Individual Districts Research Articles

State of the pediatric ophthalmology service of the Russian Federation in 2014–2022

The article presents the results of the analysis of the dynamics of the main performance indicators of the pediatric ophthalmology service from 2014 to 2022. The number of ophthalmology offices (from 6.262 in 2014 to 6.037 in 2022) and children’s ophthalmology beds (from 2.,558 to 2.094) decreased, and the number of ophthalmologists decreased by 681 individuals, 7.3% of the total, in the Russian Federation. The provision of ophthalmologists and ophthalmology beds per 10,000 individuals in 2022 is presented for individual federal districts (FDs) of the Russian Federation. To date, North Caucasus FD and Southern FD received the lowest provision with ophthalmologists per 10,000 individuals (0.69 and 0.68, respectively), whereas Northwestern FD and Far Eastern FD received the highest provision (1.03 and 0.89, respectively). The number of visits to ophthalmologists by children, including for preventive purposes, decreased, and the efficiency of preventive examinations increased, which led to an increase in the proportion of diseases detected during routine examinations by nearly three times. The paper presents the detection rate of ophthalmological diseases during preventive examinations in children by FDs in 2022. On average, the coverage of regular medical check-ups of children with ophthalmological diseases in the Russian Federation has increased (from 25.5% in 2014 to 42% in 2023), and the values of this indicator in individual FDs in 2022 are indicated. The highest and lowest coverage of regular medical check-ups were noted in the Siberian FD (54.0%) and Far Eastern FD (33%), respectively. The indicators of overall and primary morbidity of ophthalmological diseases in general and individual nosological forms, blindness, low vision, and disability were analyzed. The dynamics of surgical activity indicators in the FDs of the Russian Federation are presented.

Optimization of testing protocols to screen for COVID-19: a multi-objective model.

In this paper we develop a new multi-objective simulated annealing (MOSA) algorithm to generate optimal testing protocols for infectious diseases, using the COVID-19 pandemic as our context. A SEIR (susceptible-exposed-infected-recovered) epidemiological model is embedded as the computational platform for our MOSA algorithm to optimize testing protocols for screening across three joint objectives: minimum cost of test materials, minimum total infections over the testing horizon, and minimum number of false negatives over the horizon. We demonstrate the application of this optimization tool to recommend screening protocols for K-12 school districts in the U.S.State of North Carolina. Our approach is scalable by population coverage and can be employed at the level of individual school districts or regional collections of districts, individual schools or collections of schools across a district, business sites, or nursing homes, among other congregate settings where individuals may be screened prior to gaining entry to the site. The algorithm can be solved two ways, generating either independent optimal protocols across individual testing locations, or a common protocol covering all locations in the collection of testing sites. Our findings can be used to inform policy decisions to guide the development of effective testing strategies for controlling the spread of COVID-19 or other pandemic diseases in a wide range of congregate settings across various geographic regions.

Groundwater hydrochemical characteristics by districts area in Bulgaria

The aim of this study is to give a current result for the ion composition of groundwater from hypergenic zone of Bulgaria, for which chemical data for the major ions HCO3–, SO42–, Cl–, Ca2+, Mg2+, Na+ and K+ for the period 2015–2019 are used. The long-term annual average cation content in groundwater for individual districts in Bulgaria is: Ca2+>Mg2+>Na+>K+ or Mg2+>Ca2+>Na+>K+ for Pleven District and Ca2+>Na+>Mg2+>K+ for Burgas and Gabrovo districts. The anions are in the order HCO3–>SO42–>Cl– and HCO3–>Cl–>SO42– for the districts of Gabrovo, Dobrich, Varna, Burgas, Silistra and Razgrad. The predominant anion is bicarbonate, and of the cations, Mg2+ is predominant in Pleven District, while for the other districts, the predominant cation is Ca2+. The average TDS value is 229–1,051 mg/L. It is the lowest for Smolyan District and the highest for Pleven District. Predominantly groundwater is HCO3–-Ca2+-Mg2+ and HCO3–-Mg2+-Ca2+ for Pleven District. There are also deviations from these ratios, determined by differences in the mineral composition of the water-bearing medium, as well as by the influence of hydroclimatic conditions in different seasons.

Impact of Regional Disparities in Social Capital and Its Components on Quality of Life

According to the prevailing opinion, social capital is one of the most robust indicators of quality of life (QoL). We ask whether this insight applies to Slovakia, as well, on the basis of understanding social capital not as one holistic concept but as a set of interrelated components, which are trust, networks, and norms. The paper has two goals, the first of which is to determine the amount of social capital, its components, and QoL, as well as its spatial disparities, at a district level. In this case, the goal is to determine the quantity of the investigated variables. The data source is the World Value Survey, Round 7, in which Slovakia also participated. The second goal is to find out how social capital and its components affect the QoL in individual districts. In other words, we would like to determine the quality of the impact of social capital and its components on the QoL. The result is the knowledge that social capital as a whole reaches significantly lower values than the QoL and is not a predictor of the QoL in Slovakia. At the same time, however, disparities in the impact of social capital and its components on the QoL have high values. This knowledge challenges the understanding of holistic social capital as a robust indicator of QoL.

Aretrospective cross-sectional study on district-based socioeconomic status and prostate cancer diagnosis.

Socioeconomic disparities have been linked to delayed prostate cancer diagnosis and poorer outcomes in various countries. This study aims to evaluate the socioeconomic disparities in prostate cancer diagnostics in Vienna, Austria, by examining initial prostate-specific antigen values and age at diagnosis across different districts and nationalities. This retrospective study included 1356 prostate cancer patients treated at the Medical University of Vienna between 2012 and 2022. Influence of residential districts and nationalities of the patients on the initial prostate-specific antigen (iPSA) value and on the age at diagnosis were analyzed. Patient data, including iPSA values, residential districts, and nationalities, were retrieved from the hospital's internal documentation system. The information on average income of residential districts was obtained from the City of Vienna's municipality data. Nationalities were grouped into EU and non-EU categories. Statistical analyses, including linear regression and t‑tests, were performed to examine the relationship between iPSA values, age at diagnosis, and socioeconomic variables. Linear regression was used to analyze the relationship between district income and both iPSA values and age at diagnosis. The study found no significant differences in iPSA values and age at diagnosis between patients from higher income and lower income districts. Additionally, there were no significant differences among individual districts or between EU and non-EU nationals. The findings suggest that the Austrian healthcare system provides equitable access to prostate cancer diagnostics across different socioeconomic groups.

Analysis of the types of death before and after public prosecutor's investigations in Baden-Württemberg

Difficulties in diagnosing the cause of death have been widely discussed in the literature. However, studies on the quality assurance of the determination of the manner of death and the results of public prosecutor investigations are rare. In this study, data from six public health departments in Baden-Württemberg on all deaths from 2016-2018 were analyzed. Significant differences were found between the individual public prosecutor's districts with regard to the type of death determined during the medical post-mortem examination. In 6.3 [4.5-7.4]% of all deaths, the public prosecutor's offices initiated investigations. In 6.0 [4.3-8.5]% of these investigations, an autopsy was performed. A significant difference between the public prosecutor's districts could not be demonstrated in this regard.

The impact of exposure assessment on associations between air pollution and cardiovascular mortality risks in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Despite a growing literature for complex air quality models, scientific evidence lacks of the influences of varying exposure assessments and air quality data sources on the estimated mortality risks. This case-crossover study estimated cardiovascular mortality risks from fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and ozone (O3) exposures, using varying exposure methods, to aid understanding of the impact of exposure methods in the health risk estimation. We used individual-level cardiovascular mortality data in the city of Rio de Janeiro, 2012–2016. PM2.5 and O3 exposure levels (from the date of death to seven prior days [lag0–7]) were estimated at the individual level or district level using either the WRF-Chem modeling data or monitoring data, resulting in a total of 10 exposure methods. The exposure-response relationships were estimated using multiple logistic regressions. The changes in cardiovascular mortality were represented as an odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for an interquartile range (IQR) increase in the exposures. Results showed that socioeconomically more advantaged populations had lower access to the stationary monitoring networks. Higher variance in the estimated exposure levels across the 10 exposure methods was found for PM2.5 than O3. PM2.5 exposure was not associated with mortality risk in any exposure methods. WRF-Chem-based O3 exposure estimated for each individual of the entire population found a significant mortality risk (OR = 1.06, 95% CI: 1.01, 1.11), but not the other exposure methods. Higher risks for females and older populations were suggested for O3 estimates estimated for each individual using the WRF-Chem data. Findings indicate that decisions on exposure methods and data sources can lead to substantially varying implications for air pollution risks and highlight the need for comprehensive exposure and health impact assessments to aid local decision-making for air pollution and public health.

“I Can't Breathe, I Can't Catch my Breath:” The Impact of School Staff Storytelling on Asthma Management

: Objective: A qualitative data analysis was conducted to better understand experiences of asthma exacerbation among school staff through thematic analysis of stories of children in respiratory distress. Methods: Qualitative thematic analysis was performed on forty virtual or in-person interviews were conducted with 44 staff from districts participating in a stock inhaler pilot program. Transcripts were iteratively coded by five coders. Stories of instances when a stock inhaler may have been helpful were subject to additional thematic analysis by one coder. Results: Forty-five stories across 27 interviews were identified. Major themes were split into “Provocation” and “Outcomes of Asthma Incident.” “Educational and Communication Factors” in asthma exacerbations were discussed more often than environmental ones. Outcomes were divided into “Disposition,” (with 14 participants choosing to describe incidents where emergency services were contacted) “Emotional Response,” and “School Response.” “Trauma for Students” was mentioned only by school nurses. Conclusions: Stock inhaler programming can alleviate helplessness, reduce trauma, and avoid costly hospital visits. Personal narratives can be a powerful tool for understanding unique needs and developing tailored, sustainable interventions for individual districts. They are also incredibly persuasive in convincing other schools, districts, lawmakers, and other stakeholders to implement stock inhaler programming.

Эвакуация промышленности и гражданского населения на территорию Кузбасса в годы Великой Отечественной войны

The paper examines the process of evacuation of industrial facilities and civilian population to the territory of the Kemerovo region – Kuzbass during the Great PatrioticWar. The author provides information on the number of evacuated enterprises, and alsoclarifies their locations before and after the relocation. The largest industrial facilities in Kuzbass are highlighted, which were created even before the start of the war and were industrial sites for the commissioning of equipment from arriving factories. The evacuation of the civilian population in most cases occurred in clear dependence on the relocation of industrial facilities. In this regard, the author raises question about the number of evacuated citizens, both in the region as a whole and in individual cities and districts. Based on these statistics, it gives the percentage of the number of evacuees to the total population. In addition, based on archival documents, the author pays attention to aspects related to the evacuation process: reception and accommodation, medical and consumer services, employment. Also, the work highlights the difficulties that evacuated citizens had to face, as well as ways to solve them.

Advocates for STEM education: Developing advocacy identity in STEM teacher leadership

AbstractScience, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) teacher advocacy is a particular skillset within STEM teacher leadership, but little is known about how STEM teacher leaders develop their identity as advocates for STEM education. To glean a more nuanced and deeper understanding of developing advocate identity among STEM teacher leaders, we conducted a duoethnographic study to critically reflect on our lived experiences as STEM teacher leaders engaged in advocacy. Drawing upon identity theory to frame our study, we co‐developed and individually responded to a set of questions and prompts that critically interrogated our experiences, leading toward identifying as advocates for STEM education. Multiple subsequent critical discussions about our responses led to a recorded dialogic conversation, which acted as our site of research. Emergent themes from duoethnographic analysis revealed having increased awareness of STEM education policies and their impacts, recognizing injustices affecting marginalized communities, and acknowledging systemic barriers preventing community voices in policymaking helped to strengthen our advocacy identities. The dialogue also emphasized the importance of reaching out to communities to understand needs when developing policy recommendations. We conclude the study by making recommendations to support STEM teacher leaders interested in engaging in advocacy at the individual classroom, school, and district levels.

Gamification and economic behavior: Geospatial insights into mobile exercise app usage in South Korea

This study investigates how mobile exercise app-enabled gamified benefits (epistemic, personal integrative, and social integrative) independently and interactively influence economic outcomes from a nationwide perspective. Utilizing unique data on physical exercise and shopping activities collected from 7558 South Korean exercise app users over 3 years, we employed aspatial and spatial econometric models, along with visualization techniques, to examine the spatially varying relationships between gamified benefits and shopping behaviors at the municipality level. The results indicate that while social integrative benefits decreased shopping frequency and amount, the interaction terms of epistemic and social integrative benefits positively influenced shopping frequency. Furthermore, our spatial analysis suggests that the gamification–shopping relationship varied based on specific gamified benefits and across individual and clustered districts, cities, and counties across South Korea. These insights can guide local governments and tourism firms, suggesting opportunities to promote destination-specific gamified services for boosting the local economy.

The Kinematic and Electromyographic Analysis of Roller Skating at Different Speeds on a Treadmill: A Case Study.

Elite athletes in speed roller skates perceive skating to be a more demanding exercise for the groin when compared to other cyclic disciplines, increasing their risk of injury. The objective of this study was to monitor the kinematic and electromyographic parameters of roller speed skaters, linearly, on a treadmill, and to compare different skating speeds, one at 20 km/h and one at 32 km/h, at a 1° inclination. The acquisition was carried out by placing an inertial sensor at the level of the first sacral vertebra, and eight surface electromyographic probes on both lower limbs. The kinematic and electromyographic analysis on the treadmill showed that a higher speed requires more muscle activation, in terms of maximum and average values and co-activation, as it not only increases the intrinsic muscle demand in the district, but also the athlete's ability to coordinate the skating technique. The present study allows us to indicate not only how individual muscle districts are activated during skating on a surface different from the road, but also how different speeds affect the overall district load distributions concerning effective force, which is essential for the physiotherapist and kinesiologist for preventive and conditional purposes, while also considering possible variations in the skating technique in linear advancement.

БРОНХИАЛЬНАЯ АСТМА У ДЕТЕЙ ГРОДНЕНСКОЙ ОБЛАСТИ. РАСПРОСТРАНЕННОСЬ, ЗАБОЛЕВАЕМОСТЬ, МНОГОЛЕТНИЕ ЭПИДЕМИОЛОГИЧЕСКИЕ ТРЕНДЫ ДИНАМИКИ

Background. Bronchial asthma is the most widespread chronic nonspecific lung disease in children. Monitoring the prevalence of asthma is an important part of a set of measures aimed at preventing and effectively treating the disease. Purpose of the study. To study the long-term dynamics of the main epidemiological indicators of the overall and primary incidence of asthma in the child population of the Grodno region. Material and methods. We performed a retrospective analysis of the indicators of the overall and primary incidence of bronchial asthma in children of the Grodno region. The study period was 1999-2023 years for children aged 0-14 years and 2008-2023 years for children of 15-17 years old. Results. The long-term average standardized indicator of the overall incidence of bronchial asthma in children aged 0-14 years (1999-2023) was 597.13 (95% CI: 562.88-631.37), that of primary incidence – 79.94 (95% CI: 67.52-92.37) per 100,000 children of the corresponding age. The long-term average incidence of bronchial asthma in children aged 15-17 years (2008-2023) was 1157.69 (95% CI: 1070.69-1244.71), that of primary incidence – 44.29 (95% CI: 33.52-55.05) per 100,000 children of this age. In the age group of 0-14 years, the overall incidence of bronchial asthma was dominated by children aged 10-14 years, the primary incidence – by children of 5-9 years old. The long-term epidemic dynamics were characterized by a moderately pronounced tendency towards an increase in the standardized indicator of the overall incidence in children aged 0-14 years (average growth rate =+1.32%) and those aged 15-17 years (average growth rate =+2.87%), stabilization of the indicator of primary morbidity in children of 0-14 years old (average rate of decline = -0.49%) and a downward trend in the rate of primary morbidity (average rate of decline = -3.48%) in children aged 15-17 years. The levels and average long-term trends in the dynamics of indicators in individual territorial and administrative districts of the region have been established. The trends in the dynamics of asthma incidence rates in the administrative territories of the region during the analyzed period were multidirectional and had varying degrees of stability. The cartograms of the territorial distribution of bronchial asthma incidence rates in children of the Grodno region in the periods 1999-2023 (0-14 years) and 2008-2023 (15-17 years) are presented. Conclusions. The reasons for the established patterns in changes in the incidence of bronchial asthma in children of different age groups and those living in different territories require further study.

Examining school crisis plan components using the comprehensive crisis plan checklist—Second edition

AbstractCreating a plan for crisis prevention, intervention, and postvention procedures allows schools to prepare for the traumatic consequences when a crisis inevitably occurs. The comprehensive crisis plan checklist—second edition (CCPC‐2; McCleary & Aspiranti, 2020) is a 102‐item tool created for evaluating individual school and district crisis plans. The current study examined existing crisis plans from school districts across the United States to determine the amount and type of CCPC‐2 items that are present within school crisis plans. The number of CCPC‐2 items represented on the 73 plans evaluated ranged from 0 to 67 with a mean of 22.29 items. The average number of plans that included a single item on the CCPC‐2 was 16. There were no significant differences in the number of CCPC‐2 items represented across different geographic locations, urbanicity (urban, suburban, rural), or district/school‐level plan type. Discussion focuses on how crisis teams within the schools can use the CCPC‐2 when creating, reviewing, or revising their district‐ or school‐level crisis plan.

Indian Agriculture Under Climate Change: The Competing Effect of Temperature and Rainfall Anomalies

AbstractThe latest generation of global climate models robustly projects that monsoon rainfall anomalies in India will significantly increase in the 21st century due to global warming. This raises the question of the impact of these changes on the agricultural yield. Based on annual district data for the years 1966-2014, we estimate the relationship between weather indices (amount of seasonal rainfall, number of wet days, average temperature) and the most widely grown kharif crops, including rice, in a flexible non-parametric way. We use the empirical relationship in order to predict district-specific crop yield based on the climate projections of eight evaluated state-of-the-art climate models under two global warming scenarios for the years 2021-2100. We find that the loss in rice yield by the end of the 21st century lies on average between 3 - 22% depending on the underlying emission scenario. For the sustainable scenario impacts range from an increase of 3.2% to a decrease of 12.1% for individual districts. In the worst-case scenario, all districts are negatively affected, with a predicted decrease in rice yield ranging from 34% to a decrease of 11.5% in the long run. Potential gains due to increasing rainfall are more than offset by the negative impacts of increasing temperature. Adaptation efforts in the worst-case global warming scenario would need to cut the negative impacts of temperature by 50% in order to reach the outcome of the sustainable scenario.

Impact of temperature dependent coefficient of performance of heat pumps on heating systems in national and regional energy systems modelling

To successfully transition towards fully renewable energy systems, energy sectors that today are primarily autonomous should be closely integrated to increase system flexibility and maximise synergy from effective sector coupling. Heat pumps are one of the sector coupling technologies which enable a mutual integration of power and heat sectors. Heat pumps are viewed as a low-cost source of sustainable heat for both space heating and industrial processes. However, representation of heat pumps in energy system models is typically oversimplified by using a uniform coefficient of performance, which limits perception of the hourly temperature changes on heat pump efficiency, or by using generic heat pumps for all individual residential, district, or industrial heat supplies. The LUT Energy System Transition Model was expanded to examine the impact of utilisation of hourly coefficient of performance profiles and specific heat pumps for different applications. The results indicate that, in cold climate countries, the use of hourly coefficient of performance profiles has little impact on the heat supply structure and overall primary energy demand, but has a noticeable impact on the electricity supply and energy storage system. Though the cost of the optimised system stays on the same level, application of hourly COP profiles leads to a more accurate simulation of electricity consumption and energy storage operation. The separation of district and industrial heat pumps leads to a higher share of heat pumps in industrial heat supply and allows for a reduction in overall energy system primary energy demand by 1.8%.

Linguistic and cultural images of Moscow and Warsaw in Russian and Polish language parodies

The subject of this study is the parodies of the Russian and Polish languages, containing ideas about Moscow and Warsaw. The material was proverbs and sayings recorded in the dictionary of V.I. Dahl "Proverbs of the Russian people" and the collection of Y. Krzyzanowski "Nowa księga przysłów i wyrażeń przysłowiowych polskich". The Paremiological Foundation plays a special role in preserving the cultural memory of the linguistic community, expresses the most important and stable stereotypes of national consciousness. At the same time, the ideas verbalized in the parodies can have both a universal, timeless character, and fix the features of the socio-historical context, the material and spiritual culture of society in a certain epoch. In the course of the research, the author identifies, analyzes and compares the components of the linguistic and cultural images of Moscow and Warsaw, verbalized in the parodies of the Polish and Russian languages. In this work, the method of synchronous description was used, as well as methods of semantic and linguistic-cultural analysis. The scientific novelty of this work lies in the multicomponent analysis and comparison of the expression of the image of Moscow and Warsaw in Russian and Polish paremiology. In the course of the study, it was possible to establish the multicomponence of linguistic and cultural images of Moscow and Warsaw. Russian and Polish parodies contain ideas about these cities as the centers of economic, political and cultural life in Russia and Poland. At the same time, the parodies express the traditional attitude towards Moscow and Warsaw as rich, beautiful cities with a high standard of living, developed trade, but at the same time expensive and dangerous. The parodies characterize the residents of Moscow and Warsaw, their habits and mores, and also refer to the role of individual streets and districts in the life of cities. The study also found that the Russian language parodies contain ideas about Moscow as a city associated with important events in the history of Russia, a city with rich architecture and certain relief features. The above-mentioned ideas about Warsaw were not recorded in the Polish language parodies.

VYBRANÉ ÚMRTNOSTNÍ UKAZATELE OBYVATELSTVA V RAKOUSKÉM SLEZSKU NA PODKLADĚ ZDRAVOTNÍCH STATISTIK (1896–1908)

In this article, health statistics were used primarily as a source of information for the study of some mortality phenomena in Austrian Silesia at the turn of the 20th century. The period is determined by the preservation of the sources, as these are statistics stored in the Provincial Archives in Opava, i.e., the original written sources compiled by the district doctors. These sources made it possible to track the numbers of births and deaths in the individual political districts and statutory towns in Austrian Silesia. In the birth statistics, the share of children born with qualified obstetric assistance was examined. In the death statistics, the composition of deaths by age and cause of death was monitored. Additionally, the seasonal distribution of these phenomena was also examined to the extent permitted by the data sources. At the beginning of the study, a thorough check of the credibility of the sources, i.e., health statistics, was conducted.

Polityczne konsekwencje niedostosowania liczby mandatów w okręgach wyborczych do zmian demograficznych w wyborach do Sejmu RP w 2023 r.

The subject of analysis in this article is the allocation of mandates among electoral districts in the elections to the Sejm of the Republic of Poland 2023 and its political consequences. According to the principle of electoral equality in material aspect, the number of voters per mandate in individual electoral districts should be the same or as close as possible. The National Electoral Commission has pointed out that the current division into electoral districts specified in the annexes to the Electoral Code violates this principle. Shifting mandates between electoral districts would alter the balance of political power in the parliament.

Methods and techniques of architectural environment forming under the conditions of global climate change: the problems of flooding

This article highlights the methods and techniques of forming an architectural environment based on sustainable development, namely, how to adapt to the consequences of global climate change caused by the anthropogenic environment and its activities. One of the serious consequences of global climate change is an increase in the frequency and power of floods, especially they pose a danger to cities, where problems related to the comfort of human life are worsening. Floods destroy city infrastructure and endanger the city's water supply sources. Such natural disasters activate the scientific community to eliminate their consequences, on the one hand, on the other - to solve the shortage of water as an energy resource, raising the issue of developing technologies for accumulating its surplus and further use in many types of human life, as well as in the functioning systems of the city as a whole. The world scientific and practical experience of innovative methods of adaptation of the new and reconstruction of the existing architectural environment to climate changes in countries vulnerable to frequent flooding, which is a problem for Ukraine as well, is analyzed. The article analyzes methods from Denmark, Great Britain, the Netherlands and Pakistan, with which they create a flood-resistant architectural environment and turn the disadvantages of their flood-prone region of residence into advantages. The experience of these countries and their methods of combating natural disasters helps other regions of our planet to form a comfortable architectural environment that corresponds to today's rapidly changing weather conditions and the goals of sustainable development. The conducted analysis demonstrates a wide range of solutions to problems, from small elements of the architectural environment to the planning of individual districts and the city as a whole. These solutions are used individually, as well as in combination, which increases their effectiveness. Therefore, the use of a complex approach as the main method of forming the architectural environment under conditions of global climate change is revealed.