latex rubber-PU, polyimide (PI)-nylon are studied to establish the efficacy of the mask. The motional force exerted on triboelectric filter materials can produce sufficient electric power to activate EL. The proposed mask can be used by a wide range of people because of its triboelectric self-powering (harvesting mechanical energy from daily activities, e.g. breathing, talking or other facial movements) functionalities to ensure effective filtration efficiency. More importantly, it is expected to be potentially beneficial to slow down the devastating impact of COVID-19. © 2020 Elsevier Lt

Obesity, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, COVID-19: dangerous liaisons

The pandemic of COVID-19 is changing the usual clinical practice. Most of the drugs used for the etiotropic and pathogenetic therapy of COVID-19 do not have a sufficient evidence base, approaches to therapy of liver, gastrointestinal tract and other body systems damage in the structure of COVID-19 and post COVID-19 syndrome are under development. Coronavirus infection is more severe in  obese patients with associated diseases; the  liver plays an important role in  this process. Retrospective analysis of  the  medical histories of  patients with a  new coronavirus infection hospitalized in  the  clinic of North-Western State Medical University named after I.I. Mechnikov identified that 34.7% of patients were overweight, 51.3% obese, 77% abdominal obesity (alanine aminotransferase (ALAT) was on average 76.2 ± 58.8 U/L, aspartate aminotransferase (ACAT) 60.7 ± 48.6 U/L). At the time of hospitalization, increased transaminases was detected in 71% of patients and correlated with markers of the severe course of COVID-19 (the level of C-reactive protein, ferritin, % of blood oxygen saturation). In patients with severe new coronavirus infection, receiving therapy with JAK-kinase inhibitors and/or biological drugs, often was a  significant increase of  ALAT and ASAT up to 5–10  upper limits of  the  norm. In  the  process of  histological examination of the liver tissue of patients who died of extremely severe course of infection, characteristic fatty degeneration of hepatocytes was revealed. Therapy with a multicomponent drug containing inosine, meglumine, methionine, nicotinamide and succinic acid contributed to a dynamic decrease of transaminases and an improvement in the course of the new coronavirus infection.

Sustainable agricultural development: from sectoral to ecosystem approach

The article is devoted to the study of the prospects for using the ecosystem approach in agriculture. The methodology of research is based on the concept of sustainable development, ecosystem theory and platform economy. Research methods and materials deal with economic and statistical analysis of the agricultural industry and related branches of agricultural engineering and the land market in Russia. The main idea of the article is the assumption that in order to ensure sustainable development, it is necessary to integrate the listed industries into a single ecosystem based on the same technological standards and digital platform solutions, with a unified coordination center. The main problem in the organization of the ecosystem in agriculture in Russia is the systemic dependence of the industry on institutional factors, primarily government subsidies and the lack of specific design solutions in the field of its sustainable development. The authors see the development of another high-tech sector in the economy of the Russian Federation as a result of the organization of an ecosystem in agriculture

Social network big data analysis as a tool for preventing extremism on the Internet in the interests of sustainable development

The crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the migration policies of various countries around the world, lead to the radicalization of the most marginal social groups, including right - wing extremists. Due to the development of information technologies, right-wing extremists receive new channels for spreading their destructive ideas. Since the main users of data networks are young people, primarily schoolchildren and students, the prevention of extremism in public social media is particularly relevant. The authors of the article believe that an effective tool for preventing extremism is the collection and processing of data on the activity of right-wing radicals in social networks. Such work, according to the authors, can not only increase the effectiveness of identifying extremists on the Internet, but also establish productive interaction with the main target audience of social media - young people. In the interests of sustainable development, it is necessary to cooperate with authorities, technical specialists, and educational institutions in order to develop a unified policy to counter extremism both in the Sverdlovsk region and in Russian Federation and around the world. © The Authors, published by EDP Sciences, 2020

Karstic Landscapes Are Foci of Species Diversity in the World’s Third-Largest Vertebrate Genus Cyrtodactylus Gray, 1827 (Reptilia: Squamata; Gekkonidae)

Karstic landscapes are immense reservoirs of biodiversity and range-restricted endemism. Nowhere is this more evident than in the world’s third-largest vertebrate genus Cyrtodactylus (Gekkonidae) which contains well over 300 species. A stochastic character mapping analysis of 10 different habitat preferences across a phylogeny containing 344 described and undescribed species recovered a karst habitat preference occurring in 25.0% of the species, whereas that of the other eight specific habitat preferences occurred in only 0.2–11.0% of the species. The tenth category—general habitat preference—occurred in 38.7% of the species and was the ancestral habitat preference for Cyrtodactylus and the ultimate origin of all other habitat preferences. This study echoes the results of a previous study illustrating that karstic landscapes are generators of species diversity within Cyrtodactylus and not simply “imperiled arks of biodiversity” serving as refugia for relics. Unfortunately, the immense financial returns of mineral extraction to developing nations largely outweighs concerns for biodiversity conservation, leaving approximately 99% of karstic landscapes with no legal protection. This study continues to underscore the urgent need for their appropriate management and conservation. Additionally, this analysis supports the monophyly of the recently proposed 31 species groups and adds one additional species group

COVID-19 and cardiovascular diseases [COVID-19 и сердечно-сосудистые заболевания]

First cases of new coronavirus infection were registered in December 2019. The COVID-19 outbreak was declared a global pandemic. COVID-19 is much more dangerous for people older than 65. It is well known that cardiovascular diseases are more affecting older patients as well. The potentially dangerous combination of the new infection and different cardiovascular diseases has become a crucial problem of cardiology in 2020. © 2020 Consilium Medikum. All rights reserved