Institutional reforms and reformers during the Warring States Period

2020 ◽  
pp. 614-622
Author(s):  
Yuri Pines
Keyword(s):  
Social System ◽  
The State ◽  
Warring States Period ◽  
Institutional Reforms ◽  
Grain Yields ◽  
Warring States ◽  
Material Resources ◽  
Economic Advancement

This chapter explores the transformation of the Warring States–period polities from loose aristocratic entities into centralized bureaucratic states. It focuses primarily on the reforms in the state of Qin associated with Shang Yang and his followers. The reforms resulted in the formation of an assertive agro-managerial state, able to mobilize its population to agriculture and warfare. Shang Yang overhauled Qin’s social system, replacing the pedigree-based order with the system of the ranks of merit, which allowed sociopolitical and economic advancement to individuals who excelled on the battlefield or in increasing their grain yields. The accompanying centralization and profound bureaucratization of Qin’s society had dramatically improved the state’s control over its human and material resources. The newly emerging assertive and all-reaching state allowed Qin to successfully subjugate its rivals. In the long term, however, an excessively activist state proved to be a liability once imperial unification was achieved.

The Warring States Period: Historical Background

2020 ◽  
pp. 579-594
Author(s):  
Yuri Pines
Keyword(s):  
The State ◽  
Historical Background ◽  
Third Century ◽  
Warring States Period ◽  
Territorial Expansion ◽  
Warring States ◽  
The Third ◽  
History Of ◽  
Subsequent Rise ◽  
Inter State

This chapter starts with introducing major textual, archeological, and paleographical sources for the history of the Warring States period. It then focuses on the inter-state dynamics following the de facto dissolution of the state of Jin in 453 bce and up to the Qin unification of 221 bce. In particular, the chapter explores the rise and fall of the state of Wei as the major hegemonic power in the end of the fifth and the first half of the fourth centuries bce; the subsequent rise of Qin and attempts to block it through formation of anti-Qin alliances; and, finally, the collapse of these alliances and the acceleration of Qin’s territorial expansion in the third century bce.

The shi, diplomats, and urban expansion during the Warring States Period

2020 ◽  
pp. 656-671
Author(s):  
Andrew Meyer
Keyword(s):  
Urban Expansion ◽  
Social Institutions ◽  
The State ◽  
State Governments ◽  
Technological Advancement ◽  
Warring States Period ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Warring States ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Economic Specialization

The shi, or “knights,” were not a coherent class during the Warring States period, though figures identified as such were central to the social, political, and cultural dynamism of the era. As the fragmentary states of the early Zhou era politically consolidated, the nature of the aristocracy changed. The aristocracy bifurcated into a steeply divergent populace of “kings” and their kin at the top and the mass of undifferentiated knights far below. Although not exactly a period of shi ascendancy, it was, at the individual level, a time of very fluid social mobility. State governments grew in power to the point of being able to determine the power and status even of hereditary aristocrats. All social positions became gauged in relation to their utility for the state. Low-born knights could rise to positions of high power and status through meritorious service to the state. Diplomacy became a field in which talents for strategy or rhetoric could earn great merit. Some of the most influential figures of the Warring States were humble knights that distinguished themselves as diplomats. Social fluidity was likewise embodied in urbanization. As the Warring States saw rapid population growth, technological advancement, and economic specialization cities grew in size and changed in character. Where they had once been principally military and cult centers, they evolved into centers of commerce and manufacturing in which new communities and social institutions took shape.

The Second Start of Transformation in Ukraine?

2014 ◽  
pp. 30-52 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Grigoryev ◽  
E. Buryak ◽  
A. Golyashev
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Armed Conflict ◽  
Political Crisis ◽  
Investment Climate ◽  
Institutional Reforms ◽  
Personal Consumption ◽  
Governance Quality ◽  
Political Turmoil

The Ukrainian socio-economic crisis has been developing for years and resulted in the open socio-political turmoil and armed conflict. The Ukrainian population didn’t meet objectives of the post-Soviet transformation, and people were disillusioned for years, losing trust in the state and the Future. The role of workers’ remittances in the Ukrainian economy is underestimated, since the personal consumption and stability depend strongly on them. Social inequality, oligarchic control of key national assets contributed to instability as well as regional disparity, aggravated by identity differences. Economic growth is slow due to a long-term underinvestment, and prospects of improvement are dependent on some difficult institutional reforms, macro stability, open external markets and the elites’ consensus. Recovering after socio-economic and political crisis will need not merely time, but also governance quality improvement, institutions reform, the investment climate revival - that can be attributed as the second transformation in Ukraine.

Power Projects and Covid-19: A Practical Analysis of the Relevance of Force Majeure Clauses under the Standardised Power Purchase and Implementation Agreements of Uganda

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 189-193
Author(s):  
Aisha Naiga ◽  
Loyola Rwabose Karobwa
Keyword(s):  
Renewable Energy ◽  
Renewable Energy Sources ◽  
Clean Energy ◽  
The State ◽  
Energy Sources ◽  
Policy Goals ◽  
Force Majeure ◽  
Practical Analysis ◽  
Energy Justice

Over 90% of Uganda's power is generated from renewable sources. Standardised Implementation Agreements and Power Purchase Agreements create a long-term relationship between Generating Companies and the state-owned off-taker guaranteed by Government. The COVID-19 pandemic and measures to curb the spread of the virus have triggered the scrutiny and application of force majeure (FM) clauses in these agreements. This article reviews the FM clauses and considers their relevance. The authors submit that FM clauses are a useful commercial tool for achieving energy justice by ensuring the continuity of the project, despite the dire effects of the pandemic. Proposals are made for practical considerations for a post-COVID-19 future which provides the continued pursuit of policy goals of promoting renewable energy sources and increasing access to clean energy, thus accelerating just energy transitions.

Individual mechanisms underlying peripheral nerve damage when exposed to metallic mercury

2020 ◽  
Vol 60 (12) ◽  
pp. 918-924
Author(s):  
Dina V. Rusanova ◽  
Oleg L. Lakhman ◽  
Galina M. Bodienkova ◽  
Irina V. Kudaeva ◽  
Natalya G. Kuptsova
Keyword(s):  
Peripheral Nerve ◽  
Peripheral Nerves ◽  
Blood Circulation ◽  
The State ◽  
Contact Period ◽  
Peripheral Nerve Damage ◽  
Demyelinating Disorders ◽  
Peripheral Blood Circulation ◽  
Antibodies To Dna

Introduction. There is a lack of knowledge of the pathophysiological mechanisms that form peripheral nerve disorders in mercury lesions of professional origin. The study aims to reveal the mechanisms underlying peripheral nerve damage in the long-term post-contact period of chronic mercury intoxication (CMI). Materials and methods. Fifty-one people had the diagnosis of a long-term period of CMI. The post-contact period was 8.5±2.6 years. The authors compared the results with a control group of 26 healthy men who had no contact with toxic substances. Stimulating electroneuromyography was performed. We studied the body systems that could contribute to the formation of disorders in the peripheral nerves. Changes in peripheral hemodynamics were studied using reovasography. The content of autoantibodies, neuron-specific enolase, serotonin, histamine, catecholamines (epinephrine, dopamine), metanephrine, and neurotrophin-3 was reviewed. The content of ceruloplasmin, secondary products of lipid peroxidation processes, reduced glutathione, the activity of superoxide dismutase and the content of nitric oxide levels were determined. Results. The study established pathogenetic structural links of peripheral nerve disorders. The autoimmune process's role was to increase the range of antibodies to the MAG protein and increase the level of antibodies to DNA. Violations of elastic-tonic properties of peripheral vessels could be associated with the functional state of motor axons. The increased content of neurotransmitters is related to the state of peripheral blood circulation; the most pronounced changes were on the legs, which could contribute to the occurrence and maintenance of vasoconstriction. The role of oxidative stress in the formation of demyelinating disorders in patients' peripheral nerves in the long-term period of CRI is possible. Conclusion. Neuroimmunological processes has an essential role in the development of peripheral nerve demyelination was shown, which consists in an increase in the content of antibodies to the MAG protein expressed on Schwann cells of peripheral nerves and in an increase in the level of antibodies to DNA involved in the formation of demyelinating changes when exposed to metallic mercury. The revealed pathological changes in the state of the peripheral blood circulation, characterized by a violation of the vessels' elastic-tonic properties, leading to demyelination of motor axons in patients in the long-term period of CMI. The increased content of neurotransmitters in the examined is of great importance in the state of peripheral circulation. Pronounced changes in blood circulation are established on the lower extremities, which may be associated with the predominance of α-adrenergic receptors in the arterial bed and may contribute to the occurrence and maintenance of vasoconstriction in the legs. The relationship between changes in indicators of oxidative stress, consisting of a decrease in the value of superoxide dismutase and reduced glutathione, and the formation of demyelinating disorders of peripheral nerves in patients in the long-term period of CMI has been proved.

Investigations on potential methods for the long-term monitoring of the state of fuel elements in dry storage casks

Kerntechnik ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 83 (6) ◽  
pp. 513-522 ◽  
Author(s):  
U. Hampel ◽  
A. Kratzsch ◽  
R. Rachamin ◽  
M. Wagner ◽  
S. Schmidt ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
The State ◽  
Dry Storage ◽  
Long Term Monitoring ◽  
Potential Methods ◽  
Fuel Elements ◽  
Term Monitoring

Female Christian prose today: A failed search for new women’s subjectivity?

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 132-149
Author(s):  
E. Chelpanova
Keyword(s):  
Social Context ◽  
Social System ◽  
Family Values ◽  
The State ◽  
Current Work ◽  
Conservative Approach ◽  
Female Subjectivity ◽  
Female Characters ◽  
The Social ◽  
History Of

In her analysis of books by Maya Kucherskaya, Olesya Nikolaeva, and Yulia Voznesenskaya, the author investigates the history of female Christian prose from the 1990s until the present day. According to the author, it was in the 1990s, the period of crisis and transformation of the social system, that female Christian writers were more vocal, than today, on the issues of the new post-Soviet female subjectivity, drawing on folklore imagery and contrasting the folk, pagan philosophy with the Christian one, defined by an established set of rules and limitations for the principal female roles. Thus, the folklore elements in Kucherskaya’s early works are considered as an attempt to represent female subjectivity. However, the author argues that, in their current work, Kucherskaya and other representatives of the so-called female Christian prose tend to choose different, objectivizing methods to represent female characters. This new and conservative approach may have come from a wider social context, including the state-imposed ‘family values’ program.

STATE REGULATION OF THE FINANCIAL SERVICES MARKET IN UKRAINE

2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (11) ◽  
pp. 30-47
Author(s):  
Lyudmila Nikolayevna Akimova ◽  
Alla Vasilievna Lysachok
Keyword(s):  
Life Insurance ◽  
Financial Services ◽  
Credit Unions ◽  
State Regulation ◽  
The State ◽  
Existing Problems ◽  
Insurance Contracts ◽  
State Pension

The essence of such concepts is “financial service”, “financial ser- vices market”, and “participants of the financial services market”; determined the purpose of state regulation of the financial services market; forms of state regu- lation of the financial services market; financial services that are present in the financial services market; the structure of state regulation bodies of the financial services market in Ukraine is given; The role of state bodies in the regulation of the financial services market was studied; to characterize the regulatory le- gal regulation of the financial services market in Ukraine; the main problems of functioning of the domestic market of financial services are revealed; ways to solve existing problems. It is grounded that the state regulation of financial ser- vices markets consists in the state’s implementation of a set of measures aimed at regulating and overseeing financial services markets to protect the interests of financial services consumers and preventing crisis phenomena. It is concluded that the financial services market is an important element of the development of the economy as a whole, in particular, it concerns not only the state but also society. We must understand that when this market is settled, that is, all bodies that carry out state regulation are competent in their powers, only then will we make informed, effective decisions about the normal and effective functioning of the RFP. It is important that the data of the subjects of control do not overlap, their activities should be fixed at the legislative level. It is also worth bearing in mind that appropriate conditions must be created to create compensatory mecha- nisms in the financial services markets by developing a system for guarante- eing deposits and providing for payments under long-term life insurance contracts, non-state pension provisions, deposits with deposit accounts to credit unions, etс.

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