Russian Regional Inequality in Comparative Perspective

That income inequality has a number of social and political effects has been well documented. In view of the rapid rise in interpersonal and interregional inequality in Russia in the past two decades, this paper seeks to answer three questions. First, descriptively, what are the trends in interregional income inequality in Russia and how do they compare to those in China and other large countries? Second, how are interregional and interpersonal inequality related? Finally, how have social and economic policies shaped interregional inequality? The paper compares Russia with China, although it also draws comparisons to inequality in the United States and other large, heterogeneous countries. In both Russia and China, the growth in interregional inequality has levelled off somewhat in the last few years (at least by some measures) but remains high by international standards. Income inequality is fueled by the widening differentials in earnings, a consequence of the economic reform strategies both countries have followed. Territorial centers of growth, particularly metropolitan centers and natural resource-rich regions, experience faster rates of average income growth than rural and peripheral regions, fueling income inequality across regions. Both Russia and China lack significant fiscal redistributive mechanisms, although government policy has mitigated some of the extremes of social and interregional inequality by shoring up incomes at the low end and through targeted government infra-structure investment intended to raise incomes in poorer regions. However, in both countries, the decentralization, commercialization and privatization of public services has reinforced rather than offset inequality generated in the labor market. Social policy in the area of pensions, unemployment and poverty assistance aims at preventing social unrest rather than being a source of broad-based economic growth. I conclude by arguing that the absence of effective mechanisms for aggregating broad social interests and resolving redistributive conflicts, either corporatist or parliamentary, leaves the state poorly equipped to use social policies to redress interpersonal and interregional inequality except through targeted state spending programs

The Rum Railroad

The Rum Railroad is continental. It extends, with its numerous branch roads, from the rivers to the ends of the earth. It has ten thousand thousand stations, but the trains all run to one terminus-the gate of hell. It is broad-gauge - not one rod is narrow-gauge - and it is a down grade all the way. The road-bed is laid in a concrete of blood and tears.https://place.asburyseminary.edu/ecommonsatsdigitalresources/1177/thumbnail.jp

The Slavery of Rum

...the appetite for strong drink is an unruly evil, a world of iniquity, and is set on fire of hell. For the strongest bonds that bind men together, the bonds of matrimony, the ties of filial, parental, fraternal, and maternal love, are sundered by it, as flax before the fire.https://place.asburyseminary.edu/ecommonsatsdigitalresources/1178/thumbnail.jp

Shall It Be Rum, With Moderation?

As there are more than a million of people who find employment in distilling, rectifying, compounding, adulterating, transporting, selling intoxicating drinks, it becomes an important question wbat is, to be done with the traffic. Some say, to prohibit it would be a great affliction to the men employed in it and to their families.https://place.asburyseminary.edu/ecommonsatsdigitalresources/1179/thumbnail.jp

Developing numerical libraries in Java

The rapid and widespread adoption of Java has created a demand for reliable and reusable mathematical software components to support the growing number of compute-intensive applications now under development, particularly in science and engineering. In this paper we address practical issues of the Java language and environment which have an effect on numerical library design and development. Benchmarks which illustrate the current levels of performance of key numerical kernels on a variety of Java platforms are presented. Finally, a strategy for the development of a fundamental numerical toolkit for Java is proposed and its current status is described.Comment: 11 pages. Revised version of paper presented to the 1998 ACM Conference on Java for High Performance Network Computing. To appear in Concurrency: Practice and Experienc

Transitional Justice Options for Russia

Over the course of its war in Ukraine, Russian forces have violated numerous principles of just warfare. When the war ends, two questions will arise: 1) how to restore normal diplomatic and economic relations with Russia; and 2) how to hold those guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity accountable. The transitional justice literature sheds light on both issues. Building on the application of transitional justice to relevant postconflict cases, this article suggests how transitional justice principles could be used in postwar Russia

Plastic Deformation in Laser-Induced Shock Compression of Monocrystalline Copper

Copper monocrystals were subjected to shock compression at pressures of 10–60 GPa by a short (3 ns initial) duration laser pulse. Transmission electron microscopy revealed features consistent with previous observations of shock-compressed copper, albeit at pulse durations in the µs regime. The results suggest that the defect structure is generated at the shock front. A mechanism for dislocation generation is presented, providing a realistic prediction of dislocation density as a function of pressure. The threshold stress for deformation twinning in shock compression is calculated from the constitutive equations for slip, twinning, and the Swegle-Grady relationship

Magnetohydrodynamic scaling: From astrophysics to the laboratory

During the last few years, considerable progress has been made in simulating astrophysical phenomena in laboratory experiments with high-power lasers. Astrophysical phenomena that have drawn particular interest include supernovae explosions; young supernova remnants; galactic jets; the formation of fine structures in late supernovae remnants by instabilities; and the ablation-driven evolution of molecular clouds. A question may arise as to what extent the laser experiments, which deal with targets of a spatial scale of ∼100 μm and occur at a time scale of a few nanoseconds, can reproduce phenomena occurring at spatial scales of a million or more kilometers and time scales from hours to many years. Quite remarkably, in a number of cases there exists a broad hydrodynamic similarity (sometimes called the “Euler similarity”) that allows a direct scaling of laboratory results to astrophysical phenomena. A discussion is presented of the details of the Euler similarity related to the presence of shocks and to a special case of a strong drive. Constraints stemming from the possible development of small-scale turbulence are analyzed. The case of a gas with a spatially varying polytropic index is discussed. A possibility of scaled simulations of ablation front dynamics is one more topic covered in this paper. It is shown that, with some additional constraints, a simple similarity exists. © 2001 American Institute of Physics.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/71174/2/PHPAEN-8-5-1804-1.pd

Optionen der Übergangsjustiz für Russland

Im Laufe des Krieges in der Ukraine haben die russischen Streitkräfte zahlreiche Grundsätze der rechtmäßigen Kriegsführung verletzt. Nach dem Ende des Krieges werden sich vor allem zwei Fragen stellen: 1) Wie können normale diplomatische und wirtschaftliche Beziehungen zu Russland wiederhergestellt werden? und 2) Wie können die Schuldigen für Kriegsverbrechen und Verbrechen gegen die Menschlichkeit zur Rechenschaft gezogen werden? Die Literatur zur Übergangsjustiz ist in Bezug auf beide Fragen aufschlussreich. Wir schlagen in diesem Artikel vor, wie die Grundsätze der Übergangsjustiz im Nachkriegsrussland angewendet werden könnten, indem wir uns auf die Anwendung von Grundsätzen der Übergangsjustiz im Zuge der Konfliktbewältigung in einschlägigen historischen Fallbeispielen stützen

Methods for designing treatments to reduce interior noise of predominant sources and paths in a single engine light aircraft

The sources and paths by which noise enters the cabin of a small single engine aircraft were determined through a combination of flight and laboratory tests. The primary sources of noise were found to be airborne noise from the propeller and engine casing, airborne noise from the engine exhaust, structureborne noise from the engine/propeller combination and noise associated with air flow over the fuselage. For the propeller, the primary airborne paths were through the firewall, windshield and roof. For the engine, the most important airborne path was through the firewall. Exhaust noise was found to enter the cabin primarily through the panels in the vicinity of the exhaust outlet although exhaust noise entering the cabin through the firewall is a distinct possibility. A number of noise control techniques were tried, including firewall stiffening to reduce engine and propeller airborne noise, to stage isolators and engine mounting spider stiffening to reduce structure-borne noise, and wheel well covers to reduce air flow noise