The parallax distorsion via a weak microlensing effect

Parallax measurements allow distances to celestial objects to be determined. Coupled with measurement of their position on the celestial sphere, it gives a full three-dimensional picture of the location of the objects relative to the observer. The distortion of the parallax value of a remote source affected by a weak microlensing is considered. This means that the weak microlensing leads to distortion of the distance scale. It is shown that the distortions to appear may change strongly the parallax values in case they amount to several microseconds of arc. In particular, at this accuracy many measured values of the parallaxes must be negative.Comment: 34 LaTeX pages, 12 PostScript figure (epsfig.sty

Microarcsecond instability of the celestial reference frame

The fluctuation of the angular positions of reference extragalactic radio and optical sources under the influence of the irregular gravitational field of visible Galactic stars is considered. It is shown that these angular fluctuations range from a few up to hundreds of microarcseconds. This leads to a small rotation of the celestial reference frame. The nondiagonal coefficients of the rotation matrix are of the order of a microarcsecond. The temporal variation of these coefficients due to the proper motion of the foreground stars is of the order of one microsecond per 20 years. Therefore, the celestial reference frame can be considered inertial and homogeneous only to microarcsecond accuracy. Astrometric catalogues with microarcsecond accuracy will be unstable, and must be reestablished every 20 years.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, accepted to MNRA

International volunteering as a mean of youth development of BRICS countries

В статье представлен ряд положений, сформулированных авторами на основе эмпирических исследований международного студенческого волонтерства, проведенных в 2015–2016 гг. (всероссийский онлайнопрос молодых волонтеров-активистов, глубинные полуформализованные интервью со студентами, имеющими опыт участия в международных волонтерских проектах). По мнению авторов, международное волонтерство реализует важные социальные функции, повышает конкурентоспособность выпускников на рынке труда. В докладе описаны перспективы развития международного волонтерства студентов стран БРИКС, выявлен его потенциал в развитии человеческого капитала молодежи данных стран.The article represents a number of suggestions based on the empirical research of international student volunteering held in 2015–2016 (Russian online poll of young volunteers, activists, in-depth interviews with students who have experience of participation in international volunteer projects). According to the authors, the international volunteering implements important social functions for students, improves their competitiveness in the labor market. The article suggests the prospects for the development of international volunteering students of BRICS countries, describes its potential in the development of the human capital of young people.Статья написана при поддержке РГНФ, проект № 16-03-00016 «Динамика российского волонтерства: перспективные практики, проблемы и возможности управления»

Ocean loading effects from tidal tilt observations in Lanzarote Island

Comunicación presntada a la 3ª Asamblea Hispano-Portuguesa de Geodesia y Geofísica = 3ª Assembleia Luso-Espanhola de Geodesia e Geofisica, celebrada en Valencia entre el 4 y el 8 de febrero de 2002.Since 1995 two short base-length horizontal pendulums are continuously recording at the station Cueva de los Verdes (Geodynamics laboratory of Lanzarote). Both tilt-meters are modified from the classical Ostrovsky pendulums and are adapted to the local features of the station. The tilt-meters have a working range of measurements of +-20seconds of arc and can resolve up to one second of arc. Such technical properties allow determining the precise tilt response to Earth tides. The tidal tilt models obtained show an important influence from ocean tides. Thus, the estimated amplitude for the main harmonic constituents is of some 4-5 times larger than values measured at continental stations. In this work, the ocean loading and attraction effect, which are computed from global ocean tidal models supplemented with precise regional and local ones will be evaluated. Hence, tidal tilt observations can be corrected from this effect.Peer reviewe

COSTS OF THE HEALTH CARE IN RUSSIA ASSOCIATED WITH SMOKING

Aim. To analyze costs of health care in Russia associated with smoking in 2009. Material and methods. Cardiovascular diseases, cancers and chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases (COPD) were included in the analysis. Calculation was performed on the basis of the relative risks of diseases associated with smoking, and obtained from foreign surveys, official statistics on morbidity and health system resources expenditure, and costs of health-seeking in line with state program of guaranteed free medical care.  Results. In 2009 total costs of the health care system associated with smoking exceeded RUR 35.8 bln. It corresponded to 0.1% of gross domestic product in Russia in 2009. The costs structure was the following: hospitalization – RUR 26.2 bln, emergency calls – RUR 1.4 bln, and outpatient health-seeking – RUR 8.2 bln. Costs of outpatient pharmacotherapy were not included into analysis because of lack of baseline data needed for calculations. Cardiovascular diseases caused 62% of the health care costs associated with smoking, cancers – 20.2%, and COPD – 17.8%. Conclusion. The smoking in Russia is associated with significant health care costs. It makes needed resources investment in preventive programs to reduce smoking prevalence

Prognostic Significance of the Integral Index of the Alcohol Situation in Assessing Regional Differences in Mortality from Cardiovascular Diseases in the Russian Federation

Aim. To evaluate the stability of the integral index of the alcohol situation in the regions of the Russian and its prognostic significance regarding adult mortality from diseases of the circulatory system.Material and methods. The dynamics of standardized mortality rate for cardiovascular diseases (CVD) and TM in 2012 and 2018 in regions of Russia with safe and unsafe alcohol situations was analyzed. The average group mortality rate were evaluated, as well as the average rate of dynamics of the indicator reduction for the period from 2012 to 2018.Results. In 2012, differences in the rates of total mortality, as well as mortality from CSD, IHD, and CVD in regions with different levels of alcohol wellbeing were significant with a significance level of p <0.05. In 2018, intergroup differences in mortality from CSD and IHD were unreliable. Differences in average mortality rates from other causes significantly differed with a significance level of p <0.05. Total mortality and mortality from CVD, including individual forms, decreased in all regions, regardless of the level of alcohol well-being. The average rate of decline in mortality in the group of regions with an unfavorable situation was lower than the same indicator in regions with a favorable situation, with the exception of mortality from CVD. The most pronounced were differences between regions in the rate of decline in mortality from MI (p <0.05). For the remaining causes of death, the differences were not significant.Conclusion. The hypothesis of a significant contribution of the alcohol factor to cardiovascular mortality is confirmed. In the groups of regions that differ in the integral index of the alcohol situation, significant differences were noted in the indicators of both total mortality and mortality from the main groups of cardiovascular diseases. These differences persist over time, which confirms the hypothesis that the proposed integral indicator can be used for a long-term forecast of the influence of the alcohol situation on public indicators

Large Oligomeric Complex Structures Can Be Computationally Assembled by Efficiently Combining Docked Interfaces

Macromolecular oligomeric assemblies are involved in many biochemical processes of living organisms. The benefits of such assemblies in crowded cellular environments include increased reaction rates, efficient feedback regulation, cooperativity and protective functions. However, an atom‐level structural determination of large assemblies is challenging due to the size of the complex and the difference in binding affinities of the involved proteins. In this study, we propose a novel combinatorial greedy algorithm for assembling large oligomeric complexes from information on the approximate position of interaction interfaces of pairs of monomers in the complex. Prior information on complex symmetry is not required but rather the symmetry is inferred during assembly. We implement an efficient geometric score, the transformation match score, that bypasses the model ranking problems of state‐of‐the‐art scoring functions by scoring the similarity between the inferred dimers of the same monomer simultaneously with different binding partners in a (sub)complex with a set of pregenerated docking poses. We compiled a diverse benchmark set of 308 homo and heteromeric complexes containing 6 to 60 monomers. To explore the applicability of the method, we considered 48 sets of parameters and selected those three sets of parameters, for which the algorithm can correctly reconstruct the maximum number, namely 252 complexes (81.8%) in, at least one of the respective three runs. The crossvalidation coverage, that is, the mean fraction of correctly reconstructed benchmark complexes during crossvalidation, was 78.1%, which demonstrates the ability of the presented method to correctly reconstruct topology of a large variety of biological complexes. Proteins 2015; 83:1887–1899. © 2015 The Authors. Proteins: Structure, Function, and Bioinformatics Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc

T-lymphocytes of the 2nd type of the immune response and their role in enhancing inflammation during the professional activities of firefighters

T lymphocytes of the 2nd type of immune response contribute to the development and exacerbation of inflammation, mainly allergic. Increased inflammation with prolonged exposure to adverse factors during the work of firefighters can lead to the development of various diseases. Evaluation of the immunity of firefighters is important for the appointment of adequate treatment and prevention of infectious and allergic diseases. This paper aimed to analyze the indicators of immunity in employees of the state fire service of EMERCOM of Russia, depending on the age and intensity of the professional workload. The surveyed were men (n = 79), mean age 31 years, work experience from 1 to 22 years, with different workload intensity. In peripheral blood, flow cytometry (Navios, FC 500, Beckman Coulter) was used to evaluate subpopulations of monocytes, the relative number of T lymphocytes of the 2nd type of immune response CD3+CD294+. The concentration of total immunoglobulin E (Immulite) was determined. From nasal secretions, the content of secretory immunoglobulin A (Vector Best) was evaluated (n = 30). Statistical processing of the results was performed using the Statistica 12.0 package (StatSoft). An increase in the number of CD3+CD294+ cells was observed in 16.5%. A direct correlation was found between the number of T lymphocytes 2 and the age of the examined persons (р < 0.05). In the group of firefighters with a more intense workload, an increase in the number of CD3+CD294+ cells were 5 times higher (р < 0.05). Among patients who had any disease of the respiratory tract, an increase in this population was observed statistically significantly more often – in 26% of cases versus 11.5%. A strong direct correlation was found between the number of T lymphocytes 2 and the duration of smoking experience (р < 0.05). A direct correlation was established between the number of T lymphocytes 2 and the concentration of total IgE (р < 0.05). A decrease in secretory IgA in the secret from the nasal passages was observed in 23% of firefighters, in 13% of the examined, the indicator went beyond the upper limit of the reference interval. Significantly more often revealed the deviation of this indicator from the reference values in firefighters with a high workload. An increase in the subpopulation of classical monocytes was established in the group of those examined with a high number of CD3+CD294+ cells (p < 0.05). Thus, with an increase in the professional workload of firefighters in unfavorable conditions of service, inhibition of protection to infection and aggravation of damage to the respiratory tract with an increase in the 2nd type of immune response are noted. Evaluation of the number of type 2 T lymphocytes in peripheral blood will reveal a predisposition to the T2 profile of immune inflammation, which will contribute to a personalized approach to patient management

Marketing aspect in the 'Value Engineering' in the new products development of machine-building enterprises

The dynamism of the engineering products markets is determined by a high level of competition, frequent changes in technology. One of the key problems of Russian machine-building enterprises is the long term of development and putting the product into the production which leads to the fact that 'yesterday's product is launched on tomorrow's markets'. So, we see an arising need for a fundamental change in the product development process by including future consumers in it and ensuring verification of the results at each stage, from the formation of the technical task to the testing of the finished product. Such an approach will allow balancing consumer value and product characteristics, determining the significance and cost of functions, and substantiating a fair price. These problems are solved by the method of value engineering of a product. Application of this method requires reliable information on consumer characteristics, conditions and process of product operation, parameters of similar products. The tools of classical marketing research and new products engineering development should be combined into one system. As a result, the use of value engineering reduces the time required to bring a new product to the market and increases the competitiveness of the product. © Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd

Diversification instruments for machine-building enterprises

Improving the competitiveness of engineering products, import substitution and increasing high-tech exports are priority government tasks. The development of the high-tech products production is ensured through the diversification of engineering enterprises. The study revealed a number of problems that machine-building enterprises are facing when mastering the production of new products. The diversification methods and tools used largely determine the effectiveness of activities throughout the entire product life cycle. The authors consider the value analysis method as a key instrument for implementing the diversification strategy. Value analysis includes a variety of instruments, such as conducting marketing and patent research, reverse engineering, cooperative chain design, and others. The determination of the company's preparedness for diversification is of particular importance. The article presents an approach to assessing the key functional areas of the enterprise that indicate its preparedness for diversification. © Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd