Germination of pine seed in weightlessness (investigation in Kosmos 782)

An investigation was made of the orientation of aboveground and underground organs of pine plants grown from seed in weightlessness. Orientation was found to be caused by the position of the seeds relative to the substrate surface. Normal growth was manifest only for the plants grown from seed oriented with embryo toward the substrate. Differences were noted between experiment and control as to the quantitative content of nucleoli in the meristematic cells of the rootlets and the shape of cells in the cotyledonous leaflets. No complete agreement was found between data obtained in weightlessness and when gravity was compensated (clinostat treatment with horizontal rotation)

Pine seed germination under weightlessness (a study of the Kosmos 782 satellite)

Orientation of the above and underground organs of pine plants, grown from seeds under weightlessness, was found to be determined by seed position on the substrate. Normal plant growth was observed only if the seed embryos were oriented toward the substrate. Some differences were noted between the experimental and control plants concerning the amount of nucleoli in the root meristematic cells and the cell shape in cotyledonous leaves. No complete similarity was found in experimental results obtained with plants under weightlessness and under compensated gravity. The seeds were obtained from Pinus silvestris, considered to be particularly suitable for this experiment

Materials of the final reports on the joint Soviet-American experiment on the Kosmos-936 biosatellite

Biological experiments onboard the Kosmos-936 investigated the effect of weightlessness on the basic components of cells, the genetic structure and energy apparatus. Genetic studies were made on the Drosophila melanogaster. Experiments were made on higher vegetation and fungi as well. The results indicate that weightlessness cannot be the principal barrier for normal development. An experiment with ectopic osteogenesis in weightlessness was carried out. Measurements were made of cosmic radiation inside and outside the biosatellite

Introspectiveness of Higher Education Students: Study and Development

The change in strategic guidelines in Russian education is associated with a revision of the goals of teaching and upbringing. However, the emphasis of reforms has shifted towards the formation of the required professional competences at this stage in the development of the education system of the Russian Federation. We think that it is possible to achieve the set goal of higher education through the development of the introspectiveness as a quality of the personality of students. The formation of the introspectiveness in a future specialist will have an effect on the successful mastery, expansion and transformation of social experience, as well as the internal plan of action. Thus, demonstrating the formed introspectiveness as a personality trait, the student is able to organize his educational activities independently, activities to cognize the surrounding reality and his inner world, as well as self-determine in various life situations, including the development of general cultural and professional competences. In this regard, the emphasis in the issue of developing the introspectiveness of students is made on specifying the conditions that must be created at a higher education institution for the manifestation and formation of this personality quality. The purpose of the article is to study the level of the introspectiveness of university students and develop psychological and pedagogical conditions that develop this personality quality. The leading techniques for the study of this problem were the following: Q-sort Technique; the technique for diagnostics of an individual measure of the introspectiveness degree. At the stage of the ascertaining experiment, the levels of the introspectiveness of university students were revealed. The results of the ascertaining experiment convincingly demonstrated the need to organize special work to develop the introspectiveness of students. The authors substantiated that the success of developing students’ introspectiveness is ensured by the created psychological and pedagogical conditions. A model of developing the introspectiveness as a personality quality of a future professional has been developed and tested. The results of this study create opportunities for further development of the problem in the context of the organization of lectures in the learning process for students of different courses and types of specialization. The article is intended for psychologists, tutors, education managers

Outbreak of West Nile virus infection, Volgograd Region, Russia, 1999.

From July 25 to October 1, 1999, 826 patients were admitted to Volgograd Region, Russia, hospitals with acute aseptic meningoencephalitis, meningitis, or fever consistent with arboviral infection. Of 84 cases of meningoencephalitis, 40 were fatal. Fourteen brain specimens were positive in reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction assays, confirming the presence of West Nile/Kunjin virus

Identification of small molecules uncoupling the Notch : Jagged interaction through an integrated high-throughput screening

Notch signaling plays an important role in several cellular functions including growth, differentiation, cell fate determination and stemness. Increased Notch activity has been linked to several types of cancers. Activation of Notch signaling is triggered by the interaction of Notch receptors (Notch1-4) with 5 different ligands (Jagged1-2 and Dll1-3-4) expressed on the neighbouring cells. Currently, indirect approaches to inhibit Notch signalling are based on the inhibition of the key step of Notch activation catalyzed by the \u3b3-Secretase and thereby affect several different \u3b3-Secretase substrates; conversely direct strategies get advantage of antibody-based drugs. The evidence that Jagged-mediated Notch activation plays a key role in cancer cell biology and the interplay with the surrounding microenvironment prompted us to develop a strategy to directly inhibit Notch activation by uncoupling its interaction with the Jagged, using an unprecedented approach based on small molecules. We set-up a screening strategy based on: protein::protein docking of crystallographic structures of Notch1 with Jagged1; comparative modelling of the Notch2:Jagged2 complex, based on the Notch1::Jagged1 complex; in silico high-throughput screening directed to Notch2 interaction surface of a virtual chemical library containing a large variety of molecules commercially available. The predicted pharmacological activity of the selected compounds was validated in vitro by a gene reporter and a viability assay. This approach led to the successful identification of two candidates with different anti-proliferative potency and efficacy. This represents the first step towards the rational identification of candidate molecules for the development of entirely novel drugs directed to inhibit Notch signaling in cancer

From Monitoring the Commitment to Inoculations among Healthcare Workers during the COVID-19 Pandemic to Overcoming Communication Risks in the Process of Vaccination

Introduction: The epidemic process of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) can be managed only through vaccination. Yet, despite the availability of effective immunobiological preparations, health administrators often face a negative attitude of the population, including healthcare professionals, to vaccination. Objective: To establish commitment of workers of health facilities to vaccination against COVID–19 during different periods of the pandemic using modern online resources and to justify the need to develop effective practices of dealing with communicative risks in the course of vaccination. Materials and methods: The study was conducted in several successive stages corresponding to five waves of the COVID-19 pandemic in the Russian Federation by means of an online survey of 5,304 health workers using Google Forms. We applied sociological and statistical methods of research. Results: We observed that the attitude to vaccination against COVID-19 among the employees of health institutions was ambiguous and changed over time demonstrating a gradual increase in adherence to inoculations. The potential risk group with a negative attitude towards vaccination included female nurses and workers of non-medical specialties with less than five years of work experience. An insufficient level of commitment to coronavirus vaccination among the personnel of health facilities has been also noted in other countries, which is a serious problem on a global scale hindering the victory over this novel infection. Conclusion: We assessed commitment to inoculations against COVID-19 among medical workers using modern online resources and found its inadequate level necessitating effective interventions aimed at awareness raising and training in modern practices of effective communications. © 2023, Federal Center for Hygiene and Epidemiology. All rights reserved

Experimental and theoretical study of deuteron-proton elastic scattering for proton kinetic energies between Tp=882.2 MeVT_p = 882.2\;\textrm{MeV} and Tp=918.3 MeVT_p = 918.3\;\textrm{MeV}

New precise unpolarised differential cross sections of deuteron-proton elastic scattering have been measured at 16 different deuteron beam momenta between $p_d = 3120.17\;\textrm{MeV}/c$ and $p_d =3204.16\;\textrm{MeV}/c$ at the COoler SYnchrotron COSY of the Forschungszentrum J\"ulich. The data, which were taken using the magnetic spectrometer ANKE, cover the equivalent range in proton kinetic energies from $T_p = 882.2\;\textrm{MeV}$ to $T_p = 918.3\;\textrm{MeV}$. The experimental results are analysed theoretically using the Glauber diffraction model with accurate nucleon-nucleon input. The theoretical cross section at $T_p = 900\;\textrm{MeV}$ agrees very well with the experimental one at low momentum transfers $|t| <0.2\;(\textrm{GeV}/c)^2$.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures, preprint submitted to Physics Letters

Comparative analysis of the influence of chlorine and fluorine anions on the fibrin polymerization

The effect of NaCl and NaF salts in the range of 0.1-0.225 M concentrations on individual stages of fibrin polymerization was investigated, namely: the rate of fibrinogen activation by thrombin, the rate of protofibrils formation, the rate of lateral association of protofibrils, and the maximum clot absorbance value at 350 nm. It was found that the chlorine and fluorine anions equally inhibit the rate of formation of fibrin from fibrinogen and the formation of protofibrils activated with thrombin. Chlorine anions were shown to be significantly more effective than fluorine anions, inhibiting the rate of lateral association and maximal clot absorban­ce level from fibrin desA and desAB. A component of the inhibitory action of chlorine anions, not related to the ionic strength of the solution, was identified and its effect on the individual polymerization steps was shown. Chlorine anions were found to bind to a fibrin clot. Using the surface plasmon resonance method and fibrin-specific mAb FnI-3c, it was established that the rate of exposure of neoantigenic determinants of mAb in the hinge regions of the fibrinogen molecule during its transformation into fibrin under the action of thrombin is inhibited by chlorine anions in correlation with inhibition of the protofibril lateral association rate. It has been suggested that the inhibitory effect of chlorine anions consists of an ionic component and a component that blocks the conformational mobility of the molecule by the chlorine anions binding to its hinge regions and polymerization sites