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Corporate governance scholarship is typically portrayed as driven by single factor models, for example, shareholder value maximization, director primacy or team production. These governance models are Copernican; one factor is or should be the center of the corporate governance solar system. In this essay, we argue that, as with binary stars, the shape of the governance system is at any time the result of the interaction of two central influences, which we refer to as capital market completeness and policy channeling. In contrast to single factor models, which reflect a stable normative statement of what should drive corporate governance, in our account the relation between these two governance influences is dynamic. Motivated by Albert Hirschman's Shifting Involvements, we posit that all corporate governance systems undergo repeated shifts in the relative weights of the two influences on the system. Capital market completeness determines the corporate ownership structure and privileges shareholder governance and value maximization by increasing the capacity to slice risk, return, and control into different equity instruments. The capability to specify shareholder control rights makes the capital market more complete, tailoring the character of influence associated with holding particular equity securities and its reciprocal, the exposure of management to capital market oversight. Policy channeling, the real government's instrumental use of the corporation for distributional or social ends, pushes the corporate governance gravitational center toward purposes other than maximizing shareholder value. We show that this pattern is not limited to a particular country, and illustrate our argument by tracing the cyclical reframing of Berle and Means' thesis in the U.S., Japan's sluggish shift from policy channeling in its postwar heyday toward capital market completeness under the Abenomics reforms, and the distinctive case of China, where capital market completeness has itself been used as a policy channeling instrument under the pervasive influence of the Chinese Communist Party, creating the world's most stakeholder-oriented system of corporate governance. We close by examining the means through which the current shift toward policy channeling in U.S. and U.K. corporate governance is taking place – the "stewardship" movement and the debate over "corporate purpose." We view both as a reaction to the reduced managerial discretion caused by the reconcentration of ownership in the hands of institutional investors, and analyze factors suggesting that this reform movement, like others before it, is likely destined to result in a disappointment-driven shift in the opposite direction, what we label a shifting influence.

Adel F Almutairi,1 Ala'a BaniMustafa,1 Yousef M Alessa,1 Saud B Almutairi,2 Yahya Almaleh3 1King Abdullah International Medical Research Center, King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Ministry of National Guard Health Affairs, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; 2Academic Affairs and Training, Ministry of Health, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; 3Private Clinics, Riyadh, Saudi ArabiaCorrespondence: Adel F AlmutairiKing Abdullah International Medical Research Center, King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University of Health Sciences, Ministry of National Guard Health Affairs, Riyadh, Saudi ArabiaEmail almutairiad1@ngha.med.saBackground: The newly emerged and highly infectious coronavirus disease (COVID-19), which first broke out in Wuhan, China, has invaded most countries around the globe. As both the daily positive cases and death toll increase, countries have taken aggressive action to halt its spread. Saudi Arabia recognized the danger early and implemented a series of urgent precautions. Thus, this study aims to evaluate public trust and compliance with the precautionary measures implemented by authorities to combat the COVID-19 outbreak.Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on a sample of the Saudi public using an electronic questionnaire during the COVID-19 outbreak. The data, which were collected using a validated public trust and compliance tool, were analyzed using the chi-square test, t test, and binary logistic regression.Findings: Of the 1232 participants, there were 655 (53.2%) males and 577 (46.8%) females with 34 ± 10 years as the mean and standard deviation of their age. Participants demonstrated a high level of trust and agreement (98.2%) with the implemented precautionary measures. A positive association between participants' age and their level of agreement with the government actions (r=Ë—.082, P=0.004) was observed, with a significant difference between males (97.1± 6.2) and females (98.0± 4.7) (t=Ë—2.7, P=0.006). Among the participants, 657 (53.3%) were considered to be practicing poor precautionary measures and 575 (46.7%) good precautionary measures. Males (OR=1.8 times, P< 0.001) and those with a school education level (OR=1.7 times, P=0.002) were more likely to have poor precautionary practices compared to others. Married individuals (369, 49.0%; P=0.04) were more likely to comply with good practices.Conclusion: A high level of trust was exhibited by the Saudi public in relation to the precautionary measures taken by authorities in Saudi Arabia. Gender, age, marital status, and educational level were found to be significant factors with regard to compliance with precautionary practices.Keywords: precautionary measures, infectious disease, compliance, public trust

Ru Sun, 1 Chengwu Shen, 1 Shumaila Shafique, 2 Omer Mustapha, 2 Talib Hussain, 3 Ikram Ullah Khan, 4 Yasir Mehmood, 4 Khaleeq Anwer, 5 Yasser Shahzad, 3 Abid Mehmood Yousaf 3 1Department of Pharmacy, Shandong Provincial Hospital, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong 250000, People's Republic of China; 2Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Dow College of Pharmacy, Dow University of Health Sciences, Karachi 74200, Pakistan; 3Department of Pharmacy, COMSATS University Islamabad, Lahore 54000, Pakistan; 4Department of Pharmaceutics, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Government College University Faisalabad, Faisalabad 38000, Pakistan; 5Office of Chief Executive Officer, District Health Authority, Pakpattan 57400, PakistanCorrespondence: Abid Mehmood Yousaf; Talib HussainDepartment of Pharmacy, COMSATS University Islamabad, Lahore Campus, Lahore 54000, PakistanTel +92-300-4774147; +92-345-7220536Email abid.ucp@hotmail.com; talib.hussain@cuilahore.edu.pkBackground: Bezafibrate is a BCS class II drug as it presents very low solubility in water; therefore, its bioavailability after oral administration is very poor. The aim of this work was to enhance solubility and dissolution rate of bezafibrate in water in order to enhance its oral bioavailability.Methods: Several formulations were prepared using PVP K30 and Cremophor ELP employing the solvent-evaporation method and the electrospraying technique. Solubility, release rate, bioavailability in male Sprague Dawley rats, and lipid profile attributes in Wistar rats were assessed in comparison with bezafibrate plain powder. Solid-state characterization was carried out using X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM).Results: All the formulations exerted positive effect towards the desired goal. In particular, the optimized formulation furnished about 14-fold enhanced solubility and 85.48 ± 10.16% drug was released in 10 min as compared with bezafibrate alone (4.06 ± 2.59%). The drug existed in the amorphous state in the prepared sample as confirmed by XRD and DSC, whilst no drug-excipient interactions were observed through FTIR analysis. Moreover, SEM revealed smooth-surfaced spherical particles of the optimized formulation. A 5.5-fold higher oral bioavailability was achieved with the optimized formulation in comparison with bezafibrate plain powder. Also, TG, LDL and TC were decreased, and HDL was increased considerably in HFD-treated rats.Conclusion: The optimized formulation consisting of bezafibrate, PVP K30 and cremophor ELP (1/12/1.5, w/w/w) might be a capable drug delivery system for orally administering poorly water-soluble bezafibrate with improved bioavailability and antihyperlipidemic effects.Keywords: aqueous solubility, bezafibrate, electrospraying, lipid profile, oral bioavailability, solid dispersion

Xinyu Wang,* Qijue Lu,* Xiang Fei,* Yue Zhao, Bowen Shi, Chunguang Li, Hezhong Chen Department of Thoracic Surgery, Changhai Hospital, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai 200433, People's Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Hezhong Chen; Chunguang LiDepartment of Thoracic Surgery, Changhai Hospital, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai 200433, People's Republic of ChinaTel +86 186 2127 9206Fax +86 21 5578 6638Email chzchangahai@163.com; smmuchanghai@163.comBackground: Our previous study demonstrated that Id-1 may promote the tumorigenicity of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). Id-4 is another member of Id family, which is rare to be studied in ESCC. In this study, we investigated the expression of Id-4 in human ESCC specimens and determined whether Id-4 expression was associated with the clinicopathologic characteristic and the prognosis of ESCC patients.Methods: We examined Id-4 expression using immunohistochemistry in 92 ESCC tissues and adjacent normal tissues. The association between Id-4 expression and clinical parameters and survival was evaluated by statistical analysis. Cox regression analyses were conducted to identify prognostic factors associated with overall survival (OS). In addition, we explored the functional mechanism of Id-4 in ESCC.Results: Id-4 expression was significantly downregulated in ESCC tissues compared with adjacent normal tissues. The expression of Id-4 was associated negatively with pT stage (p=0.002), AJCC stage (p=0.008) and histologic differentiation (p< 0.001). OS was more unfavorable in patients with low expression of Id-4 than those with high expression of ESCC patients (p=0.007). In subgroup analysis, low expression of Id-4 could reveal unfavorable OS of patients with pT1b/T2 stage (p=0.024) or with pN0/N1 stage (p=0.004). By univariate analysis, pT stage and Id-4 expression showed statistically significant associations with OS (p=0.025, p=0.01, respectively). By multivariate analysis, Id-4 expression was an independent prognostic factor in ESCC (p =0.038). In addition, we observed that Id-4 could decrease the levels of the p-Smad2, p-Smad3 and TGF-β 1 in both Eca109 and TE1 cells, indicating Id-4 may inactivate the TGF-β signaling pathway.Conclusion: Low expression of Id-4 suggested unfavorable prognosis for ESCC patients and could identify the prognosis in patients of early-stage tumors. The potential mechanism for Id-4's tumor suppressor role in ESCC may be related to its inhibitory effect on TGF-β signaling pathway. Thus, we believe that Id-4 may be a promising prognostic marker and a therapeutic target in ESCC.Keywords: Id-4, esophageal squamous cell carcinoma, prognosis, TGF-β signaling pathway

After 265 days, since the first reported case of Covid-19, the world has reported the lost of almost one million (969.018) precious lives (WORLDOMETERS, 2020). The pandemic is a challenge for all countries, most of them eager to learn from nations that are successful against the virus. In addition, an international survey, published on April/20, by Silva (2020, p. 600), concluded that although no country is prepared to face epidemics and pandemics (NTI, JHU, and EIU, 2019), among the 16 countries investigated, Thailand, Finland, Australia, South Korea, Denmark, and Sweden are cases that Brazil could study so as not to repeat the scenarios of China, USA, Italy, and Spain. Thus, this study investigates the performance and the best management practices adopted in Thailand to save lives against Covid-19, during the first 180 days facing the pandemic. The research is useful for academy, government policymakers and authorities. It is descriptive, with the application of an online questionnaire, bibliographic and documentary research, involving the study of official sites, articles, reports, manuals, and other technical documents. A new indicator was developed (Fatality Total Index), which allowed to identify that among 20 nations with the highest number of fatal cases, the ten most critical are 1st) Mexico; 2nd) Peru; 3rd) Italy; 4th) Ecuador; 5th) Iran; 6th) Chile; 7th) UK; 8th) Belgium; 9th) Colombia; and 10th) Brazil. Some conclusions are: first) Thailand`s FTI180 is the very low, indicating that this country has learned from the lessons of the past, reason by which is the best at saving lives against the Covid-19; Third) for 86 respondents living in Thailand, wear mask, not shake hands, not hug in public, wash hands, and not wearing shoes in the house, were the five most decisive cultural practices that saved lives; Fourth) For 96 respondents living in Thailand, the ten main policy measures adopted by Thailand Government that saved lives against the Covid-19 are: first) international travel control; 2nd) public event cancellations; 3rd) schools closures; 4th) restriction on internal movement; 5th) workplaces closures; 6th) public information campaigns; 7th) effective public-private collaboration; 8th) increase the medical and personal equipment capacity; 9th) support the expansion of testing system, and 10th) wage subsidies for workers; Fifth) to save lives against Covid-19, 28 innovative products or services were identified in Thailand, with majority led by Corporations, Universities, followed by Public Sector, Start Ups, and Others.

The article is dedicated to a research of the legal nature of cryptocurrencies. Approaches to definition of the legal nature of cryptocurrency in the different countries of the world are analysed. World approaches to definition of the legal nature of cryptocurrency, regulation of the activity connected with use of cryptocurrency, approaches to the taxation and licensing of activity in the sphere of a turn of cryptocurrencies are generalized. Legislative approaches to regulation of activity of ICO, definition of a concept of mining of the different countries of the world are analysed. The conclusion is drawn that the nature of cryptocurrency can be considered as a kind of property. The conclusion is also drawn that the cryptocurrency can be considered as goods and be a subject of the barter agreement. As for unification of positions concerning cryptocurrencies at the level of national regulation in the different countries of the world, they can be reduced in three groups. In some countries cryptocurrency and operation with them are directly forbidden (Bangladesh, Ecuador, China - for legal entities). For the majority of the countries regulation of cryptocurrencies is carried out at the level of the recommendations of regulators which have no binding character (at the federal level in the USA, in Germany, Norway). And at last, in some countries there is already a so-called fragmentary regulation of operations with cryptocurrencies (the State of New York in the USA, Great Britain, Sweden, Australia, Japan). Legislative requirements concerning the status of persons who carry out the activity connected with a turn of cryptocurrencies (Japan, the USA, Sweden) are established. Attempts at the legislative level to settle activity of ISO are made (Japan, Canada, the USA, Singapore, the bill in the Russian Federation). In some countries the concept of mining is also officially defined (Poland, Sweden). ; Статья посвящена исследованию правового статуса криптовалют в разныхстранах мира. Проанализированы подходы к определению правовой природы криптовалюты в разных государствах. Обобщены мировые подходы к определению правовой природы криптовалюты, регулированию деятельности, связанной с использованием криптовалюты, подходы к налогообложению и лицензированию деятельности в сфере оборота криптовалют. Проанализированы законодательные подходы к регулированию деятельности ІСО, определения понятия майнинга в разных странах мира. ; Статтю присвячено дослідженню правового статусу криптовалюту різних країнах світу. Проаналізовано підходи до визначення правової природи криптовалюти у різних державах. Узагальнено світові підходи до визначеня правової природи криптовалюти, регулювання діяльності, пов'язаної з використанням криптовалюти, підходи до оподаткування та ліцензування діяльності у сфері обігу криптовалют. Проаналізовано законодавчі підходи до регулювання діяльності ІСО, визначення поняття майнінгу в різних країнах світу.

The article undertakes an analysis of the potential of using blockchain technology to strengthen the security of the state, which is guaranteed by a strong and efficient army. As part of his own studies, the author first characterizes the solutions that were first implemented in 2008 with the creation of Bitcoin. Blockchain technology, described as the most important achievement of humanity since the creation of the internet. It is increasingly used in areas such as payment management, digitization, and contract storage, or in the private sector, where data security plays a key role. Available reports and studies indicate that the United States, the Russian Federation, and the People's Republic of China are intensively working on the implementation of technology in the functioning of their armies. In turn, countries such as South Korea or India began pilot programs in 2019, which will eventually lead to the implementation of blockchain technology in their armies. Hence, the question arises, what military application blockchain technology has or may have in the foreseeable future, and how its use by armies can contribute to improving the security of the state? In the study presented, the following three areas of potential application have been distinguished: security in cyberspace, supply chain management, and more effective and reliable communication. ; W artykule podjęta została analiza potencjału wykorzystania technologii blockchain dla wzmocnienia bezpieczeństwa państwa, którego gwarantem jest silna i sprawnie funkcjonująca armia. Na początku autor dokonuje charakterystyki rozwiązań, które jako pierwsze zostały zaimplementowane w 2008 roku wraz z powstaniem Bitcoina. Technologia łańcucha bloków, określana jako najważniejsze osiągnięcie ludzkości od momentu powstania internetu. Coraz częściej znajduje zastosowanie w takich obszarach jak: zarządzanie płatnościami, digitalizacja i przechowywanie umów, czy też w sektorze prywatnym, gdzie kluczową rolę odgrywa bezpieczeństwo danych. Dostępne raporty i opracowania wskazują, że intensywne prace nad wdrożeniem technologii w funkcjonowanie swoich armii prowadzą Stany Zjednoczone, Federacja Rosyjska oraz Chińska Republika Ludowa. Z kolei takie kraje jak Korea Południowa czy Indie w 2019 roku rozpoczęły programy pilotażowe, które finalnie mają także doprowadzić do implementacji technologii łańcucha bloków w ich armiach. Stąd też rodzi się pytanie, jakie militarne zastosowanie ma lub może mieć w dającej się przewidzieć przyszłości, technologia łańcucha bloków i jak jej wykorzystanie przez armie może przyczynić się do poprawy bezpieczeństwa państwa? W prezentowanym studium wyróżnione zostały trzy następujące obszary potencjalnego zastosowania: bezpieczeństwo w cyberprzestrzeni, zarządzanie łańcuchem dostaw oraz bardziej efektywna i niezawodna komunikacja.

The article is devoted to the key problems of Richard Sakwa's recent book "Russia against the Rest. The Post-Cold War Crisis of World Order": cold war and cold peace phenomena and the evolution of post bipolar world. Richard Sakwa provides a fresh and audacious analysis of the end of the Cold War, calls the current geopolitical axiology under question. The end of the Cold War did not create a sustainable peace system, because none of the fundamental problems of European security were solved without any "Post-Cold War peace conference" which would fix the world's alignment of forces, and tensions accumulated. Instead, for "inglorious three decades" a "cold peace" reflected the tension between cooperative and competitive mode. As the end of this logic the crisis exploded in open conflict, provoking what some call a "new Cold War". Russia Against the Rest book challenges the view that this is a new edition (Cold War 2.0.) of the old pending conflict, explaining how the tensions between Russia and the Atlantic community reflect a global realignment of the international system. The world order passed from Gorby to Corby through "Gorbachev's", "Bush's" and "Trump's" models towards the new antihegemonic order. The values crisis provokes the rise of axiological dimension in controversies between Russia and Global West and their dialogue remains in different gnoseological and epistemological spaces. The new state of balanced, "comprehensive and inclusive" world order must be based on the transformation of all actors in the global politics, economic justice and the shift of global political power from West to East. That makes Russia and China promote their value-political projects as a global alternative to the Atlantic dominant rationality. ; Статья посвящена освещению ключевых проблем, над которыми в своей книге размышляет Ричард Саква (Sakwa R. 2017. Russia Against the Rest. The Post-Cold War Crisis of World Order. Cambridge University Press. 362 p.), – феноменам холодной войны и холодного мира, а также эволюции постбиполярного мирового порядка, прошедшего три состояния (по "модели Горбачева", "модели Буша" и "модели Трампа") и на наших глазах переходящего к новой антигегемонистской модели. Ценностный кризис катализирует аксиологическую составляющую противостояния, и диалог между Россией и Западом происходит в разных гносеологических и эпистемологических пространствах. Новое состояние сбалансированного, "всеобъемлющего и инклюзивного" мирового порядка должно строиться на базе трансформации всех акторов мировой политики, экономической справедливости, сдвига глобальной политической власти с Запада на Восток.

Emerging markets are gaining grounds in the international market, and have since become alter natives or avenues to supplement global financial flows. These markets dramatically succeeded in achieving their targets by embarking on various processes of adopting measures in developing their investment markets in con formity with macroeconomic and trade transformations. China, a dominant member amongst emerging, keeps undertaking big investments globally, with Africa being one of its destinations. The Chinese government has in tensified its trade and investment activities in the region, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa, thus becoming one of the major investment partners from the emerging markets including India and Brazil. This paper explores the ac tivities of emerging markets in the Sub-Saharan region in financing various developmental projects of the econo mies. We also took interest in reviewing literature on diversification, financial integration, growth resilience, capital volatility and financial liberalization. Apart from surveying literature, the paper contains illustrious demonstrations of grow resilience and diversification as well as the region's progress in global competitiveness using data span ning from 2011 to 2016. The impact and potential of emerging markets in fulfilling the developmental needs of the region has been studied, and with certain recommendations. ; Развивающиеся рынки завоевывают все большую популярность на международном рынке и становятся альтернативой или средством дополнения глобальных финансовых потоков. Эти рынки добились значительных успехов в достижении своих целей, приступив к различным процессам принятия мер по развитию своих инвестиционных рынков в соответствии с макроэкономическими и торговыми преобразованиями. Китай, доминирующий член среди развивающихся стран, продолжает осуществлять крупные инвестиции по всему миру, при этом Африка является одним из его направле ний. Правительство Китая активизировало свою торговую и инвестиционную деятельность в регио не, особенно в странах Африки к югу от Сахары, став, таким образом, одним из основных инвестици онных партнеров на формирующихся рынках, включая Индию и Бразилию. В статье рассматривается деятельность стран с формирующейся рыночной экономикой в регионе к югу от Сахары по финанси рованию различных проектов в области развития. Авторы проявили интерес к обзору литературы по вопросам диверсификации, финансовой интеграции, устойчивости роста, неустойчивости капитала и финансовой либерализации. Помимо обзорной литературы, в статье содержатся демонстрации рос та устойчивости и диверсификации, а также прогресса региона в глобальной конкурентоспособности с использованием данных, охватывающих период с 2011 по 2016 год. Были изучены влияние и потенци ал развивающихся рынков в удовлетворении потребностей региона в области развития, а также не которые рекомендации.

This article analyzes the progress of economic reform in developing countries. The problems of second wave of agrarian reform in developing countries in Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Middle East. Featuring the agriculture and agrarian reforms of individual countries of the four continents of our world. Authors specified that the current state of agriculture in these countries; show features of the agrarian reforms in these countries; indicate the reasons that hamper the development of these reforms; allocate priorities for the future developments of these reforms. The article points out the abundant experiment of agriculture and processing industry development during the last ten years in several developing countries (China, India, Argentina, Brazil, Kenya, Saudi Arabia, etc.). These countries introduce high-intensive technologies into agriculture, apply innovations in plant and animal breeding using new forms of labor organization. They actively introduce foreign companies to their countries for industrial processing of their products (coffee, cocoa, dairy and meat products, vegetables and fruits) and their promotion to international food markets. Actual problems of the agrarian sphere of developing countries are: the ordering of forms and methods of market trade (every third inhabitant of these countries is involved in trading food products); the use of new technologies for water desalination; training qualified personnel; the mechanization of agricultural work, etc. ; Работа посвящена анализу хода экономических реформ в развивающихся странах. Исследуются проблемы 2-ой волны аграрных реформ в развивающихся странах Азии, Африки и Ближнего Востока. Рассматриваются особенности сельского хозяйства и аграрных реформ отдельных стран этих 4-х континентов нашей планеты. Авторы анализируют современное состояние сельского хозяйства этих стран; показывают особенности аграрных реформ в них; указывают причины, которые тормозят развитие этих реформ; выделяют приоритетные направления развития данных реформ на перспективу. В статье показан передовой опыт по развитию сельского хозяйства и перерабатывающей промышленности в последние десятилетия ряда развивающихся стран (Китая, Индии, Аргентины, Бразилии, Кении, Саудовской Аравии и др.). Эти страны внедряют в сельское хозяйство высокоинтенсивные технологии, применяют инновации в селекции растений и в породах разведения животных, используя новые формы организации труда. Они активно привлекают в свои страны иностранные фирмы для промышленной переработки своей продукции (кофе, какао, молочных и мясных продуктов, овощей и фруктов) и продвижение их на международные рынки продовольствия. Актуальными проблемами аграрной сферы развивающихся стран является: упорядочение форм и методов рыночной торговли (каждый третий житель этих стран торгует продуктами питания); использование новых технологий опреснения воды для полива; подготовка квалифицированных кадров; механизация сельскохозяйственных работ и т.д.

China has experienced rapid urbanization and rapid development of economy in the past decades, resulting in severe damage to the urban ecological environment, causing changes in the urban thermal environment and triggering the urban heat island effect. Moreover, the heat island effect has become a hot topic for scholars. The urban heat island effect refers to the phenomenon that the urban surface temperature is significantly higher than that of surrounding suburbs due to the interaction of man-made and natural. The city is considered to be the largest man-made ecosystem. Its heat island effect will not only change the growth habit of urban vegetation, but also affect the outer environment of urban buildings, it further influences human life and has a great negative impact on human health. Therefore, the study of the spatial-temporal variation characteristics of urban heat island effect and its influencing factors can provide data support for the environmental quality control and urban planning of local government departments. Based on the surface temperature remote sensing product data, we studied the spatial distribution characteristics of urban heat island effect in Wuhan from 2001 to 2013, by calculating the temperature difference between the highest and lowest temperatures and the average interval method for heat island classification. We conducted a trend analysis of vegetation cover from 2001 to 2013 initially explore the effects of vegetation cover n heat island effect. The results showed that: (1) From 2001 to 2013, the intensity of heat island in Wuhan was strong in the city center, weaker surrounding city center and the weakest in the suburbs; From 2001 to 2011, the intensity of heat island in Wuhan city was significantly weaken, among which Huangpi, Xinzhou, Jiangxia, Hannan and Caidian district were weaken, and the urban heat island effect of the city center was enhanced; From 2011 to 2013, the intensity of heat island in Wuhan city presented an increasing trend, among which Huangpi district, Xinzhou district and Caidian district were the most obvious, and the urban heat island effect was slightly weaken. (2) Between 2001 and 2013, the vegetation cover in Huangpi district and Xinzhou district increased significantly, and the vegetation cover in the downtown, Jiangxia district and Dongxihu district decreased significantly, corresponding to the urban heat island effect of Wuhan increased volatility. Our results showed that the spatial distribution of urban heat island effect in Wuhan city fluctuated with time during the study period, and the vegetation cover had a significant influence on it.

The article provides a background analysis in connection with the visit of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia S.V.Lavrov to Angola, Namibia, Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Ethiopia in March 2018. The author comes to the conclusion that one of the vectors of the Russian foreign policy is slowly shifting towards the «Black continent». Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has become a zone approaching the status of emerging market economies, in particular the BRICS, in what refers to the pace of their development, the increase of their role and influence in the world economy and politics. The old-time views about Africa being a continent of total backwardness and extreme poverty no longer correspond to reality. Today the global centers of power recognize the exclusive economic importance of the Africa. In the present century the continent will be the most dynamically developing region of the world. The character and the economic growth in the developed states, as well as the procurement of raw materials, energy resources and human capital will largely depend on the African sources. Mr. S.V.Lavrov's visit reconfirmed Russia's growing interest in Africa. It will undoubtedly give a powerful impetus to the development of Russian-African relations. Almost all African officials showed friendly attitude towards our country, many of them condemned the US hegemonistic policy in the world and in the region. At the same time, Africans still perceive Russia as a positive alternative to the West, and now also to China. Voices are heard that it is a good time for Moscow to capitalize on the paramount respect and authority that Russia acquired through its actions in the Middle East. Africans hope that Russia is ready to provide financial and military assistance on the same preferential terms, as the Soviet Union did in its time. It is necessary to clearly define short and long term priorities in Africa, to seek new forms and mechanisms for interaction, and, most importantly, to develop a new state strategy on the African direction. ; Статья посвящена визиту министра иностранных дел России СВЛаврова в Анголу, Намибию, Мозамбик, Зимбабве и Эфиопию. Автор приходит к выводу, что один из векторов российской внешней политики медленно поворачивается в сторону Черного континента. Африканские страны к югу от Сахары (АЮС) стали зоной, которая по темпам развития, росту роли и влияния в мировой экономике и политике стремительно начала приближаться к «восходящим» странам с развивающейся рыночной экономикой, в частности БРИКС. В целом, визит С.В.Лаврова, продемонстрировавший растущий интерес РФ к Африке, безусловно, придаст мощный импульс развитию российско-африканских отношений

Ethnocultural conflicts in the world today are rooted in the increasingly incendiary globalization in the course of which certain regions cannot cope with migrant flows (EU member countries are a pertinent example) while others (the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in the People's Republic of China, Tatarstan, Chechnia, Bashkortostan, the Stavropol Territory, Tyumen Region, Adygea, and Ingushetia in the Russian Federation) are living in the complicated context of ethnic patchwork. Societies are moving towards blending different ethnocultural elements, causing havoc in human minds, unexpected ethnocultural situations and social and ethnic deviations which, as could be expected, consolidates the positions of the Islamic State. [1] It is difficult to study different aspects of the problem in depth in the age of the contemporary digital information society and various brainwashing strategies used by ISIS agents: they present ISIS as the best place for the development of genuine human qualities, which has already brought together members of several ethnic communities. The transnational extremist groups, Hizb ut-Tahrir al-Islami among them, have spread their influence to Central Asia and are gradually moving into Russian territory. Strongholds of extremism are not limited to the Northern Caucasus; they are present in the historically peaceful Volga area where Islamists have their own mosques and training courses and work hard to lure as many young people as possible to their side. Post-Soviet Islamism is a mixture of classic universalist Islamism and xenophobic fundamentalism. In Soviet times local Muslims treated the so-called Muslim world as something abstract, while Afghan mujahideen caused a lot of irritation in the Soviet Central Asian countries: Uzbeks or Tajiks, for instance, found it hard to associate the mujahideen persistent opposition with the defense of Islam. Today, the situation in the Muslim world is different. Former Soviet republics accept the universalist model of Islam as an endogenous phenomenon rooted in economic, political and ideological prerequisites. Fundamentalism/Wahhabism is seen as an exogenous phenomenon that forced some adherents of classic Islam out and drew the rest into its ranks. Political religions are never neutral. The difference between "us" and "others" is ontological. "Others" are a product of evil (ideologists of political religions do not hesitate to state that their enemies are "soulless"), therefore destruction is the only method to be employed against them. This paradoxical combination of cruelty and flexibility is typical of the post-modernist phenomena.

For more than half a century, the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Gaimusho) possessed an independent police force that operated within the space of Japan's informal empire on the Asian continent. Charged with "protecting and controlling" local Japanese communities first in Korea and later in China, these consular police played a critical role in facilitating Japanese imperial expansion during the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Remarkably, however, this police force remains largely unknown. Crossing Empire's Edge is the first book in English to reveal its complex history. Based on extensive analysis of both archival and recently published Japanese sources, Erik Esselstrom describes how the Gaimusho police became deeply involved in the surveillance and suppression of the Korean independence movement in exile throughout Chinese treaty ports and the Manchurian frontier during the 1920s and 1930s. It had in fact evolved over the years from a relatively benign public security organization into a full-fledged political intelligence apparatus devoted to apprehending purveyors of "dangerous thought" throughout the empire. Furthermore, the history of consular police operations indicates that ideological crime was a borderless security problem; Gaimusho police worked closely with colonial and metropolitan Japanese police forces to target Chinese, Korean, and Japanese suspects alike from Shanghai to Seoul to Tokyo. Esselstrom thus offers a nuanced interpretation of Japanese expansionism by highlighting the transnational links between consular, colonial, and metropolitan policing of subversive political movements during the prewar and wartime eras. In addition, by illuminating the fervor with which consular police often pressed for unilateral solutions to Japan's political security crises on the continent, he challenges orthodox understandings of the relationship between civil and military institutions within the imperial Japanese state. While historians often still depict the Gaimusho as an inhibitor of unilateral military expansionism during the first half of the twentieth century, Esselstrom's exposé on the activities and ideology of the consular police dramatically challenges this narrative. Revealing a far greater complexity of motivation behind the Japanese colonial mission, Crossing Empire's Edge boldly illustrates how the imperial Japanese state viewed political security at home as inextricably connected to political security abroad from as early as 1919—nearly a decade before overt military aggression began—and approaches northeast Asia as a region of intricate and dynamic social, economic, and political forces. In doing so, Crossing Empire's Edge inspires new ways of thinking about both modern Japanese history and the modern history of Japan in East Asia.

In October 2019, a Swiss panel of experts met for the Dementia Summit in Brunnen, Switzerland, to discuss the latest scientific findings on basic and clinical research, as well as practical and political approaches to the challenges of dementia disorders in Switzerland. Here, we present the conference summary. To study pathophysiological changes, as well as the underlying mechanism of fluid biomarker changes, excellent experimental approaches, including transgenic mouse models, are available. Current knowledge about presymptomatic disease progression is largely derived from the longitudinal study of individuals with autosomal dominant mutations (Dominantly Inherited Alzheimer Network). Importantly, more than one third of identified dementia risk factors can be modified. For example, sleep disturbances are not only associated with dementia and neurodegeneration in specific brain regions, but also precede cognitive decline and contribute to the development of brain pathology. Regarding the neuropsychological examination of dementia disorders, standardised tests of social cognition, one of the six cognitive domains that must be assessed according to the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders, are missing, but now under development. The most important new therapeutic approach in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease is the current attempt to prevent β-amyloid accumulation. While until now clinical studies have failed because of side effects or insufficient clinical effectiveness, Biogen recently announced positive results of high doses of aducanumab, a monoclonal antibody against β-amyloid. Other approaches also show promise. In China, sodium oligomannate has been approved to treat Alzheimer's disease. The substance suppresses gut bacterial amino acids-shaped neuroinflammation to inhibit Alzheimer's disease progression. Assistive technologies for dementia patients can help identify relevant information for care and nursing, as well as measurements for clinical interventions. Dementia patients have a high risk of developing delirium, even in the home environment. Therefore, it is necessary to use and further develop multi-disciplinary and systematic detection and prevention strategies. Homecare models for dementia patients with multidisciplinary teams have been established and evaluated and should be expanded. Dementia is the third-leading cause of death in Switzerland. In palliative care for severe dementia, the improvement of quality of life is of primary importance. The goals of the National Dementia Strategy, to increase the quality of life in those affected and to reduce taboos surrounding the disease, are still unrealised. The need for further national and regional engagement in order to implement the different findings of the strategy has largely been acknowledged, and these implementations have become the core tasks of a national dementia platform.