Methods of Effective Governance of Territorial Transformations in Russian Federation

Considerable territorial differentiation existing in Russia today contributes to both federal and regional economic slowdown. Alongside with that, gaining control over the process of territorial differentiation at the micro-level in order to reduce disparity among rural municipalities and to ensure their sustainable development, is considerably hindered, taking into account the gap between the tasks local self-governing bodies have to accomplish and the financial resources at their disposal. Territorial transformation of municipal entities (regional rural settlements) may become one of the possible solutions to the problem. That would make it possible to optimize local administrative machineries, to reduce imbalance and disparity in economic development of rural municipalities and to channel the funds released towards the vital problems of local significance. However, the problem of preliminary comparison of socio-economic development rates of municipal entities within a region, which is required for further successful implementation of strategies of rural territorial transformations, still remains unsolved, since currently no generally acknowledged and scientifically based specific methods for that purpose are available. As the result of the theoretical and practical research work carried out by the author, the article presents the territorial transformation procedure algorithm and proposes the model to evaluate synergistic effect of the activities intended to foster optimization of territorial structure of rural areas. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2015.v6n5s2p35

New aspects of non-invasive diagnosis of intestinal pathology.

A comparative assessment of fecal calprotectin (FC) levels was performed in 160 patients with chronic inflammatory bowel disease (CIBD) (Crohn's disease (CD), ulcerative colitis (UC)) and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). The results of FC in patients with CIBD and IBS were compared with the values of FC  of 31 healthy patients (control group). The mean FC level in pa­tients with CIBD was 65.75 μg/g compared to the control group (13.72 μg/g) (p<0.05). In the group of patients with IBS, the FC level was 16.18 μg/g (p≥0.05). Significant correlation was found between the levels of FC with CIBD and FC with IBS (p<0.05). The obtained results confirmed the high diagnostic value of the method of determining fecal calprotectin in the differential diagnosis of functional and inflammatory bowel diseases

Current State of Pasture Vegetation of the Arid Zone (On the Example of Key Rural Municipalities of the Republic of Kalmykia)

The article presents the results of field observations over 2012–2018 carried out by the Department of Environmental Research of the Institute for Complex Studies of Arid Territories. The work includes materials on the climatic review and the original results of geobotanical investigation of 5 farms in rural municipalities of the Republic of Kalmykia (RK) over the period of the study. We used materials of a large geobotanical survey of YUZHNIIGIPROZEM Company (1991–1995) and materials of earth remote sensing (by Landsat satellite). According to the studies, the period from 2012 to 2018 demonstrates a general trend of climate warming throughout the territory of Kalmykia accompanied by a decrease in precipitation and an increase in extreme droughts in the summer. Geoecological monitoring of pastures at five key sites of the RK revealed that in the dry steppe zone (Manych municipality) and in the semi-desert zone (Khanatinsky municipality), deterioration of pastures is observed; in the desert zone (Adykovskoye municipality), significant degradation processes were identified associated with strong anthropogenic impact and fires, manifested in the loss of valuable food crops (wormwood) and increased influence of cereal crops. Floristic and phytocenotic analyzes revealed an increase in the number of plant species in the weed and ruderal groups

Oxidative detoxification of organomercury pesticides

A method of oxidative mineralization of the organomercury granozan pesticide commercial form under mild conditions was investigated. The product components of hazard class 1 were destructed to the low-toxic compounds in the electrolyte under the oxidants electrochemically formed in situ in sulphuric acid solutions of pesticide. Simultaneously, at the cathode, the mercury ions formed as a result of the pesticide organic component destruction process reduce up to more than 90%

From a forecasting methodology for the electric energy consumption of mono-towns to its sustainability

The need of Russia for a resource-innovative energy strategy for the period up to 2035 makes it urgent to create a methodology of strategic forecasting for the electric energy consumption of mono-towns, which will result in the efficient development of a power supply system, ensuring territories’ sustainability. For this purpose, it is necessary to consider a mono-town as a complete system, a living organism with a definite life cycle and structure of energy consumers. The authors offer a technocoenosis approach to carry out the ranking and structural analysis of the electric energy consumption of one of the Sverdlovsk region’s mono-towns, taking into account dynamics in population, enterprises, organizations and institutions for the period of 5 years. The provided analysis makes it possible to judge the technocoenosis optimality using characteristic exponent β, depending on the structural features of the territory. The authors developed an algorithm for electric energy consumption forecasting, based on Support Vector Machines (SVM), which takes into account the electric energy of mono-towns’ consumers and the climatic factors. Forecasting accuracy was achieved using cross-validation of the input data in order to optimize the training model. The corresponding changes in electric energy consumption, when a characteristic exponent is optimal, will result in a target forecast that provides the sustainable development of mono-towns. © 2014 WIT Press.International Journal of Sustainable Development and Planning;WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environmen

Gastroesophageal reflux disease associated with diseases of the respiratory tract

The European community of gastroenterologists in 1997 recognized GERB as "illness of the 21st century". Diseases of a respiratory tract take the leading place among all extra esophageal implications of a gastroesophageal reflux disease. Among them bronchial asthma and a chronic obstructive pulmonary disease are the most widespread. The study of the features of the current and modern methods of diagnosing bronchial asthma, obstructive sleep apnea syndrome and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease associated with gastroesophageal reflux disease is of great importance for identifying potential obstacles to effective treatment and preventing an increase in the risk of hospitalizations of patients with this co-morbid pathology. The morbidity of the pathology of the respiratory tract, combined with gastroesophageal reflux disease, is steadily growing. There is a large number of publications concerning the relationship between gastroesophageal reflux disease and diseases of the bronchopulmonary system, but the etiopathogenesis and the cause-and-effect relationship of these diseases remain in question. 1t is interesting to note that the syndrome of obstructive sleep apnea is not included in the list of extra-oesophageal manifestations, both probably and reliably associated with gastroesophageal reflux disease (according to the Montreal Consensus, 2006), but is of great interest to researchers in recent years

Conical refraction of a high-M2 laser beam

We report on experiments with conical refraction of laser beams possessing a high beam propagation parameter M2. With beam propagation parameter values M2=3 and M2=5, unusual Lloyd's distributions with correspondingly three and five dark rings were observed. In order to explain this phenomenon, we extend the dual-cone model of the conical refraction that describes it as a product of interference of two cones that converge and diverge behind the exit facet of the crystal. In the extended model, these converging/diverging cones are represented as the cone-shaped quasi-Gaussian beams possessing the M2 parameter of an original beam. In this formalism, a beam-waist of these cone-shaped beams is proportional to the M2 value and defines the area of their interference which is a width of the Lloyd's ring. Therefore, the number of dark rings in the Lloyd distribution is defined by the M2 value and can be much greater than unity. The results of the numerical simulations within the extended dual-cone model are in excellent agreement with the experiment

T35 Epigenetic changes in human cervical carcinomas associated with viral induced pathogenesis

Epigenetics investigates mechanisms that control inheritance of gene expression program during somatic cell divisions. These mechanisms include regulation by DNA methylation, histone post-translational modifications and nucleosome positioning, functioning of regulatory non-coding RNAs, control of alternative splicing of mRNA precursors and high-order chromatin organization. Genome-wide loss of epigenetic stability and increased epigenetic plasticity are common features of all tumor types. In normal tissues epigenetic plasticity allow cells to response on environment signals. Thus, in tumor cells its constitutive activation leads to epigenetic heterogeneity that are the additional hallmark of the most of the classical cancers. Cervical cancers are one of the most interesting models for the analysis of the role of epigenetic changes in tumor progression. These types of tumors are associated with infection of human papilloma viruses of so-called high-risk group (HR-HPV) and characterized by well-defined stages of malignant conversion from intraepithelial neoplasias to carcinomas. The viral DNA can persist in episomal form or integrates into the host-cell genome.Cellular genomes encode genetic information in their linear sequence, but appropriate gene expression requires chromosomes to fold into dynamic complex three-dimensional structures. Scaffold/matrix attachment regions (S/MARs) are specialized genomic DNA sequences that take part in organization of these structures. We demonstrated that methylation of S/MARs was required for their attachment to nuclear matrix and that methylation status of S/MARs was changed in cervical cancer cell compared to normal cells.DNA methylation plays an important role in the regulation of gene expression. We found that methylation of the regulatory sequences in the HPV16 genome specifically changes in transformed compared to the normal cervical epithelial cells. Next, we showed that methylation of the transcription factor binding sites modulates the viral oncogene expression. These data suggest that the HPV16 genome methylation may represent an important mechanism that initiates the development of HPV-associated tumors.Using next generation sequencing, we identified pattern of differentially expressed microRNAs in clinical samples of the cervical lesions. We confirmed expression of microRNAs that have been described previously as well as identified new microRNAs that can be potentially involved in the development and progression of cervical cancer. Spectrum of differentially expressed microRNAs includes microRNAs targeting tumor-suppressor genes as well as oncogenes.Telomerase is a key regulator of cell proliferation. This enzyme is silent in normal cells and activated in most of the tumors. Few forms of RNA (hTERT), encoded by telomerase gene were detected in different tumor cells and among them three forms (alfa, beta and gamma) are most well pronounced. We found that in cervical tumors expression of all three forms are significantly increased. In some cases, we also observe higher level of hTERT expression in neighboring “normal tissue”. The correlation between expression levels of these three forms varied on different stages of the disease (three stages on intraepithelial neoplasias and carcinomas). The function of these three hTERT forms is still not well understood

The role of non-commercial cyprinids in maintenance and spread of the opisthorchiasis focus in the middle Ob River basin (Tomsk region, Russia)

The study assessed the role of non-commercial cyprinid species in maintaining the opisthorchiasis focus in the middle Ob River basin, Tomsk region, Russia. The source of O. felineus infection for humans and carnivores is fish of the family Cyprinidae. This is the most numerous family, 14 species live in the middle Ob River basin, which includes 6 commercial species and 8 non-commercial species. This study aimed to investigate the current situation on infestation of non-commercial cyprinids with O. felineus metacercariae and their role in maintaining and spreading the natural focus of opisthorchiasis in the middle Ob River basin. We investigated 4 non-commercial species (tench, sunbleak, common bleak, gudgeon), which are highly abundant in water bodies. Tench, common bleak and gudgeon are objects of amateur fishing. These species are traditionally included in the diet of the local population. Opisthorchis felineus metacercariae were recorded in muscles of all the examined fish species. The identification of metacercariae was confirmed by morphological methods and PCR diagnostics. Tench and sunbleak are the main sources of opisthorchiasis infection in the floodplain lakes of the Ob River basin (the prevalence of tench infection is 89.3% and mean intensity of infection is 11.2 metacercariae per fish, the prevalence of sunbleak infection is 50.9% and the intensity of infection is 4.25 metacercariae per fish). The prevalence of infection in the introduced common bleak from the rivers of the middle Ob River basin is rapidly increasing from 2.4 (2016-2018) to 37.5% (2020-2021), and mean intensity of infection increased from 1 to 4.15. The epizootic state of water bodies in the middle Ob River basin remains unfavorable in relation to opisthorchiasis. Tench, common bleak and sunbleak, along with ide and dace, are the main source of infection for humans and animals, which is evidenced by high infection with Opisthorchis felineus metacercariae in these numerous fish species. They pose the greatest danger of infection of people and animals with opisthorchiasis. These species should be included in the campaign to avoid raw and poorly cooked fish in the diet. In addition, such species as roach, bream and sunbleak also pose the danger of infection with opisthorchiasis, but to a lesser extent

Ductility of Eccentrically Compressed Elements of RC Frame Damaged by Corrosion under Accidental Impacts

The impact of aggressive environments and, accordingly, the corrosion damage of concrete and reinforcing steel, the violation of adhesion between them in some areas lead to a change in the values of the limiting height of the compressed zone, which determine the plastic or brittle mechanism for the destruction of structures of reinforced concrete frame buildings. The purpose of the presented study was to assess the influence of the depth of corrosion damage on the ultimate height of the compressed zone of the section of eccentrically compressed elements of reinforced concrete frames of buildings, as well as to assess the bearing capacity of these elements. The article presents analytical dependences for estimating the limit value of the height of the compressed zone of the section of a corrosion-damaged reinforced concrete element of the building frame with a two-line approximation of the state diagram of concrete.It has been established that an increase in the depth of corrosion damage leads to a decrease in the height of the compressed section zone relative to the part of the working height of the section that retained the resource of force resistance, as well as to a decrease in the bearing capacity of eccentrically compressed reinforced concrete elements due to a decrease in the effective working height of the section and an increase in their flexibility. An increase in the flexibility of the elements leads to a decrease in the magnitude of the limiting longitudinal force perceived by eccentrically compressed reinforced concrete elements. At the same time, an increase in the relative depth of corrosion damage enhances this effect due to an increase in the effective flexibility of such elements compared to elements without damage