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Introduction: Atherosclerosis is one of the most common co-morbidities observed in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. A better understanding of mechanisms of atherosclerosis in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is needed to improve clinical outcomes. The aim: to evaluate the plasma levels of lipid parameters, atherogenic indices, systemic inflammatory markers and to assess their relationship with the severity of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Materials and methods: A total of 72 subjects diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and 41 healthy controls, the same gender and age categories, with ≥ 10 pack years smoking history, were followed-up of about 5.8 years. Blood tests with determination of lipid profiles, atherogenic indices and systemic inflammatory markers were conducted in remaining patients who fulfilled inclusion criteria of the study. Results: Triglyceride, atherogenic index of plasma, cardiogenic risk ratio and atherogenic coefficient values were significantly higher, but high-density lipoprotein cholesterol – significantly lower in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease than in controls. Lipid profiles were similar in lower-risk (stage A and B) and higher-risk (stage C and D) patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The analysis showed that atherogenic indices and serum high sensitive C-reactive protein were inversely correlated with forced expiratory volume in 1 sec, especially in higher-risk patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (r = - 0.61 p < 0.05; r = - 0.57 p < 0.05; r = - 0.54 p < 0.05 and r = - 0.49 p < 0.05 respectively). Conclusions: Atherogenic indices and serum high sensitive C-reactive protein can be considered as useful biochemical markers to predict an early stage of atherosclerosis especially in higher-risk patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

The aim: To perform an overall assessment of BP and BP variability using ambulatory measurements in young adults with long COVID syndrome. Materials and methods: We enrolled young patients with diagnosed long-COVID syndrome (n = 58, mean age 23.07 ± 1.54 years), compared with an age-matched healthy subjects who had not suffered from COVID-19 (n = 57, mean age 22.9 ± 1.83 years). Patients with long-COVID syndrome had recovered from mild/moderate illness and none had required hospitalization. Ambulatory 24 hours blood pressure (AMBP) parameters (mean BP, daytime BP, nighttime BP, pulse pressure, nocturnal systolic BP dipping, dipper status) were measured in all participants. The variability of systolic BP (SBP) and diastolic BP (DBP) values was assessed by the following common metrics, including the average real variability (ARV), the coefficient of variation (CV), the standard deviation (SD), and the weighed SD of SBP and DBP. Results: The average values of 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure, mean BP, daytime and nighttime systolic BP, diastolic BP and pulse pressure were found to be significantly different among patients with long COVID syndrome and control group. Group analyses showed that this difference was in SBP mean values (127.1 ± 6.65 mmHg and 115.93 ± 6.24 mmHg respectively) and DBP mean values (73.31 ± 5.30 mmHg and 68.79 ± 5.5 mmHg respectively) mainly at night. PP values at daytime were almost similar among groups, but PP values at nighttime were higher in patients with long-COVID syndrome (53.8 (52.44- 55.14) mmHg and 47.14 (46.45 – 47.88) mmHg respectively). Nocturnal SBP dipping was better in control group than in patients with long-COVID syndrome ( 5.3 ± 5.68 and 3.1 ± 3.79 mmHg respectively). Only 13 (22.4%) patients with long-COVID syndrome had normal dip-per status while more than half – 38 (66.7%) in healthy subjects. The values of ARV of SBP and DBP over 24-hour, awake, and asleep time frames were found to be greater in patients with long COVID syndrome than healthy controls (p < 0.05). Conclusions: Patients with long- COVID syndrome have higher BP mean values of 24-hour ABPM particularly at nightime, significant blood pressure BP variability, which increases the risk of cardiovascular events in future. Nevertheless, the further prospective investigations is warranted to investigate the potential mechanisms and causality associations.

The study aim: to reveal peculiarities of pedagogical communication in higher school, to prove its important role in the successful pedagogical activity. Research methods applied: analysis of scientific sources for the systematisation and generalisation of available data; defining of the essence of basic concepts; identification of the current state of the problem under consideration and possibilities for its solution. Communicative competitiveness is an integrated formation of an individual, being a result/ product of studying and socializing of an individual, achieved through interpersonal communication, exchange of information, and productive interaction with the social setting at the level of individuals/ groups/ professional teams, provides for a cognizant choice of behavior modes/ an integrated strategy as well as being displayed by the culture of communicators. Intercultural communicative competence is a complex of socio-cultural and linguistic knowledge, communicative abilities and skills, due to which an individual can successfully communicate and interact with natives of other cultures at all levels of intercultural communication. Intercultural communicative competence envisages an ability to overcome misunderstanding arising in the process of interaction, to explain mistakes of interaction, desire and readiness to discover new things, to obtain knowledge about another cultural reality and possibility, and while operating this knowledge to penetrate into another culture, to interpret and correlate phenomena of native and foreign cultures, to establish and maintain connections between native and foreign cultures, to critically judge native culture, understanding peculiarities of another one, showing curiosity and openness towards other people, readiness to accept other opinions, overcome ethnocentric principles and prejudices.

The comorbid diseases can occur at any stage of bronchial obstruction, and, regardless of the severity or phase of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, significantly affect disability, increase the frequency of hospitalizations, and increase the cost of medical care. The presence of concomitant gastroesophageal reflux disease in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is an independent aggravating risk factor for exacerbations and is associated with health deterioration of this group of patients. The purpose of the study was to study the features of the clinical course of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in combination with gastroesophageal reflux disease. Materials and methods. Retrospective analysis of 138 patients who were treated in the pulmonology department for exacerbation of the disease and outpatient treatment by a gastroenterologist was carried out. 3 groups of patients were formed: 1 group (n=60) – patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in combination with gastroesophageal reflux disease, 2 group (n=42) – patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease without signs of gastroesophageal reflux disease, who were treated in the pulmonology department for exacerbation of the disease and 3 group (n=36) – patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease who were treated on an outpatient basis. The patients were similar in age, stage of disease and duration of illness. The average age of the patients was 55±1.64. It should be noted, regarding the gender characteristics of the groups, that among the examined patients by gender, men predominated – 78.4% (80 out of 102). Results and discussion. The main clinical and anamnestic features of the combined pathology were studied. The significance of the assessment of functional changes in spirometry indexes in this category of patients is described. A significant decrease in external respiration function was revealed in the indicators of the external respiration function in patients of all groups. In the patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in combination with gastroesophageal reflux disease the frequency of exacerbations increases. These exacerbations were associated with the presence and severity of gastrointestinal symptoms, namely increased heartburn, acid regurgitation causes worsening of respiratory symptoms, until the exacerbation of the disease with subsequent hospitalization. Also the length of stay in the hospital of the patients in this group increased by 1.5±0.4 days, which is associated with a severe exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and the need to use a double dose of glucocorticoids to control the symptoms of respiratory failure. Among the complaints of patients with combined pathology, extraesophageal manifestations of gastroesophageal reflux disease prevailed. Conclusion. The presence of concomitant gastroesophageal reflux disease in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease expands and aggravates the clinical manifestations of the underlying disease