On The History of Soviet Military Psychology

Military psychology is a branch of psychology, which is in addition included among the military sciences. In it the psychological features of different kinds of military and, above all, of combat activity are studied in relation to social and historical conditions, military technology, personal qualities of the fighting men, and methods of military and political preparation. The general purpose of Soviet military psychology is to discover principles of human mental activity under the conditions of combat and of training for combat, and to use these principles for raising the fighting capacity of the Soviet armed forces.     

On the reported occurrence of a fusicoccin conjugate in maize cobs

The occurrence in immature maize cobs of a fusicoccin derivative, reported in 1980 by Russian workers, could not be confirmed. Extraction and fractionation procedures were identical to those used by the Soviet authors and the analysis of the fractions mainly relied on a very sensitive and specific radioimmunoassay. Possible reasons for these contradictory results are discussed.     

The new Russian diaspora ‐ an identity of its own? Possible identity trajectories for Russians in the former Soviet republic

The collapse of the unitary Soviet state has plunged its former citizens into a profound identity crisis. Particularly hard hit are the twenty‐five million Russians living in the non‐Russian successor states. Formerly members of the dominant nationality of a multinational state they have been turned into a new Russian diaspora. Whether in time they should come to regard themselves as Latvians (Ukrainians, Georgians, etc.) of Russian extraction or as Russians who happen to be living in Latvia, Ukraine, Georgia, etc. will clearly influence political relations both within and among the Soviet successor states. Identity formation is a prolonged process and is influenced by a number of factors. The author attempts to outline a typology of possible identity trajectories of the Russian diaspora and discusses a number of influential factors which are deemed important to the identity formation. These factors work very differently in the various non‐Russian successor states, and there is therefore no reason to believe that all Russians living outside the Russian Federation will develop the same identity. There is, however, good reason to expect that in the final outcome a very large number of them will develop an identity which sets them apart from the Russian core group.     

Immunotherapy against antibiotic-resistant bacteria: the Russian experience with an antistaphylococcal hyperimmune plasmaand immunoglobulin

The Russian experience with the preparation and clinical application of an antitoxic antistaphylococcal hyperimmune plasma and immunoglobulin is described. The immunotherapies were developed in the late 1960s and put into widespread use in the Soviet Union for the prophylaxis and treatment of sepsis, pneumonia, and other conditions caused by an epidemic of antibiotic-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.     

Scientific basis for the Soviet and Russian radiofrequency standards for the general public

The former Soviet Union (USSR) and the USA were the first countries to introduce standards limiting exposure to radiofrequency (RF) fields. However, the exposure limits in the USSR standards were always much lower than those in the USA and other countries. The objective of this article is to provide a history of the development of the Soviet and Russian RF standards. In addition, we summarize the scientific evidence used to develop the original USSR RF and subsequent Russian public health standards, as well as the mobile telecommunications standard published in 2003, but we do not critique them. We also describe the protective approaches used by the Soviet and Russian scientists for setting their limits. A translation of the papers of the key studies used to develop their standards is available in the online version of this publication. Bioelectromagnetics 33:623–633, 2012. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Trade in the Decade Following the Collapse of the USSR

In Soviet times, Moscow was a consumers’ oasis in a country of rampant scarcity. Millions of workers and peasants from all the free republics met in the capital of the unbreakable Union to stock up on delicacies, foreign goods, and all the things not available in the national hinterland. As new markets with a certain degree of specialization emerged, this introduced more stringent terms of trade and other measures aimed at eliminating the negative impact of commerce on the environment and improving the sanitary condition of the area, as well as improving traffic conditions and the general appearance of the environment. The authors analyze the space of commerce during the Soviet Union’s existence and after its collapse, and show how popular attitudes changed.     

Straight talk with...Valery Danilenko. Interviewed by Gary Peach

Russian medicine is-at long last-undergoing a renaissance. The country's rocky economic ride following the collapse of the Soviet Union disrupted its research rubric and impoverished its healthcare system. Now, however, the nation's leadership is spearheading various initiatives to reverse the situation. One of them, the US-Russian Scientific Forum, established two years ago by a bilateral presidential commission, hopes to bring improvements by facilitating public-private research in biomedicine and innovative drugs. The Forum, which on the Russian side is represented by the country's Ministry of Health and Social Development and the Russian Academy of Sciences, among others, held its inaugural planning meeting in late April in Moscow. Valery Danilenko, who is helping to spearhead the effort and also leads the biotechnology division at the Vavilov Institute of General Genetics in Moscow, told Nature Medicine about the meeting and Russia's hopes for the Forum. The interview was conducted in Russian and translated by the interviewer, Gary Peach.     

Prejudice in the former Soviet Union

Research in the United States and Europe has focused on the prejudice of majority groups towards minority groups, the implication somehow being that majority groups were more prejudiced than minority groups. In the former Soviet Union, ethnic environments were more complex; the same ethnic group could be a majority in one region but a minority in others. Using a sample of 1,459 first‐ and fourth‐year university students from eight regions of the former USSR, this study focuses on Russian, Tatar and Ukrainian respondents (n = 821) to test the hypothesis that the status of an ethnic group (majority/minority) or in‐group bias explains members’ prejudice. According to in‐group bias, all ethnic groups are equally prejudiced, minority and majority alike, whereas group status posits that groups in a majority position are more prejudiced. Findings show that group status has greater impact on prejudice than does in‐group bias. This applies, however, only to Russians. Interpretations of the findings rest on Soviet history and the rise of nationalism during the breakup of the Soviet Union.     

Dendroclimatology in Kazakhstan

We have reviewed 43 studies related to dendroclimatology in Kazakhstan, and additionally 13 studies related to other subfields of dendrochronology, which have been published during the past 40 years. This review also includes studies published in Russian, Kazakh, German and Chinese languages, which are not easily accessible to international researchers.Dendroclimatic studies in Kazakhstan began back in the days of the Soviet Union and were actively conducted in the southern and northern parts of the country. With the collapse of the Soviet Union dendroclimatic studies stopped and resumed only 15-20 years later. Within the last 5 years, the intensity and quality of dendroclimatic studies increased significantly. Several research groups have investigated climate-growth relationships of Scots pine, Silver birch, Siberian larch, Siever’s apple and Schrenk spruce. Schrenk spruce was the most widely studied of these species, and several climatic reconstructions have been published based off their climate-growth relationships. Results of most studies on Schrenk spruce demonstrated good consistency, allowing the general patterns of climate-growth relationships to be accurately traced. Unfortunately, studies on other tree species have either lower level or represented just by one or two studies. It would therefore be premature to make any generalizations on these species at the current stage.We conclude that there is a good potential and good base for continuing dendroclimatic studies in Kazakhstan. There is a need to close several research gaps which limit our knowledge, such as chronologies’ length, application of new methods, species composition and spatial coverage. Closing these gaps let us significantly improve the dendrochronological network of Kazakhstan and provide important data for further hydrological and climate studies in Kazakhstan.     

The Dynamics of Clothing Changes,an Aspect of the Subculture after the USSR’s Collapse

Some informal youth associations ceased to exist with the collapse of the USSR, but others continue to operate to this day, although the moral convictions of members have changed and modernized. This article describes the types, features and differences of some modern Russian subcultures as well as subcultures of the Soviet era. The author explores the process of transformation of traditional ideas about the place of a young person in society, as well as gender relations and functions of an individual in the youth environment. Also analyzed is the active development of a new stage of formation and development of criminal subculture in Russia, which belongs within the parameter of a “classical” criminal subculture. Having considered youth subcultures, the author identifies styles that have become constant.     

Scientific and clinical biofeedback in the USSR

This paper describes the history of biofeedback research and application in the USSR. The approach of USSR scientists to the study of basic mechanisms of biofeedback and the status of clinical applications of biofeedback in the Soviet Union are described. Trends in the publication of biofeedback-related papers in Russian are presented, and the present "state of the art" described. Promising prospects for biofeedback research and application are discussed.     

Psychiatry in the Soviet Union

The services for chronically handicapped people with psychiatric disorders in the Soviet Union are described. The system is based upon a network of community units, each of which includes a day centre, a follow-up clinic, and a sheltered workshop. British services could profitably learn from the experience of these units. The diagnostic system used by many Soviet psychiatrists is different from that incorporated in the International Classification of Diseases. In particular, the term “schizophrenia” is used to describe conditions which British psychiatrists would label in other ways.This clinical difference partly explains the different concept of “criminal responsibility,” but another large component of the difference is political rather than medical. There are also variations from British practice in certain juridical procedures. These differences together make Soviet psychiatric practice in the case of political dissenters unacceptable to most British psychiatrists. It is too soon to say that frank discussions of these matters could not lead to improvement. British and Soviet psychiatrists still have something to learn from each other.     

On heterochrony: birthday gifts to Stalin, 1949

Gift relations have been traditionally theorized as antinomial to modernity or, within modernity, in the spheres of the personal relations and ideologies of altruism which dwell on the contrast with commodity and often cast themselves as residual, 'traditional' domains. This article explores claims to modernity that were made by public gift-giving to a modern head of state. It examines birthday gifts to the Soviet leader Joseph Stalin that he received from both his Soviet subjects and international leaders and movements and that were put on public display in 1949-53 in the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow. This article interprets gift-giving to Stalin as a dramatic example of socialist intervention in the modernist temporality, and it theorizes the notions of time that were culturally constructed through the socialist state gift economy. This article reflects part of an ongoing research project on gift-giving to Soviet leaders. It is based on fieldwork, oral-historical and archival research with designers, artisans, and ordinary citizens who were involved in the production of the gift items, as well as with curators and other specialists involved in this exhibition and in preservation of these gifts in different Russian state museums.     

Radiostrontium contamination of soil and vegetation within the Semipalatinsk test site

The Semipalatinsk nuclear test site (STS) in the Republic of Kazakhstan was an important site for testing atomic bombs and other civil and military nuclear devices of the former Soviet Union. Results are presented from investigations on the extent of radiostrontium contamination in soils and vegetation at the technical areas of the STS, where the tests were conducted and in pastures used by farmers for grazing animals or for hay production. Our data are compared with those reported largely in the recent Russian language literature that has been reviewed. The extent of ⁹⁰Sr contamination of soil is highly variable over the STS with the highest values associated with the technical areas, particularly the Degelen mountains. Recently measured values in both the present data and the Russian language literature confirm the relatively high current contamination of soil and vegetation in the vicinity of tunnels and associated watercourses in the Degelen area. The proportion of ⁹⁰Sr in soil which could not be extracted with 6 M HCl was only an average of 20%, which is low compared to other test site areas and possibly indicates a relatively high mobility in this area, because the ⁹⁰Sr is derived from leakage from explosion tunnels along watercourses rather than being associated with fused silicates. A comparison of relative activity concentrations in soil and vegetation suggests that the transfer of ⁹⁰Sr to vegetation on the STS is high compared to that of ¹³⁷Cs and plutonium.     

The consequences of political dictatorship for Russian science

The Soviet communist regime had devastating consequences on the state of Russian twentieth century science. Country Communist leaders promoted Trofim Lysenko--an agronomist and keen supporter of the inheritance of acquired characters--and the Soviet government imposed a complete ban on the practice and teaching of genetics, which it condemned as a "bourgeois perversion". Russian science, which had previously flourished, rapidly declined, and many valuable scientific discoveries made by leading Russian geneticists were forgotten.     

The mobilization of the ethnic vote: A thesis with some Scottish and Welsh evidence*

This article provides a historical and comparative analysis of post‐imperial migrations of ethnic unmixing. It examines the post‐Soviet migration of ethnic Russians to Russia in the light of the migrations of other once‐dominant ‘new minorities’ engendered by transitions from multinational empire to incipient nation‐states: Balkan Muslims during and after the disintegration of the Ottoman Empire, Hungarians after the collapse of the Habsburg Empire, and Germans after the collapse of the Habsburg Empire and the German Kaiserreich.     

Nazarbaev and the north: State‐building and ethnic relations in Kazakhstan

Of all the former Soviet republics, Kazakhstan has what may well be the most untenable interethnic predicament ‐ an ethnic Russian population that is nearly as large as the ethnic Kazakh population. The Russians, moreover, constitute a majority of the population in the northern part of the country, which borders the Russian republic. Having the unenviable task of nation‐building in an increasingly fragmented multi‐ethnic environment, Nazarbaev has made his strategy clear: build a strong unitary Kazakh state by steadily increasing control over the Russian‐dominated provinces of the north. Kazakh action in the north, and Russian response, will determine whether there is a future for a multinational Kazakhstan.     

Post‐Soviet farmland abandonment,forest recovery,and carbon sequestration in western Ukraine

Land use is a critical factor in the global carbon cycle, but land‐use effects on carbon fluxes are poorly understood in many regions. One such region is Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, where land‐use intensity decreased substantially after the collapse of socialism, and farmland abandonment and forest expansion have been widespread. Our goal was to examine how land‐use trends affected net carbon fluxes in western Ukraine (57 000 km²) and to assess the region's future carbon sequestration potential. Using satellite‐based forest disturbance and farmland abandonment rates from 1988 to 2007, historic forest resource statistics, and a carbon bookkeeping model, we reconstructed carbon fluxes from land use in the 20th century and assessed potential future carbon fluxes until 2100 for a range of forest expansion and logging scenarios. Our results suggested that the low‐point in forest cover occurred in the 1920s. Forest expansion between 1930 and 1970 turned the region from a carbon source to a sink, despite intensive logging during socialism. The collapse of the Soviet Union created a vast, but currently largely untapped carbon sequestration potential (up to～150 Tg C in our study region). Future forest expansion will likely maintain or even increase the region's current sink strength of 1.48 Tg C yr^?1. This may offer substantial opportunities for offsetting industrial carbon emissions and for rural development in regions with otherwise diminishing income opportunities. Throughout Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, millions of hectares of farmland were abandoned after the collapse of socialism; thus similar reforestation opportunities may exist in other parts of this region.     

Scientific and clinical biofeedback in the USSR

This paper describes the history of biofeedback research and application in the USSR. The approach of USSR scientists to the study of basic mechanisms of biofeedback and the status of clinical applications of biofeedback in the Soviet Union are described. Trends in the publication of biofeedback-related papers in Russian are presented, and the present state of the art described. Promising prospects for biofeedback research and application are discussed.     

The distribution of alcohol among the natives of Russian America

The study of archival materials and published historical and ethnographic sources shows that alcohol played an insignificant role in contacts with the aboriginal population during the Russian colonization of Alaska. The Russian-American Company (RAC) tried to fight alcoholism and limited access of spirits to the natives of the Russian colonies partially for moral and partially for economic reasons. The only Alaskan natives to whom agents of the RAC supplied rum in large quantities were the Tlingit and Kaigani Haida in 1830–1842, and among them excessive drinking became a widespread problem. The chief suppliers of alcohol for these Native Americans were the British and American traders at the end of the eighteenth century. In the mid-nineteenth century traders and whalers began to supply it to the Bering Sea Eskimos as well. Russian colonization was marked by efforts to limit drunkenness in the native populations. In that sense, Russian colonization was favorable in comparison with subsequent American colonization of Alaska.