Lithuanian researchers will look for COVID-19 in feces, will study the effect of quarantine stress on 15MAX consumption



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In total, the Scientific Council allocated more than 2.1 million to the research. Funds are provided for 29 projects.

The researchers will have to carry out the investigation in an unusually short period of six months, starting in June this year, with a maximum of € 100,000 each allocated to them.

Part of the research budget, sometimes higher, sometimes lower, is paid to researchers for their work at fixed hourly rates ranging from around € 11 to around € 27 “on paper”.

Photo by Sigismund Gedvila / 15min / Lithuanian Science Council

Photo by Sigismund Gedvila / 15min / Lithuanian Science Council

These fees depend on the position of the researcher. Project managers, regardless of their academic degree, receive the maximum expected salary.

Search for coronavirus in urine and faeces.

The group led by the Rector of the Vilnius University, Algirdas Utkus Faculty of Medicine, will implement the project “Research-based recommendations to improve laboratory diagnosis and prognosis of COVID-19 infection”.

More than 84 thousand. euros According to A.Utkus, most of this amount will be used to buy the necessary materials for the research.

Photo by Rimvydas Ančerevičius / Work in the hall

Photo by Rimvydas Ančerevičius / Work in the “Kovidinis” room at the Panevėžys Hospital

About 20 thousand. Euros will be allocated to wages; This amount will be shared by about ten participants of the project of the University of Vilnius and the Santara Clinics.

Project manager 15 minutes The researchers will look for other ways to predict COVID-19 disease, as the course and severity of coronavirus infection are now largely related to the patient’s age and other existing chronic diseases.

“Until now, little research has been done on the presence of other pathogens in the airways of patients with COVID-19, which can affect the course of the disease and its outcome,” said A. Utkus.

Therefore, we will investigate infectivity and other respiratory infections and try to determine their association with clinical signs and clinical course, “he added.

RML photo / coronavirus cells precipitate from the cell in which they have just multiplied

RML photo / coronavirus cells precipitate from the cell in which they have just multiplied

According to the researcher, the study also plans to verify if the amount of virus found in a person is directly related to the severity of the disease.

During the project, the researchers will also try to develop coronavirus detection reagents that allow viruses to be found in samples taken immediately without further processing.

“Now that the sample is taken, there is a complete sequence of further processing until the analysis itself is finally available. Our goal is to try to do it so that we can perform the test immediately after taking the sample. This would avoid additional time and labor costs, ”said the project manager.

Photo of Vidmantas Balkūnas / 15min / Algirdas Utkus

Photo of Vidmantas Balkūnas / 15min / Algirdas Utkus

Analysis of a nasopharyngeal sample is currently considered the most reliable method of detecting the coronavirus. According to A.Utkus, during the investigation, the researchers will try to find out if COVID-19 can be reliably diagnosed by taking blood, urine, or stool samples.

Influence of quarantine stress on consumption

The group convened by cognitive psychologist Gerda Anna Melnik will analyze the impact of pandemic stress on the consumption decisions of the population and present a forecast of its impact on the Lithuanian economy.

This project received more than 55 thousand. financing in euros. According to the researcher, his research is “cheaper” than a large part of the others, since he will not have to buy additional equipment, so most of the funds will go to researchers’ salaries.

According to G.A. Melnik, the idea for the study arose from the hypothesis that the stress experienced during a pandemic will affect human consumption, but it is not the same for everyone.

Rokas Lukoševičius / 15min photo / Aytytuštė shelving during quarantine

Rokas Lukoševičius / 15min photo / Aytytuštė shelving during quarantine

She said investigating people’s propensity to use during a coronavirus pandemic is interesting because a wave of the crisis has already subsided after quarantine was lifted and many companies have recovered, but people are concerned about a second wave. disease and economic crisis.

The researcher said that examining the stress experienced during the pandemic is also interesting because it was related not only to health problems, but also to the financial situation, the workplace and family crises.

“Based on past research, we believe that different groups of people may react differently and try to reduce stress in different ways, but those ways remain systemic, trending. We want to verify this in this context ” 15 minutes the investigator said.

Young, rich, old and poor can react very similarly to the stress experienced during a crisis.

According to her, said research is carried out through surveys-experiments.

“It is not just a sociological survey in which you only ask how much you consume, how you feel or how you value it. We do controlled experiments, we control the situation, we observe if people will behave differently, depending on a certain task formulated for them, the initial situation presented and the like, ”said GA Melnik.

According to the researcher, in crisis situations, a person’s social state is less important: his psychological state is much more important: “The young, rich, old and poor can react to the stress experienced during a crisis in a very similar way, even if they come from different social backgrounds. In this study, we will try to identify different patterns of behavior and highlight those groups. “

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