“Vaccine Nationalism” As a Great Power Competition: Analysis from the Standpoint of the Securitization Theory

Introduction. State leaders and heads of international organizations argue that COVID-19 is a global security threat that requires international responses. However, to date, there is no stable international cooperation regime in the field of counteracting the virus, primarily at the level of vaccine development. Moreover, countries are competing in this area, considering primacy in the creation of a COVID-19vaccine not only as a step towards the fight against the virus, but as a tool to strengthen their international positions and increase international prestige and “soft power”. Methods and materials. The authors investigate the problem from the standpoint of the securitization theory, according to which national and international security threats are formed by political actors as speech acts and discursive practices. Analisys. From the standpoint of this theory, despite the fact that the COVID-19 pandemic is securitized at the national level in many countries, at the global level, this securitization discourse about COID-19 discourse is embedded in a broader macrosecuritization framework, which assumes that the dominant threats are associated with the confrontation of great powers. Results. The consequence of this is the legitimization of the policy of “vaccine nationalism” and the lack of international cooperation in the field of vaccine productio

Digital Diplomacy in Russian-European Relations: Cross-Cultural Aspects

The development of information and communication technologies and formation of the global information society actualizes the study of new directions in the evolution of diplomatic practice in the digital environment, including in the context of intercultural communication. The modern information revolution is characterized by the widespread and ever-growing use of social networks, blogs, wiki resources and other media platforms (labelled under the common term of Web 2.0 technologies). At the same time, the widespread use of Web 2.0 technologies and the increasing amount of time people all over the world spend there has a wide and profound impact on political and intercultural communication and diplomatic practice. A new phenomenon of digital diplomacy is gaining prominence among foreign policy tools of states and international organizations. Digital diplomacy can be defined as the use of social networks and Web 2.0 technologies in public diplomacy and international interaction by states and international organizations to achieve foreign policy goals and reach foreign audiences. According to the traditional view of digital diplomacy, which has developed in the academic literature, and is reflected in the works of authors such as M. Castells and J. Nye, it helps to strengthen network ties at the level of civil societies in different countries and thus reduces international conflicts. However, cultural differences and digital polarization can impede the potential of digital diplomacy. Today, almost all states and international organizations in the global arena are involved in the practice of digital diplomacy, and Russia is no exception. Russia actively participates in the digital diplomacy practice, by using social media and Web 2.0 tools as soft power instruments to introduce and explain foreign policy initiatives and reach foreign and domestic audiences, as stated in the Doctrine of the Information Security of Russian Federation of 2016. For Russia's foreign policy, relations with the EU countries and EU institutions are of particular importance, including in the digital sphere. However, even though both Russia and the EU countries make extensive use of digital diplomacy tools, the practice of horizontal network interaction mediated by digital technologies does not contribute to strengthening trust between countries and reducing conflicts. The authors consider incidents and allegations in the sphere of digital interaction and, based on the theory of digital polarization, conclude that the use of digital tools in horizontal interactions within digital diplomacy exacerbates intercultural differences between countries and increases conflict instead of improving mutual understanding

A correlation between deformation-induced surface roughness and in-plane plastic strain in an aluminum alloy at the mesoscale

cal studies on deformation-induced surface roughening in a commercial purity aluminum alloy are presented and discussed. Mesoscale surface profiles evolving in the experimental and numerical specimens in the course of tension are processed to reveal a correlation between roughness characteristics and in-plane plastic strains at the mesoscale. A dimensionless parameter calculated as a ratio of the rough profile length to the profile evaluation length has been used for quantitative estimations of the mesoscale roughness patterns. The dimensionless roughness parameter is shown to depend exponentially on the in-plane plastic strains at the mesoscale. The results support an early assumption tha

Mechanical aspects of nonhomogeneous deformation of aluminum single crystals under compression along [100] and [110] directions

The deformation behavior of aluminum single crystals subjected to compression along the [100] and [110] directions is numerically examined in terms of crystal plasticity. A constitutive model taking into account slip geometry in face-centered cubic crystals is developed using experimental data for the single-crystal samples with lateral sides coplanar to certain crystal planes. Two sets of calculations are performed using ABAQUS/Explicit to examine the features of plastic strain evolution in perfectly plastic and strain-hardened crystals. Special attention is given to the discussion of mechanical aspects of crystal fragmentation. Several distinct deformation stages are revealed in the calculations. In the first stage, narrow solitary fronts of plastic deformation are alternately formed near the top or bottom surfaces and then propagate towards opposite ends to save the symmetry of the crystal shape. The strain rate within the fronts is an order of magnitude higher than the average strain rate. The first stage lasts longer in the strain-hardened crystals, eventually giving way to an intermediate stage of multiple slips in different crystal parts. Finally, the crystal shape becomes asymmetrical, but no pronounced macroscopic strain localization has been revealed at any deformation stage. The second stage in perfectly plastic crystals relates to abrupt strain localization within a through-thickness band-shaped region, accompanied by macroscale crystal fragmentation. Stress analysis has shown that pure compression took place only in the first deformation stage. Once the crystal shape has lost its symmetry, the compressive stress in some regions progressively decreases to zero and eventually turns tensile

Modeling of 3D microstructures produced by additive manufacturing

Two approaches to simulating microstructures typical of additively manufactured (AM) materials are presented. First approach relies on the mathematical description of the microstructure evolution during metal AM process, taking into account complex physical processes involved. The numerical solution is based on a combination of the finite difference method for modeling AM thermal processes and the cellular automata method for describing the grain growth. The other approach provides fast generation of artificial 3D microstructures similar to those produced by AM by geometrical characteristics of grains, using the step-by-step packing method

Organization of Professional Retraining and Professional Development of Specialists in Technical Quality Control of Products

Рассматривается проблема низкого уровня квалификации персонала машиностроительного производства в области контроля качества продукции и обосновывается необходимость их повышения квалификации и профессиональной переподготовки. Показана процедура проектирования дополнительной профессиональной программы на основе профессионального и образовательного стандарта. Сформулированы положения успешной организации дополнительного профессионального образования.The problem of the low level of qualification of machine-building personnel in the field of product quality control is considered and the need for their further training and professional retraining is justified. The procedure of additional professional program design based on professional and educational standard is shown. The provisions of the successful organization of additional vocational education are formulated

РОЛЬ СТЕРОИДНЫХ СОЕДИНЕНИЙ ВО ВЗАИМООТНОШЕНИЯХ РАСТЕНИЙ И ПАРАЗИТИЧЕСКИХ НЕМАТОД

Literature data on steroid metabolism of plant-parasitic nematodes and own research on the feasibility of regulating the number of pathogenic nematodes using plant steroids are presented. Steroidal compounds are essential components of cell membranes, play a significant role in the regulatory process and are signaling mo- lecules. On one side it was shown possibility to affect the steroid metabolism of nematodes depressing their development, depriving necessary sterols; on other side to impact the mevalonate pathway in plants enhancing their immune properties. Analysis of a number of steroid compounds: glycoalkaloids, saponins and ecdy- sones extracted from plants of the Solanaceae, Labiatae and Dioscoreaceae, shows that all tested compounds to a greater or lesser degree can affect the development of the nematode. In examined tomato plant system Solanum esculentum Mill, root- knot nematode Meloidogyne incognita (Kofoid et White) Chitwood, the highest activity among steroidal glycoalkaloids had ɑ-tomatin and ɑ-chaconine, among saponins - tomatozide. While observing the direct impact of steroids on nematodes, we can point out the nematostatic effect of compounds in applied concentrations. On the example of tomato plants treated with ɑ-tomatin the activity of protease inhibitors, agents interrupting digestion of insects and nematodes, is analyzed. Treatment of plants with ɑ-tomatin increases the activity of trypsin inhibitors in the tomato tissues that allows expecting the relation between the plant treatment with ɑ-tomatin and degree of resistance of tomato to nematodesПриведены литературные данные о стероидном метаболизме фитонематод и собственные исследова- ния, касающиеся возможности регулирования чис- ленности патогенных нематод с помощью раститель- ных стероидов. Показана возможность влияния, с од- ной стороны, на стероидный метаболизм нематоды, угнетая еѐ развитие, лишая необходимых стеринов; с другой, - на мевалонатный путь в растениях, повы- шая его иммунные свойства. Анализ ряда стероидных соединений, выделенных из растений семейств пасле- новых, диоскорейных и губоцветных, показал, что все исследованные соединения могут оказывать воздейст- вие на развитие нематоды. В исследуемой системе то- мат Solanum esculentum Mill. - галловая нематода Me- loidogyne incognita (Kofoid et White) Chitwood наи- большей активностью среди стероидных гликоалка- лоидов обладали ɑ-томатин и ɑ-чаконин, среди сапо- нинов - томатозид. При непосредственном воздейст- вии стероидов на нематоду соединения в используемой концентрации обладали нематостатическим действи- ем. На примере обработки растений томата ɑ- томатином проведен анализ активности ингибиторов протеиназ - соединений, нарушающих процесс пище- варения у насекомых и нематод. Обработка растений томатином повышает активность ингибиторов трип- сина в тканях томата, что позволяет предполагать на- личие связи между обработкой растений ɑ-томатином и степенью устойчивости томатов к нематодам

High-density genotyping reveals signatures of selection related to acclimation and economically important traits in 15 local sheep breeds from Russia

Domestication and centuries of selective breeding have changed genomes of sheep breeds to respond to environmental challenges and human needs. The genomes of local breeds, therefore, are valuable sources of genomic variants to be used to understand mechanisms of response to adaptation and artificial selection. As a step toward this we performed a high-density genotyping and comprehensive scans for signatures of selection in the genomes from 15 local sheep breeds reared across Russia