European Science Research Articles

Rediscovering and Unrediscovering Gregor Mendel: His Life, Times, and Intellectual Context.

Two things about Mendel were "rediscovered" in 1900: His famous paper of 1865 and the story of his life and long neglect. Unlike the paper, which anyone could read in its entirety, the story came out only gradually, and many of its elements were misconstrued by Western European scientists. They pictured him as a pure scientist like themselves and were puzzled by or disinterested in his career as a clergyman, his intellectual community in far-off Moravia, and the importance to him of practical plant breeding. This paper recapitulates the process of mythmaking that followed the rediscovery, then shows how more recent historical research has been able to undo it and, in a sense, "unrediscover" Mendel.

Disentangling Race from Skin Color in Modern Biology and Medicine

In this review, we examine the taxonomies used to classify people, which influenced the development of the modern disciplines of biology and medicine, including dermatology, throughout the world. Early European scientists and physicians were intertwined with the social environment that created classifications and hierarchies of skin-color-based races, which were reinforced by prevailing political systems that supported colonial economic structures and, in many cases, chattel slavery. Even after genomic analysis of diverse human DNA sequences have revealed that systems of skin color-based racial and ethnic classification lacked biological meaning and were socially constructed, these classifications persist and are reinforced by census classifications and frameworks for comparisons in biomedicine in many parts of the world. The bodies of knowledge and practices that were built on these classifications did not reflect the observable biological diversity of people but the dominant cultural institutions and economic systems of their times. We provide actions for our modern institutions to reduce the underpinnings and ramifications of racial and ethnic classifications ultimately to improve biomedical research and medical care for all patients.

I. I. von Felbiger and the creation of the European school education system

Introduction. One of the most important conditions for the success of any type of activity is its systematic nature. This statement fully applies to such an important area of the spiritual life of society as education. The creation of the educational system in Europe is associated with the name of the outstanding teacher-reformer Johann Ignaz von Felbiger (1724-1788), who vividly proved himself as a scientist, founder of educational institutions, author of important documents and textbooks that for many decades determined the content and nature of schooling in European countries and in Russia. Materials and methods. The author uses the following research methods: analysis of historical and pedagogical literature, biographical and historical methods, an axiological scientific approach to the study of the value content in the activities of I. I. von Felbiger. The work uses publications by foreign and Russian authors. Results. The period of I. I. von Felbiger's life and his organizational activities coincided with the age of Enlightenment, which led to an increase in interest among a significant part of the population of many European countries in science and its practical use in the interests of society, as well as to the problems of educational development. I. I. von Felbiger acted as the organizer of educational institutions designed for various groups the population and the levels of training of students. He substantiated the idea of the first public school system in history and partially implemented it into practice. Over time, this system, which in some countries was called Sagan, became generally accepted in Europe. His ideas were developed in the process of creating a school education system in the Russian Empire. Discussion. Von Felbiger's activities in the field of education were multifaceted. He carried out the practical management of the educational institution, was a teacher, the general commissioner for education of the whole country, and finally, he created valuable legislative acts that received approval from the monarchs and ordinary teachers. He also authored methodological and educational manuals for teachers that corresponded to the current needs of society. Conclusion. The famous educational reformer von Felbiger left a vivid mark on the history of European science and culture. He went down in the history of pedagogy as the creator of the Sagan school system. The history of his life and work, as well as the genesis of the first education system he created in Europe, deserve further comprehensive study.

Gerakan Perubahan (Renaissence) Oleh Dinasti Umayyah II (Islam di Andalusia) Terhadap Berkembangnya Intelektual dan Kebudayaan di Eropa

The second period of the Umayyad dynasty, known as the Andalusian Umayyads, had a significant influence on the development of European civilization in the Middle Ages. After the fall of Damascus, this dynasty continued its rule in the Iberian Peninsula with its center in Cordoba. This article aims to analyze the influence of the Umayyad Dynasty II on Europe, especially in the fields of science, art, architecture and cross-cultural relations. The research method used in this article is a literature review, where literature study is a method that involves collecting, evaluating and synthesizing existing literature to answer research questions or understand a particular topic comprehensively. According to Danial and Warsiah, Literary Studies is research carried out by researchers by collecting a number of books and magazines related to research problems and objectives. The findings show that the Umayyad Dynasty in Andalusia not only contributed to the spread of Islamic knowledge, such as astronomy, medicine, and mathematics, but also became a catalyst for the development of science in Europe through intellectual transfer and translation of scientific texts. Apart from that, the architectural style promoted by the Umayyad II Dynasty played a role in the formation of European architectural styles, especially the Gothic and Romanesque styles. Through cultural interactions, the Umayyad II Dynasty introduced irrigation techniques, agriculture, and government systems that inspired European nations. The results of this study underline the importance of the influence of Islamic civilization in Andalusia in the development of European science and culture, which later became the foundation for the Renaissance.

The Vernadsky National Library of Ukraine in Times of Independence and Martial Law: Development Strategy, Preservation, and International Co-operation

Abstract This article explores the operational realities faced by the major national libraries in Ukraine during the period of independence and martial law, including shifts in priorities and the development and preservation of digital resources with research and historical-cultural significance at the Vernadsky National Library of Ukraine. It also examines the increased involvement in European open science projects and underscores the critical role of European partnerships in safeguarding national and global cultural heritage, particularly against potential loss during wartime conflicts.

Assessment of the use of Open Educational Resources at five European Library and Information Science higher education institutions during and post-COVID-19 pandemic.

This article presents an analysis of the impact of Open Educational Resources (OER) during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as their potential use in the post-pandemic, in Library and Information Science (LIS) higher education institutions. The research explored how OER were used and created, what were the main barriers and drivers in practice and some main lessons learned that can help to improve the quality and increase the use of OER beyond times of crisis. The research was based on fieldwork carried out in the LIS departments of the universities of Barcelona (Spain), Hildesheim (Germany), Osijek and Zagreb (Croatia) and the University of Library Studies and Information Technologies in Sofia (Bulgaria). The methodology approach was qualitative and was based on interviews with faculty and focus groups with students. Results show that faculty members were still hesitant to adopt OER since they generally did not consider them. Moreover, those who did use them did so on their own initiative and as additional resources. We discuss the different speeds of OER implementation that have been observed depending on the faculty's prior level of knowledge, and on whether their institutions and countries are prepared to support the use of OER. The promotion of post-pandemic OER involves greater capacity building, as well as collaboration and institutional support. Students' attitudes about the usefulness of OER focus on their availability. The large number of teachers and students who participated in the study, as well as the international scope of the study, constitute a strength in the treatment of a topic such as the use of OER where the user perspectives and LIS context have been little addressed in the literature.

Authority and Scientific Paradigms

The state of European science at the end of the sixteenth century resembles a kind of epistemological chaos in which there are no clear landmarks and boundaries of the world. Not surprisingly, as some order took shape within it, the revival of science began. It should not be forgotten, moreover, that the word "order" itself is etymologized as cosmos, and the discipline that studies it is cosmology. That is why the first fundamental works on astronomy – Copernicus's “On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres” and Galileo's “Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems: Ptolemaic and Copernican” – bear such pretentious titles, because they aim to put the whole "world system" in order. The concepts of scientific determination and the objects of cognition must be present in the problem field of the cognitive process, and the problems of knowledge translation and communicability between the subjects of cognition, as well as the extremely complicated interdependencies between the agency of the scientist and his cultural-historical context, should directly and unconcernedly raise the question of defining the range of epistemic values in which the value of truth a priori could not be put in contradiction to the value of one’s outer for the phenomenon heuristic potential or to the consistency of the relevant scientific noosphere.

Physician Kitasato Shibasaburō: Achievements and posthumous veneration in Shintō

In 2024, the medical community celebrates an important date – 130 years since the discovery of the causative agent of plague, which was independently isolated by the Japanese physician Kitasato Shibasaburō (1853–1931) and the French physician Alexandre Yersin (1863–1943). Although the former had done so a few days earlier, as a result of misunderstanding and forgery, the honor of the discovery was given to A. Yersin, and the genus to which the bacterium is assigned is named in his honor. As it happened, Kitasato is almost unknown in European science, and some of his achievements are attributed to other researchers. In this article, for the first time in the Russian-language scientific literature, his life and achievements are discussed in detail. The outstanding physician isolated a pure culture of Clostridium tetani, was the first in the world to propose serum therapy, isolated Yersinia pestis, educated a galaxy of outstanding physicians and was one of the founders of modern Japanese public health (state sanitary and epidemiological supervision), preventing the establishment of plague in the Japanese islands. His services to Japanese and world medicine are truly immense. No less interesting is his posthumous veneration in Shinto, which was combined with the veneration of the German physician Robert Koch (1843–1910), a teacher and senior friend of Kitasato Shibasaburō. The deification of scientists is an extraordinary practice and represents a significant cultural phenomenon. It should be noted, however, that the cult of Koch-Kitasato is local and actually confined to the Kitasato Institute, where scholars are honored as patrons of the Institute. Interestingly, the other discoverer of the plague microbe, Alexandre Yersin, is deified within Vietnamese Mahayana Buddhism and as a god-patron (thành hoàng) within Vietnamese folk religion, which paradoxically unites the posthumous fate of these scientists.

Athafnafólk í opinberri stefnumótun á óvissutímum: Hvernig hugmyndin um notendastýrða persónulega aðstoð varð að veruleika á Íslandi

Þessi rannsókn leitast við að útskýra tímamótaákvörðun í þjónustu við fatlað fólk á Íslandi. Opinber stefnumótun hefur löngum einkennst af hægfara breytingum, sem gerast í smáum skrefum. Stundum bregður þó svo við að meiriháttar breytingar verða og stefnumál, sem verið hefur baráttumál hagsmunahópa um margra ára skeið, ná fram að ganga. Dagskrárkenningar leitast við að útskýra meiriháttar stefnubreytingar með því m.a. að beina athyglinni að því hvernig og hvers vegna tiltekin málefni koma til kasta stjórnvalda á hverju tíma. Bandaríski stjórnmálafræðingurinn, John W. Kingdon, setti fyrst fram kenningu sína um straumana þrjá og glugga tækifæranna fyrir rúmum 30 árum. Nýlegar rannsóknir evrópskra stjórnmálafræðinga halda því nú fram að nálgun Kingdons geti varpað ljósi á það hvernig það pólitíska kerfi sem stefnumótunin fer fram í virkar og hvernig hegðun og aðferðir þátttakenda í ferlinu hafa áhrif. Í þessari eigindlegu rannsókn er skoðað hvernig hugmyndin um notendastýrða persónulega aðstoð (NPA) varð að veruleika á Íslandi. Rannsóknin byggir á fyrirliggjandi gögnum og viðtölum við lykilfólk um þá framvindu mála sem leiddi til ákvörðunar um að innleiða NPA hér á landi. Rannsóknin lýsir því hvernig og undir hvaða kringumstæðum NPA komst á dagskrá stjórnvalda. Niðurstöðurnar sýna hvernig breytingar á verkaskiptingu milli ríkis og sveitarfélaga gáfu tækifæri fyrir nýja hugmyndafræði sem nýttist bæði notendum, viðskiptahagsmunum og pólitískum hagsmunum. Niðurstöðurnar benda til þess að þar hafi ekki aðeins verið réttur maður á réttum stað á réttum tíma, heldur varpa þær fræðilegu ljósi á það hvað einkennir athafnafólk í opinberri stefnumótun og hvernig og hvers vegna það skiptir máli á óvissutímum í stjórnmálum.

Assessment of the use of Open Educational Resources at five European Library and Information Science higher education institutions during and post-COVID-19 pandemic

This article presents an analysis of the impact of Open Educational Resources (OER) during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as their potential use in the post-pandemic, in Library and Information Science (LIS) higher education institutions. The research explored how OER were used and created, what were the main barriers and drivers in practice and some main lessons learned that can help to improve the quality and increase the use of OER beyond times of crisis. The research was based on fieldwork carried out in the LIS departments of the universities of Barcelona (Spain), Hildesheim (Germany), Osijek and Zagreb (Croatia) and the University of Library Studies and Information Technologies in Sofia (Bulgaria). The methodology approach was qualitative and was based on interviews with faculty and focus groups with students. Results show that faculty members were still hesitant to adopt OER since they generally did not consider them. Moreover, those who did use them did so on their own initiative and as additional resources. We discuss the different speeds of OER implementation that have been observed depending on the faculty’s prior level of knowledge, and on whether their institutions and countries are prepared to support the use of OER. The promotion of post-pandemic OER involves greater capacity building, as well as collaboration and institutional support. Students’ attitudes about the usefulness of OER focus on their availability. The large number of teachers and students who participated in the study, as well as the international scope of the study, constitute a strength in the treatment of a topic such as the use of OER where the user perspectives and LIS context have been little addressed in the literature.

Stakeholder perspectives on the barriers and facilitators of engagement in healthy lifestyle behaviours in underrepresented adolescents: a focus group study from the European SEEDS project

BackgroundObesity in adolescence has increased in the last decades. Adolescents fail to meet the recommended guidelines for physical activity (PA) and healthy diet. Adolescents with a low socioeconomic status (SES) particularly seem to have fewer healthy lifestyle behaviours. The European Science Engagement to Empower aDolescentS (SEEDS) project used an extreme citizen science approach to develop and implement healthy lifestyle behaviour interventions in high schools. As part of this project, key stakeholders were invited to reflect on the intentions of adolescents to engage in healthy lifestyle behaviours. The aim of this study was to gain stakeholder insights into the barriers and facilitators to healthy lifestyle behaviours of adolescents from low SES areas and on the possible role of these stakeholders in facilitating healthy lifestyle behaviours.MethodsSix semi-structured focus groups were conducted in four European countries with 28 stakeholders from different settings (schools, community, and government), like teachers, policy advisors and youth workers. The theoretical framework of focus groups was based on the Theory of Planned Behaviour. The main questions of the focus groups were centred on PA and healthy diet. The focus groups were qualitatively analysed in NVivo using thematic analysis to identify topics and themes.ResultsAccording to stakeholders, adolescents have sufficient understanding of the importance of PA and a healthy diet, but nevertheless engage in unhealthy behaviour. Parents were mentioned as important facilitators for engaging adolescents in healthy lifestyle behaviours. Stakeholders listed lack of knowledge, time, and financial resources as barriers for adolescents from low SES families to engage in healthy lifestyle behaviours. The school environment was listed as an important facilitator of adolescents’ healthy lifestyle changes, but stakeholders acknowledged that current school days, curriculum and buildings are not designed to promote healthy lifestyle behaviours. External support and collaboration with community and governmental stakeholders was seen as potentially beneficial to improve healthy lifestyle behaviours.ConclusionsThis study shows the variety of barriers adolescents from low SES areas face, and the need for a broader collaboration between key stakeholders to facilitate healthy lifestyle behaviours. Schools are regarded specifically as important facilitators. Currently, the school environment entails various barriers. However, when addressing those, schools can increase opportunities for healthy lifestyle behaviours of adolescents from low SES areas.Trial registrationThis study is registered in ClinicalTrials.gov on 12/08/2021: NCT05002049.

Citizen science and science communication: toward a more inclusive pattern?

Despite research calls in citizen science and science communication for more participatory approaches, practical attempts are uncommon. This practice insight focuses on a significant barrier to adopting a participatory approach — the lack of inclusion. In this project, I identified the barriers and determinants of inclusion through a literature review, and then I developed and tested a framework applicable to participatory science communication projects to determine if projects recognise and address inclusion considerations. I successfully tested the framework using reports from a European citizen science project. By considering inclusion criteria as essential for participatory science communication, this framework may help practitioners account for inclusion considerations during the design and monitoring stages of the project cycle.

Data on the Margins – Data from LGBTIQ+ Populations in European Social Science Data Archives

Data gaps are a significant lack of data about marginalized groups existing due to unequal power relations (D’Ignazio and Klein, 2020). They both perpetuate and result in a dominance of male, white, hetero, and cis perspectives in how we make sense of and interact with the world. The most prominent data gap is the gender data gap notably described by Criado-Perez (2020). However, not only women, but all marginalized groups are affected by such gaps, as data about them are frequently not collected due to a disregard on behalf of those in power of the need to do so. LGBTIQ+ people, considered a ‘hidden population’ by demographers, are a case in point. The acronym is used to refer to lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, intersex, and queer people, as well as all people with non-normative sexual or gender identities, including asexual and agender people, who do not consider themselves as falling under one of these labels. A first step towards identifying and closing data gaps is to take stock of data that already exist. In this paper we give an overview of LGBTIQ+ data in European social science archives. We researched all data archives of CESSDA ERIC, the Consortium of European Social Science Data Archives, and found 66 LGBTIQ+ datasets in 9 of the 34 member and associated archives and 1 former member archive. We discuss characteristics, coverages, and findability of the identified datasets and approach the question of potential data gaps by analyzing the keywords assigned to each dataset by the archive.

From founding voices to future visions: languages and literacies in science education

ABSTRACT Over the past decades, languages and literacies have become a prominent focus in science education research and practice. While there is broad consensus on the central roles of disciplinary, representational, and cultural languages and their associated literacies in learning and teaching science, the field faces a critical moment. An ever-growing number of new theoretical and methodological perspectives have revealed rich facets of the multilingual and multimodal nature of learning processes in science. These developments prompt us to reflect on the distinct identity and impact of languages and literacies on the contemporary discourse in science education, especially in light of technological innovations (e.g. large-language models) and societal developments (e.g. multilingual contexts). This position paper offers an opportunity to assess the field's past developments and future directions, building on a recent meeting of the Special Interest Group (SIG) on Languages and Literacies in Science Education under the European Science Education Research Association (ESERA). We present viewpoints from four founding members of the SIG, discussing current trends, challenges, and visions for the future. Ultimately, this paper invites our global community to engage in informed dialogues on the role and value of languages and literacies in science education today.

Evolution content in school textbooks: data from eight European countries

BackgroundEvolution is a unifying theme in biology and its understanding is essential to address sustainability problems. However, many people across the world do not understand evolution. Textbooks are among the most widely used educational resources and the way they depict evolution may greatly impact students’ scientific literacy in evolution. In this paper we investigate which evolution concepts are addressed in European science textbooks, from the 1st to the 9th grade. A content analysis using the ‘Framework for the Assessment of school Curricula on the presence of Evolutionary concepts”, was performed on textbooks from eight European countries: Belgium, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Greece, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal and Slovenia. At least two experienced coders per country independently analysed the texts, images and activities, discussed the results and reached a final consensus.ResultsOur results show that textbooks lack or rarely address concepts considered important for evolution understanding, notably the processes driving evolution and their daily life implications, limiting opportunities for education for sustainability.ConclusionsWe recommend that science textbooks emphasize evolution and its processes since the first school years. This recommendation is particularly relevant for the analysed textbooks from Cyprus and Belgium, that cover less than 45% of the concepts important to evolution literacy.

Aerosol, Clouds and Trace Gases Research Infrastructure (ACTRIS): The European Research Infrastructure Supporting Atmospheric Science

Abstract The Aerosol, Clouds and Trace Gases Research Infrastructure (ACTRIS) officially became the 33rd European Research Infrastructure Consortium (ERIC) on 25 April 2023 with the support of 17 founding member and observer countries. As a pan-European legal organization, ACTRIS ERIC will coordinate the provision of data and data products on short-lived atmospheric constituents and clouds relevant to climate and air pollution over the next 15–20 years. ACTRIS was designed more than a decade ago, and its development was funded at national and European levels. It was included in the European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures (ESFRI) roadmap in 2016 and, subsequently, in the national infrastructure roadmaps of European countries. It became a landmark of the ESFRI roadmap in 2021. The purpose of this paper is to describe the mission of ACTRIS, its added value to the community of atmospheric scientists, providing services to academia as well as the public and private sectors, and to summarize its main achievements. The present publication serves as a reference document for ACTRIS, its users, and the scientific community as a whole. It provides the reader with relevant information and an overview on ACTRIS governance and services, as well as a summary of the main scientific achievements of the last 20 years. The paper concludes with an outlook on the upcoming challenges for ACTRIS and the strategy for its future evolution.

Complexity in the perspective of the ontological turn in modern anthropology

The article examines the forms of representation of the idea of the diversity of being that have developed outside Western European philosophy and science. The paper presents an analysis of the proposed F. Descola, E. Cohn and E. V. de Castro reconstructions of “Indian” ontologies, which are positioned as an alternative to the West «metaphysics». The models constructed within the framework of anthropological reconstructions are based on a number of ontological assumptions (multi-naturalism, reinspectivism, multimodality), which are considered as forms of representation of diversity. The author examines the boundaries of the decentered ontology of diversity, the peculiarities of the relationship between objective and subjective complexity in the mythology of Indian collectives. In the context of the described theoretical models, complexity is considered as a relational, transversal category relevant for describing the processuality of existence, the diversity of human experience, the relationship between man, society and culture. The article also presents a comparative analysis of the ideas of diversity that have developed in “Indian” metaphysics and in the directions of modern philosophy (“new ontologies”) and science (synergetics).

Генезис науки XVII века: опыты по «приручению» бесконечности

The author of the article considers the problem of actual infinity to be the meta-basis of the genesis of New European science. The author shows the advantages of this approach to identify the internal logic of the genesis of science of the XVII century, as well as to clarify the prospects of modern science, experiencing a crisis of its foundations. The author shows that Nikolai Kuzansky’s ontological project reveals the conditions necessary for the mathematization of nature for the transformation of the finite into the actually infinite, which overcomes the hopelessness of Zeno’s similar attempts. Zeno showed that there is no transition from the finite to the actually infinite. To transform the fi nite into the actually infi nite, the latter must already be given. This kind of presence is revealed by Kuzansky in the apophatic idea of the divine minimum coinciding with the maximum. But at the same time, Kuzansky speaks only about the imaginary, and not the real possibility of transforming nature on the basis of actual infinity. And in order to turn ‘scientific ignorance’ into ‘scientific knowledge’, it was necessary to present, outside the theological context, the possibility of transforming nature on the basis of actual infinity, discovered by Kuzansky. This task was set by the founders of the New European science. The author of the article analyzes and compares the attempts of Galileo and Descartes to ‘tame’ the actual infinity. The author shows that the difference in their positions on the question of the achievability of reliable knowledge, which laid important milestones in the history of the genesis of New European science (the transition from the scholastic tradition to probabilistic epistemology), is due to the awareness of the complexity of the problem of actual infinity. As a result, the author shows that neither the theoretical speculations of the founders of science, nor the attraction of modern additional resources unknown to antiquity or the Middle Ages (experiment, pinhole camera) were unable to change anything in the ratio of the finite and the infinite.

Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine and Disorders: An Overview of Peer-Reviewed Publications 2018-2022.

Context Osteopathic manipulative medicine (OMM) has been claimed to be effective in various human disorders and conditions. There have been many anecdotal claims to lend credence to the efficacy of this treatment modality. Recently, much work has been done in evidence-based, government-funded projects, and clinical trials in OMM research, and these studies have further demonstrated the efficacy of OMM as direct, integrated, or complementary mechanisms in treating various conditions. Objectives As the field of OMM research has grown significantly in the past few years, we set out to analyze the peer-reviewed publications on OMM in human disorders between January 2018 and December 2022. Methods We used keywords and termswhich included "osteopath," "osteopathic," osteopathic manipulative medicine," "osteopathic manipulative treatment," and "disorder," to systematically sample two public databases, PubMed and Science Direct. After the first query was recorded, we then applied more specific and stringent criteria to identify publications that (a) were written in English, (b) contained at least one human disorder/condition treated by OMM, (c) were co-authored by at least one osteopathic physician-scientist, and (d) contained at least one OMM technique. Results Our initial sampling of databases resulted in 404 publications. After applying our screening criteria, we identified and analyzed 249 (62%; 249/404) qualified publications in "OMM and Human Disorders" We then categorized them into (a) types of publications, (b) country origins of corresponding author(s), (c) groups of disorder and condition, (d) classification of the OMM used, and (e) relating the treated conditions with the five models of OMM. We found that in the 249 publications, 158 (63%) are research articles, 66 (27%) review papers, and 25 (10%) case reports. In addition, nine countries, the United States, Italy, Brazil, Spain, France, Germany, Canada, the United Kingdom (UK), and Australia contributed most of the publications of OMM. VOSviewer analysis identified a wide range of human disorders that were effectively treated with OMM. These included musculoskeletal, low back pain, neurological, headache, inflammation (including autoimmune conditions, COVID-19, lymphatic drainage), neonate/preterm infant disorders, anxiety, and dizziness. Conclusions Our comprehensive analysis showed that there has been a significant increase in peer-reviewed OMM publications in recent years, led by the United States osteopathic physician-scientists and European osteopathic scientists. OMM was found effective in treating not only common conditions such as pneumonia, low back pain, and musculoskeletal disorders, but also disorders such as inflammation, dizziness, headache, anxiety, and neonate/preterm infant disorders.

The history of floristic research of forest biogeocenoses in the Northern Steppe Dnipro region

The study of the history of flora research in the forests of the Northern Steppe of Ukraine is extremely important for understanding the ecological processes and changes occurring in this region. The forests of the Northern Steppe Dnipro region, as unique ecosystems, have undergone significant transformations under the influence of anthropogenic factors. Understanding the historical aspects of these changes allows us to assess the current state of the forests and develop effective strategies for their conservation and restoration. This article aims to highlight the historical development of botanical research, from ancient historians' descriptions to modern scientific works. Despite its importance, the historical course of flora research in the forests of the Northern Steppe of Ukraine has remained insufficiently studied. The lack of a systematic review of research, from ancient times to the present, has limited the ability to fully understand the changes in species composition and ecological conditions of these forests. It is also important to assess the contributions of the first European travelers and scientists to the study of the region's flora and to determine the impact of anthropogenic factors on these ecosystems. The article provides a detailed review of historical sources related to the study of the flora of the forests of the Northern Steppe of Ukraine. The works of ancient historians, such as Herodotus, and European travelers of the XVII–XVIII centuries, including Guillaume Le Vasseur de Beauplan, Johann Anton Güldenstädt, and Peter Pallas, are considered. The contributions of XIX century scientists, such as Karl Friedrich von Ledebour and Ivan Schmalhausen, are analyzed. Special attention is given to the research of the XX century, which reflects changes in ecosystems under the influence of industrialization and agricultural development. The study revealed that anthropogenic factors, in particular, deforestation, the expansion of agricultural lands, and melioration works, have significantly affected the flora of the forests of the Northern Steppe of Ukraine. The analysis of historical data showed that past botanical research is an important source of information for modern understanding of the region's ecological dynamics. These data help develop strategies for the conservation and restoration of forest ecosystems. The historical development of flora research in the forests of the Northern Steppe of Ukraine is an important part of the scientific heritage, which contributes to expanding knowledge about natural resources and ecological processes of this region. Studying the historical aspects of changes in species composition and ecological conditions of the forests allows for the development of effective strategies for their restoration and conservation. The results obtained emphasize the need for further research and efforts to preserve biodiversity and restore the forest biogeocenoses of the Northern Steppe Dnipro region.