Upgrading Russian enterprises from the value chain perspective: the case study of tube & pipe, and furniture sectors

The paper is the first analysis of the competitiveness of Russian enterprises from the perspective of value chains, with a focus on the example of tube & pipe and furniture producers. In both industries, Russian firms enjoy an advantage on the raw material side. Nevertheless, the overall competitiveness level of Russian producers remains modest. Domestic industries primarily owe decreased competitiveness to the inadequate operation of the final links in the value chain: from end-product production to the end-user. In addition, the competitiveness of domestic producers is limited to the ability of key players in the chain to redistribute additional gains in their own favor. Study shows that any non-selective methods of supporting enterprises (such as tax reductions) exert extremely limited influence on the status of players in those chains where one of the links is characterized by serious entry barriers and related opportunities of rent redistribution in favor of a particular player. Paper suggests several policy measures which aim to improve the ability of the producers to reposition themselves along the chain or to modify the chain itself

Social and humanitarian expert assessment of biomedical innovations

Nowadays the necessity of introducing effective constituents of ethical and humanitarian comprehension of innovations to science, especially in the field of biomedicine, is becoming increasingly apparent. In this regard, it is of particular interest to compare the opinions of student-age youth and the experts - well-known Russian scientists on the use of new converging technologies and their impact on an individual and societ

Student and Research and Teaching Staff Engagement as an Indicator of Corporate Culture Assessment and a Tool for University’s Personnel Reserve Formation

The article analyzes the results of measuring the parameters of the engagement of students and research and teaching staff of the university. Based on the experience of the leading consulting companies, MEPhI has developed a technology for assessing the engagement parameters used to measure the level of emotional state of personnel. A special feature of the developed methods for assessing the engagement parameters is the possibility of practical application of the results of analytical research for subsequent management decision-making, as well as the use of the proposed approach by the organizations of higher education. The assessment of the parameters of engagement is focused on solving the problems of increasing the competitiveness of the university by improving the key areas affecting the development of corporate culture: performance management, the possibility of personnel professional development and career growth, the creation of adaptive mechanisms of remuneration and recognition, the development of effective communication methods, improvement of decision-making in the field of infrastructure support, the development of a personnel reserve and mechanisms for adaptation and attraction of young employees. The developed methods for assessing the parameters of engagement incorporate the best practices of domestic and foreign high-tech companies, including the experience of Rosatom State Corporation. The results of the engagement parameters assessment are considered as tools for carrying out work to raise the University performance due to improving the University corporate culture and forming high-potential personnel reserve

Converting the sociotechnical convergence hazards into the risks of digitalisation

The creation of digital network platforms is accompanied by an ambiguous process of sociotechnical convergence, during which certain hazards arise as factors that destabilize the functioning of a digital platform, and risks as an expectation of the occurrence of these events.   The purpose of the study is to assess the level of conversion of the sociotechnical convergence hazards into the corresponding risks.   The research methodology is based on the ecosystem approach and the concept of platform research, supplemented by the authors with the ideas of sociotechnical convergence.   To study the conversion of the sociotechnical convergence hazards into the risks of digitalization, the method of empirical verification based on a representative sociological survey was applied. Theresult of the taxonomic division was the classification of hazards in such subject areas as (hazard of failure); digital surveillance (hazard of excessive digital surveillance); digital morality (hazard of decision-making by artificial intelligence); digital identification (hazard of identification error); digital privacy (hazard of unauthorized use of personal data); digital communication (hazard of virtualization of social contacts); digital accessibility (hazard of digital inequality); digital clusters (hazard of social network segmentation); digital competence (hazard of digital outsider). The authors come to the conclusion that not all hazards are converted into risks in the same way. Strongly expressed explicit risks are observed as a result of converting the hazard of unauthorized use of personal data. Medium-expressed explicit risks appear in case of hazard of failure of digital platforms, hazard of decision-making by artificial intelligence, hazard of identification error, hazard of digital inequality. Weakly expressed explicit risks are typical for the conversion of the hazard of excessive digital surveillance and the hazard of virtualization of social contacts. The hazard of social network segmentation and the hazard of digital outsider are converted into implicit risks

Translational mobility of water molecules and Li+, F-, and Al3+ ions in aqueous solutions of LiCl, KF, and Al(NO3)3

The concentration dependences of the overall self-diffusion coefficients of water molecules, F- and Li+ ions, and [Al3+(H2O)6] hydrated ions measured in aqueous solutions of LiCl, KF, and Al(NO3)3 are discussed. An analysis of the whole set of experimental results shows that translational mobility of water molecules in solutions of electrolytes is largely determined by the degree of hydration of the ions and is virtually independent of their translational mobility; translational mobilities of the ions themselves depend on the structural characteristics of their hydration sheaths and the structure of water around them

Numerical study of the minimum of the thermodynamic potential of a ferroelectric barium titanate

The macroscopic polarization is the most essential concept in any phenomenological description of dielectric media. The presence of a spontaneous macroscopic polarization is the defining property of a ferroelectric material that is central to whole physics of ferroelectrics. Based solely on symmetry considerations, Landau theory can provide a reliable description of a system equilibrium behavior near a phase transition. This phenomenological approach allows giving relations between measurable quantities using a minimal set of input parameters that can be determined by comparison with physical experiment or numerical first-principles calculation. Now, the problem of true presentation of Landau-Devonshire potential for different materials is outstanding. The properties of Landau-Devonshire thermodynamic potential (TP) for ferroelectric materials in this article is investigated on the example of barium titanate. The previously approved topological method of research of nonlinear properties of ferroelectrics is applied. The cellular complexes approach use for interpretation of TP extremes. The new representation of the 8-order polynomial TP compared with previously used 6-order representation. For the 8 order potential the structure of metastable states for barium titanate is presented in the vicinity of first-order phase transition point at T = 5°C. New method proposed for the qualitative description of the metastable states structure that TP generates. Based on the method the temperature regions are pointed where the 6 and 8 order potentials predicting for the metastable states are qualitatively different

Parathyroid hormone-related protein as predictor of urolithiasis disease development

Background. The present article studies a possible role of parathyroid hormone-related protein (PTHrP) in urolithiasis pathogenesis.Aim. To consider PTHrP level as a predictor of the urolithiasis development.Material and Methods. We presented an analysis of treatment in 79 patients with primary and recurrent nephrolithiasis that had underwent surgical treatment in the Uronephrological Center of Scientific Research Institute – Ochapovsky Regional Clinical Hospital no. 1, Krasnodar from 2017 to 2019. All observed patients were divided in two groups: patients with primary and recurrent nephrolithiasis. A group of 10 relatively healthy people was included in the study as well. All patients and conditionally healthy people had a test for blood parameters; in particular, the level of parathyroid hormone-related protein was assessed in order to compare the indicators in all three groups.Conclusions. The PTHrP level was showed to be statistically significantly different in patients with urolithiasis from the group with relatively healthy people. Groups with primary and recurrent nephrolithiasis show not difference in the level of PTHrP. Further studies are necessary to consider this protein as one of the predictors of urolithiasis and study its role in the pathogenesis of nephrolithiasis

The role of calcium metabolism disorders in the formation of different density calculi with calcium oxalate nephrolithiasis

Objective To investigate the relationship between calcium metabolism disorders, stone formation inhibitor levels and stone density in primary and recurrent calcium-oxalate nephrolithiasis.Material and Methods Sixty nine patients with urolithiasis were examined, their average age was 41,4 ± 9,5 years. Two main groups were distinguished: Group 1 – primary calcium-oxalate nephrolithiasis (PN), Group 2 – recurrent calcium-oxalate nephrolithiasis (RN). Then each group was divided into two subgroups – A and B according to stone density: 500–1000 HU and from 1000–1500 HU, respectively. Stone density was determined by computed tomography (CT). PTH (parathormone), PTHrP (parathyroid hormone related protein), vitamin D, total blood calcium (Ca), ionized blood Ca, total blood protein, Ca and urine pH were also examined. After the examination, patients underwent surgical removal of the stones.Results It was found that 41.9% of group 1 and 46.9% of group 2 patients had grade I obesity. Average creatinine level in group 2 was 9.7% higher than in group 1 (p < 0.05). Urea level in both groups was not statistically significantly different. Glomerular filtration rate (GFR) was comparable. Groups 2A and 2B had higher PTHrP values (77.61 and 76.98 pg/mL, respectively) combined with relatively high PTH levels (2A – 4.4 pg/mL and 2B – 5.1 pg/mL), relatively low osteopontin concentration (2A – 0.044 pg/ mL, 2B – 1.106 pg/mL), compared to those in group 1 (p < 0.05). Pairwise unidirectional differences between groups 1A and 2A, 1B and 2B were found to correlate positively with density values: for osteopontin: r = 0.992 (p < 0.05); for vitamin D: r = 0.831 (p < 0.05); for blood Ca2+ ions: r = 0.836 (p < 0.05); for urine pH: r = 0.863 (p < 0.05). There was a negative correlation with the daily concentration of urinary calcium ions with the density of concrements: r = -0.663; p < 0.05. The concentration of osteopontin was significantly higher in Group 1B and 2B patients, and it was significantly lower in patients with stones of < 1000 HU density. Higher values of osteopontin concentration were noted in groups 1B and 2B in relation to groups 1A (p < 0.05) and 2A (p < 0.05). The increase of blood Ca2+ ions in patients in groups 1B and 2B in relation to groups 1A (p < 0.05) and 2A (p < 0.05) was also accompanied by higher values of vitamin D.Conclusion Patients with denser stones showed high values of osteopontin and PTHrP in serum and low values of urinary calcium ions, which may lead to the formation of concrements on the matrix with an organic base. Determination of calcium metabolism makes it possible to predict recurrence of KSD in primary calcium oxalate nephrolithiasis and assess the severity of mineral metabolism disorders in recurrent calcium oxalate nephrolithiasis

Sestrin2 Modulates AMPK Subunit Expression and Its Response to Ionizing Radiation in Breast Cancer Cells

Background: The sestrin family of stress-responsive genes (SESN1-3) are suggested to be involved in regulation of metabolism and aging through modulation of the AMPK-mTOR pathway. AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) is an effector of the tumour suppressor LKB1, which regulates energy homeostasis, cell polarity, and the cell cycle. SESN1/2 can interact directly with AMPK in response to stress to maintain genomic integrity and suppress tumorigenesis. Ionizing radiation (IR), a widely used cancer therapy, is known to increase sestrin expression, and acutely activate AMPK. However, the regulation of AMPK expression by sestrins in response to IR has not been studied in depth. Methods and Findings: Through immunoprecipitation we observed that SESN2 directly interacted with the AMPKa1b1c1 trimer and its upstream regulator LKB1 in MCF7 breast cancer cells. SESN2 overexpression was achieved using a Flag-tagged SESN2 expression vector or a stably-integrated tetracycline-inducible system, which also increased AMPKa1 and AMPKb1 subunit phosphorylation, and co-localized with phosphorylated AMPKa-Thr127 in the cytoplasm. Furthermore, enhanced SESN2 expression increased protein levels of LKB1 and AMPKa1b1c1, as well as mRNA levels of LKB1, AMPKa1, and AMPKb1. Treatment of MCF7 cells with IR elevated AMPK expression and activity, but this effect was attenuated in the presence of SESN2 siRNA. In addition, elevated SESN2 inhibited IR-induced mTOR signalling and sensitized MCF7 cells to IR through an AMPK-dependent mechanism