Tutor's role in online courses

The increased use of information and communication technologies in education demands a critical review of the approaches used for supporting teaching and learning activities in online environment. The paper discusses the special role of the tutor who guides and supports the learning process in the online course supplementing traditional face-to-face activities in the blended learning model. Students' evaluations of tutor's role were analyzed and underlay this study. The findings show that professional and successful tutoring helps students in improving their learning efficacy and having greater personal responsibility for their outcomes. Рост использования информационно-коммуникационных технологий в образовании требует критического анализа и пересмотра подходов, используемых для поддержки образовательной деятельности в онлайн среде. Данная работа рассматривает особую роль тьютора, который поддерживает и сопровождает учебный процесс в онлайн курсе, дополняющем традиционное контактное обучение в смешанной модели обучения. В основе данного исследования лежит анализ студенческого восприятия роли тьютора. Результаты исследования показывают, что профессиональная и успешная деятельность тьютора помогает повысить эффективность обучения и способствует пониманию личной ответственности студентов за результаты обучения

Regulation of mitochondrial NADP-isocitrate dehydrogenase in rat heart during ischemia

The changes in the regulation of at mitochondrial NADP-isocitrate dehydrogenase (NADP-ICDH) in a rat heart during have been analysed. Increase of enzyme activity in the cytosol and mitochondria of the heart ischemia was detected. Catalytic properties of the mitochondrial NADP-ICDH at norm and pathology have been compared on homogeneous enzyme preparations. Enzyme from the normoxic and ischemic heart showed the same electrophoretical mobility and molecular mass. Enzyme isolated from the ischemic heart mitochondria demonstrated higher activation energy and lower thermal stability. NADP-isocitrate dehydrogenase at the normoxic and ischemic conditions exhibited different Km for substrates and regulatory behaviour in relation to ATP, ADP, 2-oxoglutarate, citrate, malate, reduced and oxidised glutathione. The inhibitory effect of the Fe2+ and H2O2 mixture associated with the generation of hydroxyl radicals was lower in the ischemic enzyme. We hypothesise that the specific features of regulation behaviour of NADP-ICDH from the ischemic tissues permits the enzyme to supply NADPH to the glutathione reductase/glutathione peroxidase system.This work was supported by grants from the Scientific Programs of Russia Ministry Education and Science (number of projects are RNP. 2.1.1.4429 and UR. 07.01.004).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

The Interrelation Between Hardiness and Prognostic Potential of Students of Higher Education Institutions

The paper presents the results of an empirical study of specific features and the relationship between hardiness of students and prognostic potential of their personality. The methods of research comprised: theoretical analysis, empirical research (testing), qualitative analysis of the obtained data, mathematical and statistical data processing (SPSS Statistics, Excel). It has been found that students with a high level of prognostic potential development are distinguished by pronounced personality traits typical of hardy people. The authors have proved in the paper that the prognostic potential of students is a holistic system of personality resources, which is based on specific features of thinking and building a secondary image. There are criteria and development levels of the prognostic potential among students: an internal criterion (features of thinking and building secondary images) and an external criterion (the effectiveness of forecasting activities, the conformity of the stages of prognostic activity with the reference model). The prognostic potential is interconnected with personal and professional characteristics of students (features of the intellectual, communicative, emotional-volitional and motivation spheres). There are significant differences between students with different levels of development of prognostic potential according to the main personal and professional features. The correlation analysis of the data gave the following interrelations: there is a direct interrelationship between the level of development of prognostic potential and emotional stability of students; between the level of development of prognostic potential and such motives for studying at a university as professional and educational-cognitive motives; between the level of development of prognostic potential and the features of self-regulation. On the basis of the results of an empirical study, the authors designed a program for the prognostic potential development of students which includes active teaching methods, lectures, and trainings

Rare genetic diseases of the bone tissue: the case of a family with osteogenesis imperfecta and X-linked hypophosphataemia

Osteogenesis imperfecta (OI) and X-linked hypophosphataemia (XLH) are rare genetic diseases, which lead to childhood-onset bone fragility, low-trauma fractures and limb deformities. OI occurs as a result of impaired type 1 collagen synthesis at different stages, depending on the type of a genetic mutation, which leads to bone strength impairment. In most cases OI is a disorder with an autosomal dominant inheritance. However, there are also cases of autosomal recessive inheritance. To date, 16 types of OI are distinguished, with type 2 being the most severe due to 100% mortality rate in neonatal and perinatal periods. XLH is characterized by altered bone mineralization due to impaired phosphorus absorption and reabsorption, as a result of mutations in the PHEX gene. The bone tissue softens, and this process is accompanied by deformities in long tubular bones. In this article we describe the family, in which both diseases are presented, despite their rarity. The case is investigated from points of view: the clinicians and the patients perspective

Importin α7 Is Essential for Zygotic Genome Activation and Early Mouse Development

Importin α is involved in the nuclear import of proteins. It also contributes to spindle assembly and nuclear membrane formation, however, the underlying mechanisms are poorly understood. Here, we studied the function of importin α7 by gene targeting in mice and show that it is essential for early embryonic development. Embryos lacking importin α7 display a reduced ability for the first cleavage and arrest completely at the two-cell stage. We show that the zygotic genome activation is severely disturbed in these embryos. Our findings indicate that importin α7 is a new member of the small group of maternal effect genes

Genomic and transcriptomic heterogeneity in metaplastic carcinomas of the breast

Metaplastic breast cancer (MBC) is a rare special histologic type of triple-negative breast cancer, characterized by the presence of neoplastic cells showing differentiation towards squamous epithelium and/or mesenchymal elements. Here we sought to define whether histologically distinct subgroups of MBCs would be underpinned by distinct genomic and/or transcriptomic alterations. Microarray-based copy number profiling identified limited but significant differences between the distinct MBC subtypes studied here, despite the limited sample size (; n; = 17). In particular, we found that, compared to MBCs with chondroid or squamous cell metaplasia, MBCs with spindle cell differentiation less frequently harbored gain of 7q11.22-23 encompassing; CLDN3; and; CLDN4; , consistent with their lower expression of claudins and their association with the claudin-low molecular classification. Microarray-based and RNA-sequencing-based gene expression profiling revealed that MBCs with spindle cell differentiation differ from MBCs with chondroid or squamous cell metaplasia on the expression of epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition-related genes, including down-regulation of; CDH1; and; EPCAM; . In addition, RNA-sequencing revealed that the histologic patterns observed in MBCs are unlikely to be underpinned by a highly recurrent expressed fusion gene or a pathognomonic expressed mutation in cancer genes. Loss of PTEN expression or mutations affecting; PIK3CA; or; TSC2; observed in 8/17 MBCs support the contention that PI3K pathway activation plays a role in the development of MBCs. Our data demonstrate that despite harboring largely similar patterns of gene copy number alterations, MBCs with spindle cell, chondroid and squamous differentiation are distinct at the transcriptomic level but are unlikely to be defined by specific pathognomonic genetic alterations

The efficacy of the combination of eribulin and trastuzumab in advanced HER2-positive breast cancer: the results of Russian observational study

The article presents the experience of 19 Russian medical institutions on the use of eribulin in combination with trastuzumab in various treatment lines of metastatic HER2+ breast cancer in routine clinical practice. Aim. The main objective of this retrospective observational study was to evaluate the efficacy and tolerability of eribulin and trastuzumab combo in HER2+ breast cancer patients pretreated with anthracyclines and taxanes. The analysis included 60 patients who received at least 2 cycles of eribulin in combination with trastuzumab. 2 patients (3.3%) received treatment as the 1st line, as the 2nd 14 (23.3%), as the 3rd 16 (26.7%), and as the 4th and more 28 (46.7%). Materials and methods. Complete response was achieved in 2 (3.3%) patients, partial response in 9 (15%), stable disease in 33 (55%), stabilization for more than 6 months in 11 (18.3%), disease progression was detected in 16 (26.7%) patients. The objective response rate was 18.3% in the whole group, the clinical benefit rate 36.7%. Results. The objective response rate in the group of the luminal subtype (ER/PR+HER2+) was 26.9%, in HER2-overexpressed subtype (ER-PR-HER2+) 8.8% and 64.7%, respectively, disease progression was recorded 2.3 times more often 35.3% versus 15.5% in the luminal subtype group. The median progression-free survival in patients with HER2+ breast cancer was 4.95 months (95% confidence interval CI 3.048.29 months), in luminal subtype 6.38 months (95% CI 3.338.54 months), in non-luminal 4.44 months (95% CI 2.47.96 months); p=0.306. The treatment was well tolerated, the spectrum of adverse events corresponded to the eribulin toxicity profile. Conclusions. The uniqueness of this study lies in the fact that on a large clinical material from the standpoint of real clinical practice, a very promising treatment regimen that is not used routinely in a number of countries has been studied, its effectiveness and satisfactory tolerance have been confirmed

Safety and immunogenicity of rAd26 and rAd5 vector-based heterologous prime-boost COVID-19 vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 in healthy adolescents: an open-label, non-randomized, multicenter, phase 1/2, dose-escalation study

To protect young individuals against SARS-CoV-2 infection, we conducted an open-label, prospective, non-randomised dose-escalation Phase 1/2 clinical trial to evaluate the immunogenicity and safety of the prime-boost “Sputnik V” vaccine administered at 1/10 and 1/5 doses to adolescents aged 12–17 years. The study began with the vaccination of the older cohort (15-to-17-year-old participants) with the lower (1/10) dose of vaccine and then expanded to the whole group (12-to-17-year-old participants). Next, 1/5 dose was used according to the same scheme. Both doses were well tolerated by all age groups. No serious or severe adverse events were detected. Most of the solicited adverse reactions were mild. No significant differences in total frequencies of adverse events were registered between low and high doses in age-pooled groups (69.6% versus 66.7%). In contrast, the 1/5 dose induced significantly higher humoral and T cell-mediated immune responses than the 1/10 dose. The 1/5 vaccine dose elicited higher antigen-binding (both S and RBD-specific) as well as virus-neutralising antibody titres at the maximum of response (day 42), also resulting in a statistically significant difference at a distanced timepoint (day 180) compared to the 1/10 vaccine dose. Higher dose resulted in increased cross-neutralization of Delta and Omicron variants.;Clinical Trial RegistrationClinicalTrials.gov, NCT04954092, LP-007632