In recent years, a sustainable increase in cereal crop yields in Russia can be observed. A positive trend in meteorological conditions is often considered as the reason for this phenomenon, while it ...is not actually supported by any solid scientific evidence. The objective of the surveys is to analyze the potential cereal-crop yield changes under climate impacts in Russia over the period from 2000 to 2022. In order to achieve the objective, the WOFOST crop growth simulation model allowing us to comprehensively assess the impact of all the meteorological parameters was used. The assessment for a set of 42 representative points in different regions of Russia was performed taking into account daily meteorological parameters and soil types. Simulation at the level of the potential crop yield was based only on the inputs of meteorological parameter variables since the impacts of the other factors on the crop yield were considered as absent. The potential yield trends in different regions of Russia are multidirectional. The trend in meteorological conditions favorable for cereal crops was recorded in the North Caucasus, the lower Volga River surrounding region, the western Siberia region, and the Far East. However, a tendency to decline in the potential crop yields is observed in the Central and Central-Chernozem, upper Volga River, and southern Middle Siberia regions over recent years. Overall, the cereal crop yield growth tends to match well with a trend in agrometeorological condition changes in most cereal producing regions in Russia over the recent years. Unidirectional trends in the simulated potential crop yields under the projected meteorological conditions and the crop yield statistics are not observed only in the regions of Central European Russia. Since the role of a climate factor on variation in cereal-crop yields is less significant there, the impact of government measures to maintain sustainable agricultural development may be assumed.
In patients with severe traumatic brain injury (TBI), simultaneous measurement of intracranial and arterial blood pressure (ICP and ABP, respectively) allows monitoring of cerebral perfusion pressure ...(CPP) and the assessment of cerebral autoregulation (CA). CPP, a difference between ICP and ABP, is the pressure gradient that drives oxygen delivery to cerebral tissue. CA is the ability of cerebral vasculature to maintain stable blood flow despite changes in CPP and thus, is an important homeostatic mechanism. Pressure reactivity index (PRx), a moving Pearson's correlation between slow waves in ICP and ABP, has been most frequently cited in literature over the past two decades as a tool for CA evaluation. However, in some clinical situations, ICP monitoring may be unavailable or contraindicated. In such cases, simultaneous mean arterial pressure (MAP) monitoring and near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) can be used for CA assessment by cerebral oximetry index (COx), allowing calculation of the optimal blood pressure (MAPOPT). The purpose of this study was to compare regional oxygen saturation (rSO2)-based CA (COx) with ICP/ABP-based CA (PRx) in TBI patients and to compare MAPOPT derived from both technologies. Three TBI patients were monitored at the bedside to measure CA using both PRx and COx. Patients were monitored daily for up to 3 days from TBI. Averaged PRx and COx-, and PRx and COx-based MAPOPT were compared using Pearson's correlation. Bias analysis was performed between these same CA metrics. Correlation between averaged values of COx and PRx was R = 0.35, p = 0.15. Correlation between optimal MAP calculated for COx and PRx was R = 0.49, p < 0.038. Bland-Altman analysis showed moderate agreement with a bias of 0.16 ± 0.23 for COx versus PRx and good agreement with a bias of 0.39 ± 7.89 for optimal MAP determined by COx versus PRx. Non-invasive measurement of CA by NIRS (COx) is not correlated with invasive ICP/ABP-based CA (PRx). However, the determination of MAPOPT using COx is correlated with MAPOPT derived from PRx. Obtained results demonstrate that COx is not an acceptable substitute for PRx in TBI patients. However, in some TBI cases, NIRS may be useful in determining MAP determination.
The current status of the issues of soil mapping is considered. It is shown that traditional soil mapping methods have been replaced by methods based on geoinformation, digital, and remote sensing ...technologies. The main advantages and disadvantages of the currently used soil mapping methods are outlined, and the necessity of taking the level of generalization of the information used for soil mapping into account is shown. We demonstrate the errors in soil maps, when digital spatial data with different levels of information generalization are used. The most promising directions in the development of soil mapping methods are identified. It is shown that the primary attention should be paid to the development of digital soil mapping methods based on remote sensing data, which contain the most accurate information on the spatial variation in properties of the surface soil horizon. The methods of spatial interpolation of point data are less accurate than the remotely sensed data. However the latter enable us to confidently detect only particular soil properties and not all of those necessary to compile traditional soil maps. Mapping of individual soil properties is a more promising approach. Maps of individual soil properties are more convenient and accurate for evaluating soil and land resources. They can be used in the future as a basis both for the recreation of soil units in terms of accepted soil classification and for the compilation of traditional soil maps (reflecting classification units of soils). However, for a complete transition to the mapping of soil properties, more comprehensive studies are required to study the spectral reflectance of the soil surface and its relationship with the properties of the underlying soil horizons.
Calculated values of joint plastic deformation for forming a connection layer of the bimetal during cold rolling. Deflection of the primary setting of the bimetal layers depends on the thickness and ...sizes of destruction blocks, the ratio of the geometric shapes of the blocks of the surface layer destruction, the external friction during rolling, the strip tension, the diameter of the rolls, the thickness of the bimetallic billet.
In this study we explore effects of two distinct tax policies on innovation in a pure knowledge economy: an ‘IP box’ incentive and a (hypothetical) tax incentive on compensation earned by agents from ...profit sharing schemes (PSS). In contrast to the conventional assumption that firms decide on whether to innovate or not, we focus on a bottom-up innovation process (sometimes also called ‘bootleg innovation’), where firms set incentives to fulfill different tasks, but the final decision on whether to make the more innovative task is taken by an employee. We compare the two tax incentives under several distinct specifications demonstrating that the tax incentive on PSS can be a powerful mechanism fostering innovative activity and benefiting at the same time workers, firms and the economy as a whole. This study shows that the more critical for firms is attracting and motivating highly skilled workers, the larger the expected gain from employing the tax incentive on agents' compensation. We also find that the relative efficacy of this tax incentive is moderated by labor mobility and the extent of knowledge spillovers.
•We propose a novel tax incentive directed on profit sharing schemes (PSS).•This is compared to the standard ‘IP box’ incentive in a knowledge economy context.•We show that the PSS incentive benefits workers, firms and the economy as a whole.•Its effectiveness rises with the role of labor relative to capital investments.•Its relative efficacy is also moderated by labor mobility and knowledge spillovers.
We assess evidence from theoretical-modelling, empirical and experimental studies on how interactions between instruments of climate policy affect overall emissions reduction. Such interactions take ...the form of negative, zero or positive synergistic effects. The considered instruments comprise performance and technical standards, carbon pricing, adoption subsidies, innovation support, and information provision. Based on the findings, we formulate climate-policy packages that avoid negative and employ positive synergies, and compare their strengths and weaknesses on other criteria. We note that the international context of climate policy has been neglected in assessments of policy mixes, and argue that transparency and harmonization of national policies may be key to a politically feasible path to meet global emission targets. This suggests limiting the complexity of climate-policy packages.
Key policy insights
Combining technical standards or targets, such as renewable-energy quota, or adoption subsidies with a carbon market can produce negative synergy, up to the point of adding no emissions reduction beyond the cap. For maximum emissions reduction, renewable energy policy should be combined with carbon taxation and target expensive reduction options not triggered by the tax.
Evidence regarding synergy of information provision with pricing is mixed, indicating a tendency for complementary roles (zero synergy). Positive synergy is documented only for cases where information provision improves effectiveness of price instruments, e.g. by stimulating social imitation of low-carbon choices.
We conclude that the most promising packages are combining innovation support and information provision with either a carbon tax and adoption subsidy, or with a carbon market. We further argue that the latter could have stronger potential to harmonize international policy, which would allow to strengthen mitigation policy over time.
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The history of the development of the concept of urban soil services, their current list, anthropocentric and pedocentric approaches to their assessment, and experience of application in various ...cities are considered. At present, the concept of ecosystem services is a comprehensive tool that allows, by analogy, to translate soil information into the sphere of management decision-making, as well as to maintain the sustainability of urban ecosystems by introducing measures to preserve urban soil services. Despite the accumulated experience in methods for assessing ecosystem services and examples of their application in urban planning in individual cities, there is no unified approach to assessing the services of urban soils. The widespread application of this concept is often hampered by insufficient knowledge of the properties of urban soils with their high spatiotemporal variability, as well as by the insufficient development of the approach itself for assessing soil services. However, the active development of theoretical and practical approaches to integrating information about soil characteristics into management is a prerequisite for optimizing the system of soil resource management in cities and towns.
In this paper, we develop a simple single-frequency dielectric model of thawed and frozen arctic soil for a frequency of 6.9 GHz. The model is developed based on laboratory dielectric measurements of ...soil samples containing 80–90% organic matter in the range of gravimetric moisture from 0.01 to 0.942 g/g (volumetric moisture ranging from 0.007 to 0.573 cm
3
/cm
3
), and temperatures from +25 to –30°C in the freeze mode. A refractive mixture model is used as a regression equation for the measured values of the complex soil refractive index depending on moisture. The complex refractive indices of various soil components (mineral-organic , bound, transitional, and free water (ice for frozen soil)), as well as values for the maximum allowable content of bound and transitional water in the soil at all measured temperatures, are determined using the regression analysis. The empirical dependences of the complex refractive index of soil components and the maximal allowable contents of various types of water in soil on temperature are obtained. As a result, we developed a model that allows calculating the permittivity of thawed and frozen organic soil as a function of moisture and temperature at 6.9 GHz. The root-mean-square error was 0.20 for the real part of the complex dielectric permittivity of the soil and 0.22 for the imaginary part at the determination coefficient values of 0.999 and 0.995, respectively.
The diffusion of renewable electricity technologies is widely considered as crucial for establishing a sustainable energy system in the future. However, the required transition is unlikely to be ...achieved by market forces alone. For this reason, many countries implement various policy instruments to support this process, also by re-distributing related costs among all electricity consumers. This paper presents a novel history-friendly agent-based study aiming to explore the efficiency of different mixes of policy instruments by means of a Differential Evolution algorithm. Special emphasis of the model is devoted to the possibility of small scale renewable electricity generation, but also to the storage of this electricity using small scale facilities being actively developed over the last decade. Both combined pose an important instrument for electricity consumers to achieve partial or full autarky from the electricity grid, particularly after accounting for decreasing costs and increasing efficiency of both due to continuous innovation. Among other things, we find that the historical policy mix of Germany introduced too strong and inflexible demand-side instruments (like feed-in tariff) too early, thereby creating strong path-dependency for future policy makers and reducing their ability to react to technological but also economic shocks without further increases of the budget.
•The model replicates evolution of the German electricity market 1990–2010.•It aims to explore the efficiency of different mixes of policy instruments.•Special emphasis is on small scale renewable energy technology and energy storage.•Study shows that the historical policy mix introduced too strong demand pull too early.•Strong demand-side policy support crowded out voluntary investments.
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