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How do homo- and bisexual people explain the launch of a homophobia campaign that violates their basic human rights? Which narratives do they use to adjust to the hostile environment? On the basis of 77 in-depth problem-centered interviews with LGBT in Russia we explore the explanations they use to talk about their experience of a homophobia campaign. Respondents demonstrate their awareness of the political reasoning behind the campaign and explain it as a tool for electoral mobilization, the repression of pro-Western oriented opposition and as a part of biopolitical technologies adopted by the government to increase its control over people's bodies and minds. Contrary to intuitive expectations, this political awareness does not protect the informants from self-blame, social escapism and moral suffering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Themain features of the photoinduced kinetics of both ultrafast excited-stateproton and electron transfer reactions that occur in the picosecond(ps) and femtosecond (fs) time domains are compared. Proton transfer(PT) reaction kinetics can be described in terms of several discretevalues of rate coefficients in the form of polyexponential functionswhere each value of the rate coefficient can be attributed to a definitephysical behavior of the reaction mechanism. In contrast, electrontransfer (ET) reaction kinetics requires a consideration of a continuousdistribution of rate coefficients. This difference can be relatedto structure of the ground-state reactant pairs for each reaction.Excited-state ET can occur at various configurations of reactant moleculesand its rate reflects the fluctuations of the distances and orientationsof these molecules. In contrast, excited-state PT requires preliminaryformation of a ground-state H-bonded complex with definite structurewhere the reaction occurs after photoexcitation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The arrest of the protest punk band Pussy Riot (PR) in March 2012 and the subsequent prosecution of three band members pose a significant puzzle for political science. Although PR's performances presented a coherent alternative to the Putin regime's image of Russian reality, it was unlikely that the discordant music and crude lyrics of their art protest would inspire Russian society to take to the streets. Yet, the regime mounted a very visible prosecution against the three young women. We argue that the trial marked a shift in the Kremlin's strategy to shape state-society relations. In the face of declining economic conditions and social unrest, the PR trial encapsulated the Kremlin's renewed focus on three related mechanisms to insure social support: coercion, alliance building, and symbolic politics. The PR trial afforded the Kremlin an important opportunity to simultaneously redefine its loyal constituency, secure the Church-state relationship, and stigmatize the opposition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Representation of the experimental reaction kinetics in the form of rate distribution is shown to be an effective method for the analysis of the mechanisms of these reactions and for comparisons of the kinetics with QC calculations, as well as with the experimental data on the medium mobility. The rate constant distribution function P(k) can be obtained directly from the experimental kinetics N(t) by an inverse Laplace transform. The application of this approach to kinetic data for several excited-state electron transfer reactions reveals the transformations of their rate control factors in the time domain of 1–1000 ps. In neat electron donating solvents two components are observed. The fastest component (k ＞ 1 ps−1) was found to be controlled by the fluctuations of the overall electronic coupling matrix element, involving all the reactant molecules, located inside the interior of the solvent shell, rather than for specific pairs of reactant molecules. The slower component (1 ＞ k ＞ 0.1 ps−1) is controlled by the medium reorganization (longitudinal relaxation times, τL). A substantial contribution from the non-stationary diffusion controlled reaction is observed in diluted solutions ([Q] ＜ 1 M). No contribution from the long-distance electron transfer (electron tunneling) proposed earlier for the excited-state electron transfer between perylene and tetracyanoethylene in acetonitrile is observed. The rate distribution approach provides a simple and efficient method for the quantitative analysis of the reaction mechanism and transformation of the rate control factors in the course of the reactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new approach in terms of microphasemodel of aqueous solutionsof polyelectrolytes is proposed for explanation of a very strong quenchingof luminescent probes (“superquenching”) in these solutions.This phenomenon is used in literature for creation of extremely sensitivechemical and biosensors and was attributed predominantly to efficientenergy or electron transfer. Microphase approach considers this phenomenonin terms of local concentrations of both the luminescent compoundand of the quencher in microphase, formed by DNA and other polyelectrolytes,which can be several (4–10) orders of magnitude greater thantheir apparent concentrations in solution. Large local concentrationsof the light absorbing centers in the microphase also provide conditionsfor aggregation of these centers and efficient energy transfer, whichprovides a significant increase in quenching constants (∼102–105). Microphase approach provides goodquantitative description of all the features of the superquenching,new possibilities for analysis and control of kinetics of DNA reactions,and for improvement of the sensitivity of luminescent sensors. Itreveals nonspecific localization of the luminescent centers and ofAunnanoparticles in different positionsof DNA molecules that hinders from the simultaneous use of opticalmethods and electron or tunneling microscopy for the combined studyof the structure of DNA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Through case studies of four Russian regions, we examine the trade-offs between social and economic policy at the regional level. All four regions studied seek to stimulate entrepreneurship while preserving or expanding social welfare coverage. Regions differ in development strategies, some placing greater emphasis on indigenous business development and others seeking to attract outside investment. Variation in levels of democracy are unrelated to policy choices. All four regional governments consult actively with local business associations while organised labour is weak. The absence of effective institutions to enforce commitments undermines regional capacity to make social policy an instrument for long-term development. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

One of the main issues in integrated photonics is the coupling of free‐space or optical fiber radiation to waveguides on the photonic chip surface. The ideal coupler is miniature, highly efficient, and provides a large number of addressable devices. Here, a new concept of 3D out‐of‐plane coupler is introduced, which is a microscale prism exploiting frustrated total internal reflection in the Otto configuration to excite surface electromagnetic waves or near‐surface waveguide modes. A method for designing the couplers operating at normal incidence is proposed and it is applied to excite Bloch surface waves (BSWs) in 1D photonic crystals. Polymer microprisms are printed using two‐photon laser lithography and allow transferring more than 40% of the incident light energy into BSWs. The couplers enable focusing BSWs simultaneously with their excitation. Advanced design prisms can provide nearly 100% efficiency, making the proposed concept an alternative to actual coupling concepts in integrated photonics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Graphene has ultrafast charge carrier dynamic and shows strong light–matter interaction allowing the use in photovoltaic devices, fast photodetectors, saturable absorbers, and electro‐optical modulators. However, despite the high nonlinear optical susceptibilities, the small amount of material significantly limits the use of graphene for nonlinear optical applications. In this work, Bloch surface waves (BSWs) are employed, enhancing the graphene–light interaction, for all‐optical switching realization. By placing a graphene monolayer on top of a 1D photonic crystal, it is shown that for the wavelength corresponding to the BSW resonance, the reflection coefficient is modulated on the sub‐picosecond time scale by an order of magnitude larger than that for bare graphene. The magnitude of the reflection change reaches 0.3% at the fluence of 40 µJ cm−2. The reported results are proof of priciple possibility of BSW‐assisted enhancing the reflection modulation of any 2D materials and transparent thin films while maintaining their inherent ultrafast dynamics, which is useful for the further development of all‐optical switches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pro-Putin rallies before the 2012 presidential elections became campaign venues in which the Kremlin used political symbols-woven into a narrative of nationalism and tradition-to define and activate core voters across the Russian Federation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The fluorescence decays of several exciplexes with partial charge transfer have been investigated in solvents of various polarity. The measured lifetimes are found to be in reasonable agreement with the activation enthalpy and entropy of exciplex decay obtained earlier from the temperature dependence of the exciplex emission quantum yields. For exciplexes with 9-cyanophenanthrene substantial contribution of the higher local excited state into the exciplex electronic structure is found and borrowed intensity effect enhances the exciplex emission rate constants. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]