Hydrophilic molecularly imprinted phenol-amine-formaldehyde resins

Hydrophilic molecularly imprinted resins (MIR), which are produced using hydrophilic monomers such as phenols, aldehydes, melamine or urea, have recently attracted increasing attention for use in separation and preconcentration. Among their obvious advantages are good sorption capacity, high recovery and selectivity, as well as their reusability in aqueous solutions. In this work we applied the bulk molecular imprinting method to produce quercetin-imprinted phenol-amino-formaldehyde resin. For this purpose, phloroglucinol and melamine solutions were mixed with formaldehyde and then polyethylene glycol and quercetin (Qu) were added to the obtained solution as a porogen and a template, respectively. The mixture was stirred under heating, then left in the thermostat for a continuous time. The optimum ratio of phloroglucinol to melamine was 3:1. The average molecular mass of porogen (Mw) varied between 4000–10000 Da. The obtained MIR were eluted with ethanol-water mixture (4:1, v/v) in the Soxhlet extractor for 36 h to remove the template. The MIR were characterized by FTIR-spectroscopy, laser diffraction spectroscopy and differential thermal analysis. The maximum recovery and sorption capacity of MIR synthesized in the presence of a porogen with Mw 10000 were 47% and 4.7 μmol Qu/g, respectively. The maximum imprinting factor was 1.41. The sorption kinetics of quercetin by a non-imprinted resin (NIR) is best described by a pseudo-second-order model, while MIR has a mixed pseudo-first-second-order mechanism

The classification of forms of public-private partnership: synthesis foreign and domestic experience

The content of the term «public-private partnership» is updated. The main causes of the needs identified in the public-private partnership. The scope of application of public-private partnership in Ukraine are determined. Various forms of public-private partnerships explored: contractual, institutional and private funding model (DBFO, BOOT, BOT, BOO). Advanced foreign experience in implementation of public-private partnership projects is summarized and components of the effect of their implementation defined. Practical examples of the use of various forms of public-private partnerships in foreign countries are considered. Simplified and enhanced classification of forms of public-private partnership on the classification features offered. It revealed that specific features of public-private partnership, which distinguish it from other forms of cooperation are distribution of risks between the private and public sectors of the economy on the operation of the relevant infrastructure and services; public-private partnership objects are not transferred to the ownership of the private partner

INSTITUTIONAL CONVERGENCE IN UKRAINE

The aim of the article is to develop recommendations for improving the level of institutional convergence in Ukraine. To this end, the following tasks have been set and solved: an assessment of the level of institutional convergence in Ukraine has been carried out, which includes an analysis of international indices characterising the quality of formal institutions and a further selection of indicators that are informative about convergent/divergent processes in the country; factors supporting institutional divergence in the country have been identified; recommendations have been developed to offset the importance of factors supporting institutional divergence. Methodology. The methodological and theoretical basis of the study is a systematic approach to the analysis of processes and phenomena, institutional economic theory, scientific works of the classics of economic science, leading modern domestic and foreign scholars on the problems of institutional efficiency. Results. The understanding of the essence of institutional convergence/divergence as a phenomenon characterising the local replacement of formal institutions by informal ones as a consequence of the unacceptable content of formal rules for a certain category of citizens and/or the low risk of being held accountable for their violation has been further developed. The level of institutional convergence in Ukraine is assessed on the basis of the analysis of international indices (Worldwide Governance Indicators, The Rule of Law Index, The International Property Right Index). It is noted that the indicator of the level of institutional convergence in Ukraine is an important factor that should be taken into account in the development and preliminary assessment of the effectiveness of socio-economic projects, since the usefulness of such actions for society and, consequently, the efficiency of resource spending depends on the extent to which the public is ready to accept any public or private initiatives. Recommendations have been developed to increase the level of institutional convergence by reducing the asymmetry of information in the communication system. It is determined that the asymmetry is a consequence of the high cost of information transmission and involvement of subjects in communication channels. It is proposed to digitise the systemic communication channels between the State, business and society, which will make the costs of attracting and transmitting information close to zero. Practical implications. A scientific and methodological approach to increasing the level of institutional convergence is developed. Value/originality. A methodology for assessing the level of institutional convergence in Ukraine is proposed, which involves the selection of informative indicators of convergent/divergent processes in the country from international institutional quality indices and the systematisation of the information obtained. The concept of increasing the level of institutional convergence, which includes the digitalisation of public communication channels, is developed

THE USE OF REFLECTIVE TECHNOLOGIES IN SELF-DETERMINATION STUDENTS

В данной статье рассматривается значение рефлексивных технологий при обучении студентов. Рассмотрена роль рефлексивных технологий в профессиональном самоопределении. Со стремительным развитием современного образования происходит поиск и внедрение новых технологий. Рефлексивные технологии широко используются в профессиональном самоопределении. Опытно-экспериментальная работа демонстрирует значимую роль применения рефлексивных технологий в профессиональном самоопределении студентов.Цель. Проанализировать и опытно-экспериментальным путем доказать эффективность использования рефлексивных технологий в профессиональном самоопределении студентов в вузе.Метод и методология проведения работы. Основу исследования представляют методы, упражнения, направленные на повышение рефлексии, круглые столы, анализа проблемных ситуаций, связанных с направлением обучения, эксперимент, наблюдение. Методологией исследования являются идеи гуманистической философии о человеке как субъекте деятельности и общения; теория профессионального саморазвития и развития личности.Результаты. Результаты работы заключаются в анализе и доказательстве влияния рефлексивных технологий на самоопределение студентов.Область применения результатов. Результаты исследования могут быть применены в учебном процессе образовательных учреждениях высшего и среднего профессионального образования.This article discusses the importance of reflective technologies in teaching students. The role of reflective technologies in professional self-determination. With the rapid development of modern education is the search for and implementation of new technologies. Reflective technologies are widely used in professional self-determination. The experimental work proves the role of the reflexive application of technologies in professional self-determination of students.Purpose .To perform and experimental way to prove the effectiveness of the use of reflective technologies in professional self-determination of students in higher education.Methodology. The basis of the research is the methods, exercises to enhance reflection, round tables, analysis of problematic situations related to the field of study, experiment, observation. Methodology of the study are the ideas of humanistic philosophy of man as the subject of activity and communication; theory of professional self-development and personal development.Results. The results of the work are to analyze and prove the influence of reflexive technologies to self-determination of students.Practical implications. The results of the study can be applied in educational process of educational institutions of higher and secondary professional education

From Ise to the World in a Time of Pandemic

A collection of essays on COVID-19 by scholars from around the world who shared a common experience in Japan in the early stages of the pandemic, and then communicated from their respective countries as the disease spread around the world. Written in multiple styles and with diverse perspectives, these essays provide insight into the similarities and differences, and the equalizing and dis-equalizing aspects of the world’s response to the pandemic

Influence of anionic surfactant on stability of nanoparticles in aqueous solutions

Dispersion and aggregation of nanoparticles in aqueous solutions are important factors for safe and effective application of nanoparticles, for instance, in the oil industry. As conventional oil reserves are depleted, it is necessary to advance chemical enhanced oil recovery (cEOR) techniques to develop unconventional oil reservoirs. Nanoparticles modified by surfactants can be a promising reagent in cEOR. These nanomaterials can reduce interfacial tension and change the wettability of reservoir rock, which leads to an increase in oil recovery. However, the application of nanoparticles is limited by their substantial aggregation in aqueous solutions. The purpose of this work is to select nanoparticles for obtaining stable sols in water in the presence of an anionic surfactant and to optimize the conditions (pH) for further modifying the nanoparticles with the anionic surfactant. Sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) is used as an anionic surfactant. The aggregation of oxide and carbon nanoparticles in water and anionic surfactant solutions was studied by laser diffraction, dynamic and electrophoretic light scattering methods. Most of the studied nanoparticles in water form aggregates with bi-, three- and polymodal particle size distributions. TiO2 nanoparticles obtained by plasma dynamic synthesis form the most stable sols in anionic surfactant solutions. The range of 5–7 pH is defined as optimal for their modification with surfactants. The stability of carbon nanoparticles in aqueous solutions increases significantly in the presence of a surfactant. The obtained results form the basis for further research on the modification of marked nanoparticles in surfactant solutions

From Ise to the world in a time of pandemic

A collection of essays on COVID-19 by scholars from around the world who shared a common experience in Japan in the early stages of the pandemic, and then communicated from their respective countries as the disease spread around the world. Written in multiple styles and with diverse perspectives, these essays provide insight into the similarities and differences, and the equalizing and dis-equalizing aspects of the world’s response to the pandemic.</p

Vitamin D Status Among Children With Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis: A Multicenter Prospective, Non-randomized, Comparative Study

BackgroundJuvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) is a chronic autoimmune disease characterized by destructive and inflammatory damage to the joints. The aim in this study was to compare vitamin D levels between children and adolescents, 1–18 years of age, with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) and a health control group of peers. We considered effects of endogenous, exogenous, and genetic factors on measured differences in vitamin D levels among children with JIA.MethodsOur findings are based on a study sample of 150 patients with various variants of JIA and 277 healthy children. The blood level of vitamin D was assessed by calcidiol level. The following factors were included in our analysis: age and sex; level of insolation in three regions of country (center, south, north); assessment of dietary intake of vitamin D; effect of prophylactic doses of cholecalciferol; a relationship between the TaqI, FokI, and BsmI polymorphisms of the VDR gene and serum 25(OH)D concentration.ResultsWe identified a high frequency of low vitamin D among children with JIA, prevalence of 66%, with the medial level of vitamin D being within the range of “insufficient” vitamin D. We also show that the dietary intake of vitamin D by children with JIA is well below expected norms, and that prophylactic doses of vitamin D supplementation (cholecalciferol) at a dose of 500–1,000 IU/day and 1,500–2,000 IU/day do not meet the vitamin D needs of children with JIA. Of importance, we show that vitamin D levels among children with JIA are not affected by clinical therapies to manage the disease nor by the present of VDR genetic variants.ConclusionProphylactic administration of cholecalciferol and season of year play a determining role in the development of vitamin D deficiency and insufficiency

Semantic segmentation of microbial alterations based on SegFormer

IntroductionPrecise semantic segmentation of microbial alterations is paramount for their evaluation and treatment. This study focuses on harnessing the SegFormer segmentation model for precise semantic segmentation of strawberry diseases, aiming to improve disease detection accuracy under natural acquisition conditions.MethodsThree distinct Mix Transformer encoders - MiT-B0, MiT-B3, and MiT-B5 - were thoroughly analyzed to enhance disease detection, targeting diseases such as Angular leaf spot, Anthracnose rot, Blossom blight, Gray mold, Leaf spot, Powdery mildew on fruit, and Powdery mildew on leaves. The dataset consisted of 2,450 raw images, expanded to 4,574 augmented images. The Segment Anything Model integrated into the Roboflow annotation tool facilitated efficient annotation and dataset preparation.ResultsThe results reveal that MiT-B0 demonstrates balanced but slightly overfitting behavior, MiT-B3 adapts rapidly with consistent training and validation performance, and MiT-B5 offers efficient learning with occasional fluctuations, providing robust performance. MiT-B3 and MiT-B5 consistently outperformed MiT-B0 across disease types, with MiT-B5 achieving the most precise segmentation in general.DiscussionThe findings provide key insights for researchers to select the most suitable encoder for disease detection applications, propelling the field forward for further investigation. The success in strawberry disease analysis suggests potential for extending this approach to other crops and diseases, paving the way for future research and interdisciplinary collaboration

Magnetic sorption materials for recovery of organic anions from aqueous solutions

Layered double hydroxides (LDHs) belong to the class of two-dimensional anionic clays with a layered structure similar to brucite. The combination of sorption and magnetic properties of layered materials is promising. In this work, magnetic materials based on LDHs (MLDHs) were synthesized and their sorption and magnetic properties were studied. The synthesis of LDHs was carried out by a co-precipitation method followed by calcination. Intercalated Mg, Fe(III)-, Mg, Fe(III), Al-and Mg, Al-LDHs were prepared using LDHs by rehydration in solutions of iron(III) citrate (Cit) or oxalate (Ox) followed by the calcination at 400°C for 2-4 h. LDHs and their thermal decomposition products were characterized by FTIR spectroscopy, laser and X-ray diffraction and thermogravimetry. The sorption experiment was carried out under static conditions using glutamic acid (Glu) as a model organic compound. The maximum sorption capacity of Mg, Fe(III)-LDH and Mg, Al-FeCit-LDH calcined at 400°C was 6.6 and 8.8 mg/g Glu, respectively. The sorption kinetics of intercalated and calcined Mg, Al-and Mg, Fe(III), Al-LDH and calcined at 500º C Mg, Fe(III)-LDH was described by the pseudo-second order model. The magnetic properties of the LDHs and thermal decomposition products were retained after the adsorption of glutamic acid, making it possible to easily separate these MLDHs from the solution by magnetic field