Predicting the budgetary funding need of education in the three-year budget for 2008–2010

The paper presents a technique developed by the authors, which makes it possible to determine the necessary amount of financing for education at all the budget system levels for 2008-2010, based on the Russian average value of financing, taking into account the budget expenditures index for two variants of student population, i.e. the actual number of on-budget students and the number of students required to meet the economy’s need for trained workers. The technique was developed and the calculations were made on the basis of Russian long-term forecasts and the Russian three-year federal budget for 2008–2010.     

Trends in economic cooperation between Southern Russian regions

The economic situation, foreign economic relations, and export/import structure of Southern Russian regions are considered; the author’s opinion on the development of free economic prices in Southern Russiaís resort area is given; this conclusion is justified on the grounds that any trends emerging in the foreign relations of Southern Russian regions must be adjusted to match the targets set for the country as a whole.     

Bag filters for TPP

Cleaning of TPP flue gases with bag filters capable of pulsed regeneration is examined. A new filtering element with a three-dimensional filtering material formed from a needle-broached cloth in which the filtration area, as compared with a conventional smooth bag, is increased by more than two times, is proposed. The design of a new FRMI type of modular filter is also proposed. A standard series of FRMI filters with a filtration area ranging from 800 to 16,000 m² is designed for an output more than 1 million m₃/h of with respect to cleaned gas. The new bag filter permits dry collection of sulfur oxides from waste gases at TPP operating on high-sulfur coals. The design of the filter makes it possible to replace filter elements without taking the entire unit out of service. __________ Translated from élektricheskie Stantsii, No. 3, March 2007, pp. 43–46.     

Granular biofilm-based anaerobic digestion: molecular biomonitoring and high-rate psychrophilic treatment of phenolic wastewater.

Two pairs of expanded granular sludge bed (EGSB) bioreactors, R1/R2 and R3/R4, were designed. R1/R2 were used for mesophilic (37 degrees C) treatment of synthetic wastewater over a 100-day trial. A successful start-up was achieved by R1 and R2, with COD removal over 90%. Both reactors were operated under identical parameters; however, increased organic loading induced a reduction in COD removal by R1, while R2 maintained satisfactory performance throughout the experiment. R3/R4 were operated at 15 degrees C throughout a 422-day trial and were used for the stabilisation of volatile fatty acid-based wastewater. Phenol was introduced to R4 at an applied loading rate of 1 kg phenol m(-3)d(-1), which was increased to 2 kg phenol m(-3)d(-1). No phenol was supplied to R3. Efficient COD conversion was recorded in both R3 and R4, thus demonstrating the feasibility of high-rate phenol degradation under psychrophilic conditions. Terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis was applied to the characterisation of microbial community dynamics within each of the reactors. The results indicated a microbiological basis for the deviation, in terms of operational performance, of R1 and R2. TRFLP analyses indicated stable microbial communities in R3 and R4, but detected changes in the abundance of specific ribotypes in response to phenol mineralisation.     

Evidence for Remote Effects of Dreissenid Mussels on the Amphipod Diporeia: Analysis of Lake Ontario Benthic Surveys, 1972–2003

The status of invasive dreissenid mussels (Dreissena polymorpha and D. bugensis) and native amphipods (Diporeia spp.) in Lake Ontario was assessed in 2003 and compared with historical data. D. polymorpha (zebra mussels) were rarely observed in 2003, having been displaced by D. bugensis (quagga mussels). D. bugensis expanded its depth range from 38 m depth in 1995 to 174 m in 2003 and this dreissenid reached densities averaging 8,000/m² at all sites < 90 m. During the same time period, Diporeia populations almost completely disappeared from 0–90 m depth, continuing a declining trend from 1994–1997 reported in previous studies. The average density of Diporeia in the 30–90 m depth interval decreased from 1,380/m² to 63/m² between 1997 and 2003. Prior to 2003, areas deeper than 90 m represented a refuge for Diporeia, but even these deep populations decreased, with densities declining from 2,181/m2 in 1999 to 545/m2 in 2003. Two common hypotheses for the decline of Diporeia in the Great Lakes are food limitation and a toxin/pathogen associated with dreissenid pseudofeces. The Diporeia decline in deep waters preceded the expansion of D. bugensis to these depths, and suggests that shallow dreissenid populations remotely influence profundal habitats. This pattern of decline is consistent with mechanisms that act from some distance including nearshore dreissenid grazing and downslope transport of pseudofeces.     

Evaluation of rainfall networks using entropy: II. Application

This paper, the second in the series, applies the entropy approach to space and time evaluation of rainfall networks in Louisiana. The evaluation is made for five sampling intervals: daily, 2-day, weekly, monthly, and yearly, and for two separate seasons. In each case, the best combination of raingages is suggested and the lines of equal information (isoinformation contours) are constructed showing the areas of greater or less information transfer. The isoinformation lines are especially suitable in decisions concerning the expansion of the existing network or deleting the unnecessary raingages.     

Monitoring water quality in reservoirs with IRS-1A-LISS-I

An attempt has been made to quantify the relationship between the variation in IRS-IA-LISS-I (Indian Remote Sensing Satellite-1A Linear Imaging Self-Scanning System) radiance data and field measured change in secchi disc depth. Secchi disc depth was measured for 47 predetermined sampling locations on reservoir surface water. At extinction depth (secchi depth), water samples were collected from all the sampling locations. Suspended sediments of eight locations representing various reaches of the reservoir were selected for mineralogical, particle size and optical properties analysis. The LISS-I radiance value in band 1 (0.45–0.52µm) band 2 (0-52–0.59 µm) and band 3 (0.62–0.68 µm) were used in a regression analysis. The absorption infrared band 4 (0.77–0.86 µm) was not included in the analysis. In these, the dependable variable was secchi depth (SD) and the LISS-I-radiance data was the estimator variable. Forty-seven data sets of 20 October 1988 from Tawa reservoir surface water were used to obtain an estimator equation for SD. The verification of the estimator equation was tested by applying it to a data set of 21 measurements of 28 September 1988 for this reservoir. The coefficient of correlation between observed and estimated values for the 28 September 1988 data set wasr=0.92 for SD, indicating that the equation could accurately predict the water clarity (SD) for this reservoir on new occasions from IRS-IA-LISS-I spectral data. It is shown that mineral composition and optical properties of suspended sediments influence the reflected radiance of water quality. It is concluded that IRS-IA-LISS-I data provide a useful means of mapping water quality in reservoir.     

Evaluation of the risk of unfavorable sociodemographic consequences of construction and operation of hydro developments

Translated from Gidrotekhnicheskoe Stroitel'stvo, No. 4, pp. 30–35, April, 1995.