When the party's over : political blame attribution under an electoral authoritarian regime

Peer reviewe

Observability obstructs motivated reasoning in autocracy

Why do people continue to support authoritarian leaders even when their performance is poor? The theories of motivated reasoning in politics explain the paradox with identity-protective behaviour. Dictator supporters almost always frame even her failures in a way that makes her appear advantageous. In this study, I argue that issues observability––which contributes to people’s ability to observe problematic issues unmediated––is an understudied factor that might weaken directional reasoning in autocracy. As an empirical test, I use the example of Russia, which is a prototypical informational autocracy that consolidates power through information control. First, I show that direct experience with crisis areas leads people to loosen identity-protective behaviour and become more critical of President Putin. My second contribution is to demonstrate that varying conditions of observability require distinct modes of information processing and motivated reasoning, which explains why people arrive at different evaluations. This study takes a citizens’ perspective to show why informational autocracies are successful in manipulating largely unobservable issues in the media and how it helps to consolidate dictator supporters. As well this work spots a potential weakness in autocratic information control.Master of Art

Towards targeted colorectal cancer biopsy based on tissue morphology assessment by compression optical coherence elastography

Identifying the precise topography of cancer for targeted biopsy in colonoscopic examination is a challenge in current diagnostic practice. For the first time we demonstrate the use of compression optical coherence elastography (C-OCE) technology as a new functional OCT modality for differentiating between cancerous and non-cancerous tissues in colon and detecting their morphological features on the basis of measurement of tissue elastic properties. The method uses pre-determined stiffness values (Young’s modulus) to distinguish between different morphological structures of normal (mucosa and submucosa), benign tumor (adenoma) and malignant tumor tissue (including cancer cells, gland-like structures, cribriform gland-like structures, stromal fibers, extracellular mucin). After analyzing in excess of fifty tissue samples, a threshold stiffness value of 520 kPa was suggested above which areas of colorectal cancer were detected invariably. A high Pearson correlation (r =0.98; p <0.05), and a negligible bias (0.22) by good agreement of the segmentation results of C-OCE and histological (reference standard) images was demonstrated, indicating the efficiency of C-OCE to identify the precise localization of colorectal cancer and the possibility to perform targeted biopsy. Furthermore, we demonstrated the ability of C-OCE to differentiate morphological subtypes of colorectal cancer – low-grade and high-grade colorectal adenocarcinomas, mucinous adenocarcinoma, and cribriform patterns. The obtained ex vivo results highlight prospects of C-OCE for high-level colon malignancy detection. The future endoscopic use of C-OCE will allow targeted biopsy sampling and simultaneous rapid analysis of the heterogeneous morphology of colon tumors

The 2024 Europe report of the Lancet Countdown on health and climate change: unprecedented warming demands unprecedented action

Record-breaking temperatures were recorded across the globe in 2023. Without climate action, adverse climate-related health impacts are expected to worsen worldwide, affecting billions of people. Temperatures in Europe are warming at twice the rate of the global average, threatening the health of populations across the continent and leading to unnecessary loss of life. The Lancet Countdown in Europe was established in 2021, to assess the health profile of climate change aiming to stimulate European social and political will to implement rapid health-responsive climate mitigation and adaptation actions. In 2022, the collaboration published its indicator report, tracking progress on health and climate change via 33 indicators and across five domains

Digital risk management

Based on the latest statistics, an analysis of indicators, indices and sub-indices wasmade, showing the level of development of information and communication technologies in the world, and a comparative description of Russia with the leading countries was carried out. Using methods of analysis, comparison, induction and decomposition, it is possible to determine which areas of the Russian digital economy are successfully implemented and competitive, and which suffer and need support. The process of global digitalization has been started. In order to reach a higher level of development, it is necessary to increase the share of activities in the field of information in relation to GDP

Pharmacoeconomic aspects of the development of myocardial remodeling in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus

Aim. Determine the relationship between the treatment and the development of left ventricular myocardial remodeling; conduct a pharmacoeconomic assessment of therapy in patients with type 2 diabetes. Materials and methods. The study included 208 patients with diabetes: group A (retrospective) – 105 patients, group B (prospective) – 103 patients. All patients received hypoglycemic and antihypertensive therapy. To determine the economic feasibility of using the drugs, the cost-effectiveness ratio (CER) was calculated. Results. The frequency of changes in the geometry of the heart increased in the absence of insulin therapy or on the background of PSGP monotherapy, as well as in the absence of ACE inhibitors, ARA II as antihypertensive therapy. NNT analysis showed greater efficacy and safety of alogliptin and empagliflozin. Our clinical and economic study also confirmed the greater efficacy of these drugs, but they turned out to be less economically acceptable compared to biguanides. Conclusion. The results of our study clearly demonstrate the dependence of the development of structural changes in the heart on the treatment of both primary and comorbid pathology in patients with type 2 diabetes, the most effective drugs from the IDPP-4 and AHHP-1 groups, as well as the ACE inhibitor and ARA II

Multimodal OCT Control for Early Histological Signs of Vulvar Lichen Sclerosus Recurrence after Systemic PDT: Pilot Study

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a modern treatment for severe or treatment-resistant vulvar lichen sclerosus (VLS). The chronic and recurrent nature of VLS requires control of recurrences at an early stage. In this paper, a non-invasive multimodal optical coherence tomography (OCT) method was used to control for early histological signs of VLS recurrence after systemic PDT using Photodithazine®. To interpret the OCT data, a histological examination was performed before PDT and 3 months after PDT. Two groups of patients were identified: with early histological signs of VLS recurrence (Group I, n = 5) and without histological signs of VLS recurrence (Group II, n = 6). We use structural OCT, OCT angiography, and OCT lymphangiography throughout 6 months after PDT to visually assess the skin components and to quantitatively assess the dermis by calculating the depth-resolved attenuation coefficient and the density of blood and lymphatic vessels. The OCT data assessment showed a statistically significant difference between the patient groups 3 months after PDT. In Group II, all the studied OCT parameters reached maximum values by the 3rd month after PDT, which indicated recovery of the skin structure. At the same time, in Group I, the values of OCT parameters did not approach the values those in Group II even after 6 months. The obtained results of multimodal OCT can be used for non-invasive control of early histological recurrence of VLS after systemic PDT and for adjusting treatment tactics in advance, without waiting for new clinical manifestations of the disease

NGR4 and ERBB4 as Promising Diagnostic and Therapeutic Targets for Metabolic Disorders

Obese individuals are at high risk for developing type 2 diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular diseases, and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. The aim of this review was to analyze the scientific literature and databases to reveal the fundamental role of neuregulin 4 (NRG4) and its receptors in the development of obesity-associated metabolic disorders. This review demonstrates that NRG4 and its receptors are promising therapeutic targets for the treatment of socially significant obesity-associated pathologies. The review contains nine chapters. Information on the structure of ERBB4 and NRG4 splice isoforms and subsequent activation of downstream targets is presented. The tissue-specific features of the NRG4 and ERBB4 genes and protein production are also highlighted. The role of NRG4 and ERBB3/4 in the pathophysiological mechanisms of the development of metabolic disorders in obesity is discussed in detail. The final chapter of the review is devoted to the miRNA-dependent regulation of NRG4 and ERBB4. Recent studies have shown that several miRNAs regulate ERBB4 expression, but no information was found on the interaction of NRG4 with miRNAs. We now demonstrate the putative relationships between NRG4 and let-7a-5p, let-7c-5p, miR-423-5p, miR-93-5p, miR-23a-3p, and miR-15b-5p for the first time. In addition, we found SNP mutations affecting the interaction of NRG4 and ERBB4 with miRNA in these genes as well as in miRNAs. In summary, this review provides a detailed and comprehensive overview of the role of NRG4 in obesity-associated metabolic disorders. The review summarizes all current studies on this topic and opens perspectives for future research