What's in a Word: “sovereignty” in the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation

The word “sovereignty” (суверенитет) played a crucial role in Russian political discourse during the second term of Vladimir Putin as the second President of Russia. The word formed part of a pair: “sovereign democracy” (cуверенная демократия), extracted by Vitaliy Tretyakov (2005) and Vladislav Surkov (2006), the ideologist of the regime, from Putin’s first six annual addresses to parliament to 2005. The discourse was encapsulated in the collection of articles, including Putin’s addresses and articles by Medvedev and others, published later in 2006 (Garadja, 2006). I explore these issues in my book on Russia (Bowring, 2013 b). This article explores the role played by “sovereignty in the legal discourse of the Chairman of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation, Valeriy Zorkin. Mr Zorkin, born in 1943, has been a judge of the Court since its establishment in 1991. He served as Chairman from 1991 to 1993, when the Court was suspended after it declared unconstitutional Boris Yeltsin’s storming of the Supreme Soviet in the White House and, tearing up of the Constitution. He resumed his role as a judge of the Court in 1994, and in 2003 he was again elected Chairman, a post he still holds

The nature of the unique precataclysmic variable V664 Cas with two-peaked balmer lines in its spectrum

We analyze photometric and spectroscopic observations of the close binary system V664 Gas. All the characteristics of its radiation are consistent with the star being a cataclysmic variable with powerful reflection effects. The orbital period is refined (P = 0.5816475 d) and the ephemerides of the system determined. The U, B, V, R light curves of V664 Gas display sinusoidal variations with similar amplitudes near Δm = 1.1m. This suggests that a hot spot on the surface of the secondary always dominates the optical radiation of the system. The spectra contain emission lines, two-peaked hydrogen lines, and narrow lines of helium and heavy elements in high ionization states, whose intensities vary synchronously with the brightness. The Hell λ4686 Å line has broad absorption wings that form in the atmosphere of the O subdwarf. The mass function, f(m) = 0.007M⊙, is the lowest among all precataclysmic variables: the mass of the secondary exceeds the mass of the primary by more than a factor of 1.6. A full set of fundamental parameters for V664 Gas is determined based on modeling of the spectra and light curves, taking into account reflection effects in the system. Most of the emission lines are formed under conditions of appreciable deviations from local thermodynamic equilibrium. The possibility of carrying out correct modeling of the Balmer-line profiles assuming the stellar radiation is absorbed in a planetary nebula is demonstrated. © 2004 MAIK "Nauka/ Interperiodica"

On the modeling of water obstacles overcoming by Rangifer tarandus L

Seasonal migrations and herd instinct are traditionally recognized as wild reindeer (Rangifer tarandus L.) species-specific behavioral signs. These animals are forced to overcome water obstacles during the migrations. Behaviour peculiarities are considered as the result of the selection process, which has chosen among the sets of strategies, as the only evolutionarily stable one, determining the reproduction and biological survival of wild reindeer as a species. Natural processes in the Taimyr population wild reindeer are currently occurring against the background of an increase in the influence of negative factors due to the escalation of the industrial development of the Arctic. That is why the need to identify the ethological features of these animals completely arose. This paper presents the results of applying the classical methods of the theory of optimal control and differential games to the wild reindeer study of the migration patterns in overcoming water barriers, including major rivers. Based on these animals' ethological features and behavior forms, the herd is presented as a controlled dynamic system, which presents also two classes of individuals: the leader and the rest of the herd, for which their models, describing the trajectories of their movement, are constructed. The models are based on hypotheses, which are the mathematical formalization of some animal behavior patterns. This approach made it possible to find the trajectory of the important one using the methods of the optimal control theory, and in constructing the trajectories of other individuals, apply the principle of control with a guide. Approbation of the obtained results, which can be used in the formation of a common "platform" for the adaptive behavior models systematic construction and as a reserve for the cognitive evolution models fundamental development, is numerically carried out using a model example with observational data on the Werchnyaya Taimyra River. © 2019 Natalia V. Malygina, Platon G. Surkov

Fuse Selection for the Two-Stage Explosive Type Switches

In the two-level explosive switch destruction of a delay happens in the form of electric explosion. Criteria of similarity of electric explosion in transformer oil are defined. The challenge of protecting the power electrical equipment from short circuit currents is still urgent, especially with the growth of unit capacity. Is required to reduce the tripping time as much as possible, and limit the amplitude of the fault current, that is very important for saving of working capacity of life-support systems. This is particularly important when operating in remote stand-alone power supply systems with a high share of renewable energy, working through the inverter transducers, as well as inverter-type diesel generators. The explosive breakers copes well with these requirements. High-speed flow of transformer oil and high pressure provides formation rate of a contact gap of 20 - 100 m/s. In these conditions there is as a rapid increase in voltage on the discontinuity, and recovery of electric strength (Ures) after current interruption

Transformer Oil Dielectric Strength in the Contact Gap of the Explosive Arc-Extinguishing Device

The article describes the experimental results on the breakdown of the high-speed flow of transformer oil. In real conditions, the flow moves in the contact gap of a high-voltage explosive switch with speeds from 67 to 152 m /s. The geometry of the contact gap is sharply inhomogeneous and forms turbulence in the flow zone. In the arc chute medium the air inclusions pass from the dissolved state to the gaseous and the emerging bubbles enter to the electric field. Breakdown occurs, mainly through gas inclusions. In the moment, the gradient of the breakdown voltage is reduced by 91.6% compared to the static state of the oil. The experiments were carried out on the model of a high-voltage explosive switch, connected to the power circuit of the surge generator. The probing of the gap was made by a standard pulse of 1.5 / 50 [mu]s. As a result, the dependences of the gradient of the breakdown voltage on the flow rate of the transformer oil for the usual geometry of the high-voltage explosive switch contact system are constructed

Star clusters dynamics in a laboratory: electrons in an ultracold plasma

Electrons in a spherical ultracold quasineutral plasma at temperature in the Kelvin range can be created by laser excitation of an ultra-cold laser cooled atomic cloud. The dynamical behavior of the electrons is similar to the one described by conventional models of stars clusters dynamics. The single mass component, the spherical symmetry and no stars evolution are here accurate assumptions. The analog of binary stars formations in the cluster case is three-body recombination in Rydberg atoms in the plasma case with the same Heggie's law: soft binaries get softer and hard binaries get harder. We demonstrate that the evolution of such an ultracold plasma is dominated by Fokker-Planck kinetics equations formally identical to the ones controlling the evolution of a stars cluster. The Virial theorem leads to a link between the plasma temperature and the ions and electrons numbers. The Fokker-Planck equation is approximate using gaseous and fluid models. We found that the electrons are in a Kramers-Michie-King's type quasi-equilibrium distribution as stars in clusters. Knowing the electron distribution and using forced fast electron extraction we are able to determine the plasma temperature knowing the trapping potential depth.Comment: Submitted to MNRA

Measurements of the composition of aerosol component of Venusian atmosphere with Vega 1 lander, preliminary data

Preliminary investigation of mass spectra of gaseous products of pyrolyzed Venusian cloud particles collected and analyzed by the complex device of mass-spectrometer and collector pyrolyzer on board Vega 1 lander revealed the presence of heavy particles in the upper cloud layer. Based on 64 amu peak (SO2+), an estimate of the lower limit of the sulfuric acid aerosol content at the 62 to 54 km heights of approximately 2.0 mg/cu m is obtained. A chlorine line (35 and 37 amu) is also present in the mass spectrum with a lower limit of the chlorine concentration of approximately 0.3 mg/ cu m

Strategy of protection against hazardous channel and hydrological processes in rivers of developed territories and territories with focal development

In 2012-2015, the Makkaveev Research Laboratory of Soil Erosion and Fluvial Processes of MSU, Department of Geography, carried out a research, including analysis of hydrological and channel regimes of the Tom river in the Kuznetsk basin (Kuzbass) and the Katun river up to Uimonsky (the Altai), intra-mountain drainage basins, the survey of floodplains and eroded banks, and modelling of floods occurring in floodplains. As a result, a concept has been developed to improve protection measures against hazardous hydrological and channel processes. More than 200 engineering and organisational events were suggested as part of the concept. Given the dense network of river banks and the high potential damage caused by floods in Kuzbass, the continuous protection of cities, large residential and commercial areas, as well as sections of roads and railways subject to erosion is a priority in the flood control concept. In the case of the Katun river basin, characterized by local development, low population density, and relatively small damage caused by floods, the emphasis is put on organisational measures: prevention, evacuation of people and property, insurance and compensation. Selective engineering structures should, as a matter of priority, reduce the dangerous erosion of river banks and ensure a high level of protection of the territory against floods