Sex-Specific Phenotypic Plasticity as a Complex Reaction of Human Organism to Different Environmental Conditions

Complex anthropological investigations of modern students were carried out in the three big cities of the Russian Federation (Samara, Arkhangelsk, Saransk), as well as in the villages of Mordovia. The program of morphofunctional investigation included body characteristics, body mass components (evaluated with the bioelectrical impedance analyzer “Medass-1”), physiological characteristics of cardiovascular and respiratory systems, right hand grip strength (dynamometry). To evaluate the level of sexual dimorphism, coefficient of sexual dimorphism (CSD) was used in this study. The total number of the studied subjects was 476 young women and 375 young men, from 17 to 23 years old. The results of ANOVA analyses show the presence of non-random variations for the majority of studied characteristics in the examined groups. On this basis, it is possible to consider that different environmental conditions exert significant influence on human organism, which is the core of the adaptation process. The largest distance separates the groups from the city of Saransk and Mordovian villages. It shows that the impact of social and environmental factors for rural and urban inhabitants is much larger as compared to ecological ones, e.g., latitude of the location. Comparison of the CSD values in all groups showed that the degree of adaptation potentials is considerably different in males and females for many characteristics. Thus, for body mass components, characteristics of respiratory system, height and BMI, males are more sensitive to environmental influences. For the cardiovascular system traits, the degree of fat tissue development and body mass, the strength of adaptation changes is practically equal in men and women, with slight advantages in men

Model-Based Analysis of Changes in the Morphological Characteristics of Moscow Students for the Last Two Decades

The aim of the paper is to develop a model of changes in morphological characteristics of young males and females body structure at the beginning of the 21st century. For this purpose the results of Moscow students’ annual screenings from 2000 to 2018 were analyzed (total number of 17–18-year-olds − 6,433 individuals). As a result, five factors describing the trends of changes were revealed and further analysis demonstrated variants of their values over time. An original model was developed, which reflected real morphological transformations in the body parameters of the young generation for the last 20 years. For both sex groups a trend towards macrosomia (gr. macros − big, soma- body) was revealed. For the boys some increase in linear traits was found with a decrease in muscularity. In girls, parabolic association between athletic characteristics and the year of investigation was found: the decrease in muscularity for the first decade, and its increase for the second one

Changes in the Anxiety of Moscow Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic

This work is devoted to assessing the changes in anxiety among Moscow students during the COVID-2019 pandemic. The material was collected in comprehensive examination of 18–25-year-old students studying at Lomonosov Moscow State University (residents of Moscow and the Moscow region). The study included longitudinal and cross-sectional components. The methodology included a social questionnaire about the peculiarities of the self-isolation regime, living conditions of the respondent, professional employment, etc. and the scale of situational and personal anxiety of C.D. Spielberger in the Russian-language adaptation of Yu.L. Khanin. A total of 284 questionnaires have been analyzed. In 2020, two consecutive waves of infection were recorded in Russia: in May and in December. During the first wave, severe social restrictions and a temporary lockdown were introduced in Moscow, and the second one took place under conditions of significantly less restrictions, although it was marked by a large number of infections. Different social load and adaptation to the pandemic led to the fact that the behavioral manifestations of stress and the level of situational anxiety among Moscow students increased significantly at the beginning of the pandemic, but subsequently began to decrease. It can be concluded that among university students there is a social and psychological adaptation to new norms of life, which are dictated by the conditions of the COVID-19 pandemic