Clinging to Democracy: Assessing the Russian Legislative-Executive Relationship Under Boris Yeltsin\u27s Constitution

The 1993 Constitution of the Russian Federation has received harsh criticism as a document that confers strong powers upon the executive at the expense of a much weaker legislature. Such a disparity is understandable, as the Constitution was conceived out of the violent confrontation between President Boris Yeltsin and the rebellious communist-nationalist Duma in October 1993. Following the adoption of the Constitution in December 1993, many observers predicted a return to dictatorship in Russia. Yet in practice, despite much heavy-handedness on the part of the president during the Yeltsin administration, the 1993 Constitution and the institutions it created have survived remarkably intact. The various governmental actors largely have followed the procedures of the Constitution, and perhaps most importantly, Yeltsin never employed the most striking provision at his disposal--dissolution of the legislature. Nevertheless, critics and supporters alike have reason to be concerned with the current Russian Constitution. While under a generally pro-democratic and pro-Western Yeltsin, constitutional abuses were few, a different result could easily have resulted under a more vigorous executive. This Note assesses the state of the Russian Constitution, as the country\u27s leadership is handed over from the erratic yet familiar Boris Yeltsin to the firm yet enigmatic ex-KGB colonel Vladimir Putin. Beginning with a brief description of historical factors that affect the current Russian Constitution and Russian attitudes to the concept of the rule of law, this Note then examines the principal constitutional provisions at issue here, namely those concerning the relationship between the executive and the legislature. The Note then analyzes this relationship as it has developed in practice, particularly highlighting the two major confrontations of 1998. Lastly, this Note suggests avenues for constitutional amendment, in order to protect against executive excesses that may be more likely under a leader such as Putin, whose commitment to democracy and the rule of law remains questionable

The Two Witnesses of Revelation 11:1-13: Arguments, Issues of Interpretation, and a Way Forward

The narrative of Rev 11:1-13 involves two prophet-witnesses. The question of the identity of the two witnesses of Rev 11:1-13 has been answered in a variety of ways. In the history of exegetical investigation, they have been seen as two actual people, a symbol for a larger group, or even a symbol for inanimate objects. Clearly, some proposals seem more plausible than others do; however, the debate remains open. Indeed, the possibility exists that a stronger case could be made for a previous proposal or that a new one could be found that is more agreeable to scholars of Revelation. The purpose of the present study is to clarify the nature of the problem of identifying the two witnesses and to form a plan for finding a more satisfactory answer. In this way, the research illuminates the path beyond the current state of inconclusiveness. This purpose is accomplished through a survey of arguments that are representative of those used to support the major exegetical identifications of the two witnesses and through an examination of the broad interpretive issues that can be derived from those arguments. In short, the research aims to meet the need for a review of the literature that will more fully expose the state of the question concerning the identity of the witnesses and so offer a basis for a new investigation into that question. The most popular identifications of the two witnesses can be divided into those that understand the witnesses literally and those that understand the witnesses symbolically. The presentations of argumentation are separated according to this division, with one chapter dealing with literal identifications and another chapter covering symbolic ones. In each chapter, the presentations begin with an extensive summary of one exposition. These summaries function as the basis for discussing other significant expositions of the witnesses that, although differing in certain ways from the main ones, still represent the same broad class of identifications. Descriptions of the broad issues of interpretation that are deducible from the presented arguments are given at various points in the presentations. Issues of interpretation shared by the commentators are identified in the conclusions to each chapter. The thinking of Donatus Haugg forms the central exposition for the chapter on literal interpretations. The expositions of James Henthorn Todd, Isbon Thaddeus Beckwith, and Christine Joy Tan are also featured. All four commentators identify the witnesses as two individuals who appear in the future after the composition of Revelation. The work of Johannes Munck is also featured in this chapter. He identifies the two witnesses with Peter and Paul. His exposition represents those interpreters who identify the witnesses as two people contemporaneous to John. Munck\u27s exposition receives an abbreviated treatment. The thinking of Gregory Kimball Beale forms the foundational exposition for the chapter on symbolic interpretations. The expositions of Hendrik Rijk van de Kamp and Gerhard Maier are also featured. All three commentators see the two witnesses as a symbol of God\u27s people. The work of Ekkehardt Müller is also featured in this chapter. He argues that the two witnesses symbolize the Bible. His exposition represents those interpreters who see the witnesses as a symbol for sacred writings. Müller\u27s exposition receives an abbreviated treatment. When one considers these chapters, thirty-five broad issues of interpretation are common to at least two of the nine featured commentators. In the penultimate chapter, these issues are evaluated. In the evaluation, fourteen issues are identified as the main issues in the debate over the identity of the two witnesses, because the majority of the nine representative commentators address them. As for the issues that are less common among the nine commentators, these issues are assessed to see whether they should join the main issues in a new investigation of the identity question. Seventeen of these are found to be relevant for further discussion of the identity question. Four issues appear to be of such low relevance that they need not be a part that discussion. Accompanying the evaluation are small summaries of what the commentators have said in addressing the broad issues of interpretation. In a brief way, argumentation from the two preceding chapters can be seen together and is arranged first by issue, rather than by commentator. The rest of the penultimate chapter concerns how the issues that result from the evaluation can be organized into a research plan to aid scholars in treating them. Although not exhaustive, the plan in theory includes the issues essential for a more intimate engagement with the debate over the identity of the witnesses. The first part of the plan consists of five issues related to the interpretative framework that may be applied to the tale of the two witnesses. These issues concern the use of the OT in Revelation, the symbolism present in Revelation, and the matter of how Revelation relates to history (an interpretive approach). The second part of the plan consists of sixteen issues related to the text of Rev 11:3-13, such as the themes of testimony and prophecy, the images of the olive trees and the lampstands, and other aspects of the passage that involves the witnesses. Seven issues that concern the history of the interpretation of the passage, such as the early interpretation of the witnesses and various traditions about significant OT and NT figures, form the third part of the plan. The issues of the immediate context before the passage and after the passage form the fourth part of the plan. The issue of historical data completes the research plan. The final chapter summarizes and concludes the study

Heat shock proteins Hsp27 and Hsp32 localize to synaptic sites in the rat cerebellum following hyperthermia

Stressful stimuli activate the heat shock (stress) response in which a set of heat shock proteins (hsps) is induced, which play roles in cellular repair and protective mechanisms. Most studies in the mammalian nervous system have focused on Hsp70, however, the present investigation targets other members of the induced set, namely Hsp27 and Hsp32. In response to hyperthermia, these hsps are strongly induced in Bergmann glial cells in the rat brain and transported into their radial fibers, which project into the `synaptic-enriched' molecular layer of the cerebellum. Using subcellular fractionation and immunoelectron microscopy, hyperthermia-induced Hsp27 and Hsp32 were detected in synaptic elements and in perisynaptic glial processes. These results suggest that stress-induced Hsp27 and Hsp32 may contribute to repair and protective mechanisms at the synapse

Vascular perfusion chilling of red meat carcasses - A feasibility study.

Meat carcasses must be chilled to below 7°C before leaving the slaughterhouse. Typically this is done by passing cold air over the surfaces of eviscerated and de-hided carcasses. This surface cooling can take many hours to reduce centre temperatures to below 7°C. In vascular perfusion chilling (VPC), a cold fluid is circulated through the intact vascular system, offering significant reductions in cooling time. This paper describes a small feasibility study to evaluate vascular perfusion techniques for rapid chilling of lamb carcasses using a proprietary Flo-ice(™) system. This produces pumpable ice slurries containing very fine ice particles, suitable for circulating through vascular systems. VPC was found to be capable of rapid initial reduction of carcass temperatures in comparison with air chilling (mean times to 20°C in deep legs were reduced from 2.6 to 1.3h, which was significantly different at P<0.05). In all cases however, uptake of perfusate into the carcasses occurred. This limited the duration of the perfusion treatment and as a result restricted the period of enhanced cooling. Samples from carcasses treated with VPC were lighter (P<0.05, with mean measured L value increasing from 43.4 to 46.8) and more yellow (P<0.05, with mean measured b value increasing from 6.7 to 7.9) than samples from conventionally chilled carcasses, and had lower shear force values when cooked (P<0.05, with mean force reducing from 10.0 to 6.8kg). This was most probably due to the added water in the meat. Microbial quality of the meat was not significantly affected by the perfusion treatments

Gauge Invariant Variational Approach with Fermions: the Schwinger Model

We extend the gauge invariant variational approach of Phys. Rev. D52 (1995) 3719, hep-th/9408081, to theories with fermions. As the simplest example we consider the massless Schwinger model in 1+1 dimensions. We show that in this solvable model the simple variational calculation gives exact results.Comment: 14 pages, 1 figur

Hamiltonians for Reduced Gravity

A generalised canonical formulation of gravity is devised for foliations of spacetime with codimension $n\ge1$. The new formalism retains n-dimensional covariance and is especially suited to 2+2 decompositions of spacetime. It is also possible to use the generalised formalism to obtain boundary contributions to the 3+1 Hamiltonian.Comment: 18 pages, revtex, 3 postscript figures include

The Relationship Between MR Demonstration of Extramural Venous Invasion and Nodal Disease in Rectal Cancer

© 2008 Libertas Academica Ltd. All rights reserved.Results: Compared with histology, an MR score of >2 was found to have 100% sensitivity (95% CI: 77%–100%) and 89% specificity (95% CI: 79%–96%) in identifying EMVI involving veins >3 mm in diameter. An EMVI score of >2 was had a sensitivity of 56% (95% CI: 30%–80%) and specificity of 81% (95% CI: 69%–90%) for identifying patients with stage N2 disease.Conclusions: EMVI score of >2 on T2-weighted MR imaging has a high sensitivity and specificity for histopathologically proven extramural venous invasion involving venules ≥3 mm in diameter. However, EMVI scores have only moderate sensitivity in the predicting nodal involvement.Purpose: To investigate the relationship between extramural venous invasion (EMVI) detected at T2-weighted MRI and nodal disease rectal cancer compared with histopathology.Materials and Methods: The MR imaging of 79 consecutive patients with rectal cancer who underwent primary rectal surgery without neoadjuvant treatment were reviewed. MR images were scored by an expert radiologist for the presence and degree of EMVI using a five point scale blinded to pathological findings. Receiver operating characteristic curve analyses were performed to determine the sensitivity and specificity of MRI scoring in predicting EMVI and nodal disease at histopathology

Football Game Program 3 1965

Football Game Program 3 196

Demyelination and axonal preservation in a transgenic mouse model of Pelizaeus-Merzbacher disease

It is widely thought that demyelination contributes to the degeneration of axons and, in combination with acute inflammatory injury, is responsible for progressive axonal loss and persistent clinical disability in inflammatory demyelinating disease. In this study we sought to characterize the relationship between demyelination, inflammation and axonal transport changes using a Plp1-transgenic mouse model of Pelizaeus-Merzbacher disease. In the optic pathway of this non-immune mediated model of demyelination, myelin loss progresses from the optic nerve head towards the brain, over a period of months. Axonal transport is functionally perturbed at sites associated with local inflammation and 'damaged' myelin. Surprisingly, where demyelination is complete, naked axons appear well preserved despite a significant reduction of axonal transport. Our results suggest that neuroinflammation and/or oligodendrocyte dysfunction are more deleterious for axonal health than demyelination per se, at least in the short ter