Proposals for the Organization of International Logistics Activities of Agricultural and Agro-Processing Enterprises During the War Period

The agricultural sector is the driver and “point of growth” of the national economy of Ukraine. Agriculture accounts for an average of 16% of gross value added in some regions and play a key role in ensuring food security. However, the current conditions of martial law in Ukraine have led to problems in the organization of logistics activities of enterprises of the agro-industrial complex as a result of non-fulfilment of the terms of contracts; emergence of risks of disruption of the sowing campaign; decrease in final harvest indicators and the level of food security; decrease in the volume of export deliveries of agricultural products; disruption of food supply chains; lack of adequate financing and logistics infrastructure facilities; insufficiently effective use of marketing management tools and a network approach in the process of distributing agricultural products to the final consumer; increase in transaction costs, etc. The article provides a statistical analysis of the main indicators of the development of foreign economic activity of enterprises of the agro-industrial complex of Ukraine in the pre-war period. Barriers that inhibit the effective organization of international logistics activities of agrarian enterprises in wartime have been identified. Priority directions for eliminating existing barriers that prevent the organization of foreign economic logistics activities are proposed, the essence of which is to activate network interaction and partnership relations based on the creation of agro-cluster structures; unification of small farms for the proper execution of contracts, as well as joint activity in the agrarian sphere of two or more companies and different groups of stakeholders to achieve a common goal and a synergistic effect.Аграрний сектор є драйвером і «точкою зростання» національної економіки України. Сільське господарство формує у деяких регіонах у середньому 16% валової доданої вартості та відіграє ключову роль у забезпеченні продовольчої безпеки. Однак сучасні умови воєнного стану в Україні призвели до проблем організації логістичної діяльності підприємств агропромислового комплексу унаслідок невиконання умов контрактів; появі ризиків зриву посівної кампанії; зменшення фінальних показників врожаю та рівня продовольчої безпеки; зниження обсягів експортних поставок сільськогосподарської продукції; порушення ланцюгів постачання продовольства; відсутності належного фінансування та об’єктів логістичної інфраструктури; недостатньо ефективного використання інструментарію маркетингового менеджменту і мережевого підходу в процесі розподілу аграрної продукції до кінцевого споживача; збільшення трансакційних витрат тощо. У статті виконано статистичний аналіз основних показників розвитку зовнішньоекономічної діяльності підприємств агропромислового комплексу України у довоєнний період. Виявлено бар’єри, які гальмують ефективну організацію міжнародної логістичної діяльності аграрних підприємств у воєнний час. Запропоновано пріоритетні напрями усунення існуючих бар’єрів, що перешкоджають організації зовнішньоекономічної логістичної діяльності, суть яких полягає в активізації мережевої взаємодії та партнерських взаємовідносин на основі створення агрокластерних структур; об’єднання дрібним фермерських господарств для належного виконання контрактів, а також спільної діяльності в аграрній сфері двох або більше компаній і різних груп стейкхолдерів для досягнення загальної мети і синергетичного ефекту

Vaginal dysbiosis as a factor contributing to the development of recurrent lower urinary tract infections

Introduction. It is known that women are significantly more likely to suffer from lower urinary tract infections (LUTIs) than men. Nowadays, there is growing evidence to demonstrate the impact of vaginal microbiota on the development of recurrent LUTIs.Objectives. To demonstrate the impact of vaginal microbiota disorders on the development of recurrent lower urinary tract infections.Materials & methods. Seventy-five women with recurrent LUTIs 19 – 76 years old were enrolled in this study. The examination was performed according to the algorithm developed in the Department of Urology and Surgical Andrology, Russian Medical Academy of Continuous Professional Education. Real-time PCR of vaginal epithelial cell scrapings (Femoflor 16) was performed to comprehensively evaluate the vaginal microbiota.Results. Vaginal dysbiosis was detected in 47/75 (62.7%) women with recurrent UTIs: moderate vaginal dysbiosis was detected in 25/75 (33.3%) women and severe dysbiosis — in 22/75 (29.3%) women. A moderate correlation between the presence/absence of vaginal dysbiosis and the number of LUTI recurrences over 6 months was found (r = 0.310; p = 0.007). Vaginal dysbiosis was significantly more common among peri- and postmenopausal women with recurrent LUTIs than reproductive women (OR = 4.85; 95% CI = 1.45 – 16.17).Conclusion. Vaginal dysbiosis contributes to the development of recurrent LUTIs with more relapses. Vaginal microbiota disorders and, consequently, recurrent LUTIs are more common in peri- and postmenopausal women than reproductive women

Increasing the efficiency of investments on survey of abundant land for their return to agricultural us

The "“State program for the effective involvement of abundant agricultural land in the use and the development of the reclamation complex of the Russian Federation” for 2021–2030" assumes the return of 12 million hectares out of 44 million hectares of all abandoned agricultural land (AAL) in the Russian Federation. The costs of 12 million hectares survey can be considered productive, while the costs of surveying the remaining 32 million hectares should be considered unproductive. The application of the new geoinformation database of “Soils of agricultural lands of the Russian Federation” (DB SALRU) developed by the Federal Research Centre “V.V Dokuchaev Soil Sience Institute” allows reduction of unproductive costs. By the example of the Vladimir region, a typical Russian region with AAL, the option of ranking AAL by their quality was demonstrated to determine the order of their return to agricultural use. The soil quality criteria are the bonitet and the normative yield of grain crops, which are part of the DB SALRU. It is proposed to consider the expenditures on the survey of AAL for the soils, which are first to be returned to agricultural use, as productive costs. These soils occupy 25% of the AAL of the region. The best quality soils are characterized by more than 40 points of bonitet and the standard yield of grain crops of more than 20 centners/ha. The cost of surveying the lands of the first order of returning to agricultural use is 10 million 80 thousand rubles. Survey of AAL soils of II–IV orders of involvement in agricultural use, with relatively poor quality compared to the soils of the first order, is proposed to be conducted in the case of expansion of the State program in the future. This would save the unproductive expenses for the survey of AAL for the Vladimir region by 30 million 165.5 thousand rubles. The application of the proposed GIS-approach makes it possible to reduce unproductive expenses for the survey of AAL in the Russian Federation nearly by 5.600 million rubles

Abstract OR-4: New Antibiotic Binding Site on the 30S Ribosomal Subunit

Background: Antibiotic resistance becomes one of the main problems of modern medicine; therefore, the development of new antibacterial compounds is absolutely necessary. The ribosome is the target for a lot of different antibiotics; there are several main binding sites on the ribosome – decoding center, peptidyl-transferase center, and ribosome exit tunnel. Modification or mutation of nucleotides in these sites could make cells resistant to structurally different antibiotics. Methods: pDualrep2 reporter system was used for detection of the protein synthesis inhibitors in cultural broths of new soil bacteria. By means of a cell-free translation system, the inhibitory activity and mechanism of action of Auraplanin were estimated. CryoEM data collection was performed on a Titan Krios operated at 300 kV, equipped with a Falcon II direct electron detector. Results: In this work, we have found a new inhibitor of protein synthesis, which binds in a completely new binding site. This compound is produced by Actinoplanes sp. VKM Ac-2862 and by Cryo-EM study of its complex with E.coli ribosome, it was shown, that it binds close to 560 loop of 30S ribosomal subunit. The new compound is a derivative of tetramic acid and we called it Auraplanin, because of bright orange color of the producer strain. Structural data are in good agreement with genetic results – resistant mutations were located close determined binding site. Substitutions C564G, G558U, and G566A significantly increase minimal inhibitory concentration, all these mutations were not detected previously. We also observed resistant mutation in ribosomal protein S4, this mutation was previously identified as error-prone. Interestingly, ribosomal ambiguity mutations, G299A and G347U, also increased resistance to Auraplanin. Conclusion: On the basis of the genetic, structural and biochemical studies we hypothesized that Auraplanin acts prevent the transfer from an open to a closed conformation of 30S subunit, in contrast to streptomycin, which promotes the formation of a closed state

Bioprospecting for the soil-derived actinobacteria and bioactive secondary metabolites on the Western Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

IntroductionThe increase in incidence of multidrug-resistant bacteria and the inadequacy of new antimicrobial drugs have led to a widespread outbreak of bacterial antimicrobial resistance. To discover new antibiotics, biodiversity, and novelty of culturable actinobacteria dwelled in soil of the Western Qinghai-Tibet Plateau were investigated. By integrating antibacterial assay with omics tools, Amycolatopsis sp. A133, a rare actinobacterial strain and its secondary metabolites were further studied.MethodCulture-dependent method was used to obtain actinobacterial strains from two soil samples collected from Ali region in Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. The cultural extractions of representative strains were assayed against “ESKAPE” pathogens by paper-disk diffusion method and the double fluorescent protein reporter “pDualrep2” system. An Amycolatopsis strain coded as A133 was prioritized and its secondary metabolites were further analyzed and annotated by omics tools including antiSMASH and GNPS (Global Natural Social Molecular Networking). The predicted rifamycin analogs produced by Amycolatopsis sp. A133 were isolated and identified by chromatographic separation, such as Sephadex LH-20 and HPLC, and spectral analysis, such as NMR and UPLC-HRESI-MS/MS, respectively.ResultsA total of 406 actinobacteria strains affiliated to 36 genera in 17 families of 9 orders were isolated. Out of 152 representative strains, 63 isolates exhibited antagonistic activity against at least one of the tested pathogens. Among them, 7 positive strains were identified by the “pDualrep2” system as either an inhibitor of protein translation or DNA biosynthesis. The cultural broth of Amycolatopsis sp. A133 exhibited a broader antimicrobial activity and can induce expression of TurboRFP. The secondary metabolites produced by strain A133 was annotated as rifamycins and zampanolides by antiSMASH and GNPS analysis. Five members of rifamycins, including rifamycin W, protorifamycin I, rifamycin W-M1, proansamycin B, and rifamycin S, were purified and identified. Rifamycin W-M1, was found as a new member of the naturally occurring rifamycin group of antibiotics.DiscussionAssisted by omics tools, the successful and highly efficient discovery of rifamycins, a group of clinically used antibiotics from actinobacteria in Ali area encouraged us to devote more energy to explore new antibiotics from the soils on the Western Tibetan Plateau

The LHCb upgrade I

The LHCb upgrade represents a major change of the experiment. The detectors have been almost completely renewed to allow running at an instantaneous luminosity five times larger than that of the previous running periods. Readout of all detectors into an all-software trigger is central to the new design, facilitating the reconstruction of events at the maximum LHC interaction rate, and their selection in real time. The experiment's tracking system has been completely upgraded with a new pixel vertex detector, a silicon tracker upstream of the dipole magnet and three scintillating fibre tracking stations downstream of the magnet. The whole photon detection system of the RICH detectors has been renewed and the readout electronics of the calorimeter and muon systems have been fully overhauled. The first stage of the all-software trigger is implemented on a GPU farm. The output of the trigger provides a combination of totally reconstructed physics objects, such as tracks and vertices, ready for final analysis, and of entire events which need further offline reprocessing. This scheme required a complete revision of the computing model and rewriting of the experiment's software

Calculation of Protolytic Equilibria Parameters on a Surface of Some Carbon Adsorbents According to Potentiometric Titration Data

Constants and Gibbs energy values of neutralization were calculated for protolytic equilibria on carbon adsorbents based on anthracite, charcoal and brown coal. A proposal regarding composition of surface functional groups of these sorbents was made

Calculation of Protolytic Equilibria Parameters on a Surface of Some Carbon Adsorbents According to Potentiometric Titration Data

Constants and Gibbs energy values of neutralization were calculated for protolytic equilibria on carbon adsorbents based on anthracite, charcoal and brown coal. A proposal regarding composition of surface functional groups of these sorbents was made

Experimental Study of Heat Exchange and Hydrodynamics at the Laminar Flow of Nanocoolant Based on Propylene Glycol and Al2O3 Nanoparticles

An experimental study of heat transfer coefficient and pressure losses coefficient under the laminar flow of nanocoolants in the pipe was carried out. The relevance of the studies is related to the possibility of intensification of the heat transfer process when using nanofluids as heat transfer agents and coolants without modernizing the equipment.As the objects of the study, we used nanocoolants based on aqueous solutions of propylene glycol with the addition of Al2O3 nanoparticles in the amount of 0.53 and 1.03 % by weight. A technology for the preparation of nanocoolants by a two-stage method is described. Results of the aggregate stability of nanoparticles in the coolant are presented. Thermophysical properties of nanocoolants, necessary for evaluating heat-transfer coefficient and coefficient of pressure losses, were estimated experimentally (viscosity and heat capacity) and theoretically (density and thermal conductivity) in temperature range of 253–313 K. A schematic of the original experimental installation for measuring heat-transfer coefficient and pressure losses coefficient in the pipe is represented. Results of the calibration experiment with the use of water as coolant are presented. Experimental values of heat-transfer coefficients and pressure losses coefficient under the forced laminar flow of nanocoolant in the pipe are given. It was shown that the mean lengthwise and local values of heat-transfer coefficients for the nanocoolant are larger than those for the base coolant. At the same time, an increase in heat exchange intensity is not proportional to the concentration of nanoparticles in the coolant. An increase in the losses of head at the addition of nanoparticles to the base coolant was demonstrated.The data obtained showed a possibility in principle to intensiy the heat transfer process under the forced motion of nanocoolant based on the aqueous solutions of propylene glycol and Al2O3 nanoparticles in the heat exchange equipment of refrigeration systems