Species Composition of the Lichen Biota in Industrially Polluted Territories of Leninsky District of Irkutsk

In the context of the development of infrastructure in Siberian cities, the issues of the state of the areas with accumulated environmental damage is especially relevant. It is mentioned in the article that lichen indication is an efficient method of passive monitoring of environment for industrial pollutants caused by morphological changes occurring in sensitive objects. The results of the lichen floristic research of Leninsky district of Irkutsk are presented, a list of revealed lichens including 9 genera and 12 species is given, a taxonomic list of this area is discussed. Lichenological objects were mapped. Distribution of lichens in the area of research is investigated with regard to the presence of recreational and residential zones. The authors draw a conclusion about the presence of «lichens deserts» which are caused both by the absence of the respective substratum and high concentration of pollutants. High concentration of pollutants is caused by complex influence of different enterprises on the quality of air.

Methodical Approach of Detecting and Calculating Key Indicators of the Competitive Potential of a Trade-Logistics Company in the Conditions of Uncertainty

The significantly changed conditions of the activity of trade-logistics enterprises place heavy demands on the accuracy of calculation and planning key indicators of competitive potential. The article formulates and solves a scientific problem, which consists in the absence of a unified approach, within which not only the strategic potential of an enterprise is assessed and key indicators of competitive potential are determined, but also a toolkit for calculating values of these indicators in the conditions of fuzzy input data is proposed. It is suggested to determine the key indicators of competitive potential based on the characteristics of the corporate profile that have the potential for temporary competitive advantages with the possibility of increasing their organization, as well as the key weaknesses of the organization. To calculate the values of the key indicators of competitive potential and their planning in the conditions of uncertainty, it is proposed to use fuzzy inference systems. The article presents the results of approbation of the developed methodological approach in a particular trade and logistics company.

A Forgotten Page of the University Science History. Historical-Economic Studies at IFTI - INEI in the 1950s-1960s: Israel D. Brin

The article, which was written within a project of studying the history of creation and existence of the “invisible college” of historical and economic studies at IFEI — INEI in the 1950s–1960s, reconstructs the intellectual biography of one of its participants — Israel D. Brin. The Irkutsk period of the scientist's work is characterized by his referring to historical-economic analysis: establishing a link between the problems of state capitalism and the problems of the NEP and considering the specific institutional forms that state capitalism took during the period of the NEP in the USSR in the 1920s. The works of the political economist reflected the transformation of the economic history of the NEP into a holistic and complex scientific issue. In addition to historians, political economists got involved in the solution of this problem. Their referring to the past was caused not only by historical interest, but also by urgent problems of the present. The New Economic Policy was interesting from the point of view of the implementation of its principles as well as the use of the institutional forms of state capitalism, tested during the implementation of this policy, in the practice of the people's democracies of Europe and Asia, which were in the process of transition from capitalism to socialism after the Second World War.

Changes in the System of Students Life Values in the Russian Far East in the Context of the Covid-19 Pandemic

The current historical period of human history is characterized by hard challenges caused by the global COVID-19 pandemic, which inevitably leads to transformations in human consciousness and value-and-meaning sphere. Studies of this aspect are becoming increasingly topical. The article studies the value-and-meaning sphere of full-time students in the context of distance learning and forced isolation. The authors compare the results of two data slices made in 2018–2019 and 2020. The research involved 701 students aged 18–24. The first stage of the research in 2018–2019 academic year involved 295 young people (102 males and 193 females). The second stage was in May 2020 during the lockdown the number of respondents was 406 young people (85 males and 321 females). The authors of the article used E.B. Fantalova’s research conception of the correlation of «value» and «affordability» in various life spheres. The results show a significant difference between students’ pre- and post-pandemic value benchmarks. During the pandemic, we see a pronounced intra-personal conflict between a value and affordability in students’ meaningful life spheres. This gap between a need for achieving internally important values and affordability of this achievement is more significant in relation to an active life style, health, an interesting job, beauty of the nature, arts and freedom. Self-isolation has worsened internal conflicts and the feeling of psychological welfare has faded. The shift in students’ value-and-meaning priorities in the context of the pandemic requires working out new strategies of personal and vocational self-realization, and searching for ways of saving health optimal psychological resources.

Marketplace as a Business Model of E-Commerce

The world market of e-commerce is growing actively due to the development of such format of trade as marketplace. Its business model is only being formed, numerous factors influence its content in contradiction with each other. Its increasing popularity leads not only to new opportunities but also to new obstacles for market players, which can cast a doubt on viability of its use. The purpose of the article is to reveal what strategic decisions taken by developers and managers of marketplaces allow the creation of an effective combination of buyers’ and sellers’ aims on the platform, thus, providing mutually profitable exchange for everyone. Three approaches to the study of marketplaces have been identified based on the analysis of the empirical base consisting of secondary information: as a framework that controls the behavior of buyers and sellers in the electronic environment; as an information system; as a business model of an e-commerce. It is concluded that there are conflicting objectives with which the key participants come to the marketplace. The understanding of the business model of the marketplace can contribute to achieving consistency between the interests of sellers and buyers. Four types of marketplace business models have been identified, and they are classified into groups according to three components: value proposition, forms of revenue generation, content of the value creation process. It has been shown that the business model of a marketplace has both advantages and disadvantages, which forces market players to develop focused strategies, and at the same time marketplaces to create value propositions of at least four types: communication stimulation, business transaction automation, coordination of the market as of an intermediary in the value chain, integration of firms and process optimization. A conclusion was made about the prospects of a business model with competitive advantages created for each marketplace.

Solar Wind Parameters and Its Geoefficiency During Minimums of Four Solar Cycles

Recently a number of publications have appeared on the long and deep minimum in cycle 23 of solar activity. This interest is due to the fact that it turned out to be the longest and deepest in terms of the number of sunspots in the entire era of space exploration. The features of the minimum of cycle 23 of solar activity and the beginning of cycle 24 made it possible to assume that in the coming decades, a minimum of solar activity similar to the Dalton or Maunder minimum, leading to a global change in the earth's climate, may occur. Such assumptions make a detailed study of the influence of the minimum of solar cycle 23 on the parameters of the solar wind and the interplanetary magnetic field, as well as a comparison of this influence with similar manifestations in the three previous cycles very urgent. The work carried out statistical processing and analysis of data available in print and on the Internet on the indices of solar activity (W and F10.7), on geomagnetic activity, as well as on the parameters of the solar wind and interplanetary field. In contrast to other similar studies, when choosing time intervals for all cycles, only one — 12 months was used, which made it possible to exclude annual and semi-annual variations in solar wind parameters. For the considered minima of solar activity, the geoeffectiveness of the disturbed fluxes ICME, CIR, and Sheath was considered. A monotonic and very significant decrease in the geoeffectiveness of the ICME streams was found. Data processing on the hourly average values of the solar wind parameters at the minima of geomagnetic activity for 4 cycles confirmed the significant difference between cycle 23 and the previous ones in the behavior of the magnetic field. The cycle-by-cycle decrease in the geoeffectiveness of coronal ejections discussed in the press deserves a more detailed analysis using extensive data on magnetic activity indices.

Problems and Prospects of the Helium Industry in Russia

The transition to an innovative way of development in the gas industry is associated with deep, comprehensive processing of natural gas, the start-up of manufacturing products with high added value. In terms of proven reserves of natural gas, Russia ranks number one in the world, the demand is constantly growing both at the domestic market and for exports. Natural and associated petroleum gases of many oil and gas condensate fields in Russia are multicomponent systems that contain a number of components important for the gas chemical industry (ethane, propane, butane, etc.). The most valuable of these is helium. The purpose of this work is to study the problems and prospects for the development of the helium industry in Russia and in the world. Using the methods of economic analysis, generalization and synthesis, the authors estimated the volume of reserves of helium-saturated gases in the fields of the country and Eastern Siberia, the state of helium production, the potential for using helium in the sectors of the Russian economy, the possibility and conditions of competitive entry into the world market. As a result, they detected Russia’s technological inferiority in a number of industries, coming from the low demand for helium, the location of potential consumers far from production centers, the high cost of helium production, the lack of reliable methods of its transportation, etc. At the same time, full-scale helium demand satisfaction of Russian industries is associated with the construction of the Amur Gas Processing Plant. The demand for helium in the countries of the world is constantly growing, an increase in consumption is observed in traditional industries and in the field of innovative technologies. The US dominance in the production of helium is gradually declining due to the depletion of some deposits. The authors make a conclusion that after 2030 Russia can satisfy domestic consumption of helium to bring the industry to an effective economic and environmental level and, while reducing the cost of production, become a major participant in its world market.

Constitutional Principle of Social Solidarity as a Basis for the Consolidation of the Russian Society and States

The current circumstances related to the Covid-19 pandemic, which the entire world community had to face, raised sharply the question of mutual responsibility of the society and the state. At the same time, restrictions imposed at the state level are most often assessed by citizens as excessive. As a result, the number of studies devoted to establishing the legitimacy of restricting human rights and freedoms in the conditions of the epidemic is growing, however, such a phenomenon as social solidarity remains practically ignored. It is social solidarity, understood as the cohesion of the society (not only in the face of common threats and challenges), that can become the basis for constructive interaction between the society and the state. The aim of the study was the legal understanding of social solidarity as a new constitutional principle of the Russian state, which presupposes the possibility of establishing permissible restrictions on individual rights and freedoms in the conditions of protecting the foundations of the constitutional state from the modern threats. The absence of a normative definition of social solidarity in the current legislation of Russia, despite the constitutional reform carried out in 2020, entails difficulties in the correct interpretation of this phenomenon. The use of both general scientific and special methods of cognition of socio-legal phenomena — the formal legal method and the method of legal modeling — made it possible to see in social solidarity not only the legal structure, but also the leading moral and ethical principle of interaction between the society and the state. The analysis of the domestic legal acts made it possible to conclude that the constitutional principle of social cohesion of the society and the state in the face of various threats with the observance of such elements as the rule of law, the constitutional provision of individual rights and freedoms and the conditions for their permissible restriction is the basis for the inviolability of the state and its constitutional system.

The Mechanism for Effectively Meeting the Needs of the Population in Essential services by Regions Municipal Economy: Current State and Trends

The importance of effectively meeting the needs of the region's population in essential services under conditions of uncertainty is becoming an increasingly important and relevant area of economic development of the local economy. A systematic study carried out in the article pertaining to assessing and using the potential of interaction between the state, regions and municipalities in order to meet the needs of the population in essential services contributes to strengthening the capabilities of the local economy. But this cannot be achieved without analyzing the external and internal environment and implementing, on this basis, a forecast of a dynamic change in the economic situation, to which the power structures do not pay due attention. It was found that the shortcomings of the methodological tools lead to a low quality of the developed forecast and management decisions. The article clarifies the concept of strategic management in relation to the socio-economic development of territories, shows that solving such problem situations increases the potential of the local economy, aims at increasing efficiency and has a positive effect on strengthening the socio-economic potential of the Siberian territories. Proposals aimed at solving the problems of forecasting socio-economic development have been prepared. It is shown that the mechanism of work of state structures of territories and of business on the field of rendering socially important services to the population, based on the use of optimization theory in forecasting activity, allows to reveal unused opportunities and redistribute them in the areas being the bottlenecks. The proposals include a conceptually distributed in time optimization model of effective solutions to meet the needs of the population in the region in services based on the real state of the economy and the emerging prospects for dynamic change towards growth. This view of the problems of the local economy makes it possible to use the proposed organizational and economic solutions to the challenges with a high degree of efficiency. This stimulates the search for new approaches to the study of the problems faced by municipalities, the identification of relevant forms and methods of solving socially significant problems.

Probabilistic Combinatorial Model of the Epidemic for a University

The aim of the research was to identify the main causes of infection of teachers and students in a university. Two probabilistic combinatorial problems are considered analytically to determine the probabilities and rates of infection of teachers and students in a university as a result of the appearance of infected persons among the contingent of students. The mathematical apparatus of probability theory and combinatorics is used to solve the problems. For the factorials of combinations arising in the structure, the asymptotic Stirling’s formula is used. Convergent series arise in the final formulas, reflecting the multiplicity of scenarios of the probabilistic approach. Analytical formulas for the sums of series, probabilities and rates of infection of teachers and students are obtained. It is shown that the infection of teachers and students occurs through «dangerous» spatially close contacts, when a teacher and a student talk at a distance of less than 0.5 meter. It is impossible to exclude such contacts in the students’ environment during full-time study. Among teachers, there is also a less probable classroom mechanism of infection through the volume of air infected with viruses.