Loginovič, Jelena

Parazitologijos mokslas Lietuvoje turi ilgą ir reikšmingą istoriją, glaudžiai susijusią su šalies gamtos ypatumais, žemės ūkio tradicijomis ir visuomenės sveikatos poreikiais. Šiandienos pasaulyje, susiduriant su klimato kaita, globalizacija ir naujų infekcinių ligų atsiradimu, parazitologijos reikšmė Lietuvoje dar labiau padidėja. Klimato ir geografinės sąlygos sudaro palankias sąlygas veistis Įvairiems parazitams, plėstis parazitų pernešėjų arealams, o tai kelia naujus iššūkius visuomenės sveikatai ir biologinei Įvairovei. Parazitologijos studijų dalykas mūsų Universitete nuėjo ilgą evoliucijos kelią, keitėsi studijų programos, mokymo priemonės, gilėjo patirtis. Ši patirtis (buvusių ir esamų) Biologinių sistemų ir genetinių tyrimų instituto darbuotojų perduodama Jums, mieli skaitytojai. Mūsų parengta mokomoji knyga skiriama pirmojo kurso studentams, studijuojantiems biomedicinos mokslus - mediciną, odontologiją, burnos higieną, slaugą ir visuomenės sveikatą. Leidinyje pateikiamas parazitologijos kursas, apimantis svarbiausius žmogaus parazitus, jų morfologiją, sukeliamas ligas, diagnostikos principus ir profilaktikos priemones. Šias teorines žinias padės įtvirtinti praktikos darbai. Kiekvieno praktikos darbo pabaigoje pateikiami saviruošos klausimai, skirti suprasti ir Įsiminti praktikos darbų metu analizuojamus parazitus. Tikimės, kad šis leidinys bus naudingas ne tik pratybų metu, bet ir savarankiškai mokantis, ruošiantis atsiskaitymams arba rengiant baigiamuosius darbus.

Background Public attitudes toward people with disabilities (PwD) shape inclusion, healthcare access, and social participation. Although attitudes have improved, stereotypes and implicit biases persist. Intergroup contact is linked to more positive attitudes, yet its frequency and quality vary. In Eastern Europe, the ongoing war in Ukraine may directly or indirectly influence disability-related attitudes, as mobility impairments increase and societal exposure to disability changes. Methods We conducted a multi-country cross-sectional study of 8593 university students from nine Eastern European countries using the Multidimensional Attitudes Scale toward Persons with Disabilities (MAS). We assessed cognitive, affective, and behavioral components of attitudes, alongside sociodemographic factors and contact with wheelchair users. Nonparametric tests and Spearman’s ρ were used to examine between-country differences and correlates. Higher MAS scores indicate more negative attitudes. Results MAS global and subscale scores differed significantly across countries. More frequent and higher-quality contact with wheelchair users was associated with less negative attitudes, though effect sizes were generally small. Several sociodemographic variables (e.g., gender, place of upbringing, field of study, religiosity) showed significant, albeit modest, associations with MAS subscales. Cross-national variation was pronounced: global MAS means ranged from 74.3±18.2 (Ukraine) to 92.3±16.6 (Serbia), with a significant between-country effect (Kruskal–Wallis H = 650, p < 0.001). Conclusions Cross-national differences in students’ attitudes toward wheelchair users are substantial and broadly consistent with intergroup contact theory. In conflict-affected settings (e.g., Ukraine), rising visibility of disability and shifting contact patterns may further influence attitudes. Interventions that foster meaningful, high-quality contact and inclusive practices in educational environments may help mitigate negative attitudes and promote social inclusion.

Tai, kas atrodė neįmanoma prieš trisdešimt metų, tampa realybe. Šios mokomosios knygos autoriai mano, kad tikrai žengiame individualizuotos medicinos link. 1990 metais pradėtas žmogaus genomo sekoskaitos projektas. Nuo 2014 metų atliekama viso genomo sekoskaita atskiriems pacientams. Klinikine rutina tampa viso egzomo ar net genomo tyrimai. CRISPR/Cas9 genų redagavimas leidžia plačiau taikyti genų terapiją, o Lietuvoje genų terapija pradedami gydyti pirmieji pacientai. Nepaisant įspūdingų galimybių, norėtųsi, kad nepamirštume istorijos, todėl įžangą tęsiame tais pačiais žodžiais, kuriais prasidėjo 2006, 2009, 2013 ir 2021 metais parašytų „Genetikos pratybų“ pratarmės: „Genetikos dėstymo pradžia ne tik Lietuvos sveikatos mokslų universitete, bet ir Lietuvoje sietina su prof. Tado Ivanausko (1882-1970) vardu. Profesorius T. Ivanauskas į paskutinę semestro paskaitą atsinešdavo plakatus su „Mendelio žirneliais“ ir paaškindavo studentams „uždraustuosius paveldimumo dėsnius.“ Genetikos studijų dalykas mūsų Universitete nuėjo ilgą evoliucijos kelią. Vadovaujant buvusiems KMI (vėliau KMA ir KMU) Biologijos katedros vadovams doc. J. Lapinskaitei ir prof. A. Bertuliui, citogenetikos mokslo pradininkams Lietuvoje prof. A. Sinkui ir doc. L Andriuškevičiūtei, keitėsi studijų programos, mokymo priemonės, gilėjo patirtis. Ši patirtis (buvusių ir esamų) instituto darbuotojų ir yra perduodama Jums, mieli skaitytojai. Ši mokomoji knyga skiriama visiems, studijuojantiems mediciną. Bet pravers ir Slaugos, Odontologijos, Visuomenės sveikatos fakultetų studentams. Visi praktikos darbai peržiūrėti ir pataisyti pagal naują Medicinos fakulteto studentams patvirtintą programą. Kiekvieno praktikos darbo pabaigoje nurodyta pagrindinė ir papildoma literatūra, interneto tinklalapiai, užduotys, skirtos studentų praktikos darbams.

Background. Assessing stress and ways of coping with it during the COVID-19 pandemic may serve to mitigate the negative effects associated with the course of the disease. Objectives. The objective was to compare stress perception and coping strategies in students affected and those not affected by COVID-19 from neighbouring countries with diverse anti-pandemic policies. Material and methods. A cross-sectional online survey was conducted among 4,983 students (1,464 males and 3,519 females) from four neighbouring countries between April and May 2022. Students from countries implementing similar restrictive measures to prevent COVID-19 infections were grouped together (Group I: 1,822 students from northeastern Poland, 232 from Lithuania and 1,896 from the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad). Group II consisted of 1,033 students from Belarus, where minimal restrictive actions were implemented. The study assessed stress levels and coping strategies in students who had recovered from COVID-19. Standard questionnaires (Perceived Stress Scale-10 and Coping Orientations to Problems Experienced) were used for data collection. Results. The COVID-19 incidence rate was lower among students in Group I compared to Group II, with rates of 34.2% and 39.7%, respectively. Additionally, the vaccination rate of 71.7% was higher in Group I than the 39.1% in Group II. Anti-pandemic policy-wise, the study showed that participants from Belarus were significantly more likely to try to “escape reality” and less actively engaging in stress coping activities. They had higher rates of helplessness and problem avoidance. Conclusions. The study provides a starting point for further transnational research aimed at assessing the mental health of students and developing optimal actions for public health in populations affected by COVID-19.

In the present study, the features of summation of effects caused by contextual distracting dots in the length-matching task (a variant of the filled-space illusion) were investigated. In the first two series of psychophysical experiments, the illusion magnitude was measured as a function of the displacement of distractors (either single or double sets of dots) orthogonally to the main axis of the stimulus. It was demonstrated that with increasing displacement, the illusion smoothly decreases for a single set of distractors, while for two sets, the illusion first increases to a certain maximum value, and then gradually decreases. In the third and fourth series of experiments, magnitude of the illusion was measured as a function of the luminance of one set of distracting dots, while the luminance of the other set was fixed. It has been shown that increasing the luminance until the same value is reached for both sets leads to a monotonous growth in the illusion magnitude; after that, the illusion asymptotically decreases to an almost constant level. The theoretical interpretation of the established functional dependencies was performed using a quantitative model based on the assumption that the illusion may arise due to the weighted summation of the distractor-induced normalized neural activity, which leads to the perceptual mislocalization of terminators of stimulus spatial intervals.

Background: Studying anxiety, stress, and coping strategies during the COVID-19 pandemic is crucial to mitigate the negative effects associated with infection risk and disease consequences. Objective: This study aimed to investigate anxiety levels, stress perception, and coping strategies in relation to the presence of illness. Material and Methods: A cross-sectional online survey was conducted anonymously among 3950 university students from Poland (1822), Lithuania (232), and the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad (1896). Due to the nearly identical application of anti-epidemic measures, the respondents were treated as a unified group. The State-trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), Perceived Stress Scale 10 (PSS-10), and mini-COPE scale questionnaires were used. Statistical analysis included the Shapiro–Wilk test to check normality, the Mann–Whitney U test for comparative analysis between groups, the Pearson χ2 test for categorical data, and Spearman coefficients for correlations between variables. Results: A significant proportion of young adults in the community exhibited symptoms of anxiety and stress during the COVID-19 pandemic. Among the 1212 men and 2738 women surveyed, 348 (28.7%) and 1020 (37.3%) individuals, respectively, were diagnosed with COVID-19 according to clinical protocols. Prolonged disease duration and more severe residual symptoms correlated with higher self-reported anxiety levels. Conclusions: The level of anxiety and stress varied depending on the duration of the disease, significantly impacting the choice of coping strategies. Overall, students displayed a proactive approach to coping activities but tended to postpone important decisions. Seeking social support was a prevalent coping mechanism, although respondents who had COVID-19 showed higher levels of concern for their own emotions, a tendency to discharge emotions through alcohol or other substances (male), and a greater reliance on religion (female). The study provides data that may be useful in developing educational and health policies focused on the mental well-being of university students and potentially other social groups.

Background. The problem of the ageing population has resulted in attitudes towards aging in different age groups becoming a subject of increased academic interest. Objectives. To provide comparative characteristics of the prevalence of manifestations of gerontological ageism among university students in five European countries. Material and methods. The sample consisted of university students (n = 2493) aged 18–25 from Belarus (n = 827), Russia (n = 528), Poland (n = 798), Lithuania (n = 223) and Ukraine (n = 117). The prevalence of gerontological ageism among respondents was evaluated according to the Fraboni Ageism Scale. Results. The prevalence and manifestations of gerontological ageism vary depending on the country. The maximum total indicator, displaying the highest overall level of ageism, was noted among Belarusian students, the minimum – in Lithuania (p < 0.05). The final indicators of gerontological ageism were found to be the following: the level of age discrimination and negative emotional attitude towards the elderly was increased in one fifth of the respondents in all five groups. The observation found the level of ageism averaging at 60%, evenly distributed in all groups. The predominant attitudes towards older people were found to be neutral or positive (84.6%). Conclusions. The manifestations of ageism are international in nature and can explain 20% of the total variety of answers characterising the differences in ranked attributes and degree of ageism. The total indicator showed the highest degree of gerontological ageism among students in Belarus, the lowest – among those in Lithuania, with levels of gerontological ageism among students in Russia, Poland and Ukraine distributed in between.

A range of computer programing packages for psychophysical methods including open source are available at present. But there are not many convenient and enough flexible experiment control tools that incorporates these methods. The current MATLAB and GNU Octave environment-based project PsyExTool is aimed to create a tool that enables to couple the methods with visual or audio stimulus presentation modules. At present the program allows to use adjustment, constant stimulus and adaptive PSI psychophysical methods. The parameters of the stimulus and psychophysical method is adjusted in a single graphical user interface. The responses are collected using keyboard or mouse. The process of experiment is displayed graphically. At the end of the session, the data can be stored or exported for further analysis. The structure of the program may incorporate and combine additional methods for data collection and stimuli presentation in various sensory modalities. The open-source status of the code should ensure availability and flexibility of the tool.

Tai, kas atrodė fantastika prieš trisdešimt metų, tampa realybe – šios knygelės autoriai mano, kad tikrai žengiame individualizuotosios medicino link. 1990 metais pradėtas žmogaus genomo projektas truko trylika metų ir kainovo apie vieną milijardą dolerių. 2014 metais Europos Žmogaus genetikos kongrese Milane dr. S. Kingsmore'as pristatė pacientus, kuriems buvo įtariama reta genetinė liga. Jų genomo sekoskaita ir analizė truko dvi-šešias dienas ir kainavo apie 1000 dolerių. Tačiau turime nepamiršti istorijos ir įžangą tęsiame tais pačiais žodžiais, kuriais prasidėjo 2006, 2009 ir 2013 metais parašytos knygos "Genetikos pratybos pratarmės: "Genetikos dėstymo pradžia ne tik Lietuvos sveikatos mokslų universitete, bet ir Lietuvoje, sietina su prof. Tado Ivanausko (1882-1970) vardu. Profesorius T. Ivanauskas į paskutinę semestro paskaitą atsinešdavo plakatus su "Mendelio žirneliais" ir paiškindavo studentams uždraustuosius paveldimumo dėsnius". Genetikos studijų kursas mūsų Universitete nuėjo ilgą evoliucijos kelią. Vadovaujant buvusiems KMI (vėliau KMA ir KMU) Biologijos katedros vadovams doc. J. Lapinskaitei ir prof. A. Bertuliui, citogenetikos mokslo pradininkui Lietuvoje prof. A. Sinkui, keitėsi studijų programos, mokymo priemonės, gilėjo patirtis. Ši patirtis (buvusių ir esamų) instituto darbuotojų ir yra perduodama Jums, skaitytojai. Ši mokomoji knyga skiriama biomedicinos mokslus, pirmiausia mediciną, slaugą, odontologiją, visuomenės sveikatą studijuojantiems studentams. Visi praktikos darbai peržiūrėti ir pataisyti, nurodyta pagrindinė bei papildoma literatūra ir interneto tinklalapiai. Atsirado ir naujas praktikos darbas, kuriame sužaindinama su molekulinės genetikos metodais, taikomais genetinių ligų diagnostikai.

Perceptual expansion of the visual objects' size is a common sensory phenomenon. Objects with disconnected or missing boundaries produce stronger illusions than continuous and fully closed ones. We studied whether the absent corners in the triangle shapes increased the illusion effect. Subjects were adjusting the blank interval of the two-part stimulus to be equal to the length (altitude) of the isosceles triangles oriented horizontally but having various contour compositions: a complete contour, the baseline absent (a pair of wings), one sideline absent, the corners missing, and just the three-spot combination. In presentations, the triangle length varied in steps within the 6–360 arc min interval. The illusion strength increased monotonously with the stimuli length growth, except the illusion for the three-spot image which caused a faint effect if any. The stimuli with the missing corners definitely determined the strongest illusion. The illusion of the complete contour and a borderline missing was about of the same strength. We presume that the visual system re-established the missing borderlines by illusory contours in the distance matching experiments but did not restore the corners. The triangle apex absence left no Müller-Lyer effect reducing the distance therefore,the illusion became stronger.