Financing of infrastructure in education : international experience of attracting private investments and opportunities for Russia to form a knowledge-driven economy

The article substantiates the role of education, proposes and confirms the hypothesis about the importance and necessity of social partnerships for financing and development of education in knowledge- driven economy. To confirm the advanced hypotheses we studied the evolution of concepts of social interaction and social responsibility to justify patterns of social partnerships in the knowledge-driven economy that allowed us, using the model of "triple helix", to show the necessity of the collaboration of government, universities and corporations to advance on the path of innovative development. We considered the industrial districts as territories, which act as a space of coordination of actors, to whom the solution of new production problems is impossible without direct interaction with universities. The lack of budget funds for the development of education requires a search for other sources of funding for infrastructure facilities in education. We revealed the mechanisms of attraction of private funding of educational institutions in Russia, arising challenges, and possible solutions. The article considers the application of concession as a form of public – private partnerships in preschool education, which recently has found application in Russia. Based on studying world best practices, the authors propose to use the investment funds, in particular, the mechanism of impact investment in education as a promising technology. Improvement of Russian legislation concerning investment funds will create the foundation for wide application of exchange-traded mutual funds for collective investments in social infrastructure. Formation of trust funds and grants to finance education becomes widespread in Russia.peer-reviewe

Opioid precursor protein isoform is targeted to the cell nuclei in the human brain

Background: Neuropeptide precursors are traditionally viewed as proteins giving rise to small neuropeptide molecules. Prodynorphin (PDYN) is the precursor protein to dynorphins, endogenous ligands for the kappa-opioid receptor. Alternative mRNA splicing of neuropeptide genes may regulate cell- and tissue-specific neuropeptide expression and produce novel protein isoforms. We here searched for novel PDYN mRNA and their protein product in the human brain. Methods: Novel PDYN transcripts were identified using nested PCR amplification of oligo(dT) selected full-length capped mRNA. Gene expression was analyzed by qRT-PCR, PDYN protein by western blotting and confocal imaging, dynorphin peptides by radioimmunoassay. Neuronal nuclei were isolated using fluorescence activated nuclei sorting (FANS) from postmortem human striatal tissue. lmmunofluorescence staining and con focal microscopy was performed for human caudate nucleus. Results: Two novel human PDYN mRNA splicing variants were identified. Expression of one of them was confined to the striatum where its levels constituted up to 30% of total PDYN mRNA. This transcript may be translated into ASP-PDYN protein lacking 13 N-terminal amino acids, a fragment of signal peptide (SP). Delta SP-PDYN was not processed to mature dynorphins and surprisingly, was targeted to the cell nuclei in a model cellular system. The endogenous PDYN protein was identified in the cell nuclei in human striatum by western blotting of isolated neuronal nuclei, and by confocal imaging. Conclusions and general significance: High levels of alternatively spliced Delta SP-PDYN mRNA and nuclear localization of PDYN protein suggests a nuclear function for this isoform of the opioid peptide precursor in human striatum. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved