bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The diagnostic value of MR spectroscopy versus DWI-MRI in therapeutic planning of suspicious multi-centric cerebral lesions
Authors: Ahmed Hoda Abdel Kareem , Mokhtar Hoda
Published: April 2020

Background

A broad spectrum of non-neoplastic lesions can radiologically mimic cerebral neoplasms. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS), and diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) are the most extensively used for enabling lesional characterization of different brain disorders. We aimed to assess the diagnostic value of MRS versus DWI in the diagnosis and therapeutic planning of multicentric cerebral focal lesions and in our retrospective study, we enrolled 64 patients with 100 brain lesions who underwent pre- and post-contrast MRI, MRS, and DWI. Diagnoses supplied by the histopathology and follow up clinical results as a gold standard. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV), and diagnostic accuracy were calculated.

Results

Conventional MRI poorly differentiates multiple cerebral lesions with 89.33% sensitivity, 44.4% specificity, and 78% accuracy. MRS results revealed statistical significance for differentiating neoplastic from non-neoplastic lesions as regards Cho/Cr, Cho/NAA, and NAA/Cr ratios (M ± SD) with P < 0.001 (significant), and there is statistical significance for neoplastic lesion differentiation when Cho/NAA and Ch/Cr ratios measured in the pre-lesional areas outside the tumor margin. DWI showed mixed diffusion changes in most of the studied lesions and the measured ADC values ranges showed overlap in neoplastic and non-neoplastic lesions, P value = 0.236* (insignificant).

Conclusion

MRS was found to be a more accurate diagnostic tool than DWI with ADC measurements in the differentiation and therapeutic planning of multicentric cerebral focal lesions.
Tristram Shandy and War Representation
Authors: Richardson John
Published: April 2020

This essay examines Tristram Shandy in the context of philosophers and thinkers such as Hume, Shaftesbury, and Hutcheson, focusing on how the novel represents war, and how it raises questions about sympathetic responses to war. I will argue that Sterne is concerned with the challenges of representing war, which he explores in studying Uncle Toby and Trim’s miniature fortifications, as well as the story of Le Fever, and the various sympathetic reactions, some of which are self-promotional, to death. Sterne places two modes of representing war in counterpoint — a “distancing” mode that entails objective reporting, and a mode that involves an individual, sympathetic narrative — to raise questions about the emotion, beauty, and impact of war representations. I will also argue that Sterne is responding to changes in the way war was publicly imagined.
From the Black Atlantic to Black-Scholes
Authors: Munn Luke
Published: April 2020

Rather than being unprecedented, contemporary technologies are the most sophisticated instances of a long-standing dream: if space could be more comprehensively captured and coded, it could be more intensively capitalized. Two moments within this lineage are explored: maritime insurance of slave ships in the eighteenth century, and the Black-Scholes model of option pricing from the twentieth century. Maritime insurance rendered the unknown space of the ocean knowable and therefore profitable. By collecting information at Lloyds, merchants developed a map of threat within the Atlantic, and by writing a 10 percent buffer into slave-ship contracts they internalized contingency. This codification of risk pressured captains and established a logic for the violence enacted on the ship’s human “cargo.” The Black-Scholes formula of option pricing sought to codify the ocean of risk represented by the financial market. The formula mapped stock movements into a knowable stochastic equation. Traders could quantify and hedge against the unpredictable, rendering the stock market a space of riskless profit. However, the 2008 financial crash demonstrated the limits of spatial calculation. Taken together, these two moments demonstrate the historical continuity of a core imperative to exhaustively capitalize space. This historicization also foregrounds the racialized inequalities coded within these informatic logics. Against the bright innovation narratives of technology, this article stresses a longer and darker lineage based on inequality and dispossession.
Search and Destroy
Authors: Frizzell Deborah
Published: April 2020

This article is an analysis of artist-activist Nancy Spero’s War Series paintings, 1966–70. The author analyzes her paintings from this crucial time period within the context of significant historical events that impacted her artistic development of themes, formal devices, and radical breaks from numerous canonical art tenets. Within the emergence of the American political and artistic Left, Spero’s political radicalism became the foundation of her artistic content and studio practice. From this foundation, as an early feminist artist, Spero produced a wide-ranging figurative oeuvre that pioneered a new lexicon of image/text and figure/ground conjunctions, overturning the prescriptive universalist ideals of modern art.
Three Indole Derived Azo-Azomethine Dyes as Effective Chemosensors for F− Ion and Trace Water Detection
Authors: Yang Xiaofeng , Zhu Fengqiao , Li Yexin , Yan Mei , Cui Yu , Sun Guoxin
Published: April 2020

Three new dyes 1–3 derived from indol-carbohydrazide and azo-azomethine for the optical detection of F− ion have been developed. Dye 1 was found to be an effective colorimetric sensor for F− ion response with over 250 nm red-shift. Moreover, the resultant dye⋯HF2− complex (dye-F) could be successfully used as a secondary sensor for analyzing trace water in aprotic organic solvents especially in acetonitrile with a low limit of detection. In addition to detection of low-level water content in solution, test paper incorporated with 1-F complex or 2-F complex was well developed for naked-eye detection of water content in four organic solvents as mentioned above. Importantly, the test paper prepared by introducing 1-F complex or 2-F complex could be developed to prepare an ink-free rewritable paper by using water as the sole trigger. Furthermore, the same test paper could still work for many cycles without obvious loss in color quality.
Ulcerative colitis: Recent advances in the understanding of disease pathogenesis
Authors: Porter Ross J , Kalla Rahul , Ho Gwo-Tzer
Published: April 2020

Inflammatory bowel diseases are common, complex, immune-mediated conditions with a sharply rising global prevalence. While major advances since 2000 have provided strong mechanistic clues implicating a de-regulation in the normal interaction among host genetics, immunity, microbiome, and the environment, more recent progress has generated entirely new hypotheses and also further refined older disease concepts. In this review, we focus specifically on these novel developments in the pathogenesis of ulcerative colitis.
Statistical considerations in the design and analysis of non-inferiority trials with binary endpoints in the presence of non-adherence: a simulation study
Authors: Mo Yin , Lim Cherry , Mukaka Mavuto , Cooper Ben S.
Published: April 2020

Protocol non-adherence is common and poses unique challenges in the interpretation of trial outcomes, especially in non-inferiority trials. We performed simulations of a non-inferiority trial with a time-fixed treatment and a binary endpoint in order to: i) explore the impact of various patterns of non-adherence and analysis methods on treatment effect estimates; ii) quantify the probability of claiming non-inferiority when the experimental treatment effect is actually inferior; and iii) evaluate alternative methods such as inverse probability weighting and instrumental variable estimation. We found that the probability of concluding non-inferiority when the experimental treatment is actually inferior depends on whether non-adherence is due to confounding or non-confounding factors, and the actual treatments received by the non-adherent participants. With non-adherence, intention-to-treat analysis has a higher tendency to conclude non-inferiority when the experimental treatment is actually inferior under most patterns of non-adherence. This probability of concluding non-inferiority can be increased to as high as 0.1 from 0.025 when the adherence is relatively high at 90%. The direction of bias for the per-protocol analysis depends on the directions of influence the confounders have on adherence and probability of outcome. The inverse probability weighting approach can reduce bias but will only eliminate it if all confounders can be measured without error and are appropriately adjusted for. Instrumental variable estimation overcomes this limitation and gives unbiased estimates even when confounders are not known, but typically requires large sample sizes to achieve acceptable power. Investigators need to consider patterns of non-adherence and potential confounders in trial designs. Adjusted analysis of the per-protocol population with sensitivity analyses on confounders and other approaches, such as instrumental variable estimation, should be considered when non-compliance is anticipated. We provide an online power calculator allowing for various patterns of non-adherence using the above methods.
Standardization, Metrology, conformity assessment
Authors: Bolarev Boris
Published: April 2020

Study guide corresponds to the program discipline "Standardization, Metrology, confirmation of conformity" and contains the material for all learning units. The emphasis is on contemporary and topical issues of technical regulation and metrological support. Educational materials are supported by numerous examples.
Meets the requirements of Federal state educational standards of higher education of the last generation.
Designed for students in a direction "trading business", as well as for specialists in food technology, may be used by the specialists of the technical regulation, traders, marketers, merchandisers, experts of bodies of Rospotrebnadzor specialists of certification bodies and testing laboratories, centers of standardization and Metrology, the employees of the Customs Union, as well as economists and managers of enterprises, organizations, etc. Recommended for continuing training of employees in trade, food technology senior and middle managers.
A systematic approach to the phased implementation of psychological support for professional activities of specialists working with the family
Authors: Kachaev Ruslan
Published: April 2020

The article provides a theoretical analysis of the possibility of using a systematic approach in the phased implementation of psychological support for professional activities of specialists working with the family. The following components are defined: professional recruitment of family specialists, in accordance with the requirements of the professional standard; adaptation to the profession (professional adaptation), in the long professional path of the specialist; professional certification that confirms professionalism, occupation of the position of a specialist in family work, a certain level of motivation and stress; professional training, which includes training in educational programs of higher education and continuing education throughout the entire period of professional activity; dynamic monitoring-control of professional development of specialists in family work; General comprehensive assessment (feedback). The proposed model of a system of step-by-step psychological support of professional activities of specialists working with the family as a certain subordinate set of hierarchically interconnected structural components, implemented in practice in the dynamics of professionalization, is a developed systematic approach, which allows the use of tools and methods that can provide a certain level of success in performing professional activities
Socio-Family Context and Its Influence on Students’ PISA Reading Performance Scores: Evidence from Three Countries in Three Continents
Authors: Vázquez-Cano Esteban , De la Calle-Cabrera Ana María , Hervás-Gómez Carlos , López-Meneses Eloy
Published: April 2020

This investigation set out to analyse the relation between parents’ academic qualifications, profession and role in educating their children and their children’s level of efficacy in reading at the end of the adolescent stage, in three states with different socio-cultural contexts, namely Canada, Finland and Singapore. The study is carried out in three countries with differing socio-cultural contexts and uses multilevel analysis and binary logistic regression to measure the predictive value of socio-family skills in these three countries against a range of student reading ability profiles. The results show that the parents’ academic qualifications, profession and educational role are the most influential aspect of the predictability in the variability of their children’s reading skills. Parents with a low level of education predict poor student reading ability, but when it is the mother who has a medium or high level of education, the results of the students are better than when that level is only achieved by the father. Therefore, the educational role of mothers and fathers, as shown by the interest they take in their children’s schoolwork, is a predictor of students’ reading skills, regardless of the sociocultural and academic context of the students.
Latest clinical research
Authors: Greener Mark
Published: April 2020

Mark Greener rounds up the latest research of interest to primary care nurses
SGLT inhibitors for type 1 diabetes: a finely balanced matter?
Authors: Morris David
Published: April 2020

David Morris explains the latest guidance on the use of sodium-glucose co-transporter 2 inhibitors
Seven steps to spirometry: Management in primary care
Authors: Loveridge Chris
Published: April 2020

Chris Loveridge updates what primary care nurses need to know about performing diagnostic spirometry
Speckle-free, near-infrared portable confocal microscope
Authors: Gong Cheng , Stratton Delaney B. , Curiel-Lewandrowski Clara N. , Kang Dongkyun
Published: April 2020

We have developed a portable confocal microscope (PCM) that uses an inexpensive near-infrared LED as the light source. Use of the spatially incoherent light source significantly reduced the speckle contrast. The PCM device was manufactured at the material cost of approximately

$
5000

and weighed only 1 kg. Lateral and axial resolutions were measured as 1.6 and 6.0 µm, respectively. Preliminary in vivo skin imaging experiment results showed that the PCM device could visualize characteristic cellular features of human skin extending from the stratum corneum to the superficial dermis. Dynamic imaging of blood flow in vivo was also demonstrated. The capability to visualize cellular features up to the superficial dermis is expected to facilitate evaluation and clinical adoption of this low-cost diagnostic imaging tool.
Enhancement of the UV emission from gold/ZnO nanorods exhibiting no green luminescence
Authors: Fiedler Saskia , Lee Cheong Lem Laurent O. , Ton-That Cuong , Hoffmann Axel , Phillips Matthew R.
Published: April 2020

Large reflection losses at interfaces in light-emitting semiconductor devices cause a significant reduction in their light emission and energy efficiencies. Metal nanoparticle (NP) surface coatings have been demonstrated to increase the light extraction efficiency from planar high refractive index semiconductor surfaces. This emission enhancement in Au NP-coated ZnO is widely attributed to involvement of a green (∼ 2.5 eV) deep level ZnO defect exciting localized surface plasmons in the NPs. In this work, we achieve a 6 times enhancement of the ultra-violet excitonic emission in ZnO nanorods coated with 5 nm Au NPs without the aid of ZnO defects. Cathodoluminescence (CL) and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy revealed that the increased UV emission is due to the formation of an additional fast excitonic relaxation pathway. Concurrent CL-PL measurements ruled out the presence of charge transfer mechanism in the emission enhancement process. While time-resolved PL confirmed the existence of a new excitonic recombination channel that is attributed to exciton relaxation via the excitation of rapid non-radiative Au interband transitions that increases the UV spontaneous emission rate. Our results establish that ZnO defect levels ∼ 2.5 eV are not required to facilitate Au NP induced enhancement of the ZnO UV emission.
Large-size updatable optically addressed spatial light modulator (OASLM) based on ZnO nanoparticles for large-area holographic 3D displays
Authors: Shrestha Pawan Kumar , Chang Xin , Pryn Matthew , Li Jin , Rughoobur Girish , Li Kun , Surowiecka Kasia , Chu Daping
Published: April 2020

Optically addressed spatial light modulators (OASLMs) provide an appropriate solution for large-area and wide-viewing angle holographic displays because of the possibility of uploading holograms on it through tiling and with sub-micron diffraction feature sizes. A prototype with a large-size OASLM of 100 mm × 100 mm was fabricated using a solution-based deposition process for ZnO nanoparticles (NPs). ZnO NP-based OASLM is suitable for hologram tiling because of the extended charge carrier lifetime as a result of trap states in the ZnO NP layer annealed at a low temperature of 180°C, of which the activation energy was determined firstly by low-temperature measurements. Operating the ZnO NP OASLM in a DC driving mode was subsequently proposed, to utilize the extended charge carrier lifetime in the photosensor layer for temporary information storage. Finally, techniques to tile computer generated holograms (CGHs) spatially on a single OASLM were explored and evaluated, including the demonstration of simultaneous image replay from sequentially tiled two separate phase-only CGHs.
Self-stabilization mechanism in ultra-stable Fourier domain mode-locked (FDML) lasers
Authors: Schmidt Mark , Pfeiffer Tom , Grill Christin , Huber Robert , Jirauschek Christian
Published: April 2020

Understanding the dynamics of Fourier domain mode-locked (FDML) lasers is crucial for determining physical coherence limits, and for finding new superior methods for experimental realization. In addition, the rich interplay of linear and nonlinear effects in a laser ring system is of great theoretical interest. Here we investigate the dynamics of a highly dispersion-compensated setup, where over a bandwidth of more than 100 nm, a highly coherent output with nearly shot-noise-limited intensity fluctuations was experimentally demonstrated. This output is called the sweet-spot. We show by numerical simulation that a finite amount of residual dispersion in the fiber delay cavity of FDML lasers can be compensated by the group delay dispersion in the swept bandpass filter, such that the intensity trace exhibits no dips or high-frequency distortions, which are the main source of noise in the laser. In the same way, a small detuning from the ideal sweep filter frequency can be tolerated. Furthermore, we find that the filter’s group delay dispersion improves the coherence properties of the laser, and acts as a self-stabilizing element in the cavity. Our theoretical model is validated against experimental data, showing that all relevant physical effects for the sweet-spot operating regime are included.
Nota de Apresentação
Authors: Ribeiro Maria Manuela Tavares , Martins Rui Cunha
Published: April 2020

Nota de Apresentação
Democracias: Teorias e Práticas
Authors: Cabral Manuel Villaverde
Published: April 2020

N/A
Nota do Director
Authors: Teixeira Paulino
Published: April 2020

Nota do Director
Régimes monétaires et théorie quantitative du produit nominal au Portugal (1854-1998)
Authors: Andrade João Sousa
Published: April 2020

L'économie portugaise, comme d'ailleurs d'autres économies occidentales, a connu différents régimes monétaires depuis la moitié du XXe siècle. Nous voulons savoir si la théorie quantitative de la monnaie appliquée au revenu nominal, et non aux prix, peut expliquer le comportement du revenu nominal dans différents régimes monétaires. Nous concentrons notre analyse sur les périodes suggérées par les historiens économiques et nous les concentrons en utilisant la méthodologie de Bai-Perron pour l'identification des ruptures structurelles des séries temporelles. Après avoir pris la décision de savoir quelles périodes utiliser et connaissant les caractéristiques de stationnarité de l'offre de monnaie et du revenu nominal, nous appliquons la méthode de co-intégration de Johansen à ces deux séries. Notre conclusion est très intéressante: la théorie quantitative du revenu nominal de la monnaie ne peut être appliquée au régime de l'étalon-or. La confirmation empirique suggère que cette théorie ne peut être appliquée que dans un régime de monnaie inconvertible.
As causas sócio-culturais e político-económicas da corrupção: uma análise para vários países
Authors: Tavares Aida
Published: April 2020

As causas sócio-culturais e político-económicas da corrupção: uma análise para vários países
A model of firm behaviour with bankruptey costs and imperfectly informed lenders
Authors: Mazeda Gil Pedro Rui
Published: April 2020

Based on Greenwald and Stiglitz (1988, 1990), this work explores a simple model of microeconomic behaviour that incorporates the impact of asymmetric information in capital markets on firms’ optimal investment decision rules. Starting from a model of equity-constrained firms, where expected bankruptcy costs (reflecting each firm’s quality) imply a higher user cost of capital and, thus, a lower investment by each firm, we move to a context of adverse selection in the debt market, where banks offer a ‘onesize-fits-all’ contractual interest rate. This implies that ‘poor’ firms tend to invest more vis-à-vis ‘good’ firms, since they now take into account that higher expected default rates may not be matched by comparably higher contractual interest rates, therefore weakening the impact of bankruptcy costs on firms’ investment decisions.
Implicit logic in managerial discourse. A case study in choice of selection criteria
Authors: Oliveira Teresa Carla
Published: April 2020

Little attention has been paid in mainstream selection theory to how selectors choose to justify criteria and whether there is evidence of any consistency or logic in the manner in which they do so. This paper addresses these questions within a socio-cognitive framework. A newly developed coding system is used to analyse and explain the discourse of 22 managers in justifying selection criteria for technical operators in a European broadcasting company. It was found that, even for a very technical position, managers with experience of the job for which candidates were being selected were more concerned with the values, beliefs and personalities of candidates. It also was found that, independently of their different levels of seniority and experience of selection or interviewing, all managers are more concerned with Person-Organisation Fit for both present and future needs than with immediate Person-Job Fit. The consistency of the findings suggests that there is an ‘implicit logic’ in the manner in which managers as selectors adopt criteria derived from implicit learning and tacit knowledge of both operational and organisational experience.
Factores de alteração da composição da despesa pública: o caso norte-americano
Authors: Mourão Paulo Reis
Published: April 2020

O presente texto vai centrar a atenção sobre o estudo das principais rubricas componentes da Despesa Pública norte-americana, inscrita no Orçamento de Estado. O conjunto de rubricas analisadas prolongar-se-á entre 1940 e 2002. Através da sugestão das elasticidades rendimento de cada outlay e da sensibilidade das rubricas (em percentagem do total orçamentado) face a tendência partidária da Administração da Casa Branca, comprovar-se-á a heterogeneidade de sensibilidades, face a variações nos agregados reais de produção e a ausência da influência partidária na composição orçamental, corroborando as teses de que democracias amadurecidas reflectem uma composição dos gastos influenciada sobretudo pelas grandes tendências do eleitor mediano, em detrimento das preferências partidárias.
Aspects of the Legal Support of Preventing Torture in the Activities of Law Enforcement Bodies
Authors: ABDIKENOV Duman B. , BIMOLDANOV Yerzhan M.
Published: April 2020

The authors of the article have disclosed the specifics of criminal liability for committing torture in accordance with the current legislation of Kazakhstan. They have considered theoretical and legal aspects of the criminal protection of constitutional rights not to be a victim of torture, violence, other cruel or degrading treatment and punishment through the prism of international legal support for preventing torture in the activities of law enforcement bodies. The authors have defined the main criminal and criminological characteristics of the criminal offense provided for in Article 146 of the Criminal Code of Kazakhstan. Using the method of dialectical cognition and formal logical methods, the authors have taken certain steps to comprehend the phenomenon of torture, its social and legal characteristics in modern society and the law enforcement system of independent Kazakhstan. The authors have made an attempt to analyze the substantive and terminological essence of this negative phenomenon, conducted a comparative analysis of the criminal legislation of Kazakhstan and the main international laws in the field of protecting inalienable human and civil rights from torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment and punishment. In addition, this scientific article reveals some inconsistencies in the documents implemented by Kazakhstan and presents proposals for their elimination. The study results and conclusions drawn contribute to the theoretical enrichment and expansion of scientific ideas about torture as a crime, develop approaches and views forming the concept of preventing such criminal offenses and ensure the further development of scientific ideas in the field of criminal law and criminological support for preventing torture in the activities of police officers.
Model (Methodology and Calculation Formula) Combining the Influencing Factors of Transport Logistics Efficiency and Advantages by Type of Transport for Risk Reduction and Decision-making When Choosing the Best Routes
Authors: BOBROVA Anna Vladimirovna , STEPANOV Evgeny Aleksandrovich
Published: April 2020

The subject of the research is transport logistics, namely, a complex of factors affecting it, grouped by risk, and advantages by type of transport when carrying out transportation of any modality. The purpose of the study is the development of a factor model in transport logistics, that is, a universal methodology for assessing the risks of each shipment, taking into account the advantages of the types of transport used and the combination of cargo vehicles. The main method used in the work is factor analysis. The study also uses methods of generalization, ranking, weight fractions and comparative analysis. It is shown that 24 factors grouped in the work by risk level have an impact on transport logistics; 11 groups of advantages by types of transport have been identified. The formula for assessing the overall risk of transportation is universal, it confirms the theoretical conclusions of researchers in the field of logistics and provides objective results for specific types of transportation. The most and least risky types of freight transport are identified. The possibilities of the factor model in transport logistics are shown. The results of the study can be used by suppliers and carriers to assess the potential efficiency of cargo transportation, as well as by logistics researchers to improve the methodology of factorial transport assessment. The reserves have been identified for the development of the model based on the mutual influence and factor structure.
Tax Responsibility of Banks for Non-Execution of Tax Authorities’ Decisions: Legislative Regulation and Law Enforcement Practice
Authors: BOCHKAREVA Ekaterina Alexandrovna , KOZHUSHKO Svetlana Valerievna , KHAMIDULLIN Kamil Shamilievich , FARIKOVA Ekaterina Alexandrovna
Published: April 2020

The research issue is to identify the shortcomings of legal management of tax responsibility of banks in case of their non-execution of tax authorities’ decisions, as well as to define the possible directions of improvement of legislation and law enforcement practice in this sphere. The aims and objectives of the research are as follows: (1) to analyze the provisions of Article 134 and Article 135 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, which establish the responsibility of banking organizations as participants of the fiscal relations and to analyze the application of provisions of these articles by judicial and tax authorities; (2) to identify the problems of bringing to responsibility credit banking organizations for their non-execution of tax authorities’ decisions; (3) to develop recommendations for improvement of legal regulation. The methods of the research include analysis, analogy, legalistic method and integrated interpretation. The results of the research are as follows. It has been justified that the sum of debt of a taxpayer, established to bring banks to legal responsibility under Article 134 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, shall not include the sums of fines and penalties, as the bank is not a real participant of legal relations ‘tax authority – taxpayer’ and is deprived of the right to appeal the sum, which serves as the basis for establishing the sum of fine.
Effects of the Measures Undertaken by the European Mediator Regarding the Protection of Human Rights
Authors: IGNAT Claudiu
Published: April 2020

The research performs an accurate radiography regarding the measures the European Mediator unfolds in the Human Rights protection but also with regard to the social impact upon the European citizen. The European Mediator is a complement to the ombudsmen existing in each State. However, its competence is limited only to the European Union authorities, as it does not involve the ones of the Member States. Any possible reports between the European Mediator and the equivalent institutions from the European Union Member State can only be mutually supported as long as every ombudsman aims the fulfilment of the same main function, namely that of administration control and citizen protection.
The Settlement Infrastructure of Ukrainian Stock Market: State and Directions for Reform
Authors: KOLOHOIDA Oleksandra V. , LUKACH Iryna V. , POIEDYNOK Valeriia V. , BOBRYK Volodymyr I.
Published: April 2020

The research defines the concepts of clearing and clearing activity. It explores the models of the clearing institutions’ organizational structure in EU countries. It also outlines the directions for the settlement and clearing infrastructure reform based on the diversification of the settlement and clearing functions. It should ensure the integrity of the stock market, the reduction of risks, the creation of an efficient and transparent system for the execution of transactions with securities; reduction of expenses of market participants; acceleration of payment terms for operations with securities and process of registration of property rights; differentiation of responsibility at different stages of performance of transactions. The author has defined the legal status of the Financial Settlements Center as a banking institution with a special legal personality of the conducting monetary settlements under transactions concerning securities and other financial instruments, made on the stock exchange and outside the stock exchange, if payments are made according to the principle of ‘supply against payment’. The study shows the need for the universal model of settlements to serve all the exchange markets. We offer to demonopolize the market of clearing services and to provide access for international clearing institutions. We also suggest transferring the settlement function to the Central Depositary and the clearing function – to clearing institutions.
Paradigm Shift in Technological Development of Socio-Economic System in the Context of Digital Transformation
Authors: POGODINA Tatiana Vitalievna , UDALTSOVA Natalya Leonidovna , FILUSHINA Alla Vadimovna
Published: April 2020

The world economy is entering the post-industrial technological stage, the basis of which is the fundamentally new technologies (information and communications, bio-, and nanotechnology). Their importance has significantly increased and is reflected in the transformation of the resource base of the modern economic system. These changes are of a civilizational nature, affecting the national economy of any country, and are embodied in a specific technological policy. The research hypothesis is to identify the leading trends in the post-industrial technological structure in the world economy, consisting in the transformation of technology into a basic resource and in knowledge-intensive nature of production that allows extracting additional benefits from international cooperation, creating unique values and providing an increase in economic value added. The purpose of the present study is to identify key trends and assess the potential of technological development of the world and national economy. In this work, statistical, comparative, dynamic, coefficient-based, and structural research methods are used as the main approaches.

The article reveals the main trends, problems, and prospects of technological development of the leading economically developed countries and Russia for 2005-2016. The tendencies of the post-industrial mode of production and the most innovative-driven companies are highlighted in each sector of the economy.

The authors define the main stages of changing technological structures in the world economy (pre-industrial, industrial and post-industrial), as well as reveal the technologization processes and their characteristic features proving the change of the role of technologies and their transformation into the main factor of socio-economic system development.

The effectiveness of technological development is estimated on the basis of a comparative analysis of Russia with the leading countries of the world using indicators of patent applications to the patent office of the country, the proportion of countries in the total number of publications in scientific journals indexed in Web of Science, as well as the proportion of domestic research and development expenditure as a percentage of GDP presented in dynamic mode for 2005-2016.

The authors define key characteristics of digital transformation, including stages, segments, dominant technologies, values, and approaches, as well as calculate the level of the economic added value of the country as a target indicator of technologization of the social and economic system. The authors have revealed a direct relationship between the size and nature of the investment and technological development, as well as made conclusion about the need to invest in key sectors of technological development, which is actively progressing in Europe, India, the Republic of Korea, Japan, China, and the United States.
QUALITY CHARACTERISTICS OF TARHANA PRODUCED WITH DIFFERENT RATIOS OF WHOLE WHEAT AND BUCKWHEAT FLOUR
Authors: TOMAR Oktay , ÇAĞLAR Abdullah , AKARCA Gökhan
Published: April 2020

This study aimed to investigate physical, chemical and sensory properties of tarhana, produced by adding buckwheat flour with different ratios. Lightness (L*) value increased in wet samples according to the ratio of buckwheat flour increased, whereas it decreased in dry samples (P<0.05). Redness (a*) values decreased in wet samples whereas increased in dry samples. Yellowness (b*) values were higher in wet samples however it decreased with drying process (P<0.05). Buckwheat addition decreased viscosity values whereas protein and ash values increased significantly (P<0.05). The highest viscosity value was determined in dried control sample with 935cP, while the highest protein, ash, DPPH free radical scavenging activity and total phenolic content values were 15.83%, 3.56%, 161.82 (mg Teq/g) and 14.00 (mg GAE/g) respectively, detected in samples containing 100% buckwheat flour. The highest overall sensory evaluation scores were 5.00 and 7.55 determined in samples containing 25% whole wheat and 75% buckwheat flour (P<0.05), respectively.
Valorization of Banana Peel for Citric Acid Production under Solid State Fermentation with Aspergillus niger
Authors: Chysirichote Teerin
Published: April 2020

Valorization of banana peel (BP) through solid state fermentation (SSF) was aimed

in this research. The appropriate conditions of citric acid (CA) production by SSF of

Aspergillus niger were investigated. Firstly, the optimum initial pH of the BP and the

aeration rate were studied by conducting SSF in a 250-mL flask and 2-L glass column,

respectively. It was found that the initial pH of the BP and aeration rates affected the CA

production. The results showed that the initial pH of 5.0 and 1.0 vvm aeration were appropriate for the CA production of A. niger using BP as a substrate. The problem of rising temperature during SSF was found when applying the optimum condition to the SSF

in the 20-L packed bed bioreactor (PBB), which caused a decrease in the CA production

compared to that of the glass column. The cooling air jacket constructed to the PBB to

remove the heat during the SSF helped increase the CA production from that in the PBB.

The maximum CA production in the 20-L air-jacketed PBB was 124.0±19.2 mg g–1DS.
Psychological well-being and personality in relation to weight loss following behavioral modification intervention in obese women with polycystic ovary syndrome: a randomized controlled trial
Authors: Oberg Emma , Lundell Christina , Blomberg Liselott , Gidlöf Sebastian B , Egnell Petra Tollet , Hirschberg Angelica Lindén
Published: April 2020

Objective

Little is known about how lifestyle affects psychological well-being in overweight women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). We investigated the effects of behavioral modification on psychological well-being and the impact of well-being and personality traits on successful weight loss.

Design

A 4-month randomized controlled trial with a 12-month follow-up at a University Hospital.

Methods

Sixty-eight women with PCOS, aged 18 to 40 years with a BMI ≥27 kg/m2, were randomized (1:1) into a behavioral modification program (intervention) or minimal intervention (control). The outcome measures were the psychological well being index and the Swedish universities scales of personality.

Results

At baseline, 60% had a global psychological well being index corresponding to severe distress and 40% to moderate distress. There was no significant change in mean global well-being score at 4 months within or between groups. However, after 4 months, the intervention group expressed less anxiety (P = .035), higher general health (P = .012) and lower depressed mood (P = .033). Anxiety and general health tended to differ between groups (P = .06, respectively) favoring intervention. In the whole population, women achieving ≥5% weight loss at 12 months (n = 18) were less anxious at baseline compared to those who had not (P = .004). Personality trait-analysis showed that the weight-loss group had higher social desirability (P = .033) and lower embitterment (P = .023).

Conclusions

Psychological well-being is severely impacted in overweight women with PCOS. Behavioral modification can positively impact dimensions of well-being, although not fully significant, compared to control treatment. Personality factors could contribute to the understanding of successful weight loss.
Mating with immunised male mice affects the phenotype of adult progeny
Authors: Gerlinskaya Ludmila , Anisimova Margarita , Kontsevaya Galina , Maslennikova Svetlana , Romashchenko Alexander , Gong Yanli , Moshkin Yuri , Moshkin Mikhail
Published: April 2020

The life-history theory suggests that parental experience of the environment is passed to offspring, which allows them to adapt to prevailing conditions. This idea is supported from the mother’s side, but to a much less extent from the father’s side. Here, we investigated the effect of immunising fathers on pre- and neonatal development and on immune and neuroendocrine phenotypes of their offspring in C57BL/6J mice. Nine days before mating, fathers were intraperitoneally injected with the immunogenic protein keyhole limpet hemocyanin (KLH). Females mated with immunised males had less pre-weaning mortality of newborns compared to those mated with control males. Although the antibody response to KLH was similar for the male offspring of control and immunised fathers, the mass indexes of their main immune organs and their androgen response differed significantly. The mass indexes of the thymus and spleen in adult male offspring of immunised fathers were higher compared with the control offspring. The plasma testosterone levels were significantly decreased after KLH administration in the male offspring of control but not of immunised fathers. This was correlated with changes in sperm average path and straight-line velocities. Finally, excitatory neurotransmitters prevailed over inhibitory ones in the amygdala of the progeny of immunised fathers, while in control offspring, the opposite occurred. This is indicative of complex behavioural changes in the offspring of immunised fathers, including sexual ones. Therefore, the paternal experience of foreign antigens modulates the immune and neuroendocrine systems of their progeny, suggesting possible survival and reproductive adaptations to parasitic pressure.
Organizing and Sustaining Inclusive Learning Environment: International Practices
Authors: Sydoriv Sergiy
Published: April 2020

Teacher training in different countries has its peculiarities. Principles of inclusive education are universal, yet existing societal beliefs and values, policy and hidden curriculum in schools and preschool, parental support and advocacy demand taking them into account. In orderto adhere to the principles and ideas of inclusive education teachers should be able to organize and sustain inclusive learning environment in their classrooms and outside. It is researched that many countries have long history of including students with special educational needs and disabilities and their experience may be viable for teachers’ trainers, administrators and educators in those countries who has just started inclusion on a national level. Sharing the best practices and strategies and adapting them to the local peculiarities is the key to successful inclusion students with disabilities. The article gives various examples of how scholars define inclusive learning environment, what its characteristics and components are. International legislation, which proclaims the right of a person to education and regulates inclusion is the model for national laws as well it is developed and influenced by them. The study identifies legislative models for implementing Article 24 of the CRPD consistent with its principles and obligations and suggests the priorities to be incorporated into domestic legislations. It is highlighted that every country has stories of success, best practices, which may prove highly effective, applied to educational systems of other countries. Therefore, as proved it is important to exchange these practices, conduct research and gather evidence to create effective inclusive learning environment and train pre-service and in-service teachers to organize and sustain it.
Adopting and Adapting Hermeneutic Method Within Translation Studies
Authors: Vaňková Ingrida
Published: April 2020

The present study focuses on the application of the hermeneutic method within translation process. The examination of the issue draws on the already established concepts of translational hermeneutics, which consider this method as a part of the initial phase of the translation activity. However, the study presents the approach according to which hermeneuticactivity is present throughout whole translation process. The author thus examines deployment of Ricoeur’s hermeneutic concept of interpretation and understanding of the complex translation activity. Finally, a new hermeneutic-pragmalinguistic conceptualization method is introduced applying the hermeneutic approach within the complex translation process. It is noted that on a semantic level the person who pronounces the word I, which is associated with a specific name, forms personal identity. At the pragmatic level, the meaning of the word I become contextually dependent on the discourse in which it is constantly formed. On the borderline between semantics and pragmatics, a person becomes a reflexive Self, capable of hermeneutical activity of understanding. The author focuses on Ricoeur's research, which defines language as an objective system and / or code and discourse. He also argues that language as a code is collective in that it exists as a set of parallel rules (synchronous system) and is anonymous in the sense that it is not theresult of any intention. The language is not conscious in terms of structural or cultural unconsciousness. The author focuses on the stages of hermeneutic activity. This indicates that the first stepreveals the essence of interpretation as an important part of the hermeneutical method, which is a dynamic process that includes a non-methodological moment of understanding and a methodological moment of explanation. Characterizes the second stage of hermeneutic activity it is the stage of configuration. That is, the stage of conceptualizing meaning in language. The third stage, that is, the stage of refiguration, is a complete understanding of the discourse and its interpretation. Hermeneutic activity is fully realized in reading, which represents the space between pragmatics and semantic structure. This phenomenon is described as the stage where a person operates with all their knowledge, pragmatic language and experience, not yet structured to solve one particular cognitive-reflexive task. With regard to the thematic and non-thematic cognitive abilities of each person, the translator, as a professional user of at least two languages, has a cognitive-reflexive knowledge in which at least two language cultures interrelate and intersect. It is vaccinated that, at the interlingual and interlingual levels of hermeneutic activity (in interpretation and understanding), an individual not only uses language but also changes andtransforms it.
Professional Self-Development of a Teacher of a Higher Education Institution: Interdisciplinary Aspect
Authors: Smolinska Olesia , Dzyubynska Khrystyna
Published: April 2020

This article deals with the urgent problem of teacher’s professional self-development at a higher educational institution, based on normative and acmeological aspects. In the process of achieving this goal – which is the study of the peculiarities of professional self-development in the terms of Ukrainian higher education in its cultural and historical context – the analysis of such problems, as the transformation of forms of consciousness into educational interactions; professional archetype of a teacher; the transformation of the content of professional self-development, was conducted. The given problem has practical meaning. It means that there are a number of objective factors, which influence the essence of a teacher's professional self-development, as a process, connected with the concept of lifelong education, and turn it into a component of the creation of professional identity. We came to the following conclusions: firstly, concerning the dual nature of professional and personal identity (real and imaginary, virtual), which is objectified in the cultural and educational space of the university; secondly, studying the peculiarities of the teacher's self-development,special attention should be paid to appropriate archetypes as culturally conditioned generalized patterns; thirdly, a change in the type of teacher’s professional self-development is caused by both the transformation of the character of the person’s identity and the change of archetype