The Soil Classification course in Russian universities: an important ingredient of education

Teaching soil classification in the universities of Russia is discussed as a rather new experience in the education of specialists in environmental science. The lecture courses (24-30 academic hours) change following the inevitable changes in soil classification systems. As introduction, an outline of objectives and structure of soil classifications is given followed by a brief overview of most known national systems, which is also important for understanding the difficulties, origin and problems of the International WRB system. The latter is the central point of the course, its principles are explained, main diagnostic features of RSGs are communicated, and students are trained to use it basing on the descriptions of soil profiles and analytical data to them. In conclusion, the reasons to know and to work with soil classifications are specified as for future soil scientists, so for specialists in environmental science.

Transformation of Political Communication Functions in the Regional Political Process (Evidence from the Tyumen Oblast)

The relevance of the policy areas reflected in this scientific article stems from the essential and peculiar fact that the entire international community increases interest in political communication because of its functionality and flexibility. The transformation of communication functions of a political nature considered within the constituent entities of the Russian Federation is vital for each of the spheres of State administration. It is the multifaceted nature of the topic that determines its importance in both academic and policy circles. A literate and intensive study of the development of political communication makes it possible to conclude the multifaceted influence of the historical era on the political structure of both the country as a whole and the subjects in particular. This aspect shows the diversity of communication functions in the State's political life and the likelihood of their lasting transformation. This article aims to give qualitative consideration to the various functions of political communication, using the example of the Tyumen region as an essential subject of the Russian Federation. The primary method of investigation of this problem was the analysis of scientific works of leading political scientists, philosophers and sociologists. Thanks to these works, the authors were able to trace the relationship between an era, type of the State, its social orientation and the development of political communication functions in terms of regional forms. The functions of political communication in the regional process of the Tyumen Oblast are directly dependent on institutional and functional groups and lobby associations, which are common in all regions. Knowing the dependency of functions on the well-defined aspects of political organization in an article helps to predict, or at least track, the likelihood of new functional diversity in political communication and steer it in the right direction

A data complexity and rewritability tetrachotomy of ontology-mediated queries with a covering axiom

Aiming to understand the data complexity of answering conjunctive queries mediated by an axiom stating that a class is covered by the union of two other classes, we show that deciding their first-order rewritability is PSPACE-hard and obtain a number of sufficient conditions for membership in AC0, L, NL, and P. Our main result is a complete syntactic AC0/NL/P/CONP tetrachotomy of path queries under the assumption that the covering classes are disjoint

Wavelet-based multifractal analysis of dynamic infrared thermograms to assist in early breast cancer diagnosis

Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer among women and despite recent advances in the medical field, there are still some inherent limitations in the currently used screening techniques. The radiological interpretation of screening X-ray mammograms often leads to over-diagnosis and, as a consequence, to unnecessary traumatic and painful biopsies. Here we propose a computer-aided multifractal analysis of dynamic infrared (IR) imaging as an efficient method for identifying women with risk of breast cancer. Using a wavelet-based multi-scale method to analyze the temporal fluctuations of breast skin temperature collected from a panel of patients with diagnosed breast cancer and some female volunteers with healthy breasts, we show that the multifractal complexity of temperature fluctuations observed in healthy breasts is lost in mammary glands with malignant tumor. Besides potential clinical impact, these results open new perspectives in the investigation of physiological changes that may precede anatomical alterations in breast cancer development

Abstract P-24: Microscopic Analyses of Liquid-Liquid Phase Separation Induced by Linker Histone H1.0

Background: Liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS) that leads to the formation of temporary functional domains in cells plays an important role in the processes of chromatin condensation and gene regulation. Earlier, it was demonstrated that histone H1.4 can form LLPS droplets with DNA. In the present work, LLPS was studied for histone H1.0, which is mainly expressed in differentiated and non-dividing cells. H1.0 is involved in cancer development: its amount decreases with the progression of tumor cells to malignancy. Methods: LSM710 confocal microscope (Zeiss) equipped with the 40x/1.2W objective was used to image mixtures of H1.0 with Cy3/Cy5 labeled DNA or nucleosomes in fluorescent and transmitted-light channels at the excitation of 514 nm. The formation of condensates as a result of LLPS was confirmed by salt-jump and FRAP/FLIP experiments. Results: Condensates were not observed when the ratio of negative to positive charges (N/P) in the samples was >1. At N/P~0.7, optically homogeneous droplet-like condensates were found. The appearance of condensates, their size and shape depended on concentrations of H1.0 and DNA. LLPS condensates but not aggregates disappeared by salt-jump to 650 mM NaCl. FRAP/FLIP experiments revealed a moderate rate of fluorescence recovery (τ½22s) indicating moderate DNA mobility of the H1.0-mediated condensates. The appearance of condensates was also observed in the mixtures of H1.0, DNA and Cy3/Cy5-labeled nucleosomes. Nucleosomes were involved in the condensate formation and found to be 2-fold more mobile (τ½10 s) than DNA. Conclusion: LLPS-related properties of H1.0 were studied for DNA and nucleosomes in vitro. Comparison with H1.4 shows that H1.0 forms liquid condensates of approximately the same size. Our result also may indicate that chromatin retains pronounced dynamic properties in H1.0-induced droplets despite the fact that H1.0 induces the formation of more compact chromatin

A multi-proxy approach for revealing recent climatic changes in the Russian Altai

For the first time we present a multi-proxy data set for the Russian Altai, consisting of Siberian larch tree-ring width (TRW), latewood density (MXD), δ13C and δ18O in cellulose chronologies obtained for the period 1779-2007 and cell wall thickness (CWT) for 1900-2008. All of these parameters agree well between each other in the high-frequency variability, while the low-frequency climate information shows systematic differences. The correlation analysis with temperature and precipitation data from the closest weather station and gridded data revealed that annual TRW, MXD, CWT, and δ13C data contain a strong summer temperature signal, while δ18O in cellulose represents a mixed summer and winter temperature and precipitation signal. The temperature and precipitation reconstructions from the Belukha ice core and Teletskoe lake sediments were used to investigate the correspondence of different independent proxies. Low frequency patterns in TRW and δ13C chronologies are consistent with temperature reconstructions from nearby Belukha ice core and Teletskoe lake sediments showing a pronounced warming trend in the last century. Their combination could be used for the regional temperature reconstruction. The long-term δ18O trend agrees with the precipitation reconstruction from the Teletskoe lake sediment indicating more humid conditions during the twentieth century. Therefore, these two proxies could be combined for the precipitation reconstructio

A way to increase the efficiency of straw spreaders

The use of high-quality bedding is important for the health of farm animals. Straw is an excellent material for bedding, but before use it must be crushed to particles no larger than 100 mm, which will achieve optimal moisture and gas absorption capacity, as well as simplify the mechanization of application and cleaning. Centrifugal spreaders, belt conveyors and blow spreaders are used to apply litter. The paper considers some types of litter spreaders used in farms in the north-West. It is revealed that, along with the obvious advantages, the considered machines have disadvantages. The main one is the uneven distribution of the litter when it is applied. This, in turn, leads to the need for manual labor when leveling the straw layer after its introduction in a mechanized way. A new design of the spreader-blower is proposed aimed at ensuring the uniformity of the litter layer during application. The calculation of optimization of some parameters of the new installation is described. In addition to the calculated value of the straw particle velocity, the angle of inclination of the front wall of the discharge duct is also determined

Evidence for RNA synthesis in the intergenic region between enhancer and promoter and its inhibition by insulators in Drosophila melanogaster

Uncovering the nature of communication between enhancers, promoters and insulators is important for understanding the fundamental mechanisms that ensure appropriate gene expression levels. Here we describe an approach employing transient expression of genetic luciferase reporter gene constructs with quantitative RT–PCR analysis of transcription between an enhancer and Hsp70 promoter. We tested genetic constructs containing gypsy and/or Fab7 insulators in different orientations, and an enhancer from copia LTR-retroelement [(enh)copia]. A single gypsy or Fab7 insulator inserted between the promoter and enhancer in any polarity reduced enhancer action. A pair of insulators flanking the gene in any orientation exhibited increased insulation activity. We detected promoter-independent synthesis of non-coding RNA in the intergenic region of the constructs, which was induced by the enhancer in both directions and repressed by a single insulator or a pair of insulators. These results highlight the involvement of RNA-tracking mechanisms in the communications between enhancers and promoters, which are inhibited by insulators

The «Project Method Vs» Conventional Teaching

In recent years an interest towards the ‘project method has been resumed in Russia. It was suggested by American pedagogues in the beginning of the XX century and was widely used in Soviet school in the 1920s. However, in the 1930s it was rejected. For this reason it is necessary to regard prospects for the Project Method application in the school of future having evaluated its merits and demerits in the context of modern psychological and pedagogical knowledge. As the means of psychological grounding of the project method use we review a process of forming the idea about complex intellectual operations, partly or completely un-observable, such as generalization, analysis, synthesis, etc. Theoretical research was enhanced by the experimental work of a general kind which included organizing and conducting the contest of projects on mathematics during four years on the basis of Physics and Mathematics Faculty of Bunin Elets State University. Competition results revealed new problems that must be taken into account in the organization of project activities. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2015.v6n5s4p17