Formation of zonal agro-eco clusters as a mechanism for the development of rural areas

Today, the degree of agricultural development, and, in the future, the level of national food security, the public health and the quality of life, are largely ensured by innovative developments in the field of alternative agriculture, the preservation of natural resources and, above all, the main production facility – land. At the same time, the unfilled market capacity of organic products and the significant land potential for the development of organic farming create all the necessary prerequisites for enhancing the competitiveness of Russian rural producers. The development of agricultural entrepreneurship towards the greening of land use, organic production and development of the domestic market for organic (ecological) products in the format of zonal agro-eco clusters is one of the strategic directions for implementing reforms in the agricultural sector. The paper presents the directions of the formation and development of zonal agro-eco clusters for the production, processing and sale of organic products in the agricultural regions of Russia.peer-reviewe

Physiological and biochemical features of fig cultivars (<I>Ficus carica</I> L.) from the collection of the Nikita Botanical Gardens

Background. Identification of promising fig cultivars (Ficus carica L.) with high content of bioactive compounds in fruits and increased adaptability to moisture deficiency is important for breeding and fruit growing in arid regions.Methods. The chemical analysis of fruits was performed using conventional methods. The content of essential elements was measured on a Kvant 2MT atomic absorption spectrophotometer. Drought resistance was assessed using the method of determining the water-holding capacity and resistance to dehydration in the leaves of fruit crops.Results. Fruits of cv. ‘Muason’ demonstrated the highest dry matter content (26.60 ± 1.30%), total phenolic compounds (169.0±26.0 mg%), sugars (mono: 15.03 ± 1.25%, and total: 17.46 ± 0.56%), water-soluble pectin (1.17%), total pectin substances (1.99%), and K (13565 ± 805 mg/kg); fruits of cv. ‘Pomoriysky’ had the maximum content of Ca (532 ± 65 mg/kg), Mg (982 ± 121 mg/kg), and Mn (1.98 ± 0.182 mg/kg); ‘Sabrutsiya Rozovaya’ excelled in the content of ascorbic acid (17.32 ± 0.78 mg%), Fe (15.413 ± 1.989 mg/kg), Zn (10.688 ± 1.338 mg/kg), and Cu (1.435 ± 0.132 mg/kg). ‘Sabrutsiya Rozovaya’ showed high drought resistance, ‘Pomoriysky’ had a medium degree of resistance, while ‘Muason’ demonstrated low water regime values. The loss of 15–20% of moisture by the leaves is critical: dehydration exceeding this limit leads to the impossibility of restoring satisfactory turgor. Conclusion. Fruits of the studied fig cultivars belong to the group of products with high K and Mg content, and satisfactory content of Fe, Zn and Mn. ‘Sabrutsiya Rozovaya’, a potentially adaptable cultivar with resistance to hydrothermal stress, was identified for its increased water-retaining capacities and high reparative ability of leaf tissues. It is recommended for use in the breeding for drought resistance and for establishment of large-scale plantations in arid regions

Population of isomers in decay of the giant dipole resonance

The value of an isomeric ratio (IR) in N=81 isotones ($^{137}$Ba, $^{139}$Ce, $^{141}$Nd and $^{143}$Sm) is studied by means of the ($\gamma, n)$ reaction. This quantity measures a probability to populate the isomeric state in respect to the ground state population. In ($\gamma, n)$ reactions, the giant dipole resonance (GDR) is excited and after its decay by a neutron emission, the nucleus has an excitation energy of a few MeV. The forthcoming $\gamma$ decay by direct or cascade transitions deexcites the nucleus into an isomeric or ground state. It has been observed experimentally that the IR for $^{137}$Ba and $^{139}$Ce equals about 0.13 while in two heavier isotones it is even less than half the size. To explain this effect, the structure of the excited states in the energy region up to 6.5 MeV has been calculated within the Quasiparticle Phonon Model. Many states are found connected to the ground and isomeric states by $E1$, $E2$ and $M1$ transitions. The single-particle component of the wave function is responsible for the large values of the transitions. The calculated value of the isomeric ratio is in very good agreement with the experimental data for all isotones. A slightly different value of maximum energy with which the nuclei rest after neutron decay of the GDR is responsible for the reported effect of the A-dependence of the IR.Comment: 16 pages, 4 Fig

Flux-splitting schemes for parabolic problems

To solve numerically boundary value problems for parabolic equations with mixed derivatives, the construction of difference schemes with prescribed quality faces essential difficulties. In parabolic problems, some possibilities are associated with the transition to a new formulation of the problem, where the fluxes (derivatives with respect to a spatial direction) are treated as unknown quantities. In this case, the original problem is rewritten in the form of a boundary value problem for the system of equations in the fluxes. This work deals with studying schemes with weights for parabolic equations written in the flux coordinates. Unconditionally stable flux locally one-dimensional schemes of the first and second order of approximation in time are constructed for parabolic equations without mixed derivatives. A peculiarity of the system of equations written in flux variables for equations with mixed derivatives is that there do exist coupled terms with time derivatives

Measurement of the forward-backward charge asymmetry and extraction of sin^2Theta^{eff}_W in ppbar -> Z/\gamma^{*}+X -> e+e+X events produced at \sqrt{s}=1.96 TeV

We present a measurement of the forward-backward charge asymmetry ($A_{FB}$) in $p\bar{p} \to Z/\gamma^{*}+X \to e^+e^-+X$ events at a center-of-mass energy of 1.96 TeV using 1.1 fb$^{-1}$ of data collected with the D0 detector at the Fermilab Tevatron collider. $A_{FB}$ is measured as a function of the invariant mass of the electron-positron pair, and found to be consistent with the standard model prediction. We use the $A_{FB}$ measurement to extract the effective weak mixing angle $sin^2Theta^{eff}_W = 0.2327 \pm 0.0018 (stat.) \pm 0.0006 (syst.)$.Comment: 7 Pages, 1 Figure, 3 Tables, Accepted by Phys. Rev. Let

Main results of the first experimental campaign in the stellarator W7-X

A summary of the first operational phase (OP1.1) at the stellarator W7-X is given. The operational setup of heating and diagnostics as well the results of experiments are briefly described. Plasma parameters and confinement are better than expected: Te > 8 keV and Ti > 2 keV at ne ≈ 3×1019 m-3 yielding β0 ≈ 2.5 %. The results for ECR heating with X2-mode as well the ECCD are in good agreement with the theory predictions. The heating scenario with the O2-mode alone was successfully first time performed. Stellarator specific regime of core “electron root” confinement was obtained

Surface Doping Quantum Dots with Chemically Active Native Ligands: Controlling Valence without Ligand Exchange

One remaining challenge in the field of colloidal semiconductor nanocrystal quantum dots is learning to control the degree of functionalization or valence per nanocrystal. Current quantum dot surface modification strategies rely heavily on ligand exchange, which consists of replacing the nanocrystal\u27s native ligands with carboxylate- or amine-terminated thiols, usually added in excess. Removing the nanocrystal\u27s native ligands can cause etching and introduce surface defects, thus affecting the nanocrystal\u27s optical properties. More importantly, ligand exchange methods fail to control the extent of surface modification or number of functional groups introduced per nanocrystal. Here, we report a fundamentally new surface ligand modification or doping approach aimed at controlling the degree of functionalization or valence per nanocrystal while retaining the nanocrystal\u27s original colloidal and photostability. We show that surface-doped quantum dots capped with chemically active native ligands can be prepared directly from a mixture of ligands with similar chain lengths. Specifically, vinyl and azide-terminated carboxylic acid ligands survive the high temperatures needed for nanocrystal synthesis. The ratio between chemically active and inactive-terminated ligands is maintained on the nanocrystal surface, allowing to control the extent of surface modification by straightforward organic reactions. Using a combination of optical and structural characterization tools, including IR and 2D NMR, we show that carboxylates bind in a bidentate chelate fashion, forming a single monolayer of ligands that are perpendicular to the nanocrystal surface. Moreover, we show that mixtures of ligands with similar chain lengths homogeneously distribute themselves on the nanocrystal surface. We expect this new surface doping approach will be widely applicable to other nanocrystal compositions and morphologies, as well as to many specific applications in biology and materials science

Measurement of sin^2\theta_{eff}^{lept} and Z-light quark couplings using the forward-backward charge asymmetry in p\bar{p} -> Z/\gamma^{*} -> e^{+}e^{-} events with L=5.0 fb^{-1} at \sqrt{s}=1.96 TeV

We measure the mass dependence of the forward-backward charge asymmetry in 157,553 $p\bar{p} \rightarrow Z/\gamma^{*} \rightarrow e^+e^-$ interactions, corresponding to 5.0 fb$^{-1}$ of integrated luminosity collected by the D0 experiment at the Fermilab Tevatron Collider at $\sqrt{s}=1.96$ TeV. The effective weak mixing angle ($\sin^2\theta_{eff}^{lept}$) from this process involving predominantly the first generation of quarks is extracted as $\sin^2\theta_{eff}^{lept} = 0.2309 \pm 0.0008 ({stat.}) \pm 0.0006 ({syst.})$. We also present the most precise direct measurement of the vector and axial-vector couplings of $u$ and $d$ quarks to the $Z$ boson.Comment: submitted to Phys. Rev. D, 14 pages, 9 figure

Shattered pellet injection experiments at JET in support of the ITER disruption mitigation system design

A series of experiments have been executed at JET to assess the efficacy of the newly installed shattered pellet injection (SPI) system in mitigating the effects of disruptions. Issues, important for the ITER disruption mitigation system, such as thermal load mitigation, avoidance of runaway electron (RE) formation, radiation asymmetries during thermal quench mitigation, electromagnetic load control and RE energy dissipation have been addressed over a large parameter range. The efficiency of the mitigation has been examined for the various SPI injection strategies. The paper summarises the results from these JET SPI experiments and discusses their implications for the ITER disruption mitigation scheme

New H-mode regimes with small ELMs and high thermal confinement in the Joint European Torus

New H-mode regimes with high confinement, low core impurity accumulation, and small edge-localized mode perturbations have been obtained in magnetically confined plasmas at the Joint European Torus tokamak. Such regimes are achieved by means of optimized particle fueling conditions at high input power, current, and magnetic field, which lead to a self-organized state with a strong increase in rotation and ion temperature and a decrease in the edge density. An interplay between core and edge plasma regions leads to reduced turbulence levels and outward impurity convection. These results pave the way to an attractive alternative to the standard plasmas considered for fusion energy generation in a tokamak with a metallic wall environment such as the ones expected in ITER.&amp; nbsp;Published under an exclusive license by AIP Publishing