Convergence of economic growth in Russian megacities

Purpose: The article presents the results of an empirical analysis of the economic growth of Russian cities with a population of over 1 million people (megacities). Design/Methodology/Approach: The analyzed indicator is the city product calculated according to the UN methodology for the period from 2010 to 2016. The paper analyses the process of β- and σ-convergence across Russian megacities using methods of spatial econometrics in addition to the traditional β-convergence techniques from the neoclassical theoretical framework. Findings: The dynamics of the coefficient of variation confirmed the presence of σ-convergence in city product. Empirically, positive spatial autocorrelation has been confirmed. Beta-convergence for Russian megacities is found to be significant and the spatial location of megacities significantly affects β-convergence. Control factors such as fixed capital investment per capita in 2010, average retail volume per capita in 2010, average annual number of employees of enterprises and organizations in 2010 and the dummy variable introduced for “federal cities” Moscow and St. Petersburg are all found to have positive and statistically significant impact on economic growth. Practical Implications: Policymakers may take the results into account under the planning of economical strategies for megacities and regions in Russia in order to facilitate the regional economic growth and the speed of convergence. Originality/Value: The main contribution of the study is the consideration of the economical growth for the megacities and not for the regions as it often used to be the case in similar studies. The important finding is that megacities‘ economies do converge and the influence of control factors is pronounced.peer-reviewe

Design and Manufacture of the Superconducting Bus-bars for the LHC Main Magnets

The main magnets of the LHC are series-connected electrically in different powering circuits by means of superconducting bus-bars, carrying a maximum current of 13 kA. These superconducting bus-bars consist of a superconducting cable thermally and electrically coupled to a copper profile all along the length. The function of the copper profile is essentially to provide an alternative path for the current in case the superconducting cable loses its superconducting state and returns to normal state because of a transient disturbance or of a normal zone propagation coming from the neighbouring magnets. When a superconducting bus-bar quenches to normal state its temperature must always stay below a safe values of about 100°C while the copper is conducting. When a resistive transition is detected, the protection systems triggers the ramping down of the current from 13000 A to 0. The ramp rate must not exceed a maximum value to avoid the transition of magnets series-connected in the circuit. This paper concerns the design and the manufacture of the high current superconducting bus-bars needed to interconnect the magnetic elements of the main dipoles, the main quadrupoles of the arcs and of the dispersion suppressors of the LHC

Metal-insulator transition induced by 16O -18O oxygen isotope exchange in colossal negative magnetoresistance manganites

The effect of 16O-18O isotope exchange on the electric resistivity was studied for (La(1-y)Pr(y))0.7Ca0.3MnO3 ceramic samples. Depending on y, this mixed perovskite exhibited different types of low-temperature behavior ranging from ferromagnetic metal (FM) to charge ordered (CO) antiferromagnetic insulator. It was found that at y=0.75, the substitution of 16O by 18O results in the reversible transition from a FM to a CO insulator at zero magnetic field. The applied magnetic field (H >= 2 T) transformed the sample with 18O again to the metallic state and caused the increase in the FM transition temperature Tc of the 16O sample. As a result, the isotope shift of Tc at H = 2 T was as high as 63 K. Such unique sensitivity of the system to oxygen isotope exchange, giving rise even to the metal-insulator transition, is discussed in terms of the isotope dependence of the effective electron bandwidth which shifts the balance between the CO and FM phases.Comment: 5 pages (RevTeX), 2 eps figures included, to appear in J. Appl. Phys. 83, (1998

Managing the motivation provision of universities in the context of the educational process digitalisation

The paper proposes a method for increasing the motivation of university teachers to work with digital technologies on the example of teaching foreign languages. The fear of complete displacement of the teacher by digital technologies leads to many ethical and psychological problems, resulting in a reluctance to use training programmes in the educational process. To increase the motivation of teachers to work in the digital environment, it is proposed to involve them in the use of digital educational technologies to adapt the work plans of disciplines to the preparation level of students entering universities. The specialists team composition required for the implementation of this method in practice has been formed. Additional factors for increasing the teachers motivation to work in a digital environment when working in a team have been shown. The proposed approach can be used in the implementation in digital educational systems of educational institutions

Quantum correlations and artificial intelligence

The possibility of using quantum correlations in the process of exchanging information between artificial intelligence systems has been considered. The benefits of using quantum correlations in such process include: high degree of information protection both on the physical level (electric and magnetic noise does not affect quantum correlations) and on the level of confidentiality preservation of information transmitted (any external interference results in data corruption without information disclosure); the possibility of full automation of information transmission process; the process is dissipation free (which follows from that the quantum correlations are performed between the quantum obj ects described by the same wave function); high speed of information transmission (higher than the speed of light). In this case the special relativity postulate concerning the speed of light is not violated, because it relates to inertial systems only; however, quantum correlation due to being dissipation free is an inertialess process (which follows from the well-known, experimentally-verified relationship between mass m and energy E: E = mc2, where с is the speed of light). Feasible approaches to using quantum correlations for information exchange between artificial intelligence systems have been reviewed in the paper, in particular two versions of information transmission between artificial intelligence systems have been considered: with external synchronization of information transmission time and autonomous synchronization performed by interacting artificial intelligence systems. The main difficulty in implementing information transmission by means of quantum correlations is the necessity of using the so-called entangled quantum objects, that is the quantum objects having some mutually-dependent characteristics of their wave functions

АНАЛІЗ АГЕНТСЬКОЇ МЕРЕЖІ СТРАХОВИКА

The paper investigates theoretical and practical aspects of the insurance company's agent network. It presents results of the analysis of the agent network of PJSC "Kharkiv Municipal Insurance Company" for the period 2011-2013.В статье рассмотрены теоретические и практические аспекты анализа агентской сети страховщика. Представлены результаты анализа агентской сети ПАТ "Харьковская муниципальная страховая компания" за период 2011- 2013 г. г.У статті розглянуто теоретичні і практичні аспекти агентської мережі страховика. Наведено результати аналізу агентської мережі ПАТ «Харківська муніципальна страхова компанія» за період 2011-2013 р. р

A Method to screen U.S. environmental biomonitoring data for race/ethnicity and income-related disparity

BACKGROUND: Environmental biomonitoring data provide one way to examine race/ethnicity and income-related exposure disparity and identify potential environmental justice concerns. METHODS: We screened U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2001–2008 biomonitoring data for 228 chemicals for race/ethnicity and income-related disparity. We defined six subgroups by race/ethnicity—Mexican American, non-Hispanic black, non-Hispanic white—and income—Low Income: poverty income ratio (PIR) <2, High Income: PIR ≥ 2. We assessed disparity by comparing the central tendency (geometric mean [GM]) of the biomonitoring concentrations of each subgroup to that of the reference subgroup (non-Hispanic white/High Income), adjusting for multiple comparisons using the Holm-Bonferroni procedure. RESULTS: There were sufficient data to estimate at least one geometric mean ratio (GMR) for 108 chemicals; 37 had at least one GMR statistically different from one. There was evidence of potential environmental justice concern (GMR significantly >1) for 12 chemicals: cotinine; antimony; lead; thallium; 2,4- and 2,5-dichlorophenol; p,p’-dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene; methyl and propyl paraben; and mono-ethyl, mono-isobutyl, and mono-n-butyl phthalate. There was also evidence of GMR significantly <1 for 25 chemicals (of which 17 were polychlorinated biphenyls). CONCLUSIONS: Although many of our results were consistent with the U.S. literature, findings relevant to environmental justice were novel for dichlorophenols and some metals

P38α-MAPK Signaling Inhibition Attenuates Soleus Atrophy during Early Stages of Muscle Unloading

To test the hypothesis that p38α-MAPK plays a critical role in the regulation of E3 ligase expression and skeletal muscle atrophy during unloading, we used VX-745, a selective p38α inhibitor. Three groups of rats were used: non-treated control (C), 3 days of unloading/hindlimb suspension (HS), and 3 days HS with VX-745 inhibitor (HSVX; 10 mg/kg/day). Total weight of soleus muscle in HS group was reduced compared to C (72.3 ± 2.5 vs 83.0 ± 3 mg, respectively), whereas muscle weight in the HSVX group was maintained (84.2 ± 5 mg). The expression of muscle RING-finger protein-1 (MuRF1) mRNA was significantly increased in the HS group (165%), but not in the HSVX group (127%), when compared with the C group. The expression of muscle-specific E3 ubiquitin ligases muscle atrophy F-box (MAFbx) mRNA was increased in both HS and HSVX groups (294% and 271%, respectively) when compared with C group. The expression of ubiquitin mRNA was significantly higher in the HS (423%) than in the C and HSVX (200%) groups. VX-745 treatment blocked unloading-induced upregulation of calpain-1 mRNA expression (HS: 120%; HSVX: 107%). These results indicate that p38α-MAPK signaling regulates MuRF1 but not MAFbx E3 ligase expression and inhibits skeletal muscle atrophy during early stages of unloading

Пути развития дерматологии в России и СССР (1950-1959)

History of dermatology development in Russia and the USSR in 1950-1959. words: dermatological service in Russia and USSR in 1950-1959.Представлена история развития дерматологии в России и СССР в 1950-1959 гг