Февраль 2007 г.

Российская наука и мир (по материалам зарубежной электронной прессы)

CONTENTS / ОГЛАВЛЕНИЕ


• Oral flu vaccine on the horizon in Russia
• Map of volcanoes in Northern Eurasia
• Armement: les chercheurs russes inventent le blindage liquide
• Lamp plus laser - a good pairing
• Laureates Of "Grand Gold Medals" Of Russian Academy of Sciences Announced
• La Russie, invitée d'honneur au salon Expolangues-2007 de Paris
• Global climate: stratospheric hints
• Gasoline from plastic packs
• Scientists Model Fire and Fire Fighting Technology
• Russian Biophysicists To Create "Material Of Future"
• Les cinq récipiendaires de l'édition 2007 du prix sont toutes des spécalistes des sciences de la matière
• Old age, death and evolution
• Alcoa Inc : Alcoa crée un centre d'innovation en Russie

Ученые из Научно-исследовательского института гриппа РАМН завершили доклинические исследования интраназальной вакцины против гриппа.

Russian researchers have developed an intranasal influenza vaccine using a novel adjuvant technology, with plans to develop what could become the first tablet flu vaccine formulation.
The scientists, from Russia's Influenza Research Institute (RAMS) recently completed a preclinical study on intranasal formulation, with encouraging results. Clinical studies are due to start this autumn, and the vaccine will follow in the footsteps of a rival intranasal flu vaccine, MedImmune's FluMist, which is already on sale in the USA.
The adjuvant used in the vaccine, called Korauban, is an immunostimulant gamma interferon inductor that is closely related to ordinary cellulose. The initial clinical candidate form will include antigens from three inactivated viruses (A1, A2, B). An undisclosed component, permitting 12-month tablet stability, will be used to develop a vaccine in tablet form, said a spokesperson for RAMS.
"The combination of Korauban and vaccine viruses in one preparation leads to a synergy of their action," said Professor Oleg Kuznetsov, RAMS project manager. "This is displayed in an increase in early synthesis of common interferon, a factor of the synthesis of intensified non-specific resistance of the organism of bacterial and viral infections."
While adjuvants such as alum have been used in vaccines for decades, there has been interest of late in the development of newer adjuvants that offer more potent or selective immune stimulation. For example, around two-thirds of GlaxoSmithKline's vaccines in development are formulated with new proprietary adjuvant technologies.
Although, FluMist has been on the market since 2003, it remains a minor player compared to injectable flu vaccines, mainly because a requirement to store it frozen makes distribution and administration more complicated. Earlier this month the company won US approval to sell a new formulation that only needs refrigeration, and MedImmune is hopeful this will kickstart sales. It sold 1.7 million doses of FluMist in the first nine months of 2006, bringing in $18 million in revenues.
Now, the Russian scientists are looking for funding of around $600,000 from investors to develop their technology, although the spokesperson said they may decide to sell it if the right offer is made.
The International Science and Technology Centre (ISTC), a non-profit non-commercial organisation based in Moscow, supports the flu project.

Специалисты пяти российских академических институтов составили первую карту современного состояния вулканической активности в Северной Евразии.

Specialists of five Russian academical institutes including three academicians and two Corresponding Members of the Russian Academy of Sciences drew up the first map of up-to-date volcanism in Northern Eurasia. The map reflects distribution regularities in volcanic active regions formed in the last 10-15 million years in this part of the Earth.
Volcanic regions are connected with young mountain systems that are located at the periphery of Eurasian platform. The major part of these regions lies in the territory of Russia. Volcanic regions differ not only by territory, but also by the age, activity, erupted rock and other peculiarities. The researchers mark out volcanic regions of mid-oceanic ridges, island arks, continental collision zones and intraplatform ones.
The most active are island arks volcanoes, including, the Kuriles and Kamchatka islands. These are quite young volcano regions, they are only three million years old, and the contemporary relief of the area is determined mainly by volcanoes formed within the last 40-50 thousand years. There is not a single year without an eruption taking place in the region.
This volcanic region is known for big conic volcanoes such as Klyuchevskaya Sopka, Avachinsly, and Kronotsky, which erupt hundreds of cubic kilometers of volcanic products. Klyuchevskaya Sopka's eruption happen once in several years, but for multiple volcanoes, calm periods can last for centuries. If a volcano has not erupted in 3,000 - 3,500 years, the volcano is dead.
Volcanoes of the continental collision zone (i.e. the zone of where the Eurasian platform collides with the Arabian-African and the Indian platforms) behave more calmly. The zone stretches from the central regions of the Tibet in the east through Pyrenean peninsular in the west. The scientists distinguish two branches: the Asian and the Anatolian-European ones.
The Asian branch combines volcanoes allocated inside the Asian continent, in the zone of collision between the Indian and the Arabic platforms. The larger volcanoes include Elbruz, Demavend, Sahand and Bazman. Volcanoes of this type erupt occasionally, with periods of calm lasting from several thousands of years to dozens of thousands of years.
Volcanoes of Anatolian-Balkan branches stretch along the northern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. In this region, there are both lava table lands and big volcanoes, among which are also infamous Santorin and Vesuvius volcanoes. Among intraplate volcanic zones, volcanoes of Eastern and Central Asia draw attention. These areas are predominated by lava dome folds and table lands that appear in case of interstitial lava flow. Low volcanic activity also takes place in Chukotka.
Two transcontinental submeridional rift zones are singled out by the scientists into a special group of intraplatform volcanic regions. One of them crosses Central Europe and Mediterranean, and goes off to the territory of North-Western Africa down to Gulf of Guinea. The other zone can be tracked from the Caucasus foothills (the region of Mineralnye Vody) through Tanzania. Both zones retain volcanic activity particularly at the intersections with the continental collision zones. Etna, Vesuvius, Tendurek, Nemrut, Elbruz and Kazbek volcanoes erupted back in historic times.

В России разрабатывается новый вид защитного покрытия, получивший название "жидкая броня". Покрытие представляет собой гель из твердых наночастиц и жидкого наполнителя. При резком ударе (попадание пули, осколка) частицы мгновенно связываются друг с другом, и гель превращается в твердый композит, препятствуя проникновению инородного тела в глубь структуры.

Les chercheurs russes élaborent un nouveau type de revêtement appelé "blindage liquide".
"On vient d'achever avec succès la première étape des essais d'un nano-liquide, et ils ont confirmé les qualités qu'on s'efforce de conférer à notre produit", a indiqué Nikolaï Viktorov, directeur exécutif du Fonds à capital risque du Complexe militaro-industriel de la région de Sverdlovsk (Ekaterinbourg), dans l'Oural central.
La production industrielle de "blindage liquide" pour véhicules commencera en été 2007, a-t-il poursuivi. Ce "blindage" peut être utilisé pour renforcer le revêtement de protection de tout matériel, dont hélicoptères, vedettes et gilets pare-balles. Le nouveau matériau permet de renforcer le blindage sans en augmenter notablement le poids, contrairement à ce qui se produit en cas d'utilisation de plaques métalliques, par exemple.
Le "blindage liquide" en question est un gel constitué de nanoparticules fermes et d'une matière de remplissage. Un impact brusque (causé par une balle ou un éclat) pousse ses particules à se lier immédiatement les unes aux autres, transformant le gel en composite ferme s'opposant à la pénétration du corps étranger en profondeur de sa structure. Cette transformation s'opère en moins d'une milliseconde, créant une protection sûre face à différentes influences mécaniques.
Le Fonds à capital risque du Complexe militaro-industriel de la région de Sverdlovsk a été institué en novembre 2005 dans le but d'utiliser le potentiel intellectuel et technique de la région, de développer les hautes technologies et d'améliorer la compétitivité du territoire. Les plus grandes entreprises industrielles de l'Oural en sont participantes.

Cотрудники НПО им. С.А.Лавочкина и РФНЦ ВНИИ экспериментальной физики разрабатывают совершенно новую схему светолазерной сварки при использовании лазеров в комбинации с мощным источником света, спектр которого можно изменять. Это дает возможность избежать недостатков лазерной сварки, прежде считавшихся неизбежными. Финансовую поддержку проекту оказывает Международный научно-технический центр.

Specialists from NPO Lavochkin, together with colleagues from the All-Russia Research Institute of Experimental Physics in Sarov and with the support of Professor Antonio Lapucci from the Institute of Applied Optics in Florence, Italy and Director of the Welding Institute in Aachen (Germany) Professor Ulrich Delthey, are developing a completely new light-laser welding system with the use of powerful polychromatic energy sources. This makes it possible to avoid the shortcomings of laser welding that were previously thought to be unavoidable. Financial support for the project comes from the International Science and Technology Centre.
The complex, the first experimental version of which has already been constructed and is being tested by scientists from this world-famous space science and technology centre, involves two energy sources, a Nd-YAG-laser (a neodymium-yttrium aluminium garnet laser), which is what performs the spot weld itself, and a special light module, a powerful source of light, the spectrum of which can be altered. And, of course, there is the requisite equipment and the corresponding software, which enables automatic welding over a pre-set program.
The crux of the method indeed lies in the use of this second, light source of radiation. Its power and spectral attributes are such that it can quickly and effectively heat a weld area and its surrounding space to a temperature, if required, to over 1000 degrees. In its turn, this is a guarantee that defects that form under the welding of cold (that is specially non-heated) parts are significantly fewer, while the need for annealing ready products is eradicated altogether.
Indeed, welders have long since known that the quality of a weld-join is essentially better if the parts to be welded are well heated. Cases have even been known when large metal parts are welded even before they have cooled after smelting. But how can you heat parts sufficiently quickly and effectively if one of them is made, for example, from invar (an iron-nickel alloy), which hardly alters its dimensions when heated, and the other is made from glass? How can they be heated to high temperatures without damaging them?
To resolve this problem, Doctor of Technical Sciences Valentin Sysoev and his colleagues proposed the use of a powerful lamp where, shining the beam of this lamp on the surface to be welded, can heat the item to the required temperature. In principle, such sources of energy could be the only ones to use for welding, only the excessively large diameter of the light beam (up to 2-3mm) and certain other features mean that they cannot be used for spot welding. However, the scientists believe that using them not for welding but for heating а surface, inside which a narrow laser beam will perform the spot weld, is not only possible, but also very necessary. The fall in temperature between the point of the weld and around it will be much smoother, and this is what defines the exceptionally high quality of the weld.
If we take account of the fact that a combined approach of this kind can use weaker lasers, than those that are traditionally applied, it will transpire that this new method is not only more effective, but is also more economical as the price of lasers is proportionate to their power. So it can be hoped that in the very near future the process of laser welding of car chassis and other items of importance to us all will be better and cheaper. The guarantee for this is the very highest level of professionalism of the team of scientists on this project and the financial support provided to the scientists by the ISTC.

Лауреатами Большой золотой медали имени Ломоносова (высшая награда РАН, ежегодно присуждается двум ученым - российскому и иностранному, работающим в одной области науки) за 2006 год стали геологи - Николай Лаверов и Родни Чарльз Юинг.

A question about awarding "Grand Gold Medals" of Russian Lomonosov Academy of Sciences in year 2006 was discussed during panel session of Presidium of Russian Academy of Sciences. The winners of high award are: Russian geologist Nikolay Laverov and his American colleague Rodney Charles Ewing.
Nikolay Laverov was awarded "for outstanding contribution to solving mineral and raw material problems of Russia, including creation of scientific basis of uranium deposits development", and professor Ewing Rodney Charles was awarded "for outstanding contribution to studies of radiation effect on minerals, creation of matrix conservants for highly radioactive elements for their burial in deep geological formation".
"Grand Gold Medal" of Russian Academy of Sciences is conferred annually to two Russian and foreign scientists working in the same scientific field. Winners get the gold medal with a picture of Michael Lomonosov and diploma of honor.

C 24 по 27 января 2007 г. в Париже проходил 25-й юбилейный Салон языков и культур Expolangues-2007. Это международная образовательно-лингвистическая выставка, в которой принимают участие образовательные учреждения, специализированные издательства, переводческие центры, министерства иностранных дел, образования, культуры, национальные культурные центры. Россия была приглашена на Expolangues-2007 в качестве почетного гостя под девизом "Русский язык - первый язык общения в космосе", так как в этом году отмечается 50-летие запуска первого искусственного спутника Земли.

La Russie doit pour la première fois prendre part, en qualité d'invitée d'honneur, au salon linguistique Expolangues-2007 qui s'ouvre le 24 janvier prochain à Paris, a annoncé mardi le ministère russe des Affaires étrangères.
L'exposition se déroulera sous le haut patronage des épouses des présidents russe et français, Lioudmila Poutina et Bernadette Chirac. Le salon Expolangues-2007 doit notamment lancer une Année de la langue russe dans le monde proclamée par le président russe Vladimir Poutine.
La présente édition d'Expolangues se déroulera sous le slogan : "Le russe est la première langue de communication dans l'espace". La première d'un film documentaire du même nom, réalisé en collaboration avec le studio cinématographique de l'Agence spatiale russe (Roskosmos), est notamment programmée.
Le jeudi 25 janvier, à l'occasion de l'inauguration de l'Année de la langue russe, une séance de duplex sera organisée entre Paris et la Station spatiale internationale (ISS).
"On attend l'arrivée d'une délégation russe nombreuse comprenant des responsables représentant les différents ministères et administrations, une quarantaine d'universités et les administrations de différentes villes, dont Moscou et Saint-Pétersbourg", a précisé la diplomatie russe.
Un vaste programme a été préparé par le Centre russe de coopération scientifique et culturelle internationale, le Centre pour la promotion de la langue russe, l'Institut de la langue russe Alexandre Pouchkine, l'Association internationale des enseignants de russe et l'Union des russophones de France Expolangues-2007.
L'exposition sera ouverte jusqu'au 27 janvier prochain.

Анализируя данные о составе атмосферы на разных высотах, можно с высокой степенью достоверности смоделировать настоящее и будущее климата Земли. Собирает эти данные высотный российский самолет М-55 "Геофизика", переоборудованный в летающую лабораторию, а анализируют сотрудники Центральной аэрологической обсерватории в рамках проекта "Исследование стратосферно-тропосферного обмена".

Over the course of the last decade, under European projects the high-altitude aircraft M-55 "Geophysica", reequipped to become a flying laboratory, has gathered an enormous volume of information.
It has studied the stratosphere of the Arctic and the Antarctic, it rose into the stratosphere over South America, Australia and soared over the Indian Ocean. As a result, the scientists, who are staff at the Central Upper-Air Observatory, have obtained a unique mass of data on the composition of the atmosphere at different altitudes. Analyzing these data, it is possible in the end to significantly raise the reliability of model calculations of both the current and future climates of Earth. The scientists are helped in their work by the International Science and Technology Centre.
Devices operating in automatic mode on board the aircraft enable data to be obtained on the composition of the stratosphere in different regions of the globe. Among them there are two devices, designed and built at the Central Upper-Air Observatory. One of them helps to determine the concentration of water vapours, even at a temperature of minus 90 degrees, when its content in the air is determined in millionths of shares of mass. The other helps to capture incredibly small concentrations of ozone, using a special, high-sensitive chemical reaction.
Project Manager Vladimir Yushkov, a Candidate of Physics and Mathematics agreed to explain why this information is necessary. "Global climate is that very instance where, without the present we can learn nothing at all about the future. And what is the "present" from the point of view of climate science? It is primarily precise knowledge of the condition of the environment. The more precise and voluminous the information on the condition of the atmosphere and the ocean, on the mechanisms of the formation of their temperature and dynamic regime and on solar activity, the more reliable the model calculations will be of future climatic changes".
Unfortunately, it is rather difficult to capture climate change in accordance with data from observations conducted on the Earth's surface. However, there are altitudes in the Earth's atmosphere where even slight changes in the temperature of the Earth's surface can bring about considerable temperature responses that can be measured to a fair degree of reliability. These are the stratospheric altitudes. But it is not enough to just know the temperatures of different layers of the stratosphere. One also has to know the composition of the stratospheric gases that influence the temperature regime. Primarily these are natural greenhouse gases, ozone and water vapour, the content of which is subjected to natural and anthropogenic changes. It is their concentration that was measured by the devices on board the high-altitude aircraft M-55 "Geophysica".
However, it is not enough to have simply obtained these data. You also have to analyze them as it represents considerable interest for the study of exchange processes between the troposphere and the stratosphere, for identifying the mechanism of the chemical transfer of chemically active pollution to the ozone layer that reacts sensitively to them. The project of the Central Upper-Air Observatory, "The study of stratosphere-troposphere exchange" is devoted namely to this problem.
This problem really is interesting as, put very simply, in the troposphere, that is at altitudes of up to about 12km above the surface of the Earth, the temperature falls with a rise in altitude; the higher you go, the colder it becomes. And further still from the Earth, in the Stratosphere, everything is the reverse: the temperature rises the higher you go. The responsible party for this is the so-called ozone layer, the thickness of which depends on many things, including anthropogenic factors, of which one of the most important are chlorine- and bromide-containing compounds, the particularly woeful, well-known freons and certain other coolants. But how do they enter the altitude of the stratosphere from the surface, if we know that the troposphere and the stratosphere barely mix and exchange of chemical compounds between them is difficult?
The survey work of the Central Upper-Air Observatory will help to find an answer to this question. On the basis of data on the concentration of water vapours and ozone at different altitudes of the stratosphere over different sectors of the globe (in the Tropics and the polar latitudes), the researchers are developing models with which it will be possible, figuratively speaking, to "find the flow". In other words, receiving new data on the mechanism of the distribution of greenhouse gases, their vertical and horizontal transfer. The scientists are confident that this research will significantly improve the model of the Earth's climate and will produce predictions on its change that are more reliable.

Ученые Российского химико-технологического университета им. Д.И.Менделеева разработали технологию, с помощью которой из одного килограмма бытовых пластиковых отходов (например, старых пакетов) можно получить литр бензина. Это является примером того, как продукты, полученные при переработке нефти, заново преобразуют в топливо.

A new technique allows a litre of gasoline to be obtained from a kilogramme of old plastic sachets.
This is one example of how scientists can use a material initially made of petroleum to get, if not oil per se again, the product of petroleum refining - engine fuel.
The technology is being developed by specialists at the D.I. Mendeleev Russian Chemical-Engineering University.
"The idea of carbonic waste processing into carbohydrates is certainly not news", said project manager Dr Valery Shvets.
"For example, two plants - a pilot one and an industrial-scale plant - have recently started operating in the US to process turkey factory wastes into engine fuel. We, for our part, decided to focus our efforts on obtaining gasoline mainly from man-caused carbonic wastes, such as polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene and polyethylene terephthalate wastes. And we have achieved a lot of progress in this direction."
The heat is on
The technology suggested by Dr Shvets and his colleagues is based on catalytic thermal treatment of polymeric materials. To achieve their results, the wastes must first be grinded and melted down. They are then mixed with the catalyst powder and exposed to thermal destruction - that is, kept for some time in the reactor at a definite temperature and pressure.The result of this process, liquid hydrocarbon fraction, is practically gasoline.
Currently, the prototype plant produces a litre of gasoline and a little fuel gas from a kilogram of polyethylene garbage - the petrol fraction content in the products of treatment reaches 90 per cent. The researchers will now continue the work in several directions at once.
As the reactor for the industry should be large, the scientists will need to work jointly with production workers in order to scale it properly. On the other hand, the researchers are striving to make the process continuous, and claim to have made a lot of progress in this direction.
Finally, one of the tasks is to develop a similar technology for processing animal and phytogenic wastes - meat-processing and poultry factory wastes.

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