Protestant Providentialism in the Commonwealth of the Nobles: A critical view on Sarmatism

This study is devoted to providentialism, an element characteristic of Sarmatism – a dominant ideology and culture in the early modern Commonwealth of the nobles. The attachment of special weight to providence’s care of the state and the nobility seems to have been characteristic also of Protestant circles in the sixteenth and early seventeenth century, and therefore the culture of the nobles’ Sarmatism should not be reduced to its late form, dominated as it was by Catholicism in the late seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.

Belarus’ external debt in the context of the pandemic and ways to resolve it

The changes in the amount of the external debt of Belarus depending on various factors are analyzed. The study found that the consequences of the epidemic COVID-19 had a significant impact on the increase in the amount of external debt. In addition, political protests against the government have a special weight in the reasons for the growth of Belarus external debt, since their consequences significantly reduced the level of confidence on the part of foreign investors, which led to a fall in the ruble. The role of foreign countries as the main creditors in the external debt of Belarus, as well as in the economy of Belarus as a whole is examined, and the importance of the Belarusian friendship with Russia is considered. In conclusion, an assessment of the structure of the Belarusian economy and methods of its regulation is carried out, and then possible ways of settling the Belarusian debt are presented.

Eros Interrupted

The two films discussed in this chapter on Robert Beavers speak to two kinds of loss. The Ground is an elegiac work made in the wake of the death of Gregory Markopoulos, friend and partner of Beavers from the early 1980s until Markopoulos’ death. Sotiros is compoed of three earlier films, later combined into one film in two sections. The first section is a visual description of the Beavers/Markopoulos relationship, while the second focuses on the impact on that relationship of injuries suffered by Beavers as a result of an accident. The author argues that the melancholic tenor of these circumstances is given special weight through the filmmaker’s use of synecdoche, contrasting the head, lens, and tripod of the camera with various parts of his damaged body. In both sections of the film the significant role of Apollo as the god of light and healing is stressed.

A Power Customer Data Relational Algorithm Based on Magnanimity Fuzzy Address Matching

According to the short text and unstructured characteristics of customer address, a data association fusion method for address has been proposed. In this method, the address was mapped to a digital fingerprint by improved Simhash technology, which effectively reduced the dimension of massive addresses and simplified the similarity-matching process of multi-source heterogeneous addresses. Furthermore, the weight setting of the eigenvector of the simhash algorithm was improved by introducing special weight gain. A two-level index mechanism was established by the characteristics of address division and data structure of digital fingerprints; the time-consuming digital fingerprint comparison was greatly reduced. The experimental results showed that calculation efficiency was greatly optimized; accuracy and coverage of the comparison were ensured. Through address matching of different databases, information fusion can be completed and the goal which power customers' demands is connected to power grid equipment is achieved.

Professional exam as a form of professional training in teacher schools in Bosnia and Herzegovina in the second half of the 20th century

The professional exam in a teacher's school had a special weight and significance. At the professional exam, young teachers had to show maturity, solid knowledge and skills, and apply it in practice. The evaluation criteria were very strict, to such an extent that only a number of candidates out of the total number of applicants passed the exam in the first exam period. There is an urgent need and task of every teacher in the search for new knowledge, creative application of knowledge in given conditions and constant effort to work better and more successfully. To that end, the importance of working on developing teachers' responsibility for their own professional development is very important. The function of professional development should include a request for reconsideration in terms of building teachers' openness to change, suppressing resistance to the previously acquired knowledge is constantly emphasized and considered sufficient, which for various reasons was quite emphasized by teachers at that time is, it may be said, still present today. This theoretical study aims to analyze and present one of the forms (forms) of professional development of teachers in Bosnia and Herzegovina in the second half of the 20th century, and that is the professional teacher exam after graduating from teacher's school. So, this is a historical research based on the analysis of available, relevant documentation.

European Union and Russia: international relations evolution

Today the relationship between Russia and the today EU-28 (today EU-27) members of the European Union is essential and very strategically important; this issue is bound to become more urgent as the two draws closer together over the next decades. In this paper, we discuss this and the Russian Federation’s role in the Ukraine conflict that has seriously affected EU-Russia relations. The EU and Russia have a long record of cooperation on issues of bilateral and international concern in several fields, from climate change to drug and human trafficking, but also the organized crime, terrorism, and non-proliferation. In particular, Europe, the “old traditional Europe”, acquires special weight for Russia in the context of the cooling down of relations between Russia and the United States. We will discuss gas, oil, and energy, but we can see that the solution can be only economic, and the oil and agriculture sectors could help do just that. “Business is business”.

CREATIVE INITIATIVES OF THE POPULATION OF SMALL CITIES IN THE PERM REGION

The article describes the manifestation of creative initiatives of the population of small towns of the Perm Territory in various aspects of modern life. It is emphasized that small cities have a special weight of historical and cultural plan. The article reflects the close relationship of small towns with villages and rural settlements in the administrative, cultural and socioeconomic terms. The example of a number of small cities in the Perm region shows the manifestation of creative initiatives of the population in different spheres of life of a small city and their impact on the sociocultural condition of the rural population.

Some problems and algorithms related to the weight order relation on the n-dimensional Boolean cube

The problem “Given a Boolean function [Formula: see text] of [Formula: see text] variables by its truth table vector. Find (if exists) a vector [Formula: see text] of maximal (or minimal) weight, such that [Formula: see text].” is considered here. It is closely related to the problem of computing the algebraic degree of Boolean functions which is an important cryptographic parameter. To solve this problem efficiently, we explore the orders of the vectors of the [Formula: see text]-dimensional Boolean cube [Formula: see text] according to their weights. The notion of “[Formula: see text]th layer” of [Formula: see text] is involved in the definition and examination of the “weight order” relation. It is compared with the known relation “precedes”. Several enumeration problems concerning these relations are solved and the relevant notes were added to three sequences in the on-line encyclopedia of integer sequences (OEIS). One special weight order is defined and examined in detail. In it, the lexicographic order is a second criterion for an ordinance of the vectors of equal weights. So a total order called weight-lexicographic order (WLO) is obtained. Two algorithms for generating the WLO sequence and two algorithms for generating the characteristic vectors of the layers are proposed. The results obtained by them were used in creating two new sequences: A294648 and A305860 in the OEIS. Two algorithms for solving the problem considered are developed — the first one works in a byte-wise manner and uses the WLO sequence, and the second one works in a bitwise manner and uses the characteristic vector as masks. The experimental results from numerous tests confirm the efficiency of these algorithms. Other applications of the obtained algorithms are also discussed — when representing, generating and ranking other combinatorial objects.

Political influence on Brazilian antitrust enforcement

In 2017, Brazil’s president faced impeachment proposals for allegedly receiving money from a businessman in exchange for influencing a decision of the Conselho Administrativo de Defesa Econômica (Cade), the Brazilian competition authority. But, considering that Cade is an independent agency with a reputation for transparency, how may politicians influence antitrust enforcement? By analysing the responses given to a questionnaire of mine by anonymous former Cade commissioners, as well as other reports related to political influence on the agency and records from Congress, Cade, and other institutions, this article will examine the channels of political influence on Cade. First, I examine channels of democratic control, such as the appointment process. Secondly, by discussing those situations in which politicians approach the agency, I observe that, even in the absence of an explicit promise or threat, contact from politicians bears a special weight for Cade’s officers. I argue that, regardless of conclusive evidence that political contact or pressure has actually impacted Cade’s enforcement, public confidence in the agency might be harmed when there is the appearance that it has done so. Therefore, the appropriateness of increased transparency surrounding meetings between elected politicians and Cade’s officers is a matter for consideration.