Legal tools of public participation in the Environmental Impact Assessment process and their application in the countries of the Barents Euro-Arctic Region

The article focuses on research of existing legal tools of public participation in the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) process and on practical issues of their application in the countries of the Barents Euro-Arctic Region (BEAR). The EIA is mandatory for projects which can have negative impacts on the environment and/or human health. Public participation in the EIA is one of the instruments used both on the international and national level that helps prevent or minimise the negative consequences of the project for the environment and human health. This article is based on research of national EIA legislation and on the analysis of the findings from interviews conducted with private and public organisations during benchmarking visits and fact-finding trips to the northern regions of Finland, Norway, Sweden and Northwest Russia. In addition, feedback was collected from participants during four seminars. Participatory methods, focused on public‒private communication and participation during the environmental impact assessment process, provides the theoretical basis for the article. This research results from work in a two-year strategic project funded by the Finnish Funding Agency for Innovation Tekes.publishedVersio

Smart Table Based on Metasurface for Wireless Power Transfer

Metasurfaces have been investigated and its numerous exotic functionalities and the potentials to arbitrarily control of the electromagnetic fields have been extensively explored. However, only limited types of metasurface have finally entered into real products. Here, we introduce a concept of a metasurface-based smart table for wirelessly charging portable devices and report its first prototype. The proposed metasurface can efficiently transform evanescent fields into propagating waves which significantly improves the near field coupling to charge a receiving device arbitrarily placed on its surface wirelessly through magnetic resonance coupling. In this way, power transfer efficiency of 80$\%$ is experimentally obtained when the receiver is placed at any distances from the transmitter. The proposed concept enables a variety of important applications in the fields of consumer electronics, electric automobiles, implanted medical devices, etc. The further developed metasurface-based smart table may serve as an ultimate 2-dimensional platform and support charging multiple receivers.Comment: 8 pages, 7 figure

Axial Magnetic Quadrupole Mode of Dielectric Resonator for Omnidirectional Wireless Power Transfer

Omnidirectional wireless power transfer systems have been studied intensively due to an increasing demand for charging arbitrary spatial devices. To achieve omnidirectional wireless power transfer with high efficiency, a high Q-factor transmitter coil that can generate homogeneous magnetic field is crucial. In this paper, we develop an omnidirectional magnetic resonant wireless power transfer system based on a disk resonator with colossal permittivity and low loss. We propose to operate at axial magnetic quadrupole mode of the transmitter resonator to produce a homogeneous magnetic field in the transverse plane. The constant power transfer efficiency of 88% at the frequency of 157 MHz over the transfer distance of 3 cm for all angular positions of a receiver is experimentally demonstrated. The possibility of multi-receivers charging is also studied and a total efficiency of 90% regardless of angular position between two receivers is demonstrated experimentally

Fast Switching Ferroelectric Materials for Accelerator Applications

Fast switching (< 10 nsec) measurement results on the recently developed BST(M) (barium strontium titanium oxide composition with magnesium-based additions) ferroelectric materials are presented. These materials can be used as the basis for new advanced technology components suitable for high-gradient accelerators. A ferroelectric ceramic has an electric field-dependent dielectric permittivity that can be altered by applying a bias voltage. Ferroelectric materials offer significant benefits for linear collider applications, in particular, for switching and control elements where a very short response time of <10 nsec is required. The measurement results presented here show that the new BST(M) ceramic exhibits a high tunability factor: a bias field of 40-50 kV/cm reduces the permittivity by a factor of 1.3-1.5. The recently developed technology of gold biasing contact deposition on large diameter (110 cm) thin wall ferroelectric rings allowed ~few nsec switching times in witness sample experiments. The ferroelectric rings can be used at high pulsed power (tens of megawatts) for X-band components as well as at high average power in the range of a few kilowatts for the L-band phase-shifter, under development for optimization of the ILC rf coupling. Accelerator applications include fast active X-band and Ka-band high-power ferroelectric switches, high-power X-band and L-band phase shifters, and tunable dielectric-loaded accelerating structures.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figures, submitted to Proceedings of 2006 Advanced Accelerator Concepts Worksho

No righteous man exists without honoring books. Manuscript book of the Russian North of the 15th – 20th centuries (exhibition materials)

The article represents the review of manuscript books of the 15th – 20th centuries introduced at the exhibition “No righteous man exists without honoring books. Manuscript book of the Russian North of the 15th– 20th centuries”. All exhibits are stored at the State Museum Association “Artistic Culture of the Russian North”. The museum’s collection includes many impressive monuments of traditional Russian literature, as well as manuscripts of the Old Believer environment. For several years, attribution of manuscript monuments was carried out. The result of scientific research was a catalog. The fascinating books in terms of content and artistic performance are exhibited at the museum. The exhibition stands show many miniatures, screensavers, and other elements of book design. Each visitor of the exhibition will find something interesting for himself: the creation of manuscript monuments, the genre variety of the Northern book, the decoration of texts, the development of the decorative design of manuscripts, the variety of singing books. All exhibited manuscripts are presented for the first time. For this purpose, special exhibition equipment, shop windows, and a lighting system under the museum standards were used

Water transport in the European North of Russia: social significance, challenges and perspectives of development

This article is devoted to the analysis of the water transport in the European North of Russia. Using the case of the Arkhangelsk Oblast, we present the main challenges and perspectives of river navigation development in light of the area’s history and current situation. Our research shows that, historically, water transport has played an important role in the social and economic development of the Arkhangelsk Oblast and held a leading position in the transportation system. However, due to the transition to a market economy in the 1990s, river traffic lost its competitive advantages. The study presents statistical data showing the negative trends of the passenger inland water transport development. The lack of the state involvement in industrial management has led to the deterioration of the water transport quality and its infrastructure. Despite existing challenges, however, water transport still plays an important role in the socio-economic development of the Russian North. In recent years, various levels of government have discussed the revival of the river navigation and improvements in its use for regional development. The article discusses prospects for overcoming the existing negative trends in the development of water transport. The focus is made on its connection with the industrial development of the Arctic and the cultural potential of the region

Длительно действующие β2-агонисты в терапии бронхообструктивных заболеваний легких

Long-acting β2-agonists in treatment of obstructive lung diseases.Длительно действующие β2-агонисты в терапии бронхообструктивных заболеваний легких

Режим единого ингалятора в ступенчатой терапии бронхиальной астмы: изменения GINA 2014

Major advances of GINA (Global Initiative for Asthma) 2014 pertinent to definition, phenotypes and stepwise approach for adjusting treatment of asthma have been viewed in the article. The attention was focused on combinations of low-dose inhaled steroid (ICS) / formoterol (FOR) both as maintenance and reliever therapy (single inhaler strategy) or ICS / long-acting β2-agonist (LABA) as maintenance therapy plus short-acting β2-agonist (SABA) as-needed that are preferred options for treatment steps 3–4 in adults and adolescents. GINA experts emphasize that the single inhaler strategy is the treatment of choice for asthma patients with steps 3–4 experienced ≥ 1 exacerbation during the previous year. Administration of budesonide (BUD) / FOR as a single inhaler is recommended for patients &gt; 18 years old with insufficient asthma control and frequent need in SABA. BUD / FOR as a single maintenance and reliever inhaler could reduce frequency of severe asthma exacerbations requiring hospitalizations and use of systemic steroids, improve asthma symptoms and lung function when compared to other treatment regimens. Preventive effects of BUD / FOR combination are provided by anti-inflammatory effect which is timely amplified by additional inhalations of the drug. Рассматриваются некоторые основные изменения в Глобальной инициативе по бронхиальной астме (БА) (Global Initiative for Asthma – GINA, 2014), касающиеся определения, фенотипов и ступенчатой терапии БА. Обсуждается обоснование применения режима единого ингалятора с помощью препарата будесонид / формотерол в ступенчатой терапии БА, являющегося, наряду с применением ингаляционных кортикостероидов и β2-агонистов длительного действия в качестве поддерживающей терапии + β2-агонисты короткого действия по потребности, предпочтительным выбором при контролирующей терапии БА у взрослых и подростков на ступенях лечения 3–4 (GINA).