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The paper presents the results of observations of the sporadic Es layer during the period of meteorological disturbances in Kaliningrad in October 2017 and 2018 under quiet geomagnetic conditions. During the meteorological storms (October 29–30, 2017 and October 23–24, 2018), significant changes occurred in the dynamics of the Es-layer critical frequency. Observations of atmospheric and ionospheric disturbances in the Kaliningrad region show that the delay between the ionospheric response and the moment of maximum disturbances in atmospheric parameters is about 3 hours. These phenomena at the heights of the E-region might have been caused by propagation of acoustic-gravity waves generated by convective processes in the lower atmosphere during periods of a meteorological storm. Intensification of turbulent processes in the lower thermosphere leads to an increase in the atmospheric density and, accordingly, to higher recombination rates. This leads to a rapid decrease in the concentration of ions and, consequently, to a decrease in the critical frequency of the sporadic layer below the sensitivity threshold of ionosondes.

The fast-growing saprotrophic strain Mycolicibacterium smegmatis mc2155 is capable of utilizing plant and animal sterols and can be used for creation of genetically engineered strains producing biologically active steroids. Oxidation of the 3β-hydroxyl group and Δ5(6)→Δ4(5) double bond isomerization followed by formation of stenones from sterols are considered as the initial stage of steroid catabolism in some actinobacteria. The study of the mechanism of steroid nucleus 3β-hydroxyl group oxidation is relevant for the creation of a method of the microbiological production of valuable 3β-hydroxy-5-en-steroids. A mutant strain of M. smegmatis with deletions in three genes (MSMEG_1604, MSMEG_5228 and MSMEG_5233) encoding known enzymes exhibiting 3β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase activity was constructed by homologous recombination coupled with double selection. The resulting mutant retained macromorphological properties and the ability to convert cholesterol. 3-Keto-4-en-steroids were found among the sterol catabolism intermediates. Experimentally obtained data indicate the presence of a previously undetected intracellular enzyme that performs the function of 3β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase/Δ5(6)→Δ4(5) isomerase.

The results of observations and modeling of the ionosphere parameters in periods of the severe troposphere weather events in October 2017, 2018 are presented. We analyze variations in the F2-layer critical frequency (foF2), in the total electron content (TEC), in the sporadic E-layer critical frequency during meteorology disturbances in the troposphere. It was shown that the meteorology storms can influence on the ionosphere parameters through the gravity waves (GWs). The GWs generated in the meteorology storm area can propagate into upper atmosphere and ionosphere. The GWs dissipation leads to the formation of disturbances in the thermospheric state at spatial scales that are determined by the duration and spatial dimensions of the region located in the meteorological disturbance zone. To interpret the observed disturbances in the upper atmosphere, the experimental measurements are compared with the results of model calculations obtained with the Global Self-Consistent Model of Thermosphere— Ionosphere—Protonosphere (GSM TIP).

The role of atmosphere aerosols in the global electric circuit, particularly during earthquakes preparation periods, is discussed in this review paper. Aerosols participate in production and transport of electric charges as well as in clouds formation. Satellite imagery shows increased aerosol optical depth over the tectonic faults and formation of the anomalous clouds aligned with the faults shortly before the earthquake shocks. At the same time variations of the ionospheric electric field and total electron content (TEC) are observed. We assume that the vertical electric current is generated over the fault due to the separation and vertical transport of charges with different masses and polarities. This charges the ionosphere positively relative to the Earth in the same way as the thunderstorm currents do. The resulting electric field in the ionosphere drives F2-layer plasma via the electromagnetic [ E → × B → ] drift and decreases or increases electron density depending on the configuration of the electric field, thus, creating observed negative or positive TEC disturbances. The important role of the electric dynamo effect in these processes is underlined.

Polish and Russian “shock therapy” policies in 1990 and 1992 respectively were in fact forced deregulation packages aimed at preventing total macroeconomic and institutional collapse. Some important features of these packages were contrary to neo-classical prescriptions, since the “shock therapists” operated in unprecedented setting of imploding “command economy”. This setting as such never was a subject of neo-liberal theoreticians before it became empirical reality. Marxist-Leninist single party-state regimes are prone to macroeconomic implosion, since the socio-economic actors they create during forced “transition to market” prefer neither “plan” nor “market”, but a grey “no-man’s land” between the two. This position allows them to “privatize the profits” and to “nationalize the costs”, contributing to accumulation of tremendous macroeconomic imbalances on the aggregate systemic level. It also creates socio-economic, political and institutional impasse of financial deleveraging, which may eventually turn into a forced “big-bang” package amidst systemic implosion. Chinese “gradual transition” – with all singularities – still fits quite well into this dynamic empirical pattern. Sharp decline in the Chinese growth rate since spring 201 3 was a man-made phenomenon. The leadership intends to deregulate interest rates and upgrade financial discipline of scared investors, making them to withdraw money from the state and non-state assets. The overall systemic setting increases the chances of financial deleveraging in China to turn eventually into a forced “big-bang” upheaval.

Herein, we analyze the variations in the ionosphere for the period of two weeks before the M6.7 earthquake in India on January 3, 2016. The earthquake occurred after a series of magnetic substorms on December 31, 2015 and January 1, 2016. The relative total electron content (TEC) disturbances have been estimated using global TEC maps and calculated numerically using the 3D global first-principle Upper Atmosphere Model (UAM) for the whole period including the days before, during, and after the substorms. Numerical simulations were repeated with the seismogenic vertical electric currents switched on at the earthquake epicenter. The UAM calculations have reproduced the general behavior of the ionosphere after the main phase of the geomagnetic storm on January 1, 2016 in the form of negative TEC disturbances propagating from high latitudes, being especially strong in the Southern (summer condition) Hemisphere. It was shown that the local ionospheric effects of seismic origin can be identified in the background of the global geomagnetic disturbances. The seismo-ionospheric effects are visible in the nighttime regions with the additional negative TEC disturbances extending from the eastern side of the epicenter meridian to the western side, both in the observations and in the UAM simulations. It was found that the vertical electric field and corresponding westward component of the electromagnetic [E &times, B] drift played a decisive role in the formation of the ionospheric precursors of this earthquake.

The role of the conduction current and extraneous electric current in the global electric circuit is considered. The current associated with the formation of thunderstorm and rain clouds charges the ionosphere positively relative to the Earth and creates a potential difference of ~250 kV between them. A global electric field directed toward the Earth arises. An electric current attributable to the electric conductivity of the atmosphere flows under the action of this field, which tends to discharge the Earth–ionosphere capacitor and is directed oppositely to the charging current. This electric current flows in the dry air of fair-weather regions. Under polluted, warm, and moist air conditions, the role of nonelectric forces in the generation of electricity between the ionosphere and Earth increases. The slow recombination of large charged particles produced by air ionization and electron attachment to heavy particles increases the density of charges, which are transferred under the action of gravity and pressure gradients. The predominant condensation of water vapors on negative charges followed by their coagulation lead to the mass separation of charges in the gravity field with the settling of negative charges and the rise of positive ones, i.e., to the appearance of an extraneous electric current (ionosphere charging current) directed oppositely to the conduction current. The atmospheric conditions above the tectonic fault during the preparation of earthquakes are shown to contribute to the generation of an extraneous electric current. The key factors that determine the intensity of the seismogenic electric current, its role in the generation of seismogenic electric fields in the ionosphere, and their thermospheric and ionospheric effects are discussed.

The results of simulation of ionospheric total electron content (TEC) caused by the electric field induced by an electric current between the Earth and the ionosphere are reported. The calculations are performed using a model of the upper atmosphere of the Earth (UAM). The equation for the electric potential in the UAM is solved by specifying vertical electric currents in a limited area of the lower boundary of the ionosphere, presumably over the epicenter of a forthcoming earthquake. The dependence of the intensity of TEC disturbances on the electric current direction, latitudinal location of the sources, and their configurations is examined. The most intense TEC disturbance are predicted when the sources are located within 30°–45° geomagnetic latitude. Simulating the concurrent action of vertical currents and compensating “return” currents uniformly distributed around the globe outside the region of “direct” currents showed no significant changes in the TEC disturbances compared with the situation where merely “direct” currents are considered. The role of the vertical and horizontal components of the electromagnetic drift of ionospheric plasma in the variations of the electron density in different areas relative to the electric current source is discussed.

The processes in East and South Asian became a peculiar subject for global community of international relations in the field. The presented volume is a collection of papers dealing with the processes of regionalization in East and South Asia. We collected papers from different academic unit both from Europe and Asia. Taking regionalization as a core subject of the volume the readers will discover the complexity of ongoing processes in East and South Asia. We present collection of papers from a very different perspectives starting from the theoretical debates, through economic dimensions of integration to political and military scope of regionalization in East and South Asia. The whole volume presents the diversity of understanding among international relations scholars community. By shaping the diverse view we can possess the better and in depth understanding of East Asia.

Recent ionospheric observations report anomalous total electron content (TEC) deviations prior strong earthquakes. We discuss common fetures of the pre-earthquake TEC disturbances on the basis of statistics covering 50 strong seismic events during 2005-2006. The F2-layer ionospheric plasma drift under action of the electric fields of seismic origin is proposed as the main reason of producing TEC anomalies. The origin of such electric fields is discussed in terms of the lithosphere-atmosphere-ionosphere coupling system. This theory is supported by numerical simulations using global Upper Atmosphere Model (UAM). UAM calculations show that the vertical electric current with the density of about 20 - 40 nA/m2 flowing between the Earth and ionosphere over an area of about 200 by 2000 km is required to produce the TEC disturbances with the amplitude of about 30% - 50% relatively to the non-disturbed conditions. Ionosphere responses on the variations of the latitudinal position, direction and configuration of the vertical electric currents have been investigated. We show that not only the vertical component of the ionospheric plasma drift but also horizontal components play an important role in producing pre-earthquake TEC disturbances.

We have calculated the ionosphere and thermosphere disturbances caused by the vertical electric currents flowing across the lower boundary of the ionosphere from the below lying atmosphere. The global numerical Upper Atmosphere Model (UAM) has been used for the calculations with the vertical electric currents at its lower boundary (80 km) as a model input for the electric potential equation. Different locations, spatial configurations and intensities of the vertical electric currents have been investigated. Their physical nature has been discussed in relation with the mesoscale disturbances of the Global Electric Circuit, such as thunderstorm activity, typhoons, sandstorms, volcano eruptions, earthquakes, anthropogenic pollutions, etc.

(By Mikhail Karpov. Slon.ru, Jan. 18, 2016, https://slon.ru/posts/62626 . Condensed text:) The notion of an "illiberal democracy" was first introduced by prominent American writer and political analyst Fareed Zakaria, who coined it in a 1997 article for Foreign Affairs. He was referring to political regimes where those who come to power via democratic means begin dismantling constitutional freedoms in order to extend their own rule - and they do so by appealing to historical national values and cultural identity. This type of state (also called a "hybrid state") clearly does not quite fit the established definition of authoritarianism. But it is also very different from a liberal democracy. ... In the late 1990s and early 2000s, this trend applied to Singapore, Iran, Russia and certain Latin American countries. But after 2010, illiberal democracy made inroads into Eastern Europe. It was here, in the "socialist commonwealth" countries that once pined for European values, that "illiberal democracy" jumped from the pages of analytical articles to the political platforms of leaders and ruling parties. ... In 2014, Viktor Orban, head of the nationalist-conservative Fidesz party who was reelected as prime minister of Hungary (a country that is a member of both the European Union and NATO), openly stated that his goal was to build an "illiberal but democratic state" founded on Hungarian culture in a time when "liberal Western democracies have proven worthless in the face of the global economic crisis." Orban named Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish Prime Minister [Recep Tayyip] Erdogan as his role models. ... Relations between Budapest and Europe's governing institutions in Brussels have greatly deteriorated, due of late to the influx of Middle Eastern and African migrants to the EU. The Hungarian government, which disagrees with the EU's migrant quotas, has forcefully prevented the flow of migrants to Germany and unilaterally started to build a barbed wire fence along Hungary's border with Serbia (an EU membership candidate state) and Croatia (an EU member since 2013). Moreover, Orban was the first Eastern European leader to openly and harshly criticize Berlin's official position [on the migrant issue], accusing [German Chancellor] Angela Merkel of an "EU dictatorship" and all the deadly sins of "tolerant liberalism." ... In fall 2015, the fresh wind of illiberal democracy swept like a hurricane into Poland - the largest country in Eastern Europe and a strategically important EU and NATO member that is viewed as a stronghold and the main success story of "shock therapy" in post-Communist "democratic consolidation." In recent weeks, this country's political developments have been in the global media spotlight [see Current Digest, Vol. 68, No. 1 - 2, p. 20]. The democratically elected new conservative right-wing government of the Kaczynski brothers' Law and Justice party wasted no time in purging the Constitutional Tribunal and the country's leading media outlets, as well as taking a number of other controversial steps. EU flags were removed from the Polish cabinet's briefing hall, while new Prime Minister Beata Szydlo explicitly stated that Polish values have very little in common with the EU's world of "cyclists and vegetarians." ... In response to comments by European Parliament speaker Martin Schulz about a "dangerous Putinization of Poland" and the EU's intention to launch rule of law monitoring [in Poland], the once-moderate weekly publication Wprost ran a cover image portraying members of the meeting [on launching the monitoring] as Hitler's inner circle. Instead of the faces of Nazi top brass leaning over a map of Europe, the cover shows EU leadership with Angela Merkel as the Fuhrer with the heading: "They want to control Poland again." ... Let's step away from the latest brouhaha and turn to the real reasons behind this clear trend. Hungary and Poland (along with modern Russia, incidentally) are still free societies. Nevertheless, the guarantors of institutional and ideological freedoms in these ... countries are getting noticeably weaker - what's more, this is the work of democratically elected representatives. So what's the secret? ... Recent events in Hungary and Poland call into question the fairness of the "democratic consolidation" theory in post-Communist countries. According to this theory, if the second elections following the overthrow of the Communist Party in a country went to the opposition and that country did not become a dictatorship, then this is a triumph of consolidating society on the basis of liberal democracy. ... The winds of illiberal democracy have blown into the most successful Eastern European nations at a time when all possible deadlines for firmly establishing a liberal democracy have passed. This means that this is not about the process itself, but rather about certain sociocultural factors.