Philosophy of the modern era and videogames: the "disenchantment of the world" myth

This article refers to the philosophical study of myth construction in videogames. We have studied how the philosophical ideas of the Modem Era (which has the idea of rationalization in its core) were presented in videogames using horror games as examples. We have analyzed the narrative of Modernization as “disenchantment of the world" (M. Weber) in several game scries (Outlast. The Evil Within, Resident Evil). Eventually, we have concluded that the narration in these games is constructed in accordance with a certain scheme: a) supernatural powers are set in action, b) a player discovers their real essence - they arc the product of scientific experiments. Thus, mystical, supernatural and religious objects appear to be merely illusions, but the objects of science arc proclaimed to really exist. We claim therefore that the “disenchantment of the world" myth functions in these games. Basing on videogames as a phenomenon of modem culture we show how the ideas and the culture of the Modem Era accepting science as the only possible source of the truth continue to exist today

Remembering the forgotten child: the role of immune checkpoint inhibition in patients with human immunod eficiency virus and cancer.

Patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection have a high risk of developing virally-mediated cancers. These tumors have several features that could make them vulnerable to immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) including, but not limited to, increased expression of the CTLA-4 and PD-1 checkpoints on their CD4+ T cells. Even so, HIV-positive patients are generally excluded from immunotherapy cancer clinical trials due to safety concerns. Hence, only case series have been published regarding HIV-positive patients with cancer who received ICIs, but these reports of individuals with a variety of malignancies demonstrate that ICIs have significant activity, exceeding a 65% objective response rate in Kaposi sarcoma. Furthermore, high-grade immune toxicities occurred in fewer than 10% of treated patients. The existing data suggest that the underlying biologic mechanisms that mediate development of cancer in HIV-infected patients should render them susceptible to ICI treatment. Preliminary, albeit limited, clinical experience indicates that checkpoint blockade is both safe and efficacious in this setting. Additional clinical trials that include HIV-positive patients with cancer are urgently needed

Sociocultural Competence Training in Higher Engineering Education: The Role of Gaming Simulation

The present study focuses on competency-based approach in higher engineering education. Today engineers are required to be socially, culturally and communicatively skilled and able to act in constantly changing sociocultural environment. Presently the development of engineers’ sociocultural competency is of great importance, which is seen from the criteria for accrediting engineering programs of numerous international organizations, e.g. ABET. The paper presents some methods of sociocultural competency training based on the techniques of gaming simulation. Here we describe the educational games “Intercultural communication” and “The art of presentation” for the students of Elite Education Department of National Research Tomsk Polytechnic University. The results of incorporating the gaming technologies in education contribute to the effectiveness of engineers’ sociocultural competency training. The paper ends by pointing out gaming simulation which is a cutting-edge pedagogical approach which allows students to participate in realistic scenarios and develop sociocultural competency

Forming engineers' sociocultural competence: Engineering ethics at Tomsk polytechnic university

The aim of the present research is to discuss Tomsk Polytechnic University in respect of forming engineers' sociocultural competence and teaching engineering ethics. Today international standards of training engineers cover efficient communication skills, ability to understand societal and environment context, professional and ethical responsibility. This article deals with the problem of contradiction between the need to form engineers' sociocultural competence in Russian higher education institutions in order to meet the requirements of international accreditation organizations and the real capabilities of existing engineering curricula. We have described ethics teaching experience of TPU, studied the engineering master programs of TPU to see how the planned results are achieved. We have also given our recommendations to alter the structure of TPU educational curricula, which can also be applied in other higher education institutions

Ethical Issues in Russian Higher Education Institutions

Today humanity faces a lot of problems due to a huge gap between scientific and technological capabilities of humanity and its ethical maturity. Morality crisis is the base of many economic, social, and political crises. Higher education institutions have a significant influence on the individual's moral behavior formation. However, even in the higher education system, there are incidents of unethical behavior. Main ethical problems faced by students in higher education institutions are: conflicts between academic personnel, complications with student involvement in scientific research, issues of co-authorship, problems of the research finding and funding. The purpose of this article is to identify and investigate the causes of some ethical problems connected with Russian higher education institutions. Authors conclude that the current system of higher education in Russia provokes unethical behavior of students, teachers and researches which is gradually becoming the norm in the academic community and then leads to the decrease of the morality level of Russian society

Komarov Botanical Institute, Mire Vegetation Units on St. Petersburg Russian Small-scale Maps and their Legends

Arctic Council´s Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna Working Group´s (CAFF) Circumpolar Flora Group Proceedings

Specific features of bird community formation depending on the degree of anthropogenic impact

The population density and relative abundance of some bird species reach the highest values in the communities of habitats with a high degree of anthropogenic transformation. The species diversity of birds shows an inverse correlation with the index of anthropogenic impact (in grades) calculated with regard to a number of parameters. Relevant correlations change periodically, with the correlation coefficient reaching the highest values in the nesting period and decreasing to a minimum during the flight period. © 2008 MAIK Nauka

Designing educational games to teach philosophy: case study

Today, more and more attention is paid to video games as an effective learning tool due to the fact tha