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Background. Situations that are characterized by unexpected scenarios, unpredictable developments, and risks to life and health facilitate beliefs in conspiracy theories. These beliefs — together with reliable information, intentional and unintentional misinformation and rumors — determine attitudes toward the situations and ways to overcome them. Objective. To examine the effect of belief in conspiracy theories on the recognition of the need for quarantine during the COVID-19 pandemic; the effect of personality traits on belief in conspiracy theories and on the recognition of the need for quarantine; the relationship of belief in conspiracy theories with assessment of the dangers of COVID-19 and with feelings of hopelessness. Design. The study was conducted over a period when the number of coronavirus cases was growing, during the first three weeks of the lockdown in Russia. The sample included 667 undergraduate and graduate students aged 16–31 (M = 20.44, SD = 2.38); 74.2% of the participants were women. Respondents filled out two online questionnaires. The first related to perceptions about the COVID-19 pandemic; the second was a brief HEXACO inventory. Results. Belief in Conspiracy Theories accounts for 13% of variance in Recognition of the Need for Quarantine; together with Dangers of COVID-19 and Hopelessness, conspiracy beliefs account for more than a quarter of the variance. Personality traits defined in the context of the 6-factor personality model have a small effect on conspiracy beliefs about the coronavirus and on perception of the need for quarantine. Conclusion. Belief in conspiracy theories is associated not only with irrational views of reality, but also with the adoption of ineffective behaviors.

BackgroundRobotic surgery has gained wide acceptance due to minimizing trauma in patients. However, the lack of tactile feedback is an essential limiting factor for the further expansion. In robotic surgery, feedback related to touch is currently kinesthetic, and it is mainly aimed at the minimization of force applied to tissues and organs. Design and implementation of diagnostic tactile feedback is still an open problem. We hypothesized that a sufficient tactile feedback in robot-assisted surgery can be provided by utilization of Medical Tactile Endosurgical Complex (MTEC), which is a novel specialized tool that is already commercially available in the Russian Federation. MTEC allows registration of tactile images by a mechanoreceptor, real-time visualization of these images, and reproduction of images via a tactile display.Materials and methodsNine elective surgeries were performed with da Vinci™ robotic system. An assistant performed tactile examination through an additional port under the guidance of a surgeon during revision of tissues. The operating surgeon sensed registered tactile data using a tactile display, and the assistant inspected the visualization of tactile data. First, surgeries where lesion boundaries were visually detectable were performed. The goal was to promote cooperation between the surgeon and the assistant and to train them in perception of the tactile feedback. Then, instrumental tactile diagnostics was utilized in case of visually undetectable boundaries.ResultsIn robot-assisted surgeries where lesion boundaries were not visually detectable, instrumental tactile diagnostics performed using MTEC provided valid identification and localization of lesions. The results of instrumental tactile diagnostics were concordant with the results of intraoperative ultrasound examination. However, in certain cases, for example, thoracoscopy, ultrasound examination is inapplicable, while MTEC-based tactile diagnostics can be efficiently utilized.ConclusionThe study proved that MTEC can be efficiently used in robot-assisted surgery allowing correct localization of visually undetectable lesions and visually undetectable boundaries of pathological changes of tissues.

Tactile perception is important for various medical applications including surgery. Currently novel devices are available that provide intraoperative mechanoreceptoric registration of tactile images. It is extremely important for endosurgery where standard palpation by surgeon's fingers is impossible. However, methods for automated analysis and even preprocessing of tactile data registered by these devices are not yet sufficiently developed. In this paper we describe two mutually reinforcing methods for preprocessing of tactile data registered by an intraoperative tactile mechanoreceptor. Namely, we address the problem of automated sensitivity adjustment and the problem of contact angle artifact. We also present experimental results that validate the efficiency of the developed methods.