Is Sustainable Development of Deserts Feasible?

Hot deserts that presently cover about one-fifth of the land area of our planet are rapidly devouring more and more arable lands mostly due to anthropogenic causes. We propose an interdisciplinary approach to revitalizing and commercializing hot deserts, which is based on systems thinking and Russian and NASA space technology experience in designing life-support systems for long-duration flights. We formulate ten principles for the design of sustainable life support systems in deserts, which can make the development of the deserts feasible. It is discussed how the principles can be employed to design and operate desert’s eco-industrial parks with greenhouses in which the transpired and evaporated moisture is collected and condensed. The potential benefits of setting up the eco-industrial parks in deserts include the slowdown and eventual reversal of the desertification trend, the migration of many industrial production facilities from mild-climate regions to deserts, the increased availability of potable water and food in deserts, the development of poor African countries, and the emergence of new investment markets

A New Low-Noise Avalanche Photodiode With Micro-Pixel Structure

A new design of the avalanche photodiodes with an array of micro-pixel p-n-junctions was developed on base of metal-oxide-silicon structure. The thermal oxide layer of 1000A thickness contains tunnel oxide regions with about 25A thickness. The device exhibits a noise factor ~ 4 at a high multiplication factor (M~10000). A high space uniformity of sensitivity was found for gain of M~ 1000

El uso de un enfoque estructural-institucional para el análisis del desarrollo de un complejo económico regional

Enhancement of efficiency and competitiveness of the industrial complex requires changing the existing methods and improving the used methods for forming and implementing industrial policy. Particularly acute is the task of ridding the industrial enterprises of the dependence on foreign technologies and components and the transition to total import substitution under the sanctions of the Western powers and the United States of America.La mejora de la eficiencia y la competitividad del complejo industrial requiere cambiar los métodos existentes y mejorar los métodos utilizados para formar e implementar políticas industriales. Particularmente aguda es la tarea de librar a las empresas industriales de la dependencia de tecnologías y componentes extranjeros y la transición a la sustitución total de importaciones bajo las sanciones de las potencias occidentales y los Estados Unidos de América

Methodology for the use of Equiverm-2.0% against equine parasite infections

The purpose of the research is to develop a methodology for Equiverm-2.0% paste used against equine parasite infections.The methodology provides a brief description of Equiverm-2.0%, mechanism of its action, pharmaco-toxicological properties, application, slaughter terms, and personal safety measures. Equiverm-2.0% antiparasitic paste consists of the active ingredient, ivermectin, and excipients; it is a light cream-coloured paste with a slight pine odor and sweetish taste. The drug is administered orally at a therapeutic dose of 0.2 mg/kg for the active substance. One gram of paste is equal to 1 mL in volume with 20 mg of ivermectin. Ivermectin in Equiverm-2.0% paste is in a dissolved form, and forms an intermolecular complex. The antiparasitic paste is packaged in disposable polyethylene syringe dispensers of 5 or 10 mL, respectively, 4 to 8 g each, per treated horse weighing 400-800 kg. When administered orally, the paste spreads in the oral cavity and the animal eats it with pleasure due to its sweetish taste. The drug is recommended for registration in the Russian Federation

Translation of Musaev, M. A., A. M. Surkova, Ya. Ya. Elchiev, and F. K. Alieva. 1966. A new species of coccidium of the genus \u3ci\u3eEimeria\u3c/i\u3e from the domestic duck, \u3ci\u3eAnas domestica\u3c/i\u3e [= Novyi vid koktsidii iz roda \u3ci\u3eEimeria\u3c/i\u3e ot domasnie utki, \u3ci\u3eAnas domestica\u3c/i\u3e. \u3ci\u3eIzvest. Akademie Nauk Azerbaid. SSR\u3c/i\u3e, Otdel. Ottisk, Baku, USSR 1966(3): 34-36

Translation number 17, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois, United States, October 13, 1969 (5 pages) Translation of Musaev, M. A., A. M. Surkova, Ya. Ya. Elchiev, and F. K. Alieva. 1966. A new species of coccidium of the genus Eimeria from the domestic duck, Anas domestica [= Novyi vid koktsidii iz roda Eimeria ot domasnie utki, Anas domestica. Izvest. Akademie Nauk Azerbaid. SSR, Otdel. Ottisk, Baku, USSR 1966(3): 34-36 Translation from Russian to English by Frederick K. Plous, Jr., and edited by Norman D. Levine (notated NDL:cml

Effect evaluation of supramolecular complex of ivermectin Aniverm-2.0% on postnatal development of rat offspring

The purpose of the research is to detect long-term effects of repeated oral administration of supramolecular complex of ivermectin Aniverm-2.0% on the postnatal development of rat offspring.Materials and methods. The studies were conducted on 16 white pregnant rats that were divided into two experimental and one control groups. The animals were kept under standard conditions of keeping and feeding. The supramolecular complex of ivermectin Aniverm-2.0% was administered to pregnant female rats (n = 6) of group 1 in the form of a suspension using an intragastric tube daily for 7 days at a dose of 15 mg/kg, and group 2 was given the substance of ivermectin (n = 5) at a dose of 8.25 mg/kg. The control female rats (n = 5) were administered 1 mL of distilled water during the experiment. The experimental pregnant females were left until delivery, and then, the development of their offspring was monitored for 45 days. After rat pups were born, the following were recorded: pregnancy duration, litter size, dynamics of weight gain in the rat pups for 21 days, postnatal death during the first 30 days, the ratio of males and females in the litter, periods of eye opening, incisor eruption, detachment of the auricle, appearance of hair coat, descent of testicles, and opening of the vagina. Then we assessed the maturation rate of sensory-motor reflexes in the offspring obtained from the experimental and control groups, the emotional motor behavior and ability for fine coordination of movements in the offspring, and conducted the open field-2 test on day 45 after birth.Results and discussion. No negative effect was detected for supramolecular complex of ivermectin Aniverm-2.0% on the parameters of physiological development of the offspring of the experimental rats within 45 days after birth. The dynamics of their mass, developmental parameters, and formation of motor reflexes during the feeding period remained within the normal values. Developmental indicators of sensory motor reflexes in the control and experimental rat pups had no statistically significant differences

Theoretical Studies of CO Adsorption on Si(100)-2 × 1 Surface

Ab initio molecular orbital and density functional calculations have been carried out to investigate the adsorption of CO on the Si(100)-2 × 1 surface using the Si 9 H 12 and Si 13 H 20 cluster models of the surface. It was found that B3LYP/6-31G(d) is a reasonable level of theory for calculation of the geometries of the clusters and adsorbates, as well as energetics of the adsorbates of the CO/Si(100)-2 × 1 surface. The addition of a doubly contracted polarizarion d-function for the non-hydrogen atoms changes the calculated CO desorption energy by 1 kcal/mol. Increasing the size of the cluster from Si 9 H 12 to Si 13 H 20 , in general, increases the CO desorption energy by 1-2 kcal/mol, while it does not change the Si d -Si d , Si d -Si sub , and Si sub -Si sub bond distances, which suggests that the Si 9 H 12 cluster is a good model for the single-dimer cluster. Interaction of the CO molecule with the surface dramatically changes the Si d -Si d and Si d -Si sub bond distances corresponding to the silicon dimer on the surface and that between the first-and second-layer atoms, respectively. These results suggest that the geometry relaxation of the cluster upon interaction with gas molecules should be taken into account. Different adsorption geometries of CO on the silicon surface dimer have been studied. The adsorbed CO is most stable when bonded perpendicularly to the surface dimer with the C atom attached to one of the Si atoms. The calculated CO desorption energy at the B3LYP/6-311G(2d) level, 10.5 kcal/mol, is in good agreement with the experimental value, 11.4 kcal/mol. Vibrational frequencies of the different CO adsorption isomers have been analyzed. For the OC-normal adsorption process, an extensive search for its transition state failed to locate it; this suggests that the adsorption reaction is a nonactivated process with zero barrier

Centrosymmetric molecules as possible carriers of diffuse interstellar bands

In this paper, we present new data with interstellar C2 (Phillips bands A-X), from observations made with the Ultraviolet-Visual Echelle Spectrograph of the European Southern Observatory. We have determined the interstellar column densities and excitation temperatures of C2 for nine Galactic lines. For seven of these, C2 has never been observed before, so in this case the still small sample of interstellar clouds (26 lines of sight), where a detailed analysis of C2 excitation has been made, has increased significantly. This paper is a continuation of previous works where interstellar molecules (C2 and diffuse interstellar bands) have been analysed. Because the sample of interstellar clouds with C2 has increased, we can show that the width and shape of the profiles of some diffuse interstellar bands (6196 and 5797 A) apparently depend on the gas kinetic and rotational temperatures of C2; the profiles are broader because of the higher values of the gas kinetic and rotational temperatures of C2. There are also diffuse interstellar bands (4964 and 5850 A) for which this effect does not exist.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures, accepted to MNRAS 201

Comments on QED with background electric fields

It is well known that there is a total cancellation of the \emph{factorizable} IR divergences in unitary interacting field theories, such as QED and quantum gravity. In this note we show that such a cancellation does not happen in QED with background electric fields which can produce pairs. There is no factorization of the IR divergences.Comment: 14 pages, 1 figur