Achievements, Problems and Prospects of the Scientific Approach Aimed for Ensuring Resource-Efficient Technologies in the Context of Personnel Policy in the Energy Sector

The article is devoted to the increasing role of human resources in the field of energy policy. Basic directions for the development of personnel policy, the ways of their implementation in the modern HR environment have been outlined. The results of the content analysis of the research on personnel policy and personnel training for the energy sector in the context of the whole spectrum of science have been introduced; certain specific features of the process have been studied

The development of learners' cognitive interest by pop-music in English

The article reviews the methodology of applying pop-songs in English for the purpose of developing cognitive interest of technical students in the process of L2 teaching. The pop-song as a multimedia teaching tool presents a number of advantages which must not be overlooked by university instructors. To these we refer a balanced combination of amusing, thoughtprovoking and discourse-motivating features which, when applied according to a certain methodology, can enhance students' motivation for expanding their knowledge in connection with newly-discovered data, which builds ground for the habit for life-long learning. The article highlights the idea that, due to the cognitive basis of speech, enhancement of cognitive aspects in the process of teaching L2 prompts the increase of learners' communicative competence in verbal interaction. The research was conducted among sophomores majoring in power engineering doing a General English course and involved the theoretical and the practical stages. Within the theoretical stage the notion of cognitive interest, its types and specific feature were addressed; the notion of pop-music was studied and pop-music samples were selected according to such criteria as harmoniousness of music and performance; informative and anthological value of the song; consistency of lyrics with the level of the learners' proficiency. Within the practical stage of the study, pop-music was applied in accordance with the developed methodology which was targeted at the enhancement of learners' background knowledge about pop-music in English, developing their cognitive interest and expressive skills by using popular pop-songs in the classroom. The classes conducted according to the suggested methodology proved to be effective in meeting the assigned objectives. As the result, 77.78% of the learners participating in the research displayed an enhancement of cognitive interest in a number of directions, such as studying the diversity of pop-music, increasing attention to song lyrics, and developing listening skills via songs. It is noteworthy that the methodology stimulated a 44.47% increase in the number of learners paying attention to song lyrics while listening, as well as a 33.32% increase in the number of learners displaying enhancement of expressive skills, thus validating the value of popsongs for developing cognitive-communicative skills

The Advantages of the Network-based Electronic Teaching Package by the Implementation of English for Specific Purposes Course

The article analyses the advantages of English for Specific Purposes teaching of the fourth year students majoring in "Electrical and Power Engineering" at National Research Tomsk Polytechnic University by means of the network-based electronic teaching package. This paper analyzes the structural content of the network-based electronic teaching package, shows the key approaches used to develop this tool and focuses on the description of its main components. The conclusions made are based on the results obtained over a three year period (2012-2015) of the network-based electronic teaching package use

Inter-media agenda setting role of the blogosphere: a content analysis of the Reuters photo controversy coverage during the Israel-Lebanon Conflict in 2006 Coverage During the Israel-Lebanon Conflict in 2006

On August 5, 2006, blogger Charles Johnson of Little Green Footballs wrote in his blog that one of the images by Adnan Hajj, a Reuters photographer, showed blatant evidence of manipulation. The photograph depicted smoke rising over Beirut after an Israeli air strike. The smoke was altered using the cloning tool in Adobe® Photoshop® to achieve a more dramatic effect. The purpose of this study is to compare mainstream media coverage of this incident with that of the blogosphere. Qualitative content analysis is used to describe the relationship. The study demonstrates that the blogosphere has potentially both set and built the agenda for the media coverage of the Reuters controversy in the mainstream media. Also, both media platforms covered the same themes, but described them from different angles

α-Synuclein emerges as a potent regulator of VDAC-facilitated calcium transport

Voltage-dependent anion channel (VDAC) is the most ubiquitous channel at the mitochondrial outer membrane, and is believed to be the pathway for calcium entering or leaving the mitochondria. Therefore, understanding the molecular mechanisms of how VDAC regulates calcium influx and efflux from the mitochondria is of particular interest for mitochondrial physiology. When the Parkinson’s disease (PD) related neuronal protein, alpha-synuclein (αSyn), is added to the reconstituted VDAC, it reversibly and partially blocks VDAC conductance by its acidic C-terminal tail. Using single-molecule VDAC electrophysiology of reconstituted VDAC we now demonstrate that, at CaCl2 concentrations below 150 mM, αSyn reverses the channel’s selectivity from anionic to cationic. Importantly, we find that the decrease in channel conductance upon its blockage by αSyn is hugely overcompensated by a favorable change in the electrostatic environment for calcium, making the blocked state orders-of-magnitude more selective for calcium and thus increasing its net flux. -Our findings with higher calcium concentrations also demonstrate that the phenomenon of “charge inversion” is taking place at the level of a single polypeptide chain. Measurements of ion selectivity of three VDAC isoforms in CaCl2 gradient show that VDAC3 exhibits the highest calcium permeability among them, followed by VDAC2 and VDAC1, thus pointing to isoform-dependent physiological function. Mutation of the E73 residue – VDAC1 purported calcium binding site – shows that there is no measurable effect of the mutation in either open or αSyn-blocked VDAC1 states. Our results confirm VDACs involvement in calcium signaling and reveal a new regulatory role of αSyn, with clear implications for both normal calcium signaling and PD-associated mitochondrial dysfunction

Aprimorando as Tecnologias Digitais no Setor do Turismo

The article is devoted to present a theoretical discussion about the virtual reality tools on tourism sector, with focus on recent recent experiences. It has been established that the epidemiological and economic situation that has developed in the world at present indicates the need for the introduction of digital technologies in all spheres of life as well as the entertainment sector, which includes the tourism industry. It has been showed that it is not possible to meet the growing needs of consumers without the introduction of the latest technologies. The purpose of the development of digital technologies in the tourism sector is to create the necessary prerequisites for the development and improvement of the state of the tourist services market, its diversity due to new types of tourism, improving the financial condition, as well as sustainable growth in the level and quality of life of citizens in the current period and for the future.El artículo está dedicado presentar una discusión teórica sobre las herramientas de realidad virtual en el sector turístico, con enfoque en las experiencias recientes recientes. Se ha establecido que la situación epidemiológica y económica que se ha desarrollado en el mundo en la actualidad indica la necesidad de introducir las tecnologías digitales en todas las esferas de la vida, así como en el sector del entretenimiento, que incluye la industria del turismo. Se ha demostrado que no es posible satisfacer las crecientes necesidades de los consumidores sin la introducción de las últimas tecnologías. El objetivo del desarrollo de las tecnologías digitales en el sector turístico es crear las condiciones necesarias para el desarrollo y la mejora del estado del mercado de servicios turísticos, su diversidad debido a los nuevos tipos de turismo, la mejora de la condición financiera, así como el crecimiento sostenible del nivel y la calidad de vida de los ciudadanos en el período actual y para el futuro.O artigo é dedicado a apresentar uma discussão teórica sobre as ferramentas de realidade virtual no setor de turismo, com foco em experiências recentes recentes. Foi estabelecido que a situação epidemiológica e económica que se desenvolveu no mundo actualmente indica a necessidade da introdução de tecnologias digitais em todas as esferas da vida, bem como no sector do entretenimento, que inclui a indústria do turismo. Foi provado que não é possível satisfazer as necessidades crescentes dos consumidores sem a introdução das tecnologias mais recentes. O objectivo do desenvolvimento das tecnologias digitais no sector do turismo é criar os pré-requisitos necessários para o desenvolvimento e melhoria do estado do mercado de serviços turísticos, a sua diversidade devido a novos tipos de turismo, melhorando a condição financeira, bem como o crescimento sustentável no nível e qualidade de vida dos cidadãos no período actual e para o futuro

Statistical properties of multistep enzyme-mediated reactions

Enzyme-mediated reactions may proceed through multiple intermediate conformational states before creating a final product molecule, and one often wishes to identify such intermediate structures from observations of the product creation. In this paper, we address this problem by solving the chemical master equations for various enzymatic reactions. We devise a perturbation theory analogous to that used in quantum mechanics that allows us to determine the first () and the second (variance) cumulants of the distribution of created product molecules as a function of the substrate concentration and the kinetic rates of the intermediate processes. The mean product flux V=d/dt (or "dose-response" curve) and the Fano factor F=variance/ are both realistically measurable quantities, and while the mean flux can often appear the same for different reaction types, the Fano factor can be quite different. This suggests both qualitative and quantitative ways to discriminate between different reaction schemes, and we explore this possibility in the context of four sample multistep enzymatic reactions. We argue that measuring both the mean flux and the Fano factor can not only discriminate between reaction types, but can also provide some detailed information about the internal, unobserved kinetic rates, and this can be done without measuring single-molecule transition events.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figure

Vocabulary building strategies for engineering students

The present study considers vocabulary building strategies to help engineering students enrich functional lexis in the area of power engineering. The aim of the study is to investigate the role of lexical approach and to prove that increasing vocabulary is possible through studying synonyms and collocations and choosing the appropriate vocabulary learning strategy to understand the meaning of functional texts. We overview the synonymic rows used in power engineering area and offer creative tasks for educators and researchers to use in the classroom

Sex differences in cooperativeness:An experiment with Buryats in Southern Siberia

We report on an experimental study that was set up to reveal differences in the tendencies of men and women to cooperate in same-sex interactions. Former studies on this subject were mostly conducted in industrialized modern societies. In contrast, we tested the cooperation tendency among Buryats, a people from Southern Siberia of Mongolian origin. All subjects participated in (1) one iterated Public Goods Game in a group of four individuals of the same sex and (2) four one-shot Prisoner's Dilemma games with different partners of the same sex. The interactions were in a face-to-face setting, but any intentional communication during the experiments was prohibited. We found that Buryat men were more cooperative than Buryat women in both types of same-sex interactions. In particular, the fraction of men employing a strategy of unconditional cooperation in the iterated Public Goods Game was much higher (36%) than the fraction of unconditional cooperators among women (21%). In general, the behavior of men was less context dependent than the behavior of women. In both sexes, individuals who were more cooperative in one type of game tended to be more cooperative in the other type of game. Although direct communication was prohibited, the interaction partners in the Prisoner's Dilemma games employed the same strategy much more frequently than expected by chance. We conclude that, even among strangers, the exchange of subtle signals is sufficient to coordinate strategic decisions