Kuzbass State Technical University

TiB2–Ag coatings are deposited by electroexplosive spraying on a copper surface for the first time. The idea of creating such coatings is based on the high properties of the initial materials used to form the coatings, namely, titanium diboride and silver. Silver is used to create a matrix with a high electrical conductivity, and titanium diboride, in turn, serves as a wear-resistant, hard, electroerosion-resistant filler for the matrix. Moreover, titanium diboride has a high electrical conductivity among other similar fillers, such as tungsten and molybdenum. The essence of the work is that TiB2–Ag coatings are deposited onto a copper target–substrate by electroexplosive spraying. Electroexplosive spraying is carried out using a silver foil and a titanium diboride powder under the conditions that ensure melting of the copper target–substrate. The deposited coatings are intended for use in electrical contact switching devices. Therefore, we study the following minimum basic properties necessary for the stable operation of electrical contacts in switching devices: microhardness, nanohardness, Young’s modulus, wear coefficient, friction coefficient, electrical conductivity, and switching wear resistance. The following main results have been obtained. The electrical conductivity of the TiB2–Ag coating is 62.0 MS/m. The coating withstands 7000 switching cycles during accelerated electroerosion resistance tests. The electrical resistance does not exceed 12.82 μΩ. The Vickers microhardness in the silver matrix of the coating is 0.251–0.265 GPa, and that at titanium diboride inclusions is 25–32 GPa. The nanohardness is H = 4.48 ± 0.76 GPa and Young’s modulus is E = 116 ± 29 GPa. Under dry sliding friction conditions, the wear parameter is 1.2 mm3/(N m) and the friction coefficient is 0.5. X-ray diffraction analysis demonstrates that the coating contains silver (a = 4.0779 Å, CSR = 42) and titanium diboride (a = 3.0535 Å, c = 3.2618 Å, CSR = 38). Scanning electron microscopy demonstrates that the coating 100–110 μm thick has a composite filled structure, which consists of a silver matrix with titanium diboride inclusions 1–20 μm in size. Transmission electron microscopy demonstrates that the main phase of the coating is silver or an Ag + Cu solid solution reinforced with titanium diboride nanoparticles.

Electric load forecasting plays an important role in smart grid scheduling and operation optimization. However, existing methods still have limitations in multi-target joint modeling, integration of external weather features, and capturing nonlinear relationships. This paper proposes BiKAN-LoadNet, a multi-target load forecasting model that combines Bidirectional Long Short-Term Memory (BiLSTM) networks with a Kolmogorov–Arnold Network (KAN). The model uses BiLSTM to capture long- and short-term dependencies in load sequences, applies a residual connection to retain recent fine-grained variations, and integrates a weather feature encoding module to incorporate the impact of meteorological factors. The output layer adopts KAN to enhance nonlinear fitting capability and achieve joint prediction of daily average, maximum, and minimum loads. Experiments on real-world electric load datasets show that BiKAN-LoadNet achieves significant improvements in RMSE, MAE, and MAPE compared to existing methods. The results demonstrate that BiKAN-LoadNet effectively combines temporal patterns with external weather information, achieving high accuracy and strong stability in multi-target load forecasting tasks, and providing an efficient solution for smart grid load management. The code for reproducing main experiments are available at https://github.com/lianghesiit-code/BiKAN-LoadNet.

Small and medium-sized businesses play a vital role in the country's socioeconomic development and strengthening industrial sovereignty. Small and medium-sized businesses create new jobs, stimulating competition in the labor market, reducing unemployment, and increasing tax revenues. Therefore, the government recognizes the need to provide timely support for small and medium-sized businesses in the form of favorable economic, legal, and political conditions for their effective development. The main problem hindering the development and prosperity of small businesses in Russia is the constant need to attract financial resources, which is due to a lack of internal funds for working capital, investment projects, and other purposes. Small and medium-sized firms experience a particularly high need for additional funds in the early stages of their development and during periods of business expansion. Improving the efficiency of funding methods, including the use of innovative, technological instruments and the implementation of financial support measures, can reduce the impact of negative trends on the small and medium-sized business sector in the Russian economy.

This study examines a set of weapons dating to the end of the first millennium AD. The assemblage includes bows, arrowheads, and quiver hooks. After preliminary work with the sources, the findings have been published and subjected to primary analysis through typological classification. The collection exhibits considerable typologi-cal diversity among bows and arrowheads. Notably, the assemblage of bone arrowheads stands out in terms of quantity and morphological variety. Among these, we can find armor-piercing arrowheads, specifically designed to penetrate protective armor. For each category of weapons, a comparative analysis was conducted, integrating both typological and chronological frameworks. This analysis draws upon data from Medieval sites across the Kuznetsk Basin. The main comparative corpus is anchored in assemblages associated with the Saratov archaeological culture, spanning multiple phases between the 8th and 12th centuries AD. It has been established that 40.5 % of the ranged weapon items from the site under study exhibit unique traits. Based on the results of this analysis, the ranged weapons complex from the Vaganovo-1 is interpreted as a highly distinctive assemblage within the context of single-cultural sites.

The article considers the key features of development of the global oil products market in the context of geopolitical instability. The authors analyze the main characteristics of the oil market in the leading exporting countries. The features of the development of this market in the current conditions of high turbulence are demonstrated. The global petroleum products market is a complex dynamic trading system of crude oil processing products. Its condition is determined by the balance of supply and demand, the capacities of oil refineries and logistic chains. The article examines the basic factors that have a direct impact on the pricing process of the oil products market, with sanctions restrictions being the most significant. Special attention is paid to the adaptation of refining capacities to new conditions, including modernization of production facilities and development of low-carbon areas. The impact of geopolitical tensions and logistical imbalances on regional markets and global trade is studied. Based on the analysis, strategic vectors of further market evolution aimed at ensuring sustainability and competitiveness in the context of global decarbonization are identified. The article provides a forecast of oil product prices based on these factors. Additionally, the authors analyze the impact of the geopolitical crisis on the oil and gas industry in the Russian Federation. The article outlines the role of international corporations, particularly OPEC, in shaping global oil prices.