The Model of Birch-Spruce Plantations Formation in the Conditions of the Russian Plain Southern Taiga

The results of 30 years or research on the formation and growth of birch forests from the subcanopy spruce population in the conditions of the Russian Plain southern taiga are presented. The studies have been carried out on 19 permanent sample plots (PSPs). They were laid in regionally representative sorrel-blueberry birch forests aged 15–115 years with high density and productivity. The birch plantations on the PSPs belong to the same natural age series. The majority of spruce trees appeared under the canopy of birch forests up to 40 years old. As the birch trees aged, the age structure of spruce trees changed from even-aged to conditionally even-aged. Based on the study of the dynamics of the number of trees, the vertical structure of stands, the growing stock and the total stem wood stock, the age stages of development of the spruce population in the birch forests up to 120 years old have been determined. They are regeneration, young growth, polewood and maturation. The end of the maturation stage occurs at the birch tree age of 120 years. At the same time, the average spruce tree age in the first and second layers is 90 years. The duration of the stages varies from 10 years (the young growth stage) to 40 years (the regeneration and maturation stages). To determine the time of onset and end of other age stages of the subcanopy spruce population, the studies in birch forests older than 120 years are needed. The work performed has made it possible to propose a model of the joint formation of birch forests and the subcanopy spruce population, in which the main taxation characteristics are given for all elements of the stand: age, number of trees, the sum of the cross-section of the stems, the stock of the growing and dead wood, as well as total productivity. According to the model, by the age of a birch of 120 years, the total productivity of modal plantations will be about 950 m3/ha and the growing stock of the stand will be about 490 m3/ha. The share of spruce wood will be 28 % or about 150 m3/ha. After the birch forest decay, a low-density spruce forest of the 3rd quality class can form in its place

АНАЛІЗ ПРИЧИН ВИНИКНЕННЯ НЕБЕЗПЕЧНИХ СИТУАЦІЙ ПІД ЧАС ЕКСПЛУАТАЦІЇ АВТОЗАПРАВНИХ СТАНЦІЙ

Purpose. To identify the level of risk of dangerous events occurring at gas stations.Materials and methods. To assess the risks of hazardous events at petrol stations, the "HAZOP" method and the "FMEA" method were chosen because they are well combined with each other and allow detailing each stage of the production process to identify hazards and the performance of the system, which is carried out by a specially selected team of five expert specialists.Results. A risk management procedure at gas stations has been developed based on a combination of the "HAZOP" and "FMEA" methods, which allows to assume of the emergence of a possible scenario for the development of a dangerous event by keywords, as well as to assess the magnitude of priority risk, based on the possibility of detecting the occurrence of a discrepancy or threat. Four main scenarios of the occurrence of a dangerous event due to the inconsistency of the technical component of gas stations and the presence of errors and dangerous actions of operators are analysed. It has been established that the highest level of risk of a dangerous event – an explosion and fire at a gas station can occur due to leakage of connections and the accumulation of gasoline vapours in the dispensers.Originality lies in the establishment of the relationship between different methods of risk assessment, which allows to determine the most probable scenario for the development of a dangerous event through a combination of various dangerous factors.Practical value. Recommendations have been developed to reduce the probability of occurrence of a dangerous event of explosion and fire at a gas station due to the development of an improved risk management process based on a combination of well-known methods.Мета. Встановлення рівня ризику виникнення небезпечних подій на автозаправних станціях.Матеріали і методи. Для оцінки ризиків виникнення небезпечних подій на автозаправних станціях були обрані метод "HAZOP" та метод "FMEA", оскільки вони добре поєднуються між собою та дають можливість деталізувати кожен етап виробничого процесу для ідентифікації небезпек і працездатності системи загалом, що проводиться спеціально підібраною групою з п’яти фахівців-експертів.Результати. Розроблено процедуру керування ризиками на автозаправних станціях на основі поєднання методів "HAZOP" та "FMEA", що дозволяє припустити формування можливого сценарію розвитку небезпечної події за ключовими словами, а також оцінити величину пріоритетного ризику, виходячи з можливості виявлення невідповідності чи загрози. Проаналізовано чотири основні сценарії настання небезпечної події через невідповідності технічної складової автозаправних станцій та наявності помилок і небезпечних дій операторів. Встановлено, що найбільший рівень ризику настання небезпечної події – вибуху та пожежі на автозаправній станції може статися через негерметичність з’єднань та накопичення парів бензину у колонках.Наукова новизна полягає у встановленні взаємозв’язку між різними методами оцінювання ризику, що дає змогу визначити найбільш вірогідний сценарій розвитку небезпечної події через поєднання різних небезпечних чинників.Практична цінність. Розроблені рекомендації із зменшення ймовірності настання небезпечної події −вибуху і пожежі на автозаправній станції завдяки розробці удосконаленого процесу керування ризиками на основі поєднання загальновідомих методів

Assessment of the quality of assimilation of the material by students of the Medical and Preventive Faculty of the USMU in the discipline “Histology, Cytology and Embryology” in 2022/2023.

The purpose of the work is to assess the quality of assimilation of the material in the discipline “Histology, Cytology and Embryology” of second‑year students of the Faculty of Medicine and Prevention who have been trained at the Department of Histology.Цель работы — оценить качество усвоения материала по дисциплине «Гистология, цитология и эмбриология» студентов второго курса медико‑профилактического факультета, прошедших обучение на кафедре гистологии УГМУ в 2022/2023 учебном году

Autocracy-Sustaining Versus Democratic Federalism:Explaining the Divergent Trajectories of Territorial Politics in Russia and Western Europe

This article provides a comparative assessment of territorial politics in Russia and Western Europe. The consolidation or deepening of regional autonomy in Western Europe contrasts with the transformation of Russia from a segmented and highly centrifugal state into a centralized authoritarian state in the course of just two decades. The consolidation of territorial politics in Western Europe is linked to the presence of endogenous safeguards that are built into their territorial constitutional designs and most importantly to the dynamics that emanate from multi-level party competition in the context of a liberal and multi-level democracy. In contrast, in Russia, neither endogenous safeguards nor multi-level party democracy play an important role in explaining the dynamics of Russian federalism, but who controls key state resources instead. We argue that under Putin power dependencies between the Russian center and the regions are strongest where regional democracy is at its weakest, thus producing ‘autocracy-sustaining’ instead of a democratic federation. By studying the relationship between federalism and democracy in cases where both concepts are mutually reinforcing (as in Western Europe) with the critical case of Russia where they are not, we question the widely held view that democracy is a necessary pre-condition for federalism.Peer reviewe

A Concerted HIF-1α/MT1-MMP Signalling Axis Regulates the Expression of the 3BP2 Adaptor Protein in Hypoxic Mesenchymal Stromal Cells

Increased plasticity, migratory and immunosuppressive abilities characterize mesenchymal stromal cells (MSC) which enable them to be active participants in the development of hypoxic solid tumours. Our understanding of the oncogenic adaptation of MSC to hypoxia however lacks the identification and characterization of specific biomarkers. In this study, we assessed the hypoxic regulation of 3BP2/SH3BP2 (Abl SH3-binding protein 2), an immune response adaptor/scaffold protein which regulates leukocyte differentiation and motility. Gene silencing of 3BP2 abrogated MSC migration in response to hypoxic cues and generation of MSC stably expressing the transcription factor hypoxia inducible factor 1alpha (HIF-1α) resulted in increased endogenous 3BP2 expression as well as cell migration. Analysis of the 3BP2 promoter sequence revealed only one potential HIF-1α binding site within the human but none in the murine sequence. An alternate early signalling cascade that regulated 3BP2 expression was found to involve membrane type-1 matrix metalloproteinase (MT1-MMP) transcriptional regulation which gene silencing abrogated 3BP2 expression in response to hypoxia. Collectively, we provide evidence for a concerted HIF-1α/MT1-MMP signalling axis that explains the induction of adaptor protein 3BP2 and which may link protein binding partners together and stimulate oncogenic MSC migration. These mechanistic observations support the potential for malignant transformation of MSC within hypoxic tumour stroma and may contribute to evasion of the immune system by a tumour

Formation of spruce tree stands in parcellar structures with the same density of preliminary spruce generation after felling birch stand

To date, various aspects of the formation of spruce forests as a result of felling of small-leaved stands with the preservation of the preliminary generation of spruce Picea A. Dietr. have been studied. One that is poorly studied is the question of the development and growth of spruce in connection with the parcel structure of the stands after such felling. The aim of this work is to study formation and growth of spruce forests in parcel structures with the same spruce density after felling a birch forest, but at different stages of age development. The studies were carried out in the sub-zone of the southern taiga (Rybinsk District of the Yaroslavl Oblast) at the Northern Experimental Station of the Institute of Forest Science, Russian Academy of Sciences. The study object is forest stand formed after cutting a 55-year-old birch forest. The felling was carried out using the technology of narrow strips with preservation of the preliminary generation of spruce. The analysis is based on the data of 20 years of observations on permanent sample plots in two groups of parcels: spruce in the young stand stage, spruce in the pole stand stage. The density of spruce in the groups of parcels after birch Betula L. felling is, respectively, 4.53 and 4.58 thousand trees per ha, and the average age is 25 and 33 years, respectively. The response of spruce to birch felling has been observed already in the first ten years. In the considered groups of parcels, the condition of the spruce improves and the growth of trees increases. In the poles, the growth increases more intensively than in the young. The timber stock of the upper layer (trees above 4 m per year of felling) in the first layer increases by almost 30, in the second – by 100 m3. In the pole stand, productivity of the stand increases from class V to class IV bonitet. In the second decade, the state of the population in young trees deteriorates as a result of increased intraspecific competition (the proportion of normal trees decreases from 55 to 40 %). In the pole, the opposite process was observed – the proportion of normal trees increased from 60 to 80 %. During this period, the growth of the wood stock in young stands was more intensive than in the pole ones. However, the wood stock in spruce forest, formed from the perch, reached almost 300 m3 per ha 20 years after felling. In spruce forest, formed from the young stand, wood stock was almost 3 times less. The bonitet of the perch has reached III, the young – IV class. When felling birch forests with preservation of the undergrowth and thin spruce for the fastest recovery of spruce stands, birch forests should be considered the most promising, under the canopy of which the preliminary generation is represented by a spruce pole stand 40 years old. Such stands should be assigned to the felling first

ANALYSIS OF THE IMPACT OF THE APPLICATION OF ANTICRISIS BUDGET POLICY MEASURES IN RELATION TO THE SUBNATIONAL LEVEL

The research analyzes the practice of anticrisis support of the subnational level in foreign countries and Russia. The influence of the anticrisis budget policy of the federal center on the balance and sustainability of regional budgets in Russia is assessed. The features of the effectiveness of intergovernmental transfers and budget loans to sub-federal budgets are revealed. It is recommended to take into account the results obtained in the anticrisis support of the regions, as well as to introduce mechanisms that increase the flexibility of federal budget rules to the parameters of subnational finances

The growth and state of spruce under the canopy of oxalis birch forests in the southern taiga of the European part of Russia

The features of the growth of spruce (Picea A. Dietr.) trees of various state under the canopy of southern taiga oxalis birch forests (Betuletum oxalidosum) are considered. The studies were carried out at the North Forest Experimental Station of the Institute of Forest Science, Russian Academy of Sciences, where a system of permanent trial plots (PTP) was established to study the succession processes in birch forests. At one of the PTP, all spruce trees were cut down as models. Preliminary assessment of their condition (healthy, weakened) was carried out. The shape and foliation of the crown, its length along the height of the tree were taken as evaluation criteria. Growth analysis was performed for trees over 60 years old (40 healthy, 33 weakened). Tree growth was characterized by the dynamics of the following indicators: height, stem cross-sectional area at a height of 0.1 and 1.3 m, stem volume, form factor, shape factor. In the course of a retrospective analysis of the growth of trees, it was found that weakened trees, in terms of the value of the biometric characteristics of the stem, are significantly inferior to healthy ones already in the first 10 years of life. At the age of 60, the height and stem volume of healthy trees are 1.5 and 3.1, respectively, higher than the values of these indicators in weakened specimens. Regardless of the condition of the trees, the maximum average periodic growth in height is observed at 40 years, and the equality of the average and average periodic growths in weakened trees is observed 5 years earlier (55 years) than in healthy ones. The maximum average periodic growth in cross-sectional area and stem volume in weakened trees occurs 5–10 years earlier than in healthy ones. Weakened trees are characterized by more full-boled and less tapering stems. At the age of 60 years, the productivity of healthy trees under the canopy of birch forests corresponds to IV, and weakened ones – to V growth class. The prospects of spruce trees under the canopy of birch forests are best assessed when the spruce reaches the age of 40 years