Sovereign Wealth Funds: Russian and International Experience

Taking the Russian and the International experience, the principal aim of this study is to analyse sovereign wealth funds critically. It remains well known that the Russian National Wealth Fund is vital in the macroeconomic policy of the Russian state. After the abolition of the Reserve Fund in 2018, the Russian National Wealth Fund has to solve a wide range of tasks. In this context, one can argue that the sovereign welfare fund is a specialised monetary fund used to stabilise the state budget when government revenues decline. The welfare fund is also used to finance government needs in the long-term period. The role of sovereign wealth funds is growing in the world. They accumulate large amounts of financial resources. Sovereign wealth funds are founded in such countries where the budget strongly depends on market factors. In most cases, these factors are global commodity prices. The funds’ money is used to cover the deficit of the relevant budget in case of unfavourable market shifts. In the period of high commodity prices, the fund accumulates an excess of export earnings. Against this backdrop, the key purpose of the study is to evaluate the efficiency of managing the National Wealth Fund in the Russian Federation. The study was carried out using the methods of synthesis, analysis, economic analysis, as well as graphic methods, and the methods of comparisons and analogies, which in turn helps in evaluating the extent of efficiency of managing the Russian National Wealth Fund.. The research findings can be used when developing an investment strategy (investment portfolio) of the Russian National Wealth Fund, through which it can aim at balancing the insurance pension system, financing of the federal budget deficit, and co-financing of voluntary pension savings. In this regard, it is imperative for the fund to perform in productive investment activities

Development of water supply systems in small municipalities

Supplying population of small municipalities with drinking water brings up a number of problems. The main ones are water production, its treatment and transportation. Studying the difficulties of supplying population with drinking water makes it possible to identify acute problems and to outline the prospects for the development of water supply systems. The statistical data on water supply problems are given. The dynamics of aging water systems is presented. Various water supply schemes are considered. There are highlighted unique details of each water supply system, that require an individual approach, careful preparation and analysis of the initial data, and performance of quite complex technical and economic calculations. The options for combining existing systems and their reconstruction are discussed. Water supply systems with a water tower are analyzed. Ways out of the crisis in water supply field are suggested

Chaperones that cure yeast artificial [PSI+] and their prion-specific effects

AbstractThe [PSI+] nonsense-suppressor determinant of Saccharomyces cerevisiae results from the ability of Sup35 (eRF3) translation termination factor to undergo prion-like aggregation [1]. Although this process is autocatalytic, in vivo it depends on the chaperone Hsp104, whose lack or overexpression can cure [PSI+] [2]. Overproduction of the chaperone protein Ssb1 increased the [PSI+] curing by excess Hsp104, although it had no effect on its own, and excess chaperone protein Ssa1 protected [PSI+] against Hsp104 [3,4]. We used an artificial [PSI+PS] based on the Sup35 prion-forming domain from yeast Pichia methanolica[5] to find other prion-curing factors. Both [PSI+PS] and [PSI+] have prion ‘strains’, differing in their suppressor efficiency and mitotic stability. We show that [PSI+PS] and a ‘weak’ strain of [PSI+] can be cured by overexpression of chaperones Ssa1, Ssb1 and Ydj1. The ability of different chaperones to cure [PSI+PS] showed significant prion strain specificity, which could be related to variation in Sup35 prion structure. Our results imply that homologs of these chaperones may be active against mammalian prion and amyloid diseases

Energy Response and Longitudinal Shower Profiles Measured in CMS HCAL and Comparison With Geant4

The response of the CMS combined electromagnetic and hadron calorimeter to beams of pions with momenta in the range 5-300 GeV/c has been measured in the H2 test beam at CERN. The raw response with the electromagnetic compartment calibrated to electrons and the hadron compartment calibrated to 300 GeV pions may be represented by sigma = (1.2) sqrt{E} oplus (0.095) E. The fraction of energy visible in the calorimeter ranges from 0.72 at 5 GeV to 0.95 at 300 GeV, indicating a substantial nonlinearity. The intrinsic electron to hadron ratios are fit as a function of energy and found to be in the range 1.3-2.7 for the electromagnetic compartment and 1.4-1.8 for the hadronic compartment. The fits are used to correct the non-linearity of the e pi response to 5% over the entire measured range resulting in a substantially improved resolution at low energy. Longitudinal shower profile have been measured in detail and compared to Geant4 models, LHEP-3.7 and QGSP-2.8. At energies below 30 GeV, the data, LHEP and QGSP are in agreement. Above 30 GeV, LHEP gives a more accurate simulation of the longitudinal shower profile

Design, Performance and Calibration of the CMS Forward Calorimeter Wedges

We report on the test beam results and calibration methods using charged particles of the CMS Forward Calorimeter (HF). The HF calorimeter covers a large pseudorapidity region (3\l |\eta| \le 5), and is essential for large number of physics channels with missing transverse energy. It is also expected to play a prominent role in the measurement of forward tagging jets in weak boson fusion channels. The HF calorimeter is based on steel absorber with embedded fused-silica-core optical fibers where Cherenkov radiation forms the basis of signal generation. Thus, the detector is essentially sensitive only to the electromagnetic shower core and is highly non-compensating (e/h \approx 5). This feature is also manifest in narrow and relatively short showers compared to similar calorimeters based on ionization. The choice of fused-silica optical fibers as active material is dictated by its exceptional radiation hardness. The electromagnetic energy resolution is dominated by photoelectron statistics and can be expressed in the customary form as a/\sqrt{E} + b. The stochastic term a is 198% and the constant term b is 9%. The hadronic energy resolution is largely determined by the fluctuations in the neutral pion production in showers, and when it is expressed as in the electromagnetic case, a = 280% and b = 11%

Design, Performance, and Calibration of CMS Hadron Endcap Calorimeters

Detailed measurements have been made with the CMS hadron calorimeter endcaps (HE) in response to beams of muons, electrons, and pions. Readout of HE with custom electronics and hybrid photodiodes (HPDs) shows no change of performance compared to readout with commercial electronics and photomultipliers. When combined with lead-tungstenate crystals, an energy resolution of 8\% is achieved with 300 GeV/c pions. A laser calibration system is used to set the timing and monitor operation of the complete electronics chain. Data taken with radioactive sources in comparison with test beam pions provides an absolute initial calibration of HE to approximately 4\% to 5\%

Design, Performance, and Calibration of the CMS Hadron-Outer Calorimeter

The CMS hadron calorimeter is a sampling calorimeter with brass absorber and plastic scintillator tiles with wavelength shifting fibres for carrying the light to the readout device. The barrel hadron calorimeter is complemented with an outer calorimeter to ensure high energy shower containment in the calorimeter. Fabrication, testing and calibration of the outer hadron calorimeter are carried out keeping in mind its importance in the energy measurement of jets in view of linearity and resolution. It will provide a net improvement in missing \et measurements at LHC energies. The outer hadron calorimeter will also be used for the muon trigger in coincidence with other muon chambers in CMS