News from Kazakhstan - Christians in Kazakhstan Take Position on Changes to Law on Religion

The quarterly magazine Aquila (Oct-Dec. 2011) carried the following open letter in German translation. It is the communication arm of a relief organization, also named Aquila, begun in the 1980s, which maintains relief and missionary assistance for its partner churches in central Asia and Siberia, and also prints historical documents and reports for the Russian-Germans who emigrated from the USSR to Germany (1987-1993). The open letter, printed below, is unusual, but signals the degree to which legislation on religion in Kazakhstan that recently went into effect, also creates great concern among Evangelical Christian Baptist churches who have maintained a legal existence for a century. (Translated by Walter Sawatsky)

QFD APPLICATION TO IMPROVE MANAGEMENT EDUCATION AT KIMEP

ABSTRAC

The incidence and body site of skin cancers in the population groups of Astana, Kazakhstan

Background and aims: Data on cutaneous malignant melanoma (CMM), squamous cell carcinoma of the skin (SCC), and basal cell carcinoma (BCC) in populations consisting of multi‐racial groups in the Commonwealth of Independent States are limited. Here, the main aim was to analyse the incidence and body site of these cancers in the population groups of Astana, Kazakhstan (2007‐2016). Methods: Annual age standardised incidences and body sites of BCC, SCC, and CMM in Astana's population, divided into “Kazakhs and other Turkic/Asian” and “Russian and other European/Caucasian” groups, were calculated from histologically confirmed cases reported to Astana Oncology Centre. Results: During the period January 2007 to October 2016, 647 skin cancers were diagnosed. The age and sex standardised incidence of BCC, SCC, and CMM increased significantly between 2007 to 2011 and 2012 to 2016. Higher incidences occurred in the Russian and other European/Caucasian group compared with the Kazakh and other Turkic/Asian group for the 3 skin cancers. BCC was the most common type of skin tumour, followed by SCC, and then CMM, in both population groups and sexes. The head/neck was the commonest site for BCC and SCC in all groups. For CMM, the most frequent site was the trunk in the Russian group and the head/neck in the Kazakh group. Conclusion: The incidence of skin tumours in Astana rose over the past 10 years. Differences in skin phototypes and sun exposure/ protection behaviours may account for the more frequent occurrence of skin tumours in the Russian population group compared with the Kazakh population group

Estimation of water storage changes in small endorheic lakes in Northern Kazakhstan

Both climate change and anthropogenic activities contribute to the deterioration of terrestrial water resources and ecosystems worldwide, with Central Asia and its endorheic lakes being among the most severely affected. We used a digital elevation model, bathymetry maps and Landsat images to estimate the areal water cover extent and volumetric storage changes for eleven small terminal lakes in Burabay National Nature Park (BNNP) in Northern Kazakhstan from 1986 to 2016. Based on the analysis of hydrometeorological observations, lake water balance, lake evaporation and Budyko equations, driven by gridded climate and global atmospheric reanalysis datasets, we evaluate the impact of historical climatic conditions on the water balance of the BNNP lake catchments. The total surface water area of the BNNP lakes decreased by around 7% for that period, mainly due to a reduction in the extent of three main lakes. In contrast, for some smaller lakes, the surface area increased. Overall, we attribute the decline of the BNNP lakes’ areal extent and volume to the prolonged periods of water balance deficit when lake evaporation exceeded precipitation. However, during the most recent years (2013-2016) precipitation increased and the BNNP lake levels stabilized

Current Conditions of Open Mining of Mineral Fields of Kazakhstan

Abstract The paper contains the review of issues of completeness and quality of mineral mining at the opencast mines and creation of geomechanical justification of systems with internal p iling. Current mining production is characterized by the increase of share of open mining of mineral resources, the ratio of which in the world mineral mining is nearly 70%. Capacit ies of mining co mpanies keep on g rowing, production processes are being intensified; depth and periods of operation of open mines are being increased. In these cond it ions , issues of increase o f econo mic efficiency and env iron mental safety o f min ing operat ions beco me of mo re impo rtance; on e o f the most rad ical ways o f solut ion o f th is p rob lem is the maxi mu m use fo r locat ion o f ov erbu rden ro ck and p roduct ion waste fro m the waste qu arry area as a vo lu me man -caused resource. The work contains the analytical rev iew o f the current state of open mining of mineral resources of Kazakhstan, sequence of mining operations with internal piling, sequence of format ion and development of internal dump, optimal parameters of dumps (volu me, height, stratification, angles of d ips) as well as the stability of inactive pit edge before and after its loading with embankment