The aim of this research is to analyze the impact of mental health on the academic performance of junior and senior students studying in a university setting during the 2022-2023 academic year, in the post-COVID period. The study was conducted in Beijing, China, with the participation of 600 students, including 300 first-year students and 300 fifth-year students. DASS (Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale) and PHQ-9 (Patient Health Questionnaire-9) questionnaires were employed to measure mental health. The DASS assesses symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress, while the PHQ-9 specifically evaluates depression severity. Academic performance was evaluated using a 12-point scale, which incorporated various criteria such as exam scores, coursework performance, and participation in extracurricular activities. The research was conducted across five faculties of the university from 2022 to 2023. In the study, fifth-year students demonstrated a higher level of mental health compared to first-year students, with an average DASS score of 27.1 and 24.2, respectively. Interestingly, despite this, first-year students achieved higher academic performance indicators, with an average score of 8.2 compared to 9.8 in fifth-year students. Correlation analysis revealed significant associations between stress, depression, and anxiety levels with academic performance (stress: r = -0.25, p < 0.001; depression: r = -0.20, p = 0.003; anxiety: r = -0.18, p = 0.008). These findings highlight the critical importance of addressing students\' mental well-being, particularly in later academic years. Recommendations include implementing support programs and developing online resources for students.

The purpose of the study is to determine the specifics of occupational stress among medical workers in the post-COVID period. Material and methods. The study involved 620 medical workers who worked and are working in the red zone. Questionnaires for susceptibility to stress at work, assessments of occupational maladaptation, occupational stress, occupational stress test, occupational stress scale, K. Pearson\'s correlation criterion and the Chaddok-Snedekor scale were used. Results. The study has identified the following specific features of occupational stress among medical workers in the post-COVID period: above the average level of sings of somatovegetative disorders (26.05); average level of the general indicator for assessing professional maladaptation (67.66), signs of sleep and wakefulness cycle disturbance (8.36), signs of feeling tired (5.96), signs of decreased motivation for activity (4.25), signs of decreased general activity (5.87), signs of deteriorated well-being (22.18), signs of emotional shifts (7.31), stress at work (9.25), stressful impact of professional activity on a specialist (995), stressful conditions and neuroses (24.91); below the average level of occupational stress (2.37), signs of characteristics of social interaction (6.82), signs of characteristics of individual mental processes (3.04). A noticeable relationship was established between the sign of somatovegetative disorders and the stressful impact of professional activity on a specialist (0.636), and the general indicator of assessing professional maladaptation (0.598), and stress conditions and neuroses (0.582), and the sign of deteriorated well-being (0.573), and stress at work (0.569), signs of disturbed sleep and wakefulness cycle (0.555), emotional shifts (0.542), feelings of fatigue (0.531), decreased overall activity (0.525) and motivation for activity (0.519).

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) remains a health problem worldwide. The present study aimed to investigate the effect of blood pressure (BP) on the circadian pattern and prevalence of new-onset non-dipper hypertension in the post-COVID period in patients with known hypertension. This prospective single-center study included 722 patients hospitalized for COVID-19 infection. Ambulatory BP (ABP) data were collected during their initial hospitalization. The ABP data were reassessed 1 month after the patients were discharged. The results were compared with a healthy control group with known hypertension but without COVID-19 infection. After exclusion criteria were applied, the study included 187 patients with COVID-19 and 136 healthy hypertensive controls. Post-COVID ABP showed that patients with COVID-19 had significantly higher mean 24-h systolic and diastolic BP, mean nighttime systolic and diastolic BP, and mean daytime diastolic BP than the control group. In addition, new-onset non-dipper hypertension was significantly higher in patients with COVID-19. This study demonstrated for the first time that the circadian pattern is disturbed and a non-dipper pattern develops in individuals with known hypertension during the post-COVID period.

The universal proteinase inhibitor α2-macroglobulin (α₂-MG) exhibiting antiviral and immunomodulatory activities, is considered as an important participant in the infectious process. The activity of α₂-MG in the new coronavirus infection and post-covid syndrome (long COVID) has not been studied yet. We examined 85 patients diagnosed with community-acquired bilateral polysegmental pneumonia developed under conditions of a new coronavirus infection SARS-CoV-2. For assessment of the post-COVID period, 60 patients were examined 5.0±3.6 months after the coronavirus infection. Among these patients, 40 people had complications, manifested in the form of neurological, cardiological, gastroenterological, dermatological, bronchopulmonary symptoms. The control group included 30 conditionally healthy individuals with a negative PCR result for SARS-CoV-2 RNA and lack of antibodies to the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The α₂-MG activity in serum samples of patients with coronavirus infection dramatically decreased, up to 2.5% of the physiological level. This was accompanied by an increase in the activity of the α₁-proteinase inhibitor, elastase- and trypsin-like proteinases by 2.0-, 4.4- and 2.6-fold respectively as compared with these parameters in conditionally healthy individuals of the control. In the post-COVID period, despite the trend towards normalization of the activity of inhibitors, the activity of elastase-like and especially trypsin-like proteinases in serum remained elevated. In overweight individuals, the increase in the activity of trypsin-like proteinases was most pronounced and correlated with an increase in the antibody titer to the SARS-CoV-2 virus. In the post-COVID period, the α₂-MG activity not only normalized, but also exceeded the control level, especially in patients with dermatological and neurological symptoms. In patients with neurological symptoms or with dermatological symptoms, the α₂-MG activity was 1.3 times and 2.1 times higher than in asymptomatic persons. Low α₂-MG activity in the post-COVID period persisted in overweight individuals. The results obtained can be used to monitor the course of the post-COVID period and identify risk groups for complications.

OBJECTIVE: to determine which changes of cardiovascular system clinical, and structural, and functional state in emergency workers (EW) of the accident at the Chornobyl nuclear power plant (CNNP) can be associated with COVID-19 they suffered from and not with the natural progression of coronary heart disease (CHD).
METHODS: The study included 16 male EW who fell ill with mild and medium-severe COVID-19 (EWC group) in 2020-2021, which was confirmed by a PCR test (polymerase chain reaction). All these patients were observed in the NRCRM cardiology department before infection with the coronavirus. The comparison group consisted of 32 EW who did not suffer from COVID-19 and their age and examination dates corresponded to EWC. General clinical, laboratory, statistical methods and Doppler echocardiography were used for patients examination.
RESULTS: In the post-covid period, EW-C observed a worsening of CHD clinical course, which consisted in an increase in the number of patients with severe functional class angina pectoris, with ventricular and supraventricular extrasystoles, as well as with more severe heart failure (HF). Since similar changes in the state of the cardiovascular system were found among EW who did not suffer from COVID-19, they can be attributed to the natural progression of CHD. In the EW-C group, there was an increase in the number of patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) by 4 times (up 37.5 %), while in the comparison group EW only by 1.1 times (up 3.1 %). The progression of CHD and HF in the examined patients was accompanied by an increase in the end-diastolic and end-systolic volumes of the left ventricle and the mass of the myocardium, the severity of which was not significantly different in patients with and without COVID-19. The number of post-covid patients with reduced ejection fraction (EF) during examination after COVID-19 increased by 31.3 %, and in the group of EW, which were examined at the same time, by 6.32 %.
CONCLUSIONS: A significant increase in the number of patients with AF and a reduced EF in the EW-C compared with the EW can be attributed to the results of the SARS-CoV-2 virus influence on cardiovascular system.
Meta: vyznachyty, iaki zminy klinichnogo ta strukturno-funktsional\'nogo stanu sertsevo-sudynnoï systemy mozhna pov’iazaty iz perenesenym COVID-19, a ne pryrodnym progresuvanniam ishemichnoï khvoroby sertsia (IKhS) v uchasnykiv likvidatsiï naslidkiv avariï (ULNA) na Chornobyl\'s\'kiĭ atomniĭ elektrostantsiï.Materialy ta metody. Do doslidzhennia uviĭshly 16 ULNA cholovichoï stati, iaki u 2020–2021 rokakh perekhvorily na legkyĭ ta seredn\'o-tiazhkyĭ COVID-19 (grupa ULNA-K) , iakiĭ buv pidtverdzhenyĭ PLR-testom (polimerazna lantsiugova reaktsiia). Vsi tsi patsiienty do zarazhennia koronavirusom sposterigalysia u viddilenni kardiologiï NNTsRM z pryvodu IKhS. Grupu porivniannia skladaly 32 ULNA, iaki ne khvorily na COVID-19, ta ïkhniĭ vik i stroky obstezhen\' vidpovidaly ULNA-K. Pry obstezhenni khvorykh vykorystovuvaly zagal\'noklinichni, laboratorni, statystychni metody ta dopplerekhokardiografiiu. Rezul\'taty. U postkovidnomu periodi v ULNA-K sposterigalosia pogirshennia klinichnogo perebigu IKhS, shcho poliagalo u zbil\'shenni kil\'kosti patsiientiv zi stenokardiieiu naprugy tiazhkogo funktsional\'nogo klasu, z ventrykuliarnymy i supraventrykuliarnymy ekstrasystolamy, a takozh z bil\'sh tiazhkoiu sertsevoiu nedostatnistiu (SN). Oskil\'ky sered ULNA, iaki ne khvorily na COVID-19, vyiavleno analogichni zminy stanu sertsevo-sudynnoï systemy, to ïkh mozhna vidnesty za rakhunok pryrodnogo progresuvannia IKhS. V grupi ULNA-K vidznachalosia zbil\'shennia kil\'kosti patsiientiv z fibryliatsiieiu peredserd\' (FP) u 4 razy (na 37,5 %), todi iak v grupi porivniannia lyshe v 1,1 raza (na 3,1 %).Progresuvannia IKhS ta SN v obstezhenykh patsiientiv suprovodzhuvalosia zbil\'shenniam kintsevo-diastolichnogo ta kintsevo-systolichnogo ob’iemiv livogo shlunochka ta masy miokarda, vyrazhenist\' iakogo dostovirno ne vidriznialas\' u patsiientiv, iaki khvorily ta ne khvorily na COVID-19. Kil\'kist\' postkovidnykh patsiientiv zi znyzhenoiu fraktsiieiu vykydu (FV) pry obstezhenni pislia COVID-19 zrosla na 31,3 %, a v grupi ULNA, iaki buly obstezheni v taki zh terminy, na 6,32 %. Vysnovky. Dostovirne zbil\'shennia vidnosnogo chysla patsiientiv z FP ta znyzhenoiu FV v ULNA-K porivniano z ULNA mozhna vidnesty do rezul\'tativ vplyvu virusu SARS-CoV-2 na sertsevo-sudynnu systemu.