Introduction of ISO management systems in municipal enterprises providing water supply, water preparation and wastewater treatment in the major cities of the Russian Federation

This article gives information about current situation in the introduction of management systems that comply with ISO standards at water utilities in major Russian cities. Analysis of collected data has shown that the number of plants with international certificates is not large. It might be due to the fact that water and wastewater treatment plants in Russia used to be monopolies on the water services market and worked without any competitors until recently. Constant underfinancing of municipal institutes of water industry also interferes with international certification and other direction of forced development. The article analyses basic reasons for management systems' implementation on municipal water utilities. It compares experience and the results of implementation of Environmental Management Systems complying with ISO 14001 standard on water utilities of Moscow and St. Petersburg. It analyses prospects of international certification of water industry facilities at the current stage of Russian society development. © 2017 WIT Press

Impact of Controlling the Site Distribution of Al Atoms on Catalytic Properties in Ferrierite-Type Zeolites

Zeolites with the ferrierite (FER) topology are synthesized using a combination of tetramethylammonium (TMA) cations with differently sized cyclic amines (pyrrolidine (Pyr), hexamethyleneimine (HMI), and 1,4- diazabicyclo[2.2.2]octane (DAB)). Using these organic structure-directing agents (SDAs), low Si/Al ratios and concentrated synthesis mixtures favor the crystallization of FER materials. Increasing the size of the cyclic amine or decreasing the aluminum content leads to the crystallization of other phases or the creation of excessive amounts of connectivity defects. TMA cations play a decisive role in the synthesis of the FER materials, and their presence allows the use of HMI to synthesize FER. Proton MAS NMR is used to quantify the accessibility of pyridine to acid sites in these FER samples, where it is found that the FER + HMI + TMA sample contains only 27% acid sites in the 8-MR channels, whereas FER + Pyr and FER + Pyr + TMA contain 89% and 84%, respectively. The constraint index (CI) test and the carbonylation of dimethyl ether (DME) with carbon monoxide are used as probe reactions to evaluate how changes in the aluminum distribution in these FER samples affect their catalytic behavior. Results show that the use of Pyr as an SDA results in the selective population of acid sites in the 8-MR channels, whereas the use of HMI generates FER zeolites with an increased concentration of acid sites in the 10-MR channels

Electroencephalograms features of the early stage Parkinson’s disease

© 2014, Pleiades Publishing, Ltd. A new method for analyzing the time-frequency dynamics of brain’s background electrical activity is described. It is used to detect at least three main features of Parkinson’s disease (PD) in its early stages: (1) hemispheric asymmetry in the time-frequency characteristics (EEG) in the central recording areas of the motor cortex, (2) the emergence in these recording areas of EEG rhythms in the frequency range of 4–6 Hz and its relation to electromyograms (EMG) and the mechanical tremor of contralateral limbs in the case of tremor-dominant PD, and (3) the disruption of the dominant rhythm corresponding to views generally held on the disorganization of different systems in PD

Cold-induced changes in gene expression in brown adipose tissue, white adipose tissue and liver

Cold exposure imposes a metabolic challenge to mammals that is met by a coordinated response in different tissues to prevent hypothermia. This study reports a transcriptomic analysis in brown adipose tissue (BAT), white adipose (WAT) and liver of mice in response to 24 h cold exposure at 8°C. Expression of 1895 genes were significantly (P<0.05) up- or down-regulated more than two fold by cold exposure in all tissues but only 5 of these genes were shared by all three tissues, and only 19, 14 and 134 genes were common between WAT and BAT, WAT and liver, and BAT and liver, respectively. We confirmed using qRT-PCR, the increased expression of a number of characteristic BAT genes during cold exposure. In both BAT and the liver, the most common direction of change in gene expression was suppression (496 genes in BAT and 590 genes in liver). Gene ontology analysis revealed for the first time significant (P<0.05) down regulation in response to cold, of genes involved in oxidoreductase activity, lipid metabolic processes and protease inhibitor activity, in both BAT and liver, but not WAT. The results reveal an unexpected importance of down regulation of cytochrome P450 gene expression and apolipoprotein, in both BAT and liver, but not WAT, in response to cold exposure. Pathway analysis suggests a model in which down regulation of the nuclear transcription factors HNF4α and PPARα in both BAT and liver may orchestrate the down regulation of genes involved in lipoprotein and steroid metabolism as well as Phase I enzymes belonging to the cytochrome P450 group in response to cold stress in mice. We propose that the response to cold stress involves decreased gene expression in a range of cellular processes in order to maximise pathways involved in heat production

About Multivariant Designing of Buildings with a Flexible Planning Structure

During designing three-dimensional and spatial structure of the architectural object, computer program has a wide spectre of possibilities allowing to vary its parameters and create effective images for visual presentation. Besides the traditional ways of using the computer in order to perfect the architectural graphic ability during a compositional research, It is also very creative to develop new methods making the design process more effective in finding optimal solutions. The dynamics of social and economic relations in the contemporary society determined the flexibility and mobility of architectural object as a very important, especially for contemporary industrial architecture. The priority direction on this field is designing buildings with flexible planning spatial structure

Managing the customer satisfaction of tourists in an experience economy

Nowadays, the great importance of tourism and its impact on the wide range of aspects of progress and globalization, development and international relations promotion does not ask for argumentations. The responsibility of providing this impact lays on every company in the sector: in addition to making profit, enterprises are in charge of satisfying the customers. Furthermore, the key mean to reaching these goals is to be found in experiences that people are so keen on receiving. Consequently, companies representing the tourism industry must focus on creating the best possible experiences, which will ensure them satisfied visitors, who will be willing to return again, and again. Theoretically the discussion is supported by the experience economy theory, which performs as a solid base to investigate the phenomenon of customer satisfaction. However, since the topic is multifaceted and should be analyzed appropriately, the study refers also to such notions as service quality, marketing destination and brand. Additionally, the issues connected to cross-cultural differences cannot be omitted while considering a company that belongs to tourism industry, and therefore serves the international flow of customers. The study is devoted to the exploration of customer satisfaction in an entertainment park in Finland, with the focus on visitors from Russia. The goals and objectives of the research were possible to be realized by using interviews and observation as methods of the study. In total 16 groups of people (mostly families) participated in data collection. The questionnaire was structured around three main topics: expectations from holidays, experience in the Park and Finnish Lapland as a touristic destination, therefore enabled to form a detailed understanding of the four realms of the experience, service quality, destination brand and marketing. Thus, the data analysis allowed evaluating current customer satisfaction level in the organization and offering the recommendations for developing it in the future seasons. The study contributes to customer satisfaction, tourism and cross-cultural research. The results of this research demonstrate the complexity of the analyzed phenomenon and endeavor to present the relation and mutual influence of the simultaneously considered notions. Thus, four realms of experiences appear to have different importance for the interviewed audience and therefore influenced the overall satisfaction accordingly. Next, service quality was planned to be measured on the base of expectations, but the insufficient amount of them led to the conclusion that it is not possible to rely only on expectations in this case. However, the ones that were discovered should be carefully followed in the developing of the services and customer satisfaction in general, in the future. Lastly, the insights about the perception of Lapland and opinion of the brand retrieved from the target group, can be used for improving the destination facilities, infrastructure and overall image, as well as correcting the destination marketing strategy

Development of Competent Mathematical Speech of Students at Technical University

The development of literate speech of students, including mathematics, as one of the areas of communicative component of learning outcomes, is a requirement of higher education standards. The authors have analysed the educational standards for the content of the requirements to the general education of a graduate related to the development of literate speech, as well as the works of domestic and foreign teachers-researchers on the development of mathematical literacy. The literature review and the authors’ own experience of teaching mathematics to engineering students at technical University showed that the ability of students to use logically correct, reasoned and clear oral and written speech is developed insufficiently to apply the mathematical apparatus in their educational and professional activities. The authors have identified the criteria of competent speech and theoretical and methodological conditions of the educational process which enable the ensure the organizational and methodological support of educational process aimed at the development of competent mathematical speech of students. The main applied methods of teaching are advanced self-directed work of students, lecture-discussion, mutual dictation, interchange of tasks, interchange of themes, study of the text fragments, repetition training-game, etc. The effectiveness of educational activities is achieved through the use of active and interactive forms of teaching. The prepared organizational and methodological support of teaching, the systemic educational work allow students to improve their speech skills and skills of active use of mathematical language as a universal language of science, to develop logical, algorithmic and mathematical thinking, the ability to apply methods of mathematical analysis and modeling, theoretical and experimental research in solving professional problems

Electroencephalograms features of the early stage Parkinson’s disease

© 2014, Pleiades Publishing, Ltd. A new method for analyzing the time-frequency dynamics of brain’s background electrical activity is described. It is used to detect at least three main features of Parkinson’s disease (PD) in its early stages: (1) hemispheric asymmetry in the time-frequency characteristics (EEG) in the central recording areas of the motor cortex, (2) the emergence in these recording areas of EEG rhythms in the frequency range of 4–6 Hz and its relation to electromyograms (EMG) and the mechanical tremor of contralateral limbs in the case of tremor-dominant PD, and (3) the disruption of the dominant rhythm corresponding to views generally held on the disorganization of different systems in PD