Search

Today, preschoolers actively use digital devices. Therefore, we investigated how digital devices potentially affect significant predictors of preschoolers’ social-emotional and cognitive development, executive functions, and speech. The results obtained revealed that 5-6-year-old children who used digital devices for less than 1.5 hours per day demonstrated an improvement in cognitive flexibility level within a year, while 2.5 hours of screen time caused a decrease in cognitive flexibility. Passive screen time negatively affects children’s phonemic hearing. Opposite to that, active screen time does not affect it. The study revealed that 5-6-year-old children who usually played digital games and watched video content together with their siblings demonstrated more noticeable positive dynamics in inhibitory control than those who did it alone. Moreover, if it was the parents who determined what digital content would be available to their children, the latter demonstrated an increment in inhibitory control compared to the children who made the choice themselves. Junior school children who used digital devices in a cultural way at preschool age had higher level of executive functions development than the children who used the devices only in a natural way. Thus, digital devices are multidimensional tools and, depending on how they are used, the impact on a child’s development may be different. Современные дошкольники активно используют цифровые устройства. В связи с этим нами были проведены исследования того, как цифровые устройства потенциально влияют на значимые предикторы социально-эмоционального и когнитивного развития дошкольников — регуляторные функции и речь. Показано, что у детей 5–6 лет, использующих цифровые устройства менее 1,5 часов в день, в течение года наблюдалось повышение уровня когнитивной гибкости, в то время как у детей с экранным временем более 2,5 часов в день за год произошло снижение когнитивной гибкости. Пассивное экранное время отрицательно влияет на фонематический слух дошкольников, но активное экранное время на него не влияет. У детей 5–6 лет, которые обычно пользовались цифровыми устройствами вместе с сиблингами, за год произошло более значимое развитие сдерживающего контроля по сравнению с теми детьми, которые делали это обычно в одиночку. Развитие сдерживающего контроля за год было более значимым у тех детей, за которых родители принимали решения о том, в какие видеоигры играть и какой контент смотреть, по сравнению с теми детьми, которые самостоятельно принимали эти решения. Младшие школьники, которые в дошкольном возрасте использовали цифровые устройства как культурные средства, имели более высокий уровень развития регуляторных функций, чем дети, которые использовали цифровые устройства только натуральным способом. Таким образом, цифровые устройства — это многомерные средства, в зависимости от способа использования которых влияние на развитие ребенка может быть разным.

The article discusses a model of a two-axis solar tracker with a control algorithm that provides a system of protection from strong winds, increasing the performance and reliability of a two-axis solar tracker, paying special attention to optimizing the controller board and software. The article also discusses formulas for determining the location of the sun, which can be used in the control algorithm of a solar two-axis tracker, which takes into account both daily and seasonal movements. As well as auxiliary trigonometric functions in the standard library of the programming language. Experimental studies have been conducted to confirm the need to equip a photovoltaic module with a solar tracker to obtain maximum energy efficiency.

A straightforward synthesis of P-chiral polycyclic phosphines by an asymmetric Diels–Alder reaction of 1-alkyl-1,2-diphospholes and (5R)-(l-menthyloxy)-2(5H)-furanone (MOxF) is presented. The [4 + 2] cycloaddition reaction of 1,2-diphospholes 1–3 with MOxF (4) proceeded with high diastereoselectivity (de up to 90%) resulting in the corresponding enantiopure anti-endo-1,7-diphosphanorbornenes 5a–7a. The absolute configuration of 5–7 was proved by a variety of 1D/2D NMR correlation methods. The use of the anti-endo-1,7-diphosphanorbornene 5a in the Pd-catalyzed asymmetric allylic alkylation of cinnamyl acetate 8 with cyclic β-ketoesters 9a,b provided up to 52% ee. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Theauxin efflux carrier PIN1 is a key mediator of polar auxin transport in developing plant tissues. This is why factors that are supposed to be involved in auxin distribution are frequently tested in the regulation of PIN1 expression. As a result, diverse aspects of PIN1 expression are dispersed across dozens of papers entirely devoted to other specific topics related to the auxin pathway. Integration of these puzzle pieces about PIN1 expression revealed that, along with a recurring pattern, some features of PIN1 expression varied from article to article. To determine if this uncertainty is related to the specific foci of articles or has a basis in the variability of PIN1 gene activity, we performed a comprehensive 3D analysis of PIN1 expression patterns in Arabidopsis thaliana roots. Results: We provide here a detailed map of PIN1 expression in the primary root, in the lateral root primordia and at the root-shoot junction. The variability in PIN1 expression pattern observed in individual roots may occur due to differences in auxin distribution between plants. To simulate this effect, we analysed PIN1 expression in the roots from wild type seedlings treated with different IAA concentrations and pin mutants. Most changes in PIN1 expression after exogenous IAA treatment and in pin mutants were also recorded in wild type but with lower frequency and intensity. Comparative studies of exogenous auxin effects on PIN1pro:GUS and PIN1pro:PIN1-GFP plants indicated that a positive auxin effect is explicit at the level of PIN1 promoter activity, whereas the inhibitory effect relates to post-transcriptional regulation. Conclusions: Our results suggest that the PIN1 expression pattern in the root meristem accurately reflects changes in auxin content. This explains the variability of PIN1 expression in the individual roots and makes PIN1 a good marker for studying root meristem activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pathology of pregnancy can be associated not only with infectious, metabolic and endocrine factors, but also with psychoemotional factors. The correlation of stress and somatic reactions is urgent in obstetrics. According to statistical data obtained from various studies, women, due to their psychological characteristics, are more exposed to stress than men. Pregnant women are the most vulnerable in stressful situations, they are more susceptible to various changes that may occur during pregnancy, as changes in the functional state of the nervous system cause increased sensitivity, instability of mental reactions. The psychoemotional state can affect the development of somatic diseases; in the case of pregnancy, there is a threat of disruption in the regulation of central and peripheral homeostasis; stress can also affect the specificity of uterine contractions, the volume of blood loss in labor, the condition of the fetus and the newborn. Psychoemotional disorders increase the risk of complications in pregnancy and have an adverse effect on the social functioning of women. The authors analyze the characteristics of the course of stress in pregnant women depending on the trimester, social factors, housing conditions, health characteristics, biological factors. Various reactions to stress and the relationship of these reactions to psychosomatic diseases are also considered. The paper diagnostic scales and complex instruments used in the practice of obstetrician-gynecologists and clinical psychologists working with pregnant women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article is devoted to the improvement of the curd mass production technology developed by the authors earlier, in particular, the selection of the fruit component to be added to the product to improve its nutritional qualities. Besides, the organoleptic and physicochemical characteristics of the proposed product have been evaluated and its fatty acid composition has been analyzed in order to confirm the beneficial properties of the curd under consideration. The relevance and novelty of the topic lies in the use of a fruit component that has not been previously used in such technologies, as well as in the creation of the product having a balanced content of nutrients, vitamins, and antioxidants.

The article is dedicated to the study of the raw materials in the Republic of Crimea, as well as to the assortment of enriched dairy products and the development of an enriched curd product. The relevance and novelty of this technology lies in the fact that the oil obtained from grape seeds is used as the added component. It has therapeutic properties that have been repeatedly proven. The objectives of the work were to substantiate the production technology of the curd product with the addition of grape seed oil for therapeutic purposes and to develop the technology, which will allow to obtain a product with high nutritional properties, the physicomechanical structure required by the standard, as well as to minimize the loss of beneficial components that make up grape seed oil.

Using our previously published Web service SNP&#95;TATA&#95;Comparator, we conducted a genome-wide study of single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) within core promoters of 68 human rheumatoid arthritis (RA)-related genes. Using 603 SNPs within 25 genes clinically associated with RA-comorbid disorders, we predicted 84 and 70 candidate SNP markers for overexpression and underexpression of these genes, respectively, among which 58 and 96 candidate SNP markers, respectively, can relieve and worsen RA as if there is a neutral drift toward susceptibility to RA. Similarly, we predicted natural selection toward susceptibility to RA for 8 immunostimulatory genes (e.g., IL9R ) and 10 genes most often associated with RA (e.g., NPY ). On the contrary, using 25 immunosuppressive genes, we predicted 70 and 109 candidate SNP markers aggravating and relieving RA, respectively (e.g., IL1R2 and TGFB2 ), suggesting that natural selection can simultaneously additionally yield resistance to RA. We concluded that disruptive natural selection of human immunostimulatory and immunosuppressive genes is concurrently elevating and reducing the risk of RA, respectively. So, we hypothesize that RA in human could be a self-domestication syndrome referring to evolution patterns in domestic animals. We tested this hypothesis by means of public RNA-Seq data on 1740 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) of pets vs. wild animals (e.g., dogs vs. wolves). The number of DEGs in the domestic animals corresponding to worsened RA condition in humans was significantly larger than that in the related wild animals (10 vs. 3). Moreover, much less DEGs in the domestic animals were accordant to relieved RA condition in humans than those in the wild animals (1 vs. 8 genes). This indicates that the anthropogenic environment, in contrast to a natural one, affects gene expression across the whole genome (e.g., immunostimulatory and immunosuppressive genes) in a manner that likely contributes to RA. The difference in gene numbers is statistically significant as confirmed by binomial distribution ( p < 0.01), Pearson's χ 2 ( p < 0.01), and Fisher's exact test ( p < 0.05). This allows us to propose RA as a candidate symptom within a self-domestication syndrome. Such syndrome might be considered as a human's payment with health for the benefits received during evolution., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2021 Klimova, Oshchepkova, Chadaeva, Sharypova, Ponomarenko, Drachkova, Rasskazov, Oshchepkov, Ponomarenko, Savinkova, Kolchanov and Kozlov.)

Dioxins are one of the most potent anthropogenic poisons, causing systemic disorders in embryonic development and pathologies in adults. The mechanism of dioxin action requires an aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR), but the downstream mechanisms are not yet precisely clear. Here, we performed a meta-analysis of all available transcriptome datasets taken from human cell cultures exposed to 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo- p -dioxin (TCDD). Differentially expressed genes from different experiments overlapped partially, but there were a number of those genes that were systematically affected by TCDD. Some of them have been linked to toxic dioxin effects, but we also identified other attractive targets. Among the genes that were affected by TCDD, there are functionally related gene groups that suggest an interplay between retinoic acid, AhR, and Wnt signaling pathways. Next, we analyzed the upstream regions of differentially expressed genes and identified potential transcription factor (TF) binding sites overrepresented in the genes responding to TCDD. Intriguingly, the dioxin-responsive element (DRE), the binding site of AhR, was not overrepresented as much as other cis-elements were. Bioinformatics analysis of the AhR binding profile unveils potential cooperation of AhR with E2F2, CTCFL, and ZBT14 TFs in the dioxin response. We discuss the potential implication of these predictions for further dioxin studies.

(1) Background: The World Health Organization (WHO) regards atherosclerosis-related myocardial infarction and stroke as the main causes of death in humans. Susceptibility to atherogenesis-associated diseases is caused by single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). (2) Methods: Using our previously developed public web-service SNP&#95;TATA&#95;Comparator, we estimated statistical significance of the SNP-caused alterations in TATA-binding protein (TBP) binding affinity for 70 bp proximal promoter regions of the human genes clinically associated with diseases syntonic or dystonic with atherogenesis. Additionally, we did the same for several genes related to the maintenance of mitochondrial genome integrity, according to present-day active research aimed at retarding atherogenesis. (3) Results: In dbSNP, we found 1186 SNPs altering such affinity to the same extent as clinical SNP markers do (as estimated). Particularly, clinical SNP marker rs2276109 can prevent autoimmune diseases via reduced TBP affinity for the human MMP12 gene promoter and therefore macrophage elastase deficiency, which is a well-known physiological marker of accelerated atherogenesis that could be retarded nutritionally using dairy fermented by lactobacilli. (4) Conclusions: Our results uncovered SNPs near clinical SNP markers as the basis of neutral drift accelerating atherogenesis and SNPs of genes encoding proteins related to mitochondrial genome integrity and microRNA genes associated with instability of the atherosclerotic plaque as a basis of directional natural selection slowing atherogenesis. Their sum may be stabilizing the natural selection that sets the normal level of atherogenesis., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

This study examined the relationship between working memory capacity and narrative abilities in 5-6-year-old children. 269 children were assessed on their visual and verbal working memory and performed in a story retelling and a story creation (based on a single picture and on a series of pictures) tasks. The stories were evaluated on their macrostructure and microstructure. The results revealed a significant relationship between both components (verbal and visual) of working memory and the global indicators of a story's macrostructure-such as semantic completeness, semantic adequacy, programming and narrative structure-and with the indicators of a story's microstructure, such as grammatical accuracy and number of syntagmas. Yet, this relationship was systematically stronger for verbal working memory, as compared to visual working memory, suggesting that a well-developed verbal working memory leads to lexically and grammatically more accurate language production in preschool children., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Aim: The aim of the study is to determine the prevalence of AO in the population and to assess the association with socioeconomic factors according to the data of the ESSE-RF study (Epidemiology of Cardiovascular diseases in the Regions of the Russian Federation)., Materials and Methods: The object of the study is a random population sample of men and women aged 25-64 years from 13 regions of the Russian Federation (n=21 817). Abdominal obesity in men was defined as waist circumference (WC) &gt;94 cm, and in women - WC &gt;80 cm. Body mass index (BMI) &gt;30.0 kg/m2 was adopted as the criterion of common obesity., Results: The prevalence of AO in Russia was 55% (61.8% in women and 44% in men), while the percent of people with obesity, defined by BMI was significantly lower (33.4%). The number of examined patients with AO increased with age among both men and women (p&lt;0.0001). A person with AO more often were people with low and very low income and low education levels (p&lt;0.0001). Direct association between employment status and family status and AO in present study did not find, but WC was statistically significantly important criterion among male workers in comparison with those who never worked (p&lt;0.0001), young men and women married, as well as married men of older age groups (p&lt;0.0001).

Aim: The purpose of this study lied in the examination of the clinical characteristics and assessment of the quality of treatment for patients with arterial hypertension (AH) with obesity according to the National Registry of the AH., Materials and Methods: The frequency of obesity in a sample of patients with AH, observed in 2010-2016. in polyclinics and cardiological dispensaries for cardiovascular diseases (CVD), was 38.3%, of which the incidence of severe obesity (grade III) was 8%. Women account for the majority of obese AH patients (72%)., Results: The study revealed the burden of AH patients with obesity in the following risk factors for CVD: dyslipidemia, hyperglycemia and a history of early cardiovascular disease. Relatively often in patients with hypertension with obesity, there were lesions of target organs (hypertrophy of the left ventricle, chronic kidney disease of the third stage), CVD [ischemic heart disease (CHD), chronic heart failure (CHF) II-IV functional class NYHA] and diabetes mellitus type 2 These data indicate that patients with AH obesity refers to a high and very high cardiovascular risk., Conclusion: Conducted antihypertensive and hypolipidemic therapy (statins) in patients with AH obesity was not optimal, only 30% of patients achieved the target level of BP and 23.6% - the target level of total cholesterol.

The title pseudo-polymorph of 3-(tri-phenyl-phospho-ranyl-idene)-2,5-di-hydro-furan-2,5-dione crystallizes with a tetra-hydro-furan solvent mol-ecule, viz . C 22 H 17 O 3 P·C 4 H 8 O. The succinic anhydride ring is approximately planar (r.m.s. deviation = 0.032 Å). The tetra-hydro-furan mol-ecule is disordered over two orientations about a pseudo-twofold axis with refined occupancy ratio 0.718 (4):0.282 (4). In the crystal, C-H⋯O hydrogen bonds link mol-ecules of the di-hydro-furan-2,5-dione derivative into chains parallel to the b axis and arranged into layers stacked along [100] alternating with hydrogen-bonded tetra-hydro-furan layers.

A rational and highly efficient method to access lithium 2,3,4,5-tetraphenylphospholide directly from white phosphorus, diphenylacetylene and lithium has been developed. This novel, convenient synthetic route has allowed the incorporation of various chiral substituents into 2,3,4,5-tetraarylphospholes. The spatial and electronic structures of the obtained novel enantiopure phospholes, their oxides and sulfides have been characterized both experimentally (single-crystal X-ray diffraction) and computationally (DFT). The experimental vibrational Raman spectra and electronic absorption and emission spectra of the synthesized compounds have been interpreted using quantum chemical calculations. A moderate impact of the substituent at the P-atom on the photophysical properties of the phospholes was demonstrated both experimentally and theoretically, while the oxidation/thionation of the phosphorus center was shown to influence remarkably both absorption and emission spectral characteristics. The latter effect is ascribed to the increase of conjugation strength of the oxidized/thionated species with exocyclic Ph rings.

Two different approaches have been employed to enhance the reactivity of 1-alkyl-1,2-diphospholes - the introduction of electron-withdrawing groups either at the phosphorus atoms or in the para-position of the arene ring. The alkylation of sodium 1,2-diphospha-3,4,5-triphenylcyclopentadienide with alkyl halides Hal-CH2-R (R = CN, COOEt, OMe, CH2OEt) results in corresponding 1-alkyl-3,4,5-triphenyl-1,2-diphospholes (alkyl = CH2CN (1a), CH2COOEt (1b), CH2OMe (1c), and (CH2)2OEt (1d)), which spontaneously undergo the intermolecular [4 + 2] cycloaddition reactions at room temperature to form the mixture of the cycloadducts, 2a-c, respectively. However the alkylation of sodium 1,2-diphospha-3,4,5-tri(p-fluorophenyl)cyclopentadienide with ethyl iodide leads to stable 1-ethyl-3,4,5-tris(p-fluorophenyl)-1,2-diphosphole (1e), which forms the [4 + 2] cycloadduct 2,3,4,4a,5,6-hexa(p-fluorophenyl)-1-ethyl-1,7,7a-triphospha-4,7-(ethylphosphinidene)indene (2e) only upon heating up to 60 °C. With further heating to 120 °C with N-phenylmaleimide, the cycloadducts 2a-c and 2e undergo the retro-Diels-Alder reaction and form only one product of the [4 + 2] cycloaddition reaction 3a-с, 3e with good yields up to 65%.