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The paper summarizes the ninth annual conference of the Russian Library Association in May 2004. Included are the exhibits, several plenary addresses, the work of the Bibliography Section, and election results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sisal 3.2 is a new input language of system of functional programming (SFP) which is under development at the Institute of Informatics Systems in Novosibirsk as an interactive visual environment for supporting of scientific parallel programming. This paper contains an overview of Sisal 3.2 and a description of its new features compared with previous versions of the SFP input language such as the multidimensional array support, new abstractions like parametric types and generalised procedures, more flexible user-defined reductions, improved interoperability with other programming languages and specification of several optimising source text annotations. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Russian regional governments have shown remarkable variation in prohibiting immigrants from working in specific economic sectors. Why do regions enact immigration bans in some sectors but not in others? Few studies have explored the politics of immigration in authoritarian regimes, and recent sectoral bans in Russia have received scant attention. Based on an analysis of a novel data set on sectoral bans in 83 Russian regions and a case study of Novosibirsk Oblast, this article shows that regional governments tend to enact immigration bans in sectors that do not rely on a foreign workforce. I argue that autocrats impose immigration restrictions as mere grandstanding to appeal to public anti-immigrant sentiment. My findings challenge the existing literature's emphasis on the roles of economic factors, such as economic growth and natural resources, in immigration restrictions, as well as the argument that Russia imposes excessive immigration restrictions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the effectiveness of public administration at the regional level by considering the strategic planning policies of Novosibirsk Oblast as they relate to foreign economic activity. An assessment is given of the macroeconomic indicators, the quality of the external economic infrastructure, and the effectiveness of government regulation at the national level. Using a contingency approach, the article provides a comparative retrospective analysis of the doctrinal documents of Novosibirsk Oblast and statistical data as they relate to foreign economic activity. This analysis shows that Novosibirsk Oblast has low effectiveness of public administration as it relates to foreign economic activity. The most problematic elements of the oblast's strategic policy are identified. It is evident that the current strategic planning for the development of the region does not reflect current realities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The following study compared marijuana and opiate self-report at time intervals of 24 h, 3-7 days, and past month to urinalysis. Participants were 109 adult drug-users who participated in a study of neurobehavioural risk factors for contracting HIV among drug users in Novosibirsk, Russia, 2005. Sensitivity statistics for each substance increased for each time interval. Concordance between self-report and urinalysis was highest for past month use for marijuana, while concordance was highest for the past 3-7 days of use for opiates. Results are consistent with existing literature suggesting that validity may be reasonably high among treatment referred populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Through a comparison of privatization programs in two physics institutes, this article explores the ways in which scientists in the Siberian science city of Akademgorodok adapted to the low levels of state funding available to them in the 1990s. Scientists transformed structures that were available under socialism into hybrid state-private ventures. Rather than 'freeing' Russian science from its former dependence on the state, however, these changes have reconfigured, and in some cases even strengthened, the relationship between state power and the production of knowledge. Seeing 'the state' as it is constituted in Russian scientists' discourse challenges Western models of the autonomy of science. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]