Periodicity of professional pedagogical education within bachelor’s and master’s programmes in natural sciences

The article provides grounding and a methodological macro-development basis for a system periodic model of professional pedagogical education within bachelor's and master’s programmes in natural sciences. In the abovementioned context, periodicity is regarded as a universally applicable procedural basis for multilevel continuous professional pedagogical education in the sphere of natural sciences. A key category of system periodic model of professional pedagogical education within bachelor's and master’s programmes in natural sciences is a didactic cycle characterised by purposefulness, internal system integrity, dynamism, iterativity, controllability and hierarchy of levels based on phase logic. Didactic cycle is represented as a dual procedure of development of subject-subject relations oriented to correlation changes of self-balancing systems depending on quantitative augmentation in a form of grasping of content of professional pedagogical education within bachelor's and master’s programmes in natural sciences to qualitative personal transformations. Realisation of the hierarchy position is realised as macro-didactic, mesodidactic and micro-didactic cycles within the structure of a system model. Their attributive signs are goals, peculiarities of learning activity within the process of subject-subject dialogic interaction, types of solved tasks and performance. We have defined and characterised specificity of phases of didactic cycle: initiatives and perspectives, designing, implementation, assessment of results.peer-reviewe

Situational context of environmental university education

The scientific interest in improving the environmental training of university students emphasizes the training technology associated with the disclosure of their personal and professional potential through inclusion in the joint solution of environmental problems not in abstract but in real life situations. The use of situationality for educational purposes creates an internal unity of the learning process and facilitates the professional socialization of graduates. The aim of the study was to develop a model of environmental education for future ecologists based on situational analysis technology. Theoretical and practical methods of system generalization, comparative analogy, questionnaires, pedagogical evaluation, and modelling were used in the development of the model, which provided objectivity and heuristic conclusions. The model created and tested in the system of higher professional education is based on the ideas of ecohumanism, coevolution and sustainable development, cultural-competence orientation of higher education; principles of subjectivity, value-sense saturation, communicativeness, problematization, events, local history orientation. The key concepts of “situation” and “analysis” are defined and disclosed in the context of the work, and their types are identified and justified. The developed model includes target, content, procedural, technological and reflexive-evaluation components. The tasks, activity content and characteristic for each stage of the educational process, environmental cases and types of analysis are considered. The obtained results in the form of basic research bases and the model of environmental education of future ecologists in situational context testify to the promising application of this technology to improve the quality of professional training

Development of Hemp Fibers: The Key Components of Hemp Plastic Composites

Plant fibers in general and hemp fibers in particular have great prospects for their use in various innovative applications such as ecological, biodegradable, and renewable resources with unique properties. Such properties together with the increased strength due to high-cellulose content and specific morphological parameters are widely used to produce plant fiber–based plastic composites. The properties of plant fibers that may influence the properties of composites depend on crop processing, but the basis for them is provided during fiber development in planta. It is known that two types of bast fibers are developed in the hemp stem: primary fibers formed from procambium cells and secondary fibers that originate as a result of cambium activity. Both types of fibers may significantly vary in their yield and quality depending on the variety and growth conditions. Differences in the anatomical and morphological characteristics of the two types of hemp fibers, together with peculiarities in the composition and architecture of cell wall, influence the technical parameters of the raw material quality. Based on our study of both primary and secondary fiber development in hemp stem that was focused on the two key stages, intrusive elongation and deposition of thick cell wall layers, we suggest the set of parameters that can influence the quality of the mature fibers and trace their biological origin

Forced Labor Relocations of Taganrog-Based Ethnic Kalmyks to the Third Reich: Microhistory and Heuristics

Introduction. The article deals with one interesting pattern of research heuristics tackled to create a unified empirical database on forced labor relocations of Rostov Oblast-based Soviet citizens to Nazi Germany. Goals. The source study primarily attempts a consistent reconstruction of individual elements to the ethnic stratification among the O starbeiter (‘Eastern workers’) from the selected region, the former to be facilitated by the current identification of ethnic Kalmyks among such displaced individuals. This specific epistemological perspective has never been addressed by the preceding historiographic tradition, which makes the research practice relevant enough. Materials and methods. The integrated use of traditional archival search methods at the Taganrog Office of Rostov Oblast Archive (Russia) and the City Archive of Lüdenscheid (Germany) made it possible to identify an approximate circle of Kalmyk Soviet citizens forcibly displaced from Taganrog. Results. The paper contributes to a consistent understanding of how Nazi Germany’s forced labor civilian deportations from occupied territories took place, and outlines the phenomenon’s dynamics. The undertaken reconstruction of the ethnic stratification among forcibly displaced Soviet citizens clearly illustrates the rigid universalism of the occupation authorities that were seeking to gain ‘living space’ for ‘true Aryans’. The integrated object for Nazi repressive actions was civilian populations of occupied regions viewed as inferior communities, with no special privileges for any certain ethnic group. A particularly valuable result is that the study has yielded preliminary verifications for a number of ethnic Kalmyks that experienced such forced labor relocations to Nazi Germany

Paraffinic oil residues after heating as a basis for fuel

The possibility of reuse of heavy residues (oily sludge) of low-sulfur, highly paraffinic Mangyshlak oils as a basis for fuel with improved environmental characteristics for engines to marine, river and railway transport, gas turbine and boiler plants, steam boilers and industrial furnaces was shown. A variant of the joint application of the methods of nuclear magnetic resonance, laser confocal microscopy and rheology for study of micro- and mesoscopic structure and some physicochemical properties of crude oil products has been developed. It has been shown that preliminary heating to 90 ° C leads to disruption of the structure and hydrogen bonds between oil associates and complexes, increasing sample homogeneity due to precipitation of solid impurities, partial removal of water content, air bubbles and dissolved gases. The addition of medium distillate diesel fractions to preliminary heated oil residues will make it possible to obtain a higher quality version of the fuel with a reduced resinous and asphaltene substances, lower pour point, good energy content and low sulfur content. Thus, valuable energy-containing raw materials can be reused. It should also be noted that the reuse of accumulated oil waste will reduce the harmful effects of landfills, will preserve the natural landscape, and will cut the cost of extracting natural resources

The Effect of Leaf Plasticity on the Isolation of Apoplastic Fluid from Leaves of Tartary Buckwheat Plants Grown <i>In Vivo</i> and <i>In Vitro</i>

Vacuum infiltration–centrifugation (VIC) is the most reproducible technique for the isolation of apoplast washing fluid (AWF) from leaves, but its effectiveness depends on the infiltration–centrifugation conditions and the anatomical and physiological peculiarities of leaves. This study aimed to elaborate an optimal procedure for AWF isolation from the leaves of Tartary buckwheat grown in in vivo and in vitro conditions and reveal the leaf anatomical and physiological traits that could contribute to the effectiveness of AWF isolation. Here, it was demonstrated that leaves of buckwheat plants grown in vitro could be easier infiltrated, were less sensitive to higher forces of centrifugation (900× g and 1500× g), and produced more AWF yield and apoplastic protein content than in vivo leaves at the same forces of centrifugation (600× g and 900× g). The extensive study of the morphological, anatomical, and ultrastructural characteristics of buckwheat leaves grown in different conditions revealed that in vitro leaves exhibited significant plasticity in a number of interconnected morphological, anatomical, and physiological features, generally driven by high RH and low lighting; some of them, such as the reduced thickness and increased permeability of the cuticle of the epidermal cells, large intercellular spaces, increase in the size of stomata and in the area of stomatal pores, higher stomata index, drop in density, and area of calcium oxalate druses, are beneficial to the effectiveness of VIC. The size of stomata pores, which were almost twice as large in in vitro leaves as those in in vivo ones, was the main factor contributing to the isolation of AWF free of chlorophyll contamination. The opening of stomata pores by artificially created humid conditions reduced damage to the in vivo leaves and improved the VIC of them. For Fagopyrum species, this is the first study to develop a VIC technique for AWF isolation from leaves

Physical, Mechanical and Microstructural Characteristics of Perlite-Based Geopolymers Modified with Mineral Additives

One of the promising raw materials for the synthesis of geopolymers is perlite, which is a natural low-calcium aluminosilicate. This research studied the physical, mechanical and microstructural characteristics of perlite-based geopolymers modified with different mineral additives that were prepared using different methods of introducing the alkali components and curing conditions. The experimental results of the consolidated perlite-based geopolymer pastes showed that curing conditions and the method of introducing the alkali component into the geopolymer matrix had a minimal effect on the average density while demonstrating a significant boost in compressive strength. So, after thermal treatment, the compressive strength increased by 0.63 to 11.4 times for the mixes when fresh alkali solution was used and by 0.72 to 12.8 times for the mixes with the 24 h conditioned alkali solution. Maximum-strength spikes from 1.1 MPa to 13.2 MPa and from 0.7 MPa to 9.7 MPa were observed for the mixes with kaolin when prepared with fresh and conditioned alkali solutions, respectively. It was also observed that thermal treatment facilitates the compaction of the matrix structure by 18% and 1% for the non-modified mix and the mix modified with Portland cement. Perlite-based geopolymers modified with Portland cement and citrogypsum demonstrated a significant reduction in the initial and final setting times with both methods of introducing the alkali solution. On the surface of mixes modified with citrogypsum, regardless of the curing conditions and method of introducing the alkali component, an efflorescence substance was observed. The microstructural analysis of the consolidated geopolymer perlite-based pastes containing citrogypsum demonstrated a loose structure and the presence of efflorescence, which can be associated with a retardation in interaction processes between alkali cations and the aluminosilicate component. EDS analysis demonstrated that the presence of such elements as oxygen, sodium and sulfur may indicate the efflorescence of unreacted sodium hydroxide (NaOH), citrogypsum (CaSO4) and the products of their interaction in the form of crystalline hydrates of sodium sulfate (Na2SO4)

The Toolbox for Fiber Flax Breeding: A Pipeline From Gene Expression to Fiber Quality

The goal of any plant breeding program is to improve quality of a target crop. Crop quality is a comprehensive feature largely determined by biological background. To improve the quality parameters of crops grown for the production of fiber, a functional approach was used to search for genes suitable for the effective manipulation of technical fiber quality. A key step was to identify genes with tissue and stage-specific pattern of expression in the developing fibers. In the current study, we investigated the relationship between gene expression evaluated in bast fibers of developing flax plants and the quality parameters of technical fibers measured after plant harvesting. Based on previously published transcriptomic data, two sets of genes that are upregulated in fibers during intrusive growth and tertiary cell wall deposition were selected. The expression level of the selected genes and fiber quality parameters were measured in fiber flax, linseed (oil flax) cultivars, and wild species that differ in type of yield and fiber quality parameters. Based on gene expression data, linear regression models for technical stem length, fiber tensile strength, and fiber flexibility were constructed, resulting in the identification of genes that have high potential for manipulating fiber quality. Chromosomal localization and single nucleotide polymorphism distribution in the selected genes were characterized for the efficacy of their use in conventional breeding and genome editing programs. Transcriptome-based selection is a highly targeted functional approach that could be used during the development of new cultivars of various crops