The effectiveness of direct trade between China and near-border subjects of the Russian Federation

The subject matter of this article is the mutual international settlements between Russia (i.e. its border regions) and China in yuans. An advantage of such settlements is determined by the amount of money which can be spared by the Russian importers of Chinese products in case of direct trade. The topic of the article encompasses the analysis of export-import operations and national currencies’ use, in particular, the yuan, in the cross-border settlements between Russia and China. The objective of this article is to reveal the role of China in the international activities of the Russian near-border regions on the basis of the analysis of export and import statistics database. The hypothesis of this article is that the dynamics of Chinese imports to the Russian near-border regions correlates with the amount of the yuans traded on the Moscow Stock Exchange. The article produces forecasts of Chinese imports to the Russian near-border regions and the amount of money, which can be spared by the Russian importers in the case of a transition in bilateral settlements to the yuan. The outcomes of the article include the calculated indicators of the efficiency of the direct trade between China and Russia and of the coverage of Chinese imports in the Russian near-border regions by the yuan. The findings of the article are recommended to the Russian international companies as and reference point to increase the profitability of export-import operations with China, and to federal and local governments to create the Russian external economic strategy. The authors come to the conclusion that if the Chinese imports to the Russian border region were in the yuan, then the yuans volume of trade on the Russian foreign exchange market would allow the direct settlements with China

FS CMa type binaries

FS CMa type stars is a group of ~70 objects formerly known as unclassified stars with the B[e] phenomenon. Their very strong emission-line spectra in combination with a nearly main-sequence luminosity suggest the binary nature for them. They possess strong IR excesses due to radiation of circumstellar dust that implies a compact distribution probably in a circumbinary disk. Our long-term spectroscopic monitoring revealed neutral metal lines, which always include that of Li I 6708 \AA, in the spectra of some FS CMa objects indicating the presence of a cool star. We present a summary of our results with a first overview of FS CMa type binaries and review possible implications for the nature and evolutionary status of the entire group.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure, to appear in EAS Publication Series, in proceedings of the "Physics Of Evolved Star 2015" conferenc

A possible optical counterpart to the old nearby pulsar J0108-1431

The multi-wavelength study of old (>100 Myr) radio pulsars holds the key to understanding the long-term evolution of neutron stars, including the advanced stages of neutron star cooling and the evolution of the magnetosphere. Optical/UV observations are particularly useful for such studies because they allow one to explore both thermal and non-thermal emission processes. In particular, studying the optical/UV emission constrains temperature of the bulk of the neutron star surface, too cold to be measured in X-ray observations.Aim of this work is to identify the optical counterpart of the very old (166 Myr) radio pulsar J0108-1431. We have re-analyzed our original VLT observations (Mignani et al. 2003), where a very faint object was tentatively detected close to the radio position, near the edge of a field galaxy. We found that the backward extrapolation of the PSR J0108-1431 proper motion recently measured by CHANDRA(Pavlov et al. 2008) nicely fits the position of this object. Based on that, we propose it as a viable candidate for the optical counterpart to PSR J0108-1431. The object fluxes (U =26.4+/-0.3; B =27.9; V >27.8) are consistent with a thermal spectrum with a brightness temperature of 9X10^4 K (for R = 13 km at a distance of 130 pc), emitted from the bulk of the neutron star surface. New optical observations are required to confirm the optical identification of PSR J0108-1431 and measure its spectrum.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, submitted to A&

The Characteristics of Magnetic CVs in the Period Gap

We have observed several magnetic cataclysmic variables located in the range between 2 and 3 hours, known as the period gap. This work was prompted by the recent discovery of RX J1554.2+2721. It has 2.54 hours orbital period and shows almost pure cyclotron continuum in a low luminosity state, similar to HS1023+3900, HS0922+1333 and RBS206. These are low accretion rate polars (LARPs) known to have mass transfer rates of order of a few 10^-13Msun/year. The aim of the study was to find out, if magnetic systems filling the period gap are in any way different from their counterparts outside that range of periods. The only significant difference we encounter, is much higher number of asynchronous magnetic systems to-wards longer periods than below the gap.Comment: 7 pages, 7 figures, To appear in `Magnetic Cataclysmic Variables', IAU Col. 190 (Cape Town), eds. M. Cropper & S. Vrielman

Voracious vortexes in cataclysmic variables. A multi-epoch tomographic study of HT Cassiopeia

We present multi-epoch, time-resolved optical spectroscopic observations of the dwarf nova HT Cas, obtained during 1986, 1992, 1995 and 2005 with the aim to study the properties of emission structures in the system. We determined that the accretion disc radius, measured from the double-peaked emission line profiles, is persistently large and lies within the range of 0.45-0.52a, where a is the binary separation. This is close to the tidal truncation radius r_max=0.52a. This result contradicts with previous radius measurements. An extensive set of Doppler maps has revealed a very complex emission structure of the accretion disc. Apart from a ring of disc emission, the tomograms display at least three areas of enhanced emission: the hot spot from the area of interaction between the gas stream and the disc, which is superposed on the elongated spiral structure, and the extended bright region on the leading side of the disc, opposite to the location of the hot spot. The position of the hot spot in all the emission lines is consistent with the trajectory of the gas stream. However, the peaks of emission are located in the range of distances 0.22-0.30a, which are much closer to the white dwarf than the disc edge. This suggests that the outer disc regions have a very low density, allowing the gas stream to flow almost freely before it starts to be seen as an emission source. We have found that the extended emission region in the leading side of the disc is always observed at the very edge of the large disc. Observations of other cataclysmic variables, which show a similar emission structure in their tomograms, confirm this conclusion. We propose that the leading side bright region is caused by irradiation of tidally thickened sectors of the outer disc by the white dwarf and/or hot inner disc regions.Comment: 15 pages, 12 figures. Minor modifications to match version published by Astronomy & Astrophysic

Cooperation of UNCITRAL and the International Chamber of Commerce: new possibilities for companies from the belt and road initiative for dispute resolution in trade finance

This chapter aims to introduce the reader to the unique product of the International Chamber of Commerce (hereinafter referred to as the ICC) for dispute resolution in the area of trade finance, namely Documentary Instruments Dispute Resolution Expertise (hereinafter referred to as DOCDEX). It is argued here that whilst there have been several approaches made with regards to dispute resolution within the Belt and Road Initiative (hereinafter referred to as the BRI), DOCDEX represents another relatively unexplored, but nevertheless effective, option for international trade actors and banks in the area of trade finance, which can offer substantial benefits to the commercial parties and banks participating in the BRI. The chapter commences with an overview of the history of cooperation between the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (hereinafter referred to as UNCITRAL) and the ICC before discussing the functioning of DOCDEX and the scope the ICC Rules for Documentary Instruments Dispute Resolution Expertise (hereinafter referred to as the DOCDEX Rules). Significant attention is dedicated to the benefits of the DOCDEX system and its limitations. Lastly, an analysis of how a DOCDEX Decision can be used in practice is made