Anti-science kills: From Soviet embrace of pseudoscience to accelerated attacks on US biomedicine.

The United States witnessed an unprecedented politicization of biomedical science starting in 2015 that has exploded into a complex, multimodal anti-science empire operating through mass media, political elections, legislation, and even health systems. Anti-science activities now pervade the daily lives of many Americans, and threaten to infect other parts of the world. We can attribute the deaths of tens of thousands of Americans from COVID-19, measles, and other vaccine-preventable diseases to anti-science. The acceleration of anti-science activities demands not only new responses and approaches but also international coordination. Vaccines and other biomedical advances will not be sufficient to halt COVID-19 or future potentially catastrophic illnesses, unless we simultaneously counter anti-science aggression.

Outcome in methadone maintenance treatment of immigrants from the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.

CONTEXT: Immigrants from the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) are more prevalent in Methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) in Israel than their percentage in the general population. AIMS: To compare their characteristics and outcomes to those of Israeli-born and other immigrant patients. METHODS: Retention and survival since admission (June/1993-Dec/2022) until leaving treatment (for retention), or at the end of follow-up were analyzed. Vital data was taken from a national registry. Predictors were estimated using Kaplan-Meier and Cox regression models. RESULTS: The USSR patients (N = 262) compared with other immigrants (N = 132) and Israeli-born (N = 696) were more educated (≥ 12y) (p < 0.001), admitted to MMT at a younger age (p < 0.001), following a shorter duration of opioid usage (p < 0.001). More of them ever injected drugs (p < 0.001) and ever drank alcohol (p < 0.001). One-year retention was comparable (77.2% vs. 75.6% and 72%, p = 0.2) as did opioid discontinuation in those who stayed (p = 0.2). Former USSR patients had longer cumulative retention of their first admission (p = 0.05) with comparable overall retention since first admission, and survival, although the age of death was younger. Specific origin within the former USSR found immigrants from the Russian Federation with the best outcome, and those from Ukraine as having high HIV seropositive and shorter retention. CONCLUSIONS: Despite several characteristics known to be associated with poor outcomes, former USSR immigrants showed better adherence to MMT, reflected by their longer cumulative retention in their first admission, lower rate of readmissions, and a comparable survival and overall retention in treatment. An in depth study is needed in order to understand why they decease at a younger age.

Factors Associated with Exclusive Breastfeeding at Hospital Discharge among Native-Born, Immigrant, and Refugee Women.

BACKGROUND: Exclusive breastfeeding is recommended through six months as it supports infant growth and development. Yet, many mothers do not exclusively breastfeed in early postpartum. OBJECTIVES: To examine factors associated with exclusive breastfeeding at hospital discharge among culturally diverse women. METHODS: This cross-sectional study used data of women who gave birth at a major medical center in Israel in 2015-2017. Descriptive statistics and regression analysis were conducted to examine maternal characteristics and associated breastfeeding outcomes by hospital discharge. RESULTS: Among 10,978 women, 17.8% (n=1958) exclusively breastfed, 57.9% (n=6357) partially breastfed, and 24.3% (n=2663) did not breastfeed. Among Israeli-born and former Soviet Union-born Jewish women, breastfeeding intention (odds ratio [OR] 19.59, 95% confidence interval [95%CI] 10.27-37.35 and OR 15.92, 95%CI 5.79-43.80, respectively) and early breastfeeding (OR 2.415, 95%CI 1.91-3.05 and OR 2.04, 95%CI 1.57-2.64, respectively) were associated with exclusive breastfeeding. The only significant factor associated with exclusive breastfeeding among refugees and Israeli-born Muslim women was early breastfeeding (OR 1.61, 95%CI 1.20-2.16). For Ethiopian-born Jewish women, not married (OR 0.330, 95%CI 0.114-0.955) and cesarean delivery (OR 0.481, 95%CI 0.232-0.998) were negatively associated with exclusive breastfeeding. CONCLUSIONS: Despite having access to the same hospital-based breastfeeding support, there were differences among ethno-culturally diverse women in Israel. In this study, we identified maternal characteristics associated with early breastfeeding among women of diverse ethno-cultural backgrounds. Study findings highlight the importance of ethno-cultural considerations in breastfeeding practices and inform health professionals of factors associated with exclusive breastfeeding in early postpartum.

"We are a Generation of Slaves. We Support the Protests But do not Take to the Streets": Why Older Immigrants From the Former Soviet Union are not Part of the Protests Against the Judicial Overhaul in Israel.

Beginning in 2023, Israel has been the site of extensive protests against a proposed judicial overhaul, drawing widespread participation. However, there is a notable absence of older individuals from minority groups, particularly older immigrants from the Former Soviet Union (FSU), within these protests. This study aims to explore the perspectives of this group on the judicial overhaul and to reveal the reasons behind their non-participation in the protests. The study involved semi-structured interviews with 20 older FSU immigrants (age 65+). Through thematic content analysis, two main themes emerged: the attitudes of FSU older immigrants towards the proposed judicial overhaul and the factors contributing to their non-involvement in the protests. Participants exhibited diverse opinions on the judicial overhaul, ranging from outright disapproval to ambivalence or indecision. The lack of participation in the protests was attributed to multiple factors, including (1) older age and age-related limitations, (2) unique historical experiences and characteristics of the FSU immigrant cohort, and (3) a lack of unified stance and organization within the FSU immigrant community. The study provides insights into the challenges and barriers faced by older individuals in FSU immigrant minority groups in engaging with political processes and decision-making. These findings are of significant importance to policymakers, researchers, and professionals working with immigrant communities. Understanding these dynamics can aid in developing more inclusive and representative political processes and support engaging mechanisms for older minority immigrants.

[On becoming of nephrology in the USSR: The role of Moscow therapists M. I. Vihert and E. M. Tareev].

The article considers stages of becoming of Soviet nephrology as independent scientific educational clinical discipline. The role of M. I. Vikhert in becoming of nephrology as independent clinical direction within the framework of the clinic of internal diseases is demonstrated. Also the role of E. M. Tareev as the founder of nephrology in the USSR as institutionalized clinical discipline is revealed.

[The Soviet-Chinese cooperation in production of penicillin in the 1950s].

The article considers, on the basis of analysis of archival documents, issue of Soviet-Chinese cooperation in field of production of penicillin in the 1950s. The main attention is paid to history of construction of penicillin plant in Shijiazhuang. It is demonstrated that it was carried out on preferential terms for China and it was under special control of the USSR government. The building of plant was bound by great difficulties conditioned by range of project, specifics of production conditions in China, special requests of customer, necessity to manufacture non-standard equipment. The implementation of this project of enormous humanitarian significance was at the same time manifestation of concurrence between the USSR and the USA for geopolitical and ideological influence in East Asia.

[The participation of the USSR in development of penicillin industry in the Eastern Europe].

The article considers on the basis of analysis of archival documents issue of rendering assistance by the Soviet Union to the countries of Eastern Europe to organize production of penicillin. It is established that by the mid of 1950s, modern powerful plants were launched in Bulgaria, Romania and Czechoslovakia by the forces of Soviet engineers . Their construction was carried out on preferential terms for countries-customers. The mutually beneficial cooperation in sphere of production of antibiotics carried out and with other countries of this region. It is demonstrated that the USSR, performing task of enormous humanitarian significance in conditions of the Cold War, simultaneously implemented another goal - formation of loyalty of population of these countries and organization of coalition of friendly states on its Western borders.

Differences in spatial versus temporal reaction norms for spring and autumn phenological events.

For species to stay temporally tuned to their environment, they use cues such as the accumulation of degree-days. The relationships between the timing of a phenological event in a population and its environmental cue can be described by a population-level reaction norm. Variation in reaction norms along environmental gradients may either intensify the environmental effects on timing (cogradient variation) or attenuate the effects (countergradient variation). To resolve spatial and seasonal variation in species' response, we use a unique dataset of 91 taxa and 178 phenological events observed across a network of 472 monitoring sites, spread across the nations of the former Soviet Union. We show that compared to local rates of advancement of phenological events with the advancement of temperature-related cues (i.e., variation within site over years), spatial variation in reaction norms tend to accentuate responses in spring (cogradient variation) and attenuate them in autumn (countergradient variation). As a result, among-population variation in the timing of events is greater in spring and less in autumn than if all populations followed the same reaction norm regardless of location. Despite such signs of local adaptation, overall phenotypic plasticity was not sufficient for phenological events to keep exact pace with their cues-the earlier the year, the more did the timing of the phenological event lag behind the timing of the cue. Overall, these patterns suggest that differences in the spatial versus temporal reaction norms will affect species' response to climate change in opposite ways in spring and autumn.

Cultural and translation challenges in assessing health literacy among immigrants from the former Soviet Union.

Health literacy is an important foundation for health promotion and an under-recognized risk factor for immigrant and refugee groups. Yet measuring health literacy among diverse ethnic and linguistic populations presents complex challenges. We describe cultural and translation challenges encountered in measuring health literacy among Russian-speaking immigrants to the USA and offer a mixed-methods approach to understanding them. The Rx-Health Literacy (RxHL) study used cross-sectional quantitative and qualitative data to examine health literacy and medication adherence among five cultural and four language groups (Latinx, Vietnamese, African-American, Russian-speaking immigrant and White American) who are patients at Caring Health Center, a federally qualified health center in Springfield, MA. We translated an existing health literacy scale into Russian and Vietnamese and examined item difficulty across cultural groups. We conducted qualitative cognitive interviews to learn more about Russian speakers' understandings of the scale. Health literacy scores varied by cultural group, and the range of correct responses was much greater among Russian speakers than in other groups. Percentage correct varied by 69.7% for Russian speakers, compared with 25.0-44.0% for other groups. These findings indicate greater variability in health literacy levels among this group compared with others. Cognitive interviews with Russian-speaking participants revealed multiple interpretations of several items, suggesting that the English version of the scale contained embedded meanings associated with an American health care context that were not captured in the translated instrument. Combining qualitative and quantitative research methods allows for greater insight into contextual and translation factors that may shape the results of translated instruments in unanticipated ways.

[Health Literacy of People with Former Soviet Union and Turkish Migration Background in Germany]. / Gesundheitskompetenz von Personen mit ex-sowjetischem und türkischem Migrationshintergrund in Deutschland.

AIM: So far, there are hardly any data on the health literacy of persons with a migration background in Germany. The aim of the article was to analyse the health literacy of this population group - particularly persons who originate in Turkey and the former Soviet Union (FSU). METHODOLOGY: In summer 2020, face-to-face interviews with 525 persons with FSU and 512 persons with Turkish migration background above the age of 18 were carried out across Germany. The interviews were conducted in German, Russian or Turkish. Health literacy was assessed using the internationally developed HLS19-Q47 instrument. Bivariate and multivariate analyses were carried out for each immigration group separately considering demographic, socioeconomic, linguistic and migration-specific variables. RESULTS: Overall, around half of the respondents had low health literacy, with no differences between the immigration groups. In both groups, low educational levels, socioeconomic disadvantages, limited German literacy skills, older age, multiple chronic illnesses and personal experience of immigration were linked with lower health literacy. In multivariate analyses, associations between health literacy and literacy skills, social status, financial deprivation, and chronic illness remained; however, after adjustment, no significant difference persisted by immigration generation. CONCLUSION: While a significant proportion of persons with Turkish or FSU migration background in Germany have difficulty dealing with health information, compared with existing studies, they do not have a lower health literacy than the population without a migration background. People with a migration background are therefore not to be regarded as vulnerable to low health literacy in general. Particularly socioeconomically disadvantaged subgroups display low health literacy. Interventions should therefore target these subgroups specifically and consider their living conditions. In addition, people with low literacy skills and German proficiency have greater difficulties in processing health information. This highlights the need for multilingual information, but also for multimedia materials in plain language. Structural measures are necessary for a health-literate health system and for reducing health inequalities.

The Russian Backdrop to Dobzhansky's Genetics and the Origin of Species.

Theodosius Dobzhansky was one of the principal 'founding fathers' of the modern 'synthetic theory of evolution' and the 'biological species' concept, first set forth in his classic book, Genetics and the Origin of Species (1937). Much of the discussion of Dobzhansky's work by historians has focused on English-accessible sources, and has emphasized the roles of the Morgan School, and figures such as Sewall Wright, and Leslie C. Dunn. This article uses Dobzhansky's Russian articles that are unknown to English-speaking readers, and his late 1920s to early 1930s correspondence with colleagues and friends in the Soviet Union, to clarify some of the Russian influences on Dobzhansky's evolving evolutionary views, particularly the development of his views on species and speciation. For Dobzhansky, as for Darwin, the problem of species and speciation was crucial for his theoretical explanation of evolution.

The Pugwash scientists' conferences, Cyrus Eaton and the clash of internationalisms, 1954-1961.

This paper examines the contest between Canadian American industrialist Cyrus Eaton and the Pugwash scientists' leadership for influence over the early Pugwash scientists' conferences. Eaton's activism has generally been dismissed in the historical literature as ineffective, naive and too uncritical of the Soviet Union. This paper argues that he was genuinely committed to international peace and security, that Eaton shared with Pugwash scientists a belief in the importance of intellectuals to global unity, and that he worked to bring about greater international peace and understanding through both his personal activism and his own conferences held in the town of Pugwash. Eaton, however, favoured a broader push for peace, which included participation by a wider range of intellectuals and a call for rapprochement with the Soviet Union. These differences between Eaton and the Pugwash scientists, I argue, were more than simply about approach: they represented different internationalist visions and manifested in different conceptualizations for the Pugwash scientists' conferences. Eaton hoped to incorporate non-scientists and humanism into the conferences, and integrate them into his own broader conference programme at his Thinkers' Lodge at Pugwash. The scientists, however, wanted to keep their conferences as distinctly scientists' events, tied to science and its authority.

Women, Reactors, and Nuclear Weapons: From Revolutionary Liberation to the "Miss Atom" Pageant in (Post-)Soviet Russia.

This article considers the Soviet Union's successful efforts to employ more women specialists in nuclear science and technology, from the Bolshevik revolution in 1917 and the Soviet atomic bomb project to the Cold War and the present. Despite their contributions to building a Cold War military machine, women rarely reached the pinnacle of the scientific enterprise due to persistent views about their lesser capabilities as specialists. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, in a vastly changed social, political, and cultural climate, the claimed socialist equality of women gave way to more traditional views of their status in Russian society. For the nuclear enterprise, this change emerged in activities that had disappeared under communism such as the annual "Miss Atom" beauty pageant, a striking departure from Soviet attempts to involve women equally in science and technology.

[Visual acuity charts in the Russian Empire, the USSR and modern Russia]. / Tablitsy dlya opredeleniya ostroty zreniya v Rossiiskoi imperii, SSSR i sovremennoi Rossii.

Visual acuity is the quantitative parameter of the visual system characterizing its functional spatial resolution. Special test charts are commonly used for visual acuity assessment. The development of foreign tests for visual acuity is comprehensively covered in the literature, while the history of improving visual acuity charts in modern Russia, the USSR, and in the territory of the Russian Empire is only considered fragmentarily. In particular, there are almost no mentions of D.A. Sivtsev's work on proper letter-signs selection, and of A.A. Kryukov's tests. The purpose of this article is to review the history of developing visual acuity assessment methods in the Russian Empire, the USSR and modern Russia. One of the first sets of tests for visual acuity assessment available in the Russian Empire was developed by A.A. Kryukov; it was republished several times, but some criticism of the test can be encountered in the literature of that period. Subsequently, a task of developing a more accurate method was presented, which was implemented in the form of several editions of the visual acuity charts by D.A. Sivtsev and S.S. Golovin. The authors put a lot of effort into selecting the letters for the most reliable results of visual acuity assessment, excluded some unsuccessful characters (Cyrillic letters 'Ж' and 'Ю') and changed the size levels of the chart (the lines corresponding to the visual acuity levels of 1.25 and 1.5 were substituted by 1.5 and 2.0). Around the same period, A. Holina's chart appeared in print, but due to its poor structure the chart did not gain popularity, although it had a number of advantages. The review also considers some modern tests: the RORBA chart (named after the authors Rosenbaum, Ovechkin, Roslyakov, Bershanskiy, Aizenshtat), the vanishing optotypes by S.A. Koskin et al., the three-bar optotypes by the Institute for Information Transmission Problems (IITP), and the "Quartet" optotypes. Despite a large number of options, the search for the best method of measuring visual acuity for various medical and scientific tasks continues.

[The international cooperation in organizing penicillin production in the USSR].

The article considers interaction of the USSR with foreign scientists and international organizations in the process of mastering production of penicillin and establishment of penicillin industry. The analysis of archival documents demonstrated that despite influence of unfavorable foreign policy factors, various forms of this interaction were one of the decisive conditions of establishment of large-scale antibiotic production in the USSR by the end of the 1940s.

[By canceling out history of the Soviet medicine are we weather throwing the baby out with the bath water? (On the issue of how to study history of the USSR medicine)].

The article considers particular aspects of the problem of studying the history of medicine in the USSR as educational and scientific practical discipline. On one hand, the history of medicine as educational academic discipline can quite be "ideologized", since education implies not only learning but also education of young man as patriot and citizen. On the other hand, history of medicine as scientific practical discipline is to be delivered from politics and ideology. However, this is determined in greater degree not so much by totalitarian pressing or liberalism of social system as by professionalism and world view of researcher. The monograph by S. N. Zatravkin and E. A. Vishlenkova ""The Clubs" and "the ghetto" of the Soviet Health Care" (2022), dedicated to the Soviet health care and its ideological essence, also is considered. The high significance of the book for understanding of becoming of medicine in the USSR is emphasized. However, this scholar work does not consider medical care of population of the country in clinics of medical universities and academic research institutes of the USSR. Enough attention is not paid to the history of medicine in the USSR as a science. The role of scientific schools in creating foundation for development of medicine in Russia in the late XX and early XXI centuries.

[WORLD EXPERIENCE: HOW THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE PRINCIPLES OF ACADEMICIAN OF THE ACADEMY OF MEDICAL SCIENCES OF THE USSR N. A. SEMASHKO HELPED ICELAND TO CREATE ONE OF THE MOST EFFECTIVE HEALTHCARE SYSTEMS IN THE WORLD. PART 1. HISTORICAL OVERVIEW].

Annotation. The review article is devoted to the healthcare system of Iceland, which demonstrates some of the best indicators of public health in the world at relatively low costs for a developed European country. The successful experience of Icelandic healthcare is important for Russia, on the one hand, due to the proximity of this country to many Russian regions in terms of climatic and geographical location, demography and territorial development. On the other hand, the success of Iceland's healthcare is closely linked to the development of a model, in many ways similar to the Soviet model of Nikolai Semashko, which Russia has abandoned. The authors believe that Iceland's experience can be used in the modernization of regional healthcare systems in Eastern Siberia, the Far East and the Arctic, as well as Russian healthcare in general.

[WORLD EXPERIENCE: HOW THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE PRINCIPLES OF ACADEMICIAN OF THE ACADEMY OF MEDICAL SCIENCES OF THE USSR N. A. SEMASHKO HELPED ICELAND TO CREATE ONE OF THE MOST EFFECTIVE HEALTHCARE SYSTEMS IN THE WORLD. PART 2. PRINCIPLES FUNCTIONING OF THE ICELANDIC HEALTH SYSTEM].

Annotation. The review article is devoted to the healthcare system of Iceland, which demonstrates some of the best indicators of public health in the world at relatively low costs for a developed European country. The successful experience of Icelandic healthcare is important for Russia, on the one hand, due to the proximity of this country to many Russian regions in terms of climatic and geographical location, demography and territorial development. On the other hand, the success of Iceland's healthcare is closely linked to the development of a model, in many ways similar to the Soviet model of Nikolai Semashko, which Russia has abandoned. The authors believe that Iceland's experience can be used in the modernization of regional healthcare systems in Eastern Siberia, the Far East and the Arctic, as well as Russian healthcare in general.

COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF MORTALITY FROM TUBERCULOSIS AMONG COUNTRIES OF FORMER SOVIET UNION.

Mortality from tuberculosis has decreased from 11.89 deaths per 100,000 population in 1990 to 4.18 deaths per 100,000 population in Kazakhstan in 2019. Thus, the deviation was (-)35.5%. If Kazakhstan showed the above result over the 29-year period, then how are things with other republics that were part of the Soviet Union and how have the countries' economies changed? Aim - determination of the difference in 15 republics using the mortality rate from tuberculosis per 100,000 population. The study included the following countries: Ukraine, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Russia, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Belarus, Moldova, Azerbaijan, Armenia. The analysis was carried out using the Global burden of diseases database. A relatively high reduction in TB mortality was found in Kazakhstan (-3.61%). In second place is Estonia (-3.25%), in third place is Azerbaijan (-2.39%), in fourth place is Latvia (-2.16%), and the top five is closed by Georgia (-1.98%). Despite the high level of GDP, countries such as Russia (6th place in the world ranking of GDP per capita) and Ukraine (42nd place in the world ranking of GDP per capita) are not in the leading positions in reducing the burden of TB. For example, Russia is in 10th place (-0.81%) in terms of the percentage reduction in mortality from TB, and Ukraine is in last place. According to the Global Burden of Disease, Ukraine has seen an increase in TB mortality (+1.62%). The leader among the former Soviet countries in terms of spending on the healthcare system is Armenia (12.24%). In general, current public spending on health care per capita is 11.6 times lower than in OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) member countries: in 2020 in Kazakhstan this indicator was 341.5 USD, in the OECD - on average 3 959 USD. According to WHO recommendations for sustainable development, financing of the health care system should be up to 5% of GDP, while the share of private spending should not exceed 20% of current health care spending. As the experience of developed countries shows, the level of life expectancy directly depends on the financing of the healthcare system.

On the classification of cerebral tumors: A tribute to Leonid Smirnov.

The corresponding member of the Academy of Medical Sciences of the USSR Professor Leonid Iosifovich Smirnov (1889 - 1955) authored several dozen publications on neuropathology of infections, schizophrenia, cerebral injuries, and brain tumors. Based on his study of pathology of gunshot head injuries during World War II he suggested a doctrine of traumatic on traumatic brain disease. He was the author of the first Russian classification of cerebral tumors and had an impact on the development of neurooncology in the former USSR. The aim of this paper is to show the early development of modern neuropathology at the example of a leading Soviet neuropathologist in the first half of the 20th century and his relevance for modern classification of CNS tumors.