Organic MgB2-xCx superconductor with high performance enabled by liquid mixing approach

Comparative analysis of structural and electromagnetic characteristics have been performed on nano SiC- and polycarbosilane-doped MgB2 samples prepared by the dry and liquid mixing approaches. The total benefit of liquid mixing approach for fabrication of organic MgB2 superconductor with excellent electromagnetic performance has been demonstrate

Individual educational trajectory: Grounds for electives choice

The fact that individual educational trajectory (IET) is one of the key factors of modern Russian education development determines relevancy of studying issues of IET implementation into higher educational institutions teaching process. This research aims at rates students’ awareness of IET advantages and finding out factors influencing students’ choices. A survey covered first-year students of the Saratov State Law Academy (N = 1325, aged 16–18, male – 38,2%, female – 61,8%), pursuing Bachelor and Specialist Degrees. Authorial questionnaire is aimed at rating students’ awareness of IET advantages and finding out factors influencing students’ choices. The survey results analysis showed that a students’ IET awareness level is rather high but there is a need in additional measures for clarifying IET advantages and opportunities. Firstly, it is essential to broaden a list of IET information resources: a higher educational institution official website, deans’ offices, curators, tutors, teachers, written sources. Secondly, it is necessary to structure an electives choice procedure. Thirdly, there is a need in working out a plan of events to be held during the first term of the first year of study to shape first-year students’ skills of an informed choice. Constant monitoring of studying within IET (students’ and teachers’ surveys, observations, interviews) will provide material for further research in several directions: 1) an analysis of cumulated material for providing teaching results of high quality; 2) a deeper research of factors influencing elective choices; 3) studying of digital technologies opportunities for shaping IET

Outlier detection and classification in sensor data streams for proactive decision support systems

A paper has a deal with the problem of quality assessment in sensor data streams accumulated by proactive decision support systems. The new problem is stated where outliers need to be detected and to be classified according to their nature of origin. There are two types of outliers defined; the first type is about misoperations of a system and the second type is caused by changes in the observed system behavior due to inner and external influences. The proposed method is based on the data-driven forecast approach to predict the values in the incoming data stream at the expected time. This method includes the forecasting model and the clustering model. The forecasting model predicts a value in the incoming data stream at the expected time to find the deviation between a real observed value and a predicted one. The clustering method is used for taxonomic classification of outliers. Constructive neural networks models (CoNNS) and evolving connectionists systems (ECS) are used for prediction of sensors data. There are two real world tasks are used as case studies. The maximal values of accuracy are 0.992 and 0.974, and F1 scores are 0.967 and 0.938, respectively, for the first and the second tasks. The conclusion contains findings how to apply the proposed method in proactive decision support systems

Interaction of Biliverdin Chromophore with Near-Infrared Fluorescent Protein BphP1-FP Engineered from Bacterial Phytochrome

Near-infrared (NIR) fluorescent proteins (FPs) designed from PAS (Per-ARNT-Sim repeats) and GAF (cGMP phosphodiesterase/adenylate cyclase/FhlA transcriptional activator) domains of bacterial phytochromes covalently bind biliverdin (BV) chromophore via one or two Cys residues. We studied BV interaction with a series of NIR FP variants derived from the recently reported BphP1-FP protein. The latter was engineered from a bacterial phytochrome RpBphP1, and has two reactive Cys residues (Cys15 in the PAS domain and Cys256 in the GAF domain), whereas its mutants contain single Cys residues either in the PAS domain or in the GAF domain, or no Cys residues. We characterized BphP1-FP and its mutants biochemically and spectroscopically in the absence and in the presence of denaturant. We found that all BphP1-FP variants are monomers. We revealed that spectral properties of the BphP1-FP variants containing either Cys15 or Cys256, or both, are determined by the covalently bound BV chromophore only. Consequently, this suggests an involvement of the inter-monomeric allosteric effects in the BV interaction with monomers in dimeric NIR FPs, such as iRFPs. Likely, insertion of the Cys15 residue, in addition to the Cys256 residue, in dimeric NIR FPs influences BV binding by promoting the BV chromophore covalent cross-linking to both PAS and GAF domains.Peer reviewe

АКТИВИЗАЦИЯ УЧЕБНО-ПОЗНАВАТЕЛЬНОЙ ДЕЯТЕЛЬНОСТИ СТУДЕНТОВ ТЕХНИЧЕСКИХ ВУЗОВ В ПРОЦЕССЕ ФОРМИРОВАНИЯ НАВЫКОВ ГРАФИЧЕСКОЙ ПОДГОТОВКИ

Abstract. Teaching Descriptive geometry and Engineering graphics in technical universities assumes two different forms of teaching: manual graphics computer graphics. Teachers of Graphics suggest that Computer Graphics focuses on the student’s professional development of the student whereas Manual Graphics helps to explore deeper the basic concepts of Descriptive geometry. Teaching staff and didactic equipment determine the methods and methodology of teaching basic disciplines in Graphics. The authors suppose that tendencies to usage of computer aided engineering developments results in the fact that intellectual process, cognition and visualization are partly lost as it is necessary to study Computer Graphics together with Descriptive Geometry. This restricts intellectual process especially at the beginning of study. Аннотация. В настоящее время процесс обучения начертательной геометрии и инженерной графике в технических вузах подразумевает две различные формы обучения: ручная графика и машинная. Педагоги по графическим дисциплинам предполагают, что машинная графика больше ориентирована на профессиональное становление студента, а ручная помогает глубже разобраться в базовых вопросах изучения начертательной геометрии. Методы и методика преподавания базовых графических дисциплин определяются педагогическим коллективом и техническим оснащением кафедр. Тенденции к автоматизированным разработкам конструкторских документов приводят к тому, что процессы мышления, познания, визуального представления геометрических объектов частично утрачиваются, так как обучающимся параллельно с освоением курса начертательной геометрии необходимо осваивать машинную графику, что значительно ограничивает процессы осознания и понимания предмета, особенно на начальном этапе ее изучения.

Allosteric effects of chromophore interaction with dimeric near-infrared fluorescent proteins engineered from bacterial phytochromes

Fluorescent proteins (FPs) engineered from bacterial phytochromes attract attention as probes for in vivo imaging due to their near-infrared (NIR) spectra and use of available in mammalian cells biliverdin (BV) as chromophore. We studied spectral properties of the iRFP670, iRFP682 and iRFP713 proteins and their mutants having Cys residues able to bind BV either in both PAS (Cys15) and GAF (Cys256) domains, in one of these domains, or without these Cys residues. We show that the absorption and fluorescence spectra and the chromophore binding depend on the location of the Cys residues. Compared with NIR FPs in which BV covalently binds to Cys15 or those that incorporate BV noncovalently, the proteins with BV covalently bound to Cys256 have blue-shifted spectra and higher quantum yield. In dimeric NIR FPs without Cys15, the covalent binding of BV to Cys256 in one monomer allosterically inhibits the covalent binding of BV to the other monomer, whereas the presence of Cys15 allosterically promotes BV binding to Cys256 in both monomers. The NIR FPs with both Cys residues have the narrowest blue-shifted spectra and the highest quantum yield. Our analysis resulted in the iRFP713/Val256Cys protein with the highest brightness in mammalian cells among available NIR FPs.Peer reviewe

Ability for vegetation and spore formation of <i>Bacillus anthracis</i> strains with different phenotypical properties under soil simulating conditions

Introduction. The study of the ability of Bacillus anthracis strains with different phenotypic properties to spore germination, reproduction and sporulation on a medium based on an aqueous soil extract can help assess the significance of these processes in the formation and maintenance of soil anthrax foci. Aim. The analysis of individual characteristics of the development of a vegetative culture of anthrax pathogen strains with different phenotypes in a soil medium model. Materials and methods. On a group of anthrax microbe strains with different plasmid composition and virulence, the possibility of spore germination, reproduction of bacilli and, at least in some of them, productive spore formation on the soil medium was studied. Results. Three variants of culture development of B. anthracis strains were identified: 1 spores remain intact, not germinating; 2 after germination of spores, bacilli are formed, which multiply with different intensity, passing into involutional forms without spore formation; 3 the passage of a complete physiological cycle "sporebacillusspore". The presence of 2% blood in the soil environment contributed to the germination of spores and reproduction of the culture, but inhibited the process of sporulation during the observation period of 3 days. No correlation was found between a certain phenotype of the studied strains of B. anthracis and the ability to germinate and vegetate on soil media. Conclusion. The data obtained that only 17% of CFU gives rise to the formation of colonies on the soil medium suggest the heterogeneity of the properties of the population of the studied strains. Isolation of such cultures and their further detailed study will make it possible to identify the most significant complexes of biological properties for the realization of a complete physiological cycle under soil-simulating conditions

Magnetic field processing to enhance critical current densities of MgB2 superconductors

A magnetic field of up to 12T was applied during the sintering process of pure MgB2 and carbon nanotube(CNT)dopedMgB2wires. The authors have demonstrated that magnetic field processing results in grain refinement, homogeneity, and enhancement in Jc(H) and Hirr. The extent of improvement in Jc increases with increasing field. The Jc for a 10T field processed CNTdoped sample increases by a factor of 3 at 10K and 8T and at 20K and 5T, respectively. Hirr for the 10T field processed CNTdoped sample reached 9T at 20K, which exceeded the best value of SiC dopedMgB2 at 20K. Magnetic field processing reduces the resistivity in CNTdopedMgB2, straightens the entangled CNTs, and improves the adherence between CNTs and the MgB2 matrix