The last ceratosaur of Asia: a new noasaurid from the Early Cretaceous Great Siberian Refugium.

The noasaurid ceratosaur Kiyacursor longipes gen. et sp. nov. is described based on a fragmentary skeleton including cervical vertebra, pectoral girdle, humerus and hind limbs from the Lower Cretaceous (Aptian) Ilek Formation at Shestakovo 1 locality in Western Siberia, Russia. This is the first ceratosaur from the Early Cretaceous of Asia, extending the stratigraphic range of Ceratosauria by 40 Myr on that continent. Kiyacursor shares unique hind limb proportions with Elaphrosaurus and Limusaurus, suggesting improved cursorial ability. These taxa show an ostrich-like specialization of the pes, with a large third metatarsal and greatly reduced second metatarsal. By contrast, all other fast running non-avian theropod dinosaurs have an arctometatarsalian pes, with the third metatarsal strongly reduced proximally. The new taxon lived in the Early Cretaceous ecosystem containing a number of other Jurassic relics, such as stem salamanders, protosuchian and shartegosuchid crocodyliforms, tritylodontid synapsids and docodontan mammaliaforms.

Healthcare Utilization Among Persons with HIV and Unhealthy Alcohol Use in St. Petersburg, Russia.

Few studies have examined the association between healthcare utilization and heavy alcohol use in Russia among persons with HIV (PWH), a group with high healthcare needs. This study analyzed the association between unhealthy alcohol use (defined as AUDIT score ≥ 8) and healthcare utilization among PWH with heavy alcohol use and daily smoking in St. Petersburg, Russia. This secondary analysis used data from a randomized controlled trial addressing alcohol use. The primary outcome was seeing an infectionist for HIV care in the past year. Outcomes were measured at baseline, 6 months, and 12 months. We assessed the association between unhealthy alcohol use and healthcare utilization outcomes with a repeated measures logistic regression model, controlling for relevant covariates. Nearly all (96.0%) participants had unhealthy alcohol use at baseline, and 90.0% had seen an infectionist for HIV care in the past year. In adjusted analyses, unhealthy alcohol use was associated with a 36% decrease in seeing an infectionist for HIV care (aOR = 0.64, 95% CI 0.43-0.95). Participants reported low levels of emergency department visits and hospitalizations. Understanding how to engage this population in alcohol use disorder treatment and HIV care is an important next step for improving health outcomes for this population.

Is Abstinence from Alcohol and Smoking Associated with Less Anxiety and Depressive Symptoms Among People with HIV?

Achieving abstinence from alcohol, tobacco, or both may improve mental health, but is understudied in people with HIV (PWH). The St PETER HIV randomized clinical trial compared varenicline, cytisine, and nicotine replacement therapy on alcohol and smoking behavior among 400 PWH in Russia. The primary exposure was thirty-day point prevalence abstinence (PPA) from (1) alcohol, (2) smoking, (3) both, or (4) neither and was assessed at 1, 3, 6 and 12-months as were the study outcomes of anxiety (GAD-7) and depressive (CES-D) symptoms. The primary aim was to examine the association between smoking and/or alcohol abstinence and subsequent symptoms of depression and anxiety. Primary analysis used repeated measures generalized linear modeling to relate PPA with mental health scores across time. In secondary analyses, Kruskal-Wallis tests related PPA with mental health scores at each timepoint. Primary analyses did not identify significant differences in anxiety or depressive symptoms between exposure groups over time. Secondary analyses found CES-D scores across PPA categories were similar at 1-month (11, 10, 11, 11) and 6-months (10, 10, 11, 11) but differed at 3-months (9, 11, 10, 12; p = 0.035) and 12-months (10, 6, 11, 10; p = 0.019). GAD-7 scores did not vary across PPA categories at any time point. While abstinence was associated with fewer depressive symptoms at times, findings were not consistent during follow-up, perhaps reflecting intermittent relapse. PWH with polysubstance use and mental health comorbidity are complex, and larger samples with sustained abstinence would further elucidate effects of abstinence on mental health.

High genetic diversity of Echinococcus canadensis G10 in northeastern Asia: is it the region of origin?

Echinococcus canadensis consists of 4 genotypes: G6, G7, G8 and G10. While the first 2 predominantly infect domestic animals, the latter are sylvatic in nature involving mainly wolves and cervids as hosts and can be found in the northern temperate to Arctic latitudes. This circumstance makes the acquisition of sample material difficult, and little information is known about their genetic structure. The majority of specimens analysed to date have been from the European region, comparatively few from northeast Asia and Alaska. In the current study, Echinococcus spp. from wolves and intermediate hosts from the Republic of Sakha in eastern Russia were examined. Echinococcus canadensis G10 was identified in 15 wolves and 4 cervid intermediate hosts. Complete mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (cox1) sequences were obtained from 42 worm and cyst specimens from Sakha and, for comparison, from an additional 13 G10 cysts from Finland. For comparative analyses of the genetic diversity of G10 of European and Asian origin, all available cox1 sequences from GenBank were included, increasing the number of sequences to 99. The diversity found in northeast Asia was by far higher than in Europe, suggesting that the geographic origin of E. canadensis (at least of G10) might be northeast Asia.

Medical Sanctions Against Russia: Arresting Aggression or Abrogating Healthcare Rights?

Since 2022, the EU, US, and other nations have imposed medical sanctions on Russia to block the export of pharmaceuticals and medical devices and curtail clinical trials to degrade Russia's military capabilities. While international law proscribes sanctions that cause a humanitarian crisis, an outcome averted in Russia, the military effects of medical sanctions have been lean. Strengthening medical sanctions risks violating noncombatant and combatant rights to healthcare. Each group's claim is different. Noncombatants and severely injured soldiers who cannot return to duty enjoy the right to adequate health care that sanctions cannot undermine. Combatants falling captive enjoy the same medical care that adversaries provide their own troops. Combatants yet to renounce hostilities, however, have no claim to medical attention and remain subject to sanctions. Nevertheless, medical sanctions prove unworkable in this complex environment of conflicting rights and command no place in a sustainable sanction regime.

Tuberculosis in people of Ukrainian origin in the European Union and the European Economic Area, 2019 to 2022.

Approximately five million Ukrainians were displaced to the EU/EEA following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. While tuberculosis (TB) notification rates per 100,000 Ukrainians in the EU/EEA remained stable, the number of notified TB cases in Ukrainians increased almost fourfold (mean 2019-2021: 201; 2022: 780). In 2022, 71% cases were notified in three countries, and almost 20% of drug-resistant TB cases were of Ukrainian origin. Targeted healthcare services for Ukrainians are vital for early diagnosis and treatment, and preventing transmission.

The social and health consequences of the war for Ukrainian children and adolescents: a rapid systematic review.

OBJECTIVES: Despite the growing interest on the Russian-Ukrainian war and its repercussion on the children's health, there is no previous systematic review compiling the current evidence on this topic. This study conducted a rapid systematic review to investigate the current findings concerning the impact of the Ukraine war on the social and health aspects of the Ukrainian pediatric population. METHODS: A rapid systematic review was conducted. PubMed, Scopus, CINAHL, PsycINFO, Web of Science, and Virtual Health Library (BVS Spain) were searched between February and April 2023. In addition, high-impact journals and institutions focused on pediatric health and human rights were also consulted. All relevant original articles, letters, editorials, and policy papers assessing the health and social repercussions of the war on Ukrainian children were included. RESULTS: From 134 publications matching the search criteria, 23 were included. These publications were categorized into three distinct domains: 'Public health challenges for the physical and mental health of children and adolescents', 'Lack of Healthcare resources and initiatives to mitigate suffering', and 'Policies, Government, and Children's rights'. Our findings revealed that the war is seriously impacting the life and the health of Ukrainian children, resulting in worse physical and mental health outcomes and perpetrating a deprived situation. To overcome such problems, several initiatives have been proposed by European and non-European countries, relying mostly on receiving refugees, providing mental health support, complementing lack of resources, and establishing policies to improve health care. CONCLUSION: It could help health professionals, policy makers, and governments to plan preventive, promotive, and therapeutic strategies for Ukrainian children.

Management of thoracoabdominal gunshot injuries by using minimally invasive surgery at role 2 deployed field hospitals in Ukraine.

The Russia-Ukraine war is associated with critical and severe thoracoabdominal injuries. A more specific approach to treating patients with thoracoabdominal injury should also include minimally invasive technologies. It remains unclear about the utility of using video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) and laparoscopy in patients with thoracoabdominal injury. The aim of this study was to investigate and evaluate the utility of video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery, laparoscopy as well as magnetic tool applications for the management of severe thoracoabdominal injury in combat patients injured in the ongoing war in Ukraine and treated in the Role 2 deployed hospital. Patients and methods 36 male combat patients thoracoabdominal injury were identified for the study during the first 100 days from February, 24 2022. These individuals were diagnosed with thoracoabdominal GSW in the Role 2 hospital (i.e. deployed military hospital) of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Video-assisted thoracoscopy surgery (VATS) and laparoscopy with application of surgical magnetic tools were applied with regards to the damage control resuscitation and damage control surgery. Results In 10 (28%) patients, VATS was applied to remove the metal foreign body fragments. Both thoracotomy and laparotomy were performed in 20 (56%) hemodynamically unstable patients. Of these 20 patients, the suturing of the liver was performed in 8 (22%) patients, whereas peri-hepatic gauze packing in 12 (33%) patients. Massive injury to the liver and PI 2.0-3.0 were diagnosed in 2 (6%) patients. Lethal outcome was in 1 (2.8%) patient. Conclusions Thoracoabdominal gunshot injuries might be managed at Role 2 hospitals by using video-assisted thoracoscopy (VATS) and laparoscopy accompanied by surgical magnetic tools. Damage control surgery and damage control resuscitation must be applied for patients in critical and severe conditions.

Seasonal differences in participation and time spent in physical activity in Russia: The Know Your Heart survey.

This study aimed to assess the levels and investigate socioeconomic, demographic, and health-related predictors of winter and summer physical activity (PA) in Russia using the data from the Know Your Heart population survey conducted in Novosibirsk and Arkhangelsk (2015-2018; n = 5068; aged 35-69 years). Employing a series of probit, Tobit, and the Cragg models, we separated the predictors of the probability of participating in leisure-time PA from the predictors of time spent in PA. Our study showed that financial constraints limited males' participation in winter PA (probability of participation decreased by 12 percentage points) and females' engagement in winter and summer PA (decrease in the number of hours of practicing PA by approximately 1 h a week). Education, self-reported health, smoking, and cues to action had different impacts on both probability and time spent in PA in winter and summer. We also found significant gender differences in participation and time spent in PA across seasons. Older age, poor health, and smoking were greater obstacles to PA for males compared to females both in winter and summer. However, males were more likely to follow physician's advice to lose weight and take up physical exercise. Information campaigns that promote physical activities, including those that are free of charge, are needed to help limit barriers to PA for people with low socioeconomic status and individuals with little or no exercise experience. Also, making sports more accessible to citizens by providing free and low-cost sports facilities can increase their participation and time spent in PA, improving individual health and productivity.

ESG practices mitigating geopolitical risks: Implications for sustainable environmental management.

As climate change and geopolitical conflicts intensify, understanding how geopolitical risks affect companies prioritizing Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) practices is crucial. This study investigates the dynamic relationship between global geopolitical risks and the performance of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) and non-ESG companies, particularly their influence on green markets. Utilizing a robust methodological framework, including the dynamic time-varying parameters vector autoregression (TVP-VAR) model, and causal impact modeling, we analyze daily financial data from 2021 to 2024. The results reveal a substantial negative impact of geopolitical risks on non-ESG companies, contrasting with the resilience of ESG-committed counterparts. This suggests that ESG-committed companies demonstrate better resilience against geopolitical risks, emphasizing the protective role of ESG practices amid uncertainties. Additionally, the inclusion of ESG companies in green markets diminishes the severity of the negative impact of geopolitical risks, underlining the transformative role of ESG commitment in shaping investor behavior towards sustainable investments. Our findings offer insights for policymakers and investors navigating geopolitical risks and ESG performance, with a focus on environmental management, and provide guidance for effective risk mitigation and investment policies to enhance environmental sustainability.

For whom the bell tolls. A spatial analysis of the renewable energy transition determinants in Europe in light of the Russia-Ukraine war.

The ongoing invasion of Russia of Ukraine and energy crises have sparked concern about economic and geopolitical stability all over the world. In Europe, the war has destabilized and endangered the energy cooperation and transition between European countries within and outside of the EU. This emergency has shown once more the importance of energy resilience policies to offset the vulnerability of energy systems and energy insecurity at the national and regional levels. Consilience has been reached on the necessity of enhancing EU energy security as an adaptation strategy. This work contributes to the existing scholarship on renewable energy transition and citizens' perception, focusing on European Union member states. Key characteristics of the renewable energy transition in the EU prior to the energy crisis and the war in Ukraine are examined. To this end, we analyze selected economic, environmental, social, policy and political variables on energy sorting from the Eurobarometer studying European citizens' perceptions. The exercise makes use of spatially-clustered regression to explore spatial heterogeneity and to elicit determinant information on specific regional groups. We learn that southern Europeans attribute less importance to energy infrastructure to facilitate the renewable energy transition and repute the EU solidity not a requirement for energy security access. Conversely, northern European citizens tend not to associate the responsibility of the EU in guiding competitiveness and policy toward green energy sources transformation. Robustness tests confirm our hypothesis. Regardless of regional differences, the EU energy and ecological transition will thrive with industrial and political cohesion. This process will pass through increased trust in institutions and dedicated energy policy action which will smooth the risks and disruptions coming from current and future shocks.

The environment as the first victim: The impacts of the war on the preservation areas in Ukraine.

The war in Ukraine has had a devastating impact on the environment. Military actions have caused the release of hazardous substances into the environment, such as pollutants and toxic chemicals, that have contaminated the water, soil, and air, posing a threat to both human health and the environment. This has resulted in widespread destruction and contamination of natural habitats and resources and has disrupted wildlife populations and ecosystems. The impacts of military activity on the soils of protected areas are particularly critical, as they are the basis of biotic and landscape diversity and require special management and scientifically based monitoring measures even in peaceful conditions. In this context, this communication paper aims to provide an overview of the impacts of the war on the soils in four Ukrainian protected areas, namely Chornobyl Radiation and Ecological Biosphere Reserve; Desniansko-Starohutskyi National Nature Park; Holosiivskyi National Nature Park, and Hetmanskyi National Nature Park. To address these aspects, this paper combined GIS analysis and secondary data including soil samples obtained during field expeditions, to provide evidence of how ground battles, occupation, terrestrial land mines, and explosions can severely impact the soils. Practical and theoretical implications of the military actions are also discussed.

Financial regulations and sustainability: The role of energy price and climate policy uncertainty.

Russia ranks among the top five countries worldwide in terms of carbon emissions, with the energy, transportation, and manufacturing sectors as the major contributors. This poses a significant threat to both current and future generations. Russia faces challenges in achieving Sustainable Development Goal 13, necessitating the implementation of more innovative policies to promote environmental sustainability. Considering this alarming situation, this study investigates the role of financial regulations, energy price uncertainty, and climate policy uncertainty in reshaping sectoral CO2 emissions in Russia. This study utilizes a time-varying bootstrap rolling-window causality (BRW) approach using quarterly data from 1990 to 2021. The stability test for parameters indicates instability, suggesting that the full sample causality test may yield incorrect inferences. Thus, the BRW approach is employed for valid inferences. Our findings confirm the time-varying negative impact of financial regulations on CO2 emissions from energy, manufacturing, and transportation sectors. Additionally, findings confirm time-varying positive impact of energy prices and climate policy uncertainty on CO2 emissions from the energy, manufacturing, and transportation sectors. Strong financial regulations and stable energy and climate policies are crucial for achieving sustainability, highlighting significant policy implications for policymakers and stakeholders.

The link between EU identification and responses to a war between non-EU countries over time.

The European Union (EU) is portrayed as a "normative power" that promotes democracy. How does identifying with the EU identity predict citizens' responses to a war between two non-EU countries, where one (Ukraine) appears as the victim (i.e., a nation suffering significant harm as a result of military aggression by another country) and the other (Russia) as the aggressor (i.e., a nation initiating military aggression against another country)? This study tested two contrasting, yet not mutually exclusive hypotheses. Based on the underlying idea that Ukraine is perceived to share similar (European) values while Russia is perceived to deviate from these values, the "humanitarian influence of the EU identity hypothesis" hypothesized that identification with the EU identity predicts increased support for the victim group (Ukraine) and condemnation of the aggressor group over time. Based on the "protective effect of EU identity hypothesis," however, a reverse temporal order was also hypothesized. We conducted a two two-wave study among Greek participants. Our findings provided full support for the first hypothesis and partial support for the second hypothesis. Identification with EU identity predicts increasingly stronger opposition to an intergroup conflict between non-EU countries.

Only daughters caring for their aging mothers in Ufa, Russia.

Russia is not the only country in the world that relies heavily on informal caregiving, but what makes Russia unique is the number of single-parent one-child families. With the collapse of the Soviet Union and the transition from state socialism to market capitalism, little has changed in terms of the social protection of older adults. Unaffordable home care services, low pensions, bifurcation of the formerly free healthcare into state and private sectors, the invisibility of people with disabilities, and the absence of quality nursing homes, have left adult children in Russia no choice but to bear the full burden of caregiving for their aging parents completely alone. Given the scarcity of research that examines informal caregiving in Russia in general and in provincial cities in particular, this study addresses this gap by centering on previously unheard voices of a unique group of women: only children of single mothers from Ufa, a metropolitan city in the Ural Mountains. Twenty middle-aged (M = 40.75, SD = 3.43), college-educated women participated in a two-hour, semi-structured interview. Inductive thematic analysis revealed three themes: incongruence with the microenvironment, aging in the "cement box," and distrust of outsiders. The findings suggest material and cultural constraints that female caregivers face as they negotiate the mothers' discordance with the microenvironment of Khrushchev-era apartments.

[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.

[The long 1992 in medicinal (non-)security of Russia. Report II. Market networks and institutes].

The year of 1992 is very important milestone in history of Russian pharmaceutical market. It began not in January 1922, but in December 1991, when the President and Government enactments to open free market for medications were promulgated. The advisers of B. N. Yeltsin considered market economy as reliable mean to overcome medicinal deficiencies, corruption and bureaucratic monopoly. However, panacea did not work. Moreover, it caused completely new problems. The human and state security implies protection from threats of dependencies. The unprepared dive into market plunged Russians and the country into severe dependence on import of medications and foreign pharmaceutical companies. The proposed study expands our publications in this journal and in journal "Pharmacy" in 2022. At that time, analysis of medication scarcity was implemented on the basis of published sources and relied on journalistic evidences. The current study is carried out on the basis of archival documents of the Ministry of Health Care of the Russian Federation and authors interviews of representatives of regulator. The second report reconstructs the sequence of the emergence and correlation of the structural elements of the Russian pharmaceutical market.

[The long 1992 year in medicinal (non-)security of Russia. Report I. Market trial].

The year 1992 is an important landmark in the history of Russian pharmaceutical market. It began not in January, but in December 1991, when orders of the President and the Government to open free market of medications were promulgated. The Yeltsin advisers conceived that market economy was infallible means to combat medication shortages, corruption and bureaucratic monopoly. However, panacea did not work. Moreover, it gave rise to completely new problems. The human and state security implies protection from threats of dependence. The unprepared dive into market plunged Russians and the country into deep dependence on imported medications and foreign pharmaceutical companies. The proposed study proceeds our publications in this journal and in journal "Pharmacia" in 2022. At that time, analysis of medication "famine" was implemented on basis of published sources and relied on journalistic evidences. The current study was carried out on the basis of archive documents of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation and authors interviews of representatives of the regulator. The first report reveals administrative mechanism that engendered crisis of medication supply in the first post-Soviet year of our country.

Evolutionary Formation and Distribution of Puumala Virus Genome Variants, Russia.

We analyzed Puumala virus (PUUV) sequences collected from bank voles from different regions of Russia. Phylogenetic analysis revealed PUUV reassortments in areas with the highest hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome incidence, indicating reassortment might contribute to pathogenic properties of PUUV. Continued surveillance is needed to assess PUUV pathogenicity in Russia.

Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza A(H5N1) Virus-Induced Mass Death of Wild Birds, Caspian Sea, Russia, 2022.

In May 2022, we observed a substantial die-off of wild migratory waterbirds on Maliy Zhemchuzhniy Island in the Caspian Sea, Russia. The deaths were caused by highly pathogenic avian influenza A(H5N1) clade 2.3.4.4.b virus. Continued surveillance of influenza viruses in wild bird populations is needed to predict virus spread over long distances.