Risk Management, Corporate Governance and Investment Banking: The Role of Chief Risk Officer

This paper focuses on the defining the role of CRO in corporate governance and to show the interrelation between the way of CRO subordination and performance of investment bank. The sample consists of observations over a period of 2011 for 29 biggest investment banks (by amount of assets) implementing world-wide investment activity. The banks are originated in the USA (8), Eastern Europe (14), China (2), Japan (2), Canada (2), and Australia (1). With the aim to evaluate and compare financial performance of selected banks the construction of synthetic key performance indicator (SKPI) is worked out. The empirical analysis of risk management in the research is based on two different groups of factors, which could be used to evaluate the effectiveness of risk management in this sphere: analysis of CRO impact - Risk Management Committee factors and CRO factors, and Evaluation of Financial Performance. Results show that the CRO presence in investment banks effect positively on the financial performance

Russian Arctic Vegetation Archive—A new database of plant community composition and environmental conditions

Motivation: The goal of the Russian Arctic Vegetation Archive (AVA-RU) is to unite and harmonize data of plot-based plant species and their abundance, vegetation structure and environmental variables from the Russian Arctic. This database can be used to assess the status of the Russian Arctic vegetation and as a baseline to document biodiversity changes in the future. The archive can be used for scientific studies as well as to inform nature protection and restoration efforts. Main types of variables contained: The archive contains 2873 open-access geobotanical plots. The data include the full species. Most plots include information on the horizontal (cover per species and morphological group) and vertical (average height per morphological group) structure of vegetation, site and soil descriptions and data quality estimations. In addition to the open-access data, the AVA-RU website contains 1912 restricted-access plots. Spatial location and grain: The plots of 1–100 m2 size were sampled in Arctic Russia and Scandinavia. Plots in Russia covered areas from the West to the East, including the European Russian Arctic (Kola Peninsula, Nenets Autonomous district), Western Siberia (Northern Urals, Yamal, Taza and Gydan peninsulas), Central Siberia (Taymyr peninsula, Bolshevik island), Eastern Siberia (Indigirka basin) and the Far East (Wrangel island). About 72% of the samples are georeferenced. Time period and grain: The data were collected once at each location between 1927 and 2022. Major taxa and level of measurement: Plots include observations of >1770 vascular plant and cryptogam species and subspecies. Software format: CSV files (1 file with species list and abundance, 1 file with environmental variables and vegetation structure) are stored at the AVA-RU website (https://avarus.space/), and are continuously updated with new datasets. The open-access data are available on Dryad and all the datasets have a backup on the server of the University of Zurich. The data processing R script is available on Dryad

Analysis of stress singularity in the vicinity of angular points of elastic polyhedrons

The behaviour of slightly non-ideal base-gas in the magnetic field is first studied; it is shown that such a system can be considered as a model of a superconductor of the second kind. And explanation of abnormal temperature dependence of the magnetic field penetration depth in high-temperature metal-oxide superconductors is first givenAvailable from VNTIC / VNTIC - Scientific & Technical Information Centre of RussiaSIGLERURussian Federatio

NATO Advanced Research Workshop on Explosives Detection Using Magnetic and Nuclear Resonance Techniques

Nuclear quadrupole resonance (NQR) a highly promising new technique for bulk explosives detection: relatively inexpensive, more compact than NMR, but with considerable selectivity. Since the NQR frequency is insensitive to long-range variations in composition, mixing explosives with other materials, such as the plasticizers in plastic explosives, makes no difference. The NQR signal strength varies linearly with the amount of explosive, and is independent of its distribution within the volume monitored. NQR spots explosive types in configurations missed by the X-ray imaging method. But if NQR is so good, why it is not used everywhere? Its main limitation is the low signal-to-noise ratio, particularly with the radio-frequency interference that exists in a field environment, NQR polarization being much weaker than that from an external magnetic field. The distinctive signatures are there, but are difficult to extract from the noise. In addition, the high selectivity is partly a disadvantage, as it is hard to build a multichannel system necessary to cover a wide range of target substances. Moreover, substances fully screened by metallic enclosures, etc. are difficult to detect. A workshop was held at St Petersburg in July 2008 in an attempt to solve these problems and make NQR the universal technique for the detection of bombs regardless of type. This book presents the essentials of the papers given there

Features of digitalization of Russian regions

Based on the materials of the Rosstat Monitoring of the Development of the Information Society in the Russian Federation for the period 2011-2020, the article analyzes the indicators characterizing the development of information and communication technologies. The purpose of the study is to assess the dynamics of business digitalization in Russian regions and digital divides. The main method of analysis is descriptive statistics. Based on the study of the indicators dynamics, the authors identified leading and outsider regions for various indicators of digitalization and built consolidated ratings of regions digitalization for 2011 and 2020. The study assessed the stability/mobility of the list of leading and outsider regions for the period under review, and considered the concentration of inequality and the relationship between business digitalization and the level of labor productivity in the region. Based on the results of the study, there was concluded that the mobility of the group of regions-leaders of digitalization is higher than those of the regions-outsiders. There is a fairly high concentration of low digitalization indicators in outsider regions, which, however, is stable over time. There is no significant relationship between the indicators of business digitalization and the level of labor productivity in the region, which to a certain extent confirms the productivity paradox known in the economic literature. On the other hand, the accelerated development of digitalization in regions with low levels of productivity and labor can be seen as an investment in the development of the region and in increasing labor productivity

Quadrupolar metal NMR of oxide materials including catalysts

In this work, we review the basic methodology and recent applications of quadrupolar metal solid-state NMR spectroscopy in oxide systems with emphasis on materials science and catalysis. Three typical quadrupolar metal nuclei, 51V, 93Nb, and 95Mo, are discussed in detail to illustrate the complex interplay between the quadrupolar and chemical shielding interactions in oxides. In the first part, a systematic overview is given of the metal coordination environments in oxides and their corresponding NMR parameters. The importance of quantum chemical calculations in correlating experimental NMR results with a molecular level oxide structure is highlighted. In the second part, we present examples of quadrupolar metal NMR in materials science, including paramagnetic oxide systems, layered materials, ferroelectrics, silicates, and glasses. The final section is dedicated to the latest applications of NMR in heterogeneous oxide catalysis.Peer reviewed: YesNRC publication: Ye

Physical activity as a component of a healthy lifestyle

The article provides definitions of the following concepts: health, healthy lifestyle and physical activity. The article lists some of the principles that influence the human condition (external and internal). The main topic of the article is physical activity as one of the most important elements of a healthy lifestyle. A sociological survey was conducted in online and offline formats to identify the preferences of the population of different ages in the field of sports culture. During the analysis of the results of this study, problematic points were found and recommendations were given for maintaining and improving health through physical activity. The positive and negative aspects of the four most popular training options are reviewed and identified. The article mentions modern devices, applications and programs that motivate people to exercise and help track results. In addition, they noted the interest of the state in a healthy population, and also named some of the government's actions for the development of physical culture in the country. At the end of the article, the main results of the survey are briefly highlighted. The conclusion was made about the need for correct goal setting, search for suitable activity and motivation

Mechanical activation in utilising milling byproducts: a way to improve effectiveness

The study focuses on obtaining the finely ground wheat germ flour mix by employing dry mechanical activation. During the study, wheat germ is ground using DESI-11 disintegrator and mechanically activated in PM-10 centrifugal mill with the rotor speed of 1050 rpm. According to the study findings, the finely ground wheat germ flour mix obtained by dry mechanical activation possesses increased bulk density and improved water absorption capacity when compared to the product obtained from wheat germ without mechanical activation applied. The average particle size is reduced from 114 μm to 52 μm. The study findings indicate that obtaining the finely ground wheat germ flour mix by dry mechanical activation prevents the occurrence of the caking effect as well as improves the quality of baked products