Общественная оценка эффективности инфраструктурных проектов в условиях современного научно-технического развития

The infrastructure component of the scientific, technological and social development of Russia requires substantial elaboration of the methodology for appraisal of relevant investment projects in the direction of combining financial and economic analysis and evaluating various public effects, including social, indirect, price, tax, environmental and synergistic effects. The aim of the study was to develop an integrated approach to identifying and quantifying the gaps between financial and economic efficiency of different infrastructure projects and justifying the use of adequate mechanisms for their successful implementation. The paper propose methods for estimating the public effects of infrastructure projects using three interrelated models: financial-economic, input-output multi-regional and econometric. By combining these models, it is possible to analyze the development trends of the global, national and regional economy in conjunction with the presentation of investment processes at the microeconomic project level. The proposed methods and models was tested in assessing the efficiency of five real infrastructure projects of various types and scales: the project of seven municipal clinics, the construction of the ESPO‑2 pipeline, two core facility projects of catalysts and enzymes production, the complex of research infrastructure projects project in the Akademgorodok‑2 programСтатья посвящена методике оценки инвестиционных проектов научно-исследовательской и социальной инфраструктуры, совмещающей в себе финансово-экономический анализ и оценку различных общественных эффектов, в том числе социальных, косвенных, ценовых, налоговых, экологических и синергетических. Цель исследования заключалась в разработке комплексного подхода к выявлению и количественной оценке разрывов между финансовой и экономической эффективностью различных инфраструктурных проектов и обоснованию использования адекватных механизмов для их успешной реализации. В статье предложены методы оценки общественных эффектов инфраструктурных проектов с использованием трех взаимосвязанных моделей: финансово-экономической, межотраслевой межрегиональной модели и эконометрической. Комбинируя эти модели, можно анализировать тенденции развития мировой, национальной и региональной экономики в совокупности с представлением инвестиционных процессов на уровне микроэкономических проектов. Предложенные методы и модели были апробированы при оценке эффективности пяти реальных инфраструктурных проектов различного типа и масштаба: проекта семи городских поликлиник, проекта строительства нефтепровода ВСТО‑2, двух проектов основных объектов производства катализаторов и ферментов, а также комплекса проектов исследовательской инфраструктуры по программе Академгородок‑

Safety and efficacy of convalescent plasma for COVID-19: the preliminary results of a clinical trial

Background. The lack of effective etiotropic therapy for COVID-19 has prompted researchers around the globe to seekr various methods of SARS-CoV-2 elimination, including the use of convalescent plasma. Aim. The aim of this work was to study the safety and efficacy of the convalescence plasma treatment of severe COVID-19 using the plasma containing specific antibodies to the receptor binding domain (RBD) of SARS-CoV-2 S protein in a titer of at least 1:1000. Methods. A single-center, randomized, prospective clinical study was performed at the FRCC FMBA of Russia with the participation of 86 patients who were stratified in two groups. The first group included 20 critically ill patients who were on mechanical ventilation the second group included 66 patients with moderate to severe COVID-19 and with spontaneous respiration. The patients in the second group were randomized into two cohorts in a ratio of 2:1. In the first cohort (46 patients), pathogen-reduced convalescent plasma was transfused (twice, 320 ml each), in the second cohort (20 patients) a similar amount of non-immune freshly frozen plasma was transfused to the patients. Results. The use of plasma of convalescents in patients with severe COVID-19 being on mechanical ventilation does not affect the disease outcome in these patients. The mortality rate in this group was 60%, which corresponds to the average mortality of COVID patients on mechanical ventilation in our hospital. In the second group, clinical improvement was detected in 75% and 51%, for convalescent and non-immune plasma, respectively. Of the 46 people who received convalescent plasma, three patients (6.5%) were transferred to mechanical ventilation, two of them died. In the group receiving non-immune plasma, the need for mechanical ventilation also arose in three patients (15%), of which two died. The hospital mortality in the group of convalescent plasma was 4.3%, which is significantly lower than the average COVID-19 hospital mortality at our Center (6.73%) and more than two times lower than the hospital mortality in the control group (n=150), matched by age and by the disease severity. Conclusions. Thus, we demonstrated a relative safety of convalescent plasma transfusion and the effectiveness of such therapy for COVID-19 at least in terms of the survival of hospitalized patients with severe respiratory failure without mechanical ventilation. In the absence of bioengineered neutralizing antibodies and effective etiotropic therapy, the use of hyperimmune convalescent plasma is the simplest and most effective method of specific etiopathogenetic therapy of severe forms of COVID-19

Phenological shifts of abiotic events, producers and consumers across a continent

Ongoing climate change can shift organism phenology in ways that vary depending on species, habitats and climate factors studied. To probe for large-scale patterns in associated phenological change, we use 70,709 observations from six decades of systematic monitoring across the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. Among 110 phenological events related to plants, birds, insects, amphibians and fungi, we find a mosaic of change, defying simple predictions of earlier springs, later autumns and stronger changes at higher latitudes and elevations. Site mean temperature emerged as a strong predictor of local phenology, but the magnitude and direction of change varied with trophic level and the relative timing of an event. Beyond temperature-associated variation, we uncover high variation among both sites and years, with some sites being characterized by disproportionately long seasons and others by short ones. Our findings emphasize concerns regarding ecosystem integrity and highlight the difficulty of predicting climate change outcomes. The authors use systematic monitoring across the former USSR to investigate phenological changes across taxa. The long-term mean temperature of a site emerged as a strong predictor of phenological change, with further imprints of trophic level, event timing, site, year and biotic interactions.Peer reviewe

Перераспределение ресурсов между частным и общественным сектором пространственной экономики: агент-ориентированный подход

При анализе государственной политики одним из ключевых является вопрос перераспределения ресурсов между частным и общественным сектором, в том числе в региональном разрезе. В статье исследуются последствия изменения налоговых ставок и величины социальных трансфертов с точки зрения перераспределения между этими двумя секторами финансовых ресурсов, основного капитала и труда. Исследование базируется на пространственной агент-ориентированной модели, в которой основные решения принимаются на микроэкономическом уровне домашними хозяйствами и предприятиями. Основной капитал формируется в результате инвестиционной политики частных и государственных предприятий, на рынке труда уравновешиваются спрос и предложение при заданных общих размерах трудовых ресурсов. Государство задает налоговые ставки и распределение общего объема и структуру социальных трансфертов в качестве институциональных рамок принятия микроэкономических решений. На мезо- и макроуровне изменения параметров государственной политики проявляются в изменении структуры экономики в разрезе регионов, отраслей, общественного и частного секторов. Относительные размеры общественного сектора рассчитываются по показателям использования в нем капитала и труда, а также финансовых ресурсов. В экспериментах по изменению трансфертов и налогов проявляются противоположные тенденции в соотношении частного и общественного секторов. При заданных налоговых ставках расширение социальных трансфертов приводит к существенному сокращению социального неравенства и одновременно к глубоким структурным изменениям в экономике, вызванным уменьшением объемов предоставления общественных товаров и увеличением доходов домохозяйств-реципиентов. При этом масштабы общественного сектора по показателю использования финансовых ресурсов остаются практически неизменными: удельный вес в ВВП уменьшается с 32,2 % до 30,4 %. Одновременно в этом секторе экономики заметно сокращаются удельные веса и капитала (на 9,9 %), и труда (на 14,7 %). Одновременно происходит значительное перераспределение и капитала, и труда от общественного к частному сектору. Увеличение налогового бремени, наоборот, приводит к увеличению всех основных показателей, характеризующих удельный вес общественного сектора, одновременно большинство частных показателей резко падает, и существенно возрастает социальное неравенство

Assessment of genetic fidelity of

ISSR analysis of Fritillaria dagana, endangered ornamental geophyte from the Sayan Mountains, regenerated through direct gemmogenesis from bulb scale tissue was performed. More informative electrophoresis profile with clear and distinct bands was obtained at amplification with (CAC)3GC primer at 56 °C annealing. The genetic fidelity of F.dagana regenerants to maternal plants was confirmed

Assessment of genetic fidelity of Fritillaria dagana (Liliaceae) regenerated plants using ISSR markers

ISSR analysis of Fritillaria dagana, endangered ornamental geophyte from the Sayan Mountains, regenerated through direct gemmogenesis from bulb scale tissue was performed. More informative electrophoresis profile with clear and distinct bands was obtained at amplification with (CAC)3GC primer at 56 °C annealing. The genetic fidelity of F.dagana regenerants to maternal plants was confirmed

Опыт оценки проекта научно-исследовательской инфраструктуры ЦКП по производству катализаторов

The infrastructural component of Russia’s scientific and technological development requires a significant update of the methodology for evaluating the relevant investment projects. The article covers the issue of simultaneous assessment of financial and economic efficiency of research infrastructure projects and justification of the need for government participation for successful implementation of such projects. The suggested methods and models are based on the transition from financial to economic indicators of the project through the adjustment of cash flows, identification of public effects significant for such projects (social, environmental, indirect, price, tax), and allocation of synergistic effects in their composition. These methods and models were tested for the innovative project of the Center for Collective Use “Experimental Catalyst Production”, which was proposed by the Institute of Catalysis in 2018 within the framework of the Novosibirsk regional programme “Akademgorodok 2.0”. The results show that the stimulation of investment in research infrastructure is justified by a significant excess of the project economic efficiency compared to its financial efficiency and it significantly depends on the choice of an adequate mechanism for government supportДанная статья посвящена проблеме одновременной оценки финансовой и экономической эффективности проектов исследовательской инфраструктуры и обоснованию необходимости государственного участия для успешной реализации таких проектов. Предлагаемые методы и модели основаны на переходе от финансовых к экономическим показателям проекта на основе корректировки потоков денежных средств с выделением значимых для таких проектов общественных эффектов (косвенных, налоговых, эффектов перелива знаний, социальных, экологических, ценовых), а также выделения в их составе синергических эффектов. Предложенные методы и модели были апробированы для инновационного проекта Центра коллективного пользования «Опытное производство катализаторов», который был предложен Институтом катализа в 2018 году в рамках региональной программы «Новосибирский Академгородок 2.0». Полученные результаты показывают, что стимулирование инвестиций в исследовательскую инфраструктуру обосновано значительным превышением экономической эффективности проекта по сравнению с финансовой эффективностью и существенно зависит от выбора адекватного механизма государственного участия в проект

An innovative approach to ex vitro rooting and acclimatization of Fragaria × ananassa Duch. microshoots using а biogenic silica- and green-tea-catechin-based mechanocomposite

A new approach for rapid ex vitro rooting and acclimatization of Fragaria × ananassa micropropagated plantlets of two cultivars (“Alpha” and “Festivalnaya”) has been developed using a mechanocomposite based on biogenic silica and green-tea catechins. Two different mechanocomposite treatments were studied: dipping the cut ends of microshoots in the mechanocomposite powder (the dry dip method) and single watering with solutions at concentrations of 0.3, 1.0, and 3.0 g L⁻¹. These variants were compared with pulse treatment of microplants with 30 mg L⁻¹ indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) for 4 h and a control group of microshoots that were moistened with hormone-free ¼-strength MS medium. The frequencies of ex vitro rooting at the end of the acclimatization period (30 d) varied from 24.8 to 99.7%. The dry dip treatment was best (rooting frequency about 100%) with up to 7.15 ± 0.54-cm root length, and 6.10 ± 0.31 roots per plantlet. Moreover, this study showed that the growth-stimulating effect of this mechanocomposite treatment on root formation resulted in increased rosette height, leaf number, leaf area, and dry weight of aerial parts. Histological analysis of the leaf blades revealed decreased mesophyll thickness of microshoots treated with the mechanocomposite (up to 88.77 ± 2.95 vs. 111.51 ± 3.56 μm for the control). Morphometric analysis of scanning electron microscopy data showed that mechanocomposite treatments led to increased stomata density and stomata length. These structural changes led to normalization of the water regime and indicated successful acclimatization. The combination of ex vitro rooting and acclimatization reduced the procedure time by 4 wk, and may be used for commercial strawberry micropropagation

Activating Effect of 3-Benzylidene Oxindoles on {AMPK}: From Computer Simulation to High-Content Screening

AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) is currently the subject of intensive study and active discussions. AMPK performs its functions both at the cellular level, providing the switch between energy-consuming and energy-producing processes, and at the whole body level, particularly, regulating certain aspects of higher nervous activity and behavior. Control of such a 'main switch' compensates dysfunctions and associated diseases. In the present paper, we studied the binding of 3-benzylidene oxindoles to the kinase domain of the AMPK alpha-subunit, which is thought to prevent its interaction with the autoinhibitory domain and thus result in the AMPK activation. For this purpose, we developed the cellular test system based on the AMPKAR plasmid, which implements the FRET effect, synthesized a number of 3-benzylidene oxindole compounds and simulated their binding to various sites of the kinase domain. The most probable binding site for the studied compounds was established by the correlation of calculated and experimental data. The obtained results allow to analyze various classes of AMPK activators using virtual and high-content screening

Analysis of P‑Glycoprotein Transport Cycle Reveals a New Way to Identify Efflux Inhibitors

P-glycoprotein (P-gp) is found to be of considerable interest for the design of drugs capable of treating chemoresistant tumors. This transporter is an interesting target for which an efficient approach has not yet been developed in terms of computer simulation. In this work, we use a combination of docking, molecular dynamics, and metadynamics to fully explore the states that occur during the capture of a ligand and subsequent efflux by P-gp. The proposed approach allowed us to substantiate a number of experimentally established facts, as well as to develop a new criterion for identifying potential P-gp inhibitors