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The paper proposes new methods of normalisation of geometrical parameters of macro-roughness of road and bridge pavements on the basis of natural harmonic analysis (in development of Fourier series application), applied, among others, for steel-reinforced concrete and metal orthotropic slabs of bridge structures.

Objective. To conduct a comparative analysis of blood pressure (BP) profile characteristics in middle-aged (45–65 years) patients with stage 1–2 hypertension not associated with comorbid cardiovascular disease depending on smoking status; to estimate the influence of fixed combination of amlodipine and lisinopril (FC A/L) use on these characteristics. Materials and methods. At the first stage of the study 60 untreated patients (31 men, 29 women, mean age 53.6±0.8 years) with stage 1–2 hypertension were divided in two groups according to smoking status. The smoking group included 11 men and 11 women with mean age 53.4±1.2 years, non-smoking group – 20 men and 18 women with mean age 53.7±1.0 years. Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) (monitor MDP-НС-02с, DMS) and BP measurement based on Korotkov sound technique as well as transthoracic echocardiography were performed in all patients. At the second stage a subgroup of 30 untreated patients (16 men, mean age 52.7±1.11 years, 40% smokers [12 patients]) was formed. Patients received FC A/L (Ekvator®) with starting dose 5 mg/10 mg titrated every 14 days until target BP lower than 140/90 mm Hg was reached. The therapy was continued for 12 weeks, after that ABPM was performed again. Results. In smokers and non-smokers with hypertension no significant differences in BP levels in office BP measurement and ABPM were observed. At the second stage all 30 patients receiving FC A/L reached target office BP levels. In subgroups of smokers and non-smokers with hypertension significant office systolic BP (p

The Modified Source Multiplication method is used to determine an unknown reactivity level of a reactor from a known one if one has access to the detector counting for both levels when the reactor is fed by a constant neutron source like an Am-Be source. When available, an accelerator driven source, in continuous mode, can be useful as its intensity can be tunable and then adapted to the experimental conditions. However, in that case, the MSM technique must be extended to account for an external source whose intensity, energy and angular distributions can vary from one measurement to another. In this paper, this Modified Multi-Source Multiplication (MMSM) method is applied to measurements done during the FREYA project in the GUINEVERE facility, operated with the GENEPI-3C accelerator providing a mixture of (D,T) and (D,D) neutrons. The monitoring of these sources through the detection of the associated charged particles allows the calculation of the MMSM factors and the estimate of the reactivity values. The results are compared in different configurations with the reactivity obtained with an Am-Be source or in dynamic measurements performed with GENEPI-3C. Their excellent agreement shows the possibility of using such accelerator-based neutron sources for MSM measurements when they are correctly monitored. This is of great interest for deep sub-critical level characterization for which detector count rates per source neutrons might be low.

Three sub-critical (SC) core configurations were investigated in the VENUS-F zero power reactor coupled with the GENEPI-3C accelerator. The SC10 and SC12 were a mock-up of a MYRRHA start-up core and SC11 represented a more complex MYRRHA core loaded with various types of in-pile-sections. The sub-criticality of 11 variants of these VENUS-F cores was changed in several steps from -6$ down to -30$ using the safety and control rods. Their sub-criticalities were determined with the Source Jerk Integral (SJI) method using 11 fission chambers located all over the reactor. For the data analysis, the 8-group delayed neutron parameters from the JEFF-3.1.2 evaluated nuclear data library were used. Reliability and reproducibility of the experimental results were tested by repeating the measurements, swapping the detectors and varying the accelerator beam intensity, thus changing the detector count rates and verifying the validity of the dead time corrections. The obtained results are compared with MCNP calculations.

The book under review is a new monograph by L.S. Voronkov ‘Liberal values in theory and practice. On the issues of intellectual decolonization of Russia’, published in 2024. The reviewer discusses in detail several key topics and central ideas of the book under consideration. The first section covers the author’s views on a set of problems related to the specifics of power relations and the role of political elites in Western liberal democratic states. It also highlights the political and economic contradictions inherent to the liberal democratic model of social development, propagated by the countries of the ‘collective West’ in order to maintain their own dominance in the system of international relations. It is shown that, along with economic and political instruments, Western elites do not disdain practices of cultural hegemony, arising from the colonialism and neocolonialism. The second section considers L.S. Voronkov’s views on the issues of intellectual colonialism. Special attention is paid to the role of Western approaches within the theory of international relations in legitimizing and promoting the interests of the United States and its allies. It is shown that these approaches, positioned as strictly scientific, actually represented a sophisticated system aimed at concealing the real economic interests of Western countries. In this context, the book by L.S. Voronkov is of particular interest since it makes a strong case for the development of Russia’s own perspective on international relations, with due regard to its specific historical features. Although some author’s conclusions and observations can be contested, L.S. Voronkov’s monograph will hopefully contribute to the emergence of Russian sovereign international relations studies.

For a considerable period of time, peer review has been regarded as the cornerstone of academic journals and scientific communication, ensuring the high quality and reliability of published materials. However, in the early decades of the 21st century, a growing number of scholars began to challenge the traditional peer review procedure, questioning its efficacy. This study aims to provide a fresh perspective on the peer review mechanism, with the objective of enhancing the implementation of scientific communication's functionalities. The research employs historical analysis techniques and modelling methods based on Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN) to compare diverse review models in terms of their influence on scientific communication. BPMN is a conventional tool employed for modelling and describing business processes. The evolution of the peer review procedure is explored, encompassing an examination of the factors contributing to current and future transformations in the publishing realm. The author refers to the crisis of the conventional peer review system and the growing prevalence of preprints, serving as exemplars of these transformations. Finally, suggestions for the implementation of the post-publication review workflow in Russia are provided.

The article discusses the factors that increase the arterial stiffness: the blood pressure, atherosclerosis, smoking, diabetes, age. Given evidence that pulse wave velocity and a number of other indicators that reflect the state of the vascular wall, are markers for increased risk of cardiovascular complications and mortality. The influence of antihypertensive drugs of different groups on the stiffness of the vascular wall, with particular attention paid to the effects of drugs from group of diuretics. We discuss possible mechanisms of the influence of indapamide retard on the elastic properties of vessels. It is emphasized that the influence on the stiffness of the arteries of different antigipertenzivny medicines, even belong to the same class, is different, due to differences in pharmacokinetic properties.

Objective. To consider involvement in cyber socialization as a predictor of unembodiment in the Internet among youth. Background. Unembodiment is a phenomenon that appears as a result of using the Internet and negatively affects the development of personality. On the other hand, using the Internet can provide a resource for socialization in the real world. Study design. After the psychodiagnostic stage of the study, the theoretically distinguished components of unembodiment on the Internet and engagement in cybersocialization were compared according to controlled parameters – gender, level of education, form of employment, marital status, and a regression model of unembodiment was built. Participants. The sample consisted of 106 respondents (26,4% men, 73,6% women), aged from 18 to 25 years (M = 22,14; SD = 1,6). Measurements. The cyber socialization engagement questionnaire, questionnaire “Unembodiment in the Internet”. Results. Most of the respondents have average levels of unembodiment, as well as engagement in cybersocialization. Unembodiment on the Internet and engagement in destructive cybersocialization are higher among males, unmarried respondents, unemployed, as well as among respondents with incomplete higher education. Predictors of unembodiment on the Internet are gender, the form of employment and the severity of destructive engagement in cybersocialization. Conclusions. Unembodiment on the Internet manifests itself with destructive engagement in cybersocialization. Constructive engagement in cybersocialization is observed among respondents who can be called socialized in real life – those who have a job and a family. Network activity aimed at socialization in the real world can lead to a harmonious coexistence of reality and virtuality in a person and socialization in both these spheres.

VENUS-F is a fast zero power reactor with 30 wt% U fuel and Pb/Bi as a coolant simulator. Depending on the experimental configuration, various neutron spectra (fast, epithermal, and thermal islands) are present. This paper gives a review of the nuclear instrumentation that is applied for reactor control and in a large variety of physics experiments. Activation foils and fission chambers are used to measure spatial neutron flux profiles, spectrum indices, reactivity effects (with positive period and compensation method or the MSM method) and kinetic parameters (with the Rossi-alpha method). Fission chamber calibrations are performed in the standard irradiation fields of the BR1 reactor (prompt fission neutron spectrum and Maxwellian thermal neutron spectrum).

Agricultural and industrial activities are increasing pollution of water bodies with low doses of xenobiotics that have detrimental effects on aquaculture. The aim of this work was to determine the possibility of using Levilactobacillus brevis 47f culture in fish aquaculture under the influence of low doses of xenobiotics as an adaptogen. An increase in the survival of Danio rerio individuals exposed to the xenobiotic bisphenol A solution and fed with the L. brevis 47f was shown compared to control groups and, at the same time, the cytokine profile in the intestinal tissues of Danio rerio was also investigated. Analysis of differential gene expression of the L. brevis 47f grown under the action of high concentrations of bisphenol A showed changes in mRNA levels of a number of genes, including genes of various transport proteins, genes involved in fatty acid synthesis, genes of transcriptional regulators, genes of the arabinose operon, and the oppA gene. The identification of L. brevis 47f proteins from polyacrylamide gel by mass spectrometry revealed L-arabinose isomerase, Clp chaperone subunit, ATP synthase subunits, pentose phosphate pathway and glycolysis enzyme proteins, which are likely part of the L. brevis 47f strain’s anti-stress response, but probably do not affect its adaptogenic activity toward Danio rerio.