Home – Home – Jornals – Region: Economics and Sociology 2019 number 1

The article argues that a full-fledged analysis of the scale, causes and consequences of interregional differences in production and consumption indicators cannot be carried out with a limited number of the most immediate statistical factors. The most typical ones - GRP per capita, average wages and per capita income - are insufficient for obtaining objective conclusions and identifying all the factors that cause interregional differentiation, and they also lead to overestimating the scale of such differentiation. Moreover, in order to determine the scale of donation and recipientism, it is also clearly insufficient to compare data on the amounts of budget revenues and regional consolidated budget expenditures. The article shows how different factors of interregional differentiation can be when defined with various approaches.

The article presents a methodology for inclusive growth assessment in the Russian regions by building an appropriate comprehensive index. We seek to understand how, in a few years, economic growth, based on high energy prices, has reduced inequality, poverty and environmental pressures in the regions, and what trends have emerged in recent years. The article shows that a number of the most developed regions, e.g. Leningrad, Tyumen, Kaluga, Voronezh and Moscow Oblasts, the Republic of Tatarstan, St. Petersburg, have significantly improved their performance, especially in the field of increasing longevity, growing income, reducing the environmental burden. But in the period from 2012 to 2015, the value of the inclusive growth index in Russia fell to the level of 2007, and its differentiation between regions has increased dramatically. Accordingly, the results of a decade work to improve the sustainability and equity of regional devefopment have been partially nullified. In 2016, the index recovered to the level of 2011. For policy recommendations, it is important that the regions, where economic growth was accompanied by positive externalities in social and environmental sectors, were more resilient to external shocks. The developed index makes it possible to assess the dynamics and differentiation of socio-economic development of regions in terms of sustainability and inclusiveness.

The article aims to estimate an effect of health capital on the economic growth in Russian regions in endogenous growth models with expenditure on science and healthcare. Estimation of health capital’s effect on regional growth is carried out within a framework that accounts for expenditure on healthcare in the increase of quality of human capital. Based on data for 80 Russian regions for 2005-2013, the author builds fixed effects panel and Arellano-Bond regressions accounting for reverse causality and tests a hypothesis about statistically significant positive effect of public expenditure on healthcare on the rate of economic growth in Russian regions. The results show that an increase in public health expenditure as a share of GRP by 1 pp results in a rise of GRP growth rate by 1.34 pp. Private expenditure on healthcare that are mainly related to consumption of paid medical services have a negative effect on regional growth in the Arellano-Bond model. The findings of this study can be used by regional governments when developing policies in science and healthcare.

An analysis of the socio-economic situation in Arkhangelsk Oblast with statistic research methods helps to identify the causes influencing levelsof unemployment and employment, develop ways to reduce unemployment and increase employment, determine the industries that contribute to the development of the region’s economy until 2030. A review of the core documents aimed at reducing unemployment in Arkhangelsk Oblast allows assessing the legal framework critically and pointing out its imperfections.

The article examines the problems of organization’s reputational risk, reveals its essence and structure. The ability to preserve business reputation resilience has become particularly relevant in the light of intensified competition, its new forms and methods emerging, intangible assets becoming more important, information resources in the digital economy growing in quality and quantity, etc. Having analyzed the results of our 2018 sociological survey in the Ural and Volga federal districts, we establish a position towards the prevalence of reputational risk and the ability of organizations to remain resistant to it. The article identifies the most significant causes of reputational loss or reputational crises. A thesis is argued that the absence of a specific system to protect goodwill can lead to reputational crises that inflict substantial damage to the organization’s reputation and reduce its competitiveness. We highlight principles of ensuring reputation resilience in an organization and its ability to work with reputational risk. The article especially focuses on the need to use competitive early warning technology, as well as to identify the most effective measures, including proactive ones, and actions to protect business reputation. We consider certain issues of reputational vulnerability assessment and recognize prerequisites for its decline in a modern competitive environment.

The article is devoted to the problems of developing tourist zones in Russia’s economic space through designing and implementing tourism technological platforms providing sustainable reproduction of competitive regional tourism products. We consider the practices of applying tourism technological platforms abroad and prospects of their introduction in Russia. The authors conclude that now, while transitioning to the digital and «smart» economy, the introduction of the methodology of tourism technological platforms is an indispensable condition for increasing the competitiveness of domestic regional tourism products. The main research methods are the comparative and content analyses, the main research approaches are systemic, integrated and interdisciplinary ones. Research results can be used in elaborating the fundamental theory of tourism, concepts and strategies for the spatial development of Russian regions.

The article discusses the formation features of science cities and university towns in the Russian Federation against the background of global development processes of regional science and innovation systems. We conclude that it is expedient to provide state support to the strongest ones in order to set up national centers for the integration of science, education, and high-tech business. It is shown that one of such center should be Novosibirsk Akademgorodok, which hosts the Novosibirsk Scientific Center SB RAS, a leader among regional research and innovation systems of Russia in terms of R&D scale and diversification. We consider the main provisions of the Siberian Science City strategic initiative proposed in the Program for Reindustrialization of the Economy of Novosibirsk Oblast till 2025, as well as the Concept for the Development of the Novosibirsk Scientific Center (Novosibirsk Akademgorodok) as a high R&D concentration territory (Akademgorodok 2.0 Megaproject), developed on the direct instructions of the President of the Russian Federation. The article carries out comparative analysis of these documents and deduces that they are very close ideologically, but the Akademgorodok 2.0 Megaproject did a more thorough exploration on building world-class science and innovation infrastructure, as well as housing, social, transport, and engineering infrastructure that provides the modern and comfortable social living environment. Within Akademgorodok 2.0, we consider creating a world-class research and educational center at the premises of Novosibirsk National Research State University and its relations with academic institutions and industrial partners. We reveal the positive influence that the Akademgorodok 2.0 Megaproject has on the development of Novosibirsk Oblast and Novosibirsk City, as well as possible problem areas and risks of this strategic initiative.

The paper proposes an approach to the formation of value-added chains of high-tech mineral raw materials of the Arctic (diamond-lonsdalite material) considered as factors of growth in industrial efficiency, primarily in instrumental industry. We use system methods of scientific research, economic analysis and evaluation of the investment project for the extraction and processing of this raw material with both standard (NPV, IRR, PI, DPBP) and unconventional (MIRR, EAA) efficiency indicators. The article shows the features and characteristics of the raw materials, justifies approaches to creating value chains, producing and consuming diamond-lonsdalite material within the industry, estimates economic parameters of its production and consumption, systematizes regulated and unregulated problems and restrictions associated with the process of forming value-added chains. The results can be used in shaping the development strategy of certain sectors in a new high-tech domestic economy (high-performance tool industry), administering science and technology policy, implementing technology import substitution policy, and expanding export potential.

The article assesses indicators of Siberian regions' economic development and identifies an urgent need for advanced digital technologies used in its raw materials regions. We consider efficiency for two groups of digital economy technologies - industrial and communication ones - from the standpoint of environmental and social risks. The article presents a brief analysis of the Digital Economy State Program in terms of it ensuring that industrial technologies are implemented with human resources. We show how relevant robotic technologies are today and how science and methodology substantiation of this path’s efficiency follows research carried out in the 1980s. The main element of the substantiation is related to defining the impact of social factors on robotics efficiency under shortage of highly-skilled workforce in both creating and operating robotic systems. We reveal the essence and show advantages of additive technologies as the most promising digital technologies in the industrial group.

The financial independence of local self-government is the most important condition for its effective functioning. In Russia, the most of socially significant expenditures is concentrated at the level of local budgets. The purpose of this study is to analyze the main directions of the formation and use of local budgets in the Russian Federation. To achieve this goal, we accomplish the following tasks: 1) we reveal the peculiarities of the structure of gross and own budgetary revenues of local self-governments, 2) we determine specifics of tax and non-tax revenues of municipalities, 3) we describe the structure of transfers to the local budgets from higher ones. System approach, comparative analysis, analysis of the structure of the most important budget indicators in dynamics are used during the research. Economic, mathematical, statistical and balance methods are involved to solve the tasks posed in the research. The calculations performed on materials of municipal settlements in the Russian Federation have revealed features of revenue and expenditure budgeting at the local level. The results of the research can be used to study the possibilities of improving the budget policy towards budget equalization and stimulation of municipalities to strengthen their own revenue base. The theoretical and practical significance of the research consists in the possibility of using the proposed approaches in assessing the effectiveness of subfederal fiscal policy. In addition, this analysis has made it possible to characterize the budgetary situation at the municipal level regarding how sufficient the financial resources are for exercising proper and transferred powers. At present, the problems of strengthening the revenue base of local budgets and increasing the interest of local authorities in the performance of enterprises and organizations operating in their territories remain extremely relevant in the Russian Federation.

The existence and uniqueness of the generalized solution of the boundary value problem for the system of magnetoporosity equations in the dissipative approximation have been proved. The results of the numerical solution obtained by the finite element method of the test boundary value problem of magnetoporosity in the frequency domain are presented.

The Kalman filter algorithm is currently one of the most popular approaches to solving the data assimilation problem. The major line of the application of the Kalman filter to the data assimilation is the ensemble approach. In this paper, we propose a version of the Kalman stochastic ensemble filter. In the algorithm presented the ensemble perturbations analysis is attained by means of transforming an ensemble of forecast perturbations. The analysis step is made only for a mean value. Thus, the ensemble π-algorithm is based on the advantages of the stochastic filter and the efficiency and locality of the square root filters. The numeral method of the ensemble π-algorithm realization is proposed, the applicability of this method has been proved. This algorithm is implemented for the problem in the three-dimensional domain. The results of the numeral experiments with the model data for estimating the efficiency of the offered numeral algorithm are presented. The comparative analysis of the root-mean-square error behavior of the ensemble π-algorithm and the Kalman ensemble filter by means of the numeral experiments with a one-dimensional Lorentz model is made.

This paper realizes a symbiosis of two approaches to the numerical solution of second order ODEs with a small parameter having singularities such as interior and boundary layers, namely, the application of both compact schemes of high orders and layer-resolving grids. The generation of layer-resolving grids, based on estimates of solution derivatives and formulations of coordinate transformations eliminating solution singularities, is a generalization of the methodology early developed for the first order scheme. This paper presents the formulas of the coordinate transformations and numerical experiments for the schemes of the first, second, and third orders on uniform and layer-resolving grids for the equations with boundary, interior, exponential and power layers of the first and second scales. The experiments conducted confirm the uniform convergence of the numerical solutions of equations with the help of compact schemes of high orders on the layer-resolving grids. By using the transfinite interpolation methodology or numerical solutions to the Beltrami and diffusion equations in a control metric, built by the coordinate transformations eliminating the solution singularities, the developed technology can be generalized to the solution of multi-dimensional equations with boundary and interior layers.

The algorithms for solving the inverse source problem for the production-destruction type systems of nonlinear ordinary differential equations with measurement data in the form of time series are presented. The sensitivity operator and its discrete analogue on the basis of adjoint equations are constructed. This operator binds the perturbations in the unknown parameters of the model to those of the measured values. The operator allows one to construct a family of quasi-linear operator equations linking the required unknown parameters and the data of the inverse problem. The Newton-Kantorovich type method with right-hand side r- pseudoinverse matrices is used to solve the equations. The algorithm is applied to solving the inverse source problem for the atmospheric impurities transformation model.

This paper is concerned with investigating and solving the mixed initial boundary value problem for the heat conduction equation. The statement of the problem includes the three intervals: the first one (from 0 → T₁) describes heating the combustion chamber, the second (from T₁ → T₂) - cooling the chamber and a slower cooling of its wall. Finally, the third interval describes natural cooling of the chamber wall when the chamber has the temperature coinciding with that of environment. The validity of the application of the Fourier transform with respect to this problem has been proved. This made possible to transform the governing equation to the ordinary differential equation. By using the resulting equation, the inverse boundary value problem for the heat conduction equation by applying the nonlinear method of projection regularization was solved and the error of approximate solution was obtained.

One of widespread approaches to solving the Cauchy problem for the Laplace equation is to reduce it to the inverse problem. As a rule, an iterative procedure to solve the latter is used. In this study, an efficient direct method for the numerical solution of the inverse problem in the rectangular form is described. The main idea is based on the expansion of the desired solution with respect to a basis consisting of eigenfunctions of a difference analogue of the Laplace operator.

The mechanical treatment of zeolites in mills of various types is a promising modification method not requiring complex instrumentation and not yielding harmful waste water. In addition, dry mixing is the only method that allows introducing nanoscale metal powders into the zeolite structure without changing their properties. The proposed work prepared nickel-containing zeolite samples by the dry mechanical mixing of ZSM-5 zeolite with silicate modulus 40 and nickel powder with an average particle size of 50 nm per 0.5 mass %. They were exposed to mechanical treatment in a vibratory ball mill for 24–120 h. In order to retain properties of Ni nanopowder and avoid nickel oxidation, the resulting catalysts were not calcined. The degree of crystallinity of the initial zeolite and its mechanically treated modifications was determined by IR spectroscopy and X-ray structural analysis. Acidic properties of the catalysts were explored by ammonia thermoprogrammed desorption enabling to determine the distribution of acid sites according to strength, and also their number. Changing the catalytic activity and the selectivity of the initial zeolite and mechanically treated nickel-containing samples was explored in the model reaction of n-hexane transformation. As shown, the preliminary mechanical treatment of Ni/ZSM-5 reduces its crystallinity degree, and also acid sites strength and concentration. The variation of mechanical treatment time may directionally change the catalytic reaction pathway, as established. That allows an increase in the yield of the catalysate with improved environmental characteristics resulting from a decrease in the contents of n-alkanes, aromatic hydrocarbons, and alkenes, and also from a simultaneous increase in the fraction of iso- and cyclo-alkanes therein.

Titanium dioxide nanotubes were synthesised using industrial rutile pigments under the optimum conditions selected. Physicochemical properties and the catalytic activity of the former were examined. As shown, oxidation of sulphur compounds of diesel fraction in the presence of titanium dioxide nanotube-based catalysts allows simple and efficient treatment of oil products.

The paper reports laboratory test results of the MEGA system developed at the Institute of Petroleum Chemistry of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The composite was designed for enhanced oil recovery and restricted water inflow and had two gel-forming components, polymer and inorganic ones based on the aluminum salt – cellulose ether – carbamide – water system. The technology is intended to enhance oil recovery through increasing the coverage of the reservoir at flooding, steam-heat and cyclic steam stimulation and a restricted water flow in a wide temperature range (60–220 °C). As a consequence, the nanostructured “gel-in-gel” system with improved structural-mechanical properties is generated. Owing to gels formed in the reservoir water or steam breakthrough from injection wells into producing wells is restrained and filtration fluid flows in the oil reservoir are redistributed. That leads to a stabilized or reduced water cut of products of surrounding producing or steam-cycle wells and enhanced oil recovery.

The paper deals with the research on the composition of cracking products of the bitumen from the Bayan-Erkhet deposit (Mongolia) upon varying process times, temperatures, and also in the presence of radical-forming additives (styrene, benzoyl peroxide, and di-tert-butyl peroxide). Typical features of changing the material and fractional composition of cracking products were demonstrated depending on conditions. The transformation nature of resinous-asphaltenic components was explored.

The paper deals with the research on the composition of cracking products of the bitumen from the Bayan-Erkhet deposit (Mongolia) upon varying process times, temperatures, and also in the presence of radical-forming additives (styrene, benzoyl peroxide, and di-tert-butyl peroxide). Typical features of changing the material and fractional composition of cracking products were demonstrated depending on conditions. The transformation nature of resinous-asphaltenic components was explored.

Research was carried out on non-oxidative conversion of methane and its mixture with water into gaseous and liquid products in the barrier discharge (BD) plasma. The major products of methane conversion are hydrogen (~60 %) and ethane (~29 %), and also gaseous C3–C4 hydrocarbons (~10 %) and С₅₊ alkanes (~1 %), of mainly isomeric composition. The conversion of methane is 9.5–9.7 % in both cases, which corresponds to the energy consumption for CH4 reforming in the order of 46 eV/molecule. The presence of water on plasma-chemical reactor walls makes conditions for the efficient withdrawal of products from the discharge zone and prevents the formation of a deposit on the surface of the electrodes, which is proven by IR spectroscopy data. The paper deals with the redox mechanism of methane conversion in the BD plasma. As demonstrated, there is reaction initiation resulting from the collision of methane molecules with discharge electrons. Methyl and methylene radicals, and also atomic and molecular hydrogen, are mainly generated as a consequence of dissociation of the electron-excited methane molecule. Reaction products are further formed via the radical mechanism. The kinetics of transformation of the methane-water vapour-gas mixture into BD was modelled using the effective rate constant of the electron-molecular reaction and a simple expression to assess the value of the former. The expression for assessing the effective rate constant links the actual constant of the electron-molecular reaction rate to key parameters of the BD plasma and allows simplification of the simplification procedure of the modelling of the first. The chemical kinetics model for methane conversion involves 74 reactions. The calculation results are in good agreement with experimental data. As demonstrated by the analysis of reaction sensibility coefficients, there is an increase in the molecular mass of products mainly due to processes with methylene radical involvement.

The effect of n-butyl bromide on thermal transformations of maltenes from heavy oil of the Usinskoye oil field (Komi Republic) was explored. The cracking of maltenes was performed at 450 °С for 2 h in the isothermal mode in the presence of the initiating additive, n-butyl bromide. The data for the mass balance of the process and the composition of liquid cracking products were acquired. Variations in the hydrocarbon composition of the cracking products were investigated. As demonstrated, the addition of n-butyl bromide (0.7 mass % of the mass of raw materials) led to a 1.8 times increase in the yield of distillate fractions boiling up to 360 °С compared to cracking without the additive. As determined, along with the profound destruction of resins, oils were exposed to transformation upon the cracking of maltenes with n-butyl bromide due to dealkylation and dehydration reactions.

The paper deals with opportunities of remote probing as a method to assess the environmental condition of hard-to-reach areas. The dynamics of changing the condition of the vegetation cover of anthropogenically disturbed areas of the Tomsk region under conditions of the negative impact of oil recovery was investigated using freely distributed satellite MODIS images of medium spatial resolution. Vegetation cover condition was assessed according to the value of the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI). Condition dynamics for vegetation cover in the vegetation season was analysed over the 9-year period from 2010 to 2018. The work stepwise stated the processing algorithm of satellite data using geographic information system ArcGis 10.2.2. Analysis was performed for NDVI values of the background territory of the Oglatsky wildlife reserve and five territories of oil and gas fields in the Tomsk region. The latter include Luginets, Olenie, Lomovoye, Katylginsky, and West Katylginsky fields. As determined, the trend of changing index values for all investigated areas is single-type: high and minimum magnitudes in 2016 and 2012, respectively. As demonstrated by the analysis of the dynamics of changing average NDVI values during vegetation, there are improved but significantly reduced NDVI magnitudes in all investigated areas from 2012 to 2016 and 2016 to 2018, respectively.

The paper reports on the process of deposit formation for water-in-oil emulsions of paraffinic and highly paraffinic oils of varying water content. The effect of additives based on polyalkylmethacrylates on the quantity and composition of deposits of water-in-oil emulsions was explored. As shown, the inhibiting ability of K-210 additive was increased upon the deposit formation of water-in-oil emulsions compared to the initial oil. Herewith, the efficiency of its foreign analogue, Flexoil additive, was reduced. As determined, the nature of a change in the composition of paraffinic hydrocarbons in emulsion deposits of anhydrous oil systems was the same in the presence of additives. Therefore there remained the same effect of additives in the presence of water in the oil system.

The content and chemical composition of organic oil-soluble constituents (lipids) of the snow cover, peat and water of the Bakchar bog, which is the typical bog for southern taiga (the northeastern spurs of the Great Vasyugan Mire) were explored by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. As shown, the composition of lipids in waters is exposed to seasonal fluctuations and formed due to compounds generated in a peat deposit and falling with atmospheric precipitation, and also to components of plants. Lipid content is linked to level dynamics of waters, the quantity of fallen atmospheric precipitation, and air temperature. The amount of lipidic components in waters is maximum in the beginning of spring; their composition is almost identical to peat compounds. When water is diluted with melting snow, lipid content is reduced. Herewith, the fraction of the main groups of lipids: n-alkanes, and n-aldehydes, and also cyclic mono- and sesquiterpenoids present in plants of the early growing season in the snow is increased.  An increase in air temperature and a low amount of atmospheric precipitation lead to an increased fraction of lipids produced by water plants and compounds that are a part of conifer resin (dehydroabietic acid and its derivatives) in water. When the amount of rain precipitation is increased, the diversity of composition and lipid content are reduced in water; C₂₅ and C₂₇ n-alkanes, and also carboxylic acids are prevailing in this case. A reduction of the amount of atmospheric precipitation at the end of summer is accompanied by an increase in the content of triterpenoids, steroids, long-chain esters of carboxylic acid, and tocopherol in water. Furthermore, betulin and its derivatives typical for birch, and also saturated oil hopane derivatives fallen to water resulting from carrying out technical works appear at the survey plot. A month later, in September, human activity products are removed from the waters; the content of biological triterpenoids, and among them, α- and β-amyrin derivatives enriched with red bilberry and cranberry is drastically increased.

The distribution of natural and anthropogenic components, and also compounds of mixed origin in sediments of lakes in Southern Siberia, and also Altai steppes and mountains characterised by a varying degree of mineralisation (between 0 and 300 g/dm3) was explored by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The contribution of the major organic matter sources to the composition of bottom sediments was assessed. Specific oil compounds were determined. As determined, there was the formation of the composition of bottom sediments mainly due to compounds of biogenic and mixed origin. Sections with a high content of pollutants, such as petroleum and pyrogenic hydrocarbons, and also isoalkylbenzenes, i.e., likely degradation products of surfactants, were detected.

The paper deals with the solid-phase method for producing bulk two-component sulphide catalysts by the mechanochemical coupling of commercial molybdenum, cobalt, and nickel powders. The research presents physicochemical properties of the catalysts and discusses the activity of the latter in model reactions of dibenzothiophene and 4,6-dimethyldibenzothiophene hydrodesulphurisation including the latter in the presence of carbazole and phenanthrene, and also upon the hydrotreatment of sulphur components in diesel fraction.

The paper substantiates the research results on the composition and structure of resinous-asphaltenic materials of low resin and heavy highly resinous oils by a set of physicochemical research methods (extraction, liquid adsorption chromatography, elemental analysis, cryoscopy in benzene, IR and ¹H NMR spectroscopy, structural group analysis, the selective chemical breakdown of sulphide, ether, and ester bonds, and also by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry). Similarities and differences of the structural-group composition of resins and resin nitrogenous bases were detected. Compositions of moieties bound via ether/ester and sulphide bridges in resin and asphaltene molecules, and also those of compounds adsorbed by occluded asphaltenic species were investigated. As determined, composition and structure peculiarities of resin and asphaltenic molecules were dependent on the chemical nature of the initial oil species.

The paper reports on the research results of the formation process of emulsions in paraffin and highly resinous oil varieties. The effect of the composition of resin-asphaltene components and aqueous phase content in oil on pour point, rheological properties, and the viscous flow activation energy of oil-in-water emulsions was demonstrated. As determined, large resistant globules of water were formed in oil-in-water emulsions where paraffin hydrocarbons, were prevailing; the pour point, viscosity, and the viscous flow activation energy were increased. Emulsions of highly resinous oils were characterised by the formation of structures with small globules of water, high viscosity and the low viscous flow activation energy. The power relationship of the size of water globules in oil-in-water emulsions on the ratio of the content of resin-asphaltene components and paraffin hydrocarbons was determined.

This paper presents the analysis of the physicochemical properties of unconventional scavenger oils of the Siberian part of the Arctic zone of Russia, which is important in view of the current trends in the development of oil and gas industry. These trends are as follows: an increase in the share of hard-to-recover reserves in the structure of the hydrocarbon resource base, complicated by geological and physical characteristics of reservoirs and special anomalous physical and chemical properties, and shift in the geography of hydrocarbon production to the eastern and Arctic regions of the country with severe climatic conditions. An approach to the study of oil properties based on the classification of hard-to-recover oils is proposed. It is illustrated by the example of the analysis of the features of different types of arctic oils difficult-to-recover in Siberia. The analysis is based on the classification of hard-to-recover oils as a result of literature data compilation. Using the world database on the physicochemical properties of oils, an analysis of the distribution of oils with anomalous properties has been conducted, taking into account increased density, viscosity, high content of sulphur, resins, asphaltenes, solid paraffins, vanadium, nickel, and increased or decreased gas saturation, etc. The oil deposits with abnormal occurrence of productive reservoir were found out. The following complicating factors were identified during their development: low-permeable and low-porous reservoirs, reservoirs with abnormally high or low temperature, reservoirs with a burial depth of more than 4500 m, and those occurring in the areas of permafrost distribution, etc. The data on more than 4.200 samples of Arctic oils were analysed, which allowed determining special physicochemical properties of hard-to-recover oils deposited in various oil and gas basins of the Arctic zone, especially of its Siberian part. The results of the investigation can be used to develop new technologies and improve the existing methods of oil production and refining under specific Arctic conditions.

The technical ceramics of the Bronze Age Krotovo culture of the Baraba forest-steppe (the end of the III – the beginning of the II millennium BC) were analysed. Samples of internal and external surfaces of casting molds and crucibles were measured by thermogravimetric analysis. Good and very good quality of firing was identified. Reliable differences in the mass loss were identified between the inner and outer surfaces of the crucibles, which allows determining the type of fire installation (open or closed), the direction of air injection onto the crucible, and the period of use. Other processes occur in a mold. During metal pouring, a large gradient of temperature arises: at the surface of contact with the casting, mold temperature approaches the temperature of the melt. At the outer surface, temperature is equal to the initial level at this moment. However, the time of temperature action is short-term and limited by the period of metal solidification. The difference in the mass loss between the inner and outer surfaces can get accumulated only in the case of a long-term use of the mold, and thus it provides evidence of how many times the mold was used. Determination of the functional differences between technical ceramics, crucibles, and molds can be made on the basis of differences in mass losses for the inner and outer surfaces. The results of thermogravimetric analysis add essential objective data to the solution of the question of the multiple uses of forms and, as a result, the reconstruction of the technology of the ancient bronze casting production in Eurasia.

As a result of half a century (1970-2017) studies of recovery and age-related dynamics of different types of pine forests in foreforest-steppe and other subzones of Western Siberia and the Urals we have worked out a concept and scheme of their ecologic and genetic classifications based on ecologic dynamic series of biogeocenoses development (EDS BGC) within native autochthonous types of forests. Unlike the monolinear variation of biogeocenoses in course of time within one type of forest site and native forest type in classical genetic Ivashkevich-Kolesnikov typology, we consider the native type of forest as a «bunch» of divergence-convergence of chorologically and ecologically separated types of EDS BGC arising after different forest ecological catastrophes, such as fires, windfalls, pest invasions, tree fellings, stubbing, ploughing up, etc. The main real form of existence and development and syntaxonomic unit of adequate ecological-genetic classification of forest types is the type of EDS BGC as a homogeneous series of their restoration-age-related and century-long plant successions within one native forest type as an ecosystem of higher rank. The general scheme of forest classification based on the EDS BGC as well as dynamic parameters of their structure and diagnostics, are exemplified by predominant forest types relating to moss pine forests in the foreforest-steppe of the Western Siberia. The proposed approaches and methods of chorological ecological-genetic classification of forest types can be applied in forest science and forest management to get a lot of new systematic quantitative information on forest dynamics for its evaluation, development projection and forest management.

The author’s and literature data on the distribution of the Nostoc Nostoc commune Vaucher ex Bornet et Flahault in the terrestrial habitats of Southern Siberia and Mongolia, the size of the biomass formed by the species and the content of nitrogen in the thallus have been analyzed and summarized for the first time. Established in the study region was a location of 84 species. Most of them are confined to steppe, forest-steppe, and meadow plant communities. In the study area Nostoc is often found in forests, while in the mountain tundra it is seldom encountered. The species is able to dominate the vegetation cover of a number of anthropogenically disturbed habitats. As a result of assessing the size of the biomass formed by Nostoc in the steppe, meadow, meadow-forest plant communities of the region, the data were obtained, which, in general, are comparable to those for the steppe and meadow plant communities of Kirov Oblast, the Republic of Bashkiria, and Kazakhstan. Nostoc formed maximum biomass (37 g/m²) on the sod-carbonaceous thick soil of the steppe meadow in Irkutsk Oblast. In the thallus of Nostoc, from 2.7 to 5.1 % of the total nitrogen is accumulated, which exceeds the content of total nitrogen in green mosses and litter of grassy plants of steppe phytocenoses by 2-3 times. The species of Nostoc of the steppe, forest-steppe, meadow plant communities of Southern Siberia and Mongolia contain the same amount of nitrogen as the samples of this species from the zonal tundra of northern Russia.

The results of studies carried out in 48-50-year-old geographical crops of larch in the Ufa forestry district of the Republic of Bashkortostan are presented in the article. The average capacity for survival of the object is 25 %. The highest capacity for survival (30-50 %) and successful growth have been shown by offspring originating from more southern regions (53°-54°10′N) relative to the test site. Assessment of the development of progeny 26 climatypes with the species belonging to the Arkhangelsk larch Larix archangelica Laws., the Siberian larch L. sibirica Ledeb. and hybrid forms of these species, Margilind larch L. marschlinsii Coaz, European larch L. decidua Mill., shows that for growing high-yielding larch crops in the conditions of the Bashkir Urals, it is advisable to use L. archangelica seeds and L. archangelica × L. sibirica , with allowable distances for transferring seeds relative to the area of their use approximately: from the south - up to 2°, from the north - up to 1°, and from the east - up to 3°40′. It is not inferior to the Bashkir populations of L. sibirica obtained from the Sonsky forestry district of the Republic of Khakassia. L. × marschlinsii exhibits a high adaptive capacity with initial origin from Great Britain. Morphological analysis of cones obtained from the settlement of Zapovednik enabled to detect a hybrid form of L. archangelica × L. sibirica with characteristics of Dahurian larch L. dahurica Laws. It should be noted that in the forest crop areas and those of collecting seeds the permissible difference between the heights above the sea level should not exceed 500-550 m. Also when growing mixed stands with a companion species, the heart-shaped linden Tilia cordata Mill should be preferred. In the progeny of the Bashkir climate types, there is a direct relationship between the factors of geographical origin and the size of the cones, while for the Siberian progeny this relationship is inverse. With the moving of the climatic types of origin to the north and east, the cones with wide-chested forms were observed in Bashkortostan, while narrow-scaled forms were found in Siberia.

The analysis of studies on the relations between tree and forest stand biomass and climatic conditions revealed a wide variety of independent variables and their combinations involved as predictors. There are significant contradictions and uncertainties found in modeling of dependences of tree and stand biomass upon temperature and precipitation using both empirical and process-based models. The database on biomass of 2100 single-trees of two-needled pines (subgenus Pinus L.) of Eurasia compiled by the authors, enables to design for the first time a trans-Eurasian harmonized model on the tree biomass structure and to estimate quantitatively the influence of January temperatures and annual precipitation on tree biomass. The harmonization is achieved with additivity of biomass component composition, which means that the total of biomass components (stems, branches, foliage, roots) derived from component equations is equal to the result obtained using a common biomass equation. It is stated, that in cold climatic zones any increase in precipitation leads to a corresponding decrease in the biomass values, but in warm zones - to its increase. In wet areas, the rise in temperature causes an increase of biomass values, but in arid areas - their reductions. Geometric view of this model represented by a «propeller-shaped» surface is consistent with the results formerly revealed by the other authors in Russia on local and regional levels. The proposed transcontinental model of additive structure of tree biomass makes it possible to predict a change of biomass structure in relation to simultaneous increase or decrease of January temperature and annual precipitation. The development of such models for basic forest-forming species grown in Eurasia enables one to forecast any changes in the biological productivity of forest cover of Eurasia in relation to climate change.

Specific features of the blue spruce Picea pungens Engelm. regeneration from mature zygotic embryos in vitro culture under the influence of thidiazuron (TDZ) were studied. It was noted that under the influence of TDZ the explants cotyledons tissues were expanded, and active morphogenesis took place and meristemoids were formed in their epidermal layers. During the plant material subculturing, which was obtained within the first passage, in the hormone-free culture media, the asynchronous development of structures and the variety of morphogenetic pathways were observed: adventitious buds, microshoots and individual needles were formed at different stages of development. This TDZ influence on the regeneration of blue spruce was noted by us for the first time. The maximum microshoots formation with normal morphology was achieved by using a two-stage explants cultivation: induction of morphogenic processes in the ½ LV culture medium at the TDZ concentration of 0.5 μM during the first passage (28 days) followed by transfer of the obtained material to the ½ LV hormone-free medium. The number of microshoots per explant was (70.3 ± 7.5) pcs. With an increase in the TDZ concentration to 1 μM the number of regenerants per explant decreased 1.6 times and the increased duration of the first passage up to 35 days led to anomalies and inhibition of the microshoots development.

The effect of greenhouse gases on climate change is of great importance. In this context, forest ecosystems are seen as a critical mechanism in reducing carbon emissions by storing large quantities of carbon in vegetation and soil. The aim of this study was to compare and monitor biomass carbon sequestered in a range of forest structures subject to different forest planning scenarios. To this end, many scenarios have been tried over a planning horizon of 100 years for 1000-ha hypothetic forests. Two forest sites (both high- and low-productivity) and two rotation ages (70 and 100 years) were studied to analyze the effects of site condition and logging rotation length on carbon stock. Some constraints were also included, such as set aside forest area and volume control. Then, 35 mathematical models were developed using a linear programming technique and solved in LINGO software. Among the models developed, S7 model appeared to be the best in terms of minimizing the carbon loss from forest biomass. With this scenario, only 6447 tons of carbon were lost over 100 years with an even-flow harvesting policy and a mature rotation age (u = 100). The worst model was S4, where there were no constraints and the rotation age was young (u = 70). Almost 215 000 tons carbon loss resulted with the use of S4 model for a 100-year planning horizon. The results showed that the carbon dynamics of forest ecosystem was influenced to a great extent by forest management strategies. Therefore, the application of the optimal strategy involving the use of modern planning techniques is very important for mitigating the effects of global climate change.

The review is written for the book of Yuriy I. Manko «History of forestry in the Far East of Russia. 1859-1922», Vladivostok: Pacific Inst. Geogr., Rus. Acad. Sci., Far East. Branch, 2018. 660 p. (in Russian with English title, summary and contents).