Search

Acquired lipodystrophy is often characterized as an idiopathic subtype of lipodystrophy. Despite suspicion of an immune-mediated pathology, biomarkers such as autoantibodies are generally lacking. Here, we used an unbiased proteome-wide screening approach to identify autoantibodies to the adipocyte-specific lipid droplet protein perilipin 1 (PLIN1) in a murine model of autoimmune polyendocrine syndrome type 1 (APS1). We then tested for PLIN1 autoantibodies in human subjects with acquired lipodystrophy with two independent severe breaks in immune tolerance (including APS1) along with control subjects using a specific radioligand binding assay and indirect immunofluorescence on fat tissue. We identified autoantibodies to PLIN1 in these two cases, including the first reported case of APS1 with acquired lipodystrophy and a second patient who acquired lipodystrophy as an immune-related adverse event following cancer immunotherapy. Lastly, we also found PLIN1 autoantibodies to be specifically enriched in a subset of patients with acquired generalized lipodystrophy (17 of 46 [37%]), particularly those with panniculitis and other features of autoimmunity. These data lend additional support to new literature that suggests that PLIN1 autoantibodies represent a marker of acquired autoimmune lipodystrophies and further link them to a break in immune tolerance.

The authors analyze the assessments of Russian students in terms of digitalization of higher education, their attitude to the introduction of digital technologies in the educational process. The study was conducted in two stages. At the first stage (February-April 2020), a questionnaire survey of students of Russian universities was conducted (N = 1553). At the second stage (January-February 2021), two focus groups (N = 24) were conducted, which allowed us to refine the previously obtained data. The authors conclude that the attitude of students to the digitalization of education is determined by the experience of distance learning during the pandemic. According to the research, students' expectations are related to the content aspect of using digital technologies in the educational process: developing practical skills and maintaining interest in learning. However, young people are not fully focused on the consumption of educational content for the development of their competencies in the chosen field of study. The availability of educational materials, video recordings of lectures in the virtual educational space does not serve as a compensator for key dysfunctions: a decrease in the share of live communication, narrowing of communication channels, lack of motivation to learn, etc. This educational requirement determined the prospects for the transformation of the professional role of the teacher: from the "translator of knowledge" to the "moderator of the creative space".

The epidemiological crisis made it necessary to transform the practice of higher education in the conditions of transition to remote mode. Online training has become an alternative to the face-to-face format of classes, which updates the analysis of key risks and problems of the educational process in the context of the pandemic. The leading research method was a questionnaire survey of students with online learning experience (N = 146 people). The survey was conducted in May 2020. For a deeper interpretation of a number of conclusions, the authors conducted a focus group in September 2020 (N = 12 people), which included students of 2-3 years of study at Russian universities. The authors set a goal to study the degree of adaptation of students to new learning conditions, the specifics of their perception of various aspects of learning in an online environment, problems and risks. The results of the study showed that every fourth student when switching to online mode could not successfully adapt to the new format of training. It is concluded that the key risks of online learning are associated with the lack of direct communication channels, the spread of the practice of imitating students' learning activities in the context of reducing the control function of the teacher. The lack of readiness of students to maintain the necessary level of self-organization led to a decrease in students' requirements for themselves as an active participant in the educational process, while increasing requirements for digital competencies and personal qualities of the teacher. In terms of online learning, students demonstrate the need for additional measures to maintain interest in learning: game context, network interaction in the "student-student" system, charismatic presentation of material.

The paper presents the results of systematic review of modern scientific publications devoted to the digitalization of education. A review of Russian and foreign studies allows us to conclude that there is a relationship between high academic performance of students and the use of digital technologies. Other advantages of digitalization are: expanding the boundaries of "self-directed learning", developing leadership in the pedagogical environment, creating conditions for the formation of individual educational trajectories of students, modernizing tools for assessing student knowledge, and also differentiating forms and methods for teaching. Based on a critical analysis of publications on this topic, the possible destructive consequences of digitalization of education are determined: ousting experienced teachers with insufficient digital competence from the educational space; information overload; an increase in cognitive distortions; a decrease in the effectiveness of training regarding the formation of interpersonal communication skills of students; the deepening of digital divide; the formalization and dehumanization of education. Compensators of educational space digitalization dysfunctions are distinguished: improving the teacher training and motivating system, digital content quality control, taking into account the regional specifics of educational systems, a combination of traditional and digital pedagogy, group collaboration, and digital trust. The paper substantiates the conclusion that digital technology is a necessary, but at the same time, insufficient condition for improving the quality of educational work and morale building activities. Based on the analysis of scientific publications, the authors determine the principles of digitalization of education: the formation of institutional conditions for supporting digital innovations, the consideration of situational factors, the resource support of educational organizations, and the priority of personal interests (subject-centered approach).

The dynamic development of information and communication technologies, the strengthening of the public demand for digitalization of various spheres of life, orient the Moscow education system towards the active introduction of digital technologies and high-tech educational environment development. The purpose of this article is to analyze the advantages and problems of the Moscow Electronic School project implementation, the resources and limitations of digital technology introduction into the learning process of schoolchildren. The main research methods were questionnaires and in-depth interviews with teachers in Moscow schools during the classes teaching electronic skills. The questionnaires were conducted before and after the training process, which made it possible to evaluate its effectiveness, analyze the attitude of teachers to the Moscow Electronic School project, and the readiness to digital technology introduction. The study identified the problems associated with excessive control over the practices of digital technology use in the teacher's work, which leads to negative consequences: social tension, imitation of activity. The electronic educational environment is perceived as a space with a low level of security, the risks of losing copyright on intellectual activity results. Dysfunctions were revealed in the motivation system, orienting teachers towards the introduction of digital technologies: hard-to-predict performance, distortion of quality assessment criteria, and manipulation possibilities. The advantages of digital technology introduction in the framework of the Moscow Electronic School project include the following: improvement of material and technical support quality for schools, visualization of educational materials, the ability to exchange experiences and gain access to best teaching practices. The key limitations of digital technology introduction are the imperfection of the material and technological base, the dysfunctions in the system of control and motivation of teachers, the low level of educational content moderation, their incomplete compliance with the requirements of teachers, lack of digital trust and legal guarantees.

The relevance of the research is determined by the problem of interethnic relations in the multi-ethnic and multi-confessional regions of the Russian Federation. The purpose of the article is to describe the attitude of the local population to wards migrants of different cultures in their settlements in the Republic of Tatarstan in 2017. The leading approach in studying this problem is multi paradigmatic methodology. The article incorporate the attitude of the local population to the presence of migrants in the Republic of Tatarstan in 2014-2017, provides the comparative data on major cities and towns of the Republic, helps grasping the issue. The authors paid special attention to the general level of pupils. The results of the article can be useful for ethnologists, social and cultural anthropologists, political scientists, as well as for the representatives of the bodies responsible for the inter-ethnic interaction.

The effectiveness and quality of the educational process in modern school depend, among other things, on the level of conflict in the team, on the confidence of interactions in the teacher-student-parent system. In order to analyze the factors of conflict in the educational space of the modern school, the authors conducted a study. The leading method was the survey of Moscow school teachers (N = 127). The study was split into blocks according to the types of interactions: teacher-student, teacher-teacher, teacher-administration, teacher-parent. In order to verify the obtained data, the method of focus groups was used (N = 11). The study revealed that the greatest likelihood of conflict situations is typical for teacher and student interactions. The dependencies between the occurrence of conflict situations in the educational environment on the teacher's work experience, leadership style, and the level of interaction with parents were also identified. The main factors for the emergence of conflicts were limiting the ability of the teacher to apply legitimate disciplinary actions, reducing the authority of the teacher, the insufficient level of relevance of the content of educational material, forms and methods of conducting the level of training of students, their educational needs. During the interaction between the teacher and the administrative building of the educational organization factors for conflict situations are dysfunctions of the teacher's work organization, lack of conditions for teacher's professional development, uneven and/or unfair distribution of training and additional workload, redundancy of control, authoritarian management style. The one-sided nature of the interaction between the family and the school, the lack of effective feedback, the contradiction between the parents' expectations of the quality of education and the actual learning outcomes in the modern school, the commercialization of the educational space largely contributes to the development of conflicts in the process of interaction between the teacher and the parent community.

The article analyzes the values, motives, preferences and expectations of teachers of Russian universities through the prism of the choice of the trajectory of building their career. The sample for the study was formed by 36 experts -- the representatives of the academic staff of Russian universities, who took part in a focus group survey. In order to validate the presented toolset, the results of the focus group interview were concretized with the data of in-depth interview, which made it possible to formulate a description of the limitations and possibilities in achieving the career goals of teachers in higher education. According to the results of the study, it has been concluded that the career strategies of a university lecturer are based on the intersection of three areas: advance of academic degree and academic title; obtaining an administrative position within the framework of "merit system". Based on the survey materials, the time, financial and emotional costs of building a career have been determined. The assessment of the degree of their "payback" is differentiated depending on the level of motivation, personal ambitions and a number of other conditions. The utmost effectiveness and justification of costs is achieved at the intersection of two career trajectories (degree and merit), which is due to the devaluation of the value of the administrative resource. The stereotypes and value-normative attitudes of the academic staff in some cases block the mechanisms of the university's motivational policy. The article reveals the role of institutional factors determining the process of building a teacher's career, defines the significance of such aspects as value-normative, motivational-stimulating, synergistic.

The article attempts to analyze critically the role of the modern school in the development of human potential. Based on the conducted research procedures (the focus group study of the parent community, the questionnaire survey N = 90), they determined the domination of parental position, according to which there is the lack of equal opportunity provision by the state for quality education. The commercialization of the educational industry, the increase of the informal sector of the economy at the market of educational services ensure the reproduction of social inequality, limit the access to quality education for students, primarily from low-resourced families. The results of the study illustrate the growing dissatisfaction of parents with the ability of the school to develop a sufficient cultural level of students, to build the system of spiritual needs, values and interests of young people. The system of school education develops the contradiction between the expectations of parents to intelligence, social and communicative skills, the moral qualities of students and actual learning outcomes. Professional burnout, the deformation of modern teacher social role significantly reduces the effectiveness of the educational impact on the younger generation. The modern school is not fully capable of sustainable human development provision due to the following dysfunctions: an insufficient legitimacy of disciplinary impact on student behavior, high pedagogical workload, conflict risks, the distortion of teacher traditional role. The promising trend for the development of human potential in modern Russian conditions is to increase the prestige of teacher profession, overcome the key deformations of its position, form creative spaces in the school environment, expand the diversity of educational programs, and focus on "gifted" children support.

The article presents the results of the study, illustrating the expectations and the persistent stereotypes about the parent and the pedagogical community, which reduce the possibility of confidential interaction development in the sphere of education. The conceptual provisions of "confidence" theory by P. Sztompka, in which trust is viewed as a strategic resource for the development of social systems, became the initial prerequisites for the study. The empirical base of the study was represented by the educational facilities of Moscow. The focus group method was used as the main research method, in which 34 representatives of the parental community and 20 teachers of the Moscow general education schools took part. The authors conclude that there are contradictions in the key expectations of educational space subjects. Parents consider the school as a social compensator for family dysfunctions, considering it is necessary to involve a teacher in the upbringing and the socialization of younger generation. The results of the study showed that the modern school does not have the necessary resource, personnel and socio-cultural potential; it is unable to meet the expectations of the parental community in the current circumstances. This circumstance undermines the very possibility of educational space key agent trust and supports the functional weakness of the modern school. The novelty of the data obtained in the course of the study is the conclusion that the boundaries of social tension, the manifestations of frustration and the uncertainty of the parental and pedagogical community, as well as the risks of school education modernization have extended. The materials of the research work illustrate the reduction of positive motivation for educational space actors, the alienation during the interactions between a family and a school and the lack of an effective managerial practice in the development of constructive cooperation. Social attitudes of a student and a teacher, refracted in the prism of formal interactions between a "client" and "educational service provider", initiate the educational space deformation and the distortion of traditional roles.

Social factors are considered which affect the mental well-being of high school teachers. The impact of such factors as the organization of scientific and research activity, working conditions, career and professional growth opportunities, the wage system, and the organization of a workplace are analyzed. The survey was conducted among the professors and teachers of leading Russian universities (N = 295). The study used an adapted questionnaire of subjective assessment concerning the social-psychological context of a high school teacher work, developed by A. Mayer on the basis of the organizational condition study methods, work satisfaction and professional development. The received materials were supplemented and concretized in the course of the focus group study, which allowed to identify psychologically vulnerable groups of teachers. Confirmatory factor analysis of social conditions, in which the professional activity of pedagogical personnel was carried out, showed that the confidence in the long-term guarantees of labor activity and the stability of scientific research work indicators are the strongest predictors of the mental well-being among pedagogical personnel. The results of the study made it possible to identify the following factors among the social factors that have a special weight in the processes of a mental well-being disturbance among teachers: the transfer of scientific and pedagogical workers to an effective contract; the increase of their scientific and teaching activity pace, burdened by the unpredictability of management requests; the disadvantages of a training schedule drawing up, etc. They determined that a significant influence of the motivational profile shortcomings, singled out as the part of social factors, provokes the following violations of the mental well-being among teachers: the violation of the value unity in a team; a stable domination of negative emotions; alienation, hiding uncertainty in their abilities; the deformation of mutual assistance systemic nature; increased anxiety and proneness to a conflict among university teachers. These studies support the hypothesis that a high degree of teaching work intensity, a high emotional, psychological and sensory loads, which are the consequence of a number of social factors negative influence, make a significant impact on the psychological-emotional state of high school teachers, including professional burnout.

The purpose of the study is to identify the factors of competitiveness among university teachers through an assessment of a modern teacher desire and abilities to be demanded professionally. Three hypotheses were put forward: about the impact of a teacher's qualification level on his competitiveness, about the motivational component role of the personnel policy, and about the improvement of research work quality as the result of competition development. The authors conducted a questionnaire survey among Russian university teachers (N = 170) aged from 22 to 70, who were grouped into three groups according to 10 indicators of research work: teachers with high, average and low individual rating. The study result established the correlation between the desire of teachers to reach high rating positions within the conditions of fierce competition, their quantitative indicators, the publication activity and the quality of research activity. The level of a teacher's qualification, which is one of the basic requirements for the university teaching staff, does not ensure the competitiveness of a teacher for a long period. It should be accompanied by an active publication activity of a teacher and high rates of research activity. The study showed that the motivational component of the personnel policy is an obligatory, but an insufficient factor ensuring the professional growth of scientific and pedagogical personnel. The authors come to the conclusion about the dual effect of the rating race: the factors of competitiveness among university teachers may contribute to teaching staff quality increase and reduction. But it depends on the adaptive features of teachers.

The relevance of the article is conditioned by the exceptional importance of the social infrastructure for the development of the state, society and each individual. Social infrastructure ensures the development of the municipal unit, satisfaction of the basic needs and interests of the population, creation of the conditions for its subsistence and reproduction. In this connection, the paper aims at analysis of the main challenges and tendencies in the functioning of the social infrastructure of the Russian territories, the factors of its development. The major method of research is jury of opinion--the leaders of local authorities, that has allowed to consider the main resources and restrictions of their activities for the development of social infrastructure in the modern Russian conditions. The article includes the analysis of factors, determining the effectiveness of the development of social infrastructure of municipal units in the Russian Federation. The work discloses the financial-and-economic and political factors, limiting the development of territorial social infrastructure. The article proves that the socio-cultural factors can serve as resources of formation of investment attractiveness of the territory, the development of social infrastructure. The results of the research can be used in the activity of public authorities in drafting of regulations, the practice of local government, contributing to the development of social infrastructure.

The relevance of the research is conditioned by the need to win the competition struggle by certain organizations and area in general. Education has recently become very popular for the training of highly professional staff. However, achieving this goal is possible by means of creation of favorable working and learning conditions, maintaining health of the teaching staff and students. Therefore, the present article has the purpose to reveal the issues of monitoring of working conditions and the nature of their influence on the health of students and academic staff of Russian State Social University (RSSU). The main approach, implemented in the study has been the system one, giving the opportunity to study the problem in the logical relationship. Also, there has been used the method of comparative analysis, based on the comparison of the results of content analysis of documentary data of the university and sociological survey. The paper reveals the nature of the impact of working conditions on the health of students and teaching staff. There is a dependence of the increase in the incidence of the academic staff and the duration of the university renewal. Scientific and methodological recommendations for the formation of working and learning conditions, favorable for health of students and professors have been working out.

BackgroundThe Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB) is a well-established tool to assess lower extremity physical performance status. Its predictive ability for all-cause mortality has been sparsely reported, but with conflicting results in different subsets of participants. The aim of this study was to perform a meta-analysis investigating the relationship between SPPB score and all-cause mortality.MethodsArticles were searched in MEDLINE, the Cochrane Library, Google Scholar, and BioMed Central between July and September 2015 and updated in January 2016. Inclusion criteria were observational studies; >50 participants; stratification of population according to SPPB value; data on all-cause mortality; English language publications. Twenty-four articles were selected from available evidence. Data of interest (i.e., clinical characteristics, information after stratification of the sample into four SPPB groups [0-3, 4-6, 7-9, 10-12]) were retrieved from the articles and/or obtained by the study authors. The odds ratio (OR) and/or hazard ratio (HR) was obtained for all-cause mortality according to SPPB category (with SPPB scores 10-12 considered as reference) with adjustment for age, sex, and body mass index.ResultsStandardized data were obtained for 17 studies (n = 16,534, mean age 76 ± 3 years). As compared to SPPB scores 10-12, values of 0-3 (OR 3.25, 95%CI 2.86-3.79), 4-6 (OR 2.14, 95%CI 1.92-2.39), and 7-9 (OR 1.50, 95%CI 1.32-1.71) were each associated with an increased risk of all-cause mortality. The association between poor performance on SPPB and all-cause mortality remained highly consistent independent of follow-up length, subsets of participants, geographic area, and age of the population. Random effects meta-regression showed that OR for all-cause mortality with SPPB values 7-9 was higher in the younger population, diabetics, and men.ConclusionsAn SPPB score lower than 10 is predictive of all-cause mortality. The systematic implementation of the SPPB in clinical practice settings may provide useful prognostic information about the risk of all-cause mortality. Moreover, the SPPB could be used as a surrogate endpoint of all-cause mortality in trials needing to quantify benefit and health improvements of specific treatments or rehabilitation programs. The study protocol was published on PROSPERO (CRD42015024916).

Analysis of lexical and grammatical equivalents in different languages is an essential and necessary aspect of acquisition of command of a foreign language and translation as a type of speech activity. To do it properly a student must understand that distribution of various components of meaning in languages can differ and word by word translation can cause losses of information that should be compensated by some other means that can be both lexical and grammatical. The Tagalog and Russian languages often use various sets of constituents of meaning in words to describe the world around and the content expressed grammatically in one language can be expressed lexically in the other. The fact that Tagalog is one of the agglutinative languages while Russian is an inflectional language makes the process of translation even more complicated. This article is an attempt to show some differences and similarities in semantic and grammatical components in several groups of words in Tagalog and Russian. Understanding of these peculiarities of the languages can make translation easier for the students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the modern Russian society, there is a contradiction between the goals and objectives of civil service, its social relevance and applied nature, on the one hand, and the growing dissatisfaction of the population on the other hand. The article describes and analyzes the socio-cultural and value paradigms of civil servants in the Russian Federation, which define the characteristics of their activities. The authors emphasize the importance of a motivational resource such as socio-cultural and value paradigms in the process of reforming the modern institution of civil service. The research results revealed a number of problems. A significant part of the structure of life goals of civil servants is occupied by material interests; according to the respondents’ estimates, the activities they do are not related to the categories of “favorite activity”, “interesting job”. Some government employees consider “service to the Fatherland”, “useful contribution to the society and the state” as the main purpose for their professional activity. The research confirmed the hypothesis that the efficiency and effectiveness of occupational work of civil servants depends not only on motivational factors but also on life experience, moral principles, understanding of one’s role in the process of implementing the state policy and life strategy. The routine nature of work does not live up to employees’ expectations evening political activities and state administration. Bureaucratic values, lack of interaction with the external environment, authoritarian management style, and rigid subordination affect the employee’s identity and behavior. Government employees due to personal characteristics and character specifics, assessing themselves and their experience higher at the career ladder, either search for a new position themselves, a different kind of activity to meet their life strategy, or stop developing professionally. Socio-cultural and value paradigms of government employees vary according to the category and group of positions. We also confirmed the hypothesis concerning the category “experts” of leading and senior groups of positions that public service is considered by employees and citizens not as a value-regulatory complex providing interaction between the state and the society in order to meet the interests of the latter, but as a mechanism for achieving financial success

The article considers the specifics of implementation of municipal-private partnership projects in the education system of the Russian Federation. The authors use the following research methods: document analysis, expert interviews (heads of local authorities, entrepreneurs from the Moscow Oblast). The goal of this article is to study specific features of public-private partnership in education, to carry out comparative analysis of the estimates that the heads of local authorities and the business community have with regard to these issues, to define the conditions for their effective interaction and its limiting factors. Attracting private investment in the development of the education system is limited by a narrow pragmatic focus of the government on the use of financial resources of business in municipal administration practice. Judging by the results of studies, the heads of local authorities understand the social partnership of business and government as gratuitous help from socially responsible companies who are willing to invest funds in the development of a municipality. The results of the survey of experts show contradictions between the orientation of the heads of local authorities on the implementation of municipal-private partnership projects and the rare practice of their implementation. The article presents an analysis of perspective organizational models for municipal-private partnership in education. The authors identify factors that constrain effective interaction between the business and government in the development of educational system: lack of local budget finances, imperfection of the legislative base, low level of information support provided to municipal-private partnership projects, lack of trust on the part of business representatives in the actions of the authorities, insufficient elaboration of mechanisms for motivating and promoting private investment. The article substantiates the necessity of forming a conceptually new and consistent municipal policy for transition from administrative enforcement of the business to make charitable contributions and gratuitous donation of funds for the infrastructure development of the educational complex to the targeted investment and mutually beneficial cooperation. The authors propose several directions for support of municipal-private partnership mechanisms in education