Theoretical study of the local atomic and electronic structure of dimetacyano azobenzene molecules on Bi (111) substrate

The present work is devoted to the local atomic and electronic structure of dimetacyano (DMC) molecules deposited on a Bi (111) substrate before and after irradiation by X-rays and UV light using density functional theory (DFT) and a theoretical analysis of the X-ray absorption near edge tructure (XANES) spectroscopy. As a result of the calculations the low-energy structure for DMC zobenzene molecules on a Bi (111) substrate was obtained.1\. Auflag

Hypoxia-inducible factor: basic biology and involvement in cardiovascular pathology

Molecular epidemiological studies conducted to date reveal a close relationship between the polymorphism of the HIF system genes with a wide range of cardiovascular, inflammatory, and oncological diseases. The study of the HIF system can contribute to the discovery of new targets and methods of pharmacological effects for the treatment of cardiovascular, oncological, rheumatological, and endocrinological patholog

Size fractionation of trace elements in the surface water and groundwater of the Ganjiang River and Xiushui River basins, China

The research of trace element behaviour and size fractionation is significant to understand the processes in the water-rock system. Moreover, the aqueous speciation of trace elements is strongly related to their distribution and toxicity. In this research, trace elements behaviour and their size fractionation are investigated in the natural water (the surface water and shallow groundwater) of the Ganjiang River and Xiushui River basins. Trace element concentrations were measured by ICP-MS. The authors estimated the size fractionation of the trace elements between suspended forms (>0.45 [mu]m) and dissolved fractions, which included truly dissolved (1 kDa) and colloidal particles (0.45 [mu]m-1 kDa)), after filtration through a 0.45 [mu]m acetate cellulose membrane filter. The distinct features of the trace element size fractionation were identified. The size fractionation of the trace elements under different conditions (in the surface water and shallow groundwater) was studied

EXACT2: the semantics of biomedical protocols

© 2014 Soldatova et al.; licensee BioMed Central. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.This article has been made available through the Brunel Open Access Publishing Fund.Background: The reliability and reproducibility of experimental procedures is a cornerstone of scientific practice. There is a pressing technological need for the better representation of biomedical protocols to enable other agents (human or machine) to better reproduce results. A framework that ensures that all information required for the replication of experimental protocols is essential to achieve reproducibility. Methods: We have developed the ontology EXACT2 (EXperimental ACTions) that is designed to capture the full semantics of biomedical protocols required for their reproducibility. To construct EXACT2 we manually inspected hundreds of published and commercial biomedical protocols from several areas of biomedicine. After establishing a clear pattern for extracting the required information we utilized text-mining tools to translate the protocols into a machine amenable format. We have verified the utility of EXACT2 through the successful processing of previously ‘unseen’ (not used for the construction of EXACT2) protocols. Results: The paper reports on a fundamentally new version EXACT2 that supports the semantically-defined representation of biomedical protocols. The ability of EXACT2 to capture the semantics of biomedical procedures was verified through a text mining use case. In this EXACT2 is used as a reference model for text mining tools to identify terms pertinent to experimental actions, and their properties, in biomedical protocols expressed in natural language. An EXACT2-based framework for the translation of biomedical protocols to a machine amenable format is proposed. Conclusions: The EXACT2 ontology is sufficient to record, in a machine processable form, the essential information about biomedical protocols. EXACT2 defines explicit semantics of experimental actions, and can be used by various computer applications. It can serve as a reference model for for the translation of biomedical protocols in natural language into a semantically-defined format.This work has been partially funded by the Brunel University BRIEF award and a grant from Occams Resources

Local communities as а tool for urban conflict resolution

A modern city is a concentration of a whole range of diverse processes and activities, residents with different needs, traditions and beliefs. The city is also an arena of clashing economic, political and social interests. Urban development trends are expressed both in the need for centralized determination of the direction of urban environment, and public demand for greater civic engagement. Accordingly, conflicts cannot be avoided, but it is important not to accept this obvious truth, but to create a tradition of constant thoughtful analysis of ongoing processes, identifying causes and searching for solutions. As awareness of the importance of collective efforts in creating a comfortable urban environment grows, knowledge about the approaches and public technologies used to resolve urban conflicts becomes more in demand. One of the effective tools for resolving urban conflicts are local communities created on sub-municipal territories within the city boundaries. However, the effectiveness of this tool depends on the proper organization of intra-urban communities and provision of legal guarantees for their functioning. This study is carried out using a comprehensive interdisciplinary approach, implying the analysis of urban development and urban environment through the prism of law. The study of Russian and foreign doctrinal sources, along with normative legal acts and materials of judicial and law enforcement practice, allows to form a sufficient picture of the state of urban conflictology and substantiate the role of local communities in their resolution

Applicability of the Online Short Spatial Ability Battery to university students testing

Introduction. Multiple studies advocate an importance of spatial abilities (SA) for educational and occupational success, especially in STEM. Recently an Online Short Spatial Ability Battery (OSSAB) was developed and normed for SA testing in adolescents. The battery includes mechanical reasoning, paper folding, pattern assembly, and shape rotation tests. The battery has shown good psychometric characteristics (high reliability and validity, low redundancy, discriminative power), and is available in open access and free to use. Aim. The present research aims: 1) to examine the applicability of the OSSAB for university student testing; 2) to describe its psychometric properties and structure; and 3) to investigate links between SA and educational performance. Methods. A total of 772 university students (aged from 18 to 26, mean age (SD) = 19.55 (1.51), 63.1% females) participated in the study. Participants provided information about their age, gender, university major, and academic achievement, and completed a battery of tests that included the OSSAB tests. Results. The study reports psychometric norms for using the OSSAB in university students. Students’ performance in the OSSAB was similar to that shown in previous research in adolescents in terms of means and variance. The OSSAB showed adequate psychometric properties in this sample: no floor or ceiling effects; low redundancy; moderate to high internal consistency; high discriminative power across university majors; and high external validity. The results indicated that around 6% of the students showed very high levels of SA (higher than 1.5 SD above the mean), and around 8% of students showed very low levels of SA (lower than 1.5 SD below mean). In addition, the OSSAB scores were linked to educational profile choice and exam scores, with small-to-medium effect sizes. Scientific novelty. The study provides psychometric norms for a short online open measure of spatial ability in university students. Practical significance. The OSSAB can be used to provide individual recommendations to students (e.g. SA training), to identify spatially gifted students, and for research purposes in university contexts

Program-targeted regulation of the regional consumer market

The primary strategic tasks for development of the Russian Federation and its regions are the increase of the level and quality of life and increase of the share of the middle class on the basis of modernization and restructuring the economy, the growth of entrepreneurial and innovative activities and competitiveness. For the solution of these problems the development of the consumer market should play an important role, performing important economic and social functions. In the article the results of the study of scientific views of foreign and national scientists on the category "consumer market" are shown from the perspective of the principle of historical and logical unity, theoretical and conceptual approaches to its formation and development are systematized, positive trends in its development are revealed; negative social consequences associated with excessive consumption growth and the formation of a consumer society are proved (violation of the ecological balance, people health aggravation, change of people’s attitudes). The necessity of government regulation of the consumer market on all the levels is proved (federal, regional and municipal) based on the prospective vision and its development strategy in the context of globalization, Russia's accession to WTO and the implementation of the sanctions against Russia by the United States, several European and Asian countries. As a methodological approach to solve identified problems on the regional level it is proposed to use the program-targeted regulation of the consumer market, which allows connecting the objectives with the resources and deadlines for their implementation by particular executives. Its use also allows authorities to develop alternative solutions for the tasks on the basis of the justification of priorities in the development of the consumer market and assessment of the risks associated with the implementation of program activities.peer-reviewe

Recognition of handwritten numbers based on convolutional neural networks

This article deals with the problem of practical implementation of handwritten digit recognition based on convolutional neural networks (CNN). The CNN architecture is presented and analyzed, for which it is recommended to use cross entropy as a loss function during training, and the Softmax function as an activation function of the last CNN layer. It is also recommended to use the well-known error back propagation algorithm to implement the CNN learning algorithm. To do this, the article presents the main relations for errors at each layer

TECHNOLOGICAL PROPERTIES OF FLOUR AND THEIR EFFECT ON QUALITY INDICATORS OF SUGAR COOKIES

The main recipe component of most types of flour confectionery is wheat flour, the technological properties of which largely effect not only the quality indicators of the finished product, but also the stability of the technological flow of its production. However, today, in Russia there are no specialized requirements for the quality of wheat flour for confectionery, in contrast to the requirements for the baking wheat flour. The article lists the main problems and features of the quality of Russian wheat flour consisting in the absence of target classifications of grain and a decrease in its qualitative potential, in particular, a decrease in the amount of gluten and improvement of its quality. As part of the work, the influence of the technological properties of wheat flour on the rheological parameters of the dough and the quality of sugar cookies, which are traditionally in high demand of population groups of every age, was studied, while the share of domestic products is more than 85%. The work was performed in the laboratory of flour confectionery products of All-Russian Scientific Research Institute of Confectionery Industry. The determination of organoleptic, physical and chemical, structural and mechanical indicators of raw materials, semi-finished products and finished products was carried out by standard methods.The main recipe component of most types of flour confectionery is wheat flour, the technological properties of which largely effect not only the quality indicators of the finished product, but also the stability of the technological flow of its production. However, today, in Russia there are no specialized requirements for the quality of wheat flour for confectionery, in contrast to the requirements for the baking wheat flour. The article lists the main problems and features of the quality of Russian wheat flour consisting in the absence of target classifications of grain and a decrease in its qualitative potential, in particular, a decrease in the amount of gluten and improvement of its quality. As part of the work, the influence of the technological properties of wheat flour on the rheological parameters of the dough and the quality of sugar cookies, which are traditionally in high demand of population groups of every age, was studied, while the share of domestic products is more than 85%. The work was performed in the laboratory of flour confectionery products of All-Russian Scientific Research Institute of Confectionery Industry. The determination of organoleptic, physical and chemical, structural and mechanical indicators of raw materials, semi-finished products and finished products was carried out by standard methods

Preclinical study of innovative peptides mimicking the tertiary structure of the α-helix B of erythropoietin

The aim of this study was to examine the effectiveness of innovative peptides obtained by addition of polypeptide motifs with antiaggregation activity (Arg-Gly-Asp, Lys-Gly-Asp and Pro-Gly-Pro) to a peptide mimicking the tertiary structure of the α-helix B of erythropoietin pHBSP (Pyr-Glu-Gln-Leu-Glu-Arg-Ala-Leu-Asn-Ser-Ser