Students' social activities, values, meaningfulness of life and self-confidence

The purpose of this study was to develop and test a model that describes the relations between participation of students in social activities oriented toward helping others, their values, namely, discrepancy between importance and attainability of values, meaningfulness of life and self-confidence. The sample consisted of 103 students aged from 18 to 41, 28.2% were males and 71.8% were females. In this research the M.Rokeach technique as modified by E.B. Fantalova, the Meaning-in-Life Orientations test (MOL) developed by D.A. Leontiev, the Self-confidence scale of the “Research of self-attitude” questionnaire (RS) developed by V.V.Stolin and S.R. Pantelejew, and questions from the third European Quality of Life Survey, which measure participation in social activities oriented towards helping others, were used. The first three instruments were translated into Latvian by S. Jirgena (now Mihailova). Validity and reliability of the Latvian versions of the MOL and the RS Self-confidence scale were evaluated, and the Latvian versions of both scales were modified. Correlation analysis and structural equation modeling (SEM) were used in order to test a theoretically developed model of students’ participation in social activities oriented towards helping others/ discrepancy between importance and attainability of values and meaningfulness of life outcome, and meaningfulness of life and self-confidence outcome. Firstly, it was found that discrepancy between importance and attainability of students’ values is not related to meaningfulness of life. In its turn, it was revealed that participation in such social activity as doing unpaid voluntary work in education, cultural and professional associations has a positive impact on meaningfulness of life and, in its turn, meaningfulness of life has a positive impact on self-confidence.publishersversionPeer reviewe

The dynamics of value system in 1998 and 2015 : Longitudinal research in Latvia

Values may change during life because a person obtains new life experience and competencies. In the past decade, many Latvian psychologists studied people's values and their connections with different factors like cultural, political, social, economic changes and other factors [1-3 and other]. Since 1994 Latvia has gone through different social-economic changes like crisis, economic growth, assumption to NATO and EU. and acceptation of euro currency. These changes can influence participants' values. The aim was to conduct a comparative longitudinal research in individuals' values in 1998 and 2015, at the beginning of their youth and then in adulthood, in order to answer the following questions: what values were in 1998 and 2015; what differences in values had appeared comparing 1998 and 2015 in same persons. Results showed that the most important values in 1998 and 2015 were "Family", "Love", "Responsibility". "Honesty" and "Cheerfulness". Significant changes appeared in "Health" that became significantly important in 2015 and replaced the importance of "Love". Most achievable values in 1998 and 2015 were "The beauty of nature and art" and "Cognition" but in 2015 also "Active life" which replaced "Self-confidence" that was important in 1998. Significant changes appeared in "Self-confidence", "Wisdom", "Active life", "Freedom", "Interesting job", "Learning" and "Friends" as well, where importance of some values increased and some decreased in 2015.publishersversionPeer reviewe

Heterochronic development of lateral plates in the three-spined stickleback induced by thyroid hormone level alterations

The three-spined stickleback Gasterosteus aculeatus is an important model for studying microevolution and parallel adaptation to freshwater environments. Marine and freshwater forms differ markedly in their phenotype, especially in the number of lateral plates, which are serially repeated elements of the exoskeleton. In fishes, thyroid hormones are involved in adaptation to salinity, as well as the developmental regulation of serially repeated elements. To study how thyroid hormones influence lateral plate development, we manipulated levels of triiodothyronine and thiourea during early ontogeny in a marine and freshwater population with complete and low plate phenotypes, respectively. The development of lateral plates along the body and keel was heterochronic among experimental groups. Fish with a low dosage of exogenous triiodothyronine and those treated with thiourea exhibited retarded development of bony plates compared to both control fish and those treated with higher a triiodothyronine dosage. Several triiodothyronine-treated individuals of the marine form expressed the partial lateral plate phenotype. Some individuals with delayed development of lateral plates manifested 1-2 extra bony plates located above the main row of lateral plates.Peer reviewe

The influence of formulation and manufacturing process parameters on the characteristics of lyophilized orally disintegrating tablets

Gelatin is a principal excipient used as a binder in the formulation of lyophilized orally disintegrating tablets. The current study focuses on exploiting the physicochemical properties of gelatin by varying formulation parameters to determine their influence on orally disintegrating tablet (ODT) characteristics. Process parameters, namely pH and ionic strength of the formulations, and ball milling were investigated to observe their effects on excipient characteristics and tablet formation. The properties and characteristics of the formulations and tablets which were investigated included: glass transition temperature, wettability, porosity, mechanical properties, disintegration time, morphology of the internal structure of the freeze-dried tablets, and drug dissolution. The results from the pH study revealed that adjusting the pH of the formulation away from the isoelectric point of gelatin, resulted in an improvement in tablet disintegration time possibly due to increase in gelatin swelling resulting in greater tablet porosity. The results from the ionic strength study revealed that the inclusion of sodium chloride influenced tablet porosity, tablet morphology and the glass transition temperature of the formulations. Data from the milling study showed that milling the excipients influenced formulation characteristics, namely wettability and powder porosity. The study concludes that alterations of simple parameters such as pH and salt concentration have a significant influence on formulation of ODT

Vanadyl complexes with dansyl-labelled dipicolinic acid ligands: synthesis, phosphatase inhibition activity and cellular uptake studies

Vanadium complexes have been previously utilised as potent inhibitors of cysteine based phosphatases (CBPs). Herein, we present the synthesis and characterisation of two new fluorescently labelled vanadyl complexes (14 and 15) with bridged di-picolinic acid ligand. These compounds differ significantly from previous vanadyl complexes with phosphatase inhibition properties in that the metal-chelating part is a single tetradentate unit, which should afford greater stability and scope for synthetic elaboration then the earlier complexes. These new complexes inhibit a selection of cysteine based phosphatases (CBPs) in the nM range with some selectivity. Fluorescence spectroscopic studies (including fluorescence anisotropy) were carried out to demonstrate that the complexes are not simply acting as vanadyl delivery vehicles but they interact with the proteins. Finally, we present preliminary fluorescence microscopy studies to demonstrate that the complexes are cell permeable and localise throughout the cytoplasm of NIH3T3 cells

Under Lenin’s watchful eye: Growing up in the former soviet union

Using autoethnography as a primary methodology, I draw on my experience growing up in the former Soviet Union in the late 1970s and 1980s to illuminate the everyday life in the authoritarian regime and its surveillance apparatus. At that point, the corruption of the regime was evident to most citizens as black markets flourished; illegal monetary exchanges were widespread, and bribery became a legitimate institution. However, as the economic sector was slipping out of Soviet control, the public institutions such as media and education were still in the business of propagating Soviet ideology. That ideology permeated every aspect of culture, however, it was not enforced through a top-down surveillance, but rather through an internalized surveillance based in belief and faith in authoritarian institutions of power. As a result, it produced individuals torn between faith in the ideals and the reality of the everyday life. In the essay I plan to examine my own experiences through theoretical lens of self-surveillance to make an argument about the production of subjectivity in authoritarian regimes

Googling your genes: Personal genomics and the discourse of citizen bioscience in the network age

In this essay, I argue that the rise of personal genomics is technologically, economically, and most importantly, discursively tied to the rise of network subjectivity, an imperative of which is an understanding of self as always already a subject in the network. I illustrate how personal genomics takes full advantage of social media technology and network subjectivity to advertise a new way of doing research that emphasizes collaboration between researchers and its members. Sharing one\u27s genetic information is considered to be an act of citizenship, precisely because it is good for the network. Here members are encouraged to think of themselves as dividuals, or nodes, in the network and their actions acquire value based on that imperative. Therefore, citizen bioscience is intricately tied, both in discourse and practices, to the growth of the network in the age of new media

Googling your genes: personal genomics and the discourse of citizen bioscience in the network age

In this essay, I argue that the rise of personal genomics is technologically, economically, and most importantly, discursively tied to the rise of network subjectivity, an imperative of which is an understanding of self as always already a subject in the network. I illustrate how personal genomics takes full advantage of social media technology and network subjectivity to advertise a new way of doing research that emphasizes collaboration between researchers and its members. Sharing one’s genetic information is considered to be an act of citizenship, precisely because it is good for the network. Here members are encouraged to think of themselves as dividuals, or nodes, in the network and their actions acquire value based on that imperative. Therefore, citizen bioscience is intricately tied, both in discourse and practices, to the growth of the network in the age of new media

The violence of merit

This essay examines how, in the academy, the language of merit is used to discipline and conform bodies to the standards set up to uphold conditions benefiting whiteness. Therefore, the violence of merit is one of the ways whiteness reasserts itself