Ultra-high energy cosmic ray investigations by means of EAS muon density measurements

A new approach to investigations of ultra-high energy cosmic rays based on the ground-level measurements of the spectra of local density of EAS muons at various zenith angles is considered. Basic features of the local muon density phenomenology are illustrated using a simple semi-analytical model. It is shown that muon density spectra are sensitive to the spectrum slope, primary composition, and to the features of hadronic interaction. New experimental data on muon bundles at zenith angles from 30 degrees to horizon obtained with the coordinate detector DECOR are compared with CORSIKA-based simulations. It is found that measurements of muon density spectra in inclined EAS give possibility to study characteristics of primary cosmic ray flux in a very wide energy range from 10^15 to 10^19 eV.Comment: 7 pages, 7 figures. Presented at CRIS-2006, Catania, Italy, May 29 - June 2, 2006. Accepted for publication in Nucl. Phys. B (Proc. Suppl.

Refugees’ acts of citizenship in the context of integration in Finland

This study analyses the refugees’ activity during the integration period in Finland within the framework of acts of citizenship proposed by the British theorist Engin Isin. The purpose is to investigate what acts of citizenship refugees perform to constitute themselves as citizens and what factors prevent them from pursuing acts of citizenship as well as to examine the influence of moving to the Capital region on constituting refugees as citizens. The method of qualitative interview is used for this study. Thirteen interviews, including two paired ones, were conducted between June and October 2019. The interviewees were selected among the clients of the Immigrant Services of the city of Espoo on the criterion of moving to this city after living in another municipality outside the Capital Region of Finland. The results show that during their integration process, refugees are focused on performing the following acts that enable them to constitute themselves as citizens: Finnish language learning, job search, political activity and establishment of social relations. The analysis also shows that the lack of integration conditions outside the Finnish Capital Region and difficulties in obtaining available social services prevent refugees from constituting themselves as citizens during their integration. This research points to the differences in integration conditions in different regions of Finland and brings to the conclusion that although there are organizations providing guidance on access to the Finnish social security system, the understanding of Finnish bureaucracy among the refugee population remains a big challenge. The study also demonstrates that refugees are not passive, but rather put an effort to improve their situation, take the initiative, and thus change the common perception of a refugee

НЕОБХОДИМОСТЬ КРИТИЧЕСКОГО МЫШЛЕНИЯ В УСЛОВИЯХ ТРАНСФОРМАЦИИ ОБРАЗОВАНИЯ

The author analyzes most important characteristics and conditions of critical thinking formation on the basis of historic and contemporary data. The creation, formation and further development of critical thinking is formed by social-historic context, beginning with the Ancient Greece and until the modern society. The author claims for necessity of forming and developing critical thinking as the determining factor of personality development in modern conditions. The process of critical thinking formation becomes especially important during the transition to individual education paradigm. The paper highlights that development of critical thinking as the necessary tool of selection, analysis, systematization and interpretation of information is the condition for transition to individual training. The methodical problems of defining the critical thinking caused by “inflation” of critical thinking on one end and its “shrinking” on the other are shown and partially solved. The most important characteristics of critical thinking are seen as follows: openness, plasticity, goal-orientation, self-reflection and self-skepticism. The author shows the necessity of critical thinking’s elements, hypothesizing and questioning.На основе исторического и современного материала проанализированы значимые характеристики и условия формирования крити- ческого мышления, возникновение, формирование и дальнейшее развитие которого обусловлено социально-историческим контекстом, начиная с Древней Греции и заканчивая современным обществом. Обоснована необходимость форми- рования критического мышления как определя- ющего фактора развития личности в современ- ных условиях. Особенно значимым процесс формирования критического мышления становится в условиях перехода к персонифицированной парадигме образования. Обосновано, что условием перехода к индивидуальному обучению является развитие критического мышления как необходимого навыка отбора, анализа, систематизации, интерпретации информации. Показаны и частично устранены методические сложности в определении критического мышления, вызванные, с одной стороны, его «расширением», а с другой – «сужением». Выявлены значимые характеристики критического мышления: открытость, пластичность, целеориентированность, саморефлексивность и самоскептицизм. Продемонстрирована необходимость таких элементов критического мышления, как гипотезирование и вопрошание

A CLINICAL CASE OF LYSIS OF THROMBUS IN THE LEFT ATRIAL APPENDAGE IN A PATIENT WITH ATRIAL FIBRILLATION PREVIOUSLY TREATED WITH WARFARIN

The article describes the clinical observation of LAA thrombosis in a 46-year-old patient with atrial fibrillation that first occurred during taking warfarin; discusses further management of the patient. Due to inefficacy of medical cardioversion (CV) and the need to restore sinus rhythm, electric CV was planned. Before the planned restoration of the rhythm, transesophageal echocardiography was performed and a thrombus in the LAA was detected. Given that the patient had been on adequate warfarin therapy for a long time, it was decided to prescribe a drug from the direct oral anticoagulants group dabigatran etexilate at a dose of 150 mg BID for 8 weeks. The control transesophageal echocardiographic examination showed evidence of complete lysis of thrombus

Detection of 1p19q Deletion by Real-Time Comparative Quantitative PCR

1p/19q (1p and/or 19q) deletions are prognostic factors in oligodendroglial tumors (OT) and predict better survival after both chemotherapy and radiotherapy. While studying 1p/19q status as a potential variable within multivariate prognosis models for OT, we have frequently encountered unknown 1p/19q status within our glioma sample database due to lack of paired blood samples for loss of heterozygosity (LOH) assay and/or failure to perform fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). We realized that a 1p and 19q deletion assay that could be reliably performed solely on tumor DNA samples would allow us to fill in these molecular biology data “holes”. We built recombinant DNA with fragments of the selected “marker” genes in 1p (E2F2, NOTCH2), and 19q (PLAUR) and “reference” genes (ERC2, SPOCK1, and SPAG16 ) and used it as quantification standard in real-time PCR to gain absolute ratios of marker/reference gene copy numbers in tumor DNA samples, thus called comparative quantitative PCR (CQ-PCR). Using CQ-PCR, we identified 1p and/ or 19q deletions in majority of pure low-grade oligodenroglioma (OG) tumors (17/21, 81%), a large portion of anaplastic oligodendroglioma (AO) tumors (6/15, 47%), but rarely found in mixed oligoastrcytomas (OA) tumors (1/8, 13%). These data are consistent with results of LOH and FISH assays generally reported for these tumor types. In addition, 15 out 18 samples showed concordant results between FISH and CQ-PCR. We conclude that CQ-PCR is a potential means to gain 1p/19q deletion information, which prognostic and predictive values of CQ-PCR-derived 1p/19q status will be determined in a future study

Критическое мышление и его необходимость для системы высшего образования

Introduction. In modern literature on philosophy, pedagogy, psychology, the need for critical thinking for a person living in modern society, and for a graduate of a higher educational institution, is affirmed.Problem statement. The purpose of the article is to specify the reasons for the need for critical thinking. To achieve the goal at the first stage, the author analyzed the English-language review articles on various aspects of critical thinking.Methodology of the study. At the second step, based on the results of the first one, the most significant features of understanding critical thinking in philosophy (ideal, abstract carrier of critical thinking, emphasis on formal logical thought procedures), psychology (attention to thinking in specific situations, determining the connection between critical thinking and types of behavior, analysis of critical thinking skills in certain situations), pedagogy (orientation to the educational practice , reliance on empirical research).Outcomes. Based on the analysis of the review articles, the most significant coherent characteristics of critical thinking as a process were identified: the ability to fix a problem and to put forward hypotheses for its solution, reasoned analysis of hypotheses, comparison with other options, ability to refuse a preliminary solution to the problem, and others. It was also revealed that “intellectual virtues” are necessary for the implementation of critical thinking: the desire for education, responsible reasoning, mental flexibility, rejection of prejudices and intellectual egocentrism.Findings. The analysis of the documents of the World Economic Forum (2016, 2018) showed that critical thinking is included in the list of the main skills of students and professionals.Введение. В современной литературе по философии, педагогике, психологии утверждается необходимость критического мышления для человека, живущего в современном обществе, и для выпускника высшего учебного заведения.Постановка задачи. Цель статьи – конкретизация причин необходимости критического мышления.Методика и методология исследования. Для достижения цели на первом этапе автором проведен анализ англоязычных статей-обзоров, посвященных различным аспектам критического мышления. На втором шаге на основе результатов первого выявлены наиболее значимые особенности понимания критического мышления в философии (идеальный, абстрактный носитель критического мышления, акцент на формально-логических мыслительных процедурах), психологии (внимание к мышлению в конкретных ситуациях, определение связи критического мышления с типами поведения, анализ навыков критического мышления в определенных ситуациях), педагогике (ориентация на практику обучения, опора на эмпирические исследования).Результаты. На основе анализа статей-обзоров выявлены наиболее значимые непротиворечивые характеристики критического мышления как процесса: умение фиксировать проблему, выдвижение гипотез для ее решения, аргументированный анализ гипотез, сравнение с другими вариантами, возможность отказаться от предварительного решения проблемы и др. Кроме того, определено, что для реализации критического мышления необходимы «интеллектуальные добродетели»: стремление к образованности, ответственные рассуждения, пластичность, отказ от предрассудков и интеллектуальной эгоцентрированности.Выводы. Анализ документов Всемирного экономического форума (2016, 2018 г.) показал, что критическое мышление входит в перечень основных навыков обучающихся и профессионалов