A probabilistic study of monsoon daily rainfall at Calcutta by Markovian model and trend of rainfall during monsoon season

One-step transitional probability matrices are obtained by Markovian model from one transitional state to other for different rainfall characteristics (such as, non-rainy days, light rains, moderate rains, heavy rains and very heavy rains) at Calcutta (Alipore) for different monsoon months. The disorderness (unvertainty) of the transitional system of the monsoon rainfall characteristics are studied by Shannon’s model. The favourable or unfavourable condition of different states are also studied by redundancy test during monsoon period at Caluctta. A Long-run probability vectors of such rainfall characteristics are found out from probability matrices. A trend in rainfall amounts during monsoon period at Calcutta for each of the monsoon month, June to September, has also been studied here.

Differentiation of communities of macroinvertebrates and cottoid fish associated with methane seeps of different bottom landscapes of Lake Baikal

The paper presents the results of the study of communities of macroinvertebrates and cottoid fish inhabiting methane seeps of Lake Baikal. For the analysis, we used video surveillance and collection of animals carried out with the help of "Mir" deep-water submersible, as well as NIOZ-type box-corer samplers from the board of a research vessel. Posolskaya Bank and Saint Petersburg methane seeps are located in different basins (southern and middle) and at different depths (300–500 m and ~ 1400 m), characterized by the different underwater landscapes (slope of underwater upland and hills formed by gas hydrates), by the structure of gas hydrates and their depth location in sediments, as well as the composition of microbial mats and communities of microorganisms of bottom sediments. Both seeps are characterized by bubble discharge of methane gas and the formation of highly productive communities of large invertebrates and cottoid fish on seep habitats. Seep animal communities consisted of species-depleted invertebrates and fish of the surrounding deep-water benthal of the Lake. We showed the similarities and differences in the composition of the faunas of two seeps, as well as the quantitative characteristics of taxonomic groups of macroinvertebrates and cottoid fishes. Obligate species have not been revealed on the methane seep Posolskaya Bank. For the methane seep Saint Petersburg, the gastropod species Kobeltocochlea tamarae Sitnikova, Teterina et Maximova, 2021 (Caenogastropoda: Benedictiidae) was designated as an obligate species; among bottom cottoid fishes, Neocottus werestschagini (Taliev, 1953) (Cottoidei: Abyssocottidae) had possible a transitional state to obligate. We presented the data on the assimilation by seep animals of mixed photo- and chemosynthetic food with different proportions of methane-derived carbon. A hypothesis has been substantiated that deep-water seep areas could serve as refugium for the preservation of endemic fauna during the Pliocene-Pleistocene glaciations of Lake Baikal.

Analysis of migration processes in russian education in the context of the ongoing social and cultural transformation development and testing of a model of distance education

The article explores labor migration processes in modern Russian school education. The relevance of this research is due to the current shortage of teachers in Russian schools, especially young specialists. The main method was qualitative content analysis of documents, statistical data, and available resources on this issue presented in the scientific articles on this issue. This paper shows that the transitional state of modern Russian society – social and cultural transformation – has a significant impact on the processes of professional migration. The article reveals the connection between the ongoing social and cultural transformation and the processes of labor migration of Russian teachers and graduates of pedagogical universities, which is a new perspective for considering this issue, since the problem of labor migration has not been examined from this angle.

Conformational Changes in a Macrolide Antibiotic Binding Protein From Mycobacterium smegmatis Upon ADP Binding

Rv3197 (MABP-1), a non-canonical ABC protein in Mycobacterium tuberculosis, has ATPase activity and confers inducible resistance to the macrolide family of antibiotics. Here we have shown that MSMEG_1954, the homolog of Rv3197 in M. smegmatis, has a similar function of conferring macrolide resistance. Crystal structures of apo-MSMEG_1954 (form1 and form 2) and MSMEG_1954 in complex with ADP have been determined. These three structures show that MSMEG_1954 has at least two different conformations we identify as closed state (MSMEG_1954-form 1) and open state (MSMEG_1954-form 2 and MSMEG_1954-ADP). Structural superimposition shows that the MSMEG_1954-form 2 and MSMEG_1954-ADP complex have similar conformation to that observed for MABP-1 and MABP-1-erythromicin complex structure. However, the antibiotic binding pocket in MSMEG_1954-form 1 is completely blocked by the N-terminal accessory domain. When bound by ADP, the N-terminal accessory domain undergoes conformational change, which results in the open of the antibiotic binding pocket. Because of the degradation of N terminal accessory domain in MSMSG_1954-form 2, it is likely to represent a transitional state between MSMEG_1954-form 1 and MSMEG_1954-ADP complex structure.

Becoming an academic entrepreneur: how scientists develop an entrepreneurial identity

While academic entrepreneurship depends on the entrepreneurial behavior of university scientists, management studies show that identity development precedes behavioral enactment. This paper extends our understanding of why and how individuals who define themselves as a scientist develop or fail to develop a new commercialization-focused entrepreneurial identity. We develop an explanatory process model by drawing from the concept of liminality, a transitional state during which individuals construct or reconstruct an identity, as well as the entrepreneurship literature. The model not only provides a stylized illustration of identity development and its associated behavioral outcomes, but it also includes several factors such as agency and passion, liminal competence, social support, organizational and institutional support, and temporal factors that moderate the process. We contribute to the literature on entrepreneurial identity by providing a dynamic conceptualization of identity construction and incorporation, among other outcomes, as well as to the academic entrepreneurship literature by elucidating the origin and development of entrepreneurial identities among scientists. A conceptual focus on identity-related micro-processes may help explain why some scientists are more successful at commercializing technologies derived from their research than others. Implications for theory and future research are discussed.

Elderly Patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment Exhibit Altered Gut Microbiota Profiles

Background. As a transitional state between normal aging and Alzheimer’s disease (AD), mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is characterized by a worse cognitive decline than that of natural aging. The association between AD and gut microbiota has been reported in a number of studies; however, microbial research regarding MCI remains limited. Methods. This study examined 48 participants, of whom 22 were MCI cases and 26 were normal control cases. Fecal samples were collected for 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) quantitative arrays and bioinformatics analysis. Results. A principal coordinates analysis (PCoA) and nonmetric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) both demonstrated that the microbial composition of participants with MCI deviated from that of healthy control participants. Multiple bacterial species were significantly increased (e.g., Staphylococcus intermedius) or decreased (e.g., Bacteroides salyersiae) in samples from the MCI group. Conclusion. The composition of gut microbiota differed between normal control and MCI cases. This is the first study to identify a signature series of species in the gut microbiota of individuals with MCI. The results provide a new direction for the future development of an early diagnosis and probiotic regimen.

Transition from slab roll-back to slab break-off in the central Apennines, Italy: Constraints from the stratigraphic and thermochronologic record

Stratigraphic and thermochronologic data are used to study the processes that shaped the topography of the central Apennines of Italy. These are part of a major, active mountain belt in the center of the Mediterranean area, where several subduction zones control a complex topography. The Apennines were shaped by contraction at the front of the accretionary wedge overlying the subducting Adria microplate followed by extension at the wedge rear in response to eastward slab roll-back. In the central Apennines, intermontane extensional basins on the western flank rise eastward toward the summit. We contribute with new data consisting of 28 (U-Th-Sm)/He and 10 fission track ages on apatites to resolve a complex pattern of thermal histories in time and space, which we interpret as reflecting the transitional state of the orogen, undergoing a two-phase evolution related to initial slab retreat, followed by slab detachment. Along the Tyrrhenian coast, we document cooling from depths ≥3−4 km occurring between 8 and 5 Ma and related to the opening of marine extensional basins. Post−5 Ma, a broader region of the central Apennines exhibits cooling from variable depths, between <2 km in most areas and ≥3−4 km in the northeast, and with different onset times: at ca. 4 Ma in the west, at ca. 2.5 Ma in the center and northeast, and at ca. 1 Ma in the southeast. Between 5 and 2.5 Ma, exhumation is associated with modest topographic growth during the late stages of thrusting. Since 2.5 Ma, exhumation has concurred with the opening of intermontane basins in the west and in the east, with regional topographic growth and erosion, that we interpret to be associated with the locally detaching slab.

Main directions and possible economic consequences of Baiden's migration policy

The article analyzes the directions and economic consequences of the immigration policy pursued by the Biden administration in the context of global shifts taking place in the modern world, as well as taking into account the peculiarities of the development of the internal political situation in the country. Today we can talk about the transitional state of the entire global system of social relations, we can talk about the situation of world transition that humanity is going through, which is reflected in the instability of the modern world, in the state of general uncertainty that society is experiencing. The growing chaos inevitably accompanies the process of destruction of the old order of things – institutions, mechanisms of interaction, actors; it has a significant impact even on countries in which there were no doubts about the stability of the situation before. We observe a picture of the growing fragility of the foundations of social existence today in the United States, which until recently was the only and unconditional world economic and political leader. The current situation both in the country and in the world is unlikely to allow the American president to ignore the realities of life, including economic ones, being completely in captivity of a purely ideological discourse, and this is already happening.

Assessment of socio-economic risks by method of extremely critical (threshold) indicators

Method of extremely critical (threshold) indicators of social development, including assessment of socio-economic risks, has been developed in the national sociology, economics, and other social sciences about three decades. For the first time development of the method as a scientific problem was stated in 1994, and there was made an attempt to construct such scale of indicators. Development of the method is going productively. There have been published a series of research works, dissertations that directly or indirectly develop or apply this method, propose different variants of constructing a scale of indicators. We have three basic components of situation diagnosis: the existing social system, the risks (challenges, threats) hampering progressive development of this system, and the extremely critical values of the risk indicators, a certain "red line", going beyond which means an increase in the probability of radical changes and further— collapse of the existing system, its transitional state and reorganization. The research and management tasks are to counteract such risks and to prevent entry of the society into the critical zone; or vice versa, to stimulate transformation of the system. The article provides an assessment of the socio-economic risks by method of extremely critical (threshold) indicators that leads to conclusion about a certain, far from complete and sufficient departure of the Russian society from the critical line of the 90s of the past century, and therefore about a tendency to reduction of the risk of another dismantlement of the existing social system. Along with these positive changes, dangerous disproportions and critical risks remain in many socio-economic indicators, primarily related to demography, population health, standards and quality of life.