Urban Agglomerations in the Regional Development: Theoretical, Methodological and Applied Aspects

The article focuses on the analysis of the major process of modern socio-economic development, such as the functioning of urban agglomerations. A short background of the economic literature on this phenomenon is given. There are the traditional (the concentration of urban types of activities, the grouping of urban settlements by the intensive production and labour communications) and modern (cluster theories, theories of network society) conceptions. Two methodological principles of studying the agglomeration are emphasized: the principle of the unity of the spatial concentration of economic activity and the principle of compact living of the population. The positive and negative effects of agglomeration in the economic and social spheres are studied. Therefore, it is concluded that the agglomeration is helpful in the case when it brings the agglomerative economy (the positive bene ts from it exceed the additional costs). A methodology for examination the urban agglomeration and its role in the regional development is offered. The approbation of this methodology on the example of Chelyabinsk and Chelyabinsk region has allowed to carry out the comparative analysis of the regional centre and the whole region by the main socio-economic indexes under static and dynamic conditions, to draw the conclusions on a position of the city and the region based on such socio-economic indexes as an average monthly nominal accrued wage, the cost of fixed assets, the investments into fixed capital, new housing supply, a retail turnover, the volume of self-produced shipped goods, the works and services performed in the region. In the study, the analysis of a launching site of the Chelyabinsk agglomeration is carried out. It has revealed the following main characteristics of the core of the agglomeration in Chelyabinsk (structure feature, population, level of centralization of the core) as well as the Chelyabinsk agglomeration in general (coefficient of agglomeration, index of agglomeration, coefficient of the development of the population, growth rates of agglomeration). The analysis of the internal environment of the agglomeration has shown that the industry of the majority of the cities-satellites is unprofitable, the space of the urban agglomeration is very heterogeneous. The research proves that the creation of the agglomeration will allow to solve the problems of the production diversification at the territory, to perform the effective land use, to optimize transport and housing-and-municipal infrastructure

Regional social infrastructure management in the system of tools used for improving the quality of life for regional population

This paper analyzes the processes in the social sphere and the performance of operating the social infrastructure to improve the population’s quality of life in the Russian regions. Particular attention has been paid to the role of organizational and administrative components, which include the regulation of social infrastructure institutions, planning, and programming that affect the performance of infrastructure facilities utilization. The goal of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of social infrastructure management through the congruence of immediate results (dynamics of indicators for social services) and final results (parameters of the population’s quality of life). The working hypothesis of the study was a breach of infrasystemic principle in the infrastructural support for improving the population’s quality of life in the constituent entities of the Russian Federation because of the insufficient effectiveness of public administration. The work on this paper involved using a set of methodological approaches, such as structured, factorial, systemic, and evolutionary approaches, to substantiate the conceptual framework, prepare the method-based approaches, and determine the impact made by the changes in the parameters of social infrastructure facilities on provided services and shifts in the indicators of the population’s quality of life. The paper proposes a method-based approach to quantifying the effectiveness of organizational and administrative components by using the diagnostics of sufficiency in the implementation of infrasystemic principle for the operation of social infrastructure based on elasticity coefficients. The proposed approach and analytical data obtained in the areas, such as health care, education, trade, housing & utilities, culture & sport, allowed ranking the regions of the Ural Federal District and identifying the areas of insufficient effectiveness in the organizational and administrative mechanism used for improving the population’s quality of life as the basis for developing practical recommendations for the executive branch of constituent entities of the Russian Federation and adjustment of socioeconomic policies

Cool spots on the surface of the active giant PZ Mon

Based on the multiband (BVRIJHKL) photometric observations of the active red giant PZ Mon performed for the first time in the winter season of 2017-2018, we have determined the main characteristics of the spotted stellar surface in a parametric three-spot model. The unspotted surface temperature is Teff=4730 K, the temperature of the cool spots is Tspot=3500 K, their relative area is about 41%, and the temperature of the warm spots is Twarm=4500 K with a maximum relative area up to 20%. The distribution of spots over the stellar surface has been modeled. The warm spots have been found to be distributed at various longitudes in the hemisphere on the side of the secondary component and are most likely a result of its influence.Comment: 5 pages, 7 figure

Structural Evidence for a Copper-Bound Carbonate Intermediate in the Peroxidase and Dismutase Activities of Superoxide Dismutase

Copper-zinc superoxide dismutase (SOD) is of fundamental importance to our understanding of oxidative damage. Its primary function is catalysing the dismutation of superoxide to O2 and H2O2. SOD also reacts with H2O2, leading to the formation of a strong copper-bound oxidant species that can either inactivate the enzyme or oxidise other substrates. In the presence of bicarbonate (or CO2) and H2O2, this peroxidase activity is enhanced and produces the carbonate radical. This freely diffusible reactive oxygen species is proposed as the agent for oxidation of large substrates that are too bulky to enter the active site. Here, we provide direct structural evidence, from a 2.15 Å resolution crystal structure, of (bi)carbonate captured at the active site of reduced SOD, consistent with the view that a bound carbonate intermediate could be formed, producing a diffusible carbonate radical upon reoxidation of copper. The bound carbonate blocks direct access of substrates to Cu(I), suggesting that an adjunct to the accepted mechanism of SOD catalysed dismutation of superoxide operates, with Cu(I) oxidation by superoxide being driven via a proton-coupled electron transfer mechanism involving the bound carbonate rather than the solvent. Carbonate is captured in a different site when SOD is oxidised, being located in the active site channel adjacent to the catalytically important Arg143. This is the probable route of diffusion from the active site following reoxidation of the copper. In this position, the carbonate is poised for re-entry into the active site and binding to the reduced copper. © 2012 Strange et al

A faulty interaction between SOD1 and hCCS in neurodegenerative disease

A proportion of Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) cases result from impaired mutant superoxide dismutase-1 (SOD1) maturation. The copper chaperone for SOD1 (hCCS) forms a transient complex with SOD1 and catalyses the final stages of its maturation. We find that a neurodegenerative disease-associated hCCS mutation abrogates the interaction with SOD1 by inhibiting hCCS zinc binding. Analogously, SOD1 zinc loss has a detrimental effect on the formation, structure and disassociation of the hCCS-SOD1 heterodimer. This suggests that hCCS functionality is impaired by ALS mutations that reduce SOD1 zinc affinity. Furthermore, stabilization of wild-type SOD1 by chemical modification including cisplatination, inhibits complex formation. We hypothesize that drug molecules designed to stabilize ALS SOD1 mutants that also target the wild-type form will lead to characteristics common in SOD1 knock-outs. Our work demonstrates the applicability of chromatographic SAXS when studying biomolecules predisposed to aggregation or dissociation; attributes frequently reported for complexes involved in neurodegenerative disease

Sub-atomic resolution X-ray crystallography and neutron crystallography: promise, challenges and potential

The International Year of Crystallography saw the number of macromolecular structures deposited in the Protein Data Bank cross the 100000 mark, with more than 90000 of these provided by X-ray crystallography. The number of X-ray structures determined to sub-atomic resolution (i.e. ≤1 Å) has passed 600 and this is likely to continue to grow rapidly with diffraction-limited synchrotron radiation sources such as MAX-IV (Sweden) and Sirius (Brazil) under construction. A dozen X-ray structures have been deposited to ultra-high resolution (i.e. ≤0.7 Å), for which precise electron density can be exploited to obtain charge density and provide information on the bonding character of catalytic or electron transfer sites. Although the development of neutron macromolecular crystallography over the years has been far less pronounced, and its application much less widespread, the availability of new and improved instrumentation, combined with dedicated deuteration facilities, are beginning to transform the field. Of the 83 macromolecular structures deposited with neutron diffraction data, more than half (49/83, 59%) were released since 2010. Sub-mm3 crystals are now regularly being used for data collection, structures have been determined to atomic resolution for a few small proteins, and much larger unit-cell systems (cell edges >100 Å) are being successfully studied. While some details relating to H-atom positions are tractable with X-ray crystallography at sub-atomic resolution, the mobility of certain H atoms precludes them from being located. In addition, highly polarized H atoms and protons (H+) remain invisible with X-rays. Moreover, the majority of X-ray structures are determined from cryo-cooled crystals at 100 K, and, although radiation damage can be strongly controlled, especially since the advent of shutterless fast detectors, and by using limited doses and crystal translation at micro-focus beams, radiation damage can still take place. Neutron crystallography therefore remains the only approach where diffraction data can be collected at room temperature without radiation damage issues and the only approach to locate mobile or highly polarized H atoms and protons. Here a review of the current status of sub-atomic X-ray and neutron macromolecular crystallography is given and future prospects for combined approaches are outlined. New results from two metalloproteins, copper nitrite reductase and cytochrome c′, are also included, which illustrate the type of information that can be obtained from sub-atomic-resolution (∼0.8 Å) X-ray structures, while also highlighting the need for complementary neutron studies that can provide details of H atoms not provided by X-ray crystallography

Investigations on the spouting stability in a prismatic spouted bed and apparatus optimization

This paper deals especially with spouting stability in a slot-rectangular (prismatic) spouted bed. The flow stability was characterized by the pressure drop evaluation (the uniformity and amplitude of the fluctuations) and visual observations (the flow symmetry). The effect of several geometrical conditions, such as the inlet design, prismatic angle and draft plates on the bed behaviour was investigated for different particles and bed inventories exposed to different air flow rates. The prismatic angle was found to have a strong impact on the spouting characteristics. A method to improve significantly the spouting quality and to make the spouting stability independent on the gas inflow velocity is presented. Compared to the reference geometry the prismatic angle was changed to a higher value and the apparatus was equipped with draft plates. Whereas, to achieve a stable spouting in a wide range of the air flow rates the design of draft plates should be customized to the bed inventory. Dependent on the static bed height full or open-sided draft plates should be used. In the proposed apparatus implementation, the maximum spouting velocity was almost eliminated for large particles (Geldart D), i.e. a highly coherent dense spouting can pass continuously into the dilute-like stable regime, without stability loss at intermediate gas velocities. The spouting of Geldart B particles is also improved