Challenges in Nuclear Posture and Deterrence from Pakistan’s Perspective

India and Pakistan are engaged in a nuclear arms competition with new technologies and systems that have a direct bearing on their respective doctrines and nuclear postures. The statements by senior Indian leadership over the past few years throw into question the viability of India’s no-first-use posture and have placed further stress on the deterrence relationship between these two regional adversaries. India’s efforts to explore space for a limited war in a nuclearised environment have encouraged Pakistan to introduce remedial measures in the form of short-range ballistic missiles. These are part of its full spectrum deterrence, which aims to deter an entire spectrum of conventional and nuclear threats. India’s work to operationalise its second-strike capability, acquisition of ballistic missile defences and development of hypersonic weapons could undermine regional strategic stability. These efforts require countermeasures on the part of Pakistan to ensure deterrence stability between the two nuclear armed neighbours.

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mortality dynamics in the Far Eastern Federal District

Introduction. New viral respiratory infections in humans make it possible to speak of corona viruses as extremely dangerous human pathogens. They are characterized by a high mortality rate and pose a significant medical and social threat to society due to life-threatening complications of the disease. In this regard, it seems necessary to answer the questions about the dynamics of mortality of the population of the region for different classes of ICD-10 in the prepandemic and pandemic period, including various nosological forms of respiratory diseases. Aim. To assess the degree of influence of the pandemic of the new respiratory coronavirus infection COVID-19 on the mortality rate of the population for various classes of ICD-10, including the class “Diseases of the respiratory system” in the Far Eastern Federal District.Materials and methods. To implement the tasks of the study, a complex of analytical, epidemiological and statistical studies was carried out. Methods used: descriptive statistics, epidemiological analysis and monitoring; mathematical; structural and comparative analysis, methods of time series analysis and content analysis of publications on the problem. Epidemiological and statistical assessment of mortality was carried out on the basis of ICD-10 using the database of the Federal State Statistics Service for 1999-2020 in the territory of the Far Eastern Federal District. For the analysis and processing of statistical information, modern information systems and computer programs (MS Excel-2016) were used. Results. The pandemic of COVID-19 has had a significant impact on the level and structure of mortality across the entire spectrum of the main causes of death, and its magnitude (98.8 per 100,000, 2020), as a new cause of death, exceeds the whole the class of causes of death ICD-10 (J00-J99) by 33.3%, changing the pace and direction of demographic processes in Russia. At the same time, the dynamics of mortality due to respiratory diseases is unprecedented, the level of which in the Russian Federation in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic increased by 38.8%, and in the Far Eastern Federal District – by 27.7% against the background of the previous long-term stable a downward trend in mortality rates. Especially high growth rates of mortality rates are observed in pneumonia, the level of which has increased by 3.5 times over the last decade, and among city residents – by 4.2 times (Amur Region). Features of the socio-economic and natural-climatic living conditions of the population of the region determine a significant differentiation of regions in terms of mortality rates, including due to respiratory diseases, the gradients of which among the subjects of the Far Eastern Federal District in the first year of the pandemic period (2020) amounted to 2.5 times with a minimum the level in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) (40.9 per 100,000 population) and the maximum – in the Jewish Autonomous Region (101.7 per 100,000 population), which indicates the ambiguous degree of influence of the new viral infection on the dynamics of mortality. At the same time, the variability in mortality rates due to respiratory diseases in the previous period (1999-2019) was even more pronounced, and among the subjects of the Far Eastern Federal District, during this period, higher mortality rates were also demonstrated, which are not even comparable to the current level of the pandemic period. These circumstances require a detailed study and a substantive analysis of the degree of influence of a COVID-19 on the mortality rate of the population using mechanisms and methods for its detection, record and registration. Conclusion. The pandemic of COVID19 had a significant impact on the level and structure of mortality across the entire spectrum of major causes of death, especially in the ICD-10 class “Respiratory diseases”, changing the pace and direction of demographic processes.

The threshold of awareness as an empirical given and as a logical inevitability

The nature of the sensory threshold and approaches to solving the threshold problem in psychophysics are discussed. There were presented experimental results, empirical facts that do not fully correspond to existing psychophysical theories and do not receive an explanation in line with modern approaches. It was concluded that the explanation of the thresholds without description of the participation of consciousness raises doubts. A new look at the nature of thresholds is proposed, in which the threshold is considered as an inevitable consequence of the processes of classification and categorization. Due to the fact that the operations of identification of the non-identical and discernment of the indiscernible are mandatoryin the act of cognition, a zone is formed, within which objectively different elements are identified in consciousness andrelate to the same class. This zone exists across the entire spectrum of cognitive tasks, including detection and discrimination. Thresholds fix the boundaries of this zone. Thus, the problem of the threshold requires a description of the work of not so physiological as cognitive mechanismsfor its solution.

Compact Exposimeter Device for the Characterization and Recording of Electromagnetic Fields from 78 MHz to 6 GHz with Several Narrow Bands (300 kHz)

A novel compact device with spectrum analyzer characteristics has been designed, which allows the measuring of the maximum power received in multiple narrow frequency bands of 300 kHz, recording the entire spectrum from 78 MHz to 6 GHz; the device is capable of measuring the entire communications spectrum and detecting multiple sources of electromagnetic fields using the same communications band. The proposed device permits the evaluation of the cross-talk effect that, in conventional exposimeters, generates a mistake estimation of electromagnetic fields. The device was calibrated in an anechoic chamber for far-fields and was validated against a portable spectrum analyzer in a residential area. A strong correlation between the two devices with a confidence higher than 95% was obtained; indicating that the device could be considered as an important tool for electromagnetic field studies.

Judicial Administration: the Main Approaches to the Concept and Content

The article is devoted to the theoretical problems of administration in the judicial system. Based on the analysis of scientific literature and legislation, we consider the main approaches to the definition and normative consolidation of the term “judicial administration”, review the content of judicial administration and its assessment in scientific research of the Soviet and modern periods. We conclude that the refusal to use the term “judicial administration” in the post-Soviet period is due to the negative attitude toward it, which is caused by the command and administrative nature of administration in the judicial sphere in the Soviet period and the actual lack of independence of the court. The terms “ensuring the activity of courts” and “organizational support of courts” used in legislation and scientific literature do not cover the entire spectrum of managerial relations that develop in the judicial system. We emphasize the necessity of returning to the use of the term “judicial administration” and its theoretical development.

Linguistic genocide or linguicide?

Forced language loss is a reality for many communities around the world and language loss brings with it an entire spectrum of negativities. This article examines two of the most common terms that are used in linguistics for forced language loss – linguistic genocide and linguicide. The terms are almost synonymous and recognize that the ultimate aim of forced language loss is usually forced assimilation or the destruction of group identity. However, through a critical reading of both terms, linguicide is argued as the preferred term for use in linguistics as linguistic genocide gives rise to linguistic essentialist positions that may harm communities that have suffered forced language loss.

Manufacturing Bacteriophages (Part 2 of 2): Formulation, Analytics and Quality Control Considerations

Within this second piece of the two-part series of phage manufacturing considerations, we are examining the creation of a drug product from a drug substance in the form of formulation, through to fill-finish. Formulation of a drug product, in the case of bacteriophage products, is often considered only after many choices have been made in the development and manufacture of a drug substance, increasing the final product development timeline and difficulty of achieving necessary performance parameters. As with the preceding review in this sequence, we aim to provide the reader with a framework to be able to consider pharmaceutical development choices for the formulation of a bacteriophage-based drug product. The intent is to sensitize and highlight the tradeoffs that are necessary in the development of a finished drug product, and to be able to take the entire spectrum of tradeoffs into account, starting with early-stage R&D efforts. Furthermore, we are arming the reader with an overview of historical and current analytical methods with a special emphasis on most relevant and most widely available methods. Bacteriophages pose some challenges that are related to but also separate from eukaryotic viruses. Last, but not least, we close this two-part series by briefly discussing quality control (QC) aspects of a bacteriophage-based product, taking into consideration the opportunities and challenges that engineered bacteriophages uniquely present and offer.

Radiolabeled Peptides for Cancer Imaging and Therapy: From Bench-to-Bedside

Radiolabeled peptides can deliver radiation selectively to tumors via targeting peptide receptors that are overexpressed on the surface of cancer cells. The radiation is used either for detection (imaging) or for destruction (therapy) of these tumors. The Division of Radiopharmaceutical Chemistry at the University Hospital Basel has conducted pioneering work on the development of peptide-based radiopharmaceuticals. Our research covers the entire spectrum of such developments, from bench-to-bedside, and it is illustrated in this article by selective cases.