Types of Higher Education Services Consumption in Russia: Transformation Factors in Focus

The paper briefly describes the composition of socio-technological, socio-managerial, socio-economic, socio-psychological factors that have influenced the change in the motives of purchasing behavior of modern Russians in the market of educational services in the field of higher education. In particular, the major focus is on the introduction of advanced information and communication technologies in the organized educational process. The study also considers (1) the change of conceptual approaches to the organization of the higher education system in favor of practice-oriented learning; (2) the “obsolescence” of the content of educational programs of higher education; (3) the decline in the quality of services offered on the Russian adult education market, and (4) the mismatch of consumer motives in the minds of the family acting as a collective participant in the educational services market. The author’s also present their expert views on the vectors of further development of the market of services in the field of Russian higher education

"The Greek world" in the perception of Latin intellectuals

The article examines the problem of the perception of "the Greek world" by the Latin intellectuals of the V and the beginning of the VI century AD, i.e. in the period of time when political, cultural and somewhat religious dissociation between the Western and Eastern parts of the Roman Empire became visible. The hermeneutic analysis of narrative, epistolary and didactic works written in the Latin West in V–VI centuries has been carried out in the article. The «system codes» through which Latin intellectuals perceived both their own and the Greek world have been reconstructed by the identification of the tropes, metaphors and similes. It has been concluded that the Greek world had been still taking on a role of the creator and preserver of high culture, a kind of indicator of the cultural achievements of the West in the minds of Latin authors of the V–VI century. At the same time the Latin authors’ desire to establish their own self-sufficiency and even cultural superiority in the competition with the Greeks was quite obvious. The article shows that belonging to the Greek civilization served as an identifying feature of noble Roman's which also forced the representatives of German elite to strive for both the Roman and the Greek education in their ambition to legitimize their authority among the Italian population.peer-reviewe

Magma evolution and tephrostratigraphy of the Gregory Rift, northern Tanzania

The northern Tanzanian sector of the Gregory Rift plays a key role in the understanding of different scientific problems that span the fields of petrology, volcanology and anthropology. There are only few areas on Earth, where continental rifting is currently active. The East African Rift System is one of these areas, and the Gregory Rift is one of the most multifaceted parts of it, where early and recent episodes of the continental rift development are recorded in exposed igneous and sedimentary rocks. One of the challenges related to continental rifting is to explain the broad compositional and isotopic diversity of generated magmas. The genesis of alkali-rich carbonatites at the Oldoinyo Lengai volcano is one of the most frequently studied aspects of this chemical diversity. However, the carbonatites constitute a volumetrically insignificant part of the volcano’s total volume. In order to fully understand the role of carbonatite genesis in relation to continental rifting processes, it is therefore also important to investigate the associated, and considerably less-studied, silicate rocks. In addition to this, several anthropologically important sites occur in the Gregory Rift, which record the premodern human evolution at the Pliocene-Holocene transition. In this thesis, the silicate rocks from the northern Tanzanian sector of the Gregory Rift are used to investigate the temporal and compositional evolution of the area, with special emphasis on the evolution of silicate magmas at the currently active Oldoinyo Lengai volcano. For a better understanding of magma generation in a continental rift environment, isotope characteristics of a representative suite of rocks belonging to the northern sector of the Gregory Rift were investigated. The oldest of these (3.8-1.4 Ma) are exposed in the Rift Escarpment, and the youngest rocks are represented by different rocks from Oldoinyo Lengai and from the Lake Natron Engaruka-Monogenetic Volcanic Field (LNE-MVF). The results show that Rift Escarpment magmas were produced from a heterogeneous mantle source, where the heterogeneity is the result of carbonatite-related metasomatism. The eruptive centres of the considerably younger LNE-MVF produced the most primitive (melilititic) magmas in the area. These magmas originate from a homogeneous mantle source, while the more evolved (nephelinitic and basanitic) magmas from the same area are derived from a slightly more heterogeneous source. The silicate lavas from Oldoinyo Lengai define two separate geochemical trends, which reflect two distinct stages of volcanism at Oldoinyo Lengai. During the early stage, the volcano erupted various nephelinitic and phonolitic magmas with enriched isotopic compositions. The evolution of these magmas was controlled by crystal fractionation. A total fractionation of approximately 90% crystals allows to successfully reproduce the observed geochemical trend. The second stage of volcanism, which is currently ongoing, is characterized by eruptions of nephelinitic magmas with phenocrysts of wollastonite, combeite and melilite. These magmas are also intimately associated with the alkali-rich carbonatites. The evolution of magmas belonging to Stage II is controlled by crystal fractionation up until the point of carbonatite exsolution, after which the silicate magmas evolve by a combination of processes such as fractionation, remelting and assimilation of cumulates left over from the first stage of volcanism and/or magma mixing with crystal mushes. The pronounced differences in geochemistry as well as in the isotope characteristicsof the volcanic rocks belonging to the first and the second stage of evolution indicate different primary magmas for the two series. A combination of isotope mixing calculations and fractional crystallization modelling indicates that the primary magma(s) of the second stage can be explained by interaction (partial remelting and assimilation) of cumulates left over in the crust from the first stage of volcanism with magma(s) that are geochemically and isotopically similar to the primitive magmas erupted in the neighbouring LNE-MVF. The second part of the thesis provides the first steps aimed at establishing a tephrostratigraphic framework for this part of the Gregory Rift. The recently discovered Engaro Sero Footprint Site hosts one of the best-preserved sets of fossilized hominid footprints in the world, which are preserved in a sequence of volcaniclastic sedimentary rocks. In this thesis, it is shown that the footprint-bearing horizon consists of a primary volcanic ash-fall that has been slightly reworked by water, and that it was produced during a voluminous eruption of the Oldoinyo Lengai volcano. The sedimentary unit, which covered the footprints and helped to preserve them, consists of the wind-blown material derived from the same eruption intermixed with locally derived detrital material. A combination of field observations, regional stratigraphy and a possible correlation with ash layers preserved in the lacustrine sequence of Lake Emakat, located 20 km SW of the volcano, indicates an early Holocene age of the footprints. In a sediment core from Lake Emakat, seven distinct ash layers of late Pleistocene – early Holocene age were described interbedded with a sequence of lacustrine sediments. These ash horizons have nearly identical mineralogy to that found in most recent and pre-modern pyroclastic rocks of Oldoinyo Lengai. Based on information from this sediment core, an average recurrence rate 810 years between voluminous explosive eruptions can be calculated for Oldoinyo Lengai during this time span. This data fill an important informational gap regarding the eruptive history of the volcano. The main reason for this is that the written accounts for the area only cover the last ~150 years, and reliable age determinations are sparse at best

New tephrostratigraphic data from Lake Emakat (northern Tanzania): Implications for the eruptive history of the Oldoinyo Lengai volcano

ISSN:1464-343XISSN:0731-7247ISSN:0899-5362ISSN:1879-195

In-situ garnet 238U-230Th geochronology of Holocene silica-undersaturated volcanic tuffs at millennial-scale precision

Radioisotopic dates for Late Pleistocene to Holocene silica-undersaturated volcanic rocks are often imprecise, limiting our ability to assess the frequency of eruptions in alkaline volcanic provinces, evaluate related volcanic risk and date associated archaeological sites. Here, we present a new approach to dating alkaline volcanic rocks employing 238U-230Th disequilibrium dating of Ca-rich garnet phenocrysts by laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICPMS). We document analytical protocols and apply this technique to date magmatic garnets from the 472 AD Pollena eruption of Vesuvius (Southern Italy) and from the Engare Sero Footprint Tuff, a volcaniclastic unit attributed to Oldoinyo Lengai (Northern Tanzania). Garnet phenocrysts from the Pollena phonolite yield a well-defined U-Th isochron with a date of 2.28 ± 0.71 ka (1σ) that is indistinguishable from the historical date and suggests that garnet crystallized close to eruption with a pre-eruption residence time of less than 1.6 kyr. Garnets from the Engare Sero Footprint Tuff yield a U-Th isochron date of 4.91 ± 0.58 ka (1σ). This date is compatible with 14C and 40Ar/39Ar dates that bracket tuff deposition to between ∼5 and ∼19 ka but confidently constrains the age of the Engare Sero Footprint Tuff to the mid-Holocene. These examples demonstrate the potential of this new approach for dating Late Pleistocene to Holocene silica-undersaturated volcanic rocks at millennial-scale precision and for investigating magma chamber processes beneath active alkaline volcanoes

Flow cytometry for pediatric platelets

The ability of platelets to carry out their hemostatic function can be impaired in a wide range of inherited and acquired conditions: trauma, surgery, inflammation, pre-term birth, sepsis, hematological malignancies, solid tumors, chemotherapy, autoimmune disorders, and many others. Evaluation of this impairment is vitally important for research and clinical purposes. This problem is particularly pronounced in pediatric patients, where these conditions occur frequently, while blood volume and the choice of blood collection methods could be limited. Here we describe a simple flow cytometry-based screening method of comprehensive whole blood platelet function testing that was validated for a range of pediatric and adult samples (n = 31) in the hematology hospital setting including but not limited to: classic inherited platelet function disorders (Glanzmann’s thrombasthenia; Bernard-Soulier, Wiscott-Aldrich, and Hermasky-Pudlak syndromes, MYH9-dependent thrombocytopenia), healthy and pre-term newborns, acute and chronic immune thrombocytopenia, chronic lympholeukemia, effects of therapy on platelet function, etc. The method output includes levels of forward and side scatter, levels of major adhesion and aggregation glycoproteins Ib and IIb-IIIa, active integrins’ level based on PAC-1 binding, major alpha-granule component P-selectin, dense granule function based on mepacrine uptake and release, and procoagulant activity quantified as a percentage of annexin V-positive platelets. This analysis is performed for both resting and dual-agonist-stimulated platelets. Preanalytical and analytical variables are provided and discussed. Parameter distribution within the healthy donor population for adults (n = 72) and children (n = 17) is analyzed