Paenibacillus larvae (P. larvae) is a bacterial pathogen causing American foulbrood (AFB), the most serious disease of honeybee larvae. The food of young larvae could play an important role in the resistance of larvae against AFB. It contains antibacterial substances produced by honeybees that may inhibit the propagation of the pathogen in larval midguts. In this study, we identified and investigated the antibacterial effects of one of these substances, trans-10-hydroxy-2-decenoic acid (10-HDA), against P. larvae strains including all Enterobacterial Repetitive Intergenic Consensus (ERIC) genotypes. Its inhibitory activities were studied by determining the minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs). It was found that 10-HDA efficacy increases substantially with decreasing pH; up to 12-fold differences in efficacy were observed between pH = 5.5 and pH = 7.2. P. larvae strains showed different susceptibility to 10-HDA; up to 2.97-fold differences existed among various strains with environmentally important ERIC I and ERIC II genotypes. Germinating spores of the pathogen were generally more susceptible to 10-HDA than vegetative cells. Our findings suggest that 10-HDA could play significant role in conferring antipathogenic activity to larval food in the midguts of young larvae and contribute to the resistance of individual larvae to P. larvae.

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As a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic and measures to secure public health, many processes have moved to the online space. The educational process is not an exception. Our main goal, which is presented in this article, was to re-design the educational process from face-to-face to distance learning in the Mathematics 1 course at the Technical University of Košice. This article describes our approach to teaching, observations, and experience. This case study examines three factors: Firstly, the impact of distance education on overall assessments of students. Using descriptive statistics, the results of student evaluations were compared from the overall assessments for the last six academic years. It was found that distance learning does not affect excellent students and eliminates the number of students who do not pass. Secondly, the participation of students during online lessons, and thirdly, the use of electronic materials. The questionnaire survey and the data from the learning management system Moodle were used to examine the second and third factors. Descriptive statistics were used to describe the questionnaire survey data (frequencies, percentages and averages). An exploratory factor analysis was performed in order to assess the underlying key concepts regarding student evaluation of the teaching process. The exploratory factor analysis confirmed that this questionnaire followed the four key concepts.

At present, a new generation of students is studying at universities with their specific abilities and skills. In addition to hard skills, potential employers also require significantly developed soft skills from their employees. The school, and not just the university, is entering this process in a different position than in the past due to the changing requirements placed on it. Activities in the school environment must adapt to emerging trends. This article explains how present-day requirements on graduates and specifics of the new generation of students challenge the approach to education. In order to increase the efficiency and attractiveness of the educational process, the SCRUM framework has been implemented into course Mathematics 1. The re-designed course was implemented and validated by an experimental group of students in the academic year 2019/2020. Two questionnaire analyses and a comparison of learning outcomes were conducted to find out the answers to research questions. The results of students indicate that agile methodologies are useful for increasing the efficiency of the educational process. The paper offers our proposal for the introduction of agile methodology into the educational process and our first-hand experience with this way of teaching and its impact on the studying results of the experimental group and, last but not least, suggestions for possible improvements.

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