Recent Russian Research Articles

APPROACHES TO EARLY DIAGNOSIS OF THYROID CANCER

Aim. To analyze modern literature dealing with the issues of finding highly informative modern methods of early diagnostics of malignant tumors of thyroid.Materials and methods. The study of recent Russian and foreign literature in the databases RSCI, Scopus, Web of Science, Pubmed has been carried out.Results.This article represents statistical information on the prevalence of this disease, age and gender peculiarities, modern international cytological classification of thyroid – Thyroid Bethesda Classification. The article shows diagnostic values of ultrasound, elastography, dopplerography, as well as fine needle aspiration biopsy with the subsequent cytological, immunocytochemical study, and molecular-genetic research. The advantages and disadvantages of existing methods of diagnostics of cancer of thyroid have been analyzed. High sensitivity and specificity of molecular genetic studies, which increases with application of diagnostic panels has been observed.Conclusion. Modern science has many methods for early diagnosis of malignant forms of thyroid disease, but none of them meets the modern requirements of practical health care. It justifies the importance of further search for sensitive, specific and available diagnostic methods of thyroid cancer.

Distinguishing Trauma

This article begins in response to Tatiana Vaizer’s 2014 article, also translated in this issue. It traces cases of trauma and violence through recent post-Soviet Russian poetry. Lvovsky distinguishes the generation of poets who were born in the early 1970s from those who were still children or even infants in the “traumatic” late 1980s and early 1990s, and he notes the signs of trauma being transmitted in their poetry. While challenging some of Vaisner’s basis premises and assumptions, the discussion provides a rich overview of relevant work by a number of younger poets.

The ethics of urban and epic Russian fantasy

ABSTRACTMoral paradigms are fundamental to most works of fantasy fiction. Two moral standpoints dominate recent Russian fantasy fiction and film: individualism and collectivism. Individualism believes in the superior value of personal experience, whereas collectivism prioritizes the benefit to the group. This article contrasts Sergei Luk'ianenko’s novella “Destiny” (Svoia sud'ba) with Timur Bekmambetov’s film adaptation Night Watch (Nochnoi dozor) to demonstrate that the moral paradigms of individualism and collectivism can be tied respectively to urban and epic subgenres of fantasy fiction. The author demonstrates that an inclination toward individualism in the urban “Destiny” and toward collectivism in the epic Night Watch leads to contrasting representations of alterity in the works. Individualist and collectivist orientations affect how the works comment on the human tendency to discriminate between oneself and others. The author uses examples from “Destiny” and Night Watch to argue that the narrative strategies associated with urban fantasy promote inclusive paradigms of alterity, whereas those associated with epic fantasy tend to advance confrontational mentalities.

Rethinking the Russian Orthodox Church and the Bolshevik Revolution

This article argues that, since the majority of Russians in 1917 belonged to the Orthodox Church, it is impossible to gain a full picture of the experience of the Revolution without taking into account the fate of Orthodoxy during the Revolution. Nevertheless, there has been no serious reassessment of the Orthodox Church in 1917–18 in English, and as a result most English-language scholars tend to fall back on older scholarship that is still driven by an outdated paradigm that ultimately derives from Soviet propaganda. Key recent Russian work on the subject is discussed to suggest new ways of understanding events. The old paradigm interpreted the Bolsheviks as progressive secularizers and the Church as counter-revolutionary. This article suggests rather that, during the first year of the revolution, both the church and the new state were shifting their policies towards one another until, by the autumn of 1918, the architects of the regime's policy towards the Church took a hard line against it.

Минимальная заработная плата как инструмент борьбы с бедностью: ожидаемые последствия реформы

Consistent growth of the minimum wage is one of the important issues in recent Russian legislation. In May 2018 the minimum wage was increased up to the value of the subsistence minimum. In this paper we estimate the expected impact of the growth of the minimum wage on poverty, not taking into account possible negative effect on employment. According to the results obtained, even a significant increase in minimum wages will not lead to a noticeable poverty reduction. The main reason lies in the differences between the concepts of poverty, defined at the household level, and low wages, determined individually. If the minimum wage grows to the subsistence minimum, only a little more than a quarter of all additional payments will go to poor households. At the same time, almost half of the benefi ciaries of the growth of the minimum wage live in formally non-poor families with incomes that slightly exceed the poverty line. A greater impact on poverty can be achieved by determining the minimum wage on the basis of regional subsistence minimum values. However the main emphasis in overcoming poverty should be made on targeted programs, in which assistance is provided taking into account household incomes rather than individual incomes of workers, as in the case of minimum wage increase.

Seeing the Bigger Picture: Conspiratorial Revisions of World War II History in Recent Russian Cinema

This article analyzes revisions of World War II history in recent Russian cinema and television, including the feature filmThe Match(Andrei Maliukov, 2012),Spy (Aleksei Andrianov, 2012), and the television seriesLiquidation(Sergei Ursuliak, 2007). All these productions rely on the logic of conspiracy theory for their reimaginations of war history: pivotal developments during the war or its aftermath are presented as the result of subterranean manipulations by enemies or intelligence services. Through a narrative and visual analysis, the article shows how these films and series use the notion of conspiracy to reformat the contexts of wartime events and to place them within a speculative “bigger picture.” In doing so, they infer that what we know about the past is merely a part or effect of larger, hidden designs. Finally, the article situates these findings within a wider “reconciliation with the Soviet” in Putin-era culture, which increasingly centers on the remembrance of World War II.

О недавних русских переводах работ Соломона Маймона

О недавних русских переводах работ Соломона Маймона

Explaining Party Support in the 2016 Russian State Duma Election

Because of the predicable outcomes of recent Russian elections, voters are often characterized as passive actors in the electoral process. However, as we show in this article, political and social factors still underpin the motivations for people’s voting behavior. The article analyzes voting behavior in the 2016 State Duma election, using a post-election, nationally representative survey to assess the differences between the four parliamentary parties’ support bases. It finds that voting decisions in the 2016 election were strongly related to voters’ attitudes to the national president, Vladimir Putin, as well as to their attitudes to corruption and the economic situation. Voters who were more positive to the president and viewed the economic crisis more benignly were more likely to vote for the ‘party of power’, United Russia. Moreover, the four parties’ electorates had distinctive social profiles that were consistent with long-term patterns established in previous State Duma elections.

Russian S&T Foresight 2030: identifying new drivers of growth

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to present the results of the recent Russian Science and Technology Foresight – a full-fledged study targeted at the identification of the most promising areas of science and technology (S&T) development in Russia towards 2030 to ensure the realisation of the nation’s competitive advantages. It was organised as a complex project involving dozens of organizations performing particular tasks under the overall coordination by the National Research University Higher School of Economics (HSE) and more than 2,000 experts in various S&T fields.Design/methodology/approachIts methodology embraced a set of qualitative and quantitative methods and combined technology push and market pool approaches. For seven S&T areas (information and communication technologies, biotechnologies, medicine and health, new materials and nanotechnologies, rational use of nature, transportation and space systems, energy efficiency and energy saving), the following types of results have been obtained: global trends, national challenges and windows of opportunities; new markets and niches; innovation products and services; prospective technologies and R&D fields (50 thematic groups, over 1,000 items for all areas); assessment of the country’s positions vis-à-vis global leaders; recommendations for S&T and innovation policies.FindingsThe paper covers prospective drivers of economic growth and relevant implications for anticipatory evidence-based policy; discussions of national challenges and building a common vision of the future among key stakeholders; the role of Foresight in particular as a communication platform that helps integrating stakeholder interests; strengthening existing and developing new capacities to increase national competitiveness; and to move up along existing and emerging global value chains.Originality/valueThe Russian S&T Foresight, being deeply integrated in the national policy, can be considered as an exemplar tool for “wiring up” the national innovation system (NIS) of an emerging economy with its specific features and problems facing large-scale challenges.

Taking cinematic aesthetics into outer space: Dreaming of Space and Paper Soldier

Abstract This article takes up Rancière’s conceptualization of the regimes of art in order to explore what might be left of art, if the scale of the world is expanded to the cosmos, rather than constrained to earth. Starting from the assertion that the beginning of the space age may be considered an event that radically reshapes the coordinates of subjectivity, the paper discusses its reverberations in the realm of aesthetics. The text focuses on two recent Russian films about the beginning of the space age: Dreaming of Space (2005) and Paper Soldier (2008). Both films are examined as statements – ones that are contextually bound and yet that harbour an element of excess – rather than as mere representations of a certain socio-cultural context.

From Moscow with coercion: Russian deterrence theory and strategic culture

ABSTRACTThe recent Russian approach to strategy has linked nuclear, conventional and informational (cyber) tools of influence into one integrated mechanism. The article traces the intellectual history of this Russian cross-domain concept, discusses its essence and highlights its destabilising effects. By analysing a case outside of Western strategic thought, it demonstrates how strategic concepts evolve differently in various cultural realms and argues for a tailored approach for exploring coercion policies of different actors. The findings of the study are applicable beyond the Russian case, and relevant to scholars and actors exploring, utilising or responding to cross-domain coercion strategy.

The role of mycoplasma infection (M. hominis and U. urealyticum) in inflammatory diseases of the genitourinary system the debate continues

The article presents current views on urogenital diseases caused by M. hominis and U. urealyticum. Particular attention is paid to concurrent (co-occurring) urogenital infections. The review reports the data from epidemiological studies and outlines recent Russian and international guidelines and consensuses on managing patients with urogenital inflammatory diseases. The importance of adequate diagnosis and rational therapy of urogenital infections is discussed.

Revolutions Remembered: the Golden Mask in Moscow 2017

The 2017 Golden Mask and National Theatre Award and Festival in Moscow offered, as it usually does, a wide range of large- and small-scale theatre, musical theatre, opera, ballet, contemporary dance, and puppetry – a month and more of intensive activity that keeps its annually changing jury on its toes. Maria Shevtsova provides an overview of the Russian Case: a concentration of productions for foreign producers and critics that reflects quite accurately the Golden Mask's complete spoken theatre selection (as distinct from other forms of theatre such as dance). She observes that a cluster of productions refers to rebellions and revolutions that preceded the 1917 October Revolution, though none deals directly with that event. Remaining works allude in various ways to more recent Russian and global history, showing how its makers are sensitive to a past that filters through the more than troubling present. Maria Shevtsova, Professor at Goldsmiths, University of London, is co-editor of New Theatre Quarterly.

The Baltic states should adopt the self-defence pinpricks doctrine: the “accumulation of events” threshold as a deterrent to Russian hybrid warfare

AbstractThis article addresses a key legal debate that the Baltic NATO members ought to engage in: what constitutes an “armed attack” and what interpretation should be made of this concept in order to deter recent Russian hybrid warfare strategies. These questions are considered in connection with a more general issue regarding the law of self-defence: the question of what constitutes an armed attack in international law. This article will try to present a broad definition and context of Russian hybrid warfare and how it is challenging traditional jus ad bellum paradigms. Too few policy-makers have paid detailed attention to the new Russian “lawfare” in Ukraine, using specific military and non-military tactics in order to blur the lines between “armed attack” and mere political intervention. Meanwhile, legal scholars detach their analysis from actual policy-serving considerations and tend to acquiesce to some very restrictive theories of the use force in self-defence. For some countries, like the Baltic ones, facing strategic exposure – because of both threatening neighbours and low military capacities – the jus ad bellum paradigm should not be construed as another layer of obstacle.

The bear and the EU-China-US triangle: transatlantic and Russian influences on EU’s “pivot to Asia”

This chapter argues that in the case of the EU’s efforts to undertake a “Pivot to Asia”, added explanatory salience can be achieved by recognising firstly the importance of the transatlantic factor and the US’ own rebalance policies. Secondly, based on a model where the USA is regarded as a significant variable in the EU-China relationship, one may more saliently discern the influence of Russia by assessing its impact on the triangular EU-China-US relationship, both directly and indirectly. Addressing these issues in European policymaking, the chapter will be constituted of two main parts. In the first section, the triangular nature of European foreign policies towards China is introduced, addressing the transatlantic factor in EU-China relations. Based on research on the European policy debates on EU’s Asia policies and the American Pivot to Asia, the section will illustrate the degree to which EU policy initiatives are conceived as playing out on a range from cooperation to competition with the US’ rebalance initiatives. In the second section, the chapter will proceed to investigate a factor that is affecting, although to different degrees, all three corners of the triangular political context in which European China policies are being shaped, namely the effects of recent Russian actions in the Eurasian theatre. The analysis demonstrates how European policymakers struggle to define their place in the EU-China-US triangle. The dynamics of the ongoing Asian power shift highlights the dilemmas for the European continent, as it seeks to balance its relations in a shifting geopolitical landscape.

SINGLE-PORT VIDEO-ASSISTED THORACOSCOPIC LOBECTOMIES IN SURGICAL TREATMENT FOR LUNG CANCER

This paper summarizes recent Russian and international literature describing endoscopic surgical methods in lung cancer management, particularly, video-assisted lung anatomic resection with different approaches. Own experience of 72 video-assisted single-port lobectomies of stage I-II lung cancer patients is presented. The mean operating time in the second part of the learning curve (40 last procedures) was 90.3, statistically not different from the time of open procedure. Mean blood loss was 98,3 ml. Mean number of lymph nodes was similar in video-assisted single port and open group (14,2 vs 14,8). The conversion rate was 2,8% (2 cases). Only 5 (6,9%) non-lethal complication were associated with thoracoscopic procedure -pneumonia and 4 cases of arrhythmias. The duration of air leak was 2,3 days. The duration of chest drain use was 4,6 days. Postoperative pain was minimal, pain-killers were used not more than 2-3 days after surgery. Patients were ready to be discharges in 5, 8 days.

Multiset-Algebraic Cryptanalysis of Reduced Kuznyechik, Khazad, and secret SPNs

We devise the first closed formula for the number of rounds of a blockcipher with secret components so that these components can be revealed using multiset, algebraic-degree, or division-integral properties, which in this case are equivalent. Using the new result, we attack 7 (out of 9) rounds of Kuznyechik, the recent Russian blockcipher standard, thus halving its security margin. With the same technique we attack 6 (out of 8) rounds of Khazad, the legacy 64-bit blockcipher. Finally, we show how to cryptanalyze and find a decomposition of generic SPN construction for which the inner-components are secret. All the attacks are the best to date.

RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN SMOKING, CORONARY ARTERY DISEASE AND CARDIOVASCULAR RISK FACTORS (ESSE-RF IN THE KEMEROVO REGION)

Aim. To determine the relationships between smoking, coronary artery disease (CAD) and cardiovascular risk factors in the open population of Western Siberia. Methods . A sample of 1628 men and women aged 25 to 64 years was formed in the Kemerovo region as a part of the multicenter epidemiological study “Ep-idemiology of Cardiovascular Diseases and Their Risk Factors in the Russian Federation”. All patients were divided into three groups according to smoking status: non-smokers, ex-smokers and smokers. The following cardiovascular risk factors were analyzed: arterial hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, hypertriglyceridemia, hyperglycemia, overweight, diabetes mellitus, low educational status, unemployment. The statistical data were processed using the logistic regression analysis. The results are presented as odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CI). Results. Smoking among women was associated with low educational status (OR 1.92; 1.31-2.80) and unemployment (OR 1.51; 1.01-1.09), whereas ex-smoking / smoking with hypertriglyceridemia (OR 1.47; 1.1-2.14) and low educational status (OR 1.49; 1.102.02). Smoking among men was associated with re duced prevalence of overweight (OR 0.61; 0.41-0.91), low educational status (OR 2.92; 1.99-4.27) and unem-ployment (OR 1.86; 1.12-3.10), whereas ex-smoking / smoking with low educational status (OR 2.49; 1.763.52), and unemployment (OR 1.61; 1.01-2.59), smoking cessation with overweight (OR = 2.32; 1.37-3.94) and low educational status (OR 1.93, 95% CI 1.27-2.94). After eliminating the joint effect of modifying cardiovascular risk factors, only smoking in men was associated with increased risk of coronary artery disease (OR, 1.94; 1,01-3,73). Conclusion. The obtained associations between several cardiovascular risk factors are consistent with the recent Russian and foreign studies. The findings suggested smoking to be an independent risk factor for coronary artery disease as well as the factor associated with other cardiovascular risk factors.

Intragroup Variation of the Facial Skeleton in 16th–19th Century Rural Russian Populations in the Worldwide Context: A Principal Component Analysis

This article outlines a technique for comparing cranial samples by studying their individual variation patterns against the background of worldwide variation using the principal component analysis (PCA). The training set consisted of 357 male crania from 27 populations of Europe, Asia, and North America. Our measurement protocol included 14 linear dimensions of the facial skeleton. As a test set, we used four recent rural Russian samples, while several series representing Finno-Ugric and Baltic populations and those of central and northern Europe were employed as reference data. The variation in the training set, assessed by PCA without any discriminant statistical methods, shows a clear pattern of between-group differences. The individual variation within the samples is very informative, revealing marked differences between the four Russian samples. While those from Nikolskoye and Staraya Ladoga are morphologically homogeneous, that from Kozino is extremely heterogeneous: its variation encompasses virtually the entire Caucasoid range. Compared to European samples including Karelians and Finns, Russian samples excluding Kozino are more similar to the Mordvinian series than are other European groups including the western Finns. This, however, refers only to intragroup variation because at the group level the Russian samples display no Mordvinian tendency. On the other hand, we found no particular similarity between the Russians and the Sami. In general, Russians are no more “Mongoloid” than most other Europeans, but the presence of several crania evidencing a Mongoloid trait combination should be noted.

Языковая картина мира как лингвистическое понятие: обзор российских публикаций последних лет

Языковая картина мира как лингвистическое понятие: обзор российских публикаций последних лет