The BioImage Archive - home of life-sciences microscopy data

Despite the importance of data resources in genomics and structural biology, until now there has been no central archive for biological data for all imaging modalities. The BioImage Archive is a new data resource at the European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI) designed to fill this gap. It accepts bioimaging data associated with publication in any format, from any imaging modality at any scale, as well as reference datasets. The BioImage Archive will improve reproducibility of published studies that derive results from image data. In addition, providing reference datasets to the scientific community reduces duplication of effort and allows downstream analysis to focus on a consistent set of data. The BioImage Archive will also help to generate new insights through reuse of existing data to answer new biological questions, or provision of training, testing and benchmarking data for image analysis tool development. The Archive is available at https://www.ebi.ac.uk/bioimage-archive/.

Combat Actions of the 1st and 3rd Air Armies in the First Rzhev-Sychev Operation: Losses and Their Replacement

The article discusses the combat work of the Red Army air force (the 1st and the 3rd air armies of the Western and Kalinin fronts, respectively) during the Rzhev-Sychev operation, focusing on the role of field aircraft repair for the replacement of losses suffered in the battle, and for maintaining the overall combat capability of the air forces in the offensive zone. The author suggests considering the battle of Rzhev as one of the largest and longest aviation battles of the Great Patriotic War. The paper offers a comparative analysis of the number of forces involved in the Rzhev-Sychevsky operation with other large-scale air operations. Drawing on hitherto unstudied sources from the collections of the Central Archive of the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation and on statistical data, the author explains the tactical application of aviation in the Central part of the Soviet-German front in the summer and autumn of 1942, as well as the patterns and main causes of losses during the military operation. The author emphasizes the critical importance of field repair for an accelerated recovery of air force strike capabilities; this gave the Soviet units significant advantages over the German Luftwaffe in the region. As the paper shows, the command of the 1st and 3rd air armies were fully aware of the importance of field repair and gave it thoughtful consideration; already during the intense fighting, measures were taken to share the gained experience with other units.

Reconstruction of the Battle on the Hills in the South of Stalingrad of September 8 - September 10, 1942

Introduction. The result of the Battle of Stalingrad supersedes the course of the battle itself in a great deal of historical literature. Therefore, it is no coincidence that in recent literature Stalingrad is increasingly becoming “mythologized” (A. Isaev), “unknown” (E. Kobyakov) or “forgotten” (A. Chunikhin), the return to the actual history of the Battle of Stalingrad takes the form of criticism of a generalized view, which on examination often turns out to be incorrect. Methods and materials. The work uses the methods of microhistory formulated in 1958 by the American historian J. Stewart. The actions of Red Army units are reconstructed on the basis of documents of the Central Archive of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation. The actions of Wehrmacht units are described on the basis of captured German documents from Fund 500 of the same archive. The data from the battle log of the XXXXVIII Panzer Corps and the battle log of the 24th Panzer Division of the Wehrmacht were taken from the book of Australian historian J. Mark. Analysis. The terrain to the south and south-east of Stalingrad largely determined the course of battle of the operational group of Major-General N.M. Pozharsky and the right flank divisions of the 64th Army with units of XXXXVIII Panzer Corps of General V. Kämpf. The essence of this confrontation was a fierce struggle for commanding heights. Results. At 16:30 on 11 September Major von der Lancken’s group was disbanded, and the tanks returned to their divisions. As a result of the offensive of September 8-11 the Germans managed to capture key heights in the south of Stalingrad. Nevertheless, in these battles XXXXVIII Panzer Corps suffered losses that it could not make up for. This gave the defenders of Stalingrad a chance, which they took. Due to the large volume of archival materials, the author’s team was divided. A.K. Elokhina processed German sources, and E.V. Stelnik processed data from the Central Archive of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation. The concept of the article emerged in the course of joint discussions.

The Adventures of a Jesuit in Russia: how the Soviet Government Fought with Father Edmund Walsh (1922—1923)

The unprecedented famine that swept the southern regions of Russia in 1921—1922 forced the Soviet government to turn to the Western powers for help. The work of foreign aid missions in Russia contributed to the improvement of the economic situation in the country and became one of the factors that led to the beginning of its exit from isolation and the establishment of international contacts. However, the attitude of the Soviet authorities to the aid missions was far from unambiguous. The Soviet authorities could hardly put up with the presence of representatives of Western powers on the territory of Russia. The work of the missions was hindered in every possible way, their employees were suspected of espionage and counter-revolutionary activities. To the greatest extent, this concerned the Papal Famine Relief Mission, which worked in the country for two years, from August 1922 to September 1924. The presence of its members, who belonged to four Catholic orders (Jesuits, Salesians, Verbites, and Claretians), was especially undesirable in the years when religious persecutions were unfolding in the country and the first major trials of the Orthodox and Catholic clergy took place. The head of the Mission, the American Jesuit Fr. Edmund Walsh caused particular anger of the Soviet authorities because he reported unfavourable information to the Vatican and tried to intervene at the time of the greatest pressure on the Catholic clergy. The article describes the incidents that have become the most characteristic and indicative of the attitude of the Soviet authorities to Walsh. The article uses materials from the archives of the Catholic Church (the Archive of the 2nd section of the Vatican State Secretariat, the Historical Archive of the Society of Jesus, the Central Archive of the Salesian Order), as well as the Archive of Georgetown University (USA) and several Russian archives (the Archive of Foreign Policy of the Russian Federation, the State Archive of the Russian Federation).

“Fighters-Dzhigits, Having Drawn Blades and Daggers, Shook Them in the Air...”: the Combat History of the 115th Cavalry Division in the Light of New Sources

The article is devoted to the analysis of the short combat path of one of the national formations formed during the Great Patriotic War — the 115th Kabardino-Balkar Cavalry Division. Finding itself at the forefront of the enemy offensive at the end of July 1942, the division was able to withstand virtually only a few heavy battles with tank formations of the Wehrmacht. The whole drama of the Red Army was reflected in the tragic fate of the division. The article is based on the archival material of the Russian archives (first of all, the Central Archive of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation), as well as German operational documents, which was introduced into scientific circulation for the first time.

Documents from the Central Archive of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation on the Problem of Safety of Horse Personnel in the Troops of the Central Front in the Spring - Summer of 1943

The article studies the organization of the Central front rear agencies’ work with horse personnel on the eve of and during the Battle of Kursk, one of the key events marking the turning point in the Great Patriotic War. Preparation included a set of organizational measures. For timely movement of troops, weapons, and other military property within the newly occupied defense lines, it was necessary to make the most efficient use of all available vehicles. The novelty of the scientific research is due to the fact that the problem under consideration has not received its proper coverage in national and foreign historiography. It draws on the documents from the Central Archive of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation to sum up the activities of the rear services of the Central Front in providing livestock, horses used as draught animals, with food and medical care. Snow drifts, and later spring thaw, created serious obstacles to the movement of military and rear units of the newly formed Central Front to their deployment on the northern face of the Kursk Bulge. The retreating enemy destroyed roads and railways, bridges, and other facilities, which the newly liberated territories had to recover in time. Under these conditions, it was largely due to the use of draught animals (i.e. horses) at the disposal of the troops, that it remained possible to carry out rear and front-line transportations. The experience of the Great Patriotic War had drawn a line under the practice of mass use of cavalry in battle. Already in 1941–45, horses were mainly used by the rear services to move units and formations to hard-to-reach areas of deployment, to transport food, fuels and lubricants, medical equipment, etc., as well as for transportation of the wounded and sick to medical institutions. A significant part of army horses died on the battlefield, but, among non-combat losses, mortality from infectious diseases and exhaustion was recorded. As established, the loss of horse personnel in the rear happened largely due to irresponsible and negligent attitude, both on the part of individual officials and of the entire military formations of the Central Front.

Сотрудничество Калмыкии и Монголии в 20-х годах XX в.

Introduction. The issue of Kalmykia-Mongolia cooperation in the 1920s still remains understudied both in Kalmyk and Mongolian historiography. Ever since the Kalmyks migrated to Russia-controlled territories, relations with Mongolia became irregular enough and were largely reduced to pilgrimage contacts en route to Tibet. But the 1920s witnessed an intensification therein. The period proved extremely harsh and definitely dramatic to both the nations: Kalmyk Steppe became an operational theater of the Russian Civil War, and Outer Mongolia sank into the ‘pot’ of social transformations and struggle for independence. And it is in those tough times that Kalmyks arrived in Mongolia as military instructors to arrange the formation and training of troop units for the Mongolian People’s Revolutionary Army. On the other hand, Mongolia delivered humanitarian aid to Kalmykia during the famine. Moreover, the Mongolian Government initiated a resettlement of starving Kalmyks to the country, with significant allowances to be funded. The military and humanitarian aspects have been examined by a number of Kalmyk and Mongolian researchers. Goals. The paper aims to provide additional data on the mentioned and other realms of cooperation during the period under consideration. Materials. The study analyzes new sources, archival materials, and scholarly works, including documents stored at the Central Archive of Russia’s Federal Security Service and ones introduced in Russia-Mongolia Military Cooperation. Results. The attachment of Kalmyks officers to Mongolian military units attests to that the Soviet Government recognized the exnomads should aptly adapt themselves to familiar conditions and cultural environment. Their primary objective was to help commanders of the Mongolian People’s Revolutionary Army create efficient military forces. And Mongolia did its best to support Kalmykia during the famine of 1921. In January of 1923, the Government of Mongolia initiated a resettlement of starving Kalmyks. Chronicles of relations show the key landmarks for the Soviet Government therein were ethnogenetic ties between the populations, linguistic and cultural affinities. Religious identity also proved an important unifying element.

Methodology for the use of GIS and archival materials in the preparation of a justification for the recognition of the dead soldiers who were considered missing

A methodology has been proposed and implemented to prepare a justification for the recognition of missing persons as dead. The methodology is based on the use of GIS with archival and commercial maps, as well as archival materials from the database of the Memory of the People system and the Central Archive of the Ministry of Defense. In the quality of the main document, burial