Territorial structure of inbound and domestic tourism in the Baltic States

This paper examines the transformation of the territorial structure of tourism in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. The spatial and temporal organisation of tourism in these countries has undergone significant changes since they became independent and joined the EU. These changes have affected the geography of tourist flows and destinations of interest. This study aims to define the geographical and economic peculiarities of the development of tourism in the Baltic States and to identify the central, peripheral and semi-peripheral regions. Elements of the centre-periphery structure were identified through cluster analysis covering the period 2009-2019. Eleven indicators were used to determine the level of socio-economic development, the state of inbound and domestic tourism and the degree of transport infrastructure development. The results of the study suggest that there have been progressive changes in the territorial structure of tourism in the Baltic States. The main centres of attraction are the capitals and their adjacent territories. Horizontal contacts with more developed regions of the EU states and vertical interaction with other regions of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have a significant impact on the development of tourism activities. Central regions are dominant in terms of attracting tourist flows. This is characteristic of a highly polarized tourism structure. However, many semi-peripheral and peripheral regions have lately improved their position, being integrated into national and cross-border tourism routes and increasing outreach in the tourism market

Formación de la legislación sobre el seguro de pensiones en Francia, el Reino Unido y Rusia. Una retrospectiva

The relevance of the study is due to the crisis of modern pension insurance systems and the need to change the paradigm of pension legislation development. The purpose of the study is to identify the features of the formation of legislation on pension insurance in several countries (France, Great Britain, and Russia) at the initial stage of development (before 1914). The novelty is expressed both in the formulation of the problem and in the research methodology (the choice of countries and the period of research, the justification for the use of methods: dialectics, analysis, synthesis, system-structural, sociological, statistical, historical-legal, comparative-legal, formal-legal). The result of the study was the conclusions about the historical conditionality of the peculiarities of the formation of legislation on pension insurance in a particular country. There was early legalization of both voluntary and compulsory pension insurance in France. There was no legislation on pension insurance in the UK during the period under review, despite the early development of relevant institutions in the framework of workshops, guilds, and later in the framework of trade unions and “friendly societies”. In Russia, due to the agrarian nature of the economy, pension insurance did not develop within the framework of workshops and guilds; there were no laws on insurance in case of old age by 1914, while the risks of disability and loss of the breadwinner were regulated by law.El estudio analiza la crisis de los sistemas modernos pensionales y establece la necesidad de cambiar el paradigma de la legislación de pensiones. El objetivo del estudio consiste en identificar las características de la legislación sobre los seguros pensionales de varios estados (Francia, Reino Unido y Rusia) partiendo de su etapa inicial hasta 1914. La novedad se expresa tanto en la formulación del problema como en la metodología de investigación (selección de países y período de estudio, justificación de la aplicación de los métodos: dialéctico, de análisis, de síntesis, sistémico-estructural, sociológico, estadístico, histórico-legal, comparativo-legal, formal-legal). Como resultado del estudio se llegó a conclusiones sobre el condicionamiento histórico de las características de la formación de la legislación sobre el seguro de pensiones de un país en particular. En Francia, se promulgó una legislación temprana sobre el seguro de pension voluntario y también obligatorio en Francia. En el Reino Unido, durante el período que se examina, no había legislación sobre seguros de pensiones, a pesar del desarrollo temprano de las instituciones pertinentes dentro de los talleres, gremios y, posteriormente, dentro de la actividad de los sindicatos y las «sociedades fraternales». En Rusia, debido a la naturaleza agraria de la economía, el seguro de pensiones en el marco de los talleres y gremios nunca funcionó; en 1914 se adolecía de leyes sobre el seguro de vejez, mientras que los riesgos de discapacidad y la pérdida del sostén de la familia se regulaban por ley

THE EGALITARIAN PRINCIPLES OF THE OLD BOHEMIAN STATEHOOD AND THE LEGAL SYSTEM

Purpose: The article is devoted to the study of egalitarian principles of medieval Czech statehood and the legal system. Methods: The authors pay special attention to the peculiarities of family self-government of the Czech communities, the institution of hazing in land law and the mechanism of reconciliation as an alternative to the death penalty. Findings: The paper proves that tribal remnants of the customary law of the ancient Czech people in the medieval era contributed to the preservation of egalitarian democratic principles of public administration and justice

Counter-Pandemic Vector of Remote Learning for University Students: Risks and Benefits of Educational Process Large-Scale Digitalization

The relevance of this study is due to the challenges of the global pandemic, which has led to the large-scale development of education digitalization. In this regard, this article is devoted to revealing the features of remote learning in the context of a global pandemic, identifying the risks and benefits of digital learning. The article reveals the discursive content of the counter-pandemic vector of distance learning for University students; defines the classification of risks and advantages of large-scale digitalization of students’ remote learning. Based on the results of the study, the authors justified the consolidated model of students distance learning, the counter-pandemic vector of which is a large-scale digitalization of the University educational process. The effectiveness of the model is proved by the results of its use in the process of large-scale digitalization of students’ remote learning in the context of a global pandemic. The materials of the article have practical application and can be useful in the development and implementation of digital educational complexes. They are recommended to teachers and students of the University, methodologists, curators, Tutors

Metabolomic profiles of hepatocellular carcinoma in a European prospective cohort

Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the most prevalent form of liver cancer, is difficult to diagnose and has limited treatment options with a low survival rate. Aside from a few key risk factors, such as hepatitis, high alcohol consumption, smoking, obesity, and diabetes, there is incomplete etiologic understanding of the disease and little progress in identification of early risk biomarkers. Methods: To address these aspects, an untargeted nuclear magnetic resonance metabolomic approach was applied to pre-diagnostic serum samples obtained from first incident, primary HCC cases (n = 114) and matched controls (n = 222) identified from amongst the participants of a large European prospective cohort. Results: A metabolic pattern associated with HCC risk comprised of perturbations in fatty acid oxidation and amino acid, lipid, and carbohydrate metabolism was observed. Sixteen metabolites of either endogenous or exogenous origin were found to be significantly associated with HCC risk. The influence of hepatitis infection and potential liver damage was assessed, and further analyses were made to distinguish patterns of early or later diagnosis. Conclusion: Our results show clear metabolic alterations from early stages of HCC development with application for better etiologic understanding, prevention, and early detection of this increasingly common cancer.This work was supported by the French National Cancer Institute (L’Institut National du Cancer; INCA; grant number 2009-139; PI: M. Jenab). AF received financial support (BDI fellowship) from the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) and Bruker Biospin. The coordination of EPIC is financially supported by the European Commission (DG-SANCO) and the International Agency for Research on Cancer. The national cohorts are supported by Danish Cancer Society (Denmark); Ligue Contre le Cancer, Institut Gustave Roussy, Mutuelle Générale de l’Education Nationale, and Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM) (France); Deutsche Krebshilfe, Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum (DKFZ), and Federal Ministry of Education and Research (Germany); Hellenic Health Foundation (Greece); Italian Association for Research on Cancer (AIRC), National Research Council, Associazione Italiana per la Ricerca sul Cancro-AIRC-Italy, and AIRE-ONLUS Ragusa, AVIS Ragusa, Sicilian Government (Italy); Dutch Ministry of Public Health, Welfare and Sports (VWS), Netherlands Cancer Registry (NKR), LK Research Funds, Dutch Prevention Funds, Dutch ZON (Zorg Onderzoek Nederland), World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF), and Statistics Netherlands (the Netherlands); European Research Council (ERC; grant number ERC-2009-AdG 232997) and Nordforsk, and Nordic Center of Excellence Programme on Food, Nutrition and Health (Norway); Health Research Fund (FIS), Regional Governments of Andalucía, Asturias, Basque Country, Murcia (No. 6236) and Navarra, and ISCIII RETIC (RD06/0020) (Spain); Swedish Cancer Society, Swedish Scientific Council, and Regional Government of Skåne and Västerbotten (Sweden); Cancer Research UK, Medical Research Council, Stroke Association, British Heart Foundation, Department of Health, Food Standards Agency, and Wellcome Trust (UK)

REVITALIZING DEPRESSED AREAS OF THE RUSSIAN NORTH (THE CASE OF VELIKY USTYUG)

The study discusses the experience of «Veliky Ustyug – Ded Moroz Homeland» - one of the most successful Russian projects of regional tourism development in scarcely populated and depressed areas of the Russian North.Founded in 1147, Veliky Ustyug is among the oldest towns of the Russian North with a ‘historic city’ and ‘open-air museum’ status. However, in the 1980-1990s it was a typical small town with depressive socio-economic structure based on forestry, small enterprises, folk crafts and distinctive social challenges such as migration, high unemployment, et al. The project «Veliky Ustyug – Ded Moroz Homeland» comparable to Santa Claus Village in Rovaniemi, Finland has increased greatly the tourist flow to the town and improved considerably its socio-economic situation.The research is based on extensive field studies, theoretical observations and includes statistics analysis as well as the results of in-depth interviews with experts and regional stakeholders taken in 2011-2016, review of official legislation. Study reveals that the  main idea of the project is to revitalize the depressed community with a wide range of social, educational, economic, infrastructural, cultural, leisure and tourism activities to promote its future sustainable development. The project life cycle is discussed within the birth, growth and maturity periods; each of them is provided with quantitative characterization. Key problems of the project and their possible solutions are identified. The main constraints to the project connected with poor transport accessibility of the destination and high seasonality of tourism demand are considered

Formation of legislation on pension insurance in France, Great Britain, and Russia. a retrospective Inglés

The relevance of the study is due to the crisis of modern pension insurance systems and the need to change the paradigm of pension legislation development. The purpose of the study is to identify the features of the formation of legislation on pension insurance in several countries (France, Great Britain, and Russia) at the initial stage of development (before 1914). The novelty is expressed both in the formulation of the problem and in the research methodology (the choice of countries and the period of research, the justification for the use of methods: dialectics, analysis, synthesis, system-structural, sociological, statistical, historical-legal, comparative-legal, formal-legal). The result of the study was the conclusions about the historical conditionality of the peculiarities of the formation of legislation on pension insurance in a particular country. There was early legalization of both voluntary and compulsory pension insurance in France. There was no legislation on pension insurance in the UK during the period under review, despite the early development of relevant institutions in the framework of workshops, guilds, and later in the framework of trade unions and “friendly societies”. In Russia, due to the agrarian nature of the economy, pension insurance did not develop within the framework of workshops and guilds; there were no laws on insurance in case of old age by 1914, while the risks of disability and loss of the breadwinner were regulated by lawEl estudio analiza la crisis de los sistemas modernos pensionales y establece la necesidad de cambiar el paradigma de la legislación de pensiones. El objetivo del estudio consiste en identificar las características de la legislación sobre los seguros pensionales de varios estados (Francia, Reino Unido y Rusia) partiendo de su etapa inicial hasta 1914. La novedad se expresa tanto en la formulación del problema como en la metodología de investigación (selección de países y período de estudio, justificación de la aplicación de los métodos: dialéctico, de análisis, de síntesis, sistémico-estructural, sociológico, estadístico, histórico-legal, comparativo-legal, formal-legal). Como resultado del estudio se llegó a conclusiones sobre el condicionamiento histórico de las características de la formación de la legislación sobre el seguro de pensiones de un país en particular. En Francia, se promulgó una legislación temprana sobre el seguro de pension voluntario y también obligatorio en Francia. En el Reino Unido, durante el período que se examina, no había legislación sobre seguros de pensiones, a pesar del desarrollo temprano de las instituciones pertinentes dentro de los talleres, gremios y, posteriormente, dentro de la actividad de los sindicatos y las «sociedades fraternales». En Rusia, debido a la naturaleza agraria de la economía, el seguro de pensiones en el marco de los talleres y gremios nunca funcionó; en 1914 se adolecía de leyes sobre el seguro de vejez, mientras que los riesgos de discapacidad y la pérdida del sostén de la familia se regulaban por ley

Current legal issues: the phenomenon of social rights in the constitutional law in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe

The study includes an assessment of the effectiveness of state regulation of public relations in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). The authors proceed from the traditional interpretation of social rights as a set of individual rights in the sphere of labor, social security, medical care, education, etc. The Phenomenon of social rights is studied by historical and comparative methods. Nevertheless, it was the socialist constitutions that put social rights at the top of the list of individual rights and reinforced them with a wide range of guarantees that allowed them to be realized. After the "velvet revolutions" of the late twentieth century, many CEE countries tried to preserve social rights in their new constitutions.El estudio incluye una evaluación de la efectividad de la regulación estatal de las relaciones públicas en los países de Europa Central y del Este (CEE). Los autores proceden de la interpretación tradicional de los derechos sociales como un conjunto de derechos individuales en la esfera del trabajo, la seguridad social, la atención médica, la educación, etc. El fenómeno de los derechos sociales se estudia por métodos históricos y comparativos. Sin embargo, fueron las constituciones socialistas las que colocaron los derechos sociales en la parte superior de la lista de derechos individuales y los reforzaron con una amplia gama de garantías que les permitieron hacerse realidad. Después de las "revoluciones de terciopelo" de finales del siglo XX, muchos países de ECO trataron de preservar los derechos sociales en sus nuevas constituciones