Territories In East Research Articles

INTEGRATION AND COMPARISON OF CLOSE-RANGE SFM METHODOLOGIES FOR THE ANALYSIS AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE HISTORICAL CITY CENTER OF BETHLEHEM

Abstract. The present paper illustrates a part of the methodological process of image-based acquisition developed for the documentation of the historical city center of Bethlehem, in the Middle East territory. The first mission of research activities, developed inside the international cooperation project “Management and control of urban growth for the development of heritage and improvement of life in the city of Bethlehem” (2018–2021), coordinated by University of Pavia in collaboration with the Municipality of Pavia and financed with the contribution of AICS (Italian Agency for Cooperation and Development), has been carried on through combined application of digital instruments, TLS and UAV, with the aim of developing “smart”, low-cost and rapid execution procedures for the production of a reliable three-dimensional model of the historic city center. The paper shows the application of different photogrammetric survey campaigns in a portion of the historical town, acquisition problems and tests of morphometrical reliability of each output, in order to develop a general SfM database consisting of different definition levels of the photogrammetric models of historical city center.

Morphological and molecular characterisation of Chitwoodius coffeae sp. n. (Dorylaimida: Tylencholaimidae) from Vietnam, with a revised taxonomy of the genus

Summary Chitwoodius coffeae sp. n. is described, including SEM observations and molecular (D2-D3 expansion segment of the rDNA 28S) analysis, from a coffee plantation in the Central Highlands of Vietnam. The new species is characterised by its 1.69-2.01 mm long body in females and 1.29-1.51 mm in males, lip region offset by deep constriction and 15-17 μm broad, odontostyle 27-30 μm long, neck 340-473 μm long, pharyngeal expansion occupying 52-54% of total neck length, uterus a simple tube-like structure 68-106 μm long, vulva longitudinal (V = 54-59), tail short and rounded conoid (20-28 μm, c = 54-88, c′ = 0.6-0.8) with a nearly terminal projection of inner cuticle layer, spicules 60-64 μm long, and 7-10 spaced ventromedian supplements without hiatus. SEM pictures, available for the first time for a representative of the genus, show a hexagonal (nearly hexastellate) oral field divided into six sectors by the existence of six deep incisures. Molecular analyses, also presented for the first time for a representative of the genus, results in a narrow evolutionary relationship among Chitwoodius and Tylencholaimus, and supports the monophyly of the Tylencholaimidae. This is the first record of Chitwoodius in Asian Far East territories. Chitwoodius ahmadi sp. n. is proposed for a misattributed population of C. seshadrii.

North Pontic Indo-Europeans in Troy

The paper contains the text of author’s lecture at the conference “Trojan colloquium” which took place in Kyiv in May, 30th, 2018. The questions of connections between ancient Asia Minor population and North Pontic region are considered on the base of archaeological sources and Indo-European studies. The lower Troy layers contain the traces of several invasions of Anatolian group of Indo-European peoples from the Balkans (the Hittites, Palayans, Luwians) and also the Phrygian and Armenian ancestors. They had been formed in the Danube River region in the 4th millennium BCE under the influence of Chalcolithic migrants from the North-Western Pontic region. Migration of the Hittites-Luwians from Balkans to Asia Minor in the 3rd millennium BCE was a part of great spread of Indo-European tribes in the Chalcolithic-Bronze Era from two centers of Indo-European ethno-genesis which situated in the north of Central Europe and in the North Pontic region. The fall of Homer’s Troy (layer VІІа) clashes with the invasion of “sea people” and the destruction of the Hittite Kingdom (about 1200 BCE). A leading role, in opinion of I. Diakonov and L. Klein, in Troy’s fall and in the Hittite Empire disintegration was played not by Mycenaean Greeks, but by Phrygian and Armenian ancestors, militant “musks” of the Assyrian sources. During the invasion of “Sea Peoples” they came to Asia Minor from the West — from the Balkans. The beginning of the mentioned ethnic groups formation was linked with the Lower Danube and the North-Western Pontic region, in particular, with Usatovo-Chornavoda II cultures population. Traces of the contacts of native languages: Thracian, Phrygian, Armenian, Greek with the Indo-Iranians bind them to Northern Pontic region. Just here the majority of researchers place the Indo-Iranian motherland, the ancestors of whom they consider the Yamna and Catacomb cultures population. Archaeological and literary sources testify the participating in the Asia Minor ancient history of three more peoples from the North Pontic Steppe — Sabatinovka culture tribes, Cimmerians and Scythians. “Sabatinians” apparently took part in the invasion of “Sea Peoples” which is proved by finds of bronze weapons, typical for the final Bronze Age of the North Pontic region, at the Middle East territory. Cimmerians in 675 BCE destroyed the Phrygian state with the capital of Gordion and founded the Gammira state. The latter was destroyed in 605 BCE by Scythians who had come to Asia Minor, as well as the Cimmerians, through the Caucasus.

Actual Design Technologies as a Method for Solving Problems of the First Stage of Landscaping (By Example of a Project of Implementing the State Policy Concerning the Far East Territory Development)

The urgency of the analyzed problem is connected with a large scale project of developing unpopulated territories in the Far East. The core of the project is concluded in the allotment of one hectare piece of land for unlimited use, the target of the project is small business, farming, and tourism development, etc. The aim of the given article is to analyze the problems connected with the new territories development. The main problem is a systemless and haphazard forming homesteads and constructions. The use of projects made by young designers’ associations, student architect design teams, and industrial artists’ teams can grow into a method in solving the above mentioned problems. The main accent in this case is on a collective effort to create innovation residential areas. An example of such efforts can be the concepts developed and tested by the Chair of Art Design and Art History members: a training constructor for landscaping, conceptual models of new type residential areas “Nebo” (“Sky”) and “Priroda” (“Nature”). The models display acquiring mastery of primary skills of design, composing large scale elements, determining basic factors in interrelation of space and form, and understanding the intricacy of a problem to create a new, aesthetically ideal fragment of the world on a piece of land not large in size. The article can become a basis of the content that allows quick familiarizing with actual concepts and methods in solving problems of landscaping of individual homesteads, provided kinds of activities are taken into account. Cognitive methods for mastering design and development fundamentals, game technologies, and actual forms of visualization are to become an efficient vehicle for creating a radically new image of the Far East region.

Quinine, Whisky, and Epsom Salts: Amateur Medical Treatment in the White Settler Communities of British East and South-Central Africa, 1890–1939

Summary Between 1890 and 1939, many migrants settled in rural areas in Britain’s newly occupied territories in East and South-Central Africa. A number of these settlers produced memoirs about their lives in colonial Africa, many of which contain rich domestic detail, including about health and home medical treatment. This paper examines a selection of memoirs by women who lived in rural British East and South-Central Africa. First, it explores the literary presentation of disease, injury and home treatment in these memoirs, arguing that anecdotes about health played powerful and complex roles. Secondly, it illustrates that most authors regularly treated injuries and illnesses for themselves and their families, making home treatment an important part of their health care. Lastly, it highlights that these memoirs reveal a distinctive set of medicines and techniques used for amateur medical treatment. Overall, this paper positions amateur medical practice as an essential element of health care in the region.

Element status of people living in the Middle East territory

Element status of people living in the Middle East territory

Date Palm Biotechnology: Recent Research an Overview

Date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) is among the earliest fruit crops cultivated in the arid Arab Peninsula, North Africa, and Middle East territories. Dates are a significant source of food and revenue for Middle East and North Africa's local communities. It has distinctive features of biology and development that require special methods of reproduction, culture and governance. In varying date-growing regions, there are thousands of date plant cultivars and varieties. The lengthy life cycle, long juvenile lifespan, and date palm dioecism produce cultivation difficult. Every year, the percentage of crop genomes sequenced has continued to increase. The incredible rate at which DNA samples become accessible is mainly due to the enhancement in cost-and speed-related sequencing techniques. Modern sequencing techniques enable the sequencing at realistic price of various cultivars of tiny plant genomes. Although many of the published genomes are deemed incomplete, they have nevertheless proven to be useful instruments for understanding significant plant characteristics such as fruit maturation, grain characteristics and adaptation of flowering time, here we review date palm genomic studies and determine its genomics element.

The Moving Location of Empire: Indirect Rule, International Law, and theBantu Educational Kinema Experiment

AbstractBetween 1935 and 1937, the International Missionary Council conducted theBantu Educational Kinema Experiment. The objective was to produce silent educational films and screen them to ‘native’ people via mobile cinemas in the British territories in East and Central Africa. Embracing the principle of ‘indirect rule’, and its role in training colonial subjects in economic self-sufficiency and political self-rule, as then advocated by leading colonial figures and the League of Nations, the films strived to capture ‘the native point of view’ through an ‘ethnographic sensitivity’ towards local cultures, concerns and needs. Hoping to educate the natives from ‘within’, they used local actors, familiar locations and pedagogical instructions that were believed to meet the target audience's cognitive capacity. Though in many respects unsuccessful, the experiment cemented the use of cinema in the late colonial project and, more importantly, embodied the clear move at the time towards a more dynamic and disaggregated, yet perhaps never fully post-imperial, international order. I argue in this article that theBantu Experimentis thus a telling instance through which to examine both the mobility and multiplicity of late imperial locations and the system of modern international administration that emerged during the interwar period. I suggest that this mobility and multiplicity continue to characterize the workings of today's international order, indicating the key role that ‘indirect rule’, as a silent principle of international law, still plays in its functioning today.

The monitoring program of grapevine phytoplasmas in Tuscany (Italy): Results of a four year survey

Quantitative PCR protocols for phytoplasma detection were used to monitor grapevine yellows (GY) in 373 vineyards located in nine Tuscan districts. Among more than 70,000 plants visually monitored, 1.867 plants were sampled and “flavescence doree” phytoplasmas (FD) were detected in 122 plants and mainly identified as trains belonging to 16SrV-C subgroup. The “bois noir” (BN) phytoplasma was found in 734 samples, with prevalence of tufB type-b strains. The 2013–2015 monitoring program was strongly influenced by the first survey (2012) in which FD was found consistently in the North West (15 samples), whereas only a few cases were observed in the East territory (2 samples). Both areas were thoroughly monitored in the following years: few foci were found in the East (2 in 2014, 1 in 2015), while several infected areas were found in the North West (6, 10 and 22 foci in 2013, 2014 and 2015, respectively). Definitely, the novel FD foci detected in the survey (17, 6, 12 and 23 in each year of survey) and the widespread of BN, suggest a dangerous distribution of GY in Tuscany.

Современная российская политика на Ближнем Востоке: стратегические цели и тактические действия

The article analyzes the features of the situation in the Middle East in the modern world. Special emphasis is placed on consideration of the peculiarities of the perception of the region by representatives of the great powers in historical retrospect. To put these peculiarities objectively, the author uses comparative and historical-descriptive methods. The article also reveals specific causes and consequences of the strategic interest of the great powers towards the Middle East. Later the author explains the possibilities of a new approach to the region on the part of modern Russia and presents the analysis of archival materials shedding light on the actions of the great powers in relation to the Middle East in retrospect and in the near future. This allows to consider a new Concept of Russia’s foreign policy and the possibility of its implementation in the Greater Middle East in the foreseeable future. The article describes new technologies of political actions of the Russian Federation in the Middle East region, taking into account the factor of peacemaking and the creation of normal living conditions for the countries and peoples of the Greater Middle East. The specific peacekeeping efforts of the Russian Federation are compared with the policies of other great powers in the region. This allow to forge the assessment of the broad interpretation of the Greater Middle East in contemporary world politics. Furthermore, an attempt is made to clearly define strategic goals and characterize the patterns of tactical actions of the Russian government within the entire Middle East territory. This preconditions the need to expand the Russian presence not only in the Greater Middle East as well as in other turbulent zones. The article underlines the importance of consistency in the actions of effective crisis diplomacy and multilateral cooperation of the Russian Federation in the region and throughout the world.

Design and technical characteristics of transport airplane for arctic exploration

The geographic location of the Russian Federation determines regional apartness of the Arctic and Far East territories which are mostly isolated. The necessity of development of the Russian North Polar regions calls for the development of transport infrastructure and specifies requirements to flight characteristics of regional airplanes, which requires new research and development solutions. Positioning the Arctic territory as an exclusive economic zone on the world political arena necessitates the development of the regional transport network including all-cargo and passenger services for sustainable development of the region. An up-to-date approach to aircraft design should be based on Arctic exploiation requirements, infrastructure-climate limitations and design methods that include methods of moment-inertia analysis, structural-parametric analysis of Arctic-based aircraft taking into account the choice of rational moment-inertia configuration. Synthesizing the limitations and required operation characteristics we designed an Arctic-based airplane that can perform transport operations in the Russian Arctic zone safely and successfully.

THE SOVIET KOREANS IN THE POLITICAL REPRESSION ERA OF THE 1930S

The report presents an analysis of the deconstructive policy of the USSR, the peak, which was occurred in 1937-1938. Soviet Koreans, like the entire Soviet people was subject to repressive actions, which includes on the charge of “espionage in favor of Japan”, as well as forced relocation by account of ethnic descent. The author draws a bond between political repressions and deportations of Koreans to the Central Asia. Course of events in the Far East in 1930s gave the opportunity to the Soviet authorities run a planned campaign on the charge of Korean population in “espionage in favor of Japan”. While playing with main international opponent in the Far East - with Japan, the Soviet Government was concern oneself with allaround training to perception of this myth. In the meantime, machinery of NKVD of the USSR, under the auspices of N. Yezhov, with the support of I. Stalin the juridical base for deportation of Korean population was formed from the Far East territory, in other words, political repressions in their capacity as such were subject to one goal - on a charge of the whole Korean nation in “espionage in favor of Japan”.

Цари и царица скифского царского Александропольского кургана (половозрастной состав погребенных)

According to V.G. Moiseyev's new anthropological polo-age definitions, skulls from the Central tomb of the Aleksandropol’sky kurgan belong to the man enough advanced age for 50 years or more ("tsar"), and the young woman at the age of 20-35 years ("tsarina"). Thanking these definitions the contradiction between structure buried and character of accompanying things is liquidated. K. Baer and B.V. Firshtejn have established heterogeneity of anthropological structure of the buried in Aleksandropol’sky kurgan. "The royal" group buried of kurgan tombs finds out similarity with Sauromatians of the Lover Volga region. These conclusions prove to be true new mass anthropological materials from the Scythian kurgan s investigated in 1960-1990. S.I. Kruts has established existence in Scythia group of the Scythian population at which similarity to the population of east territories, in particular, with Sauromatians of the Lover Volga region and Saka of Northern and the Central Kazakhstan is traced. Such lines of similarity in Northern Black Sea Coast are traced since Prescythian time - Novocherkassk stage VIII-VII centuries BC.

Review of the genus Abiskomyia Edwards (Diptera: Chironomidae:Orthocladiinae), with description of new taxa from the Russian Far East and bordering territories.

A systematic review of the genus Abiskomyia Edwards, 1937 is presented based on materials from the Russian Far East and bordering territories. Three new species: A. korbokhon sp. nov., A. levanidovi sp. nov., A. rivalis sp. nov. and one subspecies A. virgo orientalis subsp. nov. are described and figured. Emended generic diagnoses and keys to determination of adult males, pupae and fourth instar larvae of all known species and subspecies of the Abiskomyia of the Palaearctic region are provided.

Mesopotamia – ‘The Promised Land’: The Jewish Territorial Organization Project in the Bilād Al-Rāfidayn and the Question of Palestine, 1899–1917

At the beginning of the twentieth century attempts were made by the Zionist Organization and the Jewish Territorial Organization (JTO) to promote Jewish settlement in the region between the two rivers, the Euphrates and the Tigris. The settlement plans never reached the practical stage, and the plan disappeared without a trace. One hundred thousand Jews from Russia were not sent as planned in the train from Odessa to Iraq, and Jewish settlements were not established in it. Nevertheless, although the settlement plan was never carried out, it had great import not on the practical level but on the ideological one. The article is divided into three parts. The first part is an attempt to gain an in-depth understanding of Territorialist ideology and of Zionist thinking; the second part traces the efforts of the Zionist Movement and of the JTO to promote a comprehensive settlement plan in Mesopotamia; the third and last part examines the arguments and explanations of the Territorialists against Palestine and for Mesopotamia and other territories in East and Southwest Africa, Canada and Australia.

Current epidemiological HIV/AIDS situation in Republic of Moldova

In Republic of Moldova during 1987-2013, there were 8557 reported HIV+ cases, of which 2464 (28.8%) developed AIDS, 1752 (20.5%) died. Newly, 700-750 HIV positive cases are registered per year. The biggest number of HIV + is found at the age 25-39. In relation to the way of transmission, the majority are infected by heterosexual contacts with tendency of increase, from 5.7% in 2000 to 91.4%. The next is among intravenous drug users (IDUs) with tendency of decrease from 83.7% in 2000 to 5% in 2013. There are 5249 HIV+ persons in active evidence (77.13% of those who are alive), 3781 men and 3024 women. Of these, 2493 persons, including 82 children are currently on antiretroviral treatment. The incidence in 2013 was 17.99 per 100,000 population, in the eastern regions – 46.91. The prevalence at January 1, 2014 constituted 173.43 per 100,000 population, in the eastern regions – 463.25. The large number of HIV newly infected cases in the east territories can be explained through limited access of the population to the prevention programmes, including population with high risk of infection. Every year, there are registered about 80-90 cases of HIV infection among pregnant women. The rate of mother to child transmission in 2013 was 1.9%. The Integrated Bio-Behavioral Study in key populations at higher risk was done in 2012-2013. From IDUs living in Chisinau, during the last year, 47.3% of the respondents took an HIV test and knew the result of the last test. HIV prevalence was 8.5% (16.4 in 2009). From commercial sex workers living in Chisinau, during the last year 22.1% of respondents reported having taken an HIV test and knowing the result. HIV prevalence was 11.6% (6.1 in 2009). From men who have sex with men, living in Chisinau, during the last year, 24.3% of the respondents took an HIV test and knew the result of the last test. HIV prevalence was 5.4% (1.7 in 2009). The Republic of Moldova is classified as a concentrated/low prevalence country with a concentrated HIV epidemic in key populations such as injecting drug users and their regular sexual partners, commercial sex workers and men who have sex with men and there is an evidence of spread of the infection in the general population.

The monastery of the Bernadines at Dubno in the light of little-known archival sources

The first half of the17th century is characterized by active building of new catholic churches and monasteries on the east territories (“kresach”) of the Polish Commonwelth. One of the most noticeable foundlings, Bernardine monastery in Dubno town in Volhynia, was initiated by Janusz Ostrogski, the last representative of this Ukrainian princely family, which was turned to the catholic faith. Unfortunately after a few repairs and alterations during 18 – 20th centuries this monastery complex reached to our time with the considerable losses of its architectural image. Available historical information on this known architectural monument is substantially supplemented by the little-known sources, which was opened by author in the archive’s collections of Petersburg and Kyiv. They allow completer to imagine and to estimate style of this architectural complex and than to prepare its graphic reconstruction in that state, in which he existed before the beginning of its scale alteration on the Orthodox church carried out by Russian power in 1875-1876.

Effect of Thermal Conductivity of the Soil Cover on the Air Temperature Dynamics under Natural Conditions and at Anthropogenic Loads

By the example of the southern Russian Far East territory, it was stated that a sign of the linear trend of the long-term air temperature variations in the warm and cold periods of the year depended essentially on the soil thermal conductivity. It was shown that the mechanism of the soil temperature fields’ formation was controlled by the Fourier heat condition equation. In this case, the modern anthropogenic loads on the soil cover can only slightly enhance or weaken the natural mechanism of forming the temperature fields of soil and air.

Actionable analysis of the accident at the fukushima-1 nuclear power plant (japan) and prediction of its consequences

The work done by the Technical Crisis Center at the Institute of Problems in the Safe Development of Nuclear Energy of the Russian Academy of Sciences on providing scientific-technical support to the National Control Center for Crisis Situations of the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations and Crisis Situation Center at Rosatom during the first few days and subsequent period after the accident at the Fukushima-1 NPP in Japan in March 2011 is described. The results of computer calculations of possible development of the situation in the power-generating units of the damaged NPP, predictions of the dynamics of the change of the radiation conditions near and at large distances from the NPP, right up to the Far East territory of our country as well estimates of the irradiation dose to the population are presented.

Sarcocornia hispanica (Chenopodiaceae), una especie nueva de la Península Ibérica.

A new hexaploid species of Sarcocornia A.J. Scott, S. hispanica, is described from south east territories of the Iberian Peninsula as a new species. The micro-, macromorphological and cytological features of this taxon are given.