In psychological language, this is called “rationalization” and is a protective mechanism by which we justify contradictory behaviors and feelings, with seemingly logical explanations, in order to avoid unpleasant feelings and responsibility.
2. We seek approval
It is usually due to low self-esteem and is characterized by the following behaviors:
– we are afraid to say “no”
-we change our point of view according to our interlocutor
– we accept the disagreement personally
– we do not protect our rights
3. We complain
An unhealthy complaint involves constantly discussing the same problem without making a decision. Thus we enter a vicious circle in which nothing changes and we have the feeling that the situation is hopeless and there is no way out.
4. We suppress our feelings
When we try to hide our emotions and not talk about them, it can often lead to physical symptoms such as headaches, digestive problems, high blood pressure, muscle tension and more.
5. “Toxic” friends
We see people who often oppress us, do not support us or are not interested in our development. In the long run, this affects our self-esteem and faith in our own abilities.
6. We are not left alone
This habit makes us dependent on others and deprives us of the development of our own individuality. When we are alone with ourselves, we have the opportunity to self-reflect and work on our personal progress.
7. We go too far with technology
Undoubtedly, our daily life is subject to the use of computers, telephones, televisions, video games. In this way, however, we completely abandon reality. This is a factor for the emergence of difficulties in our relationships with others, coping with life situations, adequate perception of the world around us.
8. We do not play sports
Without a healthy body there is no healthy spirit and vice versa. The meaning of training should not be our appearance, because it is a temporary motivation that makes sports a boring and boring obligation. As we progress in training, we gain more self-control, release tension, support our health and tone.
9. Lack of sleep
Sleep comes before sports and nutrition. It plays an extremely important role in the proper functioning of the body, including our psyche. We must keep in mind that missed sleep and the effects of insomnia do not “catch up”. That is why it is important to be consistent, going to bed on time and taking at least 7 hours.
The Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation has published documents that tell about Japan’s preparations for an attack on the Soviet Union during World War II. Previously, these materials had a top-secret status.
The publication is timed to coincide with the 73rd anniversary of the completion of the Tokyo Trial – the International Military Tribunal for the Far East over the main Japanese war criminals.
Including the reports of interrogations of six high-ranking Japanese war criminals are presented.
On November 12, 1948, the International Military Tribunal (MWT) for the Far East (Tokyo Trial) over the main Japanese war criminals ended. The Tokyo trial, which began on May 3, 1946, was longer than the MWT in Nuremberg over the main Nazi criminals (November 20, 1945 – October 1, 1946).
The MWT for the Far East was formed by the order of the commander-in-chief of the Allied forces in the Far East, General Douglas MacArthur, dated January 19, 1946, in accordance with the decision of the Potstdam Conference of the leaders of the Big Three – the USSR, the USA and Great Britain, which determined: “All war criminals, including those who committed atrocities against the captives, must be severely punished. “
The IMT verdict for the Far East reflected, among other things, the facts of horrific, inhuman crimes committed by Japanese soldiers against prisoners of war. Thus, the chapter of the verdict “War crimes under the conventions” contained a section “Vivisection and cannibalism”, in which the following examples were given:
– “They found the dismembered corpses of prisoners of war. Prisoners of war were killed, and before that they were tortured, their legs and arms were cut off ”;
“By the end of the Pacific War, the Japanese army and navy had sunk to cannibalism, eating parts of the bodies of allied prisoners of war they illegally killed. This practice took place not without the knowledge and consent of the command of the Japanese army … Even officers in the rank of general and rear admiral took part in this. The meat of killed prisoners or soup made from such meat was served to the table of the Japanese of a rank below the officer … “.
* * *
On October 18, 1956, Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs, Lieutenant General Semyon Perevertkin, sent to the Central Committee of the CPSU and the Council of Ministers of the USSR Memorandum No. 6683 / p and a certificate “On the number of Japanese army prisoners of war taken prisoner by Soviet troops in 1945”. According to the document, the Red Army units captured 639,776 soldiers of the Japanese Imperial Army, of which 609,448 were Japanese and 30,328 Chinese, Koreans, Mongols, etc. Among the Japanese prisoners of war there were 163 generals, 26,573 officers and 582,172 non-commissioned officers and privates.
Based on the experience gained by the Smersh counterintelligence agencies in Germany and other countries of Eastern and Central Europe in the search for Nazi criminals and their accomplices, special task forces were created in the Smersh counterintelligence departments of Zabaikalsky, 1 of the 1st and 2nd Far Eastern fronts to identify among the Japanese prisoners of war persons who have committed war crimes.
On February 13, 1946, Colonel-General Viktor Abakumov, the head of the Smersh GUKR of the NKO of the USSR, sent to the Council of People’s Commissars of the USSR a memorandum addressed to Joseph Stalin and Vyacheslav Molotov, number 990 / A, about the testimony of the Japanese detained during the defeat of the Kwantung Army, who testified about Japan’s plans to unleash a war against the USSR with the use of bacteriological weapons.
WHO/Europe recently connected mental health representatives from over half of the WHO European Region’s 53 Member States to ignite action on mental health. A 2-day consultation working towards comprehensive reform of the Region’s mental health systems involved more than 150 attendees from as far afield as the United Kingdom in the west to Kyrgyzstan in the east.
Participants consulted virtually over topics ranging from the use of digital mental health services to plans on reforming mental health care financing. Panellists emphasized the need to improve mental health literacy and to listen to people with lived experience of mental health conditions. Mr Nikolay Negay, a mental health consultant for the WHO Country Office in Kazakhstan, stressed the powerful effects of stigma on mental health and development.
Mental health has been a rallying point for countries in the Region in recent years, particularly in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, which revealed numerous gaps in mental health systems. In 2021, WHO/Europe answered these calls with a plan for comprehensive mental health reform in national health systems over the next 5 years. This consultation was an initial foray into the process of turning that plan into action.
Taking action
The consultation tested the Pan-European Mental Health Coalition, the expansive collaboration WHO/Europe launched to enact the European Framework for Action on Mental Health 2021–2025. The Framework was enthusiastically endorsed by all Member States at the 71st session of the WHO Regional Committee for Europe in September 2021.
Over the course of the 2 days, over 30 panellists discussed how to implement the Framework’s 3 core themes: transforming mental health services; integrating mental health into emergency preparedness, response and recovery; and promoting mental health for all ages.
The Coalition will hold its first official meeting in the first week of May 2022, with plans to develop and pilot 3 of its 6 work packages by the year’s end. Related work in 2022 will include the launch of a new programme addressing the mental health of children and adolescents at the WHO Athens Quality of Care Office in March, a youth forum on mental health in Albania in June, and a series of events on transforming mental health services in the Western Balkans and the northern Mediterranean in June and September 2022.
“What was conceptualized more than 2 years ago when we were designing the European Programme of Work – making mental health a flagship of this office – is now materializing into a network for sharing experiences and resources,” said Dr Hans Henri P. Kluge, WHO Regional Director for Europe, in his opening statement.
Meanwhile, mental health advocate Mr Neil Kelders urged attendees to remind themselves of what they could do and take action, because “if you change nothing, nothing changes”.
Social efficiency and the system of criteria to be introduced in research, analysis and implementation of various programs and projects with a social focus:
Speaking of efficiency, as a key concept for any socio-economic activity, traditionally the emphasis is placed on economic efficiency, the manifestation of which is in the dependence “costs-effects (benefits)”. And as any public activity is carried out with increasingly limited resources, the approach should be like an economic activity. Moreover, it is considered “any targeted activity in which limited resources are allocated and combined between alternatives, while maximizing the effect or minimizing costs”. The relationship between the costs and benefits of a resource or combination of resources to achieve a given, predefined goal and on this basis the rationalization of management decisions comes to the fore. In this sense, the cost-effectiveness relationship can be used as a planning method; decision-making tool and environment for historical documentation of decisions taken ‘.
This fundamental principle, which characterizes economic efficiency, is one side of studying the efficiency of activity. But each activity is social in nature and determines the need for measurability of social effects. On this basis, in recent years there has been increasing talk of so-called social efficiency. Unlike economic efficiency, social efficiency is not so direct, it is a more complex category and it is difficult to express it one-dimensionally.
How will we measure social efficiency?
In foreign research practice, some experience has been gained in measuring social efficiency within the forecast assessment of the social consequences of scientific and technical projects, economic and social programs. Thus, in the United States, in the early seventies, an independent line of research was established in the field of social impact assessment (SIA-Social Impact Assessment), or more precisely the integral social consequences of various projects and development programs. Business and political circles in the United States realize that any technological breakthrough brings “unplanned” losses of an environmental, social, psychological nature, which eventually turn into an indirect economic loss. In the field of scientific and technical development – both at the level of companies and at the level of national programs, the whole methodology for planning and management is being restructured. And if earlier it was oriented only towards the purely economic criteria for efficiency, now the social, psychological and other consequences of the implementation of scientific and technical projects are already being taken into account at the stage of decision-making for their development and implementation. Thus, there is a need for a comprehensive assessment of the various categories of impact of technology on society.
The assessment of the social impact of scientific and technical projects and programs in the United States has become a separate direction, after the Environmental Policy Act of 1969 established a mandatory procedure for assessing their environmental impacts.
All state projects that can have a significant impact on the environment are subject to environmental expertise, as well as the projects of private companies and companies requiring a special state sanction.
An impressive example of the use of increased environmental requirements in the implementation of economic development programs in the United States is the organization of the development and implementation of the project for the oil pipeline through Alaska in the mid-seventies.
The planning of the project was carried out during the whole period of construction, operation and dismantling of the oil pipeline after the depletion of the field.
It should be noted that the whole complex multi-level mechanism for managing the program is formed and operates on the basis of US business law and special legislative decrees and agreements.
This determines the specifics of the form of this management mechanism, in which its individual parts and elements, represented by government agencies, owner companies, specialized companies, are interconnected in a single organizational system of bilateral and multilateral agreements and contracts. From the standpoint of the long-term interests of the nation, the project is recognized as highly effective and correct.
For a long time, the very formulation of the problem of social efficiency has been considered debatable in sociology and economics. So far, there is no unambiguous and generally accepted definition of the term “social efficiency”. There are enough monographic works in which the authors try to study the social effectiveness of different types of activities, including management. First of all, most authors develop the concept of social efficiency, the criteria and methods for its evaluation in relation to the goals of social production – on the problem of social efficiency effective is what leads to a result, to an effect (in Latin effectus – action, performance, and afficio – act, perform) – effective, means effective.
Some East African birds have been singing the same song for hundreds of thousands of years
Scientists were able to establish this through field research.
A new study by biologists from the University of California at Berkeley and the University of Missouri at Springfield documents the songs of East African Cinnyris sunbirds that have hardly changed for more than 500,000 years, and possibly even a million years. Their songs are almost indistinguishable from the songs of relatives from whom they have long been separated.
The surprisingly static nature of their songs may be due to the lack of change in these birds’ habitats, which are persistent montane forests isolated from other populations of the same or similar species for tens of thousands of years or more. The coloration of the birds’ feathers has also changed little, making their plumage almost indistinguishable from each other, although some are separate but closely related species.
“If you isolate people, their dialects change quite often; you will be able to tell after a while where someone came from. And the songs were interpreted in the same way. Our work shows that this does not necessarily apply to birds. Even traits that should be highly labile, such as singing or plumage, can have long periods of stagnation,” Rauri Bowie, lead author of the study.
Bowie says the idea that birdsong changes easily probably came from studies of Northern Hemisphere birds, which have repeatedly experienced changing environmental conditions as glaciers have come and gone over the past tens of thousands of years. Environmental change causes changes in plumage, birdsong, mating behavior and more.
But the mountaintop environment in the tropics, especially in East Africa—from Mount Kenya to Mount Kilimanjaro in southern Tanzania through Malawi to Mozambique—has undergone little geological change over the same time period. Thus, the birds studied by the researchers had no incentive to change either their colorful plumage or their often intricate songs.
“Song is considered to be one of the most important insulating barriers before mating, one of the key ways birds tell each other apart. The fact that the trait we have studied can remain unchanged for hundreds and thousands of years is simply remarkable. This discovery reflects how much the field study of tropical systems has to offer the scientific community and the curious observer.” – Rauri Bowie
Bowie, along with colleague Jay McEntee, began their research almost 15 years ago. Between 2007 and 2011 they recorded the songs of 123 individual birds from six different bloodlines of East African sunbirds.
The researchers developed a statistical method to distinguish between gradual changes and bursts of rapid change in traits such as bird song, and found that song differences do not appear to correlate with how long individual populations have been separated, as estimated based on genetic data. differences in their DNA. In particular, two populations of long-separated species had nearly identical songs, while two other similar species that had been separated for less time had very different songs.
“What surprised me the most in doing this study was how similar these learned songs of isolated populations within species were, and how obvious were the differences in songs where they were found.
When we recorded the song Cinnyris Fuelleborni, which we call the Füleborn sun bird, we thought that there must be another bird nearby that sang at the same time. We looked directly at the singing bird, watched it move its beak, and could not believe how different its song was from the very similar-looking Moro sun bird, Cinnyris moreaui, which we had just recorded elsewhere,” says McEntee.
On the other hand, the songs of Cinnyris Fuelleborni from the Ikokoto populations in Tanzania and the Namuli populations in Mozambique are almost identical despite being separated by hundreds of kilometers and hundreds of thousands of years.
Based on this study, biologists argue that characteristics such as learned song and plumage do not drift in isolated populations. On the contrary, they develop in impulses, remaining with small changes for a long period. Sometimes hundreds of thousands of years.
The researchers made a three-dimensional reconstruction of the face of a woman who lived during the Bronze Age. It is reported by Live Science.
Scientists have made a three-dimensional reconstruction of the face of a woman who was buried with a silver diadem in Spain during the Bronze Age. Earlier this year, researchers announced that they had found the remains of a woman and a man buried together in a huge ceramic vessel on the grounds of the ancient palace. The analysis showed that the man died several years earlier than the woman. After she passed away, her remains were laid next to him. Now, using a partial skull and tombstone decorations, a scientific illustrator has digitally recreated the woman’s face.
“The biggest problem with facial reconstruction was that the top of her skull was missing,” explains Joana Bruno, a freelance scientific illustrator who created digital reconstructions and collaborated with archaeologists at the Autonomous University of Barcelona in an interview with Live Science. “Fortunately, archaeologists have found the tiara, which gives an idea of the size of her head.”
The personality of the woman in the tiara has intrigued scientists since archaeologists unearthed her remains in 2014. Her luxurious burial accessories – including a diadem, necklaces, silver rings, bracelets and earrings, as well as a silver-framed bracelet of excellent quality – indicate that this powerful woman had more power and was in a higher status than the man with whom she was found. This is indicated both by the fact that she lived much longer than him, and by the fact that she was buried with a huge amount of jewelry, scientists note.
Satoshi Nakamoto, the creator of Bitcoin, is now among the richest people in the world thanks to the recent jump in the price of the leading digital asset.
The value of Bitcoin (BTC) jumped to over $ 67.00 during the recent rise of the crypto market, before returning to its current value of about $ 62,000. According to the current exchange rate and the approximate number of coins Satoshi holds, he will be among the 20 richest people in the world.
Satoshi Nakamoto’s BTC funds put him in the ranking of the 20 richest
According to a report by Whale Alert, the creator of “digital gold” is estimated to own about 1 million BTC, although some schools estimate that the tokens he owns are about 750,000 BTC, while others estimate that they are more than 1 million. that, the general consensus is that Satoshi Nakamoto has 1 million BTC.
Thus, this means that the current jump in prices would push the wealth of the innovator to about $ 60-61 billion, which puts him in the top 20 on the list of billionaires on Forbes. This means that he will be above the Chinese Zhang Yiming, although his wealth will still be much less than that of Rob Walton of Walmart.
In particular, Satoshi Nakamoto is still a long way from the richest man in the world, Elon Musk, who is valued at about $ 230 billion. Before the founder of crypto technology can overtake the founder of Tesla, the value of BTC must rise to at least $ 215,000.
However, Nakamoto could become one of the 10 richest people in the world if the value of the digital asset reaches $ 100,000.
The identity of the creator of Bitcoin remains a mystery, as many people speculate that he / she may have died, as this may be the only explanation for why not a single cent of his or her funds have been spent.
Although this is largely speculation, it should be noted that Nakamoto may still be alive.
A bronze image of the legendary creator of Bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto, has already been exhibited to visitors of Graphisoft Park in Budapest.
At the opening ceremony on September 16th, András Dörfi, co-founder of the statue project and editor of the crypto news site Kripto Akademia, spoke to a crowd of journalists and Hungarians before revealing Satoshi’s brilliant face. The work shows the upper half of a figure with an impersonal face wearing a sweatshirt with the Bitcoin logo (BTC).
“Whoever he is, Bitcoin creates value, and especially the technology behind Bitcoin, the blockchain, creates value,” Durfi said.
Debrecen Barnabas, CEO of the Hungarian crypto exchange Shinrai, also spoke at the ceremony, adding:
Satoshi Nakamoto has created independent money, free of intermediaries, which gives people the opportunity for financial sovereignty […] We erected this statue to remind ourselves that courage is a virtue. We must continue with the big dreams.
First announced in May, the statue, created by sculptors Gergeli Rika and Tamas Gilli, was deliberately designed with a mirror face, ostensibly to express the idea of ”we are all Satoshi”. Mr. Coin, Kripto Akademia, the Hungarian Blockchain Association are among the supporters of the Satoshi Statue project.
The statue of Satoshi will be in the park near a monument to Apple co-founder Steve Jobs and other notable figures. Although there has long been speculation about Satoshi’s identity and appearance, no one has successfully identified the creator of Bitcoin.
One of the main Islamic-based NRMs is the Bahá’í Faith, whose founder Bahá’u’lláh affirms the spiritual and social equality of women. Moreover, the institutions of the Baha’i community have a moral obligation to support and encourage the full participation of women in leadership positions and in all kinds of decisions related to life in the Bahá’í community. Statistics from several consecutive years show that women play an important role in the management and leadership of the Baha’i community around the world. For example, women make up 30% of the elected members of the national governing boards or the so-called National Spiritual Councils, 40% of the elected members of the local councils or the so-called Local Spiritual Councils. Moreover, 47% of the so-called The members of the Auxiliary Councils, whose aim is to inspire and advise the community at the sub-national and regional level, are women.
Yet, although the woman is allowed to participate in the governing life of the community, she is encouraged to develop certain skills in line with the Bahá’í scriptures. For example, according to the Bahá’í Faith, every woman should be an example of “impeccable honesty and devotion,” “extraordinary piety,” “good spirits,” “recognized talent and experience,” and so on. As for the way of dressing, both women and men have equal rights and are free to dress according to their taste.
Holidays for the Bahá’í Community are March 21 – the No-Roose (Bahá’í New Year), the Rezwan Festival on April 21, the Bab Mission Announcement on May 23, and Bahá’u’lláh’s Birth on November 12.
The central role of prayer and meditation in the Bahá’í community gives great importance to Prayer Houses as an institution. There are currently such Prayer Houses in Wilmet (USA), Frankfurt (Germany), Kampala (Uganda), Sydney (Australia), Panama City (Panama), Delhi (India) and Apia (Western Samoa). The services there consist of reading texts from the Bahá’í Scriptures, the Bible, the Qur’an, or the Talmud. Bahá’ís also pray in their homes or in nature without having to follow certain canons. In the future, each town and village will have its own Prayer Houses, which will serve as centers around which scientific, educational, cultural, humanitarian and administrative institutions will be set up.
Spiritual League of Nations
Plans for the first House of Prayer in the Western Hemisphere began in 1903, when a handful of Baha’is from Chicago, the first city in the United States to take an interest in the Bahá’í Faith, decided to embark on this endeavor. Many architects proposed plans, but the most unusual was the project of the French-Canadian architect Louis Bourgeois. Mr. Bourgeois began work in 1909 and for eight years worked diligently on his amazing idea. his yard.
His project was adopted unanimously by delegates elected by Bahá’í communities from across North America. The New York Times commented, “America needs to stop and look to see how the artist has woven the idea of a Spiritual League of Nations into it.”
On May 23, 1978, the House of Prayer in Wilmett was registered in the National Historical Register as “one of the national cultural values to be preserved.”
The Bahá’í Faith
The Bahá’ís are followers of Bahá’u’lláh. These are people who come from different religious backgrounds or did not have their own religion at all. They live in over 200 countries and territories around the world and represent all human races and almost all nationalities and tribal groups in the world. Through the unifying influence of the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh, they have become part of a global family.
Bahá’u’lláh was born in Persia and lived from 1817 to 1892. Among His teachings, expounded more than a century ago, are principles such as: the unity of God, the unity of religions, and the unity of the human race; the independent study of truth; the elimination of any prejudices; equality between men and women; general education; harmony between science and religion; eliminating extremes in poverty and wealth; world peace through world government.
These principles alone will not solve the world’s problems. A basic spiritual reorientation is needed. It was for this change that Bahá’u’lláh came. Its goal is the transformation of society, the establishment of world peace and a new civilization, through the unity of humanity, as well as the renewal of human souls. “The purpose which underlies the revelation of every divine Book, moreover, of every verse of it, is to endow men with reason and righteousness, so that peace and tranquility may be permanently established between them … Use, O , friends, the opportunity that this Day gives you and do not deprive yourself of the generous outbursts of His (God’s) grace. “
What exactly is the Baha’i religion?
-The main goal of the Bahá’í community is to unite the world. The development of the world requires such unification. This is already a matter of choice. There were iron curtains some time ago, but they did not stop the consequences of the Chernobyl accident. The fact that the world is one is not in doubt today. If there is a danger of bird flu somewhere, we are all afraid to some degree. There is also an economic relationship between countries. If there is an economic collapse in one country, it affects others as well. The Bahá’ís view humanity as one body. If in a small country people have a serious problem, it affects the rest of the earth, just as if we hit our toe, the pain floods our whole body. People are very focused on material things and lose their sense of spiritual needs. Man is a material, spiritual and intellectual being and must maintain all his aspects.
What is your attitude to other religions?
-They believe that there is only one god and there are not many religions, but only one, but in development. According to Bahá’ís, a historical process clearly shows an educational process in the emergence of different religions. According to the latest beliefs, the beginning is 5000 years ago with Krishna, followed by Moses 3,500 years ago, Buddha, Christ 2000 years ago, Muhammad 1600 years ago and the last religious movements, including Bahá’u’lláh. The scriptures of the different religions also do not differ fundamentally. The differences are in the interpretation of the time in which they arose.
-What, according to the Bahá’ís, is the individual?
-According to the Bahá’í religion, one is a mine of precious stones, but only education can reveal this wealth. Thus, there is no crowd in front of us, but many bearers of inner beauty that must be shown. This is the place of education. At the heart of the Bahá’í religion is that there is one world, one god, and humanity. They are against extremes in every possible sense. Equality between men and women is also a basic Bahá’í law. To be a Baha’i, you must strive to know yourself.
– How widespread is Baha’i in the world?
-Bahia is the most widespread religion in terms of geography, not as a number of followers. There are Baha’is in the most remote parts of the world.
-What do Bahá’ís not believe in?
-They do not believe in superstition, in this sense, for example, they do not have priests.
The world is changing in two aspects. One is a process of disintegration – wars, catastrophes. Public opinion is also more concentrated here. At the same time, there is a very clear and positive building process on which the Bahá’í community is focused, an example of which is Europe‘s achievements. They believe that the world is ripe for a very big and positive change. The processes have so far been part of the maturation of humanity. This includes globalization. It has its negatives and the road the world will take is a long one. But the Bahá’í community believes that a truly great and positive change is ahead, which will be a golden age in human development.
Bahá’ís are being severely persecuted in Iran – we can trace this interest and care of the EU as far as 2009. As early as February 2009, the Council of Europe issued a Declaration by the Presidency on behalf of the European Union on the trial of seven leaders of the Baha’i community in Iran [Brussels, 6567/09 (Presse 42)]:
“The EU is deeply concerned about the serious allegations made against seven leaders of the Baha’i community in Iran. They have been detained by the Iranian authorities for eight months without charge, during which time they have had no access to justice.
The EU is concerned that, after being detained for such a long time without due process, the leaders of the Baha’i community may not receive a fair trial. The EU therefore calls on the Islamic Republic of Iran to allow independent monitoring of the proceedings and to review the charges against them.
The EU strongly opposes all forms of discrimination and oppression, in particular on the basis of religious practices In this regard, the EU urges the Islamic Republic of Iran to respect and protect the religious minorities in Iran and to release all persons deprived of their liberty for their faith or religious practices.
This Declaration is joined by the candidate countries Turkey, Croatia and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, the Stabilization and Association Process and potential candidate countries Albania and Montenegro, the EFTA States Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, members of the European Economic Area, and Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova.”
Bad news for parents – young children are better at choosing to go to bed than adults. That’s according to a new study by American scientists.
Experts have found that young children often go to bed too early, long before their bodies are ready for sleep.
Going to bed early can mean a break for parents, but not for children. They lie awake for hours, which shatters the biological clock of the young, Colorado scientists have found.
A good night’s sleep depends on when young children experience elevated levels of the hormone melatonin, which rises in the evening.
Factors such as the level of light outside and in the room, as well as the physical arousal of children can determine when melatonin has reached the required level for sleep. But this time is not the same for all children.
Going to bed that is out of sync with your child’s watch causes sleepless nights for both children and their parents.
Experts warn that sleepless nights for young children can increase the risk of emotional and behavioral problems later in life.
The study found that melatonin levels began to rise around 7:40 p.m. If the child is put to sleep at this time, he will fall asleep for a maximum of 30 minutes, while children whose melatonin rises later will stay awake until late at night.
Biophysicists have found that cuticulosomes (small magnetic organelles in the inner ear of birds) are most likely not involved in the mechanism of magnetic reception. With the help of quantum magnetic microscopy, scientists have shown that the magnetic susceptibility of these particles is insufficient to transmit a signal through electromechanical channels. This means that cuticulosomes have a different physiological function in the body of birds, and other structures in the inner ear or on the retina are responsible for the susceptibility to the magnetic field, researchers write in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Many animals, such as birds, when traveling long distances, sense the earth’s magnetic field and use it for orientation in space. The presence of magnetoreception in birds is confirmed by numerous observations and behavioral studies, however, all manifestations of magnetoreception are rather weak, therefore, how exactly magnetic receptors work is still unclear.
Moreover, scientists not only do not fully understand the mechanism of the receptor, but do not even know exactly where it is located. Scientists believe that the main candidates for magnetoreceptors are cryptochromes in the retina (they contain pairs of correlated radicals with an unpaired electron), small inorganic magnetic particles in the inner ear (they create a torque in a magnetic field) and electroreceptors (they react to changes in the magnetic field due to the electromagnetic induction). Perhaps, in some cases, these systems can work in concert.
According to biologists, cuticulosomes, small spherical organelles several hundred nanometers in size, located in the hair cells of the vestibular apparatus, should be responsible for magnetoreception in the inner ear. These organelles mainly consist of particles of magnetic ferrihydrite, a crystalline form of iron oxide with inclusions of water molecules.
To investigate whether cuticolosomes could actually be part of the magnetic receptors in pigeons, biophysicists led by David A. Simpson of the University of Melbourne carefully studied their chemical composition, structure and magnetic properties using quantum magnetic microscopy. The researchers took tissue samples from two sections of the pigeon’s inner ear and looked at how the cuticulosomes in them respond to an external magnetic field ranging from 200 to 1400 gauss. For this, biophysicists used a magnetic sensor based on color centers in diamond. Having measured the energy difference between the ground and excited quantum states of the color center, the scientists calculated the value of the Zeeman splitting for each point of the analyzed slice, and based on this data, they built a map of the stray magnetic field in the cuticolosome.
It turned out that there are indeed magnetic areas in the iron-containing areas of the cuticulosomes. According to the measurement data, these are superparamagnetic and ferrimagnetic ferrihydrite inclusions. The obtained values of the magnetic susceptibility of all these areas were within the interval between 0.029 and 0.22. This is an order of magnitude less than, for example, magnetite – iron oxide Fe3O4.
According to the calculations of scientists, the maximum mechanical force that a magnetic element with such a susceptibility can create during rotation is only 10-18 Newtons. This is about five orders of magnitude less than in any receptor that works on the mechanoelectric principle of signal transmission. Thus, cuticolosomes cannot react strongly enough to the Earth’s magnetic field and, accordingly, cannot be part of the magnetosensitive receptor.
The main function of cuticulosomes, according to scientists, is not magnetoreception, but storage of excess iron and stabilization of stereocilia – mechanosensitive organelles in the vestibular apparatus. The authors of the work note that the method they developed specifically for this study is quite simple and will make it possible to study in a similar way other magnetic structures-candidates for the role of magnetic receptors.
The participation of cryptochrome receptors on the retina of the bird eye in the mechanism of magnetic reception is considered by many scientists to be more probable. For example, in 2019, chemists were able to show that molecular analogs of these receptors respond to fairly weak magnetic fields. A change in the direction of the field vector of only 50 microtesla already noticeably affects the response of such a chemical compass. And before that, Swedish biologists noticed that the magnetic sensitivity of birds is associated with the polarization of light: if the source of polarized light is directed perpendicular to the magnetic field, the birds completely lose their ability to navigate.
