Regional investment policy: Analysis and assessment of the investment environment state

© the authors. The urgency of the problem studied in the paper is conditioned by the fact that stable functioning and development of economic entities, sectors of the economy, regions and the country cannot be carried out without investments. In the modern economy of the Russian Federation, whose conditions of existence can be called non-stationary, one of the problems is attracting investment resources into economic activity and overcoming the conditions for slowing and stopping the growth of the country's economy caused by external unfavorable economic circumstances. In connection with the foregoing, the policy of attracting and managing investments in the regions of the Russian Federation, with a view to ensuring conditions for overcoming the crisis phenomena and resuming the economic growth of the country and its subjects is of particular interest. The intensification of the state investment policy is a core prerequisite for the transition of the economy to sustainable growth. However, in economic market conditions the state is not able to solve this problem to the full. Therefore, the process of activating investment policy at the regional level is becoming topical. The purpose of the paper is to study the management and implementation of investment policy in the region on the example of the Republic of Tatarstan, the analysis and assessment of the investment environment's state. The leading method to research this problem is the statistical one, which is a method of quantitative analysis of a set of homogeneous facts that determine in the aggregate the transition of quantitative changes to qualitative ones. The paper presents the results of assessing the socio-economic development of the region, analyzes the indicators that allow characterizing the investment environment's state. The paper also presents the strategic priorities of the region's investment activities, analyzes the opportunities for their implementation in conditions of non-stationary state, and makes sound conclusions about the need to activate regional investment policies. The materials of the paper are of practical value for specialists dealing with the implementation of the investment policy of the region. © Authors. Terms and conditions of Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) apply

Learning, Memory, and the Role of Neural Network Architecture

The performance of information processing systems, from artificial neural networks to natural neuronal ensembles, depends heavily on the underlying system architecture. In this study, we compare the performance of parallel and layered network architectures during sequential tasks that require both acquisition and retention of information, thereby identifying tradeoffs between learning and memory processes. During the task of supervised, sequential function approximation, networks produce and adapt representations of external information. Performance is evaluated by statistically analyzing the error in these representations while varying the initial network state, the structure of the external information, and the time given to learn the information. We link performance to complexity in network architecture by characterizing local error landscape curvature. We find that variations in error landscape structure give rise to tradeoffs in performance; these include the ability of the network to maximize accuracy versus minimize inaccuracy and produce specific versus generalizable representations of information. Parallel networks generate smooth error landscapes with deep, narrow minima, enabling them to find highly specific representations given sufficient time. While accurate, however, these representations are difficult to generalize. In contrast, layered networks generate rough error landscapes with a variety of local minima, allowing them to quickly find coarse representations. Although less accurate, these representations are easily adaptable. The presence of measurable performance tradeoffs in both layered and parallel networks has implications for understanding the behavior of a wide variety of natural and artificial learning systems

Post-finasteride syndrome: our current knowledge

5-α reductase inhibitors are effective and commonly used medications for the treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia. However, there are some questions about the safety of such medications. A post-finasteride syndrome is a controversial syndrome associated with a constellation of sexual, physical, and psychological symptoms that develop during or after finasteride exposure and persist after discontinuation. Finasteride and dutasteride have the same mechanism of action and we can suppose that the term «post-finasteride syndrome» may apply to the whole group of 5-alfa reductase inhibitors. Nowadays, reasons and development mechanisms of this syndrome are unclear. The results of studies on sexual, physical, and psychological disorders have shown mixed results. Some experts attribute post-finasteride syndrome to a group of «mysterious diseases» based on psychosocial factors. Also, we need new studies with better design because reasons and development mechanisms of this syndrome are unclear.Aleksandr A. Galushkin and Dmitriу G. Likhikh are employees GlaxoSmithKline Trading, Michael I. Kogan declares no conflict of interest

Regional investment policy: Analysis and assessment of the investment environment state

© the authors. The urgency of the problem studied in the paper is conditioned by the fact that stable functioning and development of economic entities, sectors of the economy, regions and the country cannot be carried out without investments. In the modern economy of the Russian Federation, whose conditions of existence can be called non-stationary, one of the problems is attracting investment resources into economic activity and overcoming the conditions for slowing and stopping the growth of the country's economy caused by external unfavorable economic circumstances. In connection with the foregoing, the policy of attracting and managing investments in the regions of the Russian Federation, with a view to ensuring conditions for overcoming the crisis phenomena and resuming the economic growth of the country and its subjects is of particular interest. The intensification of the state investment policy is a core prerequisite for the transition of the economy to sustainable growth. However, in economic market conditions the state is not able to solve this problem to the full. Therefore, the process of activating investment policy at the regional level is becoming topical. The purpose of the paper is to study the management and implementation of investment policy in the region on the example of the Republic of Tatarstan, the analysis and assessment of the investment environment's state. The leading method to research this problem is the statistical one, which is a method of quantitative analysis of a set of homogeneous facts that determine in the aggregate the transition of quantitative changes to qualitative ones. The paper presents the results of assessing the socio-economic development of the region, analyzes the indicators that allow characterizing the investment environment's state. The paper also presents the strategic priorities of the region's investment activities, analyzes the opportunities for their implementation in conditions of non-stationary state, and makes sound conclusions about the need to activate regional investment policies. The materials of the paper are of practical value for specialists dealing with the implementation of the investment policy of the region. © Authors. Terms and conditions of Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) apply