«Huge, Disgusting, Corpulent, A-Hundred-Throats»: a Philosophical Study of the Fence and Other Monsters (Review of the book Savchuk V.V. Fence as a Balance of Forces. St. Petersburg: Publishing house Academy of Culture Research, 2021. – 249 p.).

The text is a contemplation review of the new book by V.V. Savchuk. Fence as a balance of power. (St. Petersburg: Publishing House “Academy of Culture Research”, 2021. - 249 p.). The book raises a wide range of problems: the world as an extension of the skin, cultural rhythms of the collective body, principles of building trust and openness, mechanisms of psychological isolation and social distancing, current forms of environmental reflection and art practice. The fence turns out to be one of those limiting things, after the invention of which it is not clear how to think of culture without it. An excursion into the author's thought is given, the logic of the narrative being built is commented to reflect on the embarrassing omnipresence and inevitability of the fence. How did culture end up crucified on the fence? When is the fence not a source of comfort, but of excess discipline and increasing anxiety? What is intimidation fraught with? All these questions are outlined and deeply investigated by the author, while the task of this text is to maximize attention both to the book and to the problem. In other words, start a productive dialogue about fences - which, paradoxically, has hardly been noticed in humanistic research.

The historical significance of the 2019 Hong Kong revolt

This essay discusses why the Hong Kong 2019 revolt means so much for future democratic movements despite its tragic defeat and its weaknesses. This was a massive democratic movement, with entirely legitimate demands: the dropping of an extradition bill which could legalise Beijing's attempts to prosecute Hong Kong citizens under the Mainland legal system; and the honouring of its commitment of granting universal suffrage to the Hong Kong people. This massive movement naturally brought with it multiple tendencies and contradictions. Taking advantage of the absence of a left labour movement, and a young generation who were newcomers to politics, right-wing and anti-Chinese voices became more vocal than their organisational strength might have indicated - though not strong enough to alter the fundamental character of this revolt as a democratic movement. In the last analysis, however, the balance of forces means that Hong Kong has little chance of preserving its liberty unless the Mainland situation begins to change. Success will ultimately depend on a united front between democratic forces in the Mainland and Hong Kong, an issue which the 2019 r evolt has not thought sufficiently about. However, the 2019 revolt, which helped to consolidate democratic consciousness among millions in Hong Kong, itself constitutes a new starting point for the future of democratic struggle, both in the Mainland and in Hong Kong.

Thermophysical Properties of Electric Arc Plasma and the Wire Melting Effect with Lanthanum and Sulfur Fluorides Addition in Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing

Achieving a higher quality in wire arc additive manufacturing (WAAM) is a result of the development of welding metallurgy, the development of filler wires, and the control of the thermophysical properties of the electric arc. In this paper, the authors developed composite wires for WAAM with a Ni-LaF3, Ni-LaB6 coating. The addition of LaF3, LaB6, and SF6 increases specific heat, thermal conductivity, enthalpy, and degree of plasma ionization, which leads to the increase in the transfer of heat from the arc plasma to the wire and to the change in the balance of forces during wire melting. The increase in the Lorentz electromagnetic force and the decrease in the surface tension force made it possible to reduce the droplet diameter and the number of short circuits during wire melting. The change in the thermophysical properties of the plasma and droplet transfer with the addition of LaF3, LaB6, and SF6 made it possible to increase the welding current, penetration depth, accuracy of the geometric dimensions of products in WAAM, reduce the wall thickness of products, and refine the microstructure of the weld metal using G3Si1, 316L, AlMg5Mn1Ti, and CuCr0.7 wires.

Coronacrisis in the Mechanisms of Cyclic Development of the World and Russian Economies

Based on the theory of the cyclical nature of capitalist reproduction in its various (including modern) variations, the author of the article defends the thesis that the pandemic of the new coronavirus was not the root cause of the crisis in the world economy in 2020, but only a factor of its approach in time. Excessive, in the spirit of modern radical liberalism, marketization (commercialization) of country health systems and the desire of a number of nation states to use a large-scale epidemic as a powerful bioengineering weapon are classified as the most significant direct determinants of the global coronacrisis. The mechanism of the influence of the coronavirus epidemic on the state of the world economy is revealed. An attempt is made to compare the coronavirus crisis and the global financial and economic crisis of 2008–2009 with an assessment of the change in the balance of forces between the leading powers in the course of the deployment of these crises. As a «visiting card», the specifics of the current global crisis is characterized by a negative combination of supply shock and demand shock, which radically complicates the construction of an adequate system of anti-crisis regulation of the world and national economies. The place of coronacrisis shocks in the mechanism of the deepening of the Russian autonomous recession is revealed. The effectiveness of the anti-crisis activities of the Government and the Bank of Russia is constructively and critically assessed.

Momentum vs. Labour’s Bureaucracy

The creation of Corbynist organization Momentum was the way in which the wave of socialist revival in the UK tried to take an organizational form and work toward the transformation of the Labour party. The first-past-the-post system meant that the only realistic option for socialists was working within the existing mainstream left party, while at the same time developing a parallel structure to mobilize youth supporters suspicious of bureaucratic structures. However, as I argue in this article, ultimately the stubbornness of the Labour party bureaucracy used as a defensive redoubt by party centrists managed to successfully fend off attempts for deep party reforms, and once Corbyn resigned it was easy for centrists to undo the change in the internal balance of forces. The failure of the Corbyn movement in overcoming these difficulties highlights how party organization constitutes a strategic bottleneck for all transformative movements, and that the only way to reclaim existing parties is to radically reshape them as a matter of priority.

“A Change in the Balance of Power”

Chapter 7 explores the dawn of China’s grand strategy to build regional order as well as the ends, ways, and means of this strategy. Using Party texts, it explores how the shock of the Global Financial Crisis led China to see the United States as weakening and emboldened it to take a more assertive course. It begins with a thorough review of China’s discourse on “multipolarity” and the “international balance of forces,” concepts China uses as euphemisms for US power and which it ties to its strategic guidelines. It then shows that the Party sought to lay the foundations for order—coercion, inducements, and legitimacy—under the auspices of the revised guidance “actively accomplish something” issued by Chinese leader Hu Jintao in 2009. This strategy, like blunting before it, was implemented across multiple instruments of statecraft—military, political, and economic.

“New Cold Wars Have Begun”

Chapter 3 uses Party texts to explore China’s changing view of the United States at the end of the Cold War and the ends, ways, and means of its subsequent grand strategy to blunt American power. It demonstrates how China went from seeing the United States as a quasi-ally against the Soviet Union to seeing it as China’s greatest threat and “main adversary” in the wake of three events: the traumatic trifecta of the Tiananmen Square Massacre, the Gulf War, and the Soviet collapse. It traces how Beijing launched its blunting strategy under the Party guideline of “hiding capabilities and biding time,” which it tied to perceptions of US power captured in phrases like the “international balance of forces” and “multipolarity.” The chapter also introduces China’s effort to asymmetrically weaken American power in Asia across military, economic, and political instruments, which are discussed in greater detail in subsequent chapters.

Research of Balance of Forces Affecting on the Grain Between Cylindrical Rolls of Small-Size Feed Mincing Unit

The conducted research is devoted to the study of the balance of forces affecting on the grain between cylindrical rolls of the small-size feed mincing unit used in farming enterprises. It is established that substantiation of design and process parameters of the feed mincing units, plotting the analytical dependences and solution of process tasks are among the most important factors in manufacture of various versions of the unit. Using the obtained analytical solutions increase the efficiency of the works performed in this field. Recently, in the countries where the grain is harvested using the two-phase method, it is performed during the milk maturity period by pressing with special grinding machines immediately in the field, adding the conserving agent, preserving, packing into polyethylene bags, and then storing tight during winter. It is proven that the production costs for such nutritive grain feed reduce by 30% in contrast to the usual method. The grain stored in such a way is taken out of the grain bags and used directly for feeding the animals. The research work aimed at substantiation of design and process parameters of the small-size, low energy-intensive units for feed oakum production functioning on the basis of the grinding method in the conditions of farming enterprise is of great relevance. The work purpose is to study the balance of forces affecting on the grain between cylindrical rolls of the small-size feed mincing unit.

A cooperative network at the nuclear envelope counteracts LINC-mediated forces during oogenesis in C. elegans

Oogenesis involves meiosis and oocyte maturation. Both processes rely on mechanical forces (Lee et al., 2015; Nagamatsu et al., 2019; Rog and Dernburg, 2015; Sato et al., 2009; Tsatskis et al., 2020; Wynne et al., 2012), which can be transduced from the cytoskeleton to the nuclear envelope (NE) through linker of nucleoskeleton and cytoskeleton (LINC) complexes (Burke, 2018; Chang et al., 2015; Fan et al., 2020; Link et al., 2014). Gametes must protect their genomes from damage in this mechanically stressful environment. In C. elegans, oocyte nuclei lacking the single lamin protein LMN-1 are vulnerable to nuclear collapse. Here we deploy the auxin-inducible degradation system to investigate the balance of forces that drive this collapse and protect oocyte nuclei. We find that nuclear collapse is not a consequence of apoptosis. It is promoted by dynein and a LINC complex comprised of SUN-1 and ZYG-12, which assumes polarized distribution at the NE in response to dynein-mediated forces. We also show that the lamin meshwork works in parallel with other inner nuclear membrane (INM) proteins to counteract mechanical stress at the NE during oogenesis. We speculate that a similar network may protect oocyte integrity during the long arrest period in mammals.

Public safety intelligence activity: Advice in the fight against criminal organizations

The present work, as a research involving the intelligence activity in Public Security, the present work aimed, through a historical rescue, which dates back to the emergence of a criminal organization in the state of Pará - Brazil, to verify how the intelligence activity it is capable of advising the decision-making process of public security institutions, in order to generate a balance of forces favorable to the latter, in the fight against crime. It started from the hypothesis that the intelligence agencies would show themselves capable of gathering privileged information, according to legality and efficiency criteria, able to subsidize the decision-making process. Using an inductive method and a qualitative documentary analysis, it was identified that, in addition to subsidizing managers with appropriate knowledge, the agencies were responsible for the frustration of measures of direct confrontation with the State, preventing damage to public coffers, as well as unjust attacks on civil and military civil servants and the Pará society itself.