Personal regulators for building the image of the future at different stages of professionalization

Background. In today's rapidly changing world, it is extremely important to maintain one's own trajectory in relation to life goals, the image of the future at different stages of professionalization. In this regard, it is relevant to determine personal regulators that allow for conscious and purposeful influencing the achievement of the expected future and their change in the process of professionalization. Objective. The study had its purpose to investigate the image of the future, its characteristics (completeness, clarity, time perspective), functions and personal regulators (self-regulation, coping behavior and life orientations) at different stages of professionalization. Methods. The study implemented quantitative methods: a basic questionnaire by V.I. Morosanova "Style of self-regulation of behavior - SSPM", 2015; “Time Perspective Questionnaire” (F. Zimbardo, 1997) adapted by A. Syrtsova, 2007; "Test of Life-Meaning Orientations" (Crumbaugh, Maholick, 1964) adapted by D.A. Leontiev, 2000; methodology "WCQ – Ways of Coping Questionnaire" (R. Lazarus and S. Folkman, 1985) adapted by T.L. Kryukova, E.V. Kuftyak, M.S. Zamyshlyaeva, 2004. And qualitative methods: the method “Unfinished Sentences” (Sachs, Levy, 1950) modified by the authors and metaphorical associative maps “Roads” (G. Salpeter, 2014) for which the author’s semi-standardized interview was developed (S.I. Konzhin, M.V. Saporovskaya, 2021). Sample. The study involved 184 people - men and women from 16 to 40 years old (M = 23.2; SD = 7.43) who gave informed consent to participate in it. The respondents were divided into three empirical groups: respondents at the stage of professional self-determination (aged 16-17); respondents at the stage of obtaining professional education (aged 18-25); respondents engaged in professional activities (aged 26-40). Results. The study revealed significant differences in the influence of self-regulation, coping behavior and life-meaning orientations on the time perspective of the future at different stages of professionalization. Content-analysis allowed to establish the structure, clarity, and completeness of the image of the future. Regression analysis indicated that “Locus of control-Self”, the coping strategy “Planning to solve a problem” and the regulatory-cognitive competence “Planning” make the greatest contribution to the regulation of the Future image of the respondents. Focus on the Future, the relevance of planning the Future image have certain differences and specifics at the different stages of professionalization. Conclusions. Locus of control, strategies of coping behavior and regulatory competencies can be considered as personal regulators of creating an image of the future at different stages of professionalization

Method of transforming unauthorized dump into municipal solid waste landfill

We resolved the issue of eliminating unauthorized dumps of municipal solid waste (MSW). The MSW placement problem attracts special attention of the urban residents in the Russian Federation. However, the number of unauthorized MSW dumps in our country continues to increase. The accumulation of municipal waste in certain localities of urbanized centers, as well as in unauthorized dumps near residential areas is a serious problem for the environment and human health. MSW decomposition products lead to chemical, physical, and biological pollution of the lithosphere, hydrosphere and atmosphere. It is difficult to eliminate unauthorized dumps of municipal solid waste, since it is virtually impossible to have advance knowledge about the places of their formation. The objects of our investigation were MSW dumps. We conducted laboratory studies on the composition of wastewaters from the areas of unauthorized dumps within Saratov region, and discovered that precipitation-generated runoff from unauthorized dumps contained manifold excesses of toxic pollutants (heavy metals, organic matter, etc.). We proposed an original method for converting unauthorized dumps of solid household waste into the MSW landfills. The method includes two components: vertical planning of previously formed dump volume and annular surrounding drainage of the open type. The drainage ditch is connected to the water-collecting well, which is linked to the water storage tank joined, in its turn, to the water treatment plant

Spatial complexity of character-based writing systems and arithmetic in primary school: a longitudinal study

Previous research has consistently found an association between spatial and mathematical abilities. We hypothesized that this link may partially explain the consistently observed advantage in mathematics demonstrated by East Asian children. Spatial complexity of the character-based writing systems may reflect or lead to a cognitive advantage relevant to mathematics. Seven hundered and twenty one 6-9-year old children from the UK and Russia were assessed on a battery of cognitive skills and arithmetic. The Russian children were recruited from specialist linguistic schools and divided into four different language groups, based on the second language they were learning (i.e., English, Spanish, Chinese, and Japanese). The UK children attended regular schools and were not learning any second language. The testing took place twice across the school year, once at the beginning, before the start of the second language acquisition, and once at the end of the year. The study had two aims: (1) to test whether spatial ability predicts mathematical ability in 7-9 year-old children across the samples; (2) to test whether acquisition and usage of a character-based writing system leads to an advantage in performance in arithmetic and related cognitive tasks. The longitudinal link from spatial ability to mathematics was found only in the Russian sample. The effect of second language acquisition on mathematics or other cognitive skills was negligible, although some effect of Chinese language on mathematical reasoning was suggested. Overall, the findings suggest that although spatial ability is related to mathematics at this age, one academic year of exposure to spatially complex writing systems is not enough to provide a mathematical advantage. Other educational and socio-cultural factors might play a greater role in explaining individual and cross-cultural differences in arithmetic at this age

Conformational fingerprint of blood and tissue ACEs: Personalized approach.

BackgroundThe pattern of binding of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) to 18 epitopes on human angiotensin I-converting enzyme (ACE)-"conformational fingerprint of ACE"-is a sensitive marker of subtle conformational changes of ACE due to mutations, different glycosylation in various cells, the presence of ACE inhibitors and specific effectors, etc.Methodology/principal findingsWe described in detail the methodology of the conformational fingerprinting of human blood and tissue ACEs that allows detecting differences in surface topography of ACE from different tissues, as well detecting inter-individual differences. Besides, we compared the sensitivity of the detection of ACE inhibitors in the patient's plasma using conformational fingerprinting of ACE (with only 2 mAbs to ACE, 1G12 and 9B9) and already accepted kinetic assay and demonstrated that the mAbs-based assay is an order of magnitude more sensitive. This approach is also very effective in detection of known (like bilirubin and lysozyme) and still unknown ACE effectors/inhibitors which nature and set could vary in different tissues or different patients.Conclusions/significancePhenotyping of ACE (and conformational fingerprinting of ACE as a part of this novel approach for characterization of ACE) in individuals really became informative and clinically relevant. Appreciation (and counting on) of inter-individual differences in ACE conformation and accompanying effectors make the application of this approach for future personalized medicine with ACE inhibitors more accurate. This (or similar) methodology can be applied to any enzyme/protein for which there is a number of mAbs to its different epitopes

Use of Asphaltene Stabilizers for the Production of Very Low Sulphur Fuel Oil

Marine fuel oil stability has always been an issue for bunkering companies and ship owners all around the world and the problem has become even more apparent with the introduction of the Global Sulphur Gap by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) in 2020. In this article, the historical background and the technical reasons why marine fuel oils lose their stability, as well as methods for preventing such instability from occurring, are presented. While it is possible to make fuel compositions stable by adjusting their composition in such a way that the components of the fuel are compatible, considering that marine fuel oils are often comprised of the least value-added products, the method of adding special fuel oil stabilizers (also known as “asphaltene dispersants”) is usually preferred. An overview of such stabilizers is presented; their chemical composition, based on the information provided by the manufacturers and/or inventors is studied. In addition, the experimental research of the produced marine fuel oil and its components is carried out. The results of the model composition studies show that adding even as little as 10% of residual asphaltene-rich components can make a composition with a high stability reserve unstable. It was also shown that the content of the asphaltene-rich component in a stable fuel can be increased from 3% to 10% by introducing stabilizers in low amounts (up to 2000 ppm), thus lowering the amount of higher value-added, mostly naphthene-paraffinic-based components. Different methods of fuel stability evaluation were studied and tested, most of them being in correlation with one another. Several types of stability enhancers were tried out on unstable fuel, with stabilizers based on alkylphenol formaldehyde resin showing the best results

ACE phenotyping in human heart

<div><p>Aims</p><p>Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE), which metabolizes many peptides and plays a key role in blood pressure regulation and vascular remodeling, is expressed as a type-1 membrane glycoprotein on the surface of different cells, including endothelial cells of the heart. We hypothesized that the local conformation and, therefore, the properties of heart ACE could differ from lung ACE due to different microenvironment in these organs.</p><p>Methods and results</p><p>We performed ACE phenotyping (ACE levels, conformation and kinetic characteristics) in the human heart and compared it with that in the lung. ACE activity in heart tissues was 10–15 lower than that in lung. Various ACE effectors, LMW endogenous ACE inhibitors and HMW ACE-binding partners, were shown to be present in both heart and lung tissues. “Conformational fingerprint” of heart ACE (i.e., the pattern of 17 mAbs binding to different epitopes on the ACE surface) significantly differed from that of lung ACE, which reflects differences in the local conformations of these ACEs, likely controlled by different ACE glycosylation in these organs. Substrate specificity and pH-optima of the heart and lung ACEs also differed. Moreover, even within heart the apparent ACE activities, the local ACE conformations, and the content of ACE inhibitors differ in atria and ventricles.</p><p>Conclusions</p><p>Significant differences in the local conformations and kinetic properties of heart and lung ACEs demonstrate tissue specificity of ACE and provide a structural base for the development of mAbs able to distinguish heart and lung ACEs as a potential blood test for predicting atrial fibrillation risk.</p></div