Floodplain soils on the soil map of the Russian Federation, scale 1 : 2.5 M, 1988, in the Russian soil classification

The development of the digital model of the soil map of Russia derived of the map of the Soviet Russian Federation, 1988, compiled in Dokuchaev Soil Science Institute, comprises the transfer of soil names in the initial legend to those in the new classification system of Russian soils (2004). Floodplain soils (only native) are represented by seven legend units (out of 205) that were named in terms of soil classification of USSR, 1977, and part of their names indicated ‘landscapes’ rather than soils, which disagrees with the principles of the new classification system. Basing on numerous publications and following the rules of the new system, soils were renamed. Most of them were referred to alluvial soil types within the synlithogenic trunk (Fluvisols), and their new names indicate both their properties and their zonal attachment. In order to obtain more adequate patterns of soils in river valleys additional soils were introduced including stratified-alluvial soils in the trunk of primary pedogenesis (Regosols). Simultaneously, the composition of polygons in the database was revised in accordance with regional data; human-modified soils were introduced (agro-soils and urbo-soils).

Global climate and soil cover – implications for land use in Russia

The necessity of a comprehensive description of greenhouse gas fluxes on different types of soils, the methodology for creating “carbon polygons” and “carbon farms” with the use of modern methods for assessing carbon fluxes in ecosystems, taking into account the specifics of the natural conditions of Russia and competitive advantages, are substantiated. Directions for developing national methods for calculating carbon fluxes are given, which should be subjected to verification by the interested parties of the Paris Agreement adopted by the Russian Federation. Such issues are considered as the role and potential of the Russian soil cover in the carbon balance of the planet, factors of reducing carbon stocks from the upper 1 meter depth layer of the soil, competitive edge in the EU and the Western world in the questions of natural and climatic changes, the use of remote sensing of the Earth from space in order to obtain regular, complete and reliable estimates of the absorption of greenhouse gases.

Does a “russian philosophy” exist? The boundaries and nature of a question

The issue of the existence of a peculiarly “Russian” philosophy has long been the object of many debates, which soon led to very different and often opposite conclusions. The question is always the same: Is there an original contribution that Russian authors made to philosophy, in the same way as with literature, arts, and sciences? What happened to Greek/Western philosophy when cultivated in “Russian soil”? In order to answer these questions, it is necessary to first carry out a brief examination of the never-obvious issue of “what being a philosopher means”, i.e. of what generally distinguishes an intellectual who claims to be a “philosopher” from other kinds of intellectuals or scholars. After this short but necessary premise, this article will try to sum up some of the classic and modern definitions of Russian philosophy (from Chaadaev to Evlampiev) and conclude by proposing a personal idea about an overarching frame of Russian philosophical thought. In my opinion, the latter mostly originates from a peculiar reception in Russia of Platonism, Idealism and Marxism that ultimately transformed those views, especially during the Silver Age, into a sort of “integral gnoseology”, which connects “logos” and “life” in a specifically dialectical way that can be described, pour cause, as “Russian”. This “integral gnoseology” ultimately conjoins science and humanism in an original way and is capable of opening up to discreet phenomena and to multiple levels of knowledge.

Russian Enlightenment as a Source of National Philosophy Formation

The study is devoted to the philosophical understanding of the problem of the cultural origins of Russian philosophy. In the author’s opinion, the source of diversity of modern approaches to the phenomenon of Russian Philosophy is, first of all, the absence of a unified methodological approach. The diversity of research on the phenomenon of the Russian philosophy origins is also a consequence of research susceptibility to certain methodological influences. The paper aims to identify a number of philosophical, historical, literary approaches to the problem of the genesis of the eighteenth century Russian Enlightenment. It is necessary to clarify the mechanisms and procedures for the reception of Western European ideas and concepts by Russian Enlightenment during the eighteenth century. On the basis of adaptation of natural law terms, the author considers certain trends in the theory of reconstruction of the Enlightenment phenomenon in Russia. He reveals a number of significant features of the process of reconstruction of the Enlightenment ideology formation on Russian soil, including the idea that European concepts and theories are assimilated by the domestic semiosphere in the form in which they existed in the culture of the West. The author highlights the idea, that researchers were convinced that Russia of the XVIII century already had a national philosophy. The paper also draws attention to the lack of analytical interest in the problems of transformation of the language of expression of political phenomena. In the same row, there is also the idea that the process of reception of the enlightenment heritage of the West had a revolutionary, not an evolutionary, specificity, and was devoid of cultural prerequisites. Basing on the material of historical and historical-philosophical studies, the author considers the possibilities of constructing a methodologically integral reconstruction, chronologically covering the entire period of the XVIII century. The research methodology is based on the approach that includes an analytical description of the problems of the thematic fields of discourse, concepts and theories of the Enlightenment on the Russian soil. The result of the analysis is the systematization of contradictions in the process of analyzing the phenomena of the Russian Enlightenment in the XVIII century.

Using R-software for classification of soil granulometry classes and creating the Ferrers diagrams

The article describes a detailed algorithm to recompute the size of the elementary soil particles obtained by Kachinsky technique (a method conventionally used by Russian soil scientists) into the international granulometric size distribution pattern of 2000-50-2 µm using the formula introduced by E.V. Shein in 2009. The article also describes step-by-step procedures to create Ferrers diagrams using the soiltexture”, “plotrix” и “ggtern”packages in R environment. One of the advantages of R software is its free distribution and usage, vast range of options for the diagram settings, and, in the process of doing so, accruing the experience of working with a very popular language for statistical analysis and data visualization.

IGOR VASILIEVICH IVANOV - NATURAL SCIENTIST AND PEDOLOGY CHRONICLER

The article is dedicated to the remarkable Russian natural scientist made a significant contribution to soil science and the biosphere theory - Doctor of Biological Sciences, Professor Igor Vasilievich Ivanov (02.07.1937-30.03.2021). His open mind and encyclopedic knowledge allowed him, working in various fields of natural science, to move on to creation a socio-historical direction in soil research and generalization of the Russian soil science history with other view at the features of its development.

PATENT TROLLING AND LEGAL REGULATION OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (EXPERIENCE OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA)

The article deals with a unique legal phenomenon that requires regulation in the context of protecting the rights of inventors to the results of scientific activity — patent trolling. Due to the imperfection of the patent system and patent legislation, the subjective rights of “bona fide inventors” in the field of scientific and innovation activities are constantly violated by “patent trolls”. On the example of the law enforcement practice of the United States of America, legal methods of countering this phenomenon are illustrated, the conditions conducive to its occurrence are analyzed. A conclusion is presented on the need to take into account the experience of the United States when amending the legislation of the Russian Federation on patent protection. It is noted that in the era of the fourth industrial revolution, the issue of combating “unscrupulous” copyright holders becomes one of the most acute. The criteria for assessing the “bad faith” of a patent infringement claim, developed by an American legislator, can become the basis for the development of similar legal norms on Russian soil and throughout the post-Soviet space.