Production Strategies of Livestock Herders in the Grasslands of Kazakhstan: Implications for the Marketing of Fine Fibres

Goat populations have been rising in Kazakhstan over the past ten years since independence and goats are preferred by farmers trying to restock. Quality of cashmere production is the key to profitable and sustainable sales to world markets for this luxury good. However, Kazakhstan did not develop a cashmere industry in the Soviet period so today goats are sheared rather than combed and little profit is made from cashmere. Goats, as well as sheep and camels are currently multi-purpose animals providing income from sales of animals, cashmere, milk and meat. This will change as the terms of trade change for high quality cashmere and households comb for fine down

Thermodynamics of integrated deoxidation of steel with a new alloy of aluminum-silicum-manganese (Al - Si - Mn)

The article considers the issue of using a complex alloy of aluminosilicomanganese as a deoxidizer. The value of the Wagner parameter of steel interaction - silicon, aluminum, manganese and concentration in the liquid, were associated with their activity in the metal. A certain consumption of the deoxidizer - aluminosilicomanganese per ton of liquid steel to improve the residual oxygen content in the metal. Possible generators of non-metallic inclusions are established

Development of carbon ferrochrome smelting technology using high-ash coal

This article presents the results of experimental tests using coal from the Saryadyr deposit as a reducing agent for the smelting of carbonaceous ferrochrome. Large-scale laboratory tests were carried out on the smelting of carbonaceous ferrochrome in an ore-thermal furnace with a capacity of 200 kV · A. X-ray diffraction analysis of the obtained alloy and slag on a diffractometer was carried out. The presence of forsterite 2MgO·SiO2 and magnesitochromite Cr2Fe0,2Mg0,8O4 in the slag was revealed, as well as the FeCr compound and the absence of silicide compounds. The optimal percentage of replacing traditional coke with coal up to 30% (by weight) has been found, which can significantly reduce the specific consumption of quartzite in the charge

The possibility of involvement in ferroalloy conversion of nickel ores of Kazakhstan

The article considers the method of using substandard oxidized nickel ores of the Batamsha deposit and their suitability for sintering. Laboratory studies on the agglomeration of domestic nickel ores with different reducing agents were carried out for the metallurgical evaluation of nickel ores. Agglomeration was carried out according to standard technology, the layer height averaged 24 cm. The agglomeration process proceeded intensively at a discharge of 1100 - 1200 mm Hg, the sintering temperature of which reached over 1200°C. To improve the mechanical properties of the obtained agglomerates, it is necessary to continue research with a change in the composition of charge materials and a metallurgical assessment with the smelting of nickel-containing intermediates

Cashmere Marketing is a New Income Source for Central Asian Livestock Farmers

Some indigenous goats in the Central Asian republics of Kazakstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan produce good quality cashmere (Millar 1986). International processors have recently been buying this cashmere. (Kerven et al., 2005), but Central Asian producers are not equipped to take full advantage of these new marketing opportunities. The U.S. AID Global Livestock-Collaborative Research Support Program project, Developing Institutions and capacity for sheep and fiber marketing in Central Asia is working to increase the income of small-scale livestock farmers through improved cashmere marketing

Understanding the programmatic and contextual forces that influence participation in a government-sponsored international student-mobility program

Although prior research establishes the forces that “push” and “pull” students to participate in foreign study, the transferability of findings from earlier studies is limited by the absence of theoretical grounding. In addition, relatively little is known about how a government-sponsored student mobility program promotes foreign study in a nation with a transitioning economy. Using case study methods, this study explores the characteristics of students who participate in such a program and identifies the programmatic characteristics and contextual forces that promote and limit participation. The findings shed light on the appropriate theoretical perspectives for understanding student participation in a government-sponsored mobility program and illustrate the need to consider how aspects of the national cultural, economic, and political context influence participation. The findings also raise several questions about how an international student mobility program should be structured to encourage participation and maximize benefits to individuals and society within a particular national context

Assessment of Psychophysiological Status of «Kazakstan Temirjoly» Transport Service Personnel

Proceedings of the 9th International Multidisciplinary Conference «Stress and Behavior» Saint-Petersburg, Russia, 16–19 May 2005.Human activity deals with periodic, sometimes long-lasting and intensive effects (or its expectation) of extreme occupational, social, and ecological factors, often accompanied by negative emotions, overstressing of physiological and mental functions, violation of efficiency and quality of labor process. Psychologic (psychophysiological) analysis of activity in dangerous, harmful responsible professions is becoming a widely recognized task. The purpose of this work was to assess psychophysiological status of Kazakhstan-Temirjoly dispatching servicemen. 44 persons (aged 37–52) were psychologically assessed by a differentiated self-rating of general functional condition, health, activity, mood (HАM). Mental tension and uneasiness status (MT, US) were assessed by Spilberger test. The MT-parameter allowed to evaluate steady personal characteristic of employees, predisposition to uneasiness, and jet disposition (JD). Results and discussion. Here we show that high operation analysis systems and large information volume processing altered the subjects status. A constant mode of information flows occurrence, fast switching of attention, the fast-track characteristics of functional processes increased HAM parameters. Increased personal and jet uneasiness parameters were also seen. In spite of the fact that the high parameters of activity reduced feeling of external threat in a subjective estimation, personal uneasiness was the factor of severe behavioral disorganization. Frequent psychoemotional tension promoted changes of persons’ status, generating uneasiness and poorer decision-taking. High emotional tension reshapes internal experience of negative emotions, increasing personal uneasiness parameters. It was established previously that the level of jet uneasiness has close connection with nature of a transactions, and is expressed in persons whose professional activity is 1) less regulated and 2) dangerous. Increases MT and US suggest that the dispatching service workers experience constant professional stress, and alert is one of the basic emotional stress responses to such excessively high requirements of activity. Notably, high levels of uneasiness were more expressed for persons aged 40–48, suggesting a constant professional alert when reaching certain age. Increase of jet uneasiness indicates high motional tension, potentially due to disintegrated nervous regulation. Thus, our psychophysiological assessment has shown that in conditions of constant solution of non-routine situations in a workstation, in managers, specially women, the increase of self-functional condition rating parameters and uneasiness is observed, leading to somatic distresses and impaired compensatory mechanisms. The long-lasting effect of intense sensomotor information flows alter psychological status of the transport dispatcher personnel

Thermodynamics of integrated deoxidation of steel with a new alloy of aluminum-silicum-manganese (Al - Si - Mn)

The article considers the issue of using a complex alloy of aluminosilicomanganese as a deoxidizer. The value of the Wagner parameter of steel interaction - silicon, aluminum, manganese and concentration in the liquid, were associated with their activity in the metal. A certain consumption of the deoxidizer - aluminosilicomanganese per ton of liquid steel to improve the residual oxygen content in the metal. Possible generators of non-metallic inclusions are established