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The paper wasp Polistes riparius is distributed in cold regions of northern East Asia to Russia. P. riparius are characterized by having longer cells than those of the closely related P. chinensis, which has a similar life history, as an adaptation to cold regions. The phylogenetic relationships of paper wasps have recently been studied; however, the genetic diversity and population structure of P. riparius has not been determined. The present study is the first to analyze the complete mitochondrial genome using next generation sequencing of P. riparius collected from Sapporo, Hokkaido Prefecture, Japan. The genome consisted of a closed loop that was 16,383 bp-long and included 13 protein coding genes (PCGs), 22 tRNA genes, two rRNA genes, and one AT-rich control region. The average AT content was 84.54%. The heavy (H)-strand was predicted to have 12 PCGs and 14 tRNA genes, while the light (L)-strand was predicted to contain one PCGs, eight tRNA genes, and two rRNA genes. All PCGs started with ATG. Stop codons were of two types: TAA for 11 genes (ND1, ND2, ND3, ND4L, ND5, ND6, COXI, COXII, COXIII, COB, ATP6 and ATP8) and TAG for two genes (ND3 and ND4). The molecular phylogenetic relationship based on the maximum likelihood method using 13 PCGs was consistent with some previous studies in which a closely relationship between P. riparius and P. jokahamae. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers various United Nations atomic energy news. The United Nations Atomic Energy Commission met on September 10 and 11, 1947 and adopted the second report to the Security Council. The nations who voted in favor of the report are Australia, France, United States, Brazil, Canada, and China. Russia rejected the report, and Poland abstained. The proposals submitted by Russia involves the investigation of mining and production facilities and accounting of atomic materials, and the conduct of investigations in case of violation of the weapons ban.

At present, there remains uncertainty surrounding the Younger Dryas-early Holocene glacial history of the Fennoscandian Ice Sheet in northwest Arctic Russia. This stems from a lack of high-resolution ice sheet-scale geomorphological data in the region. To address this, this paper presents 15,355 meltwater and morainic landforms in a new large-scale, glacial geomorphological map of the Younger Dryas-early Holocene ice marginal zone in the Republic of Karelia, northwest Russia. Individual landforms were mapped from relief-shaded renditions of the 2 m resolution ArcticDEM alongside 1 m resolution Esri World Imagery data in a Geographic Information System (GIS). The map, which is presented at a scale of 1: 675,000, will form the basis of a palaeo-glaciological reconstruction of northwest Russia that will inform on ice sheet dynamics – at both a regional- and ice sheet-scale – and provide an important framework through which numerical ice sheet models can be constrained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper tries to determine the strength of the interdependence between Brent oil market and the stock markets of oil importing Visegrad group countries and oil exporting Russia in different time-horizons. The paper uses several novel and elaborate methodologies – bivariate DCC-EGARCH model, wavelet correlations and phase difference. The results of DCC model show that all dynamic correlations between Brent oil and the selected stock indices are low at daily-frequency level. The magnitude of mutual correlations does not exceed 20% for Visegrad countries, while for Russia it goes little bit over 30%. Wavelet correlations in short-term confirms DCC results, whereby this relatively weak connection is found up to 32 days. However, in midterm and long-term, wavelet correlations strengthen, and go above 50% in midterm and even beyond 80% in long-term for majority of the indices. Slovakian SAX index has stronger wavelet correlation in 32 days than in 64 days, and it goes around 23%. This means that SAX can be coupled with Brent oil for diversification purposes in both short-term and midterm portfolios. Besides, phase-difference methodology provides an evidence that SAX was in anti-phase position in two separate occasions, meaning that SAX can also serve well for hedging purposes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the results on the study of melanocortin-4 receptor (MC4R) gene polymorphisms in sheep of the Karachai breed. AA, AG, and GG genotypes were determined to have allele frequencies of 47%, 37%, and 16%, respectively, indicating that allele A and the homozygous AA genotype occurred the most frequently. Analysis of the meat productivity of sheep, with respect to the MC4R genotype, showed a higher slaughter yield in sheep with the AA genotype compared to those with either the GG or AG genotypes. The variability at these loci provides a basis for controlling the meat productivity of sheep in the Karachai sheep population; therefore, this polymorphism should be monitored and melanocortin-4 receptor (MC4R) gene selection considered in pedigree farms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the extent and variation in health disparities between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people within Alaska, Greenland and the northern regions of Canada, Russia and the Nordic countries. We accessed official health statistics and reviewed research studies. We selected a few indicators of health status, health determinants and health care to demonstrate the health disparities that exist. For a large number of health indicators Indigenous people fare worse than non-Indigenous people in the same region or nationally, with the exception of the Sami in the Nordic countries whose health profiles are similar to their non-Sami neighbours. That we were unable to produce a uniform set of indicators applicable to all regions is indicative of the large knowledge gaps that exist. The need for ongoing health monitoring for Indigenous people is most acute for the Sami and Russia, less so for Canada, and least for Alaska, where health data specific to Alaska Natives are generally available. It is difficult to produce an overarching explanatory model for health disparities that is applicable to all regions. We need to seek explanation in the broader political, cultural and societal contexts within which Indigenous people live in their respective regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reviews the economic conditions in central Asia at the time of the Russian financial crisis of August 1998, the channels by which the crisis was transmitted to the central Asian region, and the policy responses. The paper concludes that, although real exchange rates of central Asian national currencies vis-´-vis the Russian ruble have returned to their precrisis levels following the nominal devaluations that ensued, other indicators of external competitiveness, such as unit labor cost indices, suggest the need for further surveillance in this area. Also, it is not yet clear if full exchange rate flexibility has been established in central Asia despite the protracted and costly exits from the nominal exchange rates in place at the time of the crisis. Finally, the ratio of debt to GDP in central Asia, which grew rapidly between 1998 and 1999 in the context of large exchange rate adjustments, remain a challenge for the Tajik and Kyrgyz authorities, in particular. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines the history of communism in the Union Soviet Socialist Republic (USSR) and German Democratic Republic (GDR). Uniqueness of the two countries; Discussion on Stalinism; Elaboration on USSR-GDR relations.

Purpose: As our ageing population is growing and diversifying, it is important to gain insight into the well-being of older migrants. However, the meanings of happiness can vary cross-culturally. Therefore, prior to exploring older migrants' happiness, their meaning-making of "happiness" should be explored. This way, cultural or individual variations can be considered when analysing older migrants' happiness. Not only migration background but also age could influence the meaning of well-being. For example, the meaning of well-being can change as people grow older. Therefore, both migration background and age are considered in exploring older migrants' meaning-making of happiness. Methods: To do so, in-depth interviews with older migrants (n = 22) from various ethnicities were conducted in which their meaning-making of happiness was questioned via a semi-structured interview guide. Results: After analysing the results via thematic analysis, three overarching themes are discussed: (1) happiness associations, (2) happiness-pursuing strategies, and (3) happiness obstructions. The analysis then further focuses on the role of migration background and ageing on the meaning-making of happiness. Conclusions: Participants' meaning-making of happiness seems strongly imbued with age-related references. On the contrary, the impact of migration background is rather limited. To explain this difference, the value of incorporating participants' life course experiences emerged. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The complete mitochondrial genome from the Pleistocene stallion horse (Equus cf. lenensis) which complete skull was found in 1901 on Kotelny Island (New Siberian Archipelago, Sakha Republic, Russia) is published in this paper. The mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is 16,584 base pairs (bp) in length and contained 13 protein-coding genes, 2 rRNA genes, 22 tRNA genes. The overall base composition of the genome in descending order was 32.3% – A, 28.5% – C, 13.4% – G, 25.8% - T without a significant AT bias of 58.2%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses the 2008 Russian-Georgian conflict in the context of the post-Soviet spatial order, approached in terms of Carl Schmitt's theory of nomos and Giorgio Agamben's theory of the state of exception. The 'five-day war' was the first instance of the violation by Russia of the integrity of the post-Soviet spatial order established in the Belovezha treaties of December 1991. While from the beginning of the postcommunist period Russia functioned as the restraining force in the post- Soviet realm, the 2008 war has made further recourse to this function impossible, plunging the post-Soviet space into the condition of anomie, or the state of exception. This paper interprets this disruptive policy in the post-Soviet space as the continuation of the domestic political process of the 'management of anomie,' which has characterized the entire postcommunist period. In the conclusion, we address the implications of the transformation of the international order into the ethos of anomie for rethinking the ethical dimension of global politics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Russian tariff structure contains over 11,000 tariff lines. Of these, a specific tariff may apply for about 1,700. Due to a new data set, this is the first paper to accurately assess tariff rates. We find that the average tariff in Russia has increased between 2001 and 2003, from about 11.5 percent to between 13 percent and 14.5 percent, but held steady in 2004 and 2005. This places Russia's tariffs at a level slightly higher than other middleincome countries and considerably higher than Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development countries. Russia implemented tariff simplification in 2000-2001. Contrary to conventional wisdom on the effect of tariff simplification, the trade-weighted standard deviation of the Russian tariff increased, approximately doubling from 9.5 percent in 2001 to 18 percent in 2003, but it then fell to 15.2 percent by 2005. We show that ignoring the specific tariffs results in an underestimate of average tariff rates by about one to three percentage points and an even larger underestimate of the standard deviation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At the turn of the twenty-first century, Russia entered into a unique relationship with the US dollar: it became the only major country with both a highly dollarized economy and extensive dollar reserves. Russia also played a pivotal role in the international gas and oil markets, where resources are priced in and sold for US dollars. This paper argues, however, that three trends had converged by 2006 to challenge the US dollar's pre-eminence in Russia. First, President Vladimir Putin's efforts to strengthen the state required reasserting Russia's monetary sovereignty. Second, opposition to US foreign policy and a re-emergent Russian nationalism prompted many politicians to denounce Russia's dependence on the dollar. Finally, the dollar's increasing weakness internationally led Russian economic officials to worry that over-reliance on the dollar threatens Russia's economic stability. This relative weakness also encouraged ordinary Russians to rethink their relationship with the dollar. Together, these three trends led to a political anti-dollar campaign, gradual reserve diversification away from the dollar, and moves to substitute rubles or euros for dollars in domestic pricing, sales, and savings. This paper explores these trends and discusses their potential ramifications for the international dollar regime. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proceeds from the premise that Russian iurodivye—or fools for Christ—display a remarkable resemblance to the Hebrew prophets. As it explores the genealogical link between these two cultural paradigms, the paper shows that, during the various stages of the developmental history of holy foolery, the figure of the Old Testament prophet served as the holy fool's literary and behavioural model. The influence of the prophetic paradigm on the cultural phenomenology and hagiographic imagery of iurodstvo was exercised through the prominence assigned to the prophet in the written, visual and audible texts available to the Eastern Slays from the beginning of Christian era. On the literary level, this enduring influence is discernable in the prophetic topoi that reached holy foolish hagiography directly and indirectly. While the direct venues are confined to Old Testament texts, which described the lives and acts of the Hebrew prophets, the indirect ones include New Testament texts and hagiographies. When the holy fool finds his place in the urban setting, his paradigm undergoes crucial changes, losing its ascetic aspects and acquiring the prophetic ones. This shift of emphasis defines Russian hagiography and cultural tradition, where the iurodivyi often emerges as the Russian version of the Hebrew prophet. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper evaluates the performance of fiscal policy since the 1998 crisis, along several dimensions and using a variety of indicators. Russia has progressed tremendously in recent years on public debt sustainability largely because the real interest rates on public debt have been negative and growth has been high. However, the constant oil-price balance shows a progressive worsening starting in 2001 with a modest reversal in 2004. As to optimal fiscal policy in a country endowed with exhaustible resources, analysis of the nonoil fiscal balance shows that Russian fiscal policy has had a mixed record. It has spent part of the windfall before introducing the oil stabilization fund, but has saved most of the oil revenues in the last two years. The standard fiscal impulse shows that budget policy has not contributed to the increase in aggregate demand since 2003. However, the fiscal position was not tight enough to contain the inflationary effect of the exceptional oil windfalls for the economy as a whole. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we draw on three ethnographic studies of surrogacy we carried out separately in different contexts: the western US state of California, the south Indian state of Karnataka, and the western Russian metropolis of St Petersburg. In our interviews with surrogate mothers, intended parents, and surrogacy professionals, we traced the meanings and ideologies through which they understood the clinical labour of surrogacy. We found that in the US, interviewed surrogates, intended parents and professionals understood surrogacy as an exchange of both gifts and commodities, where gift-giving, reciprocity, and relatedness between surrogates and intended parents were the major tropes. In India, differing narratives of surrogacy were offered by its different parties: whilst professionals and intended parents framed it as a win-win exchange with an emphasis on the economic side, the interviewed surrogate mothers talked about surrogacy as creative labour of giving life. In Russia, approaches to surrogacy among the interviewed surrogate mothers, professionals and intended parents overlapped in framing it as work and a businesslike commodity exchange. We suggest these three different ways of ethical reasoning about the clinical labour of surrogacy, including justifications of women's incorporation into this labour, were situated in local moral frameworks. We name them "repro-regional moral frameworks", inspired by earlier work on moral frameworks as well as on reproductive nationalisms and transnational reproduction. Building on these findings, we argue that any international or global regulation of surrogacy, or indeed any moral stance on it, needs to take these local differences into account. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Eastern Europe and Russia, in their struggles to make comprehensive transformations of their economies, are being guided mainly by neoclassical theories and advisors in pursuit of stabilization, privatization, and restructuring. It is the argument of this paper that an alternative approach holds greater promise. The paper offers major tenets and principles of a contemporary institutional-evolutionary theory of institutional adjustment. That framework is then used to present and appraise an abbreviated version of the mainstream position, especially as reflected in the views of advisor Jeffrey Sachs. Of special significance is consideration of social value aspects of institutional adjustment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the most significant climate change impacts on arctic urban landscapes is the warming and degradation of permafrost, which negatively affects the structural integrity of infrastructure. We estimate potential changes in stability of Russian urban infrastructure built on permafrost in response to the projected climatic changes provided by six preselected General Circulation Models (GCMs) participated in the most recent Climate Model Inter-comparison Project (CMIP5). The analysis was conducted for the entire extent of the Russian permafrost-affected area. According to our analysis a significant (at least 25%) climate-induced reduction in the urban infrastructure stability throughout the Russian permafrost region should be expected by the mid-21st century. However, the high uncertainty, resulting from the GCM-produced climate projections, prohibits definitive conclusion about the rate and magnitude of potential climate impacts on permafrost infrastructure. Results presented in this paper can serve as guidelines for developing adequate adaptation and mitigation strategy for Russian northern cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

New public information allows a fresh estimate of China's current and under-construction uranium enrichment capacity. This paper uses open source information and commercial satellite imagery to identify and offer estimates of the capacity of China's 10 operating enrichment facilities, located at 4 sites, using centrifuge technology most likely based on adapting Russian technology. The total currently operating civilian centrifuge enrichment capacity is estimated to be about 4.5 million separative work units/year (SWU/year), with additional capacity estimated to be about 2 million SWU/year under construction. Also China could have an enrichment capacity of around 0.6 million SWU/year for non-weapon military uses (i.e., naval fuel) or dual use. These estimates are much larger than previous public estimates of China's total enrichment capacity. Further expansion of enrichment capacity may be likely since China will require about 9 million SWU/year by 2020 to meet the enriched uranium fuel needs for its planned nuclear power reactor capacity of 58 gigawatts-electric (GWe) by 2020 under its policy of self-sufficiency in the supply of enrichment services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The peach (Prunus persica L. Batsch) is one of the important stone fruit crops in the Crimea Peninsula and the southern part of Russia. The complete chloroplast genome of the peach cultivar 'Sovetskiy' is published in this paper. The chloroplast genome size is 157,756 bp. It contains 126 genes, including 81 protein-coding genes (PCGs), eight ribosomal RNA (rRNA) genes, and 37 transfer RNA (tRNA) genes. The chloroplast genome also contains a large single-copy region of 85,960 bp, a small single-copy (SSC) region of 19,045 bp, and two inverted repeats regions of 26,375 bp and 26,372 bp. The overall base composition of the genome in descending order is 31.2% – A, 32.1% – T, 18.7% – C, and 18.0% – G. The total GC content of the chloroplast genome is 36.7%. Maximum-likelihood phylogenetic analysis involving nine chloroplast genomes of the Prunus genus revealed a separate cluster for P. persica and its possible landrace – P. ferganensis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyzes the popular response to Soviet myths in the post-Soviet period through the lens of the complicated treatment of Zoia Kosmodem'ianskaia. As arguably the most famous Soviet World War II martyr, Kosmodem'ianskaia's image splintered after glasnost' and has been located at the nexus of debate in various media since 1991. This paper poses questions about the fracturing of national memory when a nation has undergone upheaval: about the stability of heroes, about citizens' responses to them, and about heroes' transformation in the new regime. Catriona Kelly has demonstrated that the treatment of a national hero can illuminate the circumstances that produced the hero and the cultural climate of subsequent decades. Building on her work, this article asks "Why and how has the image of Kosmodem'ianskaia remained relevant while other Soviet heroes have been neglected since 1991?" This article posits that Kosmodem'ianskaia's continued significance lies above all in the flexibility of her image and the transitional aspects of her body. Her depictions in various contexts represent prominent responses to the authoritarian regime which gave birth to both Kosmodem'ianskaia and her legacy. The variety of her images demonstrates the continued relevance of this figure two decades after the collapse of the USSR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The so-called Bulldozer, Rose, Orange, and Tulip Revolutions have reminded us that as repressive as a regime may be, the real power ultimately belongs to the masses, especially when its forces are supported and channelled into non-violent action in pursuit of clear and concrete objectives. This article shows how the first of these events, the "Bulldozer Revolution," unfolded in Serbia resulting in the ouster of the dictator Milošević. The lessons were then absorbed by Georgian activists who were similarly successful in replacing Shevardnadze with Saakashvili. In Ukraine, the election of Kuchma's protégé, Yanukovych, was foiled when the "Orange Revolution" installed Yushchenko instead. The author also chronicles the "Tulip Revolution" of Kyrgyzstan. A notable feature of this paper is that, in addition to analyzing these "successful" revolutions, it also looks at some clearly unsuccessful ones, namely those attempted in Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, and Belarus. But the current global economic crisis could lead to more political changes in the former Soviet Union, whether in Belarus, the Caucasus, Central Asia, or even Russia itself. The article argues that the "colour revolutions" of 2000-2005 present a real danger to the authoritarian regime of Medvedev-Putin in Russia, and that their fear of them is hence thoroughly justified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers how the environmental impact assessment (EIA) process in Russia (OVOS) could benefit from incorporating some of the process and documentary features of European strategic environmental assessment (SEA) and US Environmental Impact Statements respectively. While the strategic level is addressed in the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA, the USA system of Environmental Assessment) and in the European Directive on SEA implemented in 2004, SEA is not currently undertaken in the Russian system in terms of legislation or practice. The first section of the paper describes the present state of the OVOS process, through presentation of the relevant legislation in Russia, taking into account European Union (EIA and SEA Directives) and US (Policy Act EIS/EA) experiences. In the second section, the Irkutsk case study (an OVOS report for the gas exploration and extraction project in the Irkutsk Region of Russia) is compared with the EIA undertaken for the Cook Inlet oil and gas lease sales in Alaska (planned activities under the considered projects are quite similar) to show differences between the two documents. In the third section the current situation with Irkutsk case study is presented and an example of how SEA tools could be integrated in the report is provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Russia, post-communist reforms to state social benefit policies have shown contradictory views of gender. On the one hand, reform showed a desire to promote gender equality between individuals, a view in which men and women alike were considered autonomous citizens. On the other hand, there was an impulse to consider women as a needy group dependent on special help from the state. This paper examines three related areas of policy: pronatalist policy, child welfare benefits, and old age pensions, in order to reveal unresolved issues in Russian social policies towards women and children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent research on gains for Russia from World Trade Organization membership concludes that service trade liberalization through allowing foreign suppliers to invest in Russian service industries promises large gains. Comparing Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development estimates on effective rates of protection with and without intermediate services for several countries, the paper shows that almost all Russian service industries effectively get taxed due to high tax equivalents for services. Options for European Neighborhood Policy must be based on reciprocity: To access the Russian market, the European Union must open its service markets to Russian companies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Information on the 23rd International Cartographic Conference which was held in Moscow, Russia, on August 4-10, 2007, is presented. Traditional Russian dance and music were demonstrated at the opening of the meeting. Several exhibitions were also conducted during the event, displaying various cartographical products and children's drawings submitted to the Barbara Petchenik Children's Map Competition. New officers of the International Cartographic Association (ICA) were also elected.

The Buordakh Massif, in the Cherskiy Range of northeast Siberia, contains mountains over 3000 m and, despite its arid climate, numerous glaciers. This paper presents a glacier inventory for the region and documents some 80 glaciers, which range in size from 0.1 to 10.4 km² (total glacierized area is ca. 70 km²). The inventory is based on mapping derived from Landsat 7 ETM+ satellite imagery from August 2001, augmented with data from field investigations obtained at that time. The glaciers in this region are of the 'firn-less,' cold, continental type, and their mass balance relies heavily on the formation of superimposed ice. The most recent glacier maximum extents have also been delineated, and these are believed to date from the Little Ice Age (ca. A.D. 1550-1850). Glacier areal extent has reduced by some 14.8 km² (ca. 17%) since this most recent maximum. Of the 80 glaciers catalogued, 49 have undergone a measurable retreat from their most recent maximum extent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the discourses framing citizenship education in Ukraine and Russia from perestroika to the present and assesses the role of the Council of Europe in promoting democratic citizenship in both countries. We argue that there is a tension between the discourses of active citizenship, strongly disseminated by international agencies (the Council of Europe in our case), and national consolidation, pursued by Ukraine and Russia since the fall of the Soviet regime. While the beginning of the 1990s was marked by democratization and individualization, from the mid-1990s the emphasis on state cohesion became more prominent in both states. From the end of the 1990s, however, citizenship education aims started to diverge, despite a similar approach of the Council of Europe to the two countries. In Russia the government reinforced the state cohesion agenda, which led to the patriotic education discourse gaining strength. In Ukraine, nation-building was made secondary to bringing the education system in line with international standards in order to improve the country's competitiveness. The nature of citizenship education in the two countries therefore seems to be more a reflection of domestic political developments than the product of international policy agenda. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to redress the issue of Russian studies and Orientalism, an issue which looms rather silent and large at present, both within Edward Said's text and related scholarship. There has been some exploration of Orientalism within Russia, but I wish to assert that it is possible to apply the paradigm of Orientalism to Western responses to Russia. For the first part of this paper I will provide justification for this through an exploration of Russia's ambiguity in terms of Said's imagined geography. Secondly, I will argue that as Orientalism is, in Said's own description, a discourse, it has recognisable language traits that act as hallmarks of Orientalism which can be applied directly to texts. I will provide examples of Orientalism manifest in travel writing on Russia, sources which are chronologically varied, so as to demonstrate the unchanging nature of Orientalism as outlined by Said, from the observations of Elizabeth Dimsdale in the late eighteenth-century, through to Colin Thubron in the late twentieth. This involves a demonstration of the way these writers create Russia for their readers as barbaric, luxurious, and sensual; and inclined to despotism and the portrayal of Russia as in need of western correction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Proceeding from Lord Acton's insight that "exile is the nursery of nationality," this paper examines a peculiar historical instance of dislocation as a relevant matrix for the articulation of national identity. I inquire into aspects of the elaboration of French national consciousness among French émigrés of the revolutionary period in Russia, approaching the subject at two levels: first, the maîtres à danser, the run-of- the- mill émigrés who abandon cosmopolitan certitudes or pretensions of a "monde français" and abstractions of dynastic loyalty, in favour of nostalgic attachment to a tangible paine, very much at odds with the Russian otherness into which they have been thrust. Second, the maîtres à penser, those émigré thinkers in whom the Revolution provokes a reconsideration of established universals and who conceptualize Russia in terms of a project to reconcile universal and particular or national values. I examine the dilemmas and ultimate failure of such a projection by focusing on the work of Joseph de Maistre. On both levels, the historical case studied here is an exemplification of the proposition that nationalism is founded on a disenchantment with the world, and that physical estrangement from both the world to which one believes oneself to belong as well as spiritual estrangement from the world in which one treads, may provide a critical context for defining collective identity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we draw on Bronfenbrenner's theory of human development in order to examine western influences upon Russian education. We argue that while some have embraced western ideas about education and schooling, reflecting both the influence of specific educational theorizing and that of broader globalizing trends, many teachers have continued to rely on traditional practices and values and have shown resistance to these changes. We examine some of the perceived educational gains and deficits that have accrued since the end of the Soviet period and conclude by considering tensions that are unlikely to be resolved in the immediate future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to their remote location within the Russian High Arctic, little is known about the mass balance of ice caps on Severnaya Zemlya now and in the past. Such information is critical, however, to building a global picture of the cryospheric response to climate change. This paper provides a numerical analysis of the climate and mass balance of the Vavilov Ice Cap on October Revolution Island. Mass balance model results are compared with available glaciological and climatological data. A reference climate was constructed at the location of Vavilov Station, representing average conditions for the periods 1974-1981 and 1985-1988. The site of the station has a mean annual temperature of -16.5°C, and an annual precipitation of 423 mm water equivalent. The mass balance model was calibrated to the measured mass balance, and tested against the time-dependent evolution of the englacial temperatures (to a depth of 15 m). The mass balance model was then converted to a distributed model for the entire Vavilov Ice Cap. Model results predict the spatial distribution of mass balance components over the ice cap. Processes involving refreezing of water are found to be critical to the ice cap's state of health. Superimposed ice makes up 40% of the total net accumulation, with the remaining 60% coming from firn that has been heavily densified by refreezing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent analysis considers that Russia is drifting toward an oil-rentier economy. In this paper we will provide useful elements to check this hypothesis. First, we lead—at a theoretical level—with the characteristics that make an oil-rentier economy. Opposing the most extended tendency that associates rentierism to a certain macroeconomic scenario, we will infer that it is only possible to speak about rentierism of specific political and social conditions occur Once the key conditions for rentierism are established, we study the case of Russia. The review of its actual conditions leads us to establish that, in the present situation, the diagnosis of rentierism for the Russian economy isfarfrom being confirmed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The process of economic transformation brought dramatic changes to Russia's society and economy. The disappointing economic results of the first decade of transformation, which brought macroeconomic instability and increasing poverty and inequality, are often understood as results of Russia's opening in the context of globalization. In this article, the impact of globalization on Russia is discussed, and it is shown that responsibility for the economic crisis is not globalization but a combination of the legacy of the centrally planned economy, together with incorrect policy choices after the beginning of transformation. Early attempts to transform Russia using shock therapy and applying a Jew guidelines dubbed the "Washington consensus" Jailed due to the complexity of institutional change. But this does not mean a failure of the market economy and is not at all an inevitable consequence of globalization, as popular misconceptions would imply. In this article, an alternative view of globalization is offered, including policy implications for Russia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper suggests that a line of thought can be identified within Russian scholarship as early as the 1920s and the 1930s that deals, often in a profound way, with the problem of time in the visual arts. This becomes all the more significant when considering the history of the neglect of this problem, springing from an outright denial that painting, sculpture, and architecture have a genuine temporal dimension. It is only recently that philosophers and art historians have paid more consistent attention to the role that time plays in the arts, which have traditionally been considered exclusively spatial. The first section of this paper attempts to provide an idea of the still prevailing categorization of the arts into the spatial and the temporal. It will then critically discuss Pavel Florensky's (1885-1937) notion of 'reverse time', which claims to describe the flow of time in dreams and art. Most importantly, Florensky presents the first serious attempt so far to work out a theory of the temporal dimension underlying the Eastern Orthodox icon. The third section this paper will discuss the implications of Mikhail Bakhtin's (1895-1975) much more familiar category of the 'chronotope' for the theory of the visual arts. It will suggest that with both authors we can talk of an 'Einstein connection', as their ideas grow partly out of a realization of the space-time interconnectedness, which is a major aspect of Einstein's relativity theory. This paper does not claim that there is any direct influence between the two Russian scholars -- though it is possible that Bakhtin might have known some of Florensky's works. Rather it views their texts as part of a common discourse, with important implications for art criticism. Neither Florensky, nor Bakhtin developed a comprehensive theory. However, even though undeveloped, the notions of reverse time' and of the 'chronotope' can lay a foundation for future studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper argues that the major ideological dynamic of the post-cold war era is the conflictive complicity of neoliberalism and various authoritarian and racist nationalisms. This is nowhere more apparent than in post-Soviet Russia. Indeed, far from being 'exceptional', contemporary Russia actually provides an exemplary instance of where the neoliberal road to the market is really taking a great number of countries -- in the first instance, the debt-ridden countries of the so-called 'Third World'. But perhaps the lessons of Russia's experience extend somewhat further. Might it not be the case that, in an epoch in which IMF-style 'structural adjustment' policies are extended to all and sundry, those pathologies which at first seemed the exclusive preserve of 'backward nations', are coming increasingly to install themselves in the very heartlands of the 'West'? If this describes an important aspect of the historical process today, it is a process that has an additional, often neglected, negative condition of possibility: the more-or-less comprehensive defeat of the Left world-wide: the defeat, in other words, of progressive anti-capitalist models of modernisation and development. Any viable challenge to neoliberal globalisation and racist nationalism will therefore depend, to begin with, on an accurate diagnosis of that defeat. Here the case of Russia is once again significant, above all for what Russian history dramatises, especially over the past decade, about the 'subjective factor' in political and social change. My exploration of these issues is pursued here with reference to the recent impressive account of globalisation advanced by Russian political scientist Boris Kagarlitsky. However, the mismatch in Russia between the huge scale of the recent social catastrophe and the small size of the popular protest points to what Kagarlitsky's account misses. To begin to advance an alternative to the neoliberal/nationalist two-step, to disarticulate a progressive response to neoliberal globalisation from racist nationalist responses, it will be necessary to develop a more careful relationship to another two-step, that of Marxism/'postmodern identity politics'. We can make a start in this respect by foregrounding the psychoanalytic dimension of fantasy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on field research conducted in 1997-98 in St Petersburg, Russia, this paper explores the contemporary status and viability of the postcommunist elementary and secondary private schools. Findings from in-depth qualitative interviews, observations and analysis of documents suggest that the Russian private schools find themselves in a perplexed and precarious situation. Although formally legalised, they operate amidst the anomic situation of legal contradictions. Financially unstable, they engage in a dual economy with heavy reliance on informal networks, sometimes criminal in nature. It is predicted that the current socioeconomic crisis will diminish the number and diversity of private schools. It is argued that private schools' survival depends on the stabilisation of the Russian economy, and political and legal protection of minority rights. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Investigates the association of economist John Maynard Keynes to the financing of Russia during World War I. Impact of the opinions of economists on the strategies of political parties; Examination on the debate on the Russian gold reserves and currency issue; Role of Keynes in the war finance of Russia.

Examines the stability of the demand for money in Russia after it became independent in 1991. Examples of studies that interpreted cointegration among the variables of money demand function as an indication of a stable demand for money; Introduction of an appropriate money demand in Russia; Estimate on the money demand function.

In accordance with the State Program of the Russian Federation «Development of Industry and Its Competitiveness», as well as the absence of balance deposits of rare earth metals on the territory of the Russian Federation, it is urgent to study methods for the extraction and separation of rare earth metals from technological solutions obtained during the processing of apatite concentrates. The article is devoted to the study of the kinetic features of solid-phase extraction of samarium (III) and gadolinium (III) from simulated industrial phosphoric acid solutions. Levextrel resine (co-polymerization product of styrene and divinylbenzene) containing Di-2-ethylhexylphosphoric acid (D2EHPA) – was used as a solid-phase extraction agent. Significant dependence of samarium (III) and gadolinium (III) extraction rate constant on the stirring rate was revealed using the formal first-order kinetic equation. Based on the linear dependences of the logarithm of the reaction rate constant on the reciprocal temperature, the activation energies for the extraction of Gd and Sm from phosphate model solutions were established, which, respectively, were 42.47 and 28.48 kJ/mol. The obtained values of the activation energies indicate that the limiting stage of the extraction process on a solid extractant can be considered a chemical reaction between ions of rare-earth metals and functional groups of the extractant. Separation of elements at the extraction stage is possible at temperature of 333 K under non-equilibrium conditions with separation coefficient up to 1.8 in 5 min. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Artemia nauplii are high-quality biological feed for aquatic animal breeding, and its quality determines the effectiveness of breeding. The aim of this study was to explore the quality and symbiotic microbial composition of nauplii in different areas. The dormant eggs of Artemia nauplii from Kulundan Lake in Russia, Aibi Lake in Xinjiang, and salt fields in Bohai Bay were selected for incubation, and the relevant indicators of the 29 h incubation period were recorded. A high-throughput sequencing platform was used to analyze the microbial structure of symbiotic bacteria in nauplii between treatments. The PICRUSt2 was used to precalculated the predicted genes and their functions. The hatching rate of Artemia per thousand eggs in Kulundan Lake, Aibi Lake and Bohai Bay was 91.2%, 87.8% and 75.9%, respectively. The Alpha and Beta diversity analysis showed that the richness and evenness of Artemia nauplii in Kulundan Lake were higher than that of in Bohai Bay. At phylum level, Firmicutes, Proteobacteria and Bacteroidota were the dominant symbiotic bacteria of nauplii. But at the genus level, the dominant species of the symbiotic bacteria of nauplii were Bacillus, Pseudomonas and Exiguobacterium. The hatching rate and the abundance of symbiotic bacteria of Artemia nauplii from Kulundan Lake were better than the other two areas. This research might provide a theoretical guidance for the symbiotic bacteria of Artemia nauplii to regulate the feeding health of aquatic animal seedlings, reduce the occurrence of diseases and purify water quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to describe temporal trends in socio-demographic and lifestyle characteristics among delivering women in two Northern provinces of Russia from 1973 to 2017. Totally 161,730 births were registered in three birth registries. Changes in the distribution of maternal age, education, marital status, smoking during pregnancy were studied using Pearson's chi-squared tests and one-way ANOVA. The logistic regression models were used to assess factors, contributing to the variations in the prevalence of maternal smoking. The mean age of primiparous mothers increased from 22.1 years in 1973–1980 to 25.4 years in 2012–2017 (p < 0.001). The proportion of primiparous mothers with higher education increased from 26.2% in 2006 to 38.3% in 2017 (p < 0.001). The proportion of cohabiting primiparous women increased from 5.0% to 15.2% over the study period (p < 0.001). The proportion of mothers smoking during pregnancy decreased from 18.9% in 2006–2011 to 14.8% in 2012–2017 (p < 0.001). Downward in the prevalence of smoking was revealed in 2012–2017 compared to 2006–2011 (OR = 137.76; 95%CI:71.62–264.96, OR = 183.74; 95%CI:95.52–353.41, respectively). Over the past decades, women postpone childbearing until receiving higher education, continue living in cohabitation during pregnancy and smoke less. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prevailing research on political protest—which use data on events in pluralist societies —stresses the importance of target characteristics and the distribution of social support as explanatory variables affecting protest outcomes. This paper questions the applicability of these findings for explaining protest outcomes in hegemonies. An analysis of 303 protest events in the USSR yields the conclusion that measures of the internal strength of protest groups are the most important determinants of the effectiveness of Soviet dissident groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This is an attempt to portray some of the more important currents of thought and personalities associated with the progress of geography in pre-Soviet Russia, with the chief aims of 1) indicating some of the roots of present Soviet geographical thinking, and 2) placing the Russian contribution as an integral yet distinctive part of the developments in world geography before 1920. The main part of the paper is organized chronologically and appraises the life arid work of the more significant geographers of each period, their impact on the character of the subject, and their relation to their historical and intellectual milieu Finally, the nature and extent of the carry-over to the Soviet period is suggested. The recent intense methodological debate is seen as, in good measure, inspired by the work of the pre-Revolutionary scholars, and by the awareness of a broken heritage. In conclusion, some continuities of thought in Russian geography, then and now, are postulated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to explore the usefulness of Weber's city typology in relation to the Russian urban experience and to attempt to locate the Russian city within Weber's celebrated Oriental-Occidental dichotomy. The failure of various intellectual and revolutionary groups before and in 1917 to liberalize a traditionalistic societal system is correlated to the absence of a middle class in the Russian cultural context. Kiev, Novgorod, and Pskov existed long before the Mongol conquest of Russia in the thirteenth century and were exposed to certain Western influences due to the political connections with the neighboring Western countries. Unknown before the Mongols arrived, Moskva "still in the nineteenth century before the liberation of the peasants from slavery retained all the characteristics of a great Oriental city of about the time of Diocletian of the second century A.D." In addition to being the seat of the patrimonial ruler, Moskva was a "locality where rents from possessions in land and slaves as well as income from office holding were spent." Elsewhere Weber said that the cities in Russia "never arrived at freedom in the Western sense. Everywhere the military, judicial, and industrial authority was taken from the cities." This act of taking away autonomous-autocephalous authority is probably Weber's reference to the total destruction of Novgorod and Pskov by the Russian rulers as soon as they emerged from the shadow of Mongol dependence as well as to the Russian colonial conquest of the non-Russian cities and countries in the more recent centuries including the twentieth. Seven major characteristics basic to Weber's Oriental vs. Occidental typology of urban behavior, as tentatively modified in view of the needs and the contribution of recent research, will be utilized in examining the Russian experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Analyzing the gold market through a new perspective is crucial to forming a rational investment arrangement. This investigation utilizes the bootstrap full- and sub-sample techniques to probe the correlation between global supply chain pressure (GSCP) and the gold price (GP), further evidence of whether global supply chain pressure could motivate the gold market. The conclusions suggest that GSCP has positive and negative effects on GP. The positive influences indicate that intensifying GSCP might raise the safe-haven demand for gold to avert potential risks and uncertainties, underlining that global supply chain pressure could motivate the gold market, whereas low GSCP may decrease this incentive. However, the negative effect could not support the above opinion, which points out that the appreciation of U.S. dollars might weaken the hedging ability of gold. Conversely, GP negatively impacts GSCP, meaning that the gold bull market may stabilize the global supply chain, especially during economic crises. Against the aggravated Russia-Ukraine war and the severe global supply chain crisis, practical implications for consumers, investors, enterprises, and related economies could be put forward according to the above conclusions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cyclicality in industries and companies is scrutinized in the paper. Cyclical industry/firm is that which parameters (in particular, value added by industry and economic value added) have high correlation with the parameter reflecting economic cycles (in particular, GNP). The theoretic approval for the thesis thatdurable goods industries are more cyclical than nondurable onesis already provided. The aim of the research is to conduct an empirical analysis of cyclicality of Canadian and Russian industries in terms of the aforementioned statement and cyclicality of Russian companies as components of industrial structure. According to the results, the extents of cyclicality of durable and nondurable goods industries in Canada are equal. The theoretical thesis under consideration is correct for the industrial structure of Russia: durable goods industries in Russia are more cyclical than nondurable ones. Moreover, Russian companies also comply with the aforementioned statement. In addition to this, the effect of asymmetrical reaction of industries and companies on expansion and contraction happening in the economy as well as a role of company’s management in regulation of the extent of cyclicality of a company are considered in the paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our study uses the quantile vector autoregressive (QVAR) network approach to compare the median-based and tail connectedness in BRICS equity markets using daily time series spanning from 3rd March 2020 to 9th September 2022. The study is conducted on both returns and volatility series, and the findings from our static and dynamic analysis can be summarized as follows. From the static perspective, we observe stronger connectedness and spillover effects on the left and right (right only) tails for returns (volatility) series. For the returns series, China and South Africa (Brazil, Russia and India) are net receivers (transmitters) of shocks at the left tail and median quantiles whilst China and Russia (Brazil, India and South Africa) are net receivers (transmitters) at the right-tail, whereas for the volatility series China and India (Brazil, Russia and South Africa) are the net receivers (transmitters) at both quantile tails, whilst Brazil (Russia, India, China and South Africa) is (are) the net receiver(s) (transmitters) at the median. From a dynamic perspective, time-varying total connectedness is higher at the median (tail-end) quantile(s) during the COVID-19 pandemic (Russia–Ukraine war). Moreover, the time-varying market-specific analysis distinguishes which individual equities are most or least vulnerable to systemic tail-risk transmission effects during the COVID-19 pandemic and more recent Russia–Ukraine. Ultimately, these findings are relevant for investors in their search for better hedging opportunities in equity markets as well as for market regulators who can use systematic risk as an early warning signal for contagion and market crash. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Out of more than thirty strategic partnerships signed by India, its ties with the US and Russia are crucial for achieving economic and strategic objectives in the Indo-Pacific and the Eurasian region respectively. There was a growing convergence on bilateral, regional, and global issues with the US during Trump years, but there was divergence between the two countries on Russia. While Washington perceived Russia as a competitor and interfering in the domestic affairs of the US, Moscow on the other hand perceived the US as attempting to not only expand its influence in Russia's backyard but also undermining Russia's leadership and its political system. The relationship was also adversarial because the Sino-American escalation coincided with an increasing Russia-China bonhomie. Russia remained a valuable partner for India and India hoped for improved US-Russia ties under Trump. However, adversarial US-Russia ties cast a dark shadow on India-Russia ties. The US complained and was even contemplating sanctions on India for its purchase of S400 air defense systems from Russia. India's reliance on Russian defence equipment and its policy of multi-alignment further increased tensions between India and the US although India-US strategic alignment has increased under Trump. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]