Crystallization of authigenic carbonates in mud volcanoes at Lake Baikal

This paper presents data on authigenic siderite first found in surface sediments from mud volcanoes in the Central (K-2) and Southern (Malen’kii) basins of Lake Baikal. Ca is the predominant cation, which substitutes Fe in the crystalline lattice of siderite. The enrichment of the carbonates in the 13C isotope (from +3.3 to +6.8‰ for the Malen’kii volcano and from +17.7 to +21.9‰ for K-2) results from the crystallization of the carbonates during methane generation via the bacterial destruction of organic matter (acetate). The overall depletion of the carbonates in 18O is mainly inherited from the isotopic composition of Baikal water

A genomic catalog of Earth’s microbiomes

The reconstruction of bacterial and archaeal genomes from shotgun metagenomes has enabled insights into the ecology and evolution of environmental and host-associated microbiomes. Here we applied this approach to >10,000 metagenomes collected from diverse habitats covering all of Earth’s continents and oceans, including metagenomes from human and animal hosts, engineered environments, and natural and agricultural soils, to capture extant microbial, metabolic and functional potential. This comprehensive catalog includes 52,515 metagenome-assembled genomes representing 12,556 novel candidate species-level operational taxonomic units spanning 135 phyla. The catalog expands the known phylogenetic diversity of bacteria and archaea by 44% and is broadly available for streamlined comparative analyses, interactive exploration, metabolic modeling and bulk download. We demonstrate the utility of this collection for understanding secondary-metabolite biosynthetic potential and for resolving thousands of new host linkages to uncultivated viruses. This resource underscores the value of genome-centric approaches for revealing genomic properties of uncultivated microorganisms that affect ecosystem processes

Should the poultry red mite Dermanyssus gallinae be of wider concern for veterinary and medical science?

The poultry red mite Dermanyssus gallinae is best known as a threat to the laying-hen industry; adversely affecting production and hen health and welfare throughout the globe, both directly and through its role as a disease vector. Nevertheless, D. gallinae is being increasingly implemented in dermatological complaints in non-avian hosts, suggesting that its significance may extend beyond poultry. The main objective of the current work was to review the potential of D. gallinae as a wider veterinary and medical threat. Results demonstrated that, as an avian mite, D. gallinae is unsurprisingly an occasional pest of pet birds. However, research also supports that these mites will feed from a range of other animals including: cats, dogs, rodents, rabbits, horses and man. We conclude that although reported cases of D. gallinae infesting mammals are relatively rare, when coupled with the reported genetic plasticity of this species and evidence of permanent infestations on non-avian hosts, potential for host-expansion may exist. The impact of, and mechanisms and risk factors for such expansion are discussed, and suggestions for further work made. Given the potential severity of any level of host-expansion in D. gallinae, we conclude that further research should be urgently conducted to confirm the full extent of the threat posed by D. gallinae to (non-avian) veterinary and medical sectors

Leadership and Students: Is There a Future for the Knowledge Economy in Russia?

In December 2016, there were interviewed students of the Bachelor’s and Master’s programs of the Institute of World Economy and Business (IWEB) of RUDN University. The goal was to study the generation Y, its worldview, the life values and priorities, the stereotypes, and various behavioral models for designing the system of internal and external communications of the organization. One of the research tasks was the identification of social models of this target audience, its ideas about future activities in the field of communications and its place in the profession, and the degree of readiness of the respondents to the new economic realities. The students were asked to answer anonymously the questions of the questionnaire, which included several content modules, including the aspects of leadership and creativity. Following the results of the study, we not only received general conceptual results that give a detailed description of the study of the target audience in a wide range of parameters but also formulated recommendations for the optimization of educational process, the improvement of educational programs, and the development of a corporate communications strategy of the organization to improve the reputation among the consumers of educational products. © 2018, Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature

COMMUNICATIONS BEHAVIOR OF RUSSIAN YOUTH AS A TARGET AUDIENCE

The study of youth audience has been actualized in Russia. Such researches are conducted in the context of the worldview of young consumers and their behavior on media platforms. We combined both approaches in order to determine the communication behavior of youth consumer of educational services and the possible recommendations for a communication strategy to promote the university. The aim of our research was to determine the evaluation of the reputation of the Russian university brand by the target audience, the strengths and weaknesses of the education by point of view of the students and the description of the priority of communicative models of information consumption. In December 2016 the authors conducted a survey of the bachelor and master's degree students of the Institute of World Economy and Business of People Friendship University of Russia (RUDN University). The questionnaire consisted of several informative modules, including priority distribution channels of information, the type of content consumed, the dominant interest groups, etc. The results of the survey made it possible to assess the effectiveness of using various dissemination channels for this target audience, the priority of information content, and the idea about the compliance of a media channel to the needs of the audience. At the result of the study there was started the development of corporate communication strategy to improve the organization's reputation in the specific target audience - an audience of consumers of educational products

Thermophilic facultative anaerobic bacteria of the genus Geobacillus from bottom sediments of Lake Baikal

Pure culture of thermophilic facultative anaerobic microorganism was isolated from surface sediment of methane seepage Posolsk Bank. New strain Geobacillus sp. PB15/Grf7geo does not differ from the typical strains by morphological and physiological-biochemical properties. It is able to withstand of wide temperature range with optimum growth between 55–60 °C. Chemoorganotroph. Phylogenetic analysis of the 16S rRNA sequence of the strain showed 97 % identity to cultivated strains of this genus. The strain forms a common clade with uncultivated representatives and does not cluster with sequences of cultivated strains within the genus Geobacillus in the phylogenetic tree. Strain Geobacillus sp. PB15/Grf7geo has been deposited to the collection of the VKM (=VKM B–3150T)