The article examines the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the content of key functional strategies of companies in the real sector of the economy. The purpose of the article is to assess the changes in the economic behaviour of companies in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, to analyse business practices in adapting functional strategies to new risks, and to determine the directions for transforming functional strategies. An analysis of companies’ business practices showed that the pandemic had a significant impact on the economic behaviour of companies, transforming not only their tactics, but also their strategy. The functional strategies of the companies have undergone significant changes - marketing, production, personnel management strategies. The transformation of the marketing sphere is due to new trends in the sphere of consumption that have arisen as a result of the introduction of restrictive measures by states. The changed conditions of production activities necessitated accelerated digitalization and robotization of production, restructuring of supply chains and determined the need for the formation of innovative production strategies that meet the conditions of the Industry 4.0 era. The strategy and tactics of personnel management of companies are adapting to the conditions of the epidemic using a remote work format, digitalization of processes and tasks, and the use of new approaches in management. Based on the results of the study, the authors concluded that the pandemic has highlighted problems in the ability of companies to learn quickly in a rapidly changing environment. Today, the surviving companies are those that have been able to best adapt to unforeseen threats. For them, the coronavirus pandemic is not the cause of the crisis, but a turning point and a unique opportunity to develop in a highly competitive environment.

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The article highlights the relationship between ensuring world food security and the pace of technological transformation of agriculture, taking into account the impact of global challenges, based on the study of theoretical approaches of leading scientists. The authors use analysis and synthesis, expert, statistical and comparative methods. The history of technological changes in agriculture are considered through its evolution from traditional food systems to Agriculture 5.0 – the post-industrial system with the use of robotics, big data and artificial intelligence systems. The authors prove that the level of agricultural development and the rate of its technological transformation are sharply differentiated by country. The cross-country analysis of indicators of food security, innovation potential, production and food net trade of the leading food-producing countries allowed us to draw two conclusions. First, developed countries that are at the top of the innovation rating and ensure national food security at a high level have negative food net trade. In the near future, these countries will not be able to have a significant impact on world food security. Secondly, countries with export-oriented agriculture are characterized by low innovation and have limited opportunities for labor productivity growth in agriculture.

The sudden introduction of restrictions related to the pandemic situation caused by the new SARS-COV-2 of virus causing COVID-19 had a significant impact on people’s lives. Limited access to products and services has caused chaos in the market. The goal of this paper is to find out the opinion on the resulting limitations in access to everyday products - during the period of partial lockdown. Based on the research, it was found that during the lockdown caused by the epidemic situation (COVID-19), people feel limited access to some products of everyday life, which in turn has an impact on their sense of anxiety and security. People noted the greatest limited availability of food products and in particular fresh fruit and vegetables, also reported limited access to pharmaceuticals. Furthermore, people confirmed that as the main reasons for anxiety and insecurity are the limited access to food products and to pharmaceuticals.

At the present stage of development of the world and Russian economies, research on problems in the field of human capital development in its close relationship with economic growth is due to the transition to digital technologies and qualitative changes in the labor market. In Russia, these processes are complicated by persistent imbalances in regional development. The economic lag of regions, which is also caused by the low level of development and quality of human capital, leads to the formation of institutional traps: low incomes, reduced returns on education and, as a result, lack of motivation to invest in human capital lead to increased regional inequality and create a vicious circle. The authors justify the need to develop a regional policy in the "poor" and "middle" regions aimed at developing and improving the quality of human capital by increasing public investment in education. In addition, the article highlights barriers to quantitative growth, qualitative development and effective use of human capital in Russian regions.

The paper contains the summarized results of a study of strategic opportunities and risks of digitalization in the Russian agriculture in a context of increasing of productivity, sustainable development of agrifood system and better advancing Russian food and agricultural raw materials in the global food market. It is established that digitalization of the Russian agriculture is at an early stage of development and the digital processes are considerably depending on the firm size (concentrated on large agro-holdings). It is proved that the threats and risks of digitalization in the Russian agriculture are more serious, than in the developed countries, that is caused by an economic situation in the country, rather low competitiveness of the Russian industry (mechanical engineering, electronics), reducing R&D government expenditures and also deficiency of private investments into digitalization.

The traditional silver nitrate impregnation method used for visualization of cell borders does not allow the study of intercellular relationships and fails to demonstrate features of cell microrelief. It is shown that osmium tetroxide impregnation of vascular tissue, emphasizing cell border lines, and a special image analysis program for the semiautomatic system IBAS 2 can be used together for the effective analysis of the fine structure and of the cell layer. Our investigations of the aortic endothelium using this complex method have confirmed the heterogeneity of aortic endothelial cells in health and demonstrated that the endothelium of different aortic regions displays differential responses to blood pressure elevation and, further, that a major factor underlying the alterations observed in endotheli-a1 cells in disease and hypertension is the differential degree of overlap of the neighboring endothelial cells.

Today one of the most pressing global problems is the problem of hunger and malnutrition, the solution of which is directly related to ensuring food security. In the context of increasing economic integration, international trade is the most important tool for ensuring food security. Food trade is one of the most steadily developing segments of the global market. Today, the leading exporters are also the largest importers of food, wisely combining the benefits of international economic integration and the principle of developing domestic agricultural production. The role of international trade in ensuring food security was assessed by comparing the global food security index and the value of net food exports, which made it possible to develop a typology of countries. The first two groups include countries that provide their citizens with a high level of food security through domestic efficient agricultural production or through imports. The third and fourth groups include agricultural underdeveloped countries, where the problem of hunger and malnutrition can potentially be solved through international trade and increased efforts of the international community.