Problems of formation and development of the modern Russian economy on the evolutionary and institutional basis of the Russian statehood

The research is aimed at identifying, describing and analyzing the problems of the formation and development of the modern Russian economy on the evolutionary and institutional basis of the Russian statehood and developing recommendations for the implementation of a promising state foreign and domestic economic policy. Goal. On the basis of historical and economic analysis, to identify the ways of further socio-economic development of Russia, the directions of the revival and strengthening of the Russian statehood, by activating the transport and transit direction «North-South», the formation of innovative and industrial belts of trade routes of the XXI century, connecting the country with the Islamic world. Tasks. Conducting historical and economic analysis of the evolutionary and institutional foundations of Russian statehood, forms of interstate and corporate partnership in the development, functioning and development of global trade routes in a broad sense. Substantiation of the Norman-Islamic theory of the origin of the Ancient Russian statehood based on the analysis of historical facts, as well as the logic of the origin, functioning and evolutionary development of trade routes. Identify the main areas of interaction and socio-economic development of Russia and the countries of the Islamic world and develop recommendations for political, economic, organizational and institutional changes. Methodology. The research uses the methods of evolutionary and institutional theory, the theory of production-technological balance, world system analysis and historical approach. The results of the study are based on the theory of transit economy developed by the authors, modeling the functioning of trade routes, and understanding the processes of formation and evolution of Global Eurasia. Results. It is determined that Islam became the state-forming factor of Ancient Russia through the displacement, the formation of new and the development of trade routes operated by the Normans. Three directions of the influence of the Islamic world on the formation of a united Ancient Russian state are identified: the search for new routes to Byzantium by the Normans after the expansion of the Arab Caliphate in North Africa and the Iberian Peninsula; establishment of direct relations with the Arab Caliphate along the Volga-Caspian water trade route; adoption of Islam by the neighbors of Ancient Russia - the Volga Bulgars, who have close trade relations with the Arab Caliphate and control the Volga-Caspian water trade route. Conclusions. The revival of modern Russia should and will be based on the functioning and evolutionary development of trade routes in the direction of «North-South» by establishing, expanding and strengthening contacts with the Islamic world. The creation and development of the Norman-Aryan Trade Route of the XXI century and its vast innovation and industrial belt should become a global political, economic, industrial and technological direction for ensuring interaction and socio-economic development of Russia and the countries of the Islamic world.

Metagenomic discovery and functional validation of L-asparaginases with anti-leukemic effect from the Caspian Sea

Background L-asparaginase has been used for the treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) for more than 30 years. However, efforts continued to find new enzymes with more desirable properties due to the immunogenicity, short half-life, rapid clearance and L-glutaminase side activity of the existing commercial enzymes. Screening for novel L-asparaginases in prokaryotes as a promising resource has been mainly hampered by the cultivation/expression bottleneck. Results By screening 27000 publicly available prokaryotic genomes, we recovered ca. 6300 type I and ca. 5200 type II putative L-asparaginase in 36 and 42 bacterial phyla respectively highlighting the vast potential of prokaryotes for L-asparaginase activity. Caspian water with similar salt composition to the human serum was targeted for in-silico screening of L-asparaginase. We screened ca. three million predicted Open Reading Frames of the assembled Caspian Sea metagenomes. In-silico screening resulted in 87 putative L-asparaginase genes from the Caspian Sea datasets. The L-asparagine hydrolysis was experimentally confirmed by cloning three selected genes (1092, 1218 and 1011 bp) in E. coli. Catalytic parameters of the purified enzymes including Km, Vmax and catalytic efficiency were determined to be among the most desirable reported values of microbial L-asparaginases. Two of the recombinant enzymes represented remarkable anti-proliferative activity (IC50 less than 1 IU/ml) against leukemia cell line Jurkat while no cytotoxic effect on human erythrocytes or human umbilical vein endothelial cells was detected. Conclusions Similar salinity and ionic concentration of the Caspian water samples to the human serum highlights the secretory L-asparaginases recovered from these metagenomes as potential treatment agents.

Ecological risk assessment for the ecosystem of the Caspian shelf on the basis of modeling

Based on ecoscreening models, results of dynamic (ecosystem) modeling and field observations, environmental risk assessments for the Northern Caspian ecosystem were calculated. The proposed method is effective in assessing the risk from the combined action of natural, anthropogenic, and invasive factors in the development of oil resources in offshore waters. Calculations of ecological risk and the acceptable probability of impact for the ecosystem were carried out for three frequency ranges of anthropogenic impacts such as "technical system accidents" during the spring phytoplankton outbreak, taking into account the natural and low illumination of the Northern Caspian water area. The results obtained for spring and summer-autumn maxima of phytoplankton biomass of various durations revealed ranges of practically safe, with a probability of acceptable impact from 80 to 100%, ecosystem conditions, and extremely dangerous, with a probability of acceptable impact less than 5%. The results obtained showed that conclusions about ecosystem vulnerability in conditions of intense anthropogenic pressure are not trivial and that it is necessary first to calculate the environmental risk and then evaluate the acceptable probability of impact. The proposed approach is important for overcoming difficulties in the practical harmonization of environmental and economic requirements for the safe development of shelf resources.

Hydrological Model for Sustainable Development in the Aral Sea Region

Possible scenarios of the Aral Sea crisis solution are discussed, and a new scenario is proposed. Previous scenarios have provided for the transfer of water from Siberian Rivers to Central Asia and the restriction of unsustainable expansion of irrigation in this region. The scenario proposed in this paper is partly based on the use of Caspian water evaporators located on the eastern coast of the Caspian Sea. Engineering realization of this scenario needs only the construction of the drainage system for the runoff of Caspian waters to the natural evaporators, between which Kara-Bogaz-Gol is the functioning evaporator. This paper shows that realization of this scenario allows the rescue of the Aral Sea and normalization of the water balance in Central Asia. Under this, as the simulation modeling results show, there exist different versions of the scenario depending on the area of evaporators and restrictions for the runoff of Amu Darya and Syr Darya waters to the irrigation systems. Calculation results show that the Aral Sea could be restored within 90–240 years depending on the scenario versions. With only Kara-Bogaz-Gol as the evaporator, the Aral Sea cannot be restored within a century. Additionally, if the anthropogenic runoff of river waters was decreased by 10 percent, the Aral Sea would be restored over about 90 years. Possible versions of the recovery scenario are discussed and assessed.

Lithofacies and ichnofacies distribution in offshore sediments of the Langarud–Rudsar region of Iran, southern Caspian Sea

Innovative Computerized co-axial tomography (CAT)-scan methods have been applied to two short cores collected in the southern Caspian Sea, offshore from the Langarud–Rudsar region of Iran, to the east of the Sefidrud delta. Magnetic susceptibility (MS) readings, in association with other lithological criteria, are used to correlate the cores and calibrate to real time. The cores provide a sedimentary record from this largely unstudied region covering the last 200+ years (~1784 to 2008 CE). Three principal lithofacies types were recognized. The more distal locality (T2-3, water depth 117 m) consists entirely of poorly fossiliferous silty muds, whereas the more proximal locality (T2-2, water depth 51 m) contains beds with rich ostracod, gastropod and bivalve assemblages. Peak MS readings occur between ~1872 and 1918 CE and are linked to erosion of sediments deposited during the ‘Little Ice Age’ (LIA) highstands of the Caspian Sea. CAT-scan results reveal the presence of the non-marine Mermia ichnofacies type, which is reported for the first time in the Caspian Sea. Horizontal burrows (feeding structures) by Treptichnus ichnofauna coincide with periods of LIA highstand in Caspian Sea level and suggest low-energy conditions on the marine shelf. Vertical burrows (feeding structures) occur at times of relatively stable, but variable Caspian water levels. Interbedded dark coloured, organic-rich muds and lighter silt-rich layers within the last ~100 years show potential cyclicity which may be linked to climatic and/or river discharge events.