Presowing XeCl excilamp irradiation of crops: field research and prospects

Here we present research data demonstrating how crop seeds response to ultraviolet produced by a barrier-discharge XeCl* excilamp with a wavelength of 290–320 nm (82–88 %). The data show that presowing ultraviolet treatment is stimulatory to seed germination and plant growth. Ultraviolet treatment increases the seed germinability by 20–30 % and the plant fresh weight by 54 %, compared to untreated control samples, and provides a developed root system with long twisted segments. The research results are encouraging for upgrading the UV technology to larger-scale seed irradiation

Professional Portrait of a Modern Teacher as an Educator

The educational policy of modern Russia demands a teacher as an educator. The purpose of this research is to determine the components of the personal and professional position of a modern teacher as an educator, to reveal significant professional qualities of his/her personality, the main characteristics of educational activity which are values, goals, priorities, content and functions. The analysis of the data is based on the theoretical foundations of pedagogical and psychological studies devoted to the teacher’s professional activity which is determined by personal and professional position of a teacher as an educator. Sixty students (2nd-4th-year bachelor’s majoring in Teacher Education) and twenty school teachers took part in the empirical research. We established that the starting point of modern education is the values of the professional activity of a teacher as an educator. The main value is the personality of a pupil and its development. It means that an educator is able to work with meanings, values, emotional and reflexive spheres of a pupil’s personality, to cooperate with children in achieving common goals. At the same time teachers as educators improve their knowledge of children and youth subcultures and conduct self-analysis of the educational activity. They have individual responsibility and interest in colleagues’ work. Interaction with social communities and institutions which stimulate the manifestation of their educational potential is also necessary

Presowing XeCl excilamp irradiation of crops: field research and prospects

Here we present research data demonstrating how crop seeds response to ultraviolet produced by a barrier-discharge XeCl* excilamp with a wavelength of 290–320 nm (82–88 %). The data show that presowing ultraviolet treatment is stimulatory to seed germination and plant growth. Ultraviolet treatment increases the seed germinability by 20–30 % and the plant fresh weight by 54 %, compared to untreated control samples, and provides a developed root system with long twisted segments. The research results are encouraging for upgrading the UV technology to larger-scale seed irradiation

First thorough identification of factors associated with Cd, Hg and Pb concentrations in mosses sampled in the European Surveys 1990, 1995, 2000 and 2005

The aim of this study was, for the first time ever, to thoroughly identify the factors influencing Cd, Hg and Pb concentrations in mosses sampled within the framework of the European Heavy Metals in Mosses Surveys 1990–2005. These investigations can be seen as a follow up of a previous study where only the moss data recorded in the survey 2005 was included in the analysis (Schröder et al. 2010). The analyses of this investigation give a complete overview on the statistical association of Cd, Hg and Pb concentrations in mosses and sampling site-specific and regional characteristics, encompassing data from 4661 (1990), 7301 (1995), 6764 (2000) and 5600 (2005) sampling sites across Europe. From the many metals monitored in the European moss surveys, Cd, Hg and Pb were used as examples, since only for these three metals deposition measurements are being recorded in the framework of the European Monitoring and Evaluation Programme (EMEP). As exemplary case studies revealed that other factors besides atmospheric deposition of metals influence the element concentrations in mosses, the moss datasets of the above mentioned surveys were analysed by means of bivariate statistics and decision tree analysis in order to identify factors influencing metal bioaccumulation. In the analyses we used the metadata recorded during the sampling as well as additional geodata on, e.g., depositions, emissions and land use. Bivariate Spearman correlation analyses showed the highest correlations between Cd and Pb concentrations in mosses and EMEP modelled total deposition data (0.62 ≤ rs ≤ 0.73). For Hg the correlations with all the tested factors were considerably lower (e.g. total deposition r s  ≤ 0.24). Decision tree analyses by means of Classification and Regression Trees (CART) identified the total deposition as the statistically most significant factor for the Cd and Pb concentrations in the mosses in all four monitoring campaigns. For Hg, the most significant factor in 1990 as identified by CART was the distance to the nearest Hg source recorded in the European Pollutant Emission Register, in 1995 and 2000 it was the analytical method, and in 2005 it was the sampled moss species. The strong correlations between the Cd and Pb concentrations in the mosses and the total deposition can be used to calculate deposition maps with a regression kriging approach on the basis of surface maps on the element concentrations in the mosse

Mitochondrial Genome Diversity in Arctic Siberians, with Particular Reference to the Evolutionary History of Beringia and Pleistocenic Peopling of the Americas

Through extended survey of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) diversity in the Nganasan, Yukaghir, Chuvantsi, Chukchi, Siberian Eskimos, and Commander Aleuts, we filled important gaps in previously unidentified internal sequence variation within haplogroups A, C, and D, three of five (A–D and X) canonical mtDNA lineages that defined Pleistocenic extension from the Old to the New World. Overall, 515 mtDNA samples were analyzed via high-resolution SNP analysis and then complete sequencing of the 84 mtDNAs. A comparison of the data thus obtained with published complete sequences has resulted in the most parsimonious phylogenetic structure of mtDNA evolution in Siberia-Beringia. Our data suggest that although the latest inhabitants of Beringia are well genetically reflected in the Chukchi-, Eskimo-Aleut-, and Na-Dene-speaking Indians, the direct ancestors of the Paleosiberian-speaking Yukaghir are primarily drawn from the southern belt of Siberia when environmental conditions changed, permitting recolonization the high arctic since early Postglacial. This study further confirms that (1) Alaska seems to be the ancestral homeland of haplogroup A2 originating in situ approximately 16.0 thousand years ago (kya), (2) an additional founding lineage for Native American D, termed here D10, arose approximately 17.0 kya in what is now the Russian Far East and eventually spread northward along the North Pacific Rim. The maintenance of two refugial sources, in the Altai-Sayan and mid-lower Amur, during the last glacial maximum appears to be at odds with the interpretation of limited founding mtDNA lineages populating the Americas as a single migration