A note on the predictability of the Russian stock market

Over the past 20 years, the problem of low investment activity of private investors has been featuring the Russian stock market. There are various reasons for that, among them the financial crises, limited access to information, a high subjectivity and lack of developed and simple methods for making investment decisions. Therefore, this research aims to study the predictability of the Russian stock market in the conditions of instability due to crises, as well as the limited access of private investors to information and the low investment literacy in general. This research addresses the predictability of the equity premium on the Russian stock market from 31 January 2008 to 31 January 2017. This is the period of two economic crises for the Russian economy: from 2008 to 2013 and from 2014 to 2017. The authors investigate whether the returns of industry portfolios can predict future stock market returns. The particular set of traditional macroeconomic variables functioning as predictors of stock returns and the economy, in general, is determined. Thus, the selection of approaches, methods, and indicators for the analysis and forecasting of the Russian stock market was carried out according to three criteria: the instability (crises) periods, the information available for the private investor (generally accepted indicators), and the clarity and ordinariness of analysis and forecasting methods. A macroeconomic indicator-based approach or an industry-based approach is more often used for these purposes. Taking into account the instability caused by the economic crises in Russia, the authors combined two approaches. Using traditional linear regression modeling, three out of nine industries and five out of eight macroeconomic predictors have been found statistically significant. However, all the models based on these predictors have negative pseudo-R-squared values; therefore, they underperform the historical out-of-sample mean model. It has also been revealed that two out of nine forecast models, based on significant predictors, provide utility gains for the mean-variance investor

Method of defence of solder surface from oxidization

Compositions are developed for defence of fusion solder from oxidization on the basis of mixture of glycerin, urea and powders of refractory oxides, carbides (Al2O3, TiO2, SIC), graphite. The offered compositions can be used for defence of fusion of solder from oxidization in the process of soludering and tinning of explorers, and also electric conclusions of elements of radio electronic apparatus by the method of immersion in stationary baths

Ways to prevent acute viral infection and its bacterial complications

Viruses of the ARVI group that are tropic to the epithelium of the upper respiratory tract are able to inhibit the function of the mucociliary system to a certain extent, which contributes to the attachment of bacterial infection. Thus, in respiratory inflammatory diseases, the infection is often combined. This means, that the question about approaches to treatment at the stage of prevention of the development of complications of ARVI arises. A significant increase in the relapse of chronic sinusitis has been observed over the past 10 years. According to A.I. Kryukov et al. the relapse of inflammatory diseases of the paranasal sinuses, the chronic process has no tendency to decrease, aided by the unfavorable ecological situation, the growth of allergic and viral respiratory diseases, poor nutrition to which the body is not evolutionarily adapted. Worsening of chronic sinusitis contributes to many factors, but the starting point is almost always viral infections. Relapse, as a rule, begins with viral rhinitis, which is rarely an independent disease. Most often, a runny nose is a symptom of ARVI or ARI (influenza, parainfluenza, adenovirus infection, etc.). The entrance gate of infection is the epithelial cells of the respiratory tract. The main pathological process in sensitive cells develops both as a result of the penetration of the virus from the outside, and due to the activation of latent or chronic viral infection under the influence of various factors, including other infection.The appointment of drugs with anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory, adaptogenic activity is one of the promising options for the prevention of both primary viral infection and the development of bacterial complications.We have included a drug that combines adaptogenic and immunomodulatory activities in the treatment of chronic sinusitis. Trekrezan belongs to the group of adaptogens – low-toxic compounds, it is recommended as a measure for the treatment and prevention of viral infections and increasing resistance to various stress factors (hypoxia, hypothermia) and adverse environmental effects

Nanopatterning of a Stimuli-Responsive Fluorescent Supramolecular Polymer by Thermal Scanning Probe Lithography

The miniaturization of nanometer-sized multicolor fluorescent features is of continuous significance for counterfeit security features, data storage, and sensors. Recent advances in engineering of stimuli-responsive supramolecular polymeric materials that respond upon exposure to heat or mechanical force by changing their fluorescence characteristics open new opportunities as functional lithographic resists. Here, we demonstrate the patterning of a thermochromic supramolecular material by thermal scanning probe lithography (t-SPL), an emerging nanofabrication technique, which allows for ultrafast indentation with a heated probe, resulting in both fluorescent and topographic nanofeatures. t-SPL indentation reveals a linear relationship between the temperature at which material softening occurs and the indentation force in the range from 200 to 500 nN. The softening temperature decreases as the heating time increases from 4 μs to 1 ms, following time–temperature superposition behavior. Our results herein confirm that the fluorescence contrast, perceivable as a shift from red to green, was obtained by kinetic trapping of the dissociated state due to ultrarapid cooling when the probe is removed. We use t-SPL to create highly customized fluorescence patterns up to 40 × 40 μm2 in size with a spatial resolution of 86 nm and change the pitch size to modify the fluorescence intensity when observed by fluorescence microscopy. As an application, multifaceted security features with nanometer resolution are explored