CRISALIDE: Searching for Smart Solutions in Urban Development beyond the Political Slogans: a Case of Rostov-on-Don, Southern Russia

Recently in Russia, a shift in a political discourse towards the innovative economy, new technologies and smart cities solutions is noticeable. There are several national programs and strategies that orient economic development to use innovations and digital technologies. However, those initiatives seem too focused on technological solutions and lack a comprehensive understanding of what smart development is. A missingcomponent might be provided from the bottom level through the use of the place-based approach and implementation of smart planning tools responding to the wicked local problems. The paper explores opportunities provided by the current national policy in the Russian Federation and the local conditions of the city of Rostov-on-Don in Southern Russia for the implementation of the innovative decision-making support tool in urban planning. The findings demonstrate that the introduction of the innovative decision-making support tool corresponds to the current transformation processes happening in a contemporary Russian city, requests from the national level and, consequently, it can be replicated in a similar context

Система поддержки принятия решений в области градостроительного планирования: опыт международного проекта CRISALIDE

В статье представлены результаты научно-исследовательской работы «Система интеллектуальной поддержки принятия решений по управлению городской средой», выполненной в рамках российско-европейской программы ERA.NET-RUS PLUS (грантодатель с российской стороны ФГБУ «Фонд содействия малых форм предприятий в научно-технической сфере»). Разработанный в результате НИР программно-аппаратный комплекс является системой поддержки принятия решений в области градостроительного планирования и предполагает предоставление управляющей системе города современного инструмента оперативной оценки и сопоставления вариантов решения актуальных градостроительных задач, таких как новое строительство, редевелопмент территорий и т.п. В статье приведены наиболее важные результаты научной работы, выразившиеся в разработке онтологии города как предметной среды, разработке общих и частных задач, а также в методологии разработки программно-аппаратного комплекса

Effect of different zinc concentrations on the growth functions of spring wheat seedlings

In laboratory experiments, the effect of different concentrations of zinc on the growth processes of seedlings of spring wheat cv. Ester was studied. The optimal concentration of zinc for seed treatment before sowing was revealed. The optimal concentration of zinc has a positive effect on the length of sprouts and roots, as well as the photosynthesis of seedlings of spring wheat in the early stages of development

Mef2b gene snp markers of meat productivity in Severokavkazskaya sheep breed

One of the new promising candidate genes defining productive qualities of sheep is MEF2B. Protein from the MEF2 group encoded by it affects the production of myostatin and the expression of the genes responsible for the growth of skeletal muscle fibers. Thus, the knowledge of the MEF2B gene structure is important for genomic selection. We have studied the structure of the MEF2B gene at sheep of Severokavkazskaya breed bred in Russia. To detect alleles we use NimbleGen sequencing technology by Roche (USA). As a result, it was revealed 14 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) at the given breed. The discovered SNPare located in not coding areas. From them 7 polymorphisms are in the area of 5' upstream gene in loci: c.-1713, c.-1319, c.-839, c.-321, c.-246, c.-161, c.-3; 6 polymorphisms are in introns, loci: c.55-51, c.258+312, c.258+380, c.259-52, c.452+95, c.452+ 103, 1 SNP is in 3' downstream gene, c.*252. Two of the identified SNPs are significantly connected with high indices of meat productivity: c.55-51 and c.259-52. At the same time it was not possible to find out the impact on productivity of c.-1713 polymorphism. Our investigation is a base of next research of affection of different MEF2B gene alleles on meat quality and can be used to prepare PCR test-system for genomic selection

Features of the karyotype of North Caucasus Ayrshire dairy cattle population: defects in reproductive functions

One of the ways of improving the genotypes of dairy cattle in Russia is to increase the proportion of the Ayrshire breed, which can be justly claimed to be one of the best dairy breeds in the world. However, due to the prevalence of large-scale breeding technologies, which involves the use of a limited contingent of dairy cattle bulls, including but not limited to the Ayrshire breed, the emergence of new-born calves with various anomalies, including chromosomal, which commonly have a hereditary basis attributable to gene mutations have been observed. Given that the bulk of these anomalies are acquired by recessive inheritance, they may not always manifest themselves in the phenotype and thus represent a hidden genetic load. In recent years, the significance of cytogenetic analysis and karyotyping is becoming increasingly important, not only when considering the theoretical assumptions, but also when solving applied problems aimed at preventing damage to agricultural production. This article presents the results of the cytogenetic analysis of Ayrshire cattle affected by reproductive problems. The following has been established: an absence of changes in the diploid set of the investigated dairy cattle (2n = 60); the presence of aberrant cells, whose frequency of occurrence amounted to 3.6% in the population of 440 head (number of aberrations per aberrant cell researched – 0.036 / 1.0); the absence of reciprocal translocations in the karyotype of the investigated population. It is suggested that the existing Ayrshire sires Hannulan Yaskiyri, Riihiviidan Urho Errant, O.R.Lihting and their descendants do not have a genetic load of chromosomal abnormalities

Do we Need Urban Shrinkage to Become Smarter Planners? The Masterplan for Novoshakhtinsk

The urban planning transition in Russia has been following the way from the so-called command-administrative system to a new one which should be more democratic, market-oriented, more adequate andcorresponding better to the current needs of the cities and regions. However, since the planning system is an element of the political system and is characterized by the same disadvantages such as lack of the local independency and resources, weak capacities of local authorities, absence of opportunity to implement the specific planning addressing local issues that are not into the national planning agenda. A silent but wide-spread process of urban shrinkage affects most of the Russian cities that are deprived of a possibility to develop new approaches to planning that could help them to confront this challenge and very few cases of the appropriate policy development appeared in the country. The present paper explores an example of aplanning experiment in a former mining city Novoshakhtinsk in southern Russia that is developing a master-plan aiming at addressing challenges provoked by urban shrinkage

Screening of complex vertebral malformation (CVM) and bovine leukocyte adhesion deficiency (BLAD) in the Ayrshire cattle breed in the North Caucasus

The Ayrshire dairy breed is renowned for producing large quantities of high quality milk and, therefore, is frequently used for crossbreeding. However, various hereditary anomalies caused by gene mutations have been recently recorded in calves produced by some Ayrshire sires. Most of these anomalies were shown to have a recessive inheritance pattern, thus imposing a threat of unpredictable dramatic changes in cattle genotypes under such factors as genetic drift, selection and inbreeding. The purpose of this study was to examine the susceptibility of the Ayrshire cattle bred in the North Caucasus to such hereditary abnormalities as complex vertebral malformation (CVM) and bovine leukocyte adhesion deficiency (BLAD). The investigation was carried out on 16 cows with various phenotype and reproduction disorders that were selected based on a three-year veterinary observation of 440 livestock animals. The target group cows were generally the descendants of Hannulan Yaskiyri, Riihiviidan Urho Errant and O.R. Lihting. The results demonstrated that no animals under study were the carriers of these genetic disorders, which proved the mutant alleles of BLAD and CVM to be absent from the Ayrshire cattle livestock bred in the North Caucasus. Therefor e, the sires of these cattle can be successfully used for breeding

Peroxidase activity in germinating barley grains depending on grain treatment with phytoregulators

The article presents the data of laboratory results on the study of the effect of phytoregulators on changes in the activity of peroxidase enzyme isoforms in dry seeds of malting barley and during their germination. It was found that the use of phytoregulators in dry grains increases the activity of peroxidase isoforms

Decision Support System Design as a Method to Enhance Public Participation in Urban Development: The CRISALIDE Project, Rostov-on-Don

Contemporary urban development in Russia differs from that of the Soviet period by the presence of many new actors, the existence of private property and capital influencing development decisions. A new season of public investment in city planning is emerging in Russia. There is an ongoing discussion of creating new master plans. However, how can be designed and proposed these tools useful and efficient? How to characterize them in their strategic and regulatory aspects? Above all, how to make sure that the master plans are truly tailor-made on the problems of the cities and not standardized tools that do not respond to the needs of the local communities? All these open questions call responsible authorities considering different interests in planning and policymaking. The previous system of administrative planning had to be changed to correspond adequately to new conditions. Officially, the current version of the Russian Urban Planning Code requires ‘public discussion’ of any urban development project that should be organised by local authorities. However, the formal evolution of the planning law has found little consequences in practice. Regularlyorganised public discussions remain more rituals than a real planning tool; they have ‘recommendatory nature’ according to the law that allows public administrations to ignore public opinion in their final decisions. The paper represents the results of the one-year experience of the CRISALIDE (EU/Russian Federation financed project through Eranet Rus Plus) project consortium in enhancing public participation in the urban development process. The R&D project, aiming at bringing together technological, social and organizational innovations, uses the area-based approach and experiments within the territory of a brownfield (old airport) in the selected city Rostov-on-Don. The chosen work area attracts notable attention of different local and regional actors due to its size, location, marketing potential and regional significance. Design of a decision support system for this area redevelopment becomes a kind of provocation that helped to involve in thedesign process local experts, activists and policy-makers. Through a series of the organised by the CRISALIDE consortium events, the new collaborations between the local and external actors established and the public discussions of the possible future redevelopment scenarios boosted. Public participation influences the DSS design process and is resulted in the system's goals and methods used that was its main target. At the same time, public discussions at the pre-planning stage is not a common practice in Russia, CRISALIDE proposed and tested a methodology for effectively and efficiently running a participatory planning process capable of grasping the local territorial demand coming from citizens and stakeholders. Moreover, the development of a smart platform, driven by IGis technology, aims at shaping the local decisional environment towards smart design and land use planning