How Online Solutions Help Beat the Lockdown in Higher Education: A Central Asia Case Study

This chapter is aimed at summarizing the recent initiatives put in action for solving the problems in delivering the educational services in the Turin Polytechnic University in Tashkent, TTPU, after the lockdown, and the stringent measures taken by the Uzbek government in March 2020, for the pandemic explosion of the COVID-19 virus. The long-lasting connection between Politecnico di Torino, a European University, and this Central Asia Institution has been proven to be extremely effective, maximizing the benefits of TTPU in promptly offering online solutions for remote lectures, and the preparation of the technical substrate for both the exams and admission test which will be delivered after the completion of the second semester lectures. A summary of the IT tools adopted, with compact highlights of their features, as well as the qualitative feedback collected from the first courses offered with a reshaped structure suitable for online classes are thoroughly discussed in this work

Fabrication and Characterization of Ice Templated Membrane Supports from Portland Cement

Porous ceramic membranes for aqueous microfiltration and ultrafiltration processes suffer from the high-costs of material and processing. The latter is mainly due to the high-temperature sintering step. In this work, cement-based membrane supports from ultrafine Portland cement are studied as a low-cost alternative to traditional oxidic ceramic supports. An environmentally friendly freeze-casting fabrication route is applied for the fabrication of porous membrane supports. Cement membrane supports are becoming mechanically stabile after hydration reaction of cement with water, which does not require any high-temperature sintering step as in a conventional ceramic membrane fabrication process. This fabrication route, which is sintering-free, decreases the cost and environmental impact of the membrane fabrication process by eliminating extra energy consumption step during sintering. The Archimedes method, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), micro-computed tomographic (µCT), and mercury porosimetry characterize the membrane supports in respect to open porosity, pore size distribution, morphology, and connectivity. The flexural strength of the 3 mm thick membranes is in the range from 1 to 6 MPa, as obtained by the ring-on-ring tests. The obtained membrane supports possess porosity in the range between 48 and 73% depending on fabrication conditions (cooling rate and the solid content, as determined by Archimedes method enabling water flux in the range between 79 and 180 L/(h·m2) at 0.5 bar transmembrane pressure difference and 3 mm membrane thickness.TU Berlin, Open-Access-Mittel – 202

AlF3-assisted flux growth of mullite whiskers and their application in fabrication of porous mullite-alumina monoliths

Mullite is a promising material with its competitive thermochemical and mechanical properties. Although mullite could be obtained by several synthesis methods, the flux method emerges with its advantages over other methods. However, obtaining mullite whiskers with a high aspect ratio and length for ceramic reinforcements is still challenging. In this work, mullite whiskers were grown from AlF3-assisted flux. The addition of AlF3 to flux salt not only decreases the formation temperature of mullite to as low as 700 ​°C and suppresses the formation of corundum side phase, but also increases the length and aspect ratio of the whiskers. The obtained mullite whiskers were used as reinforcement for porous alumina monoliths prepared by the freeze casting route and subsequent sintering at 1500 ​°C. The fabricated mullite-alumina monoliths show competitive compressive strength of 25.7 ​MPa while having as high as 70.6% porosity, which makes them a potential candidate for membrane applications.DFG, 414044773, Open Access Publizieren 2021 - 2022 / Technische Universität Berli

The origin, conditions and mechanism for the formation of alpine-type hyperbasites of the Lesser Caucasus

The problem of hyperbasites origin is one of the widely discussed topics in geology. This is because they often appear when no expected. Their development does not correspond to the general regularities of the geological complexes’ development. Therefore, when problematic instances of hyperbasites appear, discussion is inevitable. This is due to the imperfections of existing concepts, which are not without flaws. The essence of this concept lies in the fact that during the rotation of the Earth around its axis, geodynamic forces are formed. The hyperbasites complex by its nature belongs to deep igneous formations formed at the initial stage of development of volcano-plutonic processes, where the composition of magmatic products was not subject to decomposition. In general, the origin of igneous rocks is associated with deep anomalous processes, which were formed under the influence of geodynamic forces, where decompression of mantle matter occurs, causing a catastrophic increase in the volume of mantle matter, as well as the associated development of volcanoplutonic processes. Hyperbasites are formed both in divergent and convergent zones of the Earth’s crust. The main factor for their formation is high pressure – deep thermodynamic conditions, where there are no favorable thermodynamic conditions for the complete separation of magmatic melts by composition. The emergence of hypermafic rocks on the surface is associated with geotectonic or denudation processes. Denudation processes can expose only those hypermafic formations that are located at the site of formation. These zones include ancient platforms, sheets, terranes, etc., which were cut by deep erosion processes. As for those hyperbasic formations that are classified as alpinotype hyperbasites, they were moved to the structure of the Alps-Himalayan folded zone from the basement with a collision with subsequent geotectonic processes, where they formed in the bed of the Paleotethys Ocean, both in the process of divergence and convergence. The noted pattern of formation and the mechanism of formation of alpine-type hyperbasites clearly corresponds to the patterns of development of geodynamic forces in the face of the Earth, also with natural laws, which are the main factors in the evolution of the Earth’s crust. From the standpoint of KDEZK, the origin, mechanism of formation, as well as the form of distribution of alpinotype hypermafic rocks of the Lesser Caucasus occurred in the Paleotethys bed, under different thermodynamic conditions and at depths. Further, as a result of the collision, it participated in the formation of folded zones of the Lesser Caucasus. Within the Lesser Caucasus, two genetic types of hypermafic rocks are exposed. Some of them correspond to the convergent zone of the Tethys paleocean, while others correspond to divergent zones. In terms of ore content, the most promising are those hypermafic rocks that are genetically related to convergent zones

Synthesis and characterization by experimental and theory research suitable on the CdS and CdO materials

In this paper, we have compared and analyzed experimental and theoretical research on A2B6 types semiconductor materials CdS and CdO. The XRD spectra of the samples were examined using an atomic force microscope and X-ray diffraction microscopy. During film deposition, the temperature of the crucible with a source (CdS) varied in the range Tsourse ≈ 800 ÷ 850°C, and the substrate temperature was maintained within the range Tp ≈ 250 ÷ 270°C. In this case, to ensure the reproducibility of the structures, a shutter was used, with the help of which the CdS deposition time was set, which ensured that the film thickness was the same from experiment to experiment

Комбинационная способность новых линий огурца по основным хозяйственно полезным признакам

Relevance. To create heterotic cucumber hybrids, it is important to have a high general and specific combining ability of the initial material, which makes it possible to select valuable genotypes at an early stage of selection. Material and methods. The research was carried out in 2018-2020. at the Research Institute of Vegetable, Melon Crops and Potatoes, located in the Tashkent region of Uzbekistan (SRIVMC&P). Studied 6 accessions of cucumber. As a result of diallelic crosses, 36 hybrid combinations were obtained (p2). Hybridological analysis was carried out according to the first Griffing's method, including forward and backcrossing and the use of parental forms (p2). To determine the combining ability, conventional methodologies were used (1,15). Genetic-statistical analyzes were carried out using the MS Excel application package. Results. Studies have established that according to the traits "the number of days from seed germination to the opening of female flowers" and "the number of days until the technical ripeness of fruits" in all studied cucumber accessions, the ratio (σ 2ĝi<σ 2si) is observed, where the dominant role in the inheritance of this trait also belongs to genes with dominant and epistatic effects. The trait “number of fruits per plant” is controlled by dominant and epistatic gene effects (σ 2ĝi<σ 2si) in almost all cucumber accessions, and in the accession A-6 - by additive gene effects (σ 2ĝi <σ 2si). The phenomenon (σ 2ĝi <σ 2si) was noted for the trait "average fruit weight", where the expression of the trait is controlled by the dominant and epistatic effects of genes (σ 2ĝi <σ 2si) in three studied cucumber accessions (C-25/1, A-6 and A-9), and in the other three accessions, additive gene effects (σ 2ĝi <σ 2si) are more important in inheritance. The trait "productivity of one plant" is controlled by the dominant and epistatic effects of genes (σ 2ĝi <σ 2si) in the three studied cucumber accessions, and in the other three accessions (C-25/1, A-6 and A-9), genes play a special role for the expression of the trait with additive effects. Promising hybrid combinations with the best performance for their use as a initial material for breeding have been revealed.Актуальность. Для создания гетерозисных гибридов огурца важное значение имеет высокая общая и специфическая комбинационная способность исходного материала, позволяющая отобрать ценные генотипы на раннем этапе селекции. Материал и методика. Исследования проводили в 2018-2020 годах в Научно-исследовательском институте овоще-бахчевых культур и картофеля, расположенного в Ташкентской области Узбекистана (НИИОБКиК), в открытом грунте согласно рекомендациям и методическим указаниям по селекции и семеноводству огурца (М., ВНИИССОК, 1999). В результате скрещивания 6 перспективных образцов огурца по диаллельной схеме было получено 36 гибридных комбинаций (p2). Гибридологический анализ проводили по первому методу Гриффинга, включающих прямые и обратные скрещивания и использование родительских форм (p2). Для определения комбинационной способности использовали общепринятые методики. Результаты. Исследованиями установлено, что по признакам «количество дней от всходов до раскрытия женских цветков» и «количество дней от массовых всходов до технической спелости плодов» у всех изученных образцов огурца наблюдается соотношение σ 2ĝi <σ 2si, где преобладающая роль при наследовании данного признака также принадлежит генам с доминантными и эпистатическими эффектами. Признак «количество плодов на одном растении» контролируется доминантными и эпистатическими эффектами генов (σ 2ĝi<σ 2si) у почти всех образцов огурца, а у образца А-6 - аддитивными эффектами генов (σ 2ĝi <σ 2si). По признаку «средняя масса плода» отмечено явление σ 2ĝi<σ 2si, где проявление признака контролируется доминантными и эпистатическими эффектами генов (σ 2ĝi <σ 2si) у трёх изученных образцов огурца (С- 25/1, А-6 и А-9), а у трёх других образцов, аддитивные генные эффекты (σ 2ĝi <σ 2si) важнее при наследовании. Признак «продуктивность одного растения» контролируется доминантными и эпистатическими эффектами генов (σ 2ĝi <σ 2si) у трёх изученных образцов огурца, а у других трёх образцов (С-25/1, А-6 и А-9) для проявления признака особую роль играют гены с аддитивными эффектами. Выделены перспективные гибридные комбинации с наилучшими показателями для использования их в качестве исходного материала для селекции