Russian Spirituality and the Theology of Negation

Toward the end of the twentieth century Russian culture found itself at a crossroads which cannot be ascribed to any political election but which rather presupposed a radical change in its religious and social orientation. Two somewhat opposing theses will be developed in this article. First I will discuss the processes of secularization in Russian culture and the necessity of a third, neutral zone between the sacred and the profane. Next, the dangers of social neutralization in culture and the necessity of retaining elements of the dual model along with the introduction of intermediate elements will be presented. We will hope that these theses are but partly contradictory; that is, when combined they will not cancel each other out, but will rather produce a ternary model of a cultural symbiosis between the extreme and the median, despite their apparent incongruity

From Analysis to Synthesis: Conceiving a Transformative Metaphysics for the Twenty-First Century.

The article aims to substantiate the philosophy of synthesis, which is built on the basis of analysis, but gives it a constructive direction. The turning point from analysis to synthesis is the problematization of the elements identified in the analysis, their criticism, replacement, or rearrangement, leading to the construction of alternative concepts and propositions that expand the field of the thinkable and innovate the categorical apparatus of philosophy. This article provides examples of philosophical synthesis at different levels: alternative terms and concepts (“infinition”), postulates (the “diamond rule” in ethics), and disciplines (“horrology” as the study of the self-destructive mechanisms of civilization). Next, we consider the transition from the philosophy of synthesis to the synthesis of philosophy itself with contemporary scientific and technical practices. Technology of the 21st century is no longer instrumental/utilitarian, but a fundamental technology ("onto–technology"), which, thanks to science’s penetration into the micro- and macrocosm, can change the foundational parameters of being, thereby acquiring a philosophical dimension. Accordingly, philosophy as a study of the most general principles of the universe becomes a practical requirement in any “world-forming,” synthesizing acts of technology, including the design of computer games and multi-populated virtual worlds (e.g., “Second Life”), that involve a new ontology, logic, ethics, and axiology. The vocation of philosophy in the 21st century is not just to comprehend our unique world, but to lay the foundations for new world-forming practices, to initiate and design the ontology of possible worlds, and to pave the way for alternative forms of synthetic life and artificial intelligence. Contrary to Hegel, philosophy is no longer the “owl of Minerva” taking flight at dusk, but a skylark proclaiming the dawn of a new creative day

Пандемия: философский диагноз

The paper examines the event of the pandemic in three aspects: a metaphor of our age, an issue of ethics, a new phase of anthropogenesis. As the metaphor of the era, the pandemic stars as Belikov (A. Chekhov’s The Man in the Case): the form of bio-phobia and socio-phobia, the growing sterility of contacts, socializing over distances, closeness, and the priority of packaging (covers) before the procedures of openness, nudity, fusion. There appears a change in genres: the detective as a genre based on the revelation and removal of a shroud of mystery, the punishment of crime, gives way to the genre of the protectIva (from protegere: to shroud, to pull the veil, to shield). The protective is a genre to avert a catastrophe, protect against crime that has already become a norm, — the experience of survival on edge. There emerges homo tegens, “man who enclothes”, who pulls a veil over everything including himself. The pandemic as an issue of ethics poses a multitude of ethical challenges and choices (between utilitarianism and egalitarianism, the principles of "not doing bad things" and "doing good"). The pandemic as the dawn of a new phase of anthropogenesis demonstrates the transformation of a man climbing and walking upright into a man sitting (in front of the screen) — Homo Sedens. With the development of civilization and the transition to intellectual work and a sedentary lifestyle, sight and hearing gain superiority. These organs are of remote perception, and in this sense, they meet the requirements of social distance and self-isolation that favour the preservation of man as a species. Physical sensitivity and tactility in the culture of Late Modern times have a paradoxical linkage with a change in the concepts of tact and decorum, with the ability to keep a distance, not to impose their views on another person. The author expects the consequence of the pandemic to be the movement of the frontier of civilization deep into the virtual worlds. Globalization is moving from an extroverted stage to an introverted one. The author concludes that when faced with a common danger that does not make national, ethnic, or religious distinctions, humankind becomes a concrete reality that one used to feel vague.Событие пандемии исследуется в трех аспектах: метафора нашей эпохи, проблема этики, новая фаза антропогенеза. Как метафора эпохи пандемия предстает в образе Беликова (А. Чехов «Человек в футляре»): форме биофобии и социофобии, растущей стерильности контактов, общения на расстоянии, закрытости и приоритете упаковок (покрытий) перед процедурами открытости, обнаженности, слияния. Констатируется изменение в жанрах: детектив как жанр, основанный на разоблачении и снятии покровов тайны, наказании преступления, уступает место жанру протектИва (от protegere: закрываться, натягивать покров, заслоняться щитом). Протектив — это жанр предотвращения катастрофы, защиты от преступления, уже ставшего нормой, — опыт выживания на пределе. Возникает homo tegens, «человек облекающий», набрасывающий покровы на все, в том числе и на самого себя. Пандемия как проблема этики ставит множество этических вопросов и выборов (между утилитаризмом и эгалитаризмом, принципами «не делать плохого» и «делать хорошее»). Пандемия как начало новой фазы антропогенеза демонстрирует превращение человека лазающего и прямоходящего в человека сидящего (перед экраном) — Homo Sedens. С развитием цивилизации и с переходом к умственному труду и сидячему образу жизни все больший перевес получают органы зрения и слуха — дистанционные органы восприятия и в этом смысле отвечающие требованиям социальной «дистанции» и «самоизоляции», которые благоприятствуют сохранению человека как вида. Физическая чувствительность и тактильность в культуре Нового времени парадоксально связана с изменением понятий «такт» и «тактичность», с умением соблюдать дистанцию, не навязывать другому человеку своих мнений. Следствие пандемии прогнозируется как передвижение фронтира цивилизации вглубь виртуальных миров. Глобализация переходит из экстравертной стадии в интровертную. Делается вывод о том, что, столкнувшись с общей опасностью, не делающей национальных, этнических, религиозных различий, человечество становится конкретной реальностью, которая раньше ощущалась смутно

Двуликий Хронос. Словарь времени, обращенного вспять

The article explores the history of the concept “retromania” and analyzes possibilities and specific features of its application to the Russian socio-cultural situation of the 21-st century. The distinction of Russia retromania resides, in the first place, in the scale of its spread incompatible with the scale of pop-culture in the space of which this term was born. Secondly, Russian retromania faces away from the recent past; it is directed to the deep past reaching archaic layers of culture. Retromania acquires forms of a new political metaphysics — necrocracy, total involvement of heroes of the past, especially war participants as witnesses and actors of modernity. The paper offers symbolic forms of work with the past and practices derived from them. The general strategy of necrocacy is depicted through tantalizations — the prevalence of death value regarding eros at all levels of social psychology and ideology. Chronos is also considered as time that changes its direction and flies backwards. The article introduces new forms of the existence of Russian Chronos marked with the concepts of totalgy, chronocide, the newest Middle Ages, uchronia, schizofascism, New Moscovia, topochron, and chronocracy. Totalgy is of an emotional nature and is expressed in a longing for totality, totalitarialism, and is fixed in ideology. Chronocide is violence towards the natural course of time. And in this respect, one can observe continuity with Soviet ideology where all the rhetoric used to be project-based as well as today the past dominates the present. Uchronia implies the construction of a state of timelessness, and the newest Middle Ages are characterized by the increase in religious and political fundamentalism. There is a direct way from fundamentalism to fascism which manifests itself as schizofascism, i.e. fascism under the guise of combating fascism. Such concepts as New Moscovia expressed in the dominance of Moscow in mass consciousness and topochron — the prevalence of topos over chromos were used to analyze the topos of current “retromanian” Russia. The article offers an optimistic scenario of the development expressed by the concept of chonocracy when time in its metaphysical sacred meaning defeats the profane politics of retromania.В статье исследуется история возникновения понятия «ретромания» и анализируются возможности и особенности его применения к российской социокультурной ситуации XXI в. Отличие российской ретромании, во-первых, в масштабе распространения, несопоставимом с масштабом попкультуры, в пространстве которой родился исследуемый термин; во-вторых, российская ретромания обращена не в недавнее прошлое, а в прошлое глубокое, достигающее архаических пластов культуры. Ретромания принимает формы новой политической метафизики — некрократии, тотального привлечения в свидетели и акторы современности героев прошлого, в первую очередь участников войн. Предлагаются символические формы работы с прошлым и производные от них практики. Общая стратегия некрократии явлена в танатализации — доминировании на всех уровнях общественной психологии и идеологии ценности смерти по отношении к эросу. Хронос также рассматривается как время, меняющее направление, текущее вспять. В статье предлагаются новые формы существования российского Хроноса, обозначенные понятиями тотальгии, хроноцида, новейшего средневековья, ухронии, шизофашизма, новомосковии, топохрона и хронократии. Тотальгия носит эмоциональный характер, выражается в тоске по тотальности, тоталитаризму и закрепляется в идеологии. Хроноцид — насилие над естественным ходом времени, в этом отношении наблюдается преемственность с советской идеологией, где вся риторика носила проектный характер, точно так же, как сегодня прошлое доминирует над настоящим. Ухрония предполагает конструирование состояния безвременья, а новейшее средневековье характеризуется ростом религиозного и политического фундаментализма. От фундаментализма прямой путь к фашизму, который явлен как шизофашизм, т. е. фашизм под маской борьбы с фашизмом. Для анализа топоса современной ретроманской России используются понятия «новомосковии», выраженной в доминировании Москвы в массовом сознании, «топохрона» — преобладания топоса над хроносом. В статье предлагается оптимистический вариант развития, выраженный понятием хронократии, когда время в его метафизическом сакральном значении побеждает профанную политику ретромании

Phase II Study of Bevacizumab in Combination with Trastuzumab and Capecitabine as First-Line Treatment for HER-2-positive Locally Recurrent or Metastatic Breast Cancer

The first results from a phase II, open-label study designed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of bevacizumab in combination with trastuzumab and capecitabine as first-line therapy for patients with human epidermal growth factor receptor-2–positive locally recurrent or metastatic breast cancer are reported

Climate change and future pollen allergy in Europe

Background: Globally pollen allergy is a major public health problem, but a fundamental unknown is the likely impact of climate change. To our knowledge, this is the first study to quantify the consequences of climate change upon pollen allergy in humans. Objectives: To produce quantitative estimates of the potential impact of climate change upon pollen allergy in humans, focusing upon common ragweed (Ambrosia artemisiifolia) in Europe. Methods: A process-based model estimated the change in ragweed’s range under climate change. A second model simulated current and future ragweed pollen levels. These were translated into health burdens using a dose-response curve generated from a systematic review and current and future population data. Models considered two different suites of regional climate/pollen models, two greenhouse gas emissions scenarios (RCP4.5 and 8.5), and three different plant invasion scenarios. Results: Our primary estimates indicate that sensitization to ragweed will more than double in Europe, from 33 to 77 million people, by 2041-2060. According to our projections, while sensitization will increase in countries with an existing ragweed problem (e.g. Hungary, the Balkans), the greatest proportional increases will occur where sensitization is uncommon (e.g. Germany, Poland, France). Higher pollen concentrations and a longer pollen season may also increase the severity of symptoms. Our model projections are driven predominantly by changes in climate (66%), but also are influenced by current trends in the spread of this invasive plant species. Assumptions about the rate at which ragweed spreads throughout Europe have a large influence upon the results. Conclusions: Our quantitative estimates indicate that ragweed pollen allergy will become a common health problem across Europe, expanding into areas where it is currently uncommon. Control of ragweed spread may be an important adaptation strategy in response to climate change

ПРОБЛЕМЫ ИНТЕГРАЛЬНОЙ ОЦЕНКИ И ОБЕСПЕЧЕНИЯ ДЕМОГРАФИЧЕСКОЙ БЕЗОПАСНОСТИ

The article presents the approaches to the integratedassessment of demographic security. The analysisof the problems of timely construction of the integralindex, which characterizes the demographic securityin the territory.В статье представлены подходы к проведению интегральнойоценкидемографическойбезопасности. Проведен анализ своевременных проблем построения интегрального показателя, характеризующего демографическую безопасность на определенной территории

Agriculture in the Face of Changing Markets, Institutions and Policies: Challenges and Strategies

Since the late 1980s, agriculture in Central and Eastern European Countries (CEECs) has been under considerable adjustment pressure due to changing political, economic and institutional environments. These changes have been linked to the transition process, as well as the ongoing integration into the European Union and the world market. Reduced subsidies, increased environmental and food quality demands, as well as structural changes in the supply, processing and food retailing sector call for major structural adjustments and the improvement of farmersâ managerial abilities. Though such changes always carry significant threats to farms, they also offer new opportunities for the farms' entrepreneurial engagement. Upcoming changes in the agricultural environment and their possible consequences for farm structures across Europe are thus still timely subjects. The objective of the IAMO Forum 2006 is to contribute to the success of agriculture in the CEECs, as well as their neighboring countries, in todayâs increasingly competitive environment. Concrete questions the conference focuses on are: What are the most suitable farm organizations, cooperative arrangements and contractual forms? How to improve efficiency and productivity? Where do market niches lie and what are the new product demands? This book contains 33 invited and selected contributions. These papers will be presented at the IAMO Forum 2006 in order to offer a platform for scientists, practitioners and policy-makers to discuss challenges and potential strategies at the farm, value chain, rural society and policy levels in order to cope with the upcoming challenges. IAMO Forum 2006, as well as this book, would not have been possible without the engagement of many people and institutions. We thank the authors of the submitted abstracts and papers, as well as the referees, for their evaluation of the abstracts from which the papers were selected. In particular, we would like to express our thanks to OLIVER JUNGKLAUS, GABRIELE MEWES, KLAUS REINSBERG and ANGELA SCHOLZ, who significantly contributed to the organization of the Forum. Furthermore, our thanks goes to SILKE SCHARF for her work on the layout and editing support of this book, and to JIM CURTISS, JAMIE BULLOCH, and DÃNALL Ã MEARÃIN for their English proof-reading. As experience from previous years documents, the course of the IAMO Forum continues to profit from the support and engagement of the IAMO administration, which we gratefully acknowledge. Last but not least, we are very grateful to the Robert Bosch Foundation, the Federal Ministry of Nutrition, Agriculture and Consumer Protection (BMELV), the German Research Foundation (DFG), the Haniel Foundation and the Leibniz Institute of Agricultural Development in Central and Eastern Europe (IAMO) for their respective financial support.Agribusiness, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Farm Management, Industrial Organization, International Development, Labor and Human Capital, Land Economics/Use, Productivity Analysis,

On Propagation of Excitation Waves in Moving Media: The FitzHugh-Nagumo Model

BACKGROUND: Existence of flows and convection is an essential and integral feature of many excitable media with wave propagation modes, such as blood coagulation or bioreactors. METHODS/RESULTS: Here, propagation of two-dimensional waves is studied in parabolic channel flow of excitable medium of the FitzHugh-Nagumo type. Even if the stream velocity is hundreds of times higher that the wave velocity in motionless medium (), steady propagation of an excitation wave is eventually established. At high stream velocities, the wave does not span the channel from wall to wall, forming isolated excited regions, which we called "restrictons". They are especially easy to observe when the model parameters are close to critical ones, at which waves disappear in still medium. In the subcritical region of parameters, a sufficiently fast stream can result in the survival of excitation moving, as a rule, in the form of "restrictons". For downstream excitation waves, the axial portion of the channel is the most important one in determining their behavior. For upstream waves, the most important region of the channel is the near-wall boundary layers. The roles of transversal diffusion, and of approximate similarity with respect to stream velocity are discussed. CONCLUSIONS: These findings clarify mechanisms of wave propagation and survival in flow