The Georgian Crisis and U.S.-Russian Relations

Since the end of the Cold War, the U.S.-Russian relations, perplexed by constant strains and unresolved contradictions, shifted like a precarious seesaw. The former Soviet space has become a stage for an ambitious political game for regional supremacy between Moscow and Washington. Russia, eager to reestablish its great power status has tried to find a balance between collaboration with the West and its neo-imperialistic ambitions, aiming to preserve the control over its traditional sphere of influence. Washington, allured by the area’s natural resources riches, and after 9/11 terrorist attacks, in need of the region’s strategic location, has been creating its own intricate web: NATO’s eastward expansion; the construction of the BTC pipeline, to undermine Moscow’ regional monopoly over the pipelines routes; and sponsorship of the “color revolutions.†Determined to keep the U.S. behind the “red line,†the Kremlin has been actively reasserting itself in the post-Soviet space: at first, through the elaborate structure of the Commonwealth of Independent States, later, by use of energy as an instrument of political pressure, and even by military means, like in 2008 Russo-Georgian war. This thesis will analyze the development of the post-Soviet U.S.-Russian relations in light of the Georgian crisis. Russia’s complex foreign policy will be discussed based on Neil MacFarlane’s course of reasoning, which maintains that Moscow’s post-communist foreign strategy has been characterized by cooperation with the U.S. and reasserting itself at the regional level, in its “near abroad.†Through discussions of NATO’s “open door†policy, U.S.-Russia geopolitical competition over energy resources and routes, and eventual escalation of the events into the August five-day military confrontation, the evidence will lead us to conclude that MacFarlane’s argument is still pertinent. Moreover, the Georgian conflict vividly reflects the situation. The thesis will follow Georgia’s turbulent history from the ancient times to the Rose Revolution and investigate the underlying causes of the “frozen conflicts†of separatist Abkhazia and South Ossetia. No doubt, significance of the Georgian crisis in a geopolitical sense is conditioned by its direct affect on the politics of the world’s most powerful countries and should ultimately be seen in such a setting. Strife for regional supremacy between a resurgent Russia and the West presents Georgia with bets of high stakes and the grand prize of the Caspian oil. Multifarious historic, ethnic, and geopolitical factors, perplexed by the new dynamics of international and regional interdependence, account for the complexity and unpredictability of the current state of affairs on this post-Soviet territory

Design of DC Fast Charging Station for Light Electric Vehicles

The thesis is devoted to the design of a direct current fast charging station for light electric vehicles. The work consists of two parts. The first part is a theoretical study of existing technologies in the field of charging stations. The second part is the design of the charging station itself, which consists of the hardware and the software part. The hardware part of the project describes all the components of the device and the scheme of their connection. The software part presents a proprietary protocol for interaction between the charging station and an electric vehicle, an algorithm for controlling the station with a human-machine interface, and a variant of organizing remote control and monitoring of the station.The thesis is devoted to the design of a direct current fast charging station for light electric vehicles. The work consists of two parts. The first part is a theoretical study of existing technologies in the field of charging stations. The second part is the design of the charging station itself, which consists of the hardware and the software part. The hardware part of the project describes all the components of the device and the scheme of their connection. The software part presents a proprietary protocol for interaction between the charging station and an electric vehicle, an algorithm for controlling the station with a human-machine interface, and a variant of organizing remote control and monitoring of the station.

Dreams and Desires of Preschoolers

AbstractThe research presented in this article is part of the “Children in a Changing World” project, a cross-sectional study that explores the influence of social changes on the world views of children. The project was launched in 1992, at a time when socioeconomic reforms began to unfold in Russia. Six cross sections have been conducted to date, each including interviews with older preschoolers in the age range of 5.6-7.0 years. The children were asked about their life today and how they imagine it in the future. This article analyzes the way that the dreams and desires of older preschoolers have changed over the past two decades (comparing the dreams and desires children expressed in the 1990s with those voiced by children of the same age in 2015). The main results obtained through qualitative analysis suggest certain changes in the structure of the preschooler's desires (in particular, an increase in “magical,” non-realistic wishes) and a decrease in the negative influence of the distant environment on the children

Identification of guanine nucleotide exchange factors that increase Cdc42 activity in primary human endothelial cells

The Rho GTPase family is involved in actin dynamics and regulates the barrier function of the endothelium. One of the main barrier-promoting Rho GTPases is Cdc42, also known as cell division control protein 42 homolog. Currently, regulation of Cdc42-based signalling networks in endothelial cells (ECs) lack molecular details. To examine these, we focused on a subset of 15 Rho guanine nucleotide exchange factors (GEFs), which are expressed in the endothelium. By performing single cell FRET measurements with Rho GTPase biosensors in primary human ECs, we monitored GEF efficiency towards Cdc42 and Rac1. A new, single cell-based analysis was developed and used to enable the quantitative comparison of cellular activities of the overexpressed full-length GEFs. Our data reveal GEF dependent activation of Cdc42, with the most efficient Cdc42 activation induced by PLEKHG2, FGD1, PLEKHG1 and PREX1 and the highest selectivity for FGD1. Additionally, we generated truncated GEF constructs that comprise only the catalytic dbl homology (DH) domain or together with the adjacent pleckstrin homology domain (DHPH). The DH domain by itself did not activate Cdc42, whereas the DHPH domain of ITSN1, ITSN2 and PLEKHG1 showed activity towards Cdc42. Together, our study characterized endothelial GEFs that may directly or indirectly activate Cdc42, which will be of great value for the field of vascular biology

Обобщенные зависимости изобарной теплоемкости на линии насыщения жидкости для углеводородов и их смесей

A new method based on thermodynamic similarity and experimental data for the isobaric heat capacity of hydrocarbons and mixtures thereof on the saturated liquid line is offered to calculate the adjusted heat capacity for hydrocarbons and mixtures thereof with due regard to the reduced temperature. Formulas have been developed to estimate the reduced heat capacity for the reduced temperature values within the range 0.37< τ <0.92 with an error less than 2.6% for the hydrocarbons and the entire temperature range with an error less than 2.7% for the of mixtures thereof.Существующие методы определения теплоемкости чистых веществ - Бонди, Штерлинга - Брауна, Филлипова основаны на методе соответственных состояний. Эти формулы позволяют определить избыточную теплоемкость C'p-C'0p, где C'0p - теплоемкость вещества в идеальногазовом состоянии. В настоящей работе разработан метод расчета приведенной теплоемкости в зависимости от приведенной температуры, где в качестве масштаба приведения выбрана температура Tm, при которой свободная энергия фазового перехода жидкость - пар имеет абсолютно минимальное значение, а также для сравнения приведены расчеты по]. По методу авторов настоящей работы масштабом приведения теплоемкости принята теплоемкость жидкости на линии насыщения при температуре Tm

The doctrine of the rule of law in the light of the theory of legal interpretation

The article deals with the problem of the connection of legal norms with the texts of the provisions of legislative acts, in which the legal norms are fixed. The purpose of this article is an attempt to develop such aspects of the doctrine of legal norms that would allow the concept of legal norms to cover almost all the legal content of the recognized theories, law, and practice of legal enforcement sources of law and create a holistic view of the legal norm. There are legal norms that are fixed textually (expressed verbally), and legal norms that are fixed logically. The latter type of norms usually does not fall into the field of view of scholars. The article substantiates the need to study the legal norms that are logically fixed in the provisions of legislative acts and the corresponding development of the doctrine of legal norms

Preceramic Polymer Route to Amorphous and Crystalline Potassium Aluminosilicate Powders and Their Electrorheological Properties

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/65491/1/j.1151-2916.1997.tb03001.x.pd