The aim of the paper is to study the statics and dynamics of the technical efficiency of enterprises, in the context of high-technology industries and with further detailing by territory of location ...of enterprises (regions-agglomeration centers; other regions) and the size of enterprises (large, medium, and small). We considered the case of Russia a large country with a transition economy. We applied the following methods: the Data Envelopment Analysis for calculating technical efficiency, the methods for calculating the Malmquist productivity index and its components, ANOVA, and Tobit regression models. The sample consisted of 1150 companies. The study period is 2013–2017. We found that the most high-technology industries are characterized by the negative impact of the crisis on technical efficiency. We also found that enterprises located in regions-agglomeration centers are characterized by higher TE values in three of the four studied sectors (except for pharmaceutical industry). Tobit regression showed that large enterprises, enterprises located in agglomeration centers, and enterprises using borrowed capital receive benefits in terms of technical efficiency. By adding moderators to the Tobit model, we revealed that the positive impact of leverage on technical efficiency is enhanced for large businesses and businesses located in the agglomeration centers. We also found less positive influence of financial leverage on technical efficiency in the period of crisis.
A new approach to the production and delivery of vaccine antigens is the use of engineered amino virus-based vectors. A chimeric peptide containing antigenic determinants from rabies virus ...glycoprotein (G protein) (amino acids 253–275) and nucleoprotein (N protein) (amino acids 404–418) was PCR-amplified and cloned as a translational fusion product with the alfalfa mosaic virus (AlMV) coat protein (CP). This recombinant CP was expressed in two plant virus-based expression systems. The first one utilized transgenic
Nicotiana tabacum cv. Samsun NN plants providing replicative functions in trans for full-length infectious RNA3 of AlMV (NF1-g24). The second one utilized
Nicotiana benthamiana and spinach (
Spinacia oleracea) plants using autonomously replicating tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) lacking native CP (Av/A4-g24). Recombinant virus containing the chimeric rabies virus epitope was isolated from infected transgenic
N. tabacum cv. Samsun NN plants and used for parenteral immunization of mice. Mice immunized with recombinant virus were protected against challenge infection. Based on the previously demonstrated efficacy of this plant virus-based experimental rabies vaccine when orally administered to mice in virus-infected unprocessed raw spinach leaves, we assessed its efficacy in human volunteers. Three of five volunteers who had previously been immunized against rabies virus with a conventional vaccine specifically responded against the peptide antigen after ingesting spinach leaves infected with the recombinant virus. When rabies virus non-immune individuals were fed the same material, 5/9 demonstrated significant antibody responses to either rabies virus or AlMV. Following a single dose of conventional rabies virus vaccine, three of these individuals showed detectable levels of rabies virus-neutralizing antibodies, whereas none of five controls revealed these antibodies. These findings provide clear indication of the potential of the plant virus-based expression systems as supplementary oral booster for rabies vaccinations.
Peroxynitrite (ONOO−), a toxic product of the free radicals nitric oxide and superoxide, has been implicated in the pathogenesis of CNS inflammatory diseases, including multiple sclerosis and its ...animal correlate experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE). In this study we have assessed the mode of action of uric acid (UA), a purine metabolite and ONOO− scavenger, in the treatment of EAE. We show that if administered to mice before the onset of clinical EAE, UA interferes with the invasion of inflammatory cells into the CNS and prevents development of the disease. In mice with active EAE, exogenously administered UA penetrates the already compromised blood‐CNS barrier, blocks ONOO−‐mediated tyrosine nitration and apoptotic cell death in areas of inflammation in spinal cord tissues and promotes recovery of the animals. Moreover, UA treatment suppresses the enhanced blood‐CNS barrier permeability characteristic of EAE. We postulate that UA acts at two levels in EAE: 1) by protecting the integrity of the blood‐CNS barrier from ONOO−‐induced permeability changes such that cell invasion and the resulting pathology is minimized; and 2) through a compromised blood‐CNS barrier, by scavenging the ONOO− directly responsible for CNS tissue damage and death.—Hooper, D. C., Scott, G. S., Zborek, A., Mikheeva, T., Kean, R. B., Koprowski, H., Spitsin, S. V. Uric acid, a peroxynitrite scavenger, inhibits CNS inflammation, blood–CNS barrier permeability changes, and tissue damage in a mouse model of multiple sclerosis. FASEB J. 14, 691–698 (2000)
An unfavorable external environment requires an emphasis shift in economic researches of enterprise development from factors and mechanisms of growth to the analysis of stagnation processes and the ...search for mechanisms to enter the path of growth after stagnation. The purpose of this work is to study the intensity of the processes of stagnation and subsequent renewable growth of enterprises in the context of a wide range of sectors of the Russian economy. Signs of stagnation or drop in sales are revealed for 2013–2017, renewable growth – within 4 years after the stagnation period. The research methods are the calculation of economic coefficients and the identification of differences between them using methods of mathematical statistics. It was found that in an unfavorable external environment, significant proportion of Russian enterprises showed signs of stagnation or drop in sales. Certain advantages are shown by high-tech industries, in which the intensity of business stagnation was lower. The most acute period of the crisis was the period 2013–2016. In 2017, there was an adaptation of business to unfavorable environmental conditions, and the share of stagnating enterprises decreased significantly. Calculations showed that the share of enterprises demonstrating long-term renewable growth was at a low level. It reduces their attractiveness to private investors. The “age” factor can be recommended as a significant criterion for investors when choosing firms for financing: young enterprises are less susceptible to stagnation and more likely to enter the path of growth after stagnation.
The paper assesses the implementation of Russia catching up development strategy. The methodological approach and the technique of evaluation of the catching up strategy as a special case of a ...comprehensive evaluation of the innovative development effectiveness were developed. The author has proposed five main types of results of catching up development strategy implementation: economic, social, territorial (spatial distribution of new production facilities) results, the impact on national safety, the assessment of science - innovation - investment - business connections. For each type of results the indicators for evaluation were identified. The technique was tested in practice by the example of DM subsection "Manufacture of transport equipment" of Russian manufacturing industry, which signs of the catching up strategy development are the most pronounced. The assessment revealed both positive effects of implemented strategy and the negative ones. The paper introduces the recommendations on solution of the problems occurred. The methodology of the comprehensive assessment of the effectiveness should be used when designing the innovative strategies and monitoring the results of their implementation at the national, regional and separate industry sectors levels.
The paper assesses the implementation of Russia catching up development strategy. The methodological approach and the technique of evaluation of the catching up strategy as a special case of a ...comprehensive evaluation of the innovative development effectiveness were developed. The author has proposed five main types of results of catching up development strategy implementation: economic, social, territorial (spatial distribution of new production facilities) results, the impact on national safety, the assessment of science - innovation - investment - business connections. For each type of results the indicators for evaluation were identified. The technique was tested in practice by the example of DM subsection "Manufacture of transport equipment" of Russian manufacturing industry, which signs of the catching up strategy development are the most pronounced. The assessment revealed both positive effects of implemented strategy and the negative ones. The paper introduces the recommendations on solution of the problems occurred. The methodology of the comprehensive assessment of the effectiveness should be used when designing the innovative strategies and monitoring the results of their implementation at the national, regional and separate industry sectors levels.
Uric acid (UA) is a purine metabolite that selectively inhibits peroxynitrite-mediated reactions implicated in the pathogenesis of multiple sclerosis (MS) and other neurodegenerative diseases. Serum ...UA levels are inversely associated with the incidence of MS in humans because MS patients have low serum UA levels and individuals with hyperuricemia (gout) rarely develop the disease. Moreover, the administration of UA is therapeutic in experimental allergic encephalomyelitis (EAE), an animal model of MS. Thus, raising serum UA levels in MS patients, by oral administration of a UA precursor such as inosine, may have therapeutic value. We have assessed the effects of inosine, as well as inosinic acid, on parameters relevant to the chemical reactivity of peroxynitrite and the pathogenesis of EAE. Both had no effect on chemical reactions associated with peroxynitrite, such as tyrosine nitration, or on the activation of inflammatory cells in vitro. Moreover, when mice treated with the urate oxidase inhibitor potassium oxonate were fed inosine or inosinic acid, serum UA levels were elevated markedly for a period of hours, whereas only a minor, transient increase in serum inosine was detected. Administration of inosinic acid suppressed the appearance of clinical signs of EAE and promoted recovery from ongoing disease. The therapeutic effect on animals with active EAE was associated with increased UA, but not inosine, levels in CNS tissue. We, therefore, conclude that the mode of action of inosine and inosinic acid in EAE is via their metabolism to UA.
The development of the digital economy is directly linked to advances in the information technology sector. The information technology sector refers to a set of high-tech computer services. The ...article shows the place of this sector in the provision of high-tech services according to international and Russian statistical methodology. It has been substantiated that the information technology sector has a significant cumulative development effect. The IT sector refers to a set of high-tech computer services. The drivers of the information technology sector development have been identified and the government’s methods of stimulating it have been analysed. Particular attention has been paid to global external shocks to the industry, namely sanctions and the COVID-19 pandemic. The short term specifics of the information technology sector drivers have been highlighted. The role of the state as a facilitator of methods to stimulate industry development has been shown.
Uric acid (UA), a product of purine metabolism, is a known scavenger of peroxynitrite (ONOO(-)), which has been implicated in the pathogenesis of multiple sclerosis and experimental allergic ...encephalomyelitis (EAE). To determine whether the known therapeutic action of UA in EAE is mediated through its capacity to inactivate ONOO(-) or some other immunoregulatory phenomenon, the effects of UA on Ag presentation, T cell reactivity, Ab production, and evidence of CNS inflammation were assessed. The inclusion of physiological levels of UA in culture effectively inhibited ONOO(-)-mediated oxidation as well as tyrosine nitration, which has been associated with damage in EAE and multiple sclerosis, but had no inhibitory effect on the T cell-proliferative response to myelin basic protein (MBP) or on APC function. In addition, UA treatment was found to have no notable effect on the development of the immune response to MBP in vivo, as measured by the production of MBP-specific Ab and the induction of MBP-specific T cells. The appearance of cells expressing mRNA for inducible NO synthase in the circulation of MBP-immunized mice was also unaffected by UA treatment. However, in UA-treated animals, the blood-CNS barrier breakdown normally associated with EAE did not occur, and inducible NO synthase-positive cells most often failed to reach CNS tissue. These findings are consistent with the notion that UA is therapeutic in EAE by inactivating ONOO(-), or a related molecule, which is produced by activated monocytes and contributes to both enhanced blood-CNS barrier permeability as well as CNS tissue pathology.
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