Russia's accession to the WTO as an important factor of the country's integration into the world economy

Russia's accession to the WTO is an efficient instrument of the country's integration into the globalized world economy. However, it can adversely affect a number of enterprises and industries within the national economy. Thus, there is a need to develop a methodology for the assessment of the preparedness for operating under WTO membership conditions, which can be practically applied in the development of measures aimed at increasing the competitiveness of economic entities. This determines the objective of the research. This article offers the author's assessment of the reasonability of Russia's accession to the WTO and suggests methodological approaches to the assessment of preparedness of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation for functioning in the new economic conditions based on the algorithm of choosing a system of indicators, as well as the organisation of enterprise monitoring according to this system, which makes it possible to formulate rational administrative decisions in order to minimise the adverse effects of Russia's accession to the WTO. The major result of the research is the conclusion that, although the objective of identifying the start position of the constituent entities before the accession to the WTO and its possible implications is quite difficult to attain, it is both theoretically and practically feasible

Influence of the customs instruments on implementating the common agricultural policy in the Eurasian economic union

The article analyses characteristics of the participation of the Eurasian Economic Union's (EAEU) member states in the World Trade Organization (WTO) and its impact on the Eurasian economic integration. We described the contradictions in the regulatory frameworks between the WTO agreements and regional trade agreements. Moreover, we offered the ways to overcome these contradictions. We demonstrated the role of the economic and legal exemptions that operate on the EAEU's domestic agrarian market in connection with the accession of Russia and Kazakhstan to the WTO. On the one hand, these exemptions were shaped under the influence of tariff commitments made by Russia in the field of agriculture. On the other hand, they were formed due to Kazakhstan's subsequent entry into the WTO and the discrepancy of its tariff obligations for agricultural products with Russia's tariff obligations in the conditions of functioning of the EAEU's common customs tariff. We explored Kazakhstan's tariff commitments to the WTO. We have proved that for the EAEU's further effective development, its participants need to initiate compensation negotiations with other WTO members in order to equalize the overall level of the import duties on the EAEU territory. The study's results can be applied for harmonization of the tariff rates of the EAEU members. It is necessary for achieving the most effective joint economic development and implementing the coordinated foreign trade policy in various economic sectors, including agro-industrial policy and agricultural development of the EAEU states. © 2019 Kovalev V. E., Falchenko O. D., Linetsky A. F., Tarasov A. G. Text.The article has been prepared at the Ural State Economic University with the support of Russian Foundation for Basic Research, the grant No. 18-010-01209 A Forming the organizational and economic model of managing the customs effects of the Eurasian econ

Institutional factor in international economic activity of region and its socio-economic development

The article substantiates the impact of the institutional factor on the development of regional international economic relations. The scope of the study is regional international economic activity (IEA), the subject-matter is the role of the institutional factor in its development. The study purpose is to develop a scientific approach for the assessment of the institutional factor impact on the development of region's international economic relations. The hypothesis is that the targeted efforts of all participants of IEA of the region (business, authorities, local community) to strengthen of theese components of the institutional factor, which have a strong influence on the regional socio-economic development. A methodological approach for the assessment of this influenceis developed. It includes determining three elements of IEA institutionalization - agreements, organizations, events. A three-dimensional model is proposed for the coordination of these elements with 3 groups of countries - developed, developing and CIS, including the Eurasian Economic Union, and also with basic indexes characterizing the qualitative and quantitative contribution of region's IEA into its socio-economic development. This model is tested on the example of the Sverdlovsk region of Russia for 2003-2015. That has allowed to define various kinds of the effects from strenthening the IEA institutional component, which are expressed in the increase of the export of the region, improvement of its investment attractiveness, the diversification of regional economy as well as the the generation of additional jobs and tax flows increase. © Copyright 2005-2016 Institute of Economics, the Ural branch of the RAS. All rights reserved

Bessel Process and Conformal Quantum Mechanics

Different aspects of the connection between the Bessel process and the conformal quantum mechanics (CQM) are discussed. The meaning of the possible generalizations of both models is investigated with respect to the other model, including self adjoint extension of the CQM. Some other generalizations such as the Bessel process in the wide sense and radial Ornstein- Uhlenbeck process are discussed with respect to the underlying conformal group structure.Comment: 28 Page

Intracochlear schwannoma presenting as diffuse cochlear enhancement: diagnostic challenges of a rare cause of deafness

Intracochlear schwannoma is a rare, treatable, cause of unilateral hearing loss. Due to the small size, position, and variable clinical and imaging features, diagnosis presents a significant challenge and is often delayed. We present a case of a patient with an intracochlear schwannoma presenting as a diffuse enhancement of the cochlea, mimicking an infectious or inflammatory process. The absence of focal nodularity in this lesion on multiple high-resolution MRI examinations led to a delay of over 3 years from the patient’s initial presentation to surgical diagnosis. Clinical history and examination, imaging features, pathologic findings, and surgical management options are described

Quantitative analysis of cell composition and purity of human pancreatic islet preparations

Author Manuscript 2011 May 1.Despite improvements in outcomes for human islet transplantation, characterization of islet preparations remains poorly defined. This study used both light microscopy (LM) and electron microscopy (EM) to characterize 33 islet preparations used for clinical transplants. EM allowed an accurate identification and quantification of cell types with measured cell number fractions (mean±s.e.m.) of 35.6±2.1% β-cells, 12.6±1.0% non-β-islet cells (48.3±2.6% total islet cells), 22.7±1.5% duct cells, and 25.3±1.8% acinar cells. Of the islet cells, 73.6±1.7% were β-cells. For comparison with the literature, estimates of cell number fraction, cell volume, and extracellular volume were combined to convert number fraction data to volume fractions applicable to cells, islets, and the entire preparation. The mathematical framework for this conversion was developed. By volume, β-cells were 86.5±1.1% of the total islet cell volume and 61.2±0.8% of intact islets (including the extracellular volume), which is similar to that of islets in the pancreas. Our estimates produced 1560±20 cells in an islet equivalent (volume of 150-μm diameter sphere), of which 1140±15 were β-cells. To test whether LM analysis of the same tissue samples could provide reasonable estimates of purity of the islet preparations, volume fraction of the islet tissue was measured on thin sections available from 27 of the clinical preparations by point counting morphometrics. Islet purity (islet volume fraction) of individual preparations determined by LM and EM analyses correlated linearly with excellent agreement (R[superscript 2]=0.95). However, islet purity by conventional dithizone staining was substantially higher with a 20–30% overestimation. Thus, both EM and LM provide accurate methods to determine the cell composition of human islet preparations and can help us understand many of the discrepancies of islet composition in the literature.National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (Grant RO1-DK063108)National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (Grant NCRR ICR U4Z RR 16606)Joslin Diabetes and Endocrinology Research Center (Grant DK36836)Diabetes Research & Wellness FoundationJuvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International (Islet Transplantation, Harvard Medical School

Protective Unfolded Protein Response in Human Pancreatic Beta Cells Transplanted into Mice

Background: There is great interest about the possible contribution of ER stress to the apoptosis of pancreatic beta cells in the diabetic state and with islet transplantation. Methods and Findings: Expression of genes involved in ER stress were examined in beta cell enriched tissue obtained with laser capture microdissection (LCM) from frozen sections of pancreases obtained from non-diabetic subjects at surgery and from human islets transplanted into ICR-SCID mice for 4 wk. Because mice have higher glucose levels than humans, the transplanted beta cells were exposed to mild hyperglycemia and the abnormal environment of the transplant site. RNA was extracted from the LCM specimens, amplified and then subjected to microarray analysis. The transplanted beta cells showed an unfolded protein response (UPR). There was activation of many genes of the IRE-1 pathway that provide protection against the deleterious effects of ER stress, increased expression of ER chaperones and ERAD (ER-associated protein degradation) proteins. The other two arms of ER stress, PERK and ATF-6, had many down regulated genes. Downregulation of EIF2A could protect by inhibiting protein synthesis. Two genes known to contribute to apoptosis, CHOP and JNK, were downregulated. Conclusions: Human beta cells in a transplant site had UPR changes in gene expression that protect against the proapoptotic effects of unfolded proteins

Intramolecular hydrogen transfer reactions of thiyl radicals from glutathione: formation of carbon-centered radical at Glu, Cys and Gly

This document is the Accepted Manuscript version of a Published Work that appeared in final form in Chemical Research in Toxicology, copyright © American Chemical Society after peer review and technical editing by the publisher. To access the final edited and published work see http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/tx3000494Glutathione thiyl radicals (GS•) were generated in H2O and D2O by either exposure of GSH to AAPH#, photoirradiation of GSH in the presence of acetone, or photoirradiation of GSSG. Detailed interpretation of the fragmentation pathways of deuterated GSH and GSH-derivatives during mass spectrometry analysis allowed us to demonstrate that reversible intramolecular H-atom transfer reactions between GS• and C-H bonds at Cys[αC], Cys[βC], and Gly[αC] are possible