Connection between the COVID-19 pandemic, war trauma reminders, perceived stress, loneliness, and PTSD in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

In order to gain a better understanding of what happens during the COVID-19 pandemic to those who were previously traumatized, this study investigated perceived stress and severity of PTSD symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic in people who experienced the 1992-1995 war in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It was also examined how reminders of past trauma and loneliness instigated by the COVID-19 crisis relate to current stress and PTSD symptoms. The sample consisted of 123 participants (74.8% women). Participants responded to assessments of sociodemographic characteristics, exposure to COVID-related information, concerns over disease, severity of exposure to war, frequency and intensity of war trauma reminders, loneliness, stress, and severity of PTSD symptoms. Data was collected as part of [edited out for blind review] Global Survey. Results showed that in a population previously exposed to the effects of war, severity of PTSD symptoms was positively related to perceived stress, and loneliness during the pandemic significantly mediated this relationship. Intensity of exposure to war trauma reminders was associated with higher levels of PTSD symptom severity. Higher severity of PTSD symptoms was related to forced displacement during the war. Moreover, higher stress was related to increased concerns over disease. To conclude, those exposed to war may be more affected by the global COVID-19 pandemic and preventive measures that accompany it, while loneliness mediates the effects of PTSD and perceived stress in this population.

How and why is the COVID-19 crisis impacting trust in institutions? A two-wave longitudinal study in Italy

Using a quota panel of the adult Italian population (N = 1,192), we conducted a two-wave longitudinal study to analyse how and why the COVID-19 crisis affected Italians' trust in institutions. Between May-June 2019 (before COVID-19) and April 2020 (the peak of the pandemic), trust in political institutions (political parties, parliament, and local administrations) and in super partes national institutions (the President of the Republic, the judiciary, and the police) increased, whereas trust in international institutions (the European Union and the United Nations) decreased. A mediation model showed that anxiety and collective angst were positively associated with seeking information about COVID-19 from institutional and relational sources. In turn, seeking information from institutional sources further increased trust in institutions, whereas seeking information from social media and friends did not. The same pattern held for trust in epistemic authorities (the national health care system, civil protection and scientists), which was measured only in the second wave. These results suggest that it is extremely important to pay attention to public communication strategies, as they play a crucial role in transforming individual and collective distress in times of crisis into trust in institutions, even net of the effect of information from relational sources. The strengths and limitations of the study are discussed, and directions for possible future research are suggested.

Is Latin America Experiencing a Second Cycle of Leftist Politics?

Recent electoral victories by left-leaning leaders and parties mark another turn in the oscillations of Latin American politics, but they also signal enduring changes. The electoral success of the left is a sign of both the durability of electoral democracy and the persistence of social pres-sures in highly unequal societies. In this article, we discuss how the electoral fates and governing strategies of leftist movements and parties reflect the conditions in which they emerged. We ana-lyze the political and organizational legacies of Cold War repression as well as the ways in which global events such as 9/11, the commodity boom of the 2000s and its exhaustion, the covid-19 pandemic, and the new global wave of progressive movements, have shaped the ebb-and-flow of left-wing politics. We conclude with reflections on the possibilities for the construction of social democracy as an alternative to radical populist and right-wing oligarchical politics. © 2023, Centro de Investigacion y Docencia Economicas A.C.. All rights reserved.

An analysis of COVID-19 disease perceptions and metaphors of nurses working in COVID-19 intensive care units

Objectives: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is seen not only as a disease, but it is also defined by a series of met- aphors: mysterious, evil, an invisible enemy, an insidious danger, and a democratic virus. This study was conducted to analyze the nurses' perceptions of COVID-19 through metaphors.Methods: This qualitative research was planned as a descriptive phenomenological approach. Twenty-eight nurses working in the COVID-19 intensive care unit (ICU) participated in the study. The metaphor-based data collection pro- cess was carried out with five open-ended questions. The data were analyzed through a thematic analysis. The Consol- idated Criteria for Reporting Qualitative Research Checklist was used to analyze this study.Results: Most military and fatigue related to the time nurses work in intensive care;Hero and nightmare of patient care with COVID-19;distance and restlessness in family relationships;their mental health darkroom and fatigue;COVID-19 as an insidious enemy and infinity. A total of 128 metaphors were produced.Conclusion: Working during the COVID-19 epidemic, COVID-19 ICU nurses exhibit unfavorable approaches toward their jobs, family relationships, and mental health. Improving the working conditions of ICU nurses and considering their desires will help contribute to a favorable direction.

Research and Teaching in a Pandemic World: The Challenges of Establishing Academic Identities During Times of Crisis

This book adopts collaborative autoethnography as its methodology, and presents the collective witnessing of experiences of the COVID-19 pandemic within the higher education sector. Through the presentation of staff and student experiences and what was learnt from them, the authors examine the global phenomenon that is the COVID-19 pandemic through the purposeful exploration of their own experiences. This book presents an overall argument about the state of higher education in the middle of the pandemic and highlights academic issues and region-specific challenges. The reflections presented in this book offer insights for other staff and students, as well as academic policy-makers, regarding the pandemic experiences of those within academia. It also offers practical suggestions as to how we as a global community can move forward post-pandemic. © The Editor(s)(if applicable)and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2022.

Is gold a safe haven for the CIVETS countries under extremely adverse market conditions? Some new evidence from the MF-DCCA analysis

This paper investigates the safe haven attributes of gold under extreme market conditions. Our main goal is to understand if this property still holds under exceptional times characterized by unusual high levels of uncertainty. To this end, we gathered data from 2018 to 2023 for a group of emerging markets – the CIVETS (Colombia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Egypt, Turkey and South Africa) – thus encompassing a stable and a particularly turbulent period, which was marked by two consecutive crises: the COVID-19 and the Russian-Ukrainian war. We chose these countries as they are fast growing economies, which represent important investing opportunities, and because among the emerging markets these are the least studied. To achieve our goal we employed the Multifractal Detrended Cross-Correlation Analysis (MF-DCCA). Our results showed that before the pandemic the cross-correlations between gold and the financial markets were mainly negative. However, with the onset of the crisis they became positive. This demonstrates that gold lost its popular safe haven attributes and highlights the need for investors to seek alternative investments to protect downward risk, especially under extremely turbulent scenarios.

Figurative Language Used by Australian Facebookers During COVID-19 Pandemic

This study investigated the metaphorical speech acts used by Australian commentators on Facebook during COVID-19. The sample contained 50 Facebook comments that were analyzed qualitatively. The study adopted Searle taxonomy of speech acts, namely, directive, assertive, expressive, commissive, and declarative. This helped in identifying the different functions of the metaphorical speech acts. Moreover, Austin taxonomy of speech act forms, namely, locutionary, illocutionary, and perlocutionary, was adopted. The findings revealed that the most common types of metaphors that were used by the Australian commentators were war and conflict metaphors, followed by psychological status metaphors and irony metaphors. The study found that war and conflict metaphors were the most commonly used forms of speech by the commentators. This is in alignment with the literature that also highlights how the advent of a crisis, such as COVID-19, results in excessive use of war and militarized metaphors. The study found that the most common speech act was directive, while expressive was the least common form used by Australian commentators during the COVID19 pandemic.

War, stress, pregnancy: how to reconcile problematic issues?

The article provides data on current stress loads in the population of Ukraine, which have significantly increased as a result of emotional overstrain (stress) and the reduction of periods of positive emotional states. The presence of active military operations in the country and, as a result, the appearance of the population with the status of "displaced persons”;the part of the population that is/was in the zone of temporary occupation;the appearance of the wounded and disabled persons among the civilian population led the completely new tasks for the organism adaptive systems, which it is not always ready to overcome them. Over the last two year, the life of a person in Ukraine has been affected by a combination of two "dark forces”, namely, the war and the COVID-19 pandemic, and this influence is still continuing. The war for almost a year led to the layering of acute stress on already existing problems, deterioration of the social situation;forced change of place/country of residence (often repeated changes);interruptions in the supply of quality food products, medicines, dietary supplements, etc.;violation of "doctor-patient” contacts and, as a result, the impossibility of receiving timely and high-quality consultations and treatment. On the background of these problems there are significant risks of wartime for pregnant women, which can hinder the favorable course and termination of pregnancy. Among the most significant difficulties is a severe psychological trauma. The problem of the impact of the war on the pregnant women and the results of childbirth in our country began to be considered since 2014, when as a result of Russia's aggression in the east of the country and in the Crimea a completely new part of the population appeared – internally displaced persons (IDPs) from these regions. To date, the significantly increased contingent of IDPs has also been joined by those persons who displaced to other countries because of the war from February 24, 2022. The stay of a pregnant woman in conditions of acute or long-term chronic stress negatively affects the course of pregnancy, increasing the number of complications and negatively affecting the condition of the fetus and newborn. Pregnancy can also be considered a significant adaptive load, which requires the woman's body to mobilize mechanisms for syn-chronization between indicators of the basic systems and a favorable course of the gestation and childbirth process. Even during its physiological course it has a certain influence on the psychological condition of a woman, and some authors consider it even as a crisis situation, or as a "period of psychological uncertainty”. Individual features of response to stress cannot be dismissed either. Yes, the degree of reaction of a pregnant woman can be completely different depending on the specifics of the situation. One of the effective and available ways to prevent the effects of long-term stress during pregnancy is magnesium (Mg) supple-mentation in its oral form, taking into account bioavailability and the daily dose for pregnant women. Magnesium is indis-pensable in maintaining the conduction of nerve impulses, serves as a natural muscle relaxant that relaxes smooth and skeletal muscles, has a positive effect on the functioning of the placenta and endothelium, ensures the full development of the fetus in synergy with other useful substances, in particular B vitamins. The preparations based on magnesium salts with organic acids (orotic acid, vitamin B6), in which the anion of the acid serves as a "magnesium carrier” (ligand) into the cell, are characterized by a high bioavailability. It is important in the context of the impact on the central nervous system during the war that magnesium, vitamin B6 and orotic acid potentiate each other's anti-stress effect. Our experience allows us to recommend a magnesium preparation for long-term use, starting with pre-gravid preparation, throughout pregnancy and lactation, which includes the chelated form of marine magnesium «Simag 55» (p ri fied natural marine mineral extract) with two conductors (vitamin B6 and orotic acid) to ensure the highest bioavailability. © The Author(s) 2023.

Strategic Guidelines for the Development of the Economy in the Conditions of Global Challenges and Military Aggression (Ukrainian Case)

The russian military aggression in 2014, the occupation of Crimea and the loss of pow-erful industrial facilities in the East of Ukraine caused crisis phenomena in the Ukrainian economy. In 2022, a full-scale invasion of Russian troops caused significant losses, de-struction, sowed death and destruction in society. Against this background, the issue of determining possible mechanisms for exiting the crisis, analysis of the Ukrainian expe-rience, and opportunities for stabilization and improvement of the general development is relevant. The purpose of the article is to determine the strategic guidelines for the development of the Ukrainian economy in the conditions of global challenges and mili-tary aggression. The article uses general scientific research methods (analysis, synthe-sis, induction, and deduction), as well as content analysis, prognostic method, syner-gistic approach and empirical material of legislative acts. The results determined that the main features of economic development since the beginning of the Russian invasion in 2014, it is characterized the possible strategies for the exit of the Ukrainian economy from the crisis situation of the post-war state. The results determined the consequences of the beginning of russian military aggression against Ukraine in 2014, in particular, the fall in GDP per capita, the freezing of the development of entrepreneurial activity. It was summed up that COVID-19 was affected by the global recession, which also did not bypass the Ukrainian economy. Instead, Russian aggression in 2022 reduced Ukraine's GDP by 30%. It was emphasized that under such conditions, the necessary solutions may be to strengthen state control through the distribution of funding (in particular, international assistance), legislative regulation, and political and criminal lia-bility of unscrupulous managers. The conclusions emphasize that the strategic guide-lines for the development of the Ukrainian economy in the face of global challenges are: efficient use of resources and renewal of production capacities, restoration of pre-war GDP, updating the economic structure, bringing the processing industry indicators to 50% (as of 2030), increasing Ukrainian-made goods in the public procurement sector, increasing foreign direct investment.

Preparing to See Hope: On the Utopic Potentiality of the Stories We Share

I framed my response to your presidential address as a letter in hopes that this intimate form will find you and others in the vein of the words you cite from Audre Lorde, "the personal as political.” Writing to you in this way allows me to aspire after the intimacy denied by the virtual 2021 ASA conference, to imagine what it would have been like to be in a shared space, feeling the urgency of your call for "Love and Resistance in a time of COVID.” This letter, then, might be read as a yearning for social and intellectual associations that have been made dangerous, not least by the COVID-19 pandemic, but also by the increased policing of our work as scholars and teachers in a nation and within institutions organized around the violences of settler colonialism and white supremacist politics hostile to the flourishing of minoritized life and knowledges. Let me begin by thanking you for the story of your experience growing up as a mixed-race Cambodian American adoptee in Valdosta, Georgia. Your evocative descriptions helped ground me in time and place, from the significance of Valdosta as a site of "refuge” during the American Civil War to its transformation over the course of Reconstruction and Jim Crow to the 1980s, when it became the scene of the "most formative” years of your childhood. The reflections you shared on the loneliness you experienced, and the painful "lesson of indifference” instructed by your father, who believed it best to keep the racist crimes committed against your family "to oneself simply because ‘no one cared' and doing otherwise would lead to undeniable trouble and unreconciled hurt,” were deeply affecting and illuminating. Your story finds resonance with the work of Leslie Bow, Lee Isaac Chung, and Monique Truong, who elucidate histories of Asian racial formation and sociality in the US South.1 As a recent transplant to Tallahassee, a north Floridian city that often feels like a part of south Georgia, these texts and your words have helped me negotiate the conflicting feelings and palimpsestic temporal geographies of a place I am still trying to make into home

TRENDS IN AGRICULTURE TRADE AND THE INFLUENCE OF GLOBAL CRISES ON EXPORT

Agricultural trade in India has recently experienced significant changes as a result of global crisis. The years 2021 and 2022 saw record exports ($50.2 billion) and imports ($32.4 billion). The resulting surplus of $17.8 billion was significantly lower than the surplus of $27.7 billion in the previous record-breaking export year 2013–14. Covid pandemic and Russia Ukraine war had a positive influence on the record exports from India. But the greater increase in imports has partially offset the remarkable expansion in exports. In this context, an attempt has been made to examine the causes of this pattern in India's export of agricultural produces. The study in this regard is significant because, aside from software services, this is one industry in which India has some comparative advantage. The nation must prioritise a stable trade policy, especially for those goods having highest trade potential.

Migrating Metaphors: Why We Should Be Concerned About a ?War on Mental Illness? in the Aftermath of COVID-19

In the aftermath of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, there is a predicted (and emerging) increase in experiences of mental illness. This phenomenon has been described as "the next pandemic", suggesting that the concepts used to understand and respond to the COVID-19 pandemic are being transferred to conceptualize mental illness. The COVID-19 pandemic was, and continues to be, framed in public media using military metaphors, which can potentially migrate to conceptualizations of mental illness along with pandemic rhetoric. Given that metaphors shape what is considered justifiable action, and how we understand justice, I argue we have a moral responsibility to interrogate who benefits and who is harmed by the language and underlying conceptualizations this rhetoric legitimates. By exploring how military metaphors have been used in the context of COVID-19, I argue that this rhetoric has been used to justify ongoing harm to marginalized groups while further entrenching established systems of power. Given this history, I present what it may look like were military metaphors used to conceptualize a "mental illness pandemic", what actions this might legitimate and render inconceivable, and who is likely to benefit and be harmed by such rhetorically justified actions.

Siamo in Cura, non in Guerra: WAR metaphors, political discourse, and evaluation during the Covid-19 pandemic

The present paper analyses political tweets regarding the Covid-19 crisis. It focuses on four leaders-Trump, Johnson, Sánchez, and Conte-and in a particular time frame: March 2020. The goal of this paper is twofold: on the one hand, it endeavours to confirm whether war metaphors are pervasive in the discourse of the pandemic, on the other, it seeks to transcend the conceptual approach to metaphor and situate it within the context of evaluation in discourse. In order to do so, once war metaphors are individuated, we identify the evaluative processes implied in their use. Our claim is that war metaphors played an essential role not only by framing a novel situation as a conflict, but also by allowing the situation to be evaluated in a way that would provoke the audience to act. © Peter Lang Group AG, International Academic Publishers, Bern 2023. All rights reserved.

Features of sanitary and anti-epidemic (preventive) measures among the personnel of camp training events in military educational organizations in the context of the spread of the new COVID-19 coronavirus infection

The experience of medical maintenance for assembly events annually held on the basis of the educational process of the Military Medical Academy named after S.M. Kirov. The main directions of the organization of sanitary and anti-epidemic (preventive) measures among the personnel at each stage of the camp gathering have been determined. It is shown that at the preparatory stage it is advisable to develop additional plans that concretize sanitary and anti-epidemic (preventive) measures for the stages of the camp gathering. At the stage of accepting participants, the main direction is the organization of events that prevent the introduction of infection with the arriving personnel. At the main stage of the camp training, the leading role belongs to disinfection measures. At the stage of departure of participants, the main efforts should be focused on minimizing the potential risk of infection along the route and the introduction of infection into their military units. The features of disinfection are described depending on the type of object being processed. The results of testing a designed device for fixing dispensers with a skin antiseptic on the basis of a unified military stand in a camp gathering are presented. The features of the organization of medical control over the material and household provision of the personnel of the training camp are stated. The basic principles of prophylaxis and anti-epidemic protection during assembly activities in the context of the spread of COVID-19 have been formulated. © 2019 Eco-Vector LLC. All rights reserved.

Functioning of a higher educational institution under force majeure circumstances: A case study of Ivan Franko National University of Lviv

Over the last decade, Ukrainian higher educational institutions have faced extraordinary and even dire circumstances three times: russia's attack on Ukraine in Donbas and occupation of Crimea (2014);a total lockdown caused by a pandemic due to the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) (2020);russia's full-scale war against Ukraine (2022). Each time, Ukrainian higher educational institutions had to reformat the educational process to meet the challenges of the time. Lviv region began accepting internally displaced people from Donbas and Crimea in 2014. In this regard, Ivan Franko National University of Lviv (Lviv University) has established itself as one of the regional leaders. The spread of the COVID-19 pandemic required the immediate organization of distance learning and, therefore, the improvement of information and technical support. russian crimes against humanity in 2022 caused an enormous wave of internal displacement of citizens. Employees and students of Lviv University have been helping internally displaced people with housing, food, and basic necessities since the beginning of the full-scale war;they have also assisted refugees at checkpoints along the Ukrainian-Polish border. Over a hundred University students and employees serve in the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Those who remain at home work hard to bring victory over the enemy closer. They are volunteering, fund-raising, arranging humanitarian aid, cooperating with international charitable organizations, etc. Under difficult wartime conditions, the University's academic community continues to fulfil its primary mission: to provide modern, high-quality education. © Halyna Kaplenko, Inna Kulish, Olha Hrabovetska, Andrii Stasyshyn, Viktoriia Dubyk, 2023.