Revealing prerequisites and factors of transactional costs formation in the activity of educational establishments through process approach

© 2015, Mediterranean Center of Social and Educational Research. All rights reserved. The article is devoted to the study of one of the main types of transactional costs in an educational establishment – the costs of assets and processes management. The work uses the process approach of corporate management. The results will be used as the theoretical basis for building the overall architecture of information system, as well as for revealing and classifying the transactional costs in business processes

Elaboration of the model of evaluating the transactional costs management efficiency in the educational sphere

© 2015, Mediterranean Center of Social and Educational Research. All rights reserved. The article is devoted to elaboration of tools for transactional costs management in the educational sphere of Russia. The work uses space-temporal classification of transactional costs of an organization, takes into account the impact of institutional environment upon transactional costs, and formulates the model of evaluating the efficiency of the main transactional costs management in the educational sphere in Russia

Temperature dependence of the rate constants of heterogeneous electron-transfer reactions

The aim of this work was to use faradaic impedance in studying solvent effects on the preexponential factor of the rate constants ks of one-electron reduction of a number of organic compounds at mercury. The standard free energies of activation of the reactions studied correlate with the dielectric properties of the solvents, and decrease in the order of acetonitrile-acetone-dimethylformamide-benzonitrile. Secondly the solvent influences not only the free energy of activation but also the value of the preexponential factor

Elaborating an innovative model of educational process management, designed for adaptation to the changes in external institutional environment

© 2015, Mediterranean Center of Social and Educational Research. All rights reserved. The work views the requirements to the modern educational process and its features. An additional set of competences is proposed and discussed, which is necessary for ensuring students’ competitiveness in the modern labor market. The contours of the innovative model of educational process management are drawn, which is designed for adaptation to the changes in the external institutional environment. The authors prove the transactional character of costs of introducing the model and offer a classification of these costs

The structure and characteristics of photochromic dithienylethenes

Abstract. The data on X-ray diffraction analysis for dihetarylethenes with perfluorocyclopentene (F), maleic anhydride (M) and cyclobutenedione (S) bridges between thienyl fragments were summarized and their photochromic properties were discussed. It was established that benzoxazole and benzothiazole substituents in position 5 of thienyl rings are coplanar to the plane of thiophene cycles. Thienyl fragments in A form of all dithienylethenes are considerably turned relative to the plane of bridging cycle. It means that there is no conjugation between π -electrons of aromatic heterocycles and double bond of the bridge. Flattening of molecule framework and the envelope conformation of thienyl cycles because of aromaticity loss are characteristic features of the form B structure with F-bridge. In all cases (excluding the compounds with alkylthio substituents in position 2 of thiophene cycle) the photochromic transition A −→ B is observed independently of different nature and structure of functional groups

Paranoia and post-traumatic stress disorder in the months after a physical assault: a longitudinal study examining shared and differential predictors.

Background: Being physically assaulted is known to increase the risk of the occurrence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms but it may also skew judgements about the intentions of other people. The objectives of the study were to assess paranoia and PTSD after an assault and to test whether theory-derived cognitive factors predicted the persistence of these problems. Method: At 4 weeks after hospital attendance due to an assault, 106 people were assessed on multiple symptom measures (including virtual reality) and cognitive factors from models of paranoia and PTSD. The symptom measures were repeated 3 and 6 months later. Results: Factor analysis indicated that paranoia and PTSD were distinct experiences, though positively correlated. At 4 weeks, 33% of participants met diagnostic criteria for PTSD, falling to 16% at follow-up. Of the group at the first assessment, 80% reported that since the assault they were excessively fearful of other people, which over time fell to 66%. Almost all the cognitive factors (including information-processing style during the trauma, mental defeat, qualities of unwanted memories, self-blame, negative thoughts about self, worry, safety behaviours, anomalous internal experiences and cognitive inflexibility) predicted later paranoia and PTSD, but there was little evidence of differential prediction. Conclusions: Paranoia after an assault may be common and distinguishable from PTSD but predicted by a strikingly similar range of factors

Successful experience in treating primary cutaneous anaplastic large cell lymphoma occuring with common lesions of the skin and lung tissue

The aim of the study is to present a successful case in treating primary cutaneous anaplastic large cell lymphoma (PCALCL) occurring with common lesions of the skin and lung tissue.Materials and methods. For the verification of the diagnosis in a patient with three types of skin elements (spot, thin plaque with and without ulceration), differential diagnosis was performed between ulcerative pyoderma gangrenosum, PCALCL, large-cell transformation of mycosis fungoides, and secondary skin lesions under the nodal ALK-negtaive ALCL. A complex of studies, including histological, immunohisto - chemical, cytogenetic studies of skin tumor biopsy, allowed the verification of the PCALCL diagnosis. For the treatment of the patient, intensive induction chemotherapy was used followed by high-dose consolidation and autologous transplantation of hematopoietic stem cells.Results. The selected treatment tactics allowed a long-term complete remission of the disease to be achieved in a patient from the poor prognosis group.Conclusion. An algorithm for the differential diagnosis and tactics of treating is presented for a patient with primary anaplastic large cell lymphoma with a widespread skin lesion and extradermal foci

High Mutability of the Tumor Suppressor Genes RASSF1 and RBSP3 (CTDSPL) in Cancer

BACKGROUND:Many different genetic alterations are observed in cancer cells. Individual cancer genes display point mutations such as base changes, insertions and deletions that initiate and promote cancer growth and spread. Somatic hypermutation is a powerful mechanism for generation of different mutations. It was shown previously that somatic hypermutability of proto-oncogenes can induce development of lymphomas. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS:We found an exceptionally high incidence of single-base mutations in the tumor suppressor genes RASSF1 and RBSP3 (CTDSPL) both located in 3p21.3 regions, LUCA and AP20 respectively. These regions contain clusters of tumor suppressor genes involved in multiple cancer types such as lung, kidney, breast, cervical, head and neck, nasopharyngeal, prostate and other carcinomas. Altogether in 144 sequenced RASSF1A clones (exons 1-2), 129 mutations were detected (mutation frequency, MF = 0.23 per 100 bp) and in 98 clones of exons 3-5 we found 146 mutations (MF = 0.29). In 85 sequenced RBSP3 clones, 89 mutations were found (MF = 0.10). The mutations were not cytidine-specific, as would be expected from alterations generated by AID/APOBEC family enzymes, and appeared de novo during cell proliferation. They diminished the ability of corresponding transgenes to suppress cell and tumor growth implying a loss of function. These high levels of somatic mutations were found both in cancer biopsies and cancer cell lines. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE:This is the first report of high frequencies of somatic mutations in RASSF1 and RBSP3 in different cancers suggesting it may underlay the mutator phenotype of cancer. Somatic hypermutations in tumor suppressor genes involved in major human malignancies offer a novel insight in cancer development, progression and spread

Coding SNPs analysis highlights genetic relationships and evolution pattern in eggplant complexes

[EN] Brinjal (Solanum melongena), scarlet (S. aethiopicum) and gboma (S. macrocarpon) eggplants are three Old World domesticates. The genomic DNA of a collection of accessions belonging to the three cultivated species, along with a representation of various wild relatives, was characterized for the presence of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) using a genotype-by-sequencing approach. A total of 210 million useful reads were produced and were successfully aligned to the reference eggplant genome sequence. Out of the 75,399 polymorphic sites identified among the 76 entries in study, 12,859 were associated with coding sequence. A genetic relationships analysis, supported by the output of the FastSTRUCTURE software, identified four major sub-groups as present in the germplasm panel. The first of these clustered S. aethiopicum with its wild ancestor S. anguivi; the second, S. melongena, its wild progenitor S. insanum, and its relatives S. incanum, S. lichtensteinii and S. linneanum; the third, S. macrocarpon and its wild ancestor S. dasyphyllum; and the fourth, the New World species S. sisymbriifolium, S. torvum and S. elaeagnifolium. By applying a hierarchical FastSTRUCTURE analysis on partitioned data, it was also possible to resolve the ambiguous membership of the accessions of S. campylacanthum, S. violaceum, S. lidii, S. vespertilio and S. tomentsum, as well as to genetically differentiate the three species of New World Origin. A principal coordinates analysis performed both on the entire germplasm panel and also separately on the entries belonging to sub-groups revealed a clear separation among species, although not between each of the domesticates and their respective wild ancestors. There was no clear differentiation between either distinct cultivar groups or different geographical provenance. Adopting various approaches to analyze SNP variation provided support for interpretation of results. The genotyping-by-sequencing approach showed to be highly efficient for both quantifying genetic diversity and establishing genetic relationships among and within cultivated eggplants and their wild relatives. The relevance of these results to the evolution of eggplants, as well as to their genetic improvement, is discussed.This work has been funded in part by European Unions Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme under grant agreement No 677379 (G2P-SOL project: Linking genetic resources, genomes and phenotypes of Solanaceous crops) and by Spanish Ministerio de Economia, Industria y Competitividad and Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (grant AGL2015-64755-R from MINECO/FEDER). Funding has also been received from the initiative "Adapting Agriculture to Climate Change: Collecting, Protecting and Preparing Crop Wild Relatives", which is supported by the Government of Norway. This last project is managed by the Global Crop Diversity Trust with the Millennium Seed Bank of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and implemented in partnership with national and international gene banks and plant breeding institutes around the world. For further information see the project website:http://www.cwrdiversity.org/. Pietro Gramazio is grateful to Universitat Politecnica de Valencia for a pre-doctoral (Programa FPI de la UPV-Subprograma 1/2013 call) contract. Mariola Plazas is grateful to Spanish Ministerio de Economia, Industria y Competitividad for a post-doctoral grant within the Santiago Grisolia Programme (FCJI-2015-24835). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.Acquadro, A.; Barchi, L.; Gramazio, P.; Portis, E.; Vilanova Navarro, S.; Comino, C.; Plazas Ávila, MDLO.... (2017). Coding SNPs analysis highlights genetic relationships and evolution pattern in eggplant complexes. PLoS ONE. 12(7). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0180774Se018077412

Madagascar’s extraordinary biodiversity: Threats and opportunities

Madagascar's unique biota is heavily affected by human activity and is under intense threat. Here, we review the current state of knowledge on the conservation status of Madagascar's terrestrial and freshwater biodiversity by presenting data and analyses on documented and predicted species-level conservation statuses, the most prevalent and relevant threats, ex situ collections and programs, and the coverage and comprehensiveness of protected areas. The existing terrestrial protected area network in Madagascar covers 10.4% of its land area and includes at least part of the range of the majority of described native species of vertebrates with known distributions (97.1% of freshwater fishes, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals combined) and plants (67.7%). The overall figures are higher for threatened species (97.7% of threatened vertebrates and 79.6% of threatened plants occurring within at least one protected area). International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List assessments and Bayesian neural network analyses for plants identify overexploitation of biological resources and unsustainable agriculture as themost prominent threats to biodiversity. We highlight five opportunities for action at multiple levels to ensure that conservation and ecological restoration objectives, programs, and activities take account of complex underlying and interacting factors and produce tangible benefits for the biodiversity and people of Madagascar