Urban geochemical changes and pollution with potentially harmful elements in seven Russian cities

This paper presents results of an analysis of potentially harmful elements (PHEs, Pb, Zn and Cu) and conservative element (CE, Fe) concentrations in urban surface deposited sediment (USDS). The study was conducted in seven large Russian cities located in different geographic and climatic zones, and in territories with different geology and anthropogenic pressures: Chelyabinsk, Magnitogorsk, Nizhniy Novgorod, Nizhniy Tagil, Rostov-on-Don, Tyumen, and Ufa. The initial geochemical baseline relationships between PHEs and CE concentrations in the USDS were reconstructed for each city applying an approach based on linear weighted fitting of PHE as a function of CE with lower weights assigned to more polluted samples. The reconstructed average initial baseline Pb, Cu, and Zn concentrations varied between 17–52, 25–196, and 91–413 mg kg−1, respectively. Several new criteria for assessing the degree of geochemical transformation and pollution of the urban environment, such as the percentage of polluted samples, average pollutant concentration in polluted samples, and weighting degree index δ, were suggested and compared with common criteria, such as the PHE concentration and the geo-accumulation index. The environmental rank of a city significantly differed depending on whether the criterion for ranking was total PHE pollution or changes in comparison with the initial geochemical baseline. © 2020, The Author(s).Russian Science Foundation, RSF: 18-77-10024The study was supported by Russian Science Foundation (grant No. 18-77-10024)

Superconducting Single-photon Detectors Made of Ultra-thin VN Films

We optimized technology of thin VN films deposition in order to study VN-based superconducting single-photon detectors. Investigation of the main VN film parameters showed that this material has lower resistivity compared to commonly used NbN. Fabricated from obtained films devices showed 100% intrinsic detection efficiency at 900 nm, at the temperature of 1.7 K starting with the bias current of 0.7·

Intermediate result of negative consequences of the epidemic of the new coronavirus infection for the global economy

The epidemic of the new SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus infection slowed global economic growth and became the main threat for the global economy and financial markets in 2020. Authorities in many countries around the world have declared a health emergency. Without the experience of state quarantine, countries have faced negative consequences for citizens, the economy and financial market participants. The introduction of temporary regulatory easing in the context of the spread of a new coronavirus infection assisted to partially limit the negative consequences. The next few months will, probably, have a particularly strong impact on small business, as government support schemes are reduced or ceased. The article reveals the main consequences of the new coronavirus infection for the global economy

SANITARY PROTECTION OF TERRITORIES FROM SEVERE ACUTE RESPIRATORY SYNDROME (SARS) IMPORTATION AND DISSEMINATION BY WATER AND AIR TRANSPORT AT FAR EASTERN REGION

The existing programs and plans of sanitary protection of territories and municipalities of Russian Federation are directed to prevention of importation and dissemination of quarantine and other known infectious diseases. Modern organizing-methodical papers of Ministry of Public Health of Russian Federation include both nosological and syndromic approaches to resolution of this problem. SARS epidemic situation in the world with an active focus at Asian-Pacific Ocean Region has tested the Russian sanitary protection system at Far Eastern Region. Data on organization and realization of the measures at the period of SARS epidemic troubles in the world are analyzed. The experience of State Surveillance Centers at water and air transport in Far Eastern Region in co-operation with all transport process participants to prevent importation and dissemination of early unknown especially dangerous infection (SARS) is summarized

Development, Production and Testing of 4500 Beam Loss Monitors

Beam-loss monitoring (BLM) [1] is a key element in the LHC machine protection. 4250 nitrogen filled ionization chambers (IC) and 350 secondary emission monitors (SEM) have been manufactured and tested at the Institute for High Energy Physics (IHEP) in Protvino, Russia, following their development at CERN. Signal speed and robustness against aging were the main design criteria. Each monitor is permanently sealed inside a stainless-steel cylinder. The quality of the welding was a critical aspect during production. The SEMs are requested to hold a vacuum of $10^{-7}$ bar. Impurity levels from thermal and radiationinduced desorption should remain in the range of parts per million in the ICs. To avoid radiation aging (up to $2·10^{8}$ Gy in 20 years) production of the chambers followed strict UHV requirements. IHEP designed and built the UHV production stand. Due to the required dynamic range of $10^{8}$, the leakage current of the monitors has to stay below 2 pA. Several tests during and after production were performed at IHEP and CERN. A consistently high quality during the whole production period was achieved and the tight production schedule kept at the same time

Monitoring the Social Attitudes of Foreign Students

It is necessary to monitor the social attitudes of foreign students in order to involve foreign applicants in a favorable to Russia discourse, applying the concept of “soft power”. Applicants’ social attitudes have a direct impact on the choice of the country of study and on the effectiveness of social, cultural, pedagogical adaptation of foreign students. The socio-cultural characteristics of foreign students were studied using focus groups, expert polls, and narrative interviews. The classification of foreign students according to cultural profiles has been made. Attitudes of students from different cultural profiles were monitored according to the questionnaires developed by the authors. Based on the scaling techniques of E. Bogardus, C. Osgood, L. Thurstone, L. Guttman, R. Likert, an integral index was calculated for each cultural profile. Methods for monitoring the social attitudes of foreign applicants make it possible to identify the specifics and dynamics of the attitudes of cultural profiles. Positive attitudes towards Russia contribute to the export of Russian educational services and attractiveness of the Russian cultural space and the educational system