Prava manjina i rano otklanjanje sukoba u Ruskoj Federaciji

The article provides a critical commentary to current use of the concept "minority" in Russia, particularly in academic and political discourse. The direct borrowing of the concept as it exists in international law or western social sciences is prevented by a number of limitations inherent to its meaning, the main limitation being that Russia could not be properly characterised as a democracy. The usage of the term "minority" in the context of the so-called "transitional societies" could be misleading, as the position of a particular group in a power hierarchy as well as its influence on political decision-making process here is not a function of a group\u27s numerical strength, but depends on such resources as the group\u27s wealth, access to education, and position in administrative institutions, security and army, effective monopoly of important sectors of social life and economy, group\u27s solidarity etc. Moreover, the conceptual field of in which the concept is situated is markedly different from its western analogues, where in such political concepts as "a titular nation", "an indigenous ethnos", "a state-founding people" remain virtually unknown and normally does not belong to semantic field of "minority". As the concept "minority" in Russia is firmly tied to ethnic reality interpretations, the current paradigms of ethnicity research are outlined. Finally, a description of contemporary attempts of minority rights monitoring within the framework of an early warning research is sketched.Članak kritički komentira pojam "manjina" što se rabi u ruskoj društvenoj znanosti i politici. Postoje mnoge poteškoće u vezi s izravnim preuzimanjem tog pojma iz jezika međunarodnog prava ili zapadne društvene znanosti. Među najvažnijima možemo navesti to što je pojam "manjina" najprikladniji u demokratskim državnim ustrojstvima. U tzv. "prijelaznim društvima" u kojima položaj skupine u sustavu odnosa vlasti ne ovisi toliko o njezinoj brojnosti, koliko o drugim resursima − bogatstvu, razini obrazovanja i grupne solidarnosti, dostupu do struktura moći i tijelima upravljanja, monopolu nad najvažnijim socijalnim i gospodarskim sferama itd. − uporaba pojma "manjina" manje je umjesna. Osim toga, koncepcijsko polje u koje rasprave u ruskoj znanosti i politici stavljaju "manjinu", oštro se razlikuje od zapadnih analogija. Ovdje se "manjina" suprotstavlja ne toliko "većini", koliko političkoj stvarnosti nepoznatoj na Zapadu kao što su "titularna nacija", "korijenska /indigena/ etnija", "državotvorni narod" i dr. Budući da je pojam "manjina" u Rusiji tijesno povezan s predodžbama o "etniji", znatno mjesto u članku nudi analizu paradigama istraživanja etničke stvarnosti. U zaključku opisani modeli za rano otklanjanje sukoba, sastavni su dio promatranja kako se prava manjina poštuju

Computer software for understanding resonances and resonance-related phenomena in chemical reactions

In numerical modelling of chemical reactions one calculates the scattering matrix for the required values of energy and angular momentum. Having done so, one still faces the non-trivial task of extracting detailed information about the reaction mechanism. We discuss the methods and numerical tools for such an analysis in terms of resonance poles and semiclassical trajectories. Our approach avoids calculating the scattering matrix in semiclassical approximation, and employs its numerical values computed previously by an accurate scattering code

Laser-induced generation of singlet oxygen and its role in the cerebrovascular physiology

For over 55 years, laser technology has expanded from laboratory research to widespread fields, for example telecommunication and data storage amongst others. Recently application of lasers in biology and medicine presents itself as one of the emerging areas. In this review, we will outline the recent advances in using lasers for the generation of singlet oxygen, traditionally used to kill tumour cells or induce thrombotic stroke model due to damage vascular effects. Over the last two decade, completely new results on cerebrovascular effects of singlet oxygen generated during photodynamic therapy (PDT) have been shown alongside promising applications for delivery of drugs and nanoparticles into the brain for therapy of brain cancer. Furthermore, a "gold key” has been found to overcome the limitations of PDT, such as low light penetration and high toxicity of photosensitizers, by direct generation of singlet oxygen using quantum-dot laser diodes emitting in the near infrared (NIR) spectral range. It is our motivation to highlight these pioneering results in this review, to improve understanding of the biological role of singlet oxygen and to provide new perspectives for improving clinical application of laser based therapy in further research

Physics of Auroral Phenomena

Abstract. The sequence of daily data of unithiol oxidation half-time (UOHT) with sodium nitrite during the 21-year cycle of solar activity (SA) was analyzed. It was shown that fluctuations of UOHT are determined by combined influences of cosmophysical factors of various origins, relating to manifestations of SA and basic (gravitational) disturbances caused by the Sun, and that the leading role of a certain cosmophysical factor in this relation depends on the phase of the SA cycle. The influence of periodical disturbances of interplanetary medium on the UOHT fluctuations observed is also described

Multimodal optical diagnostics of the microhaemodynamics in upper and lower limbs

The introduction of optical non-invasive diagnostic methods into clinical practice can substantially advance in the detection of early microcirculatory disorders in patients with different diseases. This paper is devoted to the development and application of the optical non-invasive diagnostic approach for the detection and evaluation of the severity of microcirculatory and metabolic disorders in rheumatic diseases and diabetes mellitus. The proposed methods include the joint use of laser Doppler flowmetry, absorption spectroscopy and fluorescence spectroscopy in combination with functional tests. This technique showed the high diagnostic importance for the detection of disturbances in peripheral microhaemodynamics. These methods have been successfully tested as additional diagnostic techniques in the field of rheumatology and endocrinology. The sensitivity and specificity of the proposed diagnostic procedures have been evaluated.<br/

Novel wearable VCSEL-based blood perfusion sensor

A wearable 850 nm VCSEL-based blood perfusion sensor operating on the principles of laser Doppler flowmetry (LDF) and Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS) has been developed and tested. The sensitivity of the sensor to changes in skin blood perfusion has been demonstrated

Computational model of bladder tissue based on its measured optical properties

Urinary bladder diseases are a common problem throughout the world and often difficult to accurately diagnose. Furthermore, they pose a heavy financial burden on health services. Urinary bladder tissue from male pigs was spectrophotometrically measured and the resulting data used to calculate the absorption, transmission, and reflectance parameters, along with the derived coefficients of scattering and absorption. These were employed to create a "generic" computational bladder model based on optical properties, simulating the propagation of photons through the tissue at different wavelengths. Using the Monte-Carlo method and fluorescence spectra of UV and blue excited wavelength, diagnostically important biomarkers were modeled. Additionally, the multifunctional noninvasive diagnostics system "LAKK-M" was used to gather fluorescence data to further provide essential comparisons. The ultimate goal of the study was to successfully simulate the effects of varying excited radiation wavelengths on bladder tissue to determine the effectiveness of photonics diagnostic devices. With increased accuracy, this model could be used to reliably aid in differentiating healthy and pathological tissues within the bladder and potentially other hollow organs

Transmission time of wave packets through tunneling barriers

The transmission of wave packets through tunneling barriers is studied in detail by the method of quantum molecular dynamics. The distribution function of the times describing the arrival of a tunneling packet in front of and behind a barrier and the momentum distribution function of the packet are calculated. The behavior of the average coordinate of a packet, the average momentum, and their variances is investigated. It is found that under the barrier a part of the packet is reflected and a Gaussian barrier increases the average momentum of the transmitted packet and its variance in momentum space.Comment: 23 pages, 5 figure