What can be recommended to engineering teachers from the analysis of 16 European teaching and learning best practices?

European Higher Education institutions have been implementing active learning strategies in different contexts. In order to learn and disseminate these approaches, it is important to understand how these successful active learning strategies can be implemented in new contexts. The EXTEND ERASMUS+ project aims to develop Engineering Education Centres in Russia and Tajikistan in order to make a contribution for the development of these countries' schools of Engineering. One of the first steps in pursue of this objective is the study of European teaching and learning best practices and the definition of a set of useful recommendations for the teachers of Engineering schools. A question raised by this approach was what can be recommended to engineering teachers from the analysis of teaching and learning best practices? The objective of this paper is to develop a method for the analysis and recommendations and to present the results of the application of this method in 16 European teaching and learning best practices. The method was qualitative and developed by brainstorming between experts of the projects from different areas of knowledge. This method included the definition of a glossary, selection of best practices, collection of the information, analysis in relation to the best practices, analysis of maturity levels regarding the current level of partner countries and development of collaborative recommendations. The main recommendations for the Russia and Tajik contexts are to develop Project Based Learning approaches in interaction with industry, and additionally for Tajik partners to develop entrepreneurial and management competences in engineering students.This work is based on outcomes of the project EXTEND –“Excellence in Engineering Education through Teacher Training and New Pedagogic Approaches in Russia and Tajikistan” that has been funded with support from the European Commission (Project Number: 586060-EPP-1-2017-1-RO-EPPKA2-CBHE-JP). This publication reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. The authors would like to thank to the members of the consortium and all that made possible to collect the data we used in this paper.This work has been supported by FCT –Fundação para aCiência e Tecnologia within the Project Scope UIDCEC003192019

Economic Evaluation of the Efficiency of Supply Chain Management in Agricultural Production Based on Multidimensional Research Methods

The article studies the system of indicators characterizing the efficiency of supply chain management in agricultural production. The hierarchical classification of the subjects of the Russian Federation according to the indicators characterizing the results of the activity of the agricultural sector has been carried out. Clusters with high, medium and low levels of supply chains management’s efficiency have been identified. Regions for selected clusters are set. A comparative analysis of the regions on the performance of the agricultural sector has been carried out. Regularities are revealed, prospects for further development are defined. For each cluster promising areas of effective development of agriculture were identified

Skeletal muscle NOX4 is required for adaptive responses that prevent insulin resistance

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) generated during exercise are considered integral for the health-promoting effects of exercise. However, the precise mechanisms by which exercise and ROS promote metabolic health remain unclear. Here, we demonstrate that skeletal muscle NADPH oxidase 4 (NOX4), which is induced after exercise, facilitates ROS-mediated adaptive responses that promote muscle function, maintain redox balance, and prevent the development of insulin resistance. Conversely, reductions in skeletal muscle NOX4 in aging and obesity contribute to the development of insulin resistance. NOX4 deletion in skeletal muscle compromised exercise capacity and antioxidant defense and promoted oxidative stress and insulin resistance in aging and obesity. The abrogated adaptive mechanisms, oxidative stress, and insulin resistance could be corrected by deleting the H2O2-detoxifying enzyme GPX-1 or by treating mice with an agonist of NFE2L2, the master regulator of antioxidant defense. These findings causally link NOX4-derived ROS in skeletal muscle with adaptive responses that promote muscle function and insulin sensitivity

Digital Transformation in Education

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020. Digital technology in the modern world is not only a tool, but also a living environment that opens up new opportunities: Learning at any convenient time, continuing education, etc. This article aims to describe the specificity of digital education, the current state of its implementation, the expected results and concerns in this respect. Having shown the core of the digital education and the state of its implementation in modern society, this type of education must be critically analyzed in terms of advantages and risks with reference to contemporary students and the effectiveness of the teaching – learning process, in which they participate. In the study pros and cons of digital learning are revealed. The paper concludes information about advantages of using electronic educational resources in teaching a foreign language based on the experimental work which was done in Naberezhnye Chelny Institute of Kazan Federal University. The success of the experiment presented in this paper is demonstrated by comparing the results of the test group who were taught using electronic educational resources with the reference group who were taught in a common traditional way. The statistical analysis shows that the test group students had better achievements compared to the reference group

Waste management in green and smart cities: A case study of Russia

This article aims to investigate the role of waste management in the development of modern green and smart cities and to determine the existence of several key points in programs transforming cities into green cities with smart technologies. The relevance of the research is determined by the need to develop a theoretical and methodological basis for the green and smart city concepts. The research process involved the following methods: Scientific analysis, comparison, and synthesis. The research results of the case study of Russia determined that for urban territories with great distances between urban districts, waste sorting stations should be located as parts of so-called waste recycling complexes at intermunicipal landfills. This will allow a more fully implementation of the concept of recycling economy not only in Russian cities, but also in other cities with sparse populations across the world. Further, the authors conclude that the effectiveness of green technologies in modern cities, especially in waste management, depends on the level of participation of citizens. People are active participants in the life processes of cities and have a direct impact on the urban environment. Consequently, the introduction of green technologies can only be achieved in harmony with the well-established behavioral attitudes of city residents together with the implementation of green and smart urban technologies. © 2019 by the authors

The Use of Social Media for the Development of Digital Literacy of Students: From Adequate Use to Cognition Tools

The study focuses on the possibility of turning social media into an effective tool to improve digital literacy and facilitate cognition. In view of this, a one-month experiment involving 268 eighth graders from two Moscow schools was conducted; the participants were divided into a control and an experimental group. The students were encouraged to independently search and develop social network skills to solve educational issues and improve cognition. Objective performance tests were conducted based on the curriculum results. According to the academic performance, the mean grade on a 12-point scale in the experimental group increased from 7.77 to 8.76 points, while in the control group the change remained within the statistical error (7.64 and 7.76, respectively). A strong correlation between the grades obtained in different groups (0.8 when comparing the final results in two groups) was found. The study can be put into practice within the framework of the widespread introduction of social media in school curricula as a tool to access information, develop digital literacy and the ability to use digital cognition tools being supervised and supported by a skillful teacher