Russian Academy Of Science Research Articles

VEGETABLE AND CUCURBITS CROPS. RESULTS OF INVESTIGATION IN 2012

The short results of investigation in 2012 of the Institutes of Russian Academy of Agricultural Science, Russian Academy of Science, and Institutions of Higher Education in the field of development of new varieties and high-precision and environmentally safe technologies of zonal agriculture of vegetable and cucurbits crops with utilization of new cultivars and hybrids, high-quality seeds, modern types of growing and mechanical equipment are described in the article.

The methodology for estimation of scientific activity in UNESCO department of Yugra State University

Проанализированы методики оценки эффективности научной деятельности, используемые в Российской академии наук и в Московском государственном университете им. М.В. Ломоносова. На их основе создана синтетическая методика, учитывающая как эффективность работы научного сотрудника в последний год (при помощи анализа статуса конференций, в которых он участвовал, импакт-факторов журналов, в которых он публиковался и т.д.), так и в предыдущие годы (по цитируемости его опубликованных работ). Для анализа цитируемости предложено использовать систему Google Scholar наряду с официально рекомендованными Web of Science, Scopus и РИНЦ.

<strong>New data on Carboniferous crinoids from the Moscow Region*</strong>

Despite more than 150 years of study of crinoids from the Moscow Region there are numerous undescribed taxa from well-known localities as well as others from poorly known localities. In recent years, through the acquisition of new collections as well as new discoveries, the holdings of Carboniferous crinoids of the Paleontological Institute, Russian Academy of Science have been greatly increased. This has allowed a more detailed study of the faunas, which is in pro­gress. Among the crinoids in the collection there are representatives of the family Pirasocrinidae Moore & Laudon, 1943, that are abundant in the Pennsylvanian of the USA, and previously unknown in the Carboniferous of the Moscow Region, as well as representatives of the genera Allosocrinus Strimple, 1949, Cibolocrinus Weller, 1909 and Elibatocrinus Moore, 1940, also previously unknown in the Moscow Region. There is also the first recognized Pennsylvanian member of the family Taxocrinidae Angelin, 1878. The stratigraphic distribution of the most common crinoids from the Carboniferous of the Moscow Region is compiled. The crinoid faunas that characterize the Upper Carboniferous Substages are described. They are represented by at least four crinoid faunas (Myachkovian, Khamovnikian, Dobryatinian and Noginskian) which are named respectively for the Substages name. The most typical crinoids of these faunas are mentioned, including unde­scribed forms. All previously described valid species of crinoids from the Carboniferous of the Moscow Region are listed.

OLD STEREOTYPES AND NEW TRENDS IN WORLD POLITICS

Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size Notes 1. Nassim Nicholas Taleb, “The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable” (Russian edition), (Moscow: Attikus, 2009), p. 14 2. A classic example is efforts by Gazprom and by the think tanks linked to it to persuade the public and the ruling elite that shale gas has no future. Obviously, rising production of shale gas threatens Gazprom's status as the largest supplier of gas to Europe. 3. Adjusting Chinese economic indicators for purchasing power parity (PPP) may not actually make a lot of sense. PPP indicators work well for countries with a roughly similar structure of the economy and quality of the goods and services being consumed. Adjusting Chinese output for PPP fails to take into account, for example, that about 50 percent of the Chinese live in rural areas and consume low-quality goods and services, including government-provided services and housing. For people in the developed countries, such goods and services have zero value. 4. Minxin Pei, “China's Governance Crisis,” Foreign Affairs, 2002, September/October, <http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/58248/minxin-pei/chinas-governance-crisis#>, last accessed May 8, 2012. 5. China 2030: Building a Modern, Harmonious, and Creative High-Income Society (Washington, D.C.: World Bank, 2012), p. 301. 6. “China Facing a Crisis,” presentation at an IMEMO RAN workshop on February 1, 2012. <http://www.imemo.ru/ru/conf/2012/01022012/Presentation_01022012_01.pdf>, last accessed May 8, 2012. 7. Andrey Lankov, “Modernization in East Asia, 1945–2010,” lecture read on February 4, 2010 at the Polytechnic Museum, Moscow, <http://polit.ru/article/2010/03/11/lankov/>, last accessed May 8, 2012. 8. “China's Hidden Debt Risks 2012 Crisis, Northwestern's Shih Says,” Bloomberg News, March 2, 2010, <http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aN94MF7BDx_A>, last accessed May 8, 2012. 9. Gordon Chang, “China's Looming Debt Disaster,” August 23, 2011, <http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2011/08/23/why-china-s-debt-problems-are-worse-than-america-s.html>, last accessed May 8, 2012. 10. “China Facing a Crisis,” presentation at an Institute of World Economy and International Relations (IMEMO, Russian Academy of Science) workshop on February 1, 2012, <http://www.imemo.ru/ru/conf/2012/01022012/Presentation_01022012_01.pdf>, last accessed May 8, 2012. 11. “China Facing a Crisis,” presentation at an Institute of World Economy and International Relations (IMEMO, Russian Academy of Science) workshop on February 1, 2012, <http://www.imemo.ru/ru/conf/2012/01022012/Presentation_01022012_01.pdf>, last accessed May 8, 2012. 12. China 2030: Building a Modern, Harmonious, and Creative High-Income Society, World Bank, 2012. 13. China 2030: Building a Modern, Harmonious, and Creative High-Income Society, World Bank, 2012. 14. “2012 Global R&D Funding Forecast,” Battelle (December 2011), pp. 28–29. 15. Anil K. Gupta and Wang Haiyan, “Chinese Innovation is a Paper Tiger,” Wall Street Journal, July 28, 2011, <http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111904800304576472034085730262.html>, last accessed July 13, 2012. 16. “Global High-value Patents, by Selected Region/Country: 2000–2008,” <http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/seind12/slides.htm>, last accessed May 8, 2012. 17. “Annual Energy Outlook 2012: Early Release Overview,” U.S. Energy Information Administration, p. 1. 18. “The Economic and Employment Contributions of Shale Gas in the United States,” IHS Global Insight, December 2011, p. 9. 19. Evgenia Korytina, “Oil at 3 Dollars a Barrel,” RBK Daily, November 1, 2010, <http://www.rbcdaily.ru/2010/11/01/tek/523807>, last accessed May 8, 2012. 20. John Dizard, “The True Cost of Shale Gas Production,” Financial Times, March 7, 2010, <http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/e34f5282-2899-11df-a0b100144feabdc0.html#axzz1uZpCa3YS>, last accessed May 8, 201). 21. Nikolay Ivanov, “The Pipe of Our Worries”, Novaya Gazeta, May 4, 2012. 22. Timofey Krylov, “Development of the Russian Arctic Shelf is Inevitable. New Technologies Required To Make Production Economical,” Oil and Gas Eurasia, No. 4 (April 2011), <http://www.oilandgaseurasia.ru/articles/p/139/article/1480/>, last accessed May 8, 2012. 23. Lilia Shevtsova, “Pretend Modernization: Medvedev-led Russia has Wasted Four Years,” Gazeta, May 4, 2012, <http://www.gazeta.ru/comments/2012/05/03_x_4570813.shtml>, last accessed May 8, 2012. 24. Viktor Yesin and Evgeny Savostyanov, “European Missile Defense Without Myths or Politics,” Nezavisimoye Voennoye Obozreniye, April 13, 2012, <http://nvo.ng.ru/armament/2012-04-13/1_pro.html?mpril>, last accessed May 8, 2012. 25. “General Staff Does Not Rule Out the Possibility of Launching a Pre-emptive Strike against the European Missile Defense System,” RIA Novosti, May 3, 2012, <http://www.ria.ru/defense_safety/20120503/640042925.html>, last accessed May 8, 2012.

Russian enterprises in spring 2012: No significant positive changes

The results of a regular poll of the real economic sector’s enterprises conducted by the laboratory of analysis and forecasting of macroeconomic processes at the Economic Forecasting Institute, Russian Academy of Science, are analyzed and commented in the paper.

Macroeconomic dynamics of the Russian economy in the long term

The article presents the main provisions of the macroeconomic section of the regular long term forecasts of the Institute for Economic Forecasting, Russian Academy of Science, prepared in 2012. The key idea of the forecast is based on an assessment of the growth potential of the Russian economy. It is necessary for the definition of an economic policy aimed at achieving this potential result in the perspective until 2030.

Ranking Institutes of the Russian Academy of Sciences by the Russian Science Citation Index: The case of Chemical Research Institutes

In recent years, there has been lively discussion of the criteria to assess the productivity of individual scientists, scientific groups, and organizations within the scientific community. At present, one of the key strategies for evaluating the effectiveness of research is a quantitative description of publication activities. This characteristic is generated by the information and analytical system of the Russian Science Citation Index for Russian authors, organizations, and scientific periodicals. This paper analyzes a specific example of this system on bibliometric indicators of 22 institutes of the Department of Chemistry and Materials Science of the Russian Academy of Science (RAS). This paper discusses the strengths and weaknesses of the principles underpinning the ranking of scientific organizations based on these indicators.

PECULIARITIES OF THE FATTY-ACID COMPOSITION OF BIRCH BUDS IN CONDITIONS OF YAKUTIA

s. PHYTOPHARM 2012 M 88 Obzory po kliniceskoj farmacologii i lekarstvennoj terapii [Reviews of clinical pharmacology and drug therapy] ТОМ 10/2012/2 PECULIARITIES OF THE FATTY-ACID COMPOSITION OF BIRCH BUDS IN CONDITIONS OF YAKUTIA © Perk A. A., Chepalov V. A., Petrov K. A. Institute of Biological Problems of Cryolithozone, SB, Russian Academy of Science, Yakutsk, Russia birch buds in the form of decoction and tincture possess cholagogic, sudorific and diuretic properties, externally; they possess wound healing, antiseptic properties. The activity of the drugs may be connected with their fatty acid composition, depending on the time of buds collection. With the help of column chromatography, the quality composition and the content of fatty acids of the buds lipids B. platyphylla, which is one of the most frost resistant leaved species in the world, growing on the territory of the central yakutia, was studied seasonally. All in all, 17 fatty acids are identified. in summer and in autumn, 11 and 9 fatty acids were depicted respectively, and in winter 16 fatty acids were discovered, and it is much more. The absolute content of fatty acids in buds constituted (summer-winter): 14.9+1.5–18.0+1.9 mg/g of the dry substance, the relative content of separate fatty acids: saturated-palmitic (C16:0) 23.7–24.4 %, stearin (C18:0) 4.1–2.7 %, arachidic (C20:0) 5.1–2.8 %, begenic (C22:0) 10.3–4.8 % and unsaturated-oleinic (C18:1) 4.5–4.4 %, linolenic (C18:3)20.0–10.9 %. After fall of the leaves, recession was marked twice the level of saturated long-chained fatty acids (C>22) and increase of the part of fatty acids on 18 %. Among unsaturated fatty acids in birch, the clear dynamics had two acidslinoleic, the relative content of which grew on 14 % in autumn and in winter on 58 %, and the linolenic one, the content of which, on the contrary, decreased almost twice. in winter, minor fatty acids with odd quantity of atoms were foundpentadecane (C 15:0), margaric (C17:0) and unsaturated fatty acids of the eicosane row (C20:1–3). Thus, obtained data on seasonal dynamics of quality and quantity composition of buds lipids b. plathylla fatty acids, justify to considerable increase in winter of the common level of polyunsaturated fatty acids, mainly on the account of the linoleic acid. Probably, plants, enduring extreme low temperature stress in the conditions of yakutia (up to –60 °C), capable to accumulation of the large quantity of the polyunsaturated fatty acids row, possessing f-vitamin activity, in comparison with similar species of more moderate places of habitation, and it is necessary to take it into account while making drugs from them. MOLECULAR CLONING AND EXPRESSION OF O-METHYLTRANSFERASES FROM OPIUM POPPY © Pongkitwitoon Benyakan, Sakamoto Seiichi, Sasaki Kaori, Tanaka Hiroyuki, Morimoto Satoshi Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan Papaver somniferum (opium poppy) has been known to be the essential source for several pharmaceutically important benzylisoquinoline alkaloids (biAs) such as morphine, codeine, sanguinarine and papaverine. o-Methylation is regarded as an important reaction step in biAs biosynthesis. Several cdNAs encoding proteins that catalyze these reactions have been reported, whereas many steps are still unclear. in this study, we attempt to clone P.somniferum o-methyltransferases to better understand biosynthetic pathways of biAs in this plant. CdNA fragments encoding o-methyltransferase were amplified by homologybased RT-PCR using degenerate primers designed from conserved sequences of reported P.somniferum o-methyltransferases. 3’and 5’end regions of cdNAs were obtained by rapid amplifications of cdNA ends. The full length cdNAs were then engineered to be expressed in silkworm using a rapid Bombyx mori nucleopolyhedrovirus (bmNPV) bacmid dNA system. four cdNAs encoding polypeptides named PSOMT1, PSOMT2, PSOMT3, and PSOMT4, which consist 355, 356, 354, and 358 amino acids respectively, were cloned. Conserved motifs including SAM binding region, catalytic histidine, and metal binding region were found. The cloned cdNAs encoding these peptides are successfully expressed in the hemolymph of silkworm larvae. The purified PSOMTs are to be characterized as further study.

ISOLATION OF GELATIN HYDROLYSATES EFFECTIVE ON BONE FORMATION AND RESORPTION

s. PHYTOPHARM 2012 M 78 Obzory po kliniceskoj farmacologii i lekarstvennoj terapii [Reviews of clinical pharmacology and drug therapy] ТОМ 10/2012/2 leaves, to rats and understanding of the relevant mechanisms governing the intestinal absorption and presystemic elimination. To define the ginkgo compounds to be studied, literature informatics-guided chemical profiling revealed that GbE50 extract contained 72 ginkgo constituents, including terpene lactones, flavonols, flavones, an isoflavone, biflavones, flavanols, and carboxylic acids, at levels ranging from 0.01 to 55.3 mg/g. Among the ginkgo constituent groups were the terpene lactones and the flavonols that were significantly measurable in plasma after p. o. administration of GbE50 extract to rats. The intestinal absorption of terpene lactones appeared to be dictated by their intermediate membrane permeability, while the influences of MdR-1-and MRP-2-mediated intestinal efflux and the presystemic metabolism and biliary excretion might be relatively limited. because of their deglycosylation absent in the small intestine and relatively slow presystemic elimination, many intact flavonol glycosides appeared in the rat plasma albeit with a limited extent of absorption. Colonic deglycosylation of the flavonol glycosides occurred and the glucuronides of flavonol aglycones were also measured in the plasma. Although some biflavones also had relatively high abundance in GbE50 extract, these ginkgo constituents were not measured in the rat plasma because of their poor solubility and poor permeability that hindered the intestinal absorption. The levels of the remaining ginkgo constituents in GbE50 extract were too low to be measured in the rat plasma. The current study enabled us to better understand the nature of systemic exposure to ginkgo compounds after p. o. administration of GbE50 extract and to more precisely implement multicomponent Pk study of the extract. BIOPHARMACEUTICAL ASPECTS OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF A PHYTOECDISTEROIDS (PE) OINTMENT COMPOSITION © Molokhova E. , Lipin D. , Volodin V. 2 Perm State Pharmaceutical Academy, Russia Institute of Biology, Komi Scientific Centre, Ural Branch, Russian Academy of Science, Syktyvkar, Russia РЕ are analogues of insect steroid hormones occurring in plants. The establishment of reparative activity of PE (1) makes it relevant to develop compositions on their base. РЕ molecules have six or more hydroxyl groups and hydrophobic core and therefore the influence of the ointment composition nature on the bioavailability of PE was trialed. in these investigations preparation Serpisten (mixture of 20-hydroxyecdisone and 25S-inocosterone obtained from the plant Serratula coronata l.) has been used. for this purpose three types of compositions have been prepared at a concentration of Serpisten 0.02 % (w/w): hydrophobic (lanolin and vaseline — C1), hydrophilic (3 % sodium carboxymethyl cellulose gel — C2), emulsive (aerosil, vaseline oil, water purified, monoglyceride purified — C3). biopharmaceutical evaluation of prepared formulations has been performed using drug releasing from the compositions by dialysis through a membrane with subsequent determination of the release profile in the UV region at λ = 240nm. The concentration of PE was determined at 30, 60 and 120 minutes of dialysis. The test revealed that the PE release from the C3 was almost entirely (100.2 %), while from C2 76.5 % of the total amount of PE was passed to aqueous medium, and from C1 only 37.5 %. during the rheological studies it has been established that the shear stress at the C1 was less than 80 Pa*s at C2–300 Pa*s and at C3 156 Pa*s. C3 is the closest to the «bepanthen» ointment (bayer, Germany), which has the wound-healing activity (211 Pa*s.). for further PE reparative properties trials, C3 have been chosen, for this test linear aseptic wound model has been used. in five days it was found that, the scar strength in experimental group was 281.6 ± 40.4 gr., in control group 160.8 ± 18.0 gr. and in intact — 123.4 ± 20.0 gr. This data are higher 1.75 times in experimental group, compared with a control group (p = 0.021) and 2.28 times in the intact (p = 0.009). The result of this work was the development of preparing technology topical emulsive formulation having the high bioavailability. Reference: (1) Meybeck A, bontc f. 1990. Ecdysteroid-containing liposomes for wound healing and skin regeneration. demande fR 2,637,182. (Chemical Abstracts 114: 30138r).

USNIC ACID CONTENT AND ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITY OF THREE LICHEN EXTRACTS

s. PHYTOPHARM 2012 M 68 Obzory po kliniceskoj farmacologii i lekarstvennoj terapii [Reviews of clinical pharmacology and drug therapy] ТОМ 10/2012/2 (+)-USNIC ACID CONTENT AND ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITY OF THREE LICHEN EXTRACTS © Koptina A. , Shcherbakova A. , Soldati F. , Gabdullin M. , Kanarskiy A. , Ulrich-Merzenich G. 3 Mari State Technical University, Yoshkar-ola, Russia Pharmaton SA, 6934 Bioggio, Switzerland Medical Clinic III, University of Bonn, Willhelmstr. 35–37, 53111 Bonn, Germany lichens produce a variety of secondary metabolites which belong to the depsides, depsidones, dibenzofurans and pulvinic acid derivative family. They proved to be a good source of natural antioxidants (1). Usnic acid uniquely found in many lichens has been reported to have analgesic, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, antiplatelet/antithrombotic, antiviral, cytotoxic/antiproliferative, gastroprotective, weight loss, and wound healing activity (2). We examined the (+)-usnic acid content and the anti-oxidative properties of the chloroform extract of lichen: Cladonia sylvatica (l.) hoffm., Evernia prunastri (l.) Ach. and Usnea barbata (l.) Wigg. (s. i.) were collected in Mari El Republic of Russian federation in June, 2011. Reverse phase hPlC analysis was carried out (Perkin Elmer Series 200 hPlC instrument; C18 column (C18; 25 cm ×4.6 mm, 5μm); UV/Vid detector; solvent: methanol-water-phosphoric acid (80:20:.9, v/v/v)). The sample injection volume was 20 μl and the flow rate 1.0 ml/min. A standard of (+)-usnic acid was used. The total antioxidant activity of the extracts was evaluated by the phosphomolybdenum method as described Manojlovic et al. (3). The chloroform extracts of C. sylvatica, E. prunastri and U. barbata showed contents of (+)-usnic acid of 8.91 ± 1.18, 5.68 ± 0.47 and 74.49 ± 8.64 % respectively. The antioxidant activities were: 277.1 ± 20.0, 171.1 ± 17.1 and 205.8 ± 7.2 mg of ascorbic acid (AA) per g of extract respectively; in comparison, the antioxidant activity of the (+)-usnic acid standard was determined as 154 ± 6.5 mg AA/g. We can report that U. barbata is a good source of (+)-usnic acid. Other secondary metabolites than (+)-usnic acid present in C. sylvatica and E. prunastri contribute to their high antioxidant activity and need to be further investigated.

Ion Heating in Dusty Plasma of Noble Gas Mixtures

AbstractIon heating in dusty plasma of noble gas mixtures is studied by the observation of dust particles in stratified glow discharge. The particles and their formations can be used as a “contact‐free” probe of the ion flows. It is shown that under condition of experiments transition of dust particles into crystalline state in pure gases occur at much lower pressures in comparison to the case of gas mixtures. This observation is also supported by the evaluation of “effective” kinetic temperature of dust particles as defined from the velocity distribution function at the same set of discharge parameters. Absolute value of temperature of dust component in the mixture of helium and argon indicates important role of argon ionization process (© 2011 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH &amp; Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

Paichadze S. - bibliologist Scientist and the Researcher of Regional Book Business

The review of the scientific biography of S. Paichadze compiled by N.Vishnyakov and published in the publishing house of State Public Scientific Technical Library of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Science.

The Moscow Colloquium on Electroencephalography of Higher Nervous Activity and Its Impact on International Brain Research

Late 1950s was a period of recognition of Russian neurophysiology by international neuroscience community and vice versa. This process of “opening windows in both directions” might be illustrated by the story of The Moscow Colloquium on Electroencephalography of Higher Nervous Activity. The Colloquium took place on October 6–11, 1958 at the House of Scientists in Moscow. It was organized by the Academy of Sciences of the USSR under the initiative of the Institute for Higher Nervous Activity and focused on (a) EEG correlates of cortical excitation and inhibition; (b) electrophysiological study of different brain structures and their role in conditioned reflexes; and (c) EEG of higher nervous activity in humans. At the final session it was suggested to launch an International Year for the Study of the Brain and to ask UNESCO for international coordination of brain research. This resulted into the International Brain Research Organization (IBRO) founded in 1960. This article is based on unpublished records of international contacts of Soviet neurophysiologists and organization of the Moscow Colloquium from the Archive of Russian Academy of Science (ARAN), reports in Soviet periodicals, publications in obscure Festschriften, etc.

Boris Riftin and Chinese Popular Woodblock Prints As Sources on Traditional Chinese Theater

Boris Riftin (a.k.a., Li Fuqing 李福清), Professor at the Institute of World Literature, Russian Academy of Science, was born in Leningrad in 1932 (fig. 1). He is recognized for his extensive publications on Chinese popular literature. Two aspects of his career are less well known. First, that he often used Chinese popular woodblock prints in his research on Chinese oral performing literature. Second, that he made Chinese popular prints held in Russian collections available to a broader audience for investigation. The purpose of this essay is threefold: to introduce Riftin‘s work with Chinese opera prints, his efforts to publicize Chinese prints in Russian collections, and how depictions of traditional Chinese theater (referred to as opera below) in the prints might be of value in understanding aspects of the history of the genre. Chinese popular prints are inexpensive, mostly colored woodblock prints destined for the mass market. They often are termed ―new year prints‖ (nianhua 年畫). This term is misleading because only some, but not all, of these prints were printed to replace earlier versions of themselves during the New Year season. Pairs of door guard prints pasted on exterior doors, exposed to wind and rain, easily became tattered and so needed to be replaced annually. Images of the Stove God placed in the kitchen, ritually burned in New Year ceremonies, would be replaced each year with a new one. Prints in demand at other times of the year include images of protective deities, sometimes used in rituals observing their birthday. Some prints containing auspicious motifs were considered

Game models of network auctions and their laboratory researches

Cooperative game theory is proposed to be used for analyzing the results of network auctions. The main properties of cooperative games, simulating network markets such as superadditivity, the nonempty core, and convexity are studied. Cooperative game theory is used to analyze one of the laboratory network markets studied at the Laboratory for Experimental Economics at the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology and Computer Center, Russian Academy of Science

Spike patterns similarity in bursts of spontaneous activity in hippocampal cultures using MEA

Spike patterns similarity in bursts of spontaneous activity in hippocampal cultures using MEA

Role of regional offices of the Russian Academy of Sciences in the innovation development of regions

The role of regional branches of the Russian Academy of Sciences as the basic elements of regional innovative systems creating scientific reserves and cultural base for development of the population creative potential and activity of the innovative enterprises is shown. Indicators of resource security and productivity of regional branches of the Russian Academy of Sciences activity in 2008 are considered. The main trends of regional branches development are allocated; within them the frameworks cooperation and competitive relations of large scientific and technical agglomerations of the country for attraction of scientific personnel and investments will be formed. Illustrative examples from experience of development of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Science in the last decade, characterizing strategic directions of development of regional branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences are resulted.

Can superconducting rings provide clues to the early development of the universe?

Watching a metal transform into a superconductor, it may not be obvious that this transition provides access to some of the same physics that governed the cooling of the universe following the Big Bang. Yet at the root of both of these phenomena—albeit at astronomically different energy scales—is the question of how defects form in a continuous phase transition. In a paper appearing in Physical Review B[1], Roberto Monaco at the Universita di Salerno in Italy, Jesper Mygind at the Technical University of Denmark, Ray Rivers at Imperial College London, UK, and Valery Koshelets at the Russian Academy of Science in Moscow have taken ideas about the early development of the universe and applied them to the dynamics of the superconducting phase transition in metal rings. In doing so, they introduce an elegant way to measure the tiny flux quanta that are trapped at the centers of these rings, and develop a new understanding of how the cooling process works in mesoscopic systems.

Polythematic database of the All-Russian scientific and technical information institute of the Russian Academy of science during 2001–2008

In this article the connection of the general classification of sciences is represented that was developed by B.M. Kedrov using the thematic content of database fragments based on free volumes and separate issues of the Abstract Journal of the All-Russian scientific and technical information institute (VINITI) of the Russian Academy of Science. The distribution of total document data flows is obtained for different areas according to knowledge classification in the database of the All-Russian scientific and technical information institute during 1981–2008. The peculiarities of formation of VINITI polythematic database and its statistical characteristics during 2001–2008 are considered. Polythematic databases of the leading countries of the world are compared.

Earthquake prediction activities and Damavand earthquake precursor test site in Iran

Iran has long been known as one of the most seismically active areas of the world, and it frequently suffers destructive and catastrophic earthquakes that cause heavy loss of human life and widespread damage. The Alborz region in the northern part of Iran is an active EW trending mountain belt of 100 km wide and 600 km long. The Alborz range is bounded by the Talesh Mountains to the west and the Kopet Dagh Mountains to the east and consists of several sedimentary and volcanic layers of Cambrian to Eocene ages that were deformed during the late Cenozoic collision. Several active faults affect the central Alborz. The main active faults are the North Tehran and Mosha faults. The Mosha fault is one of the major active faults in the central Alborz as shown by its strong historical seismicity and its clear morphological signature. Situated in the vicinity of Tehran city, this 150-km-long N100° E trending fault represents an important potential seismic source. For earthquake monitoring and possible future prediction/precursory purposes, a test site has been established in the Alborz mountain region. The proximity to the capital of Iran with its high population density, low frequency but high magnitude earthquake occurrence, and active faults with their historical earthquake events have been considered as the main criteria for this selection. In addition, within the test site, there are hot springs and deep water wells that can be used for physico-chemical and radon gas analysis for earthquake precursory studies. The present activities include magnetic measurements; application of methodology for identification of seismogenic nodes for earthquakes of M ≥ 6.0 in the Alborz region developed by International Institute of Earthquake Prediction Theory and Mathematical Geophysics, IIEPT RAS, Russian Academy of Science, Moscow (IIEPTM a feasibility study using a dense seismic network for identification of future locations of seismic monitoring stations and application of short-term prediction of medium- and large-size earthquakes is based on Markov and extended self-similarity analysis of seismic data. The establishment of the test site is ongoing, and the methodology has been selected based on the IASPEI evaluation report on the most important precursors with installation of (i) a local dense seismic network consisting of 25 short-period seismometers, (ii) a GPS network consisting of eight instruments with 70 stations, (iii) magnetic network with four instruments, and (iv) radon gas and a physico-chemical study on the springs and deep water wells.