Inter Collegas

Gender dimorphism of the relationships between the cranial and facial skull sections in mature human individuals

L.O. Sosonna — 2024-09-30

In press

Background. To date, the range of individual anatomical variability of the cranial profile type in mature adults, depending on gender and skull structure type has not yet been adequately established.

Aim. To study gender-specific ratios of the cranial and facial parts of the skull in mature adults.

Materials and Methods. The materials of our study consisted of 115 skulls of mature adults of both sexes, including 35 dry bone specimens of whole or fragmented skulls. For each parameter, the following metrics were calculated: The following parameters were used in the statistical analysis: (arithmetic mean), σ (standard deviation), and m (standard error of the mean).

Results. It was found that in men the skull length is =181.36 with σ=3.31 and m=0.46, while in women it does not exceed =176.57 with σ=3.28 and m=0.47; the skull width in men reaches =141.17 with σ=2.62 and m=0.34, and in women, it does not exceed =134.94 with σ=2.50 and m=0.33; the height parameter of the skull in men also reaches maximum values at the level of =141.38 with σ=3.75 and m=0.52, while in women, it is somewhat lower at =137.24 with σ=3.15 and m=0.55. In mature men, the upper facial width is =94.17 with σ=3.87 and m=0.50, while in women, this parameter averages =90.71 with σ=4.05 and m=0.54; the middle width in men reaches =128.93 with σ=1.53 and m=0.20, while in women, it does not exceed =122.49 with σ=1.44 and m=0.19; the maximum indicators of angular width are established in men, averaging =99.64 with σ=4.15 and m=0.54, while in women, they do not exceed =92.27 with σ=3.78 and m=0.51.

Conclusions. The study identified significant gender-specific differences in the cranial and facial dimensions of middle-aged individuals. Men demonstrated larger average values for skull length, width, and height, as well as upper face width, bizygomatic width, and angular width, compared to women. These findings highlight distinct morphological characteristics between genders.

Keywords: computed tomography, cranial index, face width, face length, face height.

Archived: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14257424

Early physical rehabilitation in intensive care unit and its impact on Post-COVID syndrome manifestations

V. Kovalenko — 2024-09-30

In press

Background. The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a global health crisis, notably through long COVID, which significantly affects the quality of life of patients’ post-discharge from hospital care. Long COVID is characterized by prolonged symptoms such as fatigue, cognitive impairments, depression, and anxiety. Early physical rehabilitation is a crucial component of patient recovery; however, the optimal frequency and intensity of rehabilitation interventions remain unclear.

Aim. To evaluate the effects of various physical rehabilitation regimens on functional status, cognitive functions, psychosocial state, and manifestations of post-COVID syndrome in patients who underwent severe COVID-19.

Materials and Methods. 102 patients with confirmed COVID-19 requiring treatment in an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) were included in the study. They were divided into groups based on the number of rehabilitation sessions per day: Group I received one session, while Group II received two. Physical rehabilitation included changing the body position in bed, verticalization and breathing exercises. We assessed average values for physical functional status, cognitive functions, and psychosocial condition at discharge, along with post-COVID symptom severity 5–7 days after discharge.

Results. Increasing the number of rehabilitation sessions led to better psychosocial outcomes and reduced manifestations of post-COVID syndrome. However, in the short-term, increasing session frequency did not yield statistically significant improvements in cognitive functions or physical status.

Conclusions. Early physical rehabilitation in ICU is vital for reducing manifestations of post-COVID syndrome in severe COVID-19 patients. Enhanced physical activity not only improves mental health but also helps alleviate physical symptoms. Future research should focus on the long-term effects of rehabilitation and a holistic approach to supporting patient recovery.

Keywords: mobilization of patients, early activation of patient, COVID-19, ICU.

Archived: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14250339

Motivational and regulatory instruments of valeological education

A.S. Shevchenko — 2024-09-30

In press

Background. The competence-based approach is a condition for the implementation of higher education in Ukraine and the world. The list of competences that must be formed in university graduates includes health-saving. But there are obstacles to fulfilling the requirements of the standards in the form of imperfect practical pedagogical realization of competence formation.

Aim. To identify motivational and regulatory tools of non-medical education, the use of which is approved in the scientific-pedagogical environment, regulated by the legislation of Ukraine and effective in achieving the result of forming valeological competence, provided for by the standards of higher non-medical education of Ukraine.

Materials and Methods. The research was conducted using the system analysis method and the bibliosemantic method. The research is based on twenty years’ experience in forming valeological competence in students of non-medical universities in the city of Kharkiv by means of teaching special valeological disciplines. The study does not describe these empirical studies, but only uses their findings.

Results and Discussion. As a result of the theoretical research, it has been established that the competence principle of education is not actually implemented in higher education, and in the course of forming valeological competence in particular. This happens because of the lack of mechanisms for evaluating personal components of competences. It is proposed to consider the student’s main motivation in forming valeological competence as his/her desire to be healthy. Individual and organizational regulatory tools of valeological education are defined. They are as follows: typical curricula and textbooks for valeological education of students at non-medical universities, development of criteria for recalculating the evaluation of forming motivation and other personal components of competences for assessment in ECTS points.

Keywords: valeological competence, health-saving competence, "Health Pedagogy", "Fundamentals of Medical Knowledge and Health-Saving", higher education standards, competences formation assessment.

Archived: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14181706

Vasyl Yakovych Danylevskyi's lecture on the doctor, the patient, and the successes of medicine (1921): annotated translation

O.M. Biletska — 2024-09-30

In press

Unlike a mechanic, before a doctor there is a living person with all the manifestations of his rights and feelings, with a painful soul, with aggravated egoistic currents. The public easily forgives major failures and blunders of a quack but it will not forgive a doctor. The doctor's duty is to forget about his personal troubles for the sake of his weak patient and to instill in him cheerfulness, spiritual fortitude, and optimistic expectations. The patient must trust the doctor and respect him already in view of such self-denial for the sake of helping his neighbor. In functional nervous disorders, the doctor can limit himself to psychotherapy only. A family doctor disposes to greater respect and trust. A thorough knowledge of all medicine is absolutely necessary for any specialist doctor. A doctor is obliged to serve public health – to supervise schools, factories, markets, railways, etc. The successes of scientific medicine are not always familiar to the uncultured public due to their insufficient popularization by doctors. But over the past 50 years, scientific medicine and medical practice have made colossal progress: local and general anesthesia for operations has been developed, antisepsis and asepsis are carried out, organ transplant operations are performed, vaccinations against cholera and bubonic plague in humans have been introduced, a new science has been created – medical bacteriology, pathogenic microbes have been studied in many diseases, a successful fight against epidemic contagious diseases is carried out, diagnostic reactions to typhoid fever, syphilis, Pasteur institutes have been established; fluoroscopy is carried out; chemotherapy, salvarsan has been invented for the treatment of syphilis and relapsing fever; the therapeutic use of light rays and electrotherapy has begun; study of immunity, innate and acquired, anaphylaxis, study of immunity, innate and acquired, anaphylaxis, scientific psychiatry and psychotherapy is being developed, etc.

Keywords: patient, social hygiene, superstition, scientific discoveries.

Archived: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14210834