Inderwater noise characteristics of TINRO-Center’s reseach vessels

Underwater noise radiated by two medium-tonnage research vessels of Pacific Fish. Res. Center (TINRO) belonged to the same project «Atlantic-833» (RV TINRO and Professor Kaganovsky) is measured by a calibrated hydrophone system. Tools and methods of the noise measurement and methods of the data processing are described in details. Diagrams of the noise spatial distribution, its amplitude-time and spectral-power parameters are presented and compared with those recommended by ICES for fishery research vessels and with similar parameters of other vessels. The maximum noise level is registered abeam of the vessels; the sound interference is observed at the sea surface in the beam vicinity. The noise spectrum is limited by the frequency 2000 Hz with high power in the band 200 Hz. The noise field at the sea surface has a classic «butterfly» shape for the frequency range 600-2000 Hz. The noise in 1/3-octave bands exceeds the level recommended by ICES for research vessels on 20-22 dB for the frequencies 500 Hz, it exceeds the noise of diesel-electric RV Oscar Dyson (USA) on 18-24 dB for the frequencies < 1000 Hz and is similar to noise of factory trawler Prometey (USSR) and RV Miller Freeman (USA) for the frequencies most sensitive for fish. Distance of fish reaction to the sonar noise is determined for mass commercial species: it is the largest among research vessels for cod and pollock but is shorter than that one for RV Miller Freeman for herring (commercial trawler Prometey has the largest distance for all these species). For salmons, the distance of their reaction to sonar noise of TINRO’ vessels does not exceed that one recommended by ICES (20 m)

Thermodynamic and kinetic basis for recognition and repair of 8-oxoguanine in DNA by human 8-oxoguanine-DNA glycosylase

We have used a stepwise increase in ligand complexity approach to estimate the relative contributions of the nucleotide units of DNA containing 7,8-dihydro-8-oxoguanine (oxoG) to its total affinity for human 8-oxoguanine DNA glycosylase (OGG1) and construct thermodynamic models of the enzyme interaction with cognate and non-cognate DNA. Non-specific OGG1 interactions with 10–13 nt pairs within its DNA-binding cleft provides approximately 5 orders of magnitude of its affinity for DNA (ΔG° approximately −6.7 kcal/mol). The relative contribution of the oxoG unit of DNA (ΔG° approximately −3.3 kcal/mol) together with other specific interactions (ΔG° approximately −0.7 kcal/mol) provide approximately 3 orders of magnitude of the affinity. Formation of the Michaelis complex of OGG1 with the cognate DNA cannot account for the major part of the enzyme specificity, which lies in the kcat term instead; the rate increases by 6–7 orders of magnitude for cognate DNA as compared with non-cognate one. The kcat values for substrates of different sequences correlate with the DNA twist, while the KM values correlate with ΔG° of the DNA fragments surrounding the lesion (position from −6 to +6). The functions for predicting the KM and kcat values for different sequences containing oxoG were found

International Trade Issues of the Russian Federation

Trade and capital flows between Russia and the rest of the world are now significant for both partners. The economic reforms introduced in Russia since 1991 have converted an autarkic, highly regulated economy into a relatively open one. The dramatic change followed from the abolition of central planning and complex exchange rate controls as Yeltsin came to power in Russia and the Soviet Union collapsed. Yet the years since 1991 are not simply a record of tearing down trade barriers. Instead Russia's role in the international economy appears to be erratic and inconsistent. Also the transformation of earlier inter-republic deliveries between former republics of the Soviet Union to trade between independent states implied the sometimes controversial establishment of new trade barriers. The country's struggle to develop a viable trade policy provides unique insights into the consequences of the conflicts of economic ideas: free trade versus protectionism; rewards for economic efficiency versus social equity; and macroeconomic stability versus maintaining employment. The clash among policy proposals has been reflected in political struggles, for the decisions on these matters have an impact on the lives of the 179 million Russians. The papers that make up this volume are from a conference held in May 1994 at IIASA, in Laxenburg, Austria. The conference was on Russia's international trade issues, aside from its ties to the republics of the former Soviet Union, a topic of another conference in 1993

Ancient Aeolian Reservoirs of the East Siberia Craton

Fine-grained strata deposited on the Eastern Siberian craton are predominantly considered to mainly consist of Neoproterozoic sandstones. Clastic rocks near the unconformity border of the Ediacaran and the Riphean are represented by sandstone and siltstone layers with thicknesses of several tens of meters, belonging to the Nepa, Tira, and Byuk horizons in the Nepa–Botuoba region. These Neoproterozoic sandstones have features characteristic of aeolianites formed under the action of high wind velocity in the Ediacaran period. Sandstone samples near the Riphean–Ediacaran boundary were collected from five deep wells and characterized for granulometry and mineral composition using optical microscopy, XRD, SEM, and ICP-MS techniques. These sandstones have a high proportion of quartz (60–98%) with minor amounts of feldspars, carbonate, and sulfate cements. Thin sections of the sandy rocks feature bimodal distributions of the grains throughout many sections, with large well-rounded quartz grains being several orders of magnitude greater than the silt matrix grains. The monomineralic quartz rocks have an overgrowth of quartz grains. These rocks can be petroleum reservoirs with good porosity and permeability, but in most of the studied intervals, a high content of anhydrite and dolomite interstitial cement significantly reduces both. The porosity of the rocks is low, while the permeability is very low, which may be associated with a significant amount of clay and cement material. Aeolianites normally contain large amounts of bimodal quartz (due to its high stability and resistance to weathering) and possess the presence of heavy minerals

Gas Cleaning System with a Pre-Unloading Flow

The analysis of the causes and mechanisms reduce the efficiency of processes separation in cyclone devices, the results of field surveys of industrial cyclone. It offers an alternative solution to clean the flue gases from the boiler KE-10/14

Weak superconductivity in the surface layer of a bulk single-crystal boron-doped diamond

We have grown and investigated bulk single-crystal heavily boron-doped diamonds possessing superconductivity with $T_{C}^{\mathrm{onset}} =1.7\text{--}3.5\ \text{K}$ . Only the surface layer with the thickness less than $1\ \mu \text{m}$ showed the degenerate semiconductor behavior with transition to the superconducting state, while the bulk of the crystal was a typical doped semiconductor. The morphology of the surface layer is dendritic polycrystalline with an average boron content of 2.5–2.9 at.%. The typical Josephson junction current-voltage characteristic was observed. The degenerate semiconductor-superconductor transition as in single-crystal high-temperature superconductors and the structural data analysis of the surface layer indicate the two-dimensional character of superconductivity, and the actual superconducting structure is a set of few-nanometer thick boron carbide layers embedded in a diamond structure

Particles separation in a cyclone device cone

The improvement of the methods for calculating the efficiency for particles separation in these devices is the subject of article. Finding data show that the particles are discharged from the central zone to periphery by diffusive transport in the zone of high centripetal accelerations. It is found that the central zone is the ejection effect zone on the paraxial flow and intense discharge particle zone. The concentrations distribution and distribution of fractional efficiencies are presented

The room-temperature chemiresistive properties of potassium titanate whiskers versus organic vapors

The development of portable gas-sensing units implies a special care of their power efficiency, which is often approached by operation at room temperature. This issue primarily appeals to a choice of suitable materials whose functional properties are sensitive toward gas vapors at these conditions. While the gas sensitivity is nowadays advanced by employing the materials at nano-dimensional domain, the room temperature operation might be targeted via the application of layered solid-state electrolytes, like titanates. Here, we report gas-sensitive properties of potassium titanate whiskers, which are placed over a multielectrode chip by drop casting from suspension to yield a matrix mono-layer of varied density. The material synthesis conditions are straightforward both to get stable single-crystalline quasi-one-dimensional whiskers with a great extent of potassium replacement and to favor the increase of specific surface area of the structures. The whisker layer is found to be sensitive towards volatile organic compounds (ethanol, isopropanol, acetone) in the mixture with air at room temperature. The vapor identification is obtained via processing the vector signal generated by sensor array of the multielectrode chip with the help of pattern recognition algorithms.Peer reviewe