Social equity : a route to progressive taxation of individuals

Most countries of the world use a progressive scale to tax individuals. However, the level of tax progression decreased a lot thanks to a lower number of rates and their fall in the first two decades of the XXI-st century as liberal ideas had spread in the middle of the XX-th century. Individuals’ income can be taxed either at a progressive or a flat scale of rates. At the same time, there is no straightforward position, which scale to choose in the economic theory. Tying the personal income tax rate not to the absolute figures of income, but to such categories as a household’s subsistence level, a budget of a household in comfortable circumstances would be reasonable in conditions of a dynamic Russian market environment burdened with inflationary phenomena. This model of the personal income tax and the use of a progressive scale in a city with population numbers of up to 20 million people shows that the tax will rise by a mere US $4.7 compared with the current 13the income tax for medium paid workers will rise by US$ 57.8. At the same time the figure rose by US$ 372.9 for highly paid employees. The use of this model ensures a significant increase of budget income of a region and closure of the gap between wages of highly and low paid workers employed in the economy.peer-reviewe

Macroeconomic indicators and their impact on the foreign debt burden : the case of BRICS countries

The main aim of this article is to analyse the macro indicators affecting the foreign debt burden of BRICS. It has been proven that it is required to design development scenarios in mid-term planning via forming a numerical estimate plane, taking into account expectations of economic variables’ behavior and other factors, which would stabilize the debt burden and other indicators at sensible levels. Using the elimination approach towards the impact of all factors on the amount on the end result except one, the article formulates and proves the hypothesis that market indicators in relation to GDP influence the size of the country’s debt.peer-reviewe

Investigation of translational motion of poly(ethylene glycol) macromolecules in poly(methacrylic acid) hydrogels

The translational mobility of linear macromolecules of poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) within a weakly cross-linked poly(methacrylic acid) (PMAA) hydrogel was investigated by means of the pulse field gradient (PFG) NMR method in order to reveal the effect of PMAA/PEG complex formation. It was found that inside the collapsed gel a fraction of the PEG molecules has self-diffusion characteristics like those of the network chains. This suggests the formation of an interpolymer complex, as a result of which some linear molecules acquired the dynamic properties of the network chains. Another fraction of the PEG macromolecules inside the collapsed gel enjoyed free diffusion, for they were not included in the complex with PMAA. In contrast, within the swollen gel (at concentrations of PEG higher than 5 wt.-%) the self-diffusion coefficient of all PEG molecules was independent of the diffusion time, which indicates an absence of the interpolymer complex (or at least that its lifetime is negligibly short). © Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH, 1999

THE PROGNOSIS OF DEVELOPMENT OF THE PAROXYSM OF ATRIAL FIBRILLATION IN PATIENTS WITH POST-INFARCTION CARDIOSCLEROSIS

Aim. Create an algorithm predicting the risk of development of paroxysmal atrial fibrillation in patients with coronary heart disease on the background of post-infarction cardiosclerosis (PICS).Material and Methods. There was conducted the deep analysis of a number of laboratory and functional indicators (indicators of peroxidation of proteins, lipids, antioxidant protection and skin microcirculation) at 85 patients with atrial fibrillation (AF). All patients were divided into 4 groups: patients with paroxysmal and chronic AF without PICS (27 people), patients with paroxysmal and chronic AF with PICS (12), patients with permanent AF without PICS (26) and patients with permanent form of AF with PICS (20). Results. There was created the mathematical model to predict the development of atrial fibrillation in patients with PICS with calculation of the odds ratio of atrial fibrillation. Methods of correlation and factor analysis revealed the greatest value for the prognosis of paroxysmal atrial fibrillation in patients with PICS two factors: the total level of deep oxidation products of protein and an indicator of microcirculation by laser Doppler flowmetry. The diagnostic sensitivity of the developed prognostic model was 86%, specificity of the test – 94%, the diagnostic efficiency of the test – 90%.Conclusion. The study has been proven clinical diagnostic and prognostic value of a comprehensive study of indicators of oxidation-reduction reactions, and the microcirculation indices in combination with standard laboratory and instrumental investigations in patients with AF. The developed mathematical model allows to predict the development of atrial fibrillation in patients with PICS

Wigner crystal model of counterion induced bundle formation of rod-like polyelectrolytes

A simple electrostatic theory of condensation of rod-like polyelectrolytes under influence of polyvalent ions is proposed. It is based on the idea that Manning condensation of ions results in formation of the Wigner crystal on a background of a bundle of rods. It is shown that, depending on a single dimensionless parameter, this can be the densely packed three-dimensional Wigner crystal or the two-dimensional crystal on the rod surfaces. For DNA the location of charge on the spiral results in a model of the one-dimensional Wigner crystal. It is also argued that the Wigner crystal idea can be applied to self-assembly of other polyelectrolytes, for example, colloids and DNA-lipid complexes.Comment: 4 pages; typos corrected, references adde

Оценка клинической эффективности щадящей и стандартной панретинальной лазеркоагуляции сетчатки при непролиферативной диабетической ретинопатии

We have shown that the classical panretinal laser coagulation is a rather traumatic procedure, damaging all layers of the retina, leadingbto a narrowing of visual fields and decrease the electrical activityof the retina that can impair quality of life. Using sparing laser coagulation is a highly effective metod of prolonged of visual function.Проведено сравнительное исследование вариантов лазеркоагуляции сетчатки при сахарном диабете. Установлено, что стандартная панретинальная лазеркоагуляция является достаточно травматичной процедурой, повреждающей все слои сетчатки, приводящей к сужению полей зрения и снижению электрической активности сетчатки, ухудшающим качество жизни пациента. Щадящая (субпороговая) лазеркоагуляция сетчатки является высокоэффективным методом длительного сохранения зрительных функций

Regulation of PERK Signaling and Leukemic Cell Survival by a Novel Cytosolic Isoform of the UPR Regulator GRP78/BiP

The unfolded protein response (UPR) is an evolutionarily conserved mechanism to allow cells to adapt to stress targeting the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). Induction of ER chaperone GRP78/BiP increases protein folding capacity; as such it represents a major survival arm of UPR. Considering the central importance of the UPR in regulating cell survival and death, evidence is emerging that cells evolve feedback regulatory pathways to modulate the key UPR executors, however, the precise mechanisms remain to be elucidated. Here, we report the fortuitous discovery of GRP78va, a novel isoform of GRP78 generated by alternative splicing (retention of intron 1) and alternative translation initiation. Bioinformatic and biochemical analyses revealed that expression of GRP78va is enhanced by ER stress and is notably elevated in human leukemic cells and leukemia patients. In contrast to the canonical GRP78 which is primarily an ER lumenal protein, GRP78va is devoid of the ER signaling peptide and is cytosolic. Through specific knockdown of endogenous GRP78va by siRNA without affecting canonical GRP78, we showed that GRP78va promotes cell survival under ER stress. We further demonstrated that GRP78va has the ability to regulate PERK signaling and that GRP78va is able to interact with and antagonize PERK inhibitor P58IPK. Our study describes the discovery of GRP78va, a novel cytosolic isoform of GRP78/BiP, and the first characterization of the modulation of UPR signaling via alternative splicing of nuclear pre-mRNA. Our study further reveals a novel survival mechanism in leukemic cells and other cell types where GRP78va is expressed

Circulating microparticles: square the circle

Background: The present review summarizes current knowledge about microparticles (MPs) and provides a systematic overview of last 20 years of research on circulating MPs, with particular focus on their clinical relevance. Results: MPs are a heterogeneous population of cell-derived vesicles, with sizes ranging between 50 and 1000 nm. MPs are capable of transferring peptides, proteins, lipid components, microRNA, mRNA, and DNA from one cell to another without direct cell-to-cell contact. Growing evidence suggests that MPs present in peripheral blood and body fluids contribute to the development and progression of cancer, and are of pathophysiological relevance for autoimmune, inflammatory, infectious, cardiovascular, hematological, and other diseases. MPs have large diagnostic potential as biomarkers; however, due to current technological limitations in purification of MPs and an absence of standardized methods of MP detection, challenges remain in validating the potential of MPs as a non-invasive and early diagnostic platform. Conclusions: Improvements in the effective deciphering of MP molecular signatures will be critical not only for diagnostics, but also for the evaluation of treatment regimens and predicting disease outcomes