Digital Media Agency That Works

AIF Health No. 1-2. “Omicron” — the most contagious and not the last strain of COVID-19? 18/01/2022

By the age of 50, an online editor Mikhail Verny gained 206 kg of weight. And I decided: enough is enough. In just a year, he managed not just to lose weight, but to lose the weight of a whole person! The next goal is to reach 100 kg. And then reach the ideal 80 kg.

Mikhail says he started getting fat from birth. Already in kindergarten, he was teased for this. At school, too. He came to the recruiting station with a weight under a hundredweight. The Soviet army, of course, made a man out of him in 2 years, he was even able to wear size 48 suits. But after a couple of years, there was no trace of the former status. 

Food as a leisure activity

Mikhail’s family loved to eat. However, at the same time, my father actively played football, and my mother, in addition to work, worked tirelessly around the house. But Mikhail liked to lie on the couch with a book and eat. Fortunately, my mother cooked well, and the dishes in her performance were mostly high-calorie: kharcho soup, chops, fried potatoes, dumplings. Mikhail’s grandfather is from the Urals. From him the tradition startedgather the whole family and make 1000 dumplings, and the next few days eat them from morning to evening. First, 15 steaming dumplings were laid out for each, and when they were eaten, the grandfather, demonstratively patting himself on the stomach, announced: “Packed. Start the second portion”. Then a third. Mikhail remembers that they sat down at the table during the day, and got up because of him closer to night.

At first, Mikhail planned to have an operation to reduce the stomach. Photo: from the personal archive of Mikhail Verny

The fun student days are over. Life has become more orderly and less riotous. Now Mikhail mostly rested in front of the TV on the sofa, in a restaurant. The work was also sedentary, at the same time difficult, nervous and responsible. And these two moments –inactivity and stress – only aggravated the problem.

Like any overweight person, Mikhail tried to lose weight many times. Every time a new miracle remedy appeared, whether it was a dietary supplement or a blood type diet, he tried it and hoped. The results were there, but not too noticeable and, in addition, short-lived. Besides, my head ached, my strength was draining, my mood was spoiling.

But the problem needed a solution. Then Mikhail decided to resort to bariatric surgery. This operation is difficult, but it helps to lose weight dramatically. But it turned out that a person with his weight first needs to go through a preliminary stage – surgical installation of an intragastric balloon (put on for six months). Mikhail learned that with his gastritis, this is fraught with complications. I thought about it and abandoned this idea.

You can’t live like this!

But his health was deteriorating. There were severe swelling of the legs, shortness of breath, apnea (sleep retention, dangerous for the heart and brain), hypertension, trophic ulcers, increased sugar and cholesterol levels. There is nothing to say about household inconveniences – it has become impossible to bend down to tie your shoelaces. However, the realization that it is impossible to live like this anymore came suddenly a year ago. On the eve of the New Year, Mikhail went grocery shopping, slipped and stretched out right at the entrance to the store. The woman who came up to help, unable to withstand his weight, also fell down next to him. A third came up. Then Mikhail understood,that if he gives him a hand, there will already be three of them lying there. He rolled to the nearest bench to get up, leaning on it, and heard after him: “Where did the bun roll?”Then he thought of his mother, whom he had been caring for for the last two years of her life after she broke her hip neck, and realized that he might be helpless, but there would be no one to take care of him. Then he turned to the First City Hospital, where they treat obesity. There he was offered to take part in a weight loss project. It didn’t take long to persuade him.

Dramatic changes

At first, the plan was to lose some weight in order to have a stomach reduction operation. But in the end it turned out that Mikhail lost 70 kg in a year, and so far he does not need surgery. He even inspired others with his example, and now he has followers in his social media group.

But in the end, he lost 70 kg in a year, and so far he does not need surgery. Photo: from the personal archive of Mikhail Verny

I had to cut portions and reduce the amount of fatty foods and fast carbohydrates (bread, pasta, white rice, sweets), as well as increase physical activity. A nutritionist from the First Gradskaya helped develop a diet, because not everything was possible for Mikhail. Because of gout, red meat, spinach and other foods that increase uric acid levels have been banned. Abecause of the high creatinine, we had to limit what could have a bad effect on the kidneys (the same meat, for example). But the vegetables that Mikhail had hardly eaten before, on the contrary, were added. It turned out that steamed zucchini is even delicious. Mikhail learned to drink ordinary water. The doctor asks you to drink 2.5 liters daily until it fails, but at least 1.5 liters of water a day goes away.

Our hero is lucky – he does not like flour and sweets. It was more difficult to limit meat, but fish, sea products, cottage cheese and lean turkey turned out to be not so bad in the end. And considering that the size of the usual portion has decreased by three times, it turns out not so expensive. The refusal of alcohol, with which Mikhail used to relax, became the biggest problem. But he managed. And my friends have supported me, now they come to tea with him. 

Physical activity wasn’t easy either. Earlier, Mikhail walked to the nearest store with two stops, sat down on a bench on the way. At first, he walked 700 m a day, but every day he increased the load. Now he takes at least 5 thousand steps a day.

Nutrition and self-education

The feeling of hunger and a terrible mood tormented Mikhail for the first three months. Then they gave way to sports excitement. The first successes in weight loss turned out to be a real drug. But at first it was really difficult to lose weight. And, as Mikhail himself admits, he would certainly have quit if not for an innate sense of responsibility. He also promised that he would participate in the program, and announced its launch publicly on social networks. There was nowhere to go.

It cannot be said that this year Mikhail has never allowed himself too much. But all these indulgences were controlled. They were approved by a nutritionist, because it is impossible to live on permanent prohibitions. For example, on the eve of the anniversary of a comrade, our hero discussed with a doctor how to behave at a banquet. The doctor advised me to stop at 2 glasses of brut champagne (or dry wine). Because alcohol is not only high in calories, but also leads to fluid retention. Also a nutritionistI warned against mayonnaise salads and meat cuts. However, if you really want to, you can eat, but not much. The main thing in the diet is not prohibitions, but a sense of proportion. After all, the diet is not a one-time promotion, but a lifestyle forever. Now Mikhail’s blood pressure, sugar and cholesterol have normalized, the swelling of his legs has almost gone away (the need to wear compression stockings and perform surgery on veins has disappeared). 

Tips from our hero:

1. Contact a nutritionist. It is important to choose the right diet and control the process. It is necessary to constantly do analyses, for example bioimpedance, in order to understand what causes weight loss: due to fat or muscle. It is necessary to take medications to prevent the formation of gallstones, as a large weight loss increases this risk.
2. Find what you should lose weight for. Motivation is the most important thing in losing weight. For Mikhail, the main incentive was the desire to travel, to move.
3. Turn off emotions. This strategy, which our hero learned in the army, helped him survive the first – most difficult – months of the diet. Don’t give in to negative thoughts, accept your new life as a necessity. Don’t feel sorry for yourself, but do what you have to. Sooner or later you will get used to it. As soon as the psychological discomfort disappears, it will become easier to lose weight.
4. Don’t lose hope and patience. The weight can stand for two weeks even on a strict diet, and this is normal. Losing weight is long, difficult, but possible.

Источник aif.ru

Google may again be fined up to 4 million rubles for refusing to remove content banned in Russia.

According to TASS, the Moscow magistrate received administrative material initiated on the basis of a protocol drawn up by Roskomnadzor.

A court hearing in this case is scheduled for February 17.

Since last year, Google has been systematically fined in the Russian Federation for not deleting prohibited information. In December, the company imposed a turnover fine in the amount of over 7.2 billion rubles. This has become a precedent in Russian judicial practice.

In mid-January, the court fined Google 4 million rubles for issuing links to sites banned in Russia.

Источник aif.ru

The Ministry of Transport proposed to issue flight attendants with special means of restraining airbags, plastic handcuffs and nylon belts, the department that developed the relevant bill reported. The document is published on the website of draft regulatory legal acts.

It clarifies that the access of outsiders to such means of deterrence should be excluded.

At the same time, flight attendants must keep the violator, against whom the above-mentioned means of restraint have been applied, under constant supervision and not place such people on seats at the aisle or exit. After the end of the flight, the crew members and employees of the aviation security service must hand over the violator to law enforcement officers.

Before adoption, the draft resolution will undergo all the procedures required by law, including discussion with the public, participants in the air transportation market, expert organizations and involved executive authorities.

Earlier today it was reported that a rowdy flight attendant was detained in Novokuznetsk. The passenger refused to wear a protective mask.

Last week, a violent passenger flying from Dubai was locked in the toilet of the plane. The incident occurred on a flight of “Ural Airlines”.

Источник aif.ru

13 two-storey elevators will appear in the tower of the National Space Center (NCC) under construction on the territory of the Filevskaya Floodplain, said Andrei Bochkarev, Deputy Mayor of Moscow for Urban Policy and Construction.

“We have ordered unique equipment for the NCC. In particular, 74 elevators will be installed here in the low-rise part, and in the high-rise part – 13 two-storey elevators that will be able to pick up passengers from two floors at once at the same time,” he said.

According to the official, in the high-rise part of the building, the main structures are ready at the level of the eighth floor. In the low-rise part, monolithic works are almost completed, the installation of the upper parts of metal structures is underway. The builders also started laying brick partitions.

Monolithic works have also begun in the parking area, said Yuri Kravtsov, General Director of Mosinzhproekt JSC, managing the construction of the facility. “The development of the soil has already been fully completed here, the foundation plate is being installed. The installation of external and internal engineering systems will begin soon,” he said.

Today, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin and the head of the Roscosmos State Corporation Dmitry Rogozin visited the construction site, which is located on the territory of the Khrunichev State Space Research and Production Center (GKNPC). 

“The largest project in Moscow to create a scientific and technological cluster, which includes production, research, and educational buildings, is being implemented here. About 2 million square meters. meters — the capacity of this facility, including the reconstruction and creation of new buildings. The center of this entire territory will, of course, be the scientific and space center, which is being built jointly with Roscosmos, Sobyanin said.

Recall that the NCC will become one of the largest centers of the space industry in the world, combining the central office and the situation center of Roscosmos, industry institutes and enterprises, youth design bureaus and other facilities. The 47-storey tower with a height of more than 288 meters with a spire will become the main architectural feature and dominant of the north-west of Moscow.

Earlier, Bochkarev spoke about the readiness of the pedestrian bridge across the Yauza, which is being built between Rubtsovskaya and Semenovskaya embankments.

Источник aif.ru

Weekly magazine “Arguments and Facts” No. 03. Either a bus, or a vision. When will the modernization of public transport reach cities and towns? 19/01/2022

Sergey Borisovich Pushkin Born in Moscow in 1925, he was the great-grandson of Alexander Alexandrovich, the eldest son of the great poet. After graduation, he came to work in the laboratory of the Central Research Institute of Radio Measurements. Over time, it turned into the Institute of Metrology of Time and Space (VNIIFTRI), and Pushkin’s great-grandson, starting as an engineer, rose to the post of deputy director.

When Sergey Borisovich headed the laboratory of the Institute’s time service, it was she who transmitted time-checking signals (known as “6 points”) through the country’s radio stations. In 1964, VNIIFTRI began to develop the State Primary Standard of Time, Frequency and Atomic Time Scale. In 1967, it was officially approved by the State Standard. The basis of the standard was made up of quantum mechanical hydrogen generators and a group of high-precision quartz watches.

All these works were carried out under the supervision of the chief designer of the State Standard of Time and Frequency Sergey Pushkin. He was also appointed its keeper. The atomic clocks created by Soviet scientists turned out to be a million times more accurate than those based on the rotation of the Earth. Their error is 1 second in 500 thousand years!

Sergey Borisovich has been the keeper of this watch for 30 years. He passed away on July 9, 2015.

Источник aif.ru

The rapid development of science, the Internet and social networks are changing the world around. That’s just the person himself, by and large, does not change. The presence of orbital space stations and the use of nanotechnology have not led to the disappearance of superstitions.

«Order» on the head

Even in the developed countries of the world, magicians and fortune-tellers do not sit without work – they have a lot of wealthy clients who believe in corruption, the evil eye and the devil in a stupa. And what can we say about some African countries, where education is not available to everyone.

It’s extremely dangerous to be bald there now. It’s not about the greater threat of sunstroke or the lack of attractiveness in the eyes of women. Bald people can be killed out of a passionate desire to enrich themselves.

According to the publication The South African, the Mozambique police are investigating the murder of a local resident, who was dealt with by unknown persons. The killers beheaded their victim, after which they were going to sell her to a buyer from Mali. The customer, however, for some reason did not show up for the transaction. Fearing to be captured, the killers threw the head in a park in one of the cities of Mozambique. 

Five-year nightmare

For local police officers, this crime has become another in a long line of similar ones. Only in the Milange district of the province of Zambezia, five similar massacres have been recorded recently. In each case, the victims were bald men who had their heads chopped off.

For the first time, the law enforcement agencies of Mozambique faced this problem about five years ago. Then, in the same Milange district, two bald men were brutally murdered, one of whom, in addition to the head, had his insides removed.

The police managed to solve the crime. The killers were two 20-year-old guys who had no sadistic tendencies. The criminals confessed that they just wanted to make money by selling the bald man’s head and organs to local healers. As it turned out, they use them for rituals that bring good luck.

The problem, however, began to snowball not only because of the healers.

«They think that bald people are rich»

Police representative Inacio Dina He told The Guardian: “Locals believe that bald people are rich.” Moreover, some believe that wealth is located directly inside the bald. Rumors circulating in Africa say that bald people have gold in their heads. The most desperate simply attack people without hair on their heads in order to dig into the contents of their skull. And although no one, of course, managed to find a single gram of precious metal, the murders continue.

The police suspect that it was the sorcerers who became the root cause of the savagery, and it was they who launched the rumor about gold. Rituals using human heads make a much stronger impression on customers than more humane ones.

The problem is not limited to bald. In Africa, there is a whole “black market” for the sale of human body parts. There are buyers for the terrible product in South Africa, Tanzania, Nigeria, Uganda and other countries of the continent.

Albinos in Africa: living under the fear of a painful death

Bald people are best understood by Albino Africans. Not everyone knows, but in nature, the deviation associated with the absence of melanin pigment in the body is also characteristic of humans. Therefore, among blacks, sometimes light people with white hair are born. It’s not about mixing races, but about white blacks. The fate of these people is unenviable — scientific explanations in Africa are listened to by a few, and the rest are guided by sorcerers. The latter claim that albinos bring misfortune, but if parts of their bodies are used in magical rituals, it can heal serious ailments and bring well-being.

The authorities of various African countries record dozens of cases of attacks on albinos. Moreover, both young children and elderly people become victims. Those who fell into the hands of “albino hunters”, it is almost impossible to get out alive. In Malawi, the situation has reached the point that the police received an order to open fire on attackers trying to capture an albino. If the case continues to develop in this way, then similar protection measures will be required for bald Africans. 

South Africa created self-defense units to protect penises

However, men with lush hair should not relax in Africa either. Some time ago in South Africa, in the province of Limpopo, self-defense units were created to protect… penises. The fact is that a wave of murders swept through the region for the sake of seizing the victim’s manhood. African sorcerers began to actively use male genitals in various rituals and began to pay those who supplied them with this “product”. Given the low standard of living on the Black continent, there were immediately a lot of people willing to commit a crime for the sake of earning money.

It came to unimaginable wildness. For example, a 9-year-old child was attacked right on the street. He miraculously survived, and the caught criminal confessed — was going to sell genitals to sorcerers. When the number of such crimes approached 300, local residents decided to unite in detachments, declaring a curfew in their settlements. Any appearance of an outsider was considered as a reason for alarm and preventive actions.

Ritual murder for the sake of winning elections

In 2008, a loud scandal in Gabon. This African state has oil reserves, but the presence of “black gold” does not rid even the elite of superstitions. The police found out that local politicians rely on sorcerers before the elections, and those, in an effort to ensure the success of clients, practice “ritual murders of children. Moreover, social activists who created an association to combatritual murders, it was stated, every time during the election campaign in Gabon, children begin to disappear. The bodies of some are not found at all, the bodies of others are found in a disfigured state. At the same time, the authorities were in no hurry to take measures to combat this savagery. And how could they be accepted, if among the representatives of the authorities there are plenty of those who themselves order “rituals for success”. 

Here it is necessary to clearly understand — it is not some kind of natural wildness, but a lack of education that contributes to the preservation of the influence of sorcerers. And colossal poverty pushes people to commit atrocities that make their blood run cold. And the saddest thing is that a radical change in the situation is not expected in the near future.

Источник aif.ru

The dismantled monument to the founder of the Soviet state Vladimir Lenin was put up for auction in the city of Novgorod-Seversky, Chernihiv region of Ukraine, reports TASS.

The offer is posted on the electronic public and public procurement platform. It is valid until January 26. The starting price of the bronze sculpture is almost 394 thousand hryvnias (about 14 thousand dollars).

The monument to Lenin was demolished in October 2016. It is stored at one of the municipal enterprises of the city and is recognized as scrap metal by the decision of the city council.

Recall that in May 2015, the law on decommunization came into force in Ukraine, suggesting the renaming of settlements and streets named after Soviet statesmen, as well as a ban on the use of symbols of the USSR. All registered monuments to Lenin were dismantled, 52 thousand streets and almost a thousand settlements were renamed.

Earlier, the expert told how many monuments to Lenin remained in the former USSR.

Источник aif.ru

The Foundation “Children’s Palliative” appealed to the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation with a request to facilitate access to intensive care for parents of sick children, the newspaper Izvestia writes.

It is reported that within the framework of the Open Resuscitation project, an experiment was conducted in eight regions of Russia from September 2020 to November 2021, which significantly simplified the access of parents to the intensive care units where their children were.

Parents helped the medical staff with sanitary and hygienic procedures, feeding the child, monitored the operation of the equipment that is connected to it.

As a result, more than half of the doctors (57.1%) responded positively to the help of parents.

Earlier, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, President of the Dmitry Rogachev Center Alexander Rumyantsev said that anesthesiologists-resuscitators of the Russian Children’s Clinical Hospital (RDCB) with the help of modern telemedicine technologies help to carry out emergency treatment for children across the country.

According to him, the intensive care unit of the hospital is the largest children’s intensive care service in the country and serves as an expert in relation to all such services in the Russian Federation. Doctors of various specialties provide high-tech medical care here according to the most modern treatment protocols.

Источник aif.ru