Defensive Position Research Articles

Stories About Russians in the English-Language Media: Construction of National-Civiс Identity

The “Russian threat”, popularized by many foreign media sources, actualized a request to continue the study of the national-civic identity of Russians. The study is based on the communicative behavior of subjects in the media and in the collective cultural memory. The article is dedicated to the detection of the repertoire of identifications, the construction of the discursive identity of Russians by the subjects of communication in the English-language media space. The identification was carried out in the course of the analysis of speech statements, the subjective positions of the communicators, reflecting the formed collective communicative and cultural memory. On the basis of the structural-semiotic approach, the concept of cultural memory by J. and A. Assmann and the Russian cultural model built by M. Bergelson, English-language texts about Russia and Russians were analyzed. The system of text-generating practices and codes of journalistic discourse formed by E.V. Chepkina, the network principle of organization of discursive identity introduced by L.V. Enina, the concept of plotting by V.Ya. Propp and the types of K. Booker's stories were used to detect the identities of Russians in journalistic discourse. Basing their research on the analysis of 22 journalistic stories, the authors come to the following conclusion: domestic and foreign authors use similar facts in their stories about Russians, but in the end they formulate opposite positions and construct different meanings. What is recognized as “a norm” by Russian communicators, causes confusion among foreign authors. This is a reflection of the previously assigned communicative behavior during the Cold War era, low-contextual cultural traditions and the national cultural memory of foreign actors. Most likely, this distinction is now used by political communicators to support intentionally organized “information confrontations”. Foreign journalists admit that one-dimensional “formalized patterns” are not applicable to understanding the identity of Russians. In the analyzed texts, the authors, first of all, translate or search for a “Soviet” and “traditional” cultural model (according to M. Bergelson). Perhaps, this is important for the implementation of the “adjustment” of Russians in the current geopolitical situation, and, moreover, it helps to broadcast what has proved to be a successful “defensive position” for centuries. At the same time, both domestic and foreign journalists identify the character of a Russian as of a “Hero” in the process of “Searching and finding a goal”.

The Malignant Ambiguity of Incestuous Language

This article discusses the malignant ambiguity typical of incestuous language: the ambiguity of revealing and concealing, which creates a language that pretends to produce meaning and enable links whereas, in fact, constitutes a violent attack on linking. Through a detailed description of two clinical cases, the formation of two defensive positions is demonstrated: one involves the overall flattening of three-dimensionality, and the other is a defensive pseudo-phallic position employing various modes of ejection by way of fending off penetration. Finally, the article focuses on the inherent ambiguity of the therapeutic scene and the critical role of the therapist's work of reverie as enabling the reclaiming of both the patient's and the therapist's psychic polyphony.

Always on the defensive: The effects of transit sexual assault on travel behavior and experience in Colombia and Bolivia

This mixed-methods study uses surveys and interviews with transit users to document the prevalence and effects of transit sexual assault in two Latin American transit systems: Bogotá, Colombia's TransMilenio BRT and informal transit in El Alto, Bolivia. Transit sexual assault is common in both systems, but more prevalent in the overcrowded TransMilenio system; 37% of female TransMilenio users reported experiencing unwanted sexual contact while using transit. Transit users in general are found to respond to the risk of transit crime by engaging in defensive behaviors such as avoiding travel at certain times of day, traveling in groups, taking more expensive modes, or avoiding travel altogether. Transit sexual assault victims are more likely to engage in these behaviors, and also engage in victim-specific defensive behaviors: selecting defensible positions within a carriage, standing near “safe” people (typically other women), or using objects to shield themselves. These habitual behaviors allow some victims to regain a sense of safety on transit, but others continue to struggle with hypervigilance, anxiety, and other responses to sexual trauma. It is imperative to prevent future transit sexual assaults, but many women have already been assaulted, are already traumatized, and need additional help to recover freedom of movement. Crowding reduction, improved reporting, bystander intervention, and women-only carriages are discussed as potential tools for ensuring that public transit is safe and welcoming for people of all genders.

Body Composition and Bone Mineral Density of Division 1 Collegiate Football Players: A Consortium of College Athlete Research Study.

Bosch, TA, Carbuhn, AF, Stanforth, PR, Oliver, JM, Keller, KA, and Dengel, DR. Body composition and bone mineral density of Division 1 collegiate football players: a consortium of college athlete research study. J Strength Cond Res 33(5): 1339-1346, 2019-The purpose of this study was to generate normative data for total and regional body composition in Division 1 collegiate football players using dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) and examine positional differences in total and regional measurements. Data were used from the Consortium of College Athlete Research (C-CAR) group. Four hundred sixty-seven players were included in this study. Height, body mass, total and regional fat mass, lean mass, and bone mineral density were measured in each athlete in the preseason (June-August). Players were categorized by their offensive or defensive position for comparisons. Linemen tended to have the higher fat and lean mass measures (p ≤ 0.05 for all) compared with other positions. Positions that mirror each other (e.g. linemen) had similar body composition and body ratios. All positions were classified as overweight or obese based on body mass index (BMI) (>25 kg·m), yet other than offensive and defensive linemen, all positions had healthy percent body fat (13-20%) and low visceral fat mass (<500 g). The data presented here provide normative positional data for total and regional fat mass, lean mass, and bone density in Division 1 collegiate football players. Player position had a significant effect on body composition measures and is likely associated with on-field positional requirements. From a player's health perspective, although all positions had relatively high BMI values, most positions had relatively low body fat and visceral fat, which is important for the health of players during and after their playing career. The increased accuracy and reliability of DXA provides greater information, regarding positional differences in college football players compared with other methods.

Strategic Positioning and Competitive Advantage of Commercial Banks in Uasin Gishu County, Kenya

Strategic positioning has been identified as an important weapon to manage the competition in the business environment. However, despite the use of strategic positions, many banks in the country are facing challenges from the competition destabilizing the position they hold. Thus, the sole reason of the project was to establish how strategic positioning affects competitive advantage of banks in Uasin Gishu County Kenya. The specific objectives were; to examine the effects of mono-segment positioning, multi-segment positioning, standby positioning, adaptive positioning and defensive positioning on competitive advantage of commercial banks in Uasin Gishu County, Kenya. The study was guided by Resource-Based-View, The Game Theory, Market Based View Theory and Open Systems Theory. Explanatory research design was used in this study. The unit of analysis was commercial banks in Uasin Gishu County, Kenya and the unit of observation was 748 employees in 25 banks. A stratified random sample was used as a significant blend of categorization and randomization. A sample of 173 employees was selected. Questionnaires were used in collection of data. Descriptive statistics and multiple regression analysis were used to analyse data. The study established a positive and significant relationship between mono-segment positioning, multi-segment positioning, standby positioning, adaptive positioning and defensive positioning on organizational competitive advantage. The study concludes that through mono-segment Commercial banks are free to devote all of their resources to attracting a single, narrowly defined type of customer with a specific need it can fulfill better than other companies. Through multi segment Commercial banks can analyze various customer groups and targeting specific products to meet their demands. Through standby positioning, commercial banks can base their strategy completely on a new segment which increases its focus and profitability. Through adaptive the brand loyalty of commercial banks definitely increases and also market segmentation increases competitiveness of a firm from a holistic view and defensive positioning leads to customer retention throughout customer life cycle. The study recommends that commercial banks in Uasin Gishu County implementing mono segment should concentrate all their efforts in a single segment with a single marketing mix so as to avoid confrontation with financial institutions. On multi segment, commercial banks should categorize their customers along demographic, geographic, behavioral, or psychographic lines or a combination of them. This will enable them offer products and services effectively by understanding distinctive needs of the groups. On standby positioning strategy, commercial banks should only opt execute a mono-segment positioning strategy only during unavoidable situations. To minimize response time, the banks should prepares a standby plan that specify the product(s) and their attributes as well as details of the marketing program(s) that would be used to position the new product. On adaptive positioning, commercial banks should aim at changing or reforming a bank’s marketing mix to suit to the particular geography in which the bank is operating. This will enable the banks to effectively tailor their products and service in rapid and unparalleled ways to meet their customers’ interests and needs. On defensive positioning, commercial banks should resort to position defense to ensure a new bank’s market entry does not impact or weaken their brand. They may also opt to preempt competitive strategies by introducing an additional brand in a similar position for the same segment.&#x0D; This is an open-access article published and distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License of United States unless otherwise stated. Access, citation and distribution of this article is allowed with full recognition of the authors and the source.

Veritas graeca, veritas latina et veritas confessionis w staropolskich tłumaczeniach Nowego Testamentu na przykładzie Listu Jakuba

The article aims at the example of the Letter of James to show how the theological reforms and hermeneutic and critical New Testament editions were reproduced in Polish translations of the 16th and 17th centuries. The authors show that on the level of textual criticism and philological solutions, Polish New Testament translators really derived from the achievements of European biblical studies, but remained faithful to the confessional tradition and not to the Greek testimonies. The reception of Reformation at the hermeneutic and theological level looks much worse. Interpreters usually do not take up polemics or defensive positions.

Tiempo de permanencia en diferentes rangos de intensidad en jugadores de fútbol

El objetivo fue analizar el porcentaje de tiempo en diferentes rangos de intensidad según la posición de juego. Estudio no experimental descriptivo relacional,con 18 futbolistas amateurs, de 20-34 años de edad. Durante 71 partidos de liga, se midieron los porcentajes de tiempo en los niveles de intensidad moderada y vigorosa, siguiendo puntos de corte estándar. Los resultados mostraron diferencias en el porcentaje de tiempo al comparar las distintas posiciones de juego. Los jugadores que ocupaban las posiciones de centrocampista, delantero y extremo son los que presentaron un mayor porcentaje de tiempo en el nivel vigoroso en comparación con los que ocupan las posiciones defensivas; siendo estos, los defensas centrales y defensas laterales, los que mostraron un mayor porcentaje de tiempo en moderada intensidad en relación a aquellos. La posición de juego es una de las variables que condicionan el tipo de esfuerzo físico realizado por el futbolista en competición.

War landform mapping and classification on the Verdun battlefield (France) using airborne LiDAR and multivariate analysis

AbstractActing as efficient earth‐movers, soldiers can be viewed as significant geomorphological drivers of landscape change when replaced in the recent debates on Anthropocene Geomorphology. ‘Polemoforms’, generated by military activities, correspond with a set of human‐made landforms of various sizes and geometries. They are particularly common on the World War One battlefield of Verdun (France) which ranks among the largest battles of attrition along the Western Front. The artillery bombardments and building of defensive positions in that battle significantly altered the landscape, resulting in thousands of shell craters, dugouts, and gun positions that have altered both the meso and microtopography. This paper proposes an innovative methodology to make an exhaustive inventory of these small‐scale conflict‐induced landforms (excluding linear features such as trenches) using a digital terrain model (DTM) acquired by airborne LiDAR on the whole battlefield. Morphometric analysis was conducted using Kohonen's self‐organizing maps (SOMs) and hierarchical agglomerative clustering (HAC) in order to quantify and classify the high number of war landforms. This combined approach allowed for mapping more than one million landforms which can be classified into eight different shapes including shell craters and various soldier‐made landforms (i.e. shelters, gun positions, etc.). Detection quality evaluation using field observations revealed the algorithm successfully classified 93% of shell craters and 74% of anthropologically constructed landforms. Finally, the iconographic database and map series produced will help archaeologists and foresters to better manage the historic site of Verdun, today covered by a large forest of ~10 000 ha. © 2019 John Wiley &amp; Sons, Ltd.

Market Share Strategies for Cloud Computing Providers

ABSTRACT The cloud computing industry is characterized by a small number of dominant providers and a host of small-to-medium providers. As the demand grows, additional providers are expected to enter the market. The need for 24/7 support and competitive pricing allows established providers to maintain defensible industry positions. This paper examines the impact of adopting growth and equilibrium market share strategies by cloud providers. Capacity planning remains a challenging problem given uncertain growth and demand, and providers seeking to pursue different market share strategies must adopt different tactics. Results from a system dynamics simulation indicate that market share growth can be achieved at the cost of overall revenue. A reactive strategy to maintain market share requires more price manipulation, but results in higher overall income. Simulations are conducted for a variety of economic conditions, with a view to providing cloud service providers broad guidance for cloud capacity building strategies.

Сучасні форми белігеративного рельєфу Чернігівщини – їх типи, морфологічні та морфометричні особливості

Investigation into relief forms which arose on the territory of Chernihiv region in the 2nd half of the 20th and the beginning of the 21st centuries from anthropogenic activities for military purposes were conducted in all districts of the region. During the work field research was actively used as well as encyclopaedic and Internet materials were applied. The morphological and morphometric features of denudation and accumulative forms of military relief which appear as a result of military operations and exercises, construction of warehouses and equipment of their security zones, erection of defence objects and arrangement of mass graves (fraternal graves) and so on were studied in detail. In particular, defensive fighting positions (including tank and cannon), trenches, breastworks, blindages, dugouts, traces of grenades from shells and bombs together with areas of proving grounds, training centres, airfields and monuments of various sizes and shapes were explored. The research results suggest that most objects which can be classified as military relief forms of World War II naturally occur in places where major battles in strategically important directions of offensive of both opposing sides took place. The findings also revealed that many military relief forms of the WWII period have undergone significant deformation as a result of development of scree formation processes, plane erosion, eolian processes, influence of various representatives of biota as well as agricultural and forestry human activities. In addition, in the southern (forest-steppe) part of the region such relief forms occur considerably less frequently than in the northern (Polissia). This is most likely due to greater plowing of the territory and, consequently, greater anthropogenic load of the agrarian type, which relatively quickly levelled military relief forms in the postwar period. A special place among all the objects of military relief of Chernihiv region of the WWII period is occupied by the museum-memorial complex of guerrilla glory “Lisograd”. It is located in the middle of forest near the village of Jeline in Snovsk district. Here, on the site of the former guerrilla camp, defensive fighting positions, trenches and residential (dugouts) structures of those times were reconstructed in the 2000s. The largest modern military relief forms within the territory of Chernihiv region are the military proving ground in Honcharivske (Chernihiv district), the Desna training center with its own proving ground near Desna (Kozelets district) as well as functioning and defunct military airfields and air bases near Horodnia, Dobrianka, in the village of Maliiky (Chernihiv district), Chernihiv, Pryluky and Nizhyn.

China’s human rights concept and its international promotion

In the contemporary inter-state relations, human rights are not only a subject of disputes but also a lever of influence or pressure, a set of material and non-material structures, institutions and processes that determine the course of international life. Thus, human rights have become a full-fledged factor of international relations. In recent decades, the problem of human rights in China has been one of the most controversial issues in the relations of China and the Western countries. It is the specific nature of China’s human rights concept that determines contradictions between China and the West. The authors argue that the concept of human rights in China is based on the national tradition of the primacy of the state over the interests of an individual. China’s human rights concept rethinks Confucianism and Marxism emphasizing the need to respect the collective rights of the people to the socio-economic development as well as to ensure stability and security of the state and preserve its sovereignty. At the same time, as the authors point out, in recent years China, which traditionally takes a defensive position on the human rights issue in its international agenda, has promoted its own concept of human rights at the international level. In this regard, in the authors opinion, it is necessary to analyse the factors, which have affected the formation of China’s human rights concept, as well as the position of China’s authorities on this issue, and the purposes and tools of China's so-called ‘human rights diplomacy’. At the conclusion the authors summarize the basic features of China’s human rights concept, which form the theoretical basis of ‘human rights diplomacy’ of the PRC.

The political complexity of attack and defense.

De Dreu and Gross's distinction between attack and defense is complicated in real-world conflicts because competing leaders construe their position as one of defense, and power imbalances place status quo challengers in a defensive position. Their account of defense as vigilant avoidance is incomplete because it avoids a reference to anger which transforms anxious avoidance into collective and unified action.

Moses in Corinth: The Apologetic Context of 2 Corinthians 3 by Paul B. Duff

Reviewed by: Moses in Corinth: The Apologetic Context of 2 Corinthians 3 by Paul B. Duff Timothy Milinovich paul b. duff, Moses in Corinth: The Apologetic Context of 2 Corinthians 3 (NovTSup 159; Leiden: Brill, 2015). Pp. xi + 238. $142. The curious reference to Moses in 2 Corinthians 3 has resulted in a variety of readings, many of which consider Paul's argument to be apologetic and opposed to the Mosaic covenant. In this book, however, Duff's view that internal opponents were the cause of Paul's apology and that Moses is used as a positive example for the audience, challenges the status quo of the debate. The first chapter introduces the reader to major exegetical challenges and the existing conundrum involved in 2 Corinthians 3, especially with the use of Moses and allusions to Exodus 34. D. engages adjacent issues of context (integrity of the letter) and situation (the identity of the opponents). Unsatisfied with the present view of the passage that Paul defends himself against criticism from external Judaizing opponents, D. instead offers that Paul is referring to Moses and exodus traditions to respond to internal criticism from Corinthians who questioned his integrity over the collection. Paul uses Moses as a comparative to his own ministry to highlight how God qualified him, but also uses Moses as a model for gentile Corinthians. Just as Moses takes off his veil to turn to God, the gentile Corinthians turned from idolatry to have a new perspective through faith. Their transformed vision and life in Christ are then proof of Paul's qualifications. Chapter 2 is devoted to the letter's integrity. D. abbreviates a history of the debate before settling on a sequence in which 2 Corinthians 8 (an independent letter) follows [End Page 334] 1 Corinthians and creates significant suspicions among the Corinthian detractors who questioned the collection. Paul then wrote 2 Cor 2:14–7:4 (excluding 6:14–7:1) as a defense of his ministry in this internal dispute. (Other separate sections, 10:1–13:13; 1:1–2:13 + 7:5-16; and 9:1-18, are viewed as later, and 6:14–7:1 is considered a post-Pauline interpolation). In chap. 3, D. lays out the situation behind Paul's defense, arguing that there is insufficient evidence to see the "false apostles" of 2 Corinthians 10–11 as the antagonists, or that Judaizing tendencies are a threat (as compared to Galatia). Instead, D. avers that members of the Corinthian church dissatisfied with Paul's leadership challenged him on the grounds that he was a common huckster who preached for money. Paul's main error was in changing his directions on the collection in 1 Cor 16:1-4, which allowed the Corinthians to choose emissaries to escort the collection to Jerusalem, to that in 2 Cor 8:16-24, which states that Titus would take the collection and travel without them. At this point the internal opposition pounced and argued that Paul's sufferings, imprisonments, and even appearance were divine punishments for his attempts to defraud the community. Chapters 4, 5, and 6 cover the major sections relevant to the study in exegetical fashion: 2:14–3:6; 3:7-11; and 3:12-18, respectively. D. finds that Paul's defensive position over his sincerity in 2:14–3:6 is aimed at the letters of recommendation that the Corinthians demanded to authorize his collection. The reference to the stone tablets (3:3) constitutes Paul's ministry as spiritual but does not denigrate the law. The emphasis is on Paul's ministry, not the effectiveness of the Mosaic covenant. D. then argues that the "ministry of death" that comes from glory refers to how God's glory could condemn gentiles who did not know or follow the covenant. Since the Corinthians themselves had been recipients of God's mercy that freed them from condemnation, they should not then presume that Paul's sufferings are a divine rebuke or punishment. Lastly, Moses is used as a double model: as a comparative to Paul's ministry, and as an analogy to the Corinthians' transformative experience in the community. Since their lives have been...

Making an Antislavery Nation: Lincoln, Douglas, and the Battle over Freedom by Graham A. Peck

Reviewed by: Making an Antislavery Nation: Lincoln, Douglas, and the Battle over Freedom by Graham A. Peck Evan C. Rothera (bio) Making an Antislavery Nation: Lincoln, Douglas, and the Battle over Freedom. By Graham A. Peck. (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2017. Pp. 280. Cloth, $34.95.) For Graham A. Peck, Abraham Lincoln's election as president in 1860 is "perhaps the single-most vital story about freedom's preservation in America" (2). In order to explain the rise and triumph of the Republican Party and antislavery politics, Peck focuses on antebellum Illinois as a state that offers a unique view of a national conflict between slavery and freedom. In his focus on this single state, Peck claims to offer a sweeping reinterpretation of the rise of antislavery politics in the early United States. Scholars of the subject, however, likely will find Peck's study a well-written account of the triumph of antislavery nationalism if not a cutting-edge monograph that reshapes the field. Peck posits that Illinois "reproduced the nation's problem with slavery in miniature" (17). From the beginning, however, Peck overemphasizes the love of Illinois settlers for liberty. Illinois voters famously defeated a proslavery constitutional convention referendum in 1824. However, despite 57 percent of the voters rejecting the referendum, victory was not easy. One wonders whether Peck allows genuine antislavery reformers like Edward Coles to stand in for the average Illinoisan. Some Illinoisans considered slavery a threat to their freedom and embraced an incipient free-soil critique of slavery. However, antislavery sentiment had shallow roots. A shift of fewer than 850 votes would have returned a proslavery result. This is salient because Peck attributes the victory to a last-minute surge in migration by settlers to Northern Illinois. The "love of liberty" among settlers was, at best, a superficial love, as Elijah P. Lovejoy discovered (18). Moving into the Second Party System, Peck contends that Illinois [End Page 602] Democratic politicians' "ardent advocacy of national expansion helped rekindle the nation's battle over freedom" (54). While Illinois Democrats supported Mr. Polk's War, many resented Polk for compromising on Oregon. Peck utilizes John Wentworth to highlight the growing anti-southern sentiments of northern Illinois Democrats. While this was true, it took Wentworth, and others, a long time to leave the Democratic Party. One famous northern Illinois Democrat, Stephen A. Douglas, never did. Peck makes a particularly problematic assertion that Illinois Democrats shared a "preference for freedom, even if they rarely expressed antislavery sentiment" (69). How he can say this with a straight face is puzzling. In claiming that the Free Soil Party "commenced a struggle over the meaning of freedom in the nation," he undercuts his argument about a lengthier politics of slavery and overlooks the fact that the struggle over the meaning of freedom began long before 1848 (71). Peck also contradicts himself when he argues that Illinois Democrats "had little choice but to challenge the emerging northern understanding of freedom" after the rise of the Free Soil Party (72). In fact, Illinois Democrats had a choice: fusion with Free Soilers. Leading Democrat Martin Van Buren himself chose cooperation. If anything, Illinois Democrats validated the strength of party loyalties and how people thought about other issues besides slavery. Peck concludes that the presidential election of 1848 demonstrated that the Democrats "would have a difficult time resolving the antagonism between slavery and freedom" (95). This difficulty was not great enough to prevent them from winning in 1852. Peck brings Lincoln and Douglas into focus in the final three chapters. In his telling, the crisis of Union in 1850 made Douglas believe expansion was the best issue to unify the Democratic Party. His tolerance of slavery led Douglas to risk the possibility of slavery's expansion and caused him to gamble that antislavery sentiment was superficial. However, the Kansas–Nebraska Act, his signature piece of legislation, destroyed popular sovereignty's free-soil reputation and sparked a fierce backlash among many northerners. The emergence of the Republican Party, in addition, forced Douglas into a defensive position. He had to defend popular sovereignty, which was now irrevocably linked to slavery, and navigate unceasing proslavery demands from the southern wing...

Оборонна система Василя Стуса: етика і творчий процес.

The concept of the «defense system» of man and writer Vasyl Stus is proposed in the article. The material for such research was Vasyl Stus’s epistolary, the memories and the apt characteristics of his friends. The analysis is carried out on the border with Jung’s analytical psychology, in particular his theory of psychotype. Key questions of the theory of psychotype: how man acts and orientates in the world? how does a person perceive an external stimulus? how does a person respond to this stimulus? It is about what is the individual identity of a person, which is manifested in his decisions, feelings, actions, assessments. In the case of Vasyl Stus’s personality, the answer may be: Vasil Stus acts, perceives and reacts acutely, vulnerablely, expansively, focusing on internal personal factors and permanently defending himself on many levels: linguistic, mental, ideological, physical. The defense position in which Stus is in relation to the real world (the position of a typical introvert) forms his specific defense system ‒ ethical, especially when considering the fact that he has to defend his own position throughout his life. In the case of Vasyl Stus, ethical maximalism is a well-defined imperative in the realm of ethics in general and one’s own behavior. Basically it is about Vasyl Stus as a typical expressionist artist. Another perspective of Vasyl Stus defensive position is the creative process which, according to the metaphorical commentary of the writer, is his support in the conditions of constant defense. In the current circumstances, an artificially created subjective world, an artistic one where the inner reality is seen as much more important, becomes of great importance to Vasyl Stus. From a psychological standpoint, it is about the movement of the psychic energy of the author towards the inner world – the way the mechanism of introversion works. Prone to loneliness, the tacit and humble nature of Vasyl Stus in the situation of prisoner prison, the exile is as far removed from reality and focuses on his creative work as circumstances permit.

Keep out! No entry! Exploring the Soviet military landscape of the coast of Estonia

During the Soviet occupation of 1945-1991, Estonia became a Soviet Republic and was cut off from open contact with the Western world. The Estonian coastline was now the outer border of the Soviet Union and part of the Iron Curtain. On the coast of the Baltic Sea this was less visible than in some places (e.g. the Berlin wall), but the military control was no less restrictive. The coastal areas were under military control and accessible only with special permits – so often the inhabitants had to leave and their homes were taken over by the Soviet military or abandoned. Military installations also marked the Soviet security zone. There was a massive construction programme of artillery defensive positions along the coastline. As the last Soviet troops left Estonia in 1994, the Soviet military installations were left to the Estonian Republic. Most were stripped of anything useful and abandoned. Many of these objects or complexes are still visible in the landscape but most are forgotten and ruined. They are not yet seen as a part of Estonian heritage and are fast disappearing. A study of a section of the NE coast of Estonia has identified a military landscape along with the former closed city of Sillamäe (where uranium was refined). Mapping of the defence structures, assessment of their condition and their visible presence reveals a distinctive military landscape alongside collectivised agriculture, where residential quarters, roads and communications formed a unique complex. Interviews with local residents reveal how the zone and the restrictions were ever present in their lives and generally they are not interested in them or their preservation; younger interviewees with no memory view the remains as curiosities; there is the beginning of interest in them as part of a “dissonant heritage”.

AGGRESSION IN PROFESSIONAL FEMALE DEFENDER SOCCER PLAYERS

The goal of the present study was to investigate the effect of competition on brain activity representing aggression. Quantitative electroencephalograms (QEEGs) of Thai professional female soccer team players were analyzed in terms of aggression. The QEEGs of 17 soccer players were recorded three times: twice before a competition (once per week) and one week after the competition. There was a significant increase in the beta frequency band associated with the Fp1, Fp2, F7, and F8 positions as the competition approached. The changes in brain activity were observed in two patterns: the first was an increase in the intensity level of brain processing (presented in terms of brain topographic maps as absolute power), and the second was the magnitude of the amplitude at each of the EEG channels between the hemispheres (presented in terms of brain connectivity as amplitude asymmetry). Consequently, QEEG values were examined as they related to aggression. In the statistical analysis, paired-sample t tests confirmed that an aggressive phenomenon occurred as the competition approached. In addition, the aggressive phenomenon was found in the brain activity of players with defensive soccer positions.

Effects of Game Characteristics and Player Positions on Concussion Incidence and Severity in Professional Football.

Background:Increasing efforts have been made to reduce the incidence and severity of concussion in high-contact sports. Despite these efforts, a relative lack of knowledge is available regarding modulating factors affecting concussion injury.Purpose:To analyze the potential influence of game characteristics and outcomes on concussion incidence and severity in professional football.Study Design:Descriptive epidemiology study.Methods:PBS Frontline Concussion Watch was used to collect concussion injury data from regular-season games of 32 National Football League (NFL) teams from 2012 to 2015. Game characteristic variables such as rushing and passing attempts, turnovers, and margin of victory were collected from ESPN. Analysis included descriptive statistics, analysis of variance, t tests, and correlation tests.Results:Away teams demonstrated a significantly greater concussion incidence per game than home teams. Losing teams had a significantly greater concussion incidence per game than winning teams. Being both the away team and the losing team appeared to have an additive effect. The home-versus-away and win-versus-loss effects were significant for offensive but not defensive positions. Within individual positions, significantly greater concussion incidence was associated with tight ends, running backs, wide receivers, and cornerbacks. When running versus passing positions were compared, passing positions (wide receiver, tight end, cornerback, safety) had significantly greater concussion incidence. A total of 626 games were missed as a result of reported concussions. Away teams had significantly more games missed due to concussion when they lost. Play time did not significantly differ before or after concussion injury. Other game characteristic variables did not significantly affect concussion frequency or intensity.Conclusion:Position, game location, and game outcome affect concussion incidence for professional football players. In a subset of analyses, the number of games missed aligned with concussion incidence, but this appeared to be an imperfect measure. These findings highlight new factors that may modulate concussion incidence and merit further study on how they may influence concussion evaluation.

Reshaping the Political Order in Israel, 1965–1967

This article examines the major changes in the Israeli political arena, on both the left and right, in the two years before the 1967 War. The shift was marked by the establishment in 1965 of the right-wing Gahal (the Herut-Liberal bloc) and of the Labor Alignment, the semi-merger of Israel’s two main left-wing parties, Mapai and Ahdut HaAvodah. Some dissatisfied Mapai members broke away from the Alignment and formed a new party, Rafi, under the leadership of David Ben-Gurion. They did not gain nearly enough Knesset seats to take power in the November 1965 election, but Rafi did become part of the emergency national unity government that was formed in June 1967, due largely to the weak position of Levi Eshkol as prime minister. This enabled Rafi’s Moshe Dayan to assume the minister of defense position on the eve of the Six-Day War, which began on 5 June 1967.

The GM-regulation game – the case of Hungary

Hungary, this small and open economy with limited natural resources, tries to build its future on creativity and innovation. At the same time, the country has declared in its basic law a categorical prohibition on the application of genetically modified organisms. The aim of this study is to explain the causes of this obvious contradiction. The collection of expert estimations regarding the relative positions and attitudes of different actors has been carried out in the form of face-to-face interviews with 67 stakeholders in the agri-food sector, following a strictly neutral approach, not taking into consideration whether the respondents have taken positions for or against the application of genetically modified crops. In order to define the key actors in the GM regulation debate, their mutual influences and their goals. Based on this information, a quantitative model has been developed to determine the system of interests of different actors and the coalition(s) which develop among them around different goals. The results of the analysis emphasise that a wide coalition of anti-GMO actors has formed, consisting of researchers, NGOs, GM-free certifiers, the media and the parliamentary parties. However, their interests are quite different, as is their natural reluctance to accept new, partially unknown technology. The results of our investigations support the practical applicability of strategic position analysis, supported by modern expert-opinion based quantitative methods. The application of this approach offers a favourable possibility to determine the positions of various actors. Under these conditions, there is an urgent need to change the communication strategy of pro-GMO scientists and other stakeholders and instead of taking a defensive position, pro-active communication should be adopted.