Rostec (Russia)

This article examines various aspects of the seaweed harvest – Saccharina japonica (Japanese kelp) – by Japanese fishermen within Russian territorial waters near the small, uninhabited Signalny Island in the Sovetsky Strait of the Pacific Ocean, part of the Lesser Kuril Islands. Signalny Island is part of the South Kuril District of the Sakhalin Region. The article focuses on conservation measures that enable the sustainable harvest of this seaweed in Russian waters to be maintained on a long-term basis under joint agreements.

The intraspecific taxonomy of snow sheep (Ovis nivicola) is one of the most controversial issues in Caprinae systematics. Although eight subspecies have been described using morphological traits, the validity of several taxa, particularly those in the eastern part of their geographical range, remains disputed. We investigated the phylogenetic relationships and genetic diversity of snow sheep in the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug using genome-wide single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) data (935 loci after filtering) and complete mitochondrial genomes from 57 individuals collected across the Russian Far East (Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, Kamchatka Krai, Magadan Oblast, and Republic of Sakha (Yakutia)). Post SNP-genotyping nuclear genomic studies using principal component analysis (PCA), ADMIXTURE, pairwise FST and Neighbor-Net revealed two clearly differentiated groups within Chukotka. One included individuals from the Koryak Mountains that are genetically indistinguishable from the Koryak subspecies (O. n. koriakorum) of northern Kamchatka. The other one encompassed individuals from the Anadyr Plateau and the Chukotka Mountains cluster with the Okhotsk subspecies (O. n. alleni) of the Kolyma Mountains. Bayesian phylogeny of complete mitochondrial genomes fully corroborated the nuclear results: Koryak Mountains samples formed a monophyletic clade, while Anadyr–Chukotka samples grouped with Kolyma Mountains individuals. Genetic diversity indices (UHE, AR, FIS) in both Chukotka groups were comparable to other studied populations and showed no signs of inbreeding depression. Our results provide important insights and can be used to develop science-based strategies for preserving the population-genetic diversity of snow sheep.

The authors have developed a classification of the conditions for the Novorossiysk bora formation based on the data on the synoptic conditions preceding the phenomenon and contributing to its development. The Azores, North Atlantic, Siberian, and Arctic classes of the Novorossiysk bora have been identified. The authors also has developed a synoptic and climatic method for classifying the cases of the Novorossiysk bora, which consists in transition from analyzing typical schemes of synoptic processes to analyzing directly the fields of surface pressure and geopotential height that characterize each synoptic class of the Novorossiysk bora. The use of this method made it possible to use the data of modeling pressure fields, which are simulated by models much better than wind fields, for the forecast of the phenomenon. Due to this method, it became possible not only to detect cases of the Novorossiysk bora, but also to identify their classes for a long period from 1979 to the present and also to make a forecast of the frequency of the Novorossiysk bora in the 21st century. It has been found that the number of the bora events of the Siberian class, against which the bora of the frontal and monsoon types belonging to the most extreme ones in terms of their meteorological characteristics and consequences is more often observed, will increase in the periods of climate warming.

BackgroundThe rapid spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2) has generated a pandemic with alarming rates of fatality worldwide. This situation has had a major impact on clinical laboratories that have attempted to answer the urgent need for diagnostic tools, since the identification of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19). Development of a reliable serological diagnostic immunoassay, with high levels of sensitivity and specificity to detect SARS‐CoV‐2 antibodies with improved differential diagnosis from other circulating viruses, is mandatory.MethodsAn enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) using whole inactivated virus cultured in vitro, was developed to detect viral antigens. WB and ELISA investigations were carried out with sera of convalescent patients and negative sera samples. Both analyses were concurrently performed with recombinant MABs to verify the findings.ResultsPreliminary data from 10 sera (5 patients with COVID‐19, and 5 healthy controls) using this immunoassay are very promising, successfully identifying all of the confirmed SARS‐CoV‐2‐positive individuals.ConclusionThis ELISA appears to be a specific and reliable method for detecting COVID‐19 antibodies (IgG, IgM, and IgA), and a useful tool for identifying individuals which have developed immunity to the virus.

The relevant issue of urban transport infrastructure development is studied. The growth of social-and-economic processes, the rise in the standard of the population living, has led to the rapid increase in the number of passenger transport. The development of construction in cities, the consolidation of residential areas involves the improvement and development of transport and social infrastructure as well as the transport conditions. According to the domestic and foreign statistical data, the analysis of the state of transport infrastructure development is carried out and the structure of the forecast transport model is proposed. The impact of modern information technologies on improving the quality and safety of transport is also assessed. The developed forecast model for optimal development of transport infrastructure and the use of territories will allow to simplify the process of building a road network at the micro- and macro- levels; to display all the specifications of public and private transport in a single model; to solve operational and strategic tasks of transport planning for the preparation of projects for the organization and analysis of traffic flows at intersections and junctions. The practical significance is that the planning of transport flows of infrastructure will improve the efficiency and safety of urban transport through the use of modern communication technologies, computer systems and specialized software.

In the nuclear industry, the practical implementation of innovative projects of reactor facilities, such as NPP projects with the BN-1200 and BREST-300 reactors being developed within the new nuclear energy technological platform (NTP), is impossible without the adaptation of the existing or the creation of a corresponding new regulatory and legal framework. After the project development and licensing, the manufacture of separate elements, the NPP construction, commissioning and operation at all stages should be based on federal norms and rules (FNR) in the field of the atomic energy use. Another essential part of the work in the creation of innovative reactor facilities is scientifically based computer simulation to confirm the safety of the decisions made. The requirement to implement safety justifications with the use of software that has passed the relevant expertise is fixed at the legislative level. Thus, the processes of developing innovative NPP projects, new FNRs and advanced software (next-generation codes) should go almost simultaneously. Within the NTP framework IBRAE RAN, in collaboration with the scientific and design and engineering organizations of the industry, are developing new precision generation calculation complexes, describing in a related setting a wide range of physical processes and phenomena. The main features of the new generation software systems are multi-physical and multi-scale modeling. The FNR improvement in favor of the NTP is carried out under close cooperation between professionals and experts of Rostekhnadzor, “Rosatom” State Corporation, scientific organizations of the industry and the Russian Academy of Sciences, as well as innovative projects developers. An example of such effective cooperation is the activity of the working group created by the decisions of the heads of the Federal Service for Environmental, Technological and Nuclear Supervision and the Innovation Management Unit of “Rosatom” State Corporation in September 2015 to coordinate the work on the FNR improvement for the “Proryv” project. The WG members carried out a detailed analysis of the current FNRs and the needs of the “Proryv” Project, which allowed assessing and agreeing on the amount of necessary development of new or updating existing FNRs, as well as the priority of their development. As a result, “The List of Normative Documents regulating safety issues in implementing by organizations of “Rosatom” State Corporation the task of creating fast neutron reactors with a closed nuclear fuel cycle, to be developed or updated with prioritization and timing of their introduction into act” was agreed and accepted for further organization of work. To date, the editions of the priority FNRs have been developed and are being implemented. To detail the FNR requirements, a set of standards of “Rosatom” State Corporation has been developed and is being now approved. Thus, a reasonable approach is realized in the creation of innovative facilities, the technical solutions in which are adopted in accordance with the achieved level of science and technology and at the development stage naturally outrun existing norms and rules.

Asynthesis of (13C-methoxy)methacetin, one of the most important agents for liver function diagnosis by stable-isotope breath tests, was developed. It was based on O-alkylation of phenols by alkylhalides through an intermediate potassium salt of paracetamol [N-(4-hydroxyphenyl)acetamide]. The synthesis was carried out using 13C-methyliodide in the presence of K2CO3 in one step under mild conditions (20 – 25°C) with high selectivity to isolate the product in 97.8% yield, 99.6 mass% purity, and 99.1 at% isotopic purity. The physical properties were determined. Physicochemical analytical methods for (13C-methoxy)methacetin using NMR and IR spectroscopy and ESI-MS mass spectrometry were developed and could be used for quality control of the product during preparation for its mass production.

Characteristics of the thermocouples with W5%Re against W20%Re thermoelements were studied when the positive thermoelement was made of a composite with addition of 0.1% yttrium oxide nanoparticles having an average size of 50nm. Physical, mechanical and thermoelectric properties of the composite as well as its structural features were determined. The conditions of thermal EMF stabilization for the modified thermocouple were established under high temperatures annealing.

Telcagepant is a calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) receptor antagonist being evaluated for acute migraine treatment. CGRP is a potent vasodilator that is elevated after myocardial infarction, and it delays ischemia during treadmill exercise. We tested the hypothesis that CGRP receptor antagonism does not reduce treadmill exercise time (TET). The effects of supratherapeutic doses of telcagepant on TET were assessed in a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled, two-period, crossover study in patients with stable angina and reproducible exercise-induced angina. Patients received telcagepant (600 mg, n = 46; and 900 mg, n = 14) or placebo and performed treadmill exercise at T(max) (2.5 h after the dose). The hypothesis that telcagepant does not reduce TET was supported if the lower bound of the two-sided 90% confidence interval (CI) for the mean treatment difference (telcagepant-placebo) in TET was more than -60 s. There were no significant between-treatment differences in TET (mean treatment difference: -6.90 (90% CI: -17.66, 3.86) seconds), maximum exercise heart rate, or time to 1-mm ST-segment depression using pooled data or with stratification for dose.