Compulsory reduced working time in Belarus: Incidence, operation and consequences

This article examines compulsory reduced working time (CRWT) in five Belarusian factories, to assess its impact on employment relationships and evaluate arguments about ‘Soviet legacies’ and labour ‘patience’. Local use of CRWT increased between 2001 and 2012, and took a form more inimical to worker interests, thereby differing from official macro statistics. Managers expressed discontent at being pushed by state policy to use CRWT, but used it as a disciplinary tool. Workers perceived worsening work relationships and threats of collective response were in evidence. Arguments about ‘Soviet legacies’ and labour’s ‘patience’ therefore currently appear inappropriate

Rotational spectra of vibrationally excited AlO and TiO in oxygen rich stars

Rotational transitions in vibrationally excited AlO and TiO -- two possible precursors of dust -- were observed in the 300 GHz range (1 mm wavelength) towards the oxygen rich AGB stars R Dor and IK Tau with ALMA, and vibrationally excited AlO was observed towards the red supergiant VY CMa with the SMA. The $J=11 \to 10$ transition of TiO in the $v=1~{\rm{and}}~2$ levels, and the $N = 9 \to 8$ transition in the $v=2$ level of AlO were identified towards R Dor; the $J=11 \to 10$ line of TiO was identified in the $v=1$ level towards IK Tau; and two transitions in the $v=1~{\rm{and}}~2$ levels of AlO were identified towards VY CMa. The newly-derived high vibrational temperature of TiO and AlO in R Dor of $1800 \pm 200$ K, and prior measurements of the angular extent confirm that the majority of the emission is from a region within $\lesssim2R_{\star}$ of the central star. A full radiative transfer analysis of AlO in R Dor yielded a fractional abundance of $\sim$3% of the solar abundance of Al. From a similar analysis of TiO a fractional abundance of $\sim78$% of the solar abundance of Ti was found. The observations provide indirect evidence that TiO is present in a rotating disk close to the star. Further observations in the ground and excited vibrational levels are needed to determine whether AlO, TiO, and TiO$_2$ are seeds of the Al$_2$O$_3$ dust in R Dor, and perhaps in the gravitationally bound dust shells in other AGB stars with low mass loss rates.Comment: Accepted for publication in Ap

Armenia and Belarus: caught between the EU's and Russia's conditionalities?

This article looks into Armenia's and Belarus’ engagement with the European Union's (EU) and Russia's conditionalities, the two EU Eastern Partnership (EaP) countries that are also members of the Russia-led Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU). While paying attention to political, economic (including energy and technical) as well as security dimensions of the EU's and Russia's approaches, as proposed in the present special section, the article demonstrates that the conditionalities extended by the EU and Russia to the two countries in question have differed. In their turn, Armenia and Belarus have reacted differently to Russia's and the EU's conditionalities. Against the backdrop of the changing significance ascribed to both the EU's and Russia's policies towards their common neighbourhood since the 1990s, the present contribution identifies and analyses factors that account for the diverging positions of Armenia and Belarus, including the type of regime, the geopolitical considerations, the stakes in the economic and energy spheres and the predisposition to integration. The article shows that in the resulting complex context, Armenia and Belarus have been able to influence the shape and content of the EU's and Russia's conditionalities, although in a different way and to a different extent.Ministry of Education and Science (UID/CPO/ 00758/2013

АОРТИТ-НЕМОЕ ПРОЯВЛЕНИЕ, СЕРЬЕЗНЫЕ ПОСЛЕДСТВИЯ

The article presents a clinical case of delayed diagnosis of extra-articular manifestations of ankylosing spondylitis and aortitis. 15 years after the onset of symptoms, this diagnosis was established when the irreversible joint damage and cardiovascular complications were present, namely extra-articular manufestatations of aortitis, i.e. ascending aortic extension and the total aortic insufficiency. This clinical case presents a successful surgical treatment of acquired aortic valve disease. The patient underwent the Bentall-de Bono procedure, including aortic valve replacement and plasty of the ascending aorta with a valved conduit “MedEng-23” (MedEng, Russia). Moreover, the current article highlights the problem of selecting optimal medical therapy (therapy for ankylosing spondylitis and anticoagulants) due to ad-verse drug interactions. The reasons for delayed diagnosis were analyzed. Unfortunately, the main reasons are subjec-tive, i.e. general physicians (non-rheumatologists) do not know well clinical signs and symptoms of this disease as well as imaging findings suggesting this diagnosis.В статье представлен клинический случай, де-монстрирующий запоздалую постановку диагноза: анкилозирующий спондилит с внескелетным про-явлением аортит. Данный диагноз был установлен спустя 15 лет от начала появления симптомов забо-левания и уже на стадии необратимых изменений как со стороны суставной системы, так и со стороны сердечно-сосудистой системы, когда проявилась клиника осложнения внескелетного поражения аортита, в виде расширения восходящего отдела аорты и тотальной аортальной недостаточности. В представленном клиническом примере проде-монстрировано успешное хирургическое лечение развившегося порока сердца протезирование аортального клапана и восходящего отдела аорты клапан содержащим кондуитом «Мединж-23»( ЗАО НПП «МедИнж»,Россия) (операция Бенталла-де Боно) и возникшие сложности в подборе медикаментозных препаратов (базисной терапии анкилозирующего спондилита и антикоагулянтов) вследствие неблагоприятного лекарственного взаимодействия. Проанализированы причины поздней постановки диагноза и основные из них, к сожалению, субъек-тивные незнание врачами других специальностей - «не ревматологов» клиники, рентгенодиагностики данного заболевания

Animal models for aberrations of gonadotropin action

During the last two decades a large number of genetically modified mouse lines with altered gonadotropin action have been generated. These mouse lines fall into three categories: the lack-of-function mice, gain-of-function mice, and the mice generated by breeding the abovementioned lines with other disease model lines. The mouse strains lacking gonadotropin action have elucidated the necessity of the pituitary hormones in pubertal development and function of gonads, and revealed the processes from the original genetic defect to the pathological phenotype such as hypo- or hypergonadotropic hypogonadism. Conversely, the strains of the second group depict consequences of chronic gonadotropin action. The lines vary from those expressing constitutively active receptors and those secreting follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) with slowly increasing amounts to those producing human choriogonadotropin (hCG), amount of which corresponds to 2000-fold luteinizing hormone (LH)/hCG biological activity. Accordingly, the phenotypes diverge from mild anomalies and enhanced fertility to disrupted gametogenesis, but eventually chronic, enhanced and non-pulsatile action of both FSH and LH leads to female and male infertility and/or hyper- and neoplasias in most of the gonadotropin gain-of-function mice. Elevated gonadotropin levels also alter the function of several extra-gonadal tissues either directly or indirectly via increased sex steroid production. These effects include promotion of tumorigenesis in tissues such as the pituitary, mammary and adrenal glands. Finally, the crossbreedings of the current mouse strains with other disease models are likely to uncover the contribution of gonadotropins in novel biological systems, as exemplified by the recent crossbreed of LHCG receptor deficient mice with Alzheimer disease mice

Co(NO3)2 as an Inverted Umbrella-type Chiral Noncoplanar Ferrimagnet

The low-dimensional magnetic systems tend to reveal exotic spin-liquid ground states or form peculiar types of long-range order. Among systems of vivid interest are those characterized by the triangular motif in two dimensions. The realization of either ordered or disordered ground state in triangular, honeycomb, or kagome lattices is dictated by the competition of exchange interactions, also being sensitive to anisotropy and the spin value of magnetic ions. While the low-spin Heisenberg systems may arrive to a spin-liquid long-range entangled quantum state with emergent gauge structures, the high-spin Ising systems may establish the rigid noncollinear structures. Here, we present the case of chiral noncoplanar inverted umbrella-type ferrimagnet formed in cobalt nitrate Co(NO3)2 below TC=3K with the comparable spin and orbital contributions to the total magnetic moment. © 2020 American Physical Society.This work has been supported by Russian Scientific Foundation, Grant No. 19-42-02010 and by Russian Foundation for Basic Research (RFBR) Grants No. 18-52-52005, No. 18-502-12022, No. 19-02-00015, and No. 19-03-01059. We acknowledge support by the Russian Ministry of Science and Higher Education, Contracts No. 02.A03.21.0004, No. 02.A03.21.0006, and No. 02.A03.21.0011. O.V.M. and A.N.V. acknowledge support by NUST “MISiS,” Grant No. K2-2020-008. We acknowledge the support of Hochfeld Magnetlabor Dresden at Helmholtz Zentrum Dresden Rossendorf, member of the European Magnetic Field Laboratory (EMFL). B.L. acknowledges the support of DFG through Project No. B06 of SFB 1143 (ID No. 247310070). J.-Y.L. was supported by Taiwan MOST Grant No. 107-2923-M-009-001-MY3 and by the center for Emergent Functional Matter Science of NCTU from the Featured Areas Research Center program within the framework of the Higher education Sprout Project by the Ministry of Education (MOE) in Taiwan. M.A.-H. acknowledges the support from the Swedish Research Council Grant No. (VR) 2018-05339. I.V.S. was supported by Program AAAA-A18-118020190095-4 (Quantum)

Defective folliculogenesis in female mice lacking Vaccinia-related kinase 1

The Vaccinia-related kinase 1(VRK1), which is generally implicated in modulating cell cycle, plays important roles in mammalian gametogenesis. Female infertility in VRK1-deficient mice was reported to be caused by defective meiotic progression in oocyte at postovulatory stage. VRK1 roles in folliculogenesis, however, remain largely unknown. Here, accurate quantification of folliculogenesis is performed by a direct visualization of ‘intact’ ovary in 3-dimensions (3-D) using a synchrotron X-ray microtomography. In VRK1-deficient ovaries, the numbers of pre-antral and antral follicles are significantly reduced by 38% and 46%, respectively, comparing to control. The oocytes volumes in antral and Graffian follicles also decrease by 42% and 37% in the mutants, respectively, indicating defects in oocyte quality at preovulatory stage. Genetic analysis shows that gene expressions related to folliculogenesis are down-regulated in VRK1-deficient ovaries, implying defects in folliculogenesis. We suggest that VRK1 is required for both follicle development and oocyte growth in mammalian female reproduction system

Evaluation of a dementia awareness programme in UK schools: a qualitative study

Objectives ‘Dementia Friends’ is a programme used to raise awareness of dementia, developed by the Alzheimer's Society, which has been delivered across the UK to diverse populations, including adolescents. However, there is little evidence available with regards to adolescents' perceptions of the programme and its impact. This study aims to explore this in a group of adolescents from the south of England. Study design Focus group discussions. Methods Thirty adolescents aged between 11 and 16 years were recruited from two schools in East Sussex, England. All had participated in a Dementia Friends session in the past month. Focus group discussions were transcribed, coded and themes were created using inductive thematic analysis. Results Four themes were identified: (1) perceptions and experiences of dementia, (2) outcomes and learning from Dementia Friends session, (3) reactions to the Dementia Friends session and (4) identified future learning needs. Conclusions Adolescents had generally positive opinions about Dementia Friends, particularly the interactive nature of the session. Whilst they felt participating in Dementia Friends improved their attitudes and knowledge, they were often left wanting to learn more. Future research needs to empirically evaluate the extent to which Dementia Friends may improve attitudes and knowledge of dementia

Inhibition of the Progesterone Nuclear Receptor during the Bone Linear Growth Phase Increases Peak Bone Mass in Female Mice

Augmentation of the peak bone mass (PBM) may be one of the most effective interventions to reduce the risk of developing osteoporosis later in life; however treatments to augment PBM are currently limited. Our study evaluated whether a greater PBM could be achieved either in the progesterone nuclear receptor knockout mice (PRKO) or by using a nuclear progesterone receptor (nPR) antagonist, RU486 in mice. Compared to their wild type (WT) littermates the female PRKO mice developed significantly higher cancellous and cortical mass in the distal femurs, and this was associated with increased bone formation. The high bone mass phenotype was partially reproduced by administering RU486 in female WT mice from 1–3 months of age. Our results suggest that the inhibition of the nPR during the rapid bone growth period (1–3 months) increases osteogenesis, which results in acquisition of higher bone mass. Our findings suggest a crucial role for progesterone signaling in bone acquisition and inhibition of the nPR as a novel approach to augment bone mass, which may have the potential to reduce the burden of osteoporosis