Organization and Conducting of the Russian Unified State Examination in English: The Experience of Tomsk Region

AbstractThe article deals with some topical issues in the current pedagogical practice-organization and conducting of the Russian Unified State Examination (USE) in English in Tomsk region. The USE in foreign languages constitutes one of the elements of the regional system of education quality assessment which includes the training of experts, formation of the Subject Commission and a variety of arrangements. The monitoring procedures are discussed. The author has provided the results of the USE in Tomsk region over a period of 2010-2014, a detailed analysis of the attainment level of students and an estimation of the efficiency of educational arrangements

Inclusion of pedagogical universities in international subject rankings: Problems and prospects

The present study actualizes the problem of internationalization of Russian pedagogical education, the solution to which will ensure the “recognition of universities” in the global education market and the entry of Russian and Chinese universities into the international educational market. We associate the solution to this problem with the digitalization of education, the internationalization of the national system of higher education, organization of worldclass research, participation in projects, programs and international professional associations. The study used the method of analysis of open sources of data, a survey of experts (working at the Higher School of Economics (HSE), Kazan Federal University (KFU)) and the method of semi-structured interviews. The empirical basis of the study was the analysis of data from the international rankings Quacquarelli Symonds World University Rankings (QS), Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU), Times Higher Education World University Rankings (THE) (including the subject ranking “Education”) and the Moscow International Ranking “Three University Missions” (MosIUR). In the experimental activities, the results of the monitoring study of the participation of Russian universities in MosIUR that have the required validity and are an adequate tool for scientific assessment of changes were used. The study identified and confirmed that international rankings use different source bases for similar indicators. In the TNE ranking, the assessment of the citation of scientific works is carried out according to the international scientometric database Web of Science, while the QS ranking uses the citation index of scientific publications of teachers from the scientometric database Scopus. A monitoring study of the effectiveness of the participation of Russian universities in the MosIUR ranking for 2018–2020 shows the high activity of universities. The analysis of strategies and programs for the development of pedagogical universities included in the MosIUR ranking showed the orientation of universities to solve intra-sectoral problems and consider regional specifics. It has been established that, for pedagogical universities, it is becoming significant to reorient from institutional rankings to subject and branch ones, which measure the international reputation of an educational institution in a particular subject branch. The results of a monitoring study in 2017–2021 showed a low probability of achieving indicators of international rankings ARWU, THE, QS (including the subject ranking “Education”) for Russian pedagogical universities. The most promising for pedagogical universities may be the Moscow International Ranking “Three University Missions”, as well as the use of the experience of leading research universities of the TOP 5–100 project, which occupy high ranks in international rankings – HSE (QS subject ranking “Education”) and KFU (THE, subject ranking “Education”)

Морфологические и физико-химические свойства наноструктурированной целлюлозы, полученной химическим и биологическим способами

The authors obtained samples of chemically pure, crystalline, microand nanostructured cellulose of various modifications using two approaches – biological and chemical. They studied these cellulose samples via scanning electron microscopy (SEM), thermogravimetric analysis, and infrared (IR) spectroscopy. To prepare cellulose microcrystals, they used the mild acid treatment method based on glycerolacid mixtures for treating cotton fibers. They showed that the chemical processing of cotton fiber ensured its dispersion with generation of microcrystals surrounded by a partially preserved amorphous shell. The authors produced bacterial cellulose (BC) films using the Komagataeibacter xylinus C3 strain in surface cultivation conditions. With a view of obtaining higher-quality SEM images, they applied chemical fixation of lipids and proteins with critical drying to fix the process of nanofiber synthesis by bacterial cells. The two-step fixation method helped find the fibrillar structure of a cellulose film, while the morphology of bacterial cells was not deformed. The authors made a comparative analysis of the IR spectroscopy results between chemically synthesized cellulose microcrystals and BC. The obtained cellulose samples do not contain lignin and hemicellulose, both samples are highly crystalline. The BC has an ordered structure, higher crystallinity and gets carbonized when exposed to air pyrolysis. A thermogravimetric analysis of the samples shows the absence of thermally stable impurities. Both cellulose samples of biological and chemical origin are thermally stable, and the initial decomposition temperature is high enough for cellulose materials. These results show that the authors have managed to create nanocellulose materials that might be potentially applied in various industries, such as pharmaceuticals, functional composites, engineering, etc

Development and Evaluation of Alternative Methods to Identify the Three Most Common Serotypes of <i>Salmonella enterica</i> Causing Clinical Infections in Kazakhstan

In this study, we aimed to compare the performance of conventional PCR and real-time PCR assays as screening methods for identification of three frequent, clinically significant Salmonella serovars in Kazakhstan. We determined the diagnostic efficacy of three molecular methods for detection of S. enterica subsp. enterica and typing S. Typhimurium, S. Enteritidis, and S. Virchow. A total of 137 clinical samples and 883 food samples were obtained in Almaty in 2018–2019. All tests showed high analytical specificity for detecting S. enterica and its corresponding serovariants (100%). The sensitivity of real-time PCR for each of the tested targets was 1–10 microbial cells and in conventional PCR 10–100 microbial cells. The trials with conventional PCR and real-time PCR had a diagnostic efficacy (DE) of 100% and 99.71%, respectively. The DE of real-time PCR and conventional PCR for detecting S. Enteritidis and S. Typhimurium was 99.90%, while the DE of conventional PCR and real-time PCR for detecting S. Virchow was 99.31% and 99.80%, respectively. The RAPD-PCR analysis of the genomic DNA of Salmonella enterica showed the genetic kinship of S. Enteritidis isolates, and the genetic heterogeneity of S. Typhimurium and S. Virchow isolates. Thus, the developed methods can be considered as alternatives to classical serotyping using antisera

Development and Evaluation of Alternative Methods to Identify the Three Most Common Serotypes of Salmonella enterica Causing Clinical Infections in Kazakhstan

In this study, we aimed to compare the performance of conventional PCR and real-time PCR assays as screening methods for identification of three frequent, clinically significant Salmonella serovars in Kazakhstan. We determined the diagnostic efficacy of three molecular methods for detection of S. enterica subsp. enterica and typing S. Typhimurium, S. Enteritidis, and S. Virchow. A total of 137 clinical samples and 883 food samples were obtained in Almaty in 2018–2019. All tests showed high analytical specificity for detecting S. enterica and its corresponding serovariants (100%). The sensitivity of real-time PCR for each of the tested targets was 1–10 microbial cells and in conventional PCR 10–100 microbial cells. The trials with conventional PCR and real-time PCR had a diagnostic efficacy (DE) of 100% and 99.71%, respectively. The DE of real-time PCR and conventional PCR for detecting S. Enteritidis and S. Typhimurium was 99.90%, while the DE of conventional PCR and real-time PCR for detecting S. Virchow was 99.31% and 99.80%, respectively. The RAPD-PCR analysis of the genomic DNA of Salmonella enterica showed the genetic kinship of S. Enteritidis isolates, and the genetic heterogeneity of S. Typhimurium and S. Virchow isolates. Thus, the developed methods can be considered as alternatives to classical serotyping using antisera

Development of Bacteriostatic DNA Aptamers for Salmonella

<i>Salmonella</i> is one of the most dangerous and common food-borne pathogens. The overuse of antibiotics for disease prevention has led to the development of multidrug resistant <i>Salmonella</i>. Now, more than ever, there is a need for new antimicrobial drugs to combat these resistant bacteria. Aptamers have grown in popularity since their discovery, and their properties make them attractive candidates for therapeutic use. In this work, we describe the selection of highly specific DNA aptamers to <i>S. enteritidis</i> and <i>S. typhimurium</i>. To evolve species-specific aptamers, twelve rounds of selection to live <i>S. enteritidis</i> and <i>S. typhimurium</i> were performed, alternating with a negative selection against a mixture of related pathogens. Studies have shown that synthetic pools combined from individual aptamers have the capacity to inhibit growth of <i>S. enteritidis</i> and <i>S. typhimurium</i> in bacterial cultures; this was the result of a decrease in their membrane potential