Phase formation processes and synthesis of solid solutions in Ca-R-Nb-M-O systems

During the study of the phase formation process in Ca-R-Nb-M-O systems (R=La, Bi, M=Mo, W), an attempt was made to obtain single-phase compounds of CaRNbMO8 composition by the standard ceramic technique. In addition, samples based on LaNbO4, CaWO4, BiNbO4 were also synthesized by the standard ceramic technique. The phase composition of the samples was studied by XRD analysis. The electrical conductivity of the obtained solid solutions and potential composite materials was investigated by impedance spectroscopy

Educational Migration Bridge: From Metaphor to Project

The purpose of the article is to analyze the topical problem of educational migration and ways to solve it. The article identifies factors preventing from successful adaptation and socialization of foreign students in recipient country as legal, pedagogical, psychological, lingvo-communicative are identified. Minimization of negative factors actualized the integrated strategy of educational migration «bridge construction» development aimed at solving tasks of migrants’ integration in Russian labour market, providing them with all-round support in getting education, improving professional qualification, adaptation and socialization. The term «bridge» is metaphorically used as an artificial, virtual «construction» functioning as a means for educational migration support of citizens.The experience of the Orenburg State University in development and realization of the longterm integrated strategy of educational migration «bridge construction» presented within the Strategic Academic Leadership Program «Priority 2030» is studied. Regarding the potential of the University and Orenburg region the ways of educational migration «bridge construction» are determined: introduction of educational migration interactions into mission and policy of the university; development of open university migration interactions network structures; implementation of educational migration interaction based on norms, values and ideals of person’s lingvo-communicative culture. The practical steps for the strategy realization within the project «Educational migration bridge» are described: formation of the united scientific, educational and cultural environment based on mutual activity in international scientific and educational community; arrangement of universities regional consortium for informing applicants from Asian countries, for training and living in universities campuses; establishment of the Faculty of foreign students’ education and digital educational platform ensuring logistics and student educational improvement management; development and realization of module network programs for foreign students; realization of additional educational programs in OSU Linguistic center. The authors analyze the main indicators of the project effectiveness: quantitative and qualitative results of the Faculty of foreign students’ education activity in training Russian and culture; establishment of the Orenburg branch of Foreign Students Association, students’ involvement in various interaction forms and special career guidance events; scientific and methodological support for teachers. Realization of the strategy implies creation in OSU in the nearest future a specific environment including social infrastructure for foreigners

ФОРМУВАННЯ ІНФОРМАЦІЙНОГО ЗАБЕЗПЕЧЕННЯ УПРАВЛІННЯ В СИСТЕМІ НАЦІОНАЛЬНИХ РАХУНКІВ

The article describes modern models of national accounts systems. The technology of the global accounting process for measuring aggregate production in the national economy has been improved. In order to determine the proportions of the final use of GDP in the system of national accounts, economic indicators are summarized. The study suggests a mechanism for comparing macroeconomic indicators of assets, liabilities and net wealth with mega-accounts of the results of the national economy, which characterize its structure and interconnection of sectors.В статье охарактеризованы современные модели систем национальных счетов. Усовершенствована технология глобального учетного процесса по измерению совокупного производства в национальной экономике. В целью определения пропорций конечного использования ВВП в системе национальных счетов обобщены экономические показатели. В исследовании предложен механизм сопоставления макроэкономических показателей активов, обязательств и чистого богатства с мега-счетами учета результатов национальной экономики, которые характеризуют ее структуру и взаимосвязь секторов.Досліджено сучасні моделі систем національних рахунків; удосконалено технологію глобального облікового процесу в частині вимірювання обсягів сукупного виробництва в національній економіці; узагальнено економічні показники для визначення пропорцій кінцевого використання ВВП в системі національних рахунків; запропоновано механізм співставлення змін у активах, зобов’язаннях і чистому багатстві з мега-рахунками обліку макроекономічних показників, які характеризують результати діяльності національної економіки, її структуру та взаємозв’язки її секторів

Differences in risk behaviours and HIV status between primary amphetamines and opioid injectors in Estonia and Russia

Background and objective People who inject drugs (PWID) account for over half of new HIV infections in Eastern Europe and central Asia, where opioids continue to be the dominant illicit drugs injected. Stimulants including amphetamines (ATS) have been associated with HIV infection risk in several settings. We sought to examine whether primary ATS injection was associated with greater HIV risk, compared to opioid injection in two European locales with significant HIV epidemics. Methods PWID in Kohtla-Järve and St. Petersburg were recruited using respondent-driven sampling in 2012–2013. Survey data on demographic characteristics, service use, injecting and sexual risk behaviours and HIV-status (and HCV in Kohtla-Järve) were compared between primary opioid and ATS injectors using logistic regression models. Results Of 591 injectors recruited in Kohtla-Järve and 811 in St. Petersburg, 195 (33%) and 27 (4%) primarily injected ATS in each city. In both cities, ATS injectors were younger than opioid injectors, initiated injection later, injected less frequently and were more likely to have been paid for sex. In both cities, PWID had high levels of multiple sex partners. In Kohtla-Järve, ATS-injectors had lower odds of back-loading and greater odds of polydrug use than opioid-injectors. In St. Petersburg, where over half of PWID reported unsafe sharing practices, ATS-injectors were less likely to report these practices. ATS-injection was negatively associated with being HIV positive in Kohtla-Järve (aOR = 0.6; 95%CI: 0.5–0.8) and St. Petersburg (aOR = 0.3; 95%CI: 0.1–0.7). ATS-injection was negatively associated with HCV-reactivity in Kohtla-Järve (aOR = 0.5; 95%CI: 0.3–0.6). Conclusions In both locations, primary ATS injection was associated with lower injecting risk behaviours, lower odds of HIV and being paid for sex compared to opioid injection. Interventions targeting the characteristics and needs of ATS injectors are needed to increase contact with services and reduce sexual and injecting risk. Harm reduction services, including sexual risk reduction, need to be expanded for all PWID in St. Petersburg

Avalanches in self-organized critical neural networks: A minimal model for the neural SOC universality class

The brain keeps its overall dynamics in a corridor of intermediate activity and it has been a long standing question what possible mechanism could achieve this task. Mechanisms from the field of statistical physics have long been suggesting that this homeostasis of brain activity could occur even without a central regulator, via self-organization on the level of neurons and their interactions, alone. Such physical mechanisms from the class of self-organized criticality exhibit characteristic dynamical signatures, similar to seismic activity related to earthquakes. Measurements of cortex rest activity showed first signs of dynamical signatures potentially pointing to self-organized critical dynamics in the brain. Indeed, recent more accurate measurements allowed for a detailed comparison with scaling theory of non-equilibrium critical phenomena, proving the existence of criticality in cortex dynamics. We here compare this new evaluation of cortex activity data to the predictions of the earliest physics spin model of self-organized critical neural networks. We find that the model matches with the recent experimental data and its interpretation in terms of dynamical signatures for criticality in the brain. The combination of signatures for criticality, power law distributions of avalanche sizes and durations, as well as a specific scaling relationship between anomalous exponents, defines a universality class characteristic of the particular critical phenomenon observed in the neural experiments. The spin model is a candidate for a minimal model of a self-organized critical adaptive network for the universality class of neural criticality. As a prototype model, it provides the background for models that include more biological details, yet share the same universality class characteristic of the homeostasis of activity in the brain.Comment: 17 pages, 5 figure

Fine Structure of Avalanches in the Abelian Sandpile Model

We study the two-dimensional Abelian Sandpile Model on a square lattice of linear size L. We introduce the notion of avalanche's fine structure and compare the behavior of avalanches and waves of toppling. We show that according to the degree of complexity in the fine structure of avalanches, which is a direct consequence of the intricate superposition of the boundaries of successive waves, avalanches fall into two different categories. We propose scaling ans\"{a}tz for these avalanche types and verify them numerically. We find that while the first type of avalanches has a simple scaling behavior, the second (complex) type is characterized by an avalanche-size dependent scaling exponent. This provides a framework within which one can understand the failure of a consistent scaling behavior in this model.Comment: 10 page

Antisense oligonucleotides for the arterial hypertension mechanisms study and therapy

Arterial hypertension is one of the most common chronic diseases in adults all over the world. This pathology can not only reduce patients’ life quality, but can also be accompanied by a number of complications. Despite the fact that there is a large group of antihypertensive drugs on the market, mainly representing different combinations of inhibitors of the renin-angiotensin system, adrenoreceptor blockers in combination with diuretics, there is no generally accepted “gold standard” for drugs that would not have side effects. The review discusses the main aspects of antisense oligonucleotides use in the context of arterial hypertension. It is well known that the medical implementation of antisense oligonucleotides aims to block the expression of particular genes involved in the pathology development, and a key advantage of this technique is a high selectivity of the effect. However, with the undoubted advantages of the method, there are difficulties in its application, related both to the properties of the oligonucleotides themselves (insufficient stability and poor penetration into cells), and to the variety of mechanisms of the origin of a particular pathology, arterial hypertension, in our case. The review provides a brief description of the main molecular targets for antisense treatment of hypertensive disease. The newest targets for therapy with oligonucleotides – microRNAs – are discussed. The main modifications of antisense nucleotides, designed to increase the duration of their effects and simplify the delivery of this type of drugs to the targets are discussed, in particular, combining antisense oligonucleotides with adenovirus-based expression vectors. Particular attention is given to antisense oligonucleotides in the complex with nanoparticles. The review discusses the results of the use of titanium dioxide (TiO2) containing antisense nanocomposites for the angiotensin converting enzyme in rats with stress induced arterial hypertension (ISIAH). It was shown that the use of antisense oligonucleotides continues to be a promising technique for studying the mechanisms of various forms of hypertensive disease and has a high potential for therapeutic use

SYNTHESIS AND RESERCHOF ELECTROCHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF SOLID SOLUTIONS BASED ON LANTHANUM NIOBATE

The solid solutions with general formula 1 1 4 La Bi Nb W O x x y y have been prepared by solid state synthesis. Analysis of the powder X-ray diffraction data has shown that the samples crystallize in monoclinic space group I2/b and triclinic space group P-1. Some specimens with the composition 1 4 LaNb W O y y and 1 1 4 La Bi Nb W O x x y y show additional peaks due to a modulated structure presence. Electrical conductivity was studied by impedance spectroscopy. The studied materials are promising ionic conductors, with the highest conductivity values about 1.1×10−5 S*cm−1 at 1073 K and 1.0×10−6 S*cm−1 at 873 K.W-doped solid solutions have the highest overall conductivity.Работа выполнена при финансовой поддержке гранта РФФИ № 16-33-00390

Basin morphology and seismic stratigraphy of Lake Kotokel, Baikal region, Russia

The basin of Lake Kotokel, located along the eastern shore of Lake Baikal, Russia, has attracted several scientific projects to investigate the climate, vegetation and lake history throughout the Late Pleistocene and Holocene. However, little was known about its basin structure and sediment architecture. Echo sounding and 3.5 kHz single frequency sub-bottom profiling were used to decipher the basin morphology and seismic stratigraphy to a depth of approximately 50 m. The bathymetric map shows a very shallow lake of 4 m mean water depth and an almost flat lake bottom. A distinct elongated small-sized depression of up to 12 m water depth between the north-western coast and a small island developed along an NW-SE-oriented fault line. A total of 46 km of seismic profiles crossing the lake along 12 transects shows that the bottom sediments consist of three different facies, which accords to previously analyzed core sequences. Several distortions of sediment layers at various sites indicate tectonically induced impact, which resulted in up to 3 m vertical offsets of sediment packages at local sites. The offsets indicate a probably still active fault along the western shoreline of the lake. Soft gyttja of the upper 6 m does not show distortions and may have obscured potential younger tectonic activity. The sediments date to the Late Pleistocene. Small updoming features along the boundary between layers I and II may be assigned to degassing processes or to seismic activity. River channel fills along the north-eastern coast are indicative of a lower lake level prior to 15 ka BP. The sediment stratigraphy indicates that suitable coring sites for paleoclimate studies are only located in the southern part of the basin where almost undisturbed sediments can be expected. © 2012 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA

Basin morphology and seismic stratigraphy of Lake Kotokel, Baikal region, Russia

The basin of Lake Kotokel, located along the eastern shore of Lake Baikal, Russia, has attracted several scientific projects to investigate the climate, vegetation and lake history throughout the Late Pleistocene and Holocene. However, little was known about its basin structure and sediment architecture. Echo sounding and 3.5 kHz single frequency sub-bottom profiling were used to decipher the basin morphology and seismic stratigraphy to a depth of approximately 50 m. The bathymetric map shows a very shallow lake of 4 m mean water depth and an almost flat lake bottom. A distinct elongated small-sized depression of up to 12 m water depth between the north-western coast and a small island developed along an NW-SE-oriented fault line. A total of 46 km of seismic profiles crossing the lake along 12 transects shows that the bottom sediments consist of three different facies, which accords to previously analyzed core sequences. Several distortions of sediment layers at various sites indicate tectonically induced impact, which resulted in up to 3 m vertical offsets of sediment packages at local sites. The offsets indicate a probably still active fault along the western shoreline of the lake. Soft gyttja of the upper 6 m does not show distortions and may have obscured potential younger tectonic activity. The sediments date to the Late Pleistocene. Small updoming features along the boundary between layers I and II may be assigned to degassing processes or to seismic activity. River channel fills along the north-eastern coast are indicative of a lower lake level prior to 15 ka BP. The sediment stratigraphy indicates that suitable coring sites for paleoclimate studies are only located in the southern part of the basin where almost undisturbed sediments can be expected. © 2012 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA