Different Groups Of Population Research Articles

Сoncentration of sex hormones and dopamine in different groups of women in the Arctic depending on the phase of the menstrual cycle

INTRODUCTION: The transition of the indigenous population of the North from a nomadic to a sedentary lifestyle leads to a change in a number of regulatory mechanisms, which can affect the reproductive health of the female population. AIM: To study the state of the hypothalamus-pituitary-gonad system and the level of dopamine in women in the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation, taking into account the phase of the menstrual cycle and the fact that the women belong to different groups of the population during the period of rapid transition of aborigines from nomadic to settled life. MATERIAL AND METHODS: This article is an observational, cross-sectional, uncontrolled study that examines the differences in sex hormone concentrations and dopamine levels between groups of nomadic and sedentary aborigines and the local Caucasian population in the follicular and luteal phases of the menstrual cycle. A total of 157 women aged 23 to 51 years were examined. The concentrations of the main sex hormones, the sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG), antisperm antibodies, and dopamine were determined by enzyme immunoassay. Statistical processing was performed using Statistica 10.0. Nonparametric methods of analysis were used because the majority of the obtained samples did not have a normal distribution (as assessed by the ShapiroWilk test). The threshold value of the significance level (p) was equal to 0.05. The significance of differences between groups was assessed using the MannWhitney U-test. RESULTS: The differences between the groups were very similar in different phases. The follicle-stimulating hormone in the local Caucasian population was 1.5 to 2 times higher, and prolactin and antisperm antibodies were 1.5 to 2 times lower than in the aboriginal population groups, when 43% to 50% of individuals with dopamine values below normal were detected. Total and free testosterone were also lower in sedentary natives compared with other groups, and SHBG was higher (4264% of cases above normal). CONCLUSION: The features of the state of the hypothalamus-pituitary-gonad system, depending on the lifestyle, can contribute to the implementation of diagnostic and preventive measures while maintaining reproductive health in different groups of the Arctic population.

A comparative study of changes in ocular tear function among patients with Type II diabetes mellitus and diabetic retinopathy

Background: Diabetes is found to be one of the major causes for ocular disease such as retinopathy, cataract, and eye infections. Several studies in recent time focus on ocular function and tear function related to diabetes. This study is focused to find the differences in ocular tear function using Shirmer’s test and tear break-up time (TBUT) among three groups of people such as those who are normal, those with diabetes mellitus (DM) and the group of people having diabetic retinopathy (DR). Aims and Objectives: The aim of the study was to study the ocular tear function among normal subjects, patients with Type II diabetes mellitus, and among patients with DR and compare the results. Materials and Methods: A total of 90 participants were included in the study. Three different groups of population were selected such as the normal (30 respondents), DM (30 respondents), and DR (30 respondents). They were evaluated for their glycemic index using fasting, post-prandial, and HBA1C, by the researchers. An ocular fundus evaluation using 90 D biomicroscopy to select patients with DR was done. Two tests were used to study the ocular functions such as the TBUT test and Schirmer’s test. The data were entered in excel and analyzed with the help of SPSS 26. Statistical tests such as descriptive statistics, frequency and percentages, Chi-square, and Kruskal–Wallis were used. Results: The ocular tear film parameters, Schirmer’s test, and TBUT were significantly reduced in diabetic patients and those with DR when compared to control group. These results indicate that dry eye is a significant diabetic ocular surface disease feature. Conclusion: When compared with the control group, both the study groups (D.M. and D.R.) have a significant abnormality in the results of the Shirmer’s and TBUT tests. There is a strong association between diabetes control and ocular tear function tests and is proven that diabetic control has a highly significant influence on the ocular tear film function.

Участие белорусов в формировании Калининградского социума

The paper shows the place of Belarusians in the formation of the Kaliningrad soci-ety and the Kaliningrad socio- territorial community, based on close social ties, re-gional culture, and possessing a number of features of regional identity. The authors give a demographic portrait of the Kaliningrad Belarusians in dynamics, from the time of the formation of the Kaliningrad region to the present day. The conclusion is made that there is a gradual change of self-consciousness among young people. Young men and women with Belarusian roots are involved in the formation of the Kaliningrad society based on the Russian language and elements of local culture. At the same time, two multidirectional processes are observed in the Kaliningrad region. Along with integration of different groups of population and the process of formation of common cultural elements and regional identity which has been going on for decades, there are processes of unification of residents along ethnic lines, and their interest in traditional culture, history of their families and their ancestral homelands is growing. Due to the general activation of ethnic life in the country, in the Kaliningrad region the mobilization of the ethnic component is noticeable, also among the Belarusians. The study is based on the results of surveys of high school students, statistical data and other sources.

Digital Health: Deborah Lupton's Concept "Thinking with Care"

The article discusses the digitalization of healthcare paying special attention to the concept of Australian sociologist Deborah Lupton. Health is one of the key areas for digitalization, where the benefits of using big data are obvious. New technologies are often а basis for modernizing national health systems for they make possible to ensure availability of various medical services for different groups of population. Lupton analyzes both the benefits and risks of digitalization in this area, thereby highlighting the ambivalent character of the ongoing changes. She believes that it is necessary to recognize the interaction not only between people, but also between people and digital technologies. These new relationships form a new social reality. The Australian sociologist focuses her attention on new opportunities due to digitalization which can improve people's lives. From her point of view, the "concept of fear" still dominant in social research of digital technologies should be replaced by the concept of "thinking with care", according to which the data obtained as a result of using new technologies can and should be used for the benefit of humanity. Lupton demonstrates that digital data can help reorganize health care system and change patterns in people's behavior related to their health, in particular, through the ability to regularly monitor indicators of one's condition.

Covid-19 and Pregnancy: A Scientometric Assessment of Global Publications during 2020-21

<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Background:</strong> Covid-19 pandemic had been a disastrous catastrophe on human race affecting different groups of population differently. Pregnancy is a condition which too has been affected by Covid-19. The present study aims to examine the research productivity of Covid-19 and pregnancy. <strong>Methods: </strong>Keywords pertaining to &ldquo;Covid-19&rdquo; and &ldquo;Pregnancy&rdquo; were used in search string in Scopus database for the period 2020-21. Data regarding publications growth, productive countries, authors and institutions, high cited papers and significant keywords was retrieved to analyze results. <strong>Results:</strong> The search retrieved 2945 global publications for the period 2020-21. The USA, UK and China were the most productive countries (with 28.96%, 11.27% and 9.3% global share) on &ldquo;Covid-19 and Pregnancy&rdquo;. The 613 organizations and 953 authors participated in global research on the subject, with top 20 most productive organizations and authors contributing 26.38% and 9.68% global publication share and 53.64% and 38.53% global citation share respectively. Huazhong University of Science and Technology, China, Tongji Medical College, China and Harvard Medical School, USA were the most productive organizations (with 68, 64 and 52 publications) and Huazhong University of Science and Technology, China (45.88 and 2.12), Tongji Medical College, China (44.96 and 2.08) and University of Health Sciences, Turkey (22.38 and 1.03) led the world as most impactful organizations in terms of citation impact and relative citation index. A Khalil (23 papers), C. Gyamfi-Bannerman (19 papers) and D. Goffman and I.C. Poon (17 papers each) were the most productive authors and H. Yang (197.4 and 4.66), l. Feng (105.12 and 2.5) and D.A. Schwartz (74.82 and 1.77) were the most impactful authors. <em>American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology</em> (94 papers), <em>International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology </em>(85 papers) and <em>European Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Reproductive Biology </em>(66 papers) were the most productive journals in global research on &ldquo;Covid-19 and Pregnancy&rdquo;. <em>JAMA-Journal of the American Medical Association </em>(45.52), <em>Acta Obstetricia et Gynecologica Scandinavica </em>(34.22) and <em>Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology </em>(25.95) were leading most impactful journals. The 61 (2.07%) out of 2945 global publications on &ldquo;Covid-19 and Pregnancy&rdquo; registered 102 to 1571 citations per paper and they together received 14620 citations averaging 239.67 citations per paper. These 61 publications are assumed as high cited publications and involve 153 authors, 116 organizations and published in 43 journals.

Using artificial intelligence for diabetic retinopathy screening: Policy implications.

Artificial intelligence (AI) has evolved over the last few years; its use in DR screening has been demonstrated in multiple evidences across the globe. However, there are concerns right from the data acquisition, bias in data, difficulty in comparing between different algorithm, challenges in machine learning, its application in different group of population, and human barrier to AI adoption in health care. There are also legal and ethical concerns related to AI. The tension between risks and concerns on one hand versus potential and opportunity on the other have driven a need for authorities to implement policies for AI in DR screening to address these issues. The policy makers should support and facilitate research and development of AI in healthcare, but at the same time, it has to be ensured that the use of AI in healthcare aligns with recognized standards of safety, efficacy, and equity. It is essential to ensure that algorithms, datasets, and decisions are auditable and when applied to medical care (such as screening, diagnosis, or treatment) are clinically validated and explainable. Policy frameworks should require design of AI systems in health care that are informed by real-world workflow and human-centric design. Lastly, it should be ensured that healthcare AI solutions align with all relevant ethical obligations, from design to development to use and to be delivered properly in the real world.

COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy in a City with Free Choice and Sufficient Doses.

Background: Vaccine hesitancy represents one of the major global health issues around the world. We examined the perception, attitude, perceived barriers and facilitation measures of receiving the COVID-19 vaccine in a Chinese population with free vaccine choices (Sinovac [Coronavac] vs. BioNTech/Fosun [Comirnaty]) and adequate doses. Method: We conducted a random telephone survey of the general population in 1195 subjects aged 18 years or above from 23 April 2021 to 8 May 2021 after two months of vaccine rollout. A descriptive analysis of the levels of enabling factors, obstacles and perception of COVID-19 vaccination was conducted using ANOVA and Chi-square tests for trend. Results: Only 10.1% and 13.5% had received one and two COVID-19 vaccine doses, respectively. Among those who had not received any COVID-19 vaccine (75.4%), only 25.1% expressed their intention to receive in the coming 6 months. The barriers with the highest scores included “having heard of cases with serious adverse events or death after vaccination” (score: 8.17 out 10, 95% C.I. 7.99, 8.35), “lack of confidence on governmental recommendations” (7.69, 95% C.I. 7.47, 7.91), and “waiting for a better vaccine” (7.29, 95% C.I. 7.07, 7.52). The highest score for the impact of various incentives for vaccination was for “vaccine passports for overseas travel” (4.44, 95% C.I. 4.18, 4.71). Conclusions: Vaccine hesitancy is commonly observed in this Chinese population despite adequate provision of vaccine doses and choices. No single incentive is strong enough to promote vaccination, and multiple facilitation measures for different groups of population are needed to encourage vaccine uptake. Active clarification and promotion by medical professionals together with a variety of incentives are needed to drive vaccine uptake.

DIVERSITY AND PHENOTYPIC STRUCTURE OF POPULATIONS OF EUROPEAN SPRUCE (PICEA ABIES) IN THE EAST OF THE RANGE

European spruce ( Picea abies (L.) Karst.) is widespread in Europe. It is of interest to study its biological characteristics in the eastern part of the range, where it transforms into an intermediate form with Siberian spruce. Phenotypic traits of spruce in this area have so far been studied mainly by visual and descriptive techniques. The aim of the study is to study the variability of the main systematic characters, diversity and phenotypic structure of European spruce in the east of the range using mathematical and statistical techniques. This approach made it possible to objectively assess the parameters of its systematic characters, their relationship, and also to identify three significantly different groups of populations. It is shown that in this area the average length of spruce cones is in the range from 80-85 to 100-114 mm. The coefficient of narrowing of the upper part of the seed scales ( C ) is 25-35%, the coefficient of projection ( C ) is 60-80%, their difference ( C- C ) is -25… -55%. The value of the individual variation in the length of cones and the C index is 12-15%, C index is about 20%, and C-C is 30-35%. The intrapopulation coefficient of negative correlation of C and C indices has an average level (-0.3…-0.6). Their correlation between populations is much higher (-0.9). In the geographic variability of indicators of the shape of seed scales and the length of the cones, there is a correlation of the average level. The frequency of individuals of European spruce phenotypes in the populations of the groups P. ab, P. ab×ab×m., P. ab×m., Distinguished by the metric parameters of seed scales, is 98-100, 85-95, 57-70%, respectively. The research results can be useful for forestry and in substantiating the identified intraspecific taxa.

Organizational Principles of Development of Golf in Ukraine. An Overview of Strategic Planning

The article analyses the modern trends of world golf. The experience of national golf federations of the world's leading countries, interviews with golf experts assisted (29 participants in the survey: including 8 representa- tives of the National Olympic Committee (NOC), 10 members of the Board of the Ukrainian Golf Federation, 6 golf judges, 5 coaches and golf instructors) to identify the specific features of golf development and popular- ization trends. The modern causes affecting further development of golf in Ukraine are investigated: the defi- ciencies of the legislative provision of sports development and the promotion of the activities of subjects of the national golf system; low level of motivation of different groups of population for golf to practice in the country; lack of golf courses at children's and youth sports schools; the backlog of the material and technical base of golf development from the level of most countries of the world; mismatch with the modern requirements of scien- tific and methodological support for the development of golf and staffing, and others. The strategic directions, goals and objectives for the development of golf in Ukraine for the period up 2030 are resulting from this study. The strategy of golf development in Ukraine will allow dignified representation of the state in the world sports community, popularize golf as a leisure activity in the system of a healthy lifestyle of citizens and promote the consolidation of the nation.

Evaluation of location of mental foramen using cone-beam computed tomography in Pakistani population.

Objectives: The location of mental foramen (MF) is significant in many surgical and nonsurgical procedures related to the mandible to avoid the injury of the mental nerve. The location of mental foramen is considered variable in different populations and even in different groups of population. We used CBCT to locate the position of the mental foramen. As high-resolution three-dimensional images of CBCT reveal anatomic structures more clearly, it improves mental foramen detection, offering advantages over two-dimensional radiological images. Study Design: Cross-sectional Descriptive study. Setting: Department of Oral &amp; Maxillofacial Surgery, University College of Medicine &amp; Dentistry, The University of Lahore. Period: July 2017 to Dec 2019. Material &amp; Methods: A sample of 230 CBCT scans was obtained from the data already available in the department of Oral &amp; Maxillofacial Surgery. The horizontal position of MF was analyzed utilizing 3D images of CBCT at 6 positions concerning the long axis of mandibular premolars and molars. Results: Ninety-six (41.7%) mental foramen were located at position 3, i.e., between the first and second premolars. Moreover, this was the most common location of the mental foramen. Followed by position 4 (in line with the long axis of the second premolar) 90(39.1%). No statistically significant relationship between the gender of the patient and the location of the mental foramen was seen. Conclusion: The location of mental foramen is variable; care should be taken in performing procedures in the area of the mental foramen to avoid iatrogenic injury of the mental nerve. Our results are different from previous studies conducted in the Pakistani population.

C-reactive protein (CRP) and Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate (ESR) Trends following Total Hip and Knee Arthroplasties in an Indian Population - A Prospective Study.

Introduction:To evaluate the trends of C-reactive protein (CRP) and Erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) in the first three weeks after uncomplicated total hip (THR) and total knee (TKR) arthroplasty/replacement in the Indian population and to compare it with available literature.Materials and methods:A total of 90 patients were enrolled for this prospective study, of which 30 were unilateral THR, 30 were unilateral TKR (U/L TKR) and 30 were simultaneous bilateral TKR (B/L TKR). Serum CRP and ESR were measured on the day before surgery and post-operatively on day 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 7th, 12th, and at the end of 3rd week.Results:CRP showed a peak at day 2nd with normalisation to pre-operative value by the end of 3rd week. While ESR showed a peak on day 3rd and continued to remain elevated even at end of 3rd week post-operatively. Both mean CRP and ESR values were higher in THR patients followed by in B/L TKR and then in U/L TKR patients.Conclusion:CRP persists to be the best acute phase reactant in the early post-operative phase with a relatively typical pattern as compared to ESR. CRP values peak at post-operative day 2nd and then show a gradual decline. However, its normalisation to pre-operative baseline values may vary among different groups of population.

The determinants of under-5 age children malnutrition and the differences in the distribution of stunting-A study from Armenia.

Stunting undermines economic growth by perpetuating the vicious cycle of poverty and labour market performance. Studies have captured the trend in stunting and present distributional evidence of policy effects in the country contexts. We identify the determinants of U5 (under 5 years of age) malnutrition for the poor and the Nonpoor and compare the distribution of stunting at four time points (2000, 2005, 2010 and 2015) over a 15-year period between different groups of population. Further, we decompose the gap in malnutrition into causes of differences in stunting between worse-off and better-off socioeconomic groups of the population and estimate the magnitude of distributional differences in stunting between two socioeconomic groups. We also present the inequality trend over time that provides insights into the dynamicity of the effect of different determinants on stunting at different time points. Using 35,490 observations from Armenian Demographic and Health Survey Data [four waves: Year2015,9533; Year2010,8644; Year2005,8919; Year2000,8334], we apply regression-based decomposition method and inequality measures to identify the determinants of malnutrition and distribution of stunting between and within socioeconomic groups. Although the proportional difference in prevalence of stunting between worse-off and better-off children of 13 months and above are reduced by 9.5% in 2015 compared to 2000, the association between socioeconomic position and stunting is statistically significant among children aged 13 months and above in 2000, as well as among children of 36 months and above in 2015. This study demonstrates that the less of socioeconomic distribution of the population, but rather more of the effect from in-country region and settlement of residence are significantly associated with stunting. The approach of our analysis is potentially also a useful tool to generate evidence for decision making towards achieving SDGs 2.2. We conclude that development in childhood is not independent from the distributional effect of region specific development initiatives. Understanding the regional characteristics and resources allocated for the maternal and child health is the necessity to address stunting.

Basic methodical provisions for swimming training of students higher education institutions

Analysis of data on swimming training and determination of system components allow to assert the need to do appropriate methodical support. Purpose: to generalize the content of the basic methodical provisions of swimming training for integration into the education system of students higher education institutions. Research methods: theoretical analysis and generalization, study of documentary materials, system analysis. Results. It is recommended to division of classes into the following types: training, training-game, game, individual training, control, mass bathing. This step is done for providing methodically correct swimming training. Significant experience in the implementation of swimming training tasks for different groups of population is defined by the availability of thorough information of educational and methodical nature. The issue of swimming training as an integral part of personal development has received considerable attention since the middle of the twentieth century. In the sequence of training, in addition of stages, it is necessary to provide the degree of assimilation educational material. In general, we can offer a scheme in the form of "new element - development - consolidation - control - a new element." In the educational process, it is recommended to form at students a sufficient arsenal of specific swimming actions. There was identified need to combine technical exercises into complexes defined by target installations. Changing the speed of movement, tempo-rhythmic execution of movements (in full coordination or different biolanks) are regulators for observance of methodical tasks. Conclusions. The generalization of scientific and methodical literature gives us reason to assert the existence of an extremely large number of information sources on swimming training for different groups of the population. In order to avoid duplication of fundamental approaches to swimming training and adhering to the paradigm of this process in the methodical component should focus on the content of successive tasks of different individual and motivational levels of the swimming training system for students. To swimming training of student youth and maintain content priorities, it is necessary to focus on achieving a certain level of skill in accordance with the goals of a certain individual and motivational level of classes. The basic prerequisites are the laying the broad technical base, which provides mastering and improvement different ways of swimming techniques and gradual increase of physical fitness and improvement of the physical qualities development.

Differential Influence of Age on the Relationship between Genetic Mismatch and A(H1N1)pdm09 Vaccine Effectiveness.

Assessment of influenza vaccine effectiveness (VE) and identification of relevant influencing factors are the current priorities for optimizing vaccines to reduce the impacts of influenza. To date, how the difference between epidemic strains and vaccine strains at genetic scale affects age-specific vaccine performance remains ambiguous. This study investigated the association between genetic mismatch on hemagglutinin and neuraminidase genes and A(H1N1)pdm09 VE in different age groups with a novel computational approach. We found significant linear relationships between VE and genetic mismatch in children, young adults, and middle-aged adults. In the children’s group, each 3-key amino acid mutation was associated with an average of 10% decrease in vaccine effectiveness in a given epidemic season, and genetic mismatch exerted no influence on VE for the elderly group. We demonstrated that present vaccines were most effective for children, while protection for the elderly was reduced and indifferent to vaccine component updates. Modeling such relationships is practical to inform timely evaluation of VE in different groups of populations during mass vaccination and may inform age-specific vaccination regimens.

The Impact of Quarantine on Emotions during the COVID-19 Pandemic

The unprecedented lockdown in Lithuania due to COVID-19 pandemic lasted for 92 days from March 15th to June 16th, 2020 producing profound changes in lifestyles and routines of population. It is not clear, what emotional responses this evoked in different groups of population. The goal of the current study was to research the emotional changes of the different gender and age groups of Lithuania population during the quarantine. From March 30th to June 8th, 2020 representative samples of Lithuanian citizens 18–74 years of age were surveyed five times on their emotional states. In total, 2634 participants answered questions from Gallup’s Global Emotions Report to evaluate their anxiety, sadness, anger, enjoyment, calmness, stress, and physical pain. Significant gender and age differences on emotion prevalence were found. During the five polls taken, more women were found to report feeling stressed, anxious, sad, and in more physical pain than men. Evaluations of anger, enjoyment, and calmness revealed no significant gender differences. Emotions were found to differ significantly between three age groups (18–29, 30–49 and 50–74). Contrary to expectations, the biggest negative impact of quarantine was found in the youngest group aged 18–29 years it showed highest prevalence of stress, anxiety, and sadness of all age groups. Individuals of different gender and age reacted to quarantine in a different way. These findings might provide some insight into factors affecting emotional reactions and help to plan better targeted social interventions in the future.

Bloodstream Infection Etiology among Children and Adults.

Every year in the world, sepsis occurs in 31.5 million people, and the number of deaths reaches 5.3 million per year. There are not enough studies that describe etiological structure of sepsis pathogens in different groups of population of the Republic of Kazakhstan. In this study, we have investigated difference of local sepsis etiology and antibiotic susceptibility among children and adults. A total 200 blood samples were examined using the standard and express method of identification of bloodstream pathogens. The determination of antimicrobial sensitivity was carried out by the disc-diffusion method according to CLSI guidelines. Overall, 23/90 (25.5%) positive blood cultures were isolated from adult patients and 43/110 (39%) from pediatric patients. It was found that children are statistically more often affected with bacterial bloodstream infection than adults (p < 0.05). The Gram-positive bacteria are the leading cause of sepsis in both groups: S. epidermidis (35.5%) in pediatric patients and S. aureus (21.7%) in adults. However, statistical significance was detected in pediatric patients (p < 0.05). The number of resistant strains of S. epidermidis (MRSE) in the group of children was 66.7%, while in adults, all S. epidermidis was resistant to azithromycin and cefoxitin (MRSE). S. aureus strains from adult patients and children had a similar picture of antibiotic patterns. The proportion of MRSA in pediatric patients was 16, 6%, and in adult patients, 20%. Enterobacterales (39%) were the second cause of sepsis in adult patients. 62.5% of Enterobacterales strains isolated from adults were phenotypically identified as ESBL, while in pediatric patients, 25% of ESBL producers were isolated. We have noted the resistance to antibiotics that are prescribed according to protocols of treatment of the Republic of Kazakhstan in the strains isolated from the patient's blood.

Unobserved heterogeneity in transportation equity analysis: Evidence from a bike-sharing system in southern Tampa

Assessing the equity impacts of transportation systems/policies has become a crucial component in transportation planning. Existing statistical modeling approaches for transportation equity analysis have typically assumed that parameter estimates are constant across all observations and used data aggregated to certain geographic units for the analysis. Such methods cannot capture unobserved factors that are not contained in the dataset, i.e., unobserved heterogeneity, which is likely to be present in the increasingly popular disaggregated datasets. To investigate whether there is unobserved heterogeneity in transportation equity impacts, this study carries out an empirical study focusing on the distribution of individual accessibility to activity locations via bike-sharing in southern Tampa. A disaggregated dataset containing information on individual bike-sharing accessibility and socio-economic factors is modeled with a random parameters logit model that allows for the investigation of possible unobserved heterogeneity. Further, models are estimated using data aggregated to parcel- and TAZ-levels to explore the impacts of data aggregation on model estimation results. The models unveil the unobserved heterogeneity in bike-sharing accessibility among populations in different groups defined by different sociodemographic factors in southern Tampa. These results shed insights into how the inconsistent disparity direction of transportation outcomes across individuals in a population group can be measured from the heterogeneity effects. Finally, a comparison between different models show that to capture such inconsistency, the use of disaggregated data with heterogeneity models is highly recommended for transportation equity analysis.

LEARNING TECHNOLOGIES FOR PROFESSIONAL TRAINING OF SOCIAL WORKERS IN SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH ACTIVITY

The article addresses the problem of professional training of social workers in scientific research activity. The authors substantiated that pedagogic theory and practice lack of comprehensive studies of research technologies for training of professionals in social work. The article aims to specify effective technologies for training of social workers in scientific research activity in tertiary education. Research methods used: analysis of the scientific literature, systematization (with a view to clarifying the key research notions), studying the experience of higher educational institutions in research training of social workers (with a view to defining distinctive features of the process), generalization (with a view to drawing the conclusions). The authors rationalized the research skills of social workers as an important component and an essential feature of professional social work in the current context. Professional development of well-educated, proactive, and highly committed researcher is an absolute precondition for further evolution of the profession aiming at social protection of different groups of population. The authors justified commitment of social worker to scientific research activity as a coherent system of professional and personal features, sound theoretical and methodological knowledge and skills, and proactive personal attitudes to research process, which are reflected in awareness and positive perception of scientific research activity as a component of professionalism. The authors concluded that effective technologies for training of social workers in scientific research activity in tertiary education are as follows: case technology (it enables students to develop specific practical skills through the collective creative discussion based on real situation containing unique practical experience), learning-focused (it enables higher leaning achievements of the students without increase in a volume of learning through the changes in the learning strategies, structure of provided information, and ways of communication), differentiated instruction (providing students with environment which enables each of them to develop abilities to conduct research), development of critical thinking (development of scientific thinking to solve non-trivial expert tasks), project development (enables students to develop their capacities of combining and matching the formal knowledge with the practical experience).

Preclinical studies of safety, immunogenicity and protective activity of attenuated Bordetella pertussis bacteria on the Macaca mulatta model

Introduction. An increasing incidence of pertussis among different groups of population and shortcomings of the existing preventive solutions pinpoint urgency of development of new safe vaccines suitable for immunization of infants and for booster immunization of adolescents and adults.The purpose of this study is evaluation of safety, immunogenicity and protective activity of the new constructed attenuated Bordetella pertussis bacteria 4MKS by infecting immunized Macaca mulatta monkeys intranasally with virulent bacteria of the pertussis pathogen.Materials and methods. Five adult, clinically healthy Macaca mulatta monkeys aged 3–4 years were used for immunization and experimental infection. The re-immunization was performed in 6 months. Three non-immunized animals of the same age were used as controls.Results. The intranasal single-dose inoculation and re-inoculation of attenuated B. pertussis bacteria did not cause any nasopharyngeal inflammation in the rhesus monkeys and any changes in the blood lab test values after the nonhuman primates had been infected with virulent bacteria. No elevation of total IgE was detected in blood serum of the Macaca mulatta monkeys after the single-dose and double-dose immunization. When the monkeys were intranasally immunized with attenuated and virulent B. pertussis bacteria, they developed a defensive reaction to re-infection, namely suppression of the bacterial growth, increased rates of elimination of bacteria from the animals’ nasopharynxes and development of a humoral immune response to the infection. The development of immunity against pertussis re-infection is accompanied by a pronounced booster effect.Discussion. The obtained results suggest common mechanisms of development both of post-vaccination immunity after intranasal vaccination of animals and infection-acquired immunity against pertussis. Both of them provide protection against re-infection with B. pertussis bacteria and prevent development of clinical symptoms of pertussis.

Epidemiological significance of detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA among different groups of population of Moscow and Moscow Region during the COVID-19 outbreak

The Central Research Institute of Epidemiology of Rospotrebnadzor presents priority data obtained from the largescale population PCR-based study of the changes in the rates of circulation of SARS-CoV-2 among relatively healthy residents of Moscow and Moscow Region.