Protestant women in the late Soviet era: gender, authority, and dissent

At the peak of the anti-religious campaigns under Nikita Khrushchev, communist propaganda depicted women believers as either naïve dupes, tricked by the clergy, or as depraved fanatics; the Protestant “sektantka” (female sectarian) was a particularly prominent folk-devil. In fact, as this article shows, women’s position within Protestant communities was far more complex than either of these mythical figures would have one believe. The authors explore four important, but contested, female roles: women as leaders of worship, particularly in remote congregations where female believers vastly outnumbered their male counterparts; women as unofficial prophetesses, primarily within Pentecostal groups; women as mothers, replenishing congregations through high birth rates and commitment to their children’s religious upbringing; and women as political actors in the defence of religious rights. Using a wide range of sources, which include reports written by state officials, articles in the church journal, letters from church members to their ecclesiastical leaders in Moscow, samizdat texts, and oral history accounts, the authors probe women’s relationship with authority, in terms of both the authority of the (male) ministry within the church, and the authority of the Soviet state

Якість еякулятів кнурів, залежно від походження

The physiological and biochemical characteristics of boar ejaculates were studied in relation to the breed (pietrain, maxter, landrace, duroc and dung: large white breed × landrace). It has been established that the physiological indicators of ejaculate quality depend on the breed of boars. Higher ejaculate volume was found in large white breeds boar × landras (207.0±29.21ml), and spermatozoa concentration in maxter and pietrain (0.40 – 0.43×109/ml). The number of live spermatozoa in the ejaculates of boars of the studied breeds did not differ (78.7 – 80.3 %). Maximum values of respiratory activity (0.66±0.09 ng-atom О2/0.1 ml×min) and succinate dehydrogenase activity (SDH; 17.9±3.43 UI/0.1 ml×h) were typical for duroc, and redox ability (0.11±0.03 mV/ 0.1 ml×min) and cytochrome oxidase activity (CO; 32.9 ±5.15 UI/0.1 ml×h) for maxter. Probably, spermatozoa, depending on the breed of boars, differ in the ways of use of substrates - in sperm of durok breed the ATP is oxidized more intensely through the SDG-oxidase pathway of substrate oxidation, and in sperm of the breed maxter - glycolysis (redox ability) and respiratory chain (its terminal link (CCO) are more active. In addition to breed characteristics of cell metabolism, differences in types of nervous system and non-compliance with the conditions of males preparation for ejaculation in artificial vagina may be the cause of the established differences. These ejaculatory disorders may result in an imbalance between the amounts of secretions of the individual additional gonades, resulting in a deficiency or excess of oxidizing substrates both to meet the energy needs of the sperm and free radical oxidation. The highest sperm survival rate (90.3 - 92.0 h) was registered in ejaculates of  maxster and landrace breeds.Досліджували фізіолого-біохімічні характеристики еякулятів кнурів у зв’язку з  породною належністю (п’єтрен, макстер, ландраc, дюрок і помісь: велика біла порода×ландрас). Встановлено, що фізіологічні показники якості еякулятів залежать від породи кнурів. Вищим об’ємом еякуляту характеризуються помісні кнурі велика біла порода×ландрас (207,0±29,21мл), а концентрацією сперміїв – породи п’єтрен і макстер (0,40 – 0,43×109/мл). Кількість живих сперміїв в еякулятах кнурів досліджених порід не відрізнялась (78,7 – 80,3 %). Максимальні величини дихальної активності (0,66±0,09 нг-атом О2/0,1 мл×хв) і активності СДГ (17,9±3,43 од/0,1 мл×год) характерні для сперми кнурів породи дюрок, а відновної здатності (0,11±0,03 mV/ 0,1мл×хв) і активності ЦХО (32,9 ±5,15 од/0,1 мл×год) - для породи макстер. Найвище виживання сперміїв (90,3 – 92,0 год) встановлено у спермі кнурів порід макстер та ландрас