scholarly journals Metaproteomic Comparison of Cryoconite Communities from Caucasian and Novaya Zemlya Glaciers

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bozhana Zainullina ◽  
Irina Babkina ◽  
Arseniy Lobov ◽  
Rustam Tembotov ◽  
Evgeniy Abakumov
Keyword(s):  
Seasonal Dynamics ◽  
Heterotrophic Bacteria ◽  
Anthropogenic Pollution ◽  
The Caucasus ◽  
Novaya Zemlya ◽  
Microbiome Analysis ◽  
Early Stages ◽  
The Future ◽  
Cylindrical Holes ◽  
Glacial Melting

Abstract Anthropogenic pollution strongly affects glacial microbiological communities and promotes glacial melting. In the early stages of glacial melting formation of small cylindrical holes (cryoconite) occurs. While the microbiome of cryoconite is well described, the effect of anthropogenic pollution on cryoconite microbiological communities still has not been fully understood. Thus, we performed an unbiased functional comparison of the cryoconite communities from the highly polluted Caucasian glaciers and from less polluted glaciers in Novaya Zemlya. For this purpose, we used the shotgun metaproteomics approach which has not been used for cryoconite microbiome analysis previously. We identified 475 protein groups, a third of which were found in both glaciers. Cryoconites in both glaciers have similar microbiological communities with Cyanobacteria as dominant phyla. Nevertheless, we found a slight shift from the dominance of phototrophic Cyanobacteria in Novaya Zemlya to heterotrophic bacteria in the Caucasus. We assume that it might be caused by anthropogenic pollution, but other factors such as differences in seasonal dynamics of microbiological communities should be tested in the future.

Is Sicily the future of Russia? Private protection and the rise of the Russian Mafia

2001 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 186-220 ◽  
Author(s):  
Federico Varese
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Power System ◽  
Former Soviet Union ◽  
Soviet Power ◽  
The Caucasus ◽  
The Future ◽  
Private Protection ◽  
Definition Of

It is difficult to discuss a phenomenon when one does not know precisely what it is. This problem is particularly vexing in the case of the Mafia. It has been argued that ‘the need for a definition [of the Mafia] is crucial; not just for any definition with some degree of contingent empirical plausibility, but for a definition with some analytical clout’ (1). The word ‘Mafia’ itself has travelled far to distant lands, such as the former Soviet Union. For instance, according to Arkadii Vaksberg, Russian journalist and author of The Russian Mafia, the Mafia is ‘the entire soviet power-system, all its ideological, political, economical and administrative manifestations’ (2). In an article published in a magazine for British executives dealing with Russia, the label Mafiosi is used to lump together bureaucrats, smugglers from the Caucasus, the CPSU nomenklatura accused of embezzling state funds, the late British businessman Robert Maxwell and many others (3).

The North Caucasus in Contemporary U.S.-Russia Relations: Key Problems and Implications for the Future

2014 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 153-166
Author(s):  
Maxim A. Suchkov
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Present Article ◽  
The United States ◽  
North Caucasus ◽  
The Caucasus ◽  
Security Issues ◽  
The North ◽  
The Future ◽  
Boston Marathon ◽  
The U.S

The North Caucasus is a most significant but a least understood problem in contemporary U.S.-Russia relations. The United States as one of the prime pace-setters in the region shaped its own attitude towards Russia’s most volatile region. Over more than twenty years, Washington experienced at least three major stages in its “Caucasus strategy”, and each stage had its impact on the North Caucasus. Since the beginning, the two states stuck to conflicting narratives of developments in the region. With time, some of the assessments were re-evaluated, but some continue to impede cooperation on key security issues. The present article explores these phenomena and examines what implications major events like the 9/11 attacks, the Caucasus Emirate enlistment among top terrorist organisations, the Boston marathon bombings, etc. had for the U.S.-Russia joint efforts in fighting terrorism. It also assesses areas of potential disagreement in the North Caucasus between the two countries.

The Media Trade Press as Technology Forecaster: A Case Study of the VCR'S Impact on Broadcasting

1997 ◽  
Vol 74 (2) ◽  
pp. 417-430 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip M. Napoli
Keyword(s):  
Social Factors ◽  
Early Stages ◽  
The Future ◽  
The Media ◽  
Potential Impact ◽  
And Diffusion ◽  
Trade Press

This paper assesses how the broadcasting and advertising trade press performed in their role as technology forecaster, using the introduction of the VCR and its potential impact on broadcasting as a case study. An examination of the forecasts made within the broadcasting and advertising trade press during the early stages of the VCR's development and diffusion indicates that the advertising trade press proved much more active and much more accurate in forecasting the future of the VCR. The results also indicate the importance of integrating technological and social factors for constructing accurate forecasts.

Is Sicily the future of Russia? Private protection and the rise of the Russian Mafia

1994 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 224-258 ◽  
Author(s):  
Federico Varese
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Power System ◽  
Former Soviet Union ◽  
Soviet Power ◽  
The Caucasus ◽  
The Future ◽  
Private Protection ◽  
Definition Of

It is difficult to discuss a phenomenon when one does not know precisely what it is. This problem is particularly vexing in the case of the Mafia. It has been argued that ‘the need for a definition [of the Mafia] is crucial; not just for any definition with some degree of contingent empirical plausibility, but for a definition with some analytical clout’. The word ‘Mafia’ itself has travelled far to distant lands, such as the former Soviet Union. For instance, according to Arkadii Vaksberg, Russian journalist and author of The Russian Mafia, the Mafia is ‘the entire soviet power-system, all its ideological, political, economical and administrative manifestations’. In an article published in a magazine for British executives dealing with Russia, the label Mafiosi is used to lump together bureaucrats, smugglers from the Caucasus, the cpsunomenklatura accused of embezzling state funds, the late British businessman Robert Maxwell and many others.

1918–1920

2021 ◽  
pp. 137-150
Author(s):  
Daniel-Joseph MacArthur-Seal
Keyword(s):  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Debate ◽  
The Caucasus ◽  
Nationalist Movement ◽  
The Future ◽  
National Movements ◽  
Southern Russia ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The City

The sub-chapter traces major military and political developments in the eastern Mediterranean in 1918–1920, beginning with the arrival of British and Allied forces in Istanbul. It sketches out the political debate over the future of the city and wider Ottoman Empire through the series of Allied diplomatic meetings that set out the terms of what would become the Treaty of Sèvres. The chapter also summarises developments in Anatolia following the Greek occupation of Izmir in May 1919, the reaction to which crystalized the emerging nationalist movement in Anatolia, and in southern Russia and the Caucasus, where Bolshevik and White Russian forces competed for control with non-Russian national movements. Finally, it outlines the political debate over the future of Egypt and the impact of the revolution of 1919, one of a growing number of anti-colonial uprisings which Britain was forced to contend with in the period.

Consistency and Commitment in the Realisation of Extended Plans

1978 ◽  
Vol 10 (8) ◽  
pp. 869-878
Author(s):  
A Coddington
Keyword(s):  
Dynamic Programming ◽  
Programming Approach ◽  
Temporal Perspective ◽  
Dynamic Programming Approach ◽  
Early Stages ◽  
The Future

This paper is concerned with the problems arising from the changing temporal perspective that accompanies the execution of extended plans. In particular it raises the question of the intertemporal consistency of a sequence of decisions, each consisting of the implementation of the early stages of an extended plan, when the passage of time leaves the underlying objective of the decisionmaker unchanged but nevertheless leads to revisions of the plans. The paper contains a discussion of the possibility of achieving intertemporal consistency in various ways: Through the prior commitment of actions (that is, the deliberate foreclosing of future options); through modifications in the procedure for discounting the future; and through the adoption of a dynamic-programming approach to the problem (that is, the construction of the plan by starting with the final element and successively choosing each previous element in the light of the subsequent sequence).

The Crisis of Communism and the Future of Freedom

1991 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. 87-97 ◽  
Author(s):  
James H. Billington
Keyword(s):  
Crucial Role ◽  
American Democracy ◽  
Historical Experience ◽  
Cultural Organizations ◽  
American Experience ◽  
Early Stages ◽  
Cultural Roots ◽  
The Future

The author presents how Russia's struggle to find its new identity in the aftermath of Communism's collapse is analogous to America's historical experience of drawing on religious and cultural roots in moving toward democracy. By rediscovering religion and forming voluntary cultural organizations, the Russians are patterning the evolution of the American democracy. Billington highlights Mikhail Gorbachev's crucial role in the early stages of the process. Noting the American experience in dealing with diversity, he notes the central role this experience can play in dealing with “a global process that… is moving forward to democratization and back to religion,” which is where the previously irreconcilable “Slavophile-Westernizer polarity” tends to converge.

HUMAN AUGMENTATION AND EXOSKELETON SYSTEMS IN BERKELEY

2007 ◽  
Vol 04 (03) ◽  
pp. 575-605 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. KAZEROONI
Keyword(s):  
Lower Extremity ◽  
Upper Extremity ◽  
Research Work ◽  
Robotic Systems ◽  
Human Power ◽  
Unstructured Environments ◽  
Early Stages ◽  
The Future ◽  
Human Augmentation ◽  
Autonomous Robotic Systems

Human–robot integration, in particular human augmentation, outlines the future of robotics. Although autonomous robotic systems perform remarkably in structured environments (e.g. factories), integrated human–robotic systems are superior to any autonomous robotic systems in unstructured environments that demand significant adaptation. In our research work at Berkeley, we have separated the technology associated with human power augmentation into lower extremity exoskeletons and upper extremity exoskeletons. The reason for this was two-fold: firstly, we could envision a great many applications for either a stand-alone lower or upper extremity exoskeleton in the immediate future. Secondly, and more importantly for the division is that the exoskeletons are in their early stages, and further research still needs to be conducted to ensure that the upper extremity exoskeleton and lower extremity exoskeleton can function well independently before we can venture an attempt to integrate them. With this in mind, we proceeded with the designs of the lower and upper extremity exoskeleton separately, with little concern for the development of an integrated exoskeleton. This article first gives a description of the upper extremity exoskeleton efforts and then will proceed with the more detailed description of the lower extremity exoskeleton.

The future of Antarctic scientific research

Polar Record ◽  
1993 ◽  
Vol 29 (168) ◽  
pp. 37-44 ◽  
Author(s):  
David J. Drewry
Keyword(s):  
Global Climate ◽  
Stratospheric Ozone ◽  
Critical Evaluation ◽  
Field Research ◽  
Ice Cores ◽  
Anthropogenic Pollution ◽  
World Population ◽  
The Future ◽  
Scientific Results ◽  
The Antarctic

ABSTRACTWithin the stable political context of the Antarctic Treaty regime, science has flourished, achieving considerable prominence and an increasing global relevance. Issues such as stratospheric ozone depletion and enhanced ultraviolet effects, environmental and climatic archive from ice cores, detection of anthropogenic pollution, study of global climate change (such as the carbon cycle and sea level), and analysis of unique collections of meteorites have attracted and focused unprecedented international attention on Antarctica. In the future, major challenges will continue to emerge in Antarctic science, driven by conceptual breakthroughs, innovative field research, and rapidly developing technology. Today's fashionable topics such as global wanning, biodiversity, thecarbon pump, and ozone loss may soon fade. What will replace them remains uncertain. The study of the coupling of presently diverse whole-earth systems appears a possibility: the biogeochemical coupling of landmasses, oceans, and ice geared to the study and provision of new food resources, to meet the demands of a world population in exponential growth, will feature considerably in the next century and involve much Antarctic research. Future science will develop against a backdrop of heightening external pressures: (1) the competing demands from the AntarcticTreaty System, including environmental concerns and possible operating restrictions, and the requirement to provide expert opinion from specialised research, (2) increasing problems of the coordination of an expanding and diverse scientific community, (3) the high cost and level of sophistication of modern research, and (4) accountability, particularly in respect of quality scientific results. Within each of these areas national programmes will assess and determine priorities for the future, which will severely test existing systems for collaboration, logistics sharing, and financial underpinning. Attention will need to be directed at a critical evaluation of the international mechanisms and frameworks for establishing the details of the Antarctic scientific agenda, and its meshing with discipline-based research in general.

scholarly journals Technological Learning, Industrial Policy, and Catch-up

2019 ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Arkebe Oqubay ◽  
Kenichi Ohno
Keyword(s):  
Industrial Policy ◽  
First Century ◽  
Dynamic Learning ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Technological Learning ◽  
Middle Income Countries ◽  
Early Stages ◽  
Country Level ◽  
The Future ◽  
Catch Up

Why is catch-up rare? And why have some nations succeeded while others failed? What are the prospects for successful learning and catch-up in the twenty-first century? This chapter introduces the aims, themes, and analytical perspectives of How Nations Learn, outlining the focus of each chapter, and considering pathways to the future. The volume examines how nations learn by reviewing key structural and contingent factors that contribute to dynamic learning and catch-up. It uses historical as well as firm-, industry-, and country-level evidence and experiences to identify sources and drivers of successful learning and catch-up and the lessons for late-latecomer countries. It aims to generate interest and debate among policymakers, practitioners, and researchers on the complexity of learning and catch-up, not only for late late developers but also for middle-income countries in the early stages of industrialization.

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