Formation of ICT competencies of postgraduate students of teacher education based on interactive techniques

The given paper presents research for the formation of ICT competencies of postgraduate students of teacher education through interactive teaching technique

Zinc oxide-nickel cermet selective coatings obtained by sequential electrodeposition

The investigation of pulse electrodepositing modes influence on crystal structure, morphology and optical properties of ZnO has revealed the conditions in which quasi-one-dimensional (1D) ZnO nanorod arrays are formed as separate nanorods. Due to a sufficiently high resistance of zinc oxide, the electrodeposition of nickel on the fluorine doped tin oxide (FTO)/ZnO surfaces carried out in space between the ZnO nanorods. An incomplete filling of the gaps between nanorods by the nickel nanoparticles through subsequent Ni electrodeposition ensured the creation of ZnO–Ni graded cermets. The cermets, in which electrochemical filling of the spaces between ZnO nanorods by Ni, was performed in the pulse mode. It provided higher absorption of visible and near IR light. It was shown that the manufactured ZnO–Ni graded cermets have high light absorption combined with comparatively low thermal losses, so these cermets are promising cheap and affordable selective coatings for solar heat collectors

Structure, optical, electrical and thermoelectric properties of solution-processed Li-doped NiO films grown by SILAR

The article presents a new facial synthesis of Li-doped NiO films (NiO:Li) via an easy and cost-effective method Successive Ionic Layer Adsorption and Reaction (SILAR) with the processing of the obtained NiO films in a lithium-containing aqueous solution for their transformation after annealing into NiO:Li layers. Comparative analysis of crystal structure, optical, electrical and thermoelectric properties of the obtained NiO and NiO:Li 420-1050 nm thick films have reveiled a cubic rock-salt NiO structure, at that, NiO:Li samples are nanocrystalline single phased Li-NiO solid solutions. The fabricated NiO and NiO:Li films are p-type semiconductors with activation energy Ea = 0.1 eV and Ea = 0.25‒0.31 eV, respectively. The obtained in-plane Seebeck coefficients Z are in the range 0.20–0.33 mV/К. Notwithstanding the fact that the maximum values of the thermoelectric power factors P=2.2 μW/K2·m, are rather small, they were achieved if the hot end of the NiO:Li film was heated only to 115 °C. Thus, the produced in this work new low cost thermoelectric thin film material is suitable for a production of electrical energy for low-power devices due to absorption of low-potential heat

Drug-Induced Acute Kidney Injury

Drug-induced nephrotoxicity is the third most common cause of acute kidney injury (AKI). The aim of the study was to analyse and summarise data on the factors and mechanisms responsible for increased risk of drug-induced AKI, to analyse potential methods of its prevention and treatment. At present, the following phenotypes of drug-induced AKI are distinguished: acute vascular disease, acute glomerular disease, acute tubular injury / necrosis, and acute interstitial nephritis. It was discovered that most often these complications occur following the use of antimicrobial drugs, renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system inhibitors, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, and anticancer drugs, including targeted therapy. Risk factors for drug-induced AKI include age >65, female gender, low body weight, pre-existing chronic kidney disease, hypovolemia, hypoalbuminemia, acute and chronic heart failure, diabetes, malignancies, liver cirrhosis, prolonged use of nephrotoxic drugs, and simultaneous use of two or more nephrotoxic drugs. Discontinuation of the drug which resulted in kidney failure is the first and foremost principle for managing not only drug-induced, but all AKI patients. The use of potentially nephrotoxic drugs should be avoided, especially in high-risk patients, in order to prevent drug-induced AKI. If a patient needs a drug that affects renal hemodynamics, the therapy should begin with a minimum effective dose, and combinations of two and more nephrotoxic drugs should be avoided. Close monitoring of kidney function is crucial for high-risk patients. They should also be informed about the importance of adequate water consumption schedule for prevention of hypovolemia

Long-term photometric behaviour of XZ Dra Binarity or magnetic cycle of a Blazhko type RRab star

The extended photometry available for XZ Dra, a Blazhko type RR Lyrae star, makes it possible to study its long-term behavior. It is shown that its pulsation period exhibit cyclic, but not strictly regular variations with approx. 7200 d period. The Blazhko period (approx. 76 d) seems to follow the observed period changes of the fundamental mode pulsation with dP_B/dP_0=7.7 x 10^4 gradient. Binary model cannot explain this order of period change of the Blazhko modulation, nevertheless it can be brought into agreement with the O-C data of the pulsation. The possibility of occurrence of magnetic cycle is raised.Comment: 13 pages, 11 figures (submitted to A&A

Tunneling effects in tilted magnetic fields in n-InGaAs/GaAs structures with strongly coupled double quantum wells

The effects of tunneling between two parallel two-dimensional electron gases in n-InGaAs/GaAs nanostructures with strongly coupled double quantum wells with a change in the in-plane component of a tilted magnetic field (up to Bnorm of matrix = 9.0 T) in the temperature range T = 1.8-70.0 K are investigated. A nonmonotonic temperature dependence of the inverse quantum lifetime τq -(T) is obtained from analysis of the dependence of the longitudinal resistance on the parallel component of the tilted magnetic field at fixed temperatures, ρxx(Bnorm of matrix, T). The quadratic portion of this dependence is found to be due to the contribution of inelastic electron-electron scattering. The decrease in the inverse quantum lifetime τq -(T) at T > 0.1T F cannot be described within known theories; it seems, it is not related to the processes of electron momentum relaxation. © 2013 Pleiades Publishing, Ltd

ICT competence of a teacher in the context of digital transformation of education

The article presents the results of a study on mastering the ICT competence of the teaching staff of the Belgorod State National Research University in dynamics, which are based on the requirements for the ICT competence of the teacher and include 3 levels of digital literacy: the basic level, the level of proficiency in working in a digital educational environment and level of proficiency in digital educational technologie

State of university research governance in West and Central Africa : University of Ghana report

The study identified strengths and weaknesses in research governance at the University of Ghana (UG) with respect to the organization of research, Institutional Steering of Research and the management of research. It presents issues, capacity building requirements, and recommendations to the government of Ghana, the University of Ghana, research funders and researchers. It recommends the government of Ghana put in place a National Research Policy and provide improved infrastructure to promote research governance at UG. Capacity building requirements include training in research project management and administration, fund raising and proposal writing, dissemination of results, and strategic planning

A high resolution map of the Arabidopsis thaliana developmental transcriptome based on RNA-seq profiling

© 2016 The Authors The Plant Journal © 2016 John Wiley & Sons LtdArabidopsis thaliana is a long established model species for plant molecular biology, genetics and genomics, and studies of A. thaliana gene function provide the basis for formulating hypotheses and designing experiments involving other plants, including economically important species. A comprehensive understanding of the A. thaliana genome and a detailed and accurate understanding of the expression of its associated genes is therefore of great importance for both fundamental research and practical applications. Such goal is reliant on the development of new genetic and genomic resources, involving new methods of data acquisition and analysis. We present here the genome-wide analysis of A. thaliana gene expression profiles across different organs and developmental stages using high-throughput transcriptome sequencing. The expression of 25 706 protein-coding genes, as well as their stability and their spatiotemporal specificity, was assessed in 79 organs and developmental stages. A search for alternative splicing events identified 37 873 previously unreported splice junctions, approximately 30% of them occurred in intergenic regions. These potentially represent novel spliced genes that are not included in the TAIR10 database. These data are housed in an open-access web-based database, TraVA (Transcriptome Variation Analysis, http://travadb.org/), which allows visualization and analysis of gene expression profiles and differential gene expression between organs and developmental stages