Информационно-коммуникационные технологии в образовании на примере онлайн-курса «Ислам: история, культура, практика»

The article discusses the use of information and communication technologies in the training of specialists with in-depth knowledge of the history and culture of Islam at the Faculty of Asian and African Studies of St. Petersburg State University using the example of the online course “Islam: history, culture, practice”. It is used both by students to consolidate and deepen their knowledge in the framework of the educational process, and by a wide audience to get acquainted with the basics of Islam and understand the peculiarities of the existence of this religion. In addition, the article touches on the prospects of using massive open online courses in the Russian education system, since distance and e-learning are gradually becoming an addition to traditional forms of teaching. The active production of online courses allows to talk about their use in order to increase the competence of the student, modernize the educational process, popularizing scientific knowledge and increasing the target audience.В статье рассматривается применение информационнокоммуникационных технологий в подготовке специалистов c углубленным знанием истории и культуры ислама на Восточном факультете СанктПетербургского государственного университета на примере онлайн- курса «Ислам: история, культура, практика». Этот курс используется как студентами для закрепления и углубления полученных знаний в рамках учебного процесса, так и широкой аудиторией для знакомства с основами ислама и понимания особенностей бытования этой религии. Кроме того, в статье поднимается вопрос о перспективах применения массовых открытых онлайн- курсов в системе российского образования, поскольку дистанционное и электронное обучение постепенно становится дополнением к традиционным его формам, и активное производство онлайн- курсов позволяет говорить об их использовании для повышения компетентности обучающегося, модернизации учебного процесса, популяризации научного знания и увеличения целевой аудитории

EXPERIMENTAL STUDIES OF THE SPECIFICITY OF IMMUNE RESPONSE IN VARIOUS OCCUPATIONAL DISEASES

Experimental models of anthracosilicosis (AS) and fluoride intoxication. (FI) show that the inhalation of coal and. rock dust (CRD) results in an early anti-inflammatory cytokine response (IL-4, IL-10) and. activation of humoral immunity on the background of lower level of proinflammatory cytokines. Later stages of the CRD activity are characterized by inflammation and. immunodeficiency. FI start is accompanied, by an increase of proinflammatory cytokines (IL-8, TNF-α). Anti-inflammatory protection is seen on the later stages (IL-10), immunoglobulin levels did. not change during 6 weeks of FI. Recommendations for the prevention of the anthracosilicosis and. fluoride intoxication given

Results of animal studies suggest a nonlinear dose-response relationship for benzene effects.

Considering the very large industrial usage of benzene, studies in risk assessment aimed at the evaluation of carcinogenic risk at low levels of exposure are important. Animal data can offer indications about what could happen in humans and provide more diverse information than epidemiological data with respect to dose-response consideration. We have considered experiments investigating metabolism, short-term genotoxicity tests, DNA adduct formation, and carcinogenicity long-term tests. According to the different experiments, a saturation of benzene metabolism and benzene effects in terms of genotoxicity seems evident above 30 to 100 ppm. Below 30 to 60 ppm the initiating effect of benzene seems to be linear for a large interval of dosages, at least judging from DNA adduct formation. Potential lack of a promoting effect of benzene (below 10 ppm) could generate a sublinear response at nontoxic levels of exposure. This possibility was suggested by epidemiological data in humans and is not confirmed or excluded by our observations with animals

DETERMINATION OF RARE EARTH ELEMENTS IN PUROLITE C160 RESIN BY WD-XRF

Rare earth elements in resin Purolite C160 were determined by X-ray fluorescence method. Sample preparation was carried out by pressing crushed resin into a pressed sample on a boric acid substrate. The metrological characteristics of the analysis technique were also evaluated

FEATURES OF CMOS MICROCIRCUITS X-RAY IRRADIATION TESTING

The paper substantiates the possibility of X-ray sources usage in radiation-hardness tests of microcircuits with 180 nm design or less. The tests were conducted using an electron ac-celerator in bremsstrahlung mode and an X-ray unit. The comparison results and key features are presented.Авторы выражают благодарность Смолину А.С. и Демидову А.А. из АО «ЭНПО СПЭЛС» за полезные обсуждения и рекомендации при подготовке материала

Vaccine antigens modulate the innate response of monocytes to Al(OH)3.

Aluminum-based adjuvants have widely been used in human vaccines since 1926. In the absence of antigens, aluminum-based adjuvants can initiate the inflammatory preparedness of innate cells, yet the impact of antigens on this response has not been investigated so far. In this study, we address the modulating effect of vaccine antigens on the monocyte-derived innate response by comparing processes initiated by Al(OH)3 and by Infanrix, an Al(OH)3-adjuvanted trivalent combination vaccine (DTaP), containing diphtheria toxoid (D), tetanus toxoid (T) and acellular pertussis (aP) vaccine antigens. A systems-wide analysis of stimulated monocytes was performed in which full proteome analysis was combined with targeted transcriptome analysis and cytokine analysis. This comprehensive study revealed four major differences in the monocyte response, between plain Al(OH)3 and DTaP stimulation conditions: (I) DTaP increased the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10, whereas Al(OH)3 did not; (II) Al(OH)3 increased the gene expression of IFNγ, IL-2 and IL-17a in contrast to the limited induction or even downregulation by DTaP; (III) increased expression of type I interferons-induced proteins was not observed upon DTaP stimulation, but was observed upon Al(OH)3 stimulation; (IV) opposing regulation of protein localization pathways was observed for Al(OH)3 and DTaP stimulation, related to the induction of exocytosis by Al(OH)3 alone. This study highlights that vaccine antigens can antagonize Al(OH)3-induced programming of the innate immune responses at the monocyte level

Early acquisition and high nasopharyngeal co-colonisation by Streptococcus pneumoniae and three respiratory pathogens amongst Gambian new-borns and infants

BACKGROUND: Although Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib), Staphylococcus aureus and Moraxella catarrhalis are important causes of invasive and mucosal bacterial disease among children, co-carriage with Streptococcus pneumoniae during infancy has not been determined in West Africa. METHODS: Species specific PCR was applied to detect each microbe using purified genomic DNA from 498 nasopharyngeal (NP) swabs collected from 30 Gambian neonates every two weeks from 0 to 6 months and bi-monthly up to 12 months. RESULTS: All infants carried S. pneumoniae, H. influenzae and M. catarrhalis at several time points during infancy. S.pneumoniae co-colonized the infant nasopharynx with at least one other pathogen nine out of ten times. There was early colonization of the newborns and neonates, the average times to first detection were 5, 7, 3 and 14 weeks for S. pneumoniae, H. influenzae, M. catarrhalis and S. aureus respectively. The prevalence of S. pneumoniae, H. influenzae and M. catarrhalis increased among the neonates and exceeded 80% by 13, 15 and 23 weeks respectively. In contrast, the prevalence of S. aureus decreased from 50% among the newborns to 20% amongst nine-week old neonates. S. pneumoniae appeared to have a strong positive association with H. influenzae (OR 5.03; 95% CI 3.02, 8.39; p<0.01) and M. catarrhalis (OR 2.20; 95% CI 1.29; p<0.01) but it was negatively associated with S. aureus (OR 0.53; 95% CI 0.30, 0.94; p=0.03). CONCLUSION: This study shows early acquisition and high co-carriage of three important respiratory pathogens with S. pneumoniae in the nasopharyngeal mucosa among Gambian neonates and infants. This has important potential implications for the aetiology of respiratory polymicrobial infections, biofilm formation and vaccine strategies

Fusion of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis Antigen 85A to an Oligomerization Domain Enhances Its Immunogenicity in Both Mice and Non-Human Primates

To prevent important infectious diseases such as tuberculosis, malaria and HIV, vaccines inducing greater T cell responses are required. In this study, we investigated whether fusion of the M. tuberculosis antigen 85A to recently described adjuvant IMX313, a hybrid avian C4bp oligomerization domain, could increase T cell responses in pre-clinical vaccine model species. In mice, the fused antigen 85A showed consistent increases in CD4+ and CD8+ T cell responses after DNA and MVA vaccination. In rhesus macaques, higher IFN-γ responses were observed in animals vaccinated with MVA-Ag85A IMX313 after both primary and secondary immunizations. In both animal models, fusion to IMX313 induced a quantitative enhancement in the response without altering its quality: multifunctional cytokines were uniformly increased and differentiation into effector and memory T cell subsets was augmented rather than skewed. An extensive in vivo characterization suggests that IMX313 improves the initiation of immune responses as an increase in antigen 85A specific cells was observed as early as day 3 after vaccination. This report demonstrates that antigen multimerization using IMX313 is a simple and effective cross-species method to improve vaccine immunogenicity with potentially broad applicability

Forest biodiversity, ecosystem functioning and the provision of ecosystem services

Forests are critical habitats for biodiversity and they are also essential for the provision of a wide range of ecosystem services that are important to human well-being. There is increasing evidence that biodiversity contributes to forest ecosystem functioning and the provision of ecosystem services. Here we provide a review of forest ecosystem services including biomass production, habitat provisioning services, pollination, seed dispersal, resistance to wind storms, fire regulation and mitigation, pest regulation of native and invading insects, carbon sequestration, and cultural ecosystem services, in relation to forest type, structure and diversity. We also consider relationships between forest biodiversity and multifunctionality, and trade-offs among ecosystem services. We compare the concepts of ecosystem processes, functions and services to clarify their definitions. Our review of published studies indicates a lack of empirical studies that establish quantitative and causal relationships between forest biodiversity and many important ecosystem services. The literature is highly skewed; studies on provisioning of nutrition and energy, and on cultural services, delivered by mixed-species forests are under-represented. Planted forests offer ample opportunity for optimising their composition and diversity because replanting after harvesting is a recurring process. Planting mixed-species forests should be given more consideration as they are likely to provide a wider range of ecosystem services within the forest and for adjacent land uses. This review also serves as the introduction to this special issue of Biodiversity and Conservation on various aspects of forest biodiversity and ecosystem services