Thorium is one of the most widespread radioactive elements in natural ecosystems, along with uranium, it is the most important source of nuclear energy. However, the effects of thorium on living organisms have not been thoroughly studied. Marine luminescent bacteria and their enzymes are optimal bioassays for studying low-dose thorium exposures. Luminescent bioassays provide a quantitative measure of toxicity and are characterized by high rates, sensitivity, and simplicity. It is known that the metabolic activity of bacteria is associated with the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS). We studied the effects of thorium-232 (10−11–10−3 M) on Photobacterium phosphoreum and bacterial enzymatic reactions; kinetics of bacterial bioluminescence and ROS content were investigated in both systems. Bioluminescence activation was revealed under low-dose exposures (<0.1 Gy) and discussed in terms of “radiation hormesis”. The activation was accompanied by an intensification of the oxidation of a low-molecular reducer, NADH, during the enzymatic processes. Negative correlations were found between the intensity of bioluminescence and the content of ROS in bacteria and enzyme systems; an active role of ROS in the low-dose activation by thorium was discussed. The results contribute to radioecological potential of bioluminescence techniques adapted to study low-intensity radioactive exposures.
The high frequency of severe and complicated forms of infectious diseases in young children, with the possibility of death, confirms the importance of timely specific protection of this age group. In order to identify the causes of violation of the terms of vaccination of young children, 469 histories of children from 0 to 12 months of life were studied. The analysis showed that only 77% of the observed children in the first year of life were vaccinated according to the immunization schedule, whereas in 23% of cases, violations of the vaccination status were found. In 45% of children, the time of immunization was violated already at the stage of the maternity hospital: only every fifth child was not vaccinated because of health reasons, while 79% of children did not receive prophylactic vaccinations due to the mother’s refusal. Medical abductions prevailed in the structure of violations of vaccination terms in the сhildren’s оutpatient: 39% of children were vaccinated with deviations from the schedule due to temporary contraindications, 22% were vaccinated later than terms due to unreasonable medical leads. In 39% of cases of violation of vaccine status is associated with a misunderstanding of the parents of the risk of infectious diseases and the effectiveness of the child’s protection through immunization. Of these, 22% of children were denied, 10% of children were vaccinated with a significant delay, 7% of children did not reach the сhildren’s оutpatient during the year without an explanation of the reasons. Thus, the analysis showed that the majority of the observed children (57%) did not receive timely protection against infectious diseases due to attitudes towards vaccinations of parents, 43% of children were not vaccinated due to medical abductions.
Modern challenges in society require universities to move from a traditional to a competency-based technology integrated learning environment. Students must master a variety of newer complex competencies such as: learn to independently search for information, analyze it, and apply it to solve various real time problems through their content knowledge. One of the possible tools for developing these newer competencies is ICT integrated project-based learning (PBL). The present study conducts an ICT integrated practicum to the internationally paired undergraduate students of Indian and Russian universities. The practicum included a collaborative work towards a common theme. Findings of the study reveals that the outputs generated by ICT integrated PBL provided confidence to the participants to use technology tools in a global learning environment to solve real time problems. Study suggested requirements for project organization, technology tools, and a design to implement such projects. Further, it reveals how virtual teams work on a project in an online environment. Study recommends future researchers to focus on more such empirical studies and its efficacy.
The paper is devoted to improving the functionality of the speech intelligibility assessment solution. A previously implemented approach based on the Google Cloud Speech-to-Text solution has shown controversial quality indicators due to its attachment to the global news context. The paper proposes and evaluates the use of the Kaldi system for recognition. This solution not only made it possible to assess the quality of speech without using the Internet, but also to improve the quality of recognition in isolated phrases by excluding the global news context.
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