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On September 27, 2023, a seminar “Japan’s Economic Strategy in the Asia-Pacific Region” was held at MGIMO University. During the discussion, various issues related to the problems of Japan’s participation in the processes of international economic integration in the Asia-Pacific region, infrastructure development projects, as well as the relationship between economic and political aspects of Japan’s regional strategy were analyzed. Special attention was paid to the Japanese concept of the Indo-Pacific region, the Japanese initiative “Partnership for Quality Infrastructure,” as well as the economic measures of the Japanese government aimed at containing China in the Asia-Pacific region. The publication offers a transcript of this seminar.

The Olympic and Paralympic Games in Tokyo in July–September 2021 took place in a challenging social environment that seriously affected the public perception of the events. When preparing for the Olympics from 2013–2019, the Japanese people actively supported the Games, which was confirmed by the results of numerous sociological studies. In March 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic began, followed by several waves of infection spread. The competition was postponed for a year. Vaccination in Japan was delayed compared with most of the G7 countries. Against this background, in the summer of 2021, the most dangerous Delta strain of coronavirus began to spread in the country, bringing a rise in mortality rates and overcrowding in hospitals in large cities. In this difficult epidemiological and social situation, surveys recorded a negative attitude towards the Olympics. However, during the competition, the majority opinion once again turned positive, mainly due to the athletic successes of the Japanese team and effective anti-virus control measures. The absence of spectators in the venues, most probably, did not affect the sporting achievements significantly. At least, the Japanese Olympic team won a record number of medals. Infection prevention measures proved effective in limiting the transmission of the virus among the athletes and the Japanese service personnel. The economic and symbolic achievements of the Games did not meet expectations, as, during the Olympics, it was not possible to properly address its significance as the end point of the low-growth “lost decades”, evidence of economic recovery after the triple disaster of 2011, and as a tool to increase Japan’s tourist attractiveness. Therefore, during the pandemic, major sports events should be held primarily to train top-class athletes and to increase populace satisfaction with the success of the national team rather than to obtain direct economic benefits or improve the host country’s image.

On July 8, 2022, former Japanese Prime Minister Abe Shinzō, who remained one of Japan’s most influential political leaders, was shot dead while participating in an election event. A month and a half before Abe's assassination, a round table was held on the legacy of Abe's cabinets with the participation of Russian Japanese studies scholars from several universities and research institutions in Russia and Japan. During the discussion, a comprehensive analysis of the foreign policy of Abe's cabinets and, above all, his diplomacy vis-à-vis Russia was given. Japan's military security policy underwent radical changes under Abe, with the concept of proactive pacifism being its ideological formalization. Among Abe's achievements in the domestic political sphere, the participants of the round table especially noted his ability to control the bureaucracy and use the slightest miscalculations of his political opponents, as well as skillful image-making and the use of slogans for propaganda purposes. It was stated that the policy of ‘Abenomics’, proclaimed by Abe, remains relevant today, although some of its intermediate goals have already been achieved. The set of measures carried out by Abe's cabinets and aimed at creating conditions for expanding women's participation in the economy, called ‘Womenomics’, was analyzed. In conclusion, the data of a survey of Japanese students focusing on the transformation of their views on the outcome of World War II under the influence of Abe's ideas are presented.

The Olympic and Paralympic Games in Tokyo in July–September 2021 took place in a challenging social environment that seriously affected the public perception of events. When preparing for the Olympics in 2013–2019, the Japanese people actively supported the Games, which was confirmed by the results of numerous sociological studies. In March 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic began, followed by several waves of infection. The competition was postponed for a year. Vaccination in Japan was delayed compared to most G7 countries. Against this background, in the summer of 2021, the most dangerous Delta strain of coronavirus began to spread in the country, bringing the rise in mortality rates, and the overflowing of hospitals in large cities. In such a difficult epidemiological and social situation, surveys recorded a negative attitude towards the Olympics. However, during the competition, the majority opinion once again turned positive, mainly due to the athletic successes of the Japanese team and effective anti-virus control measures. The absence of spectators in the venues, most probably, did not affect the sporting achievements significantly. At least, Japanese Olympic team won a record number of medals. Infection prevention measures proved effective in limiting the transmission of the virus among the athletes and the Japanese service personnel. The economic and symbolic achievements of the Games did not meet expectations, as, during the Olympics, it was not possible to properly address its significance as the end point of the low-growth “lost decades”, evidence of economic recovery after the triple disaster of 2011, and as a tool to increase Japan’s tourist attractiveness. Therefore, during a pandemic, major sports events should be held primarily to train top-class athletes and to increase populace satisfaction with the success of the national team rather than to obtain direct economic benefits or improve the host country’s image.

The 32nd Olympic and Paralympic Games, held in Tokyo in July-September 2021, had several important features, one being the events taking place amid the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic. It is not surprising that the Games were postponed for a year, the main events held without spectators, and the number of foreign visitors, officials, and support staff severely limited. Nevertheless, the results of the sporting events were highly commendable. One should take note of the long list of participants from many countries, the variety of competitive events, and the number of world and Olympic records made. In addition, Japan recorded its best Olympic performance so far in terms of medals won. Measures to control the spread of infection also proved to be highly effective. Only a handful of cases were reported in the Olympic Village, and lack of transmission of the virus from the athletes to the volunteers and service personnel is proof of the effectiveness of the measures taken. It is not surprising that the Games' public perception in Japan gradually transitioned from negative to positive. The Games' economic benefits, however, need further assessment, as additional outlays for the implementation of antiinfection measures, ticket revenue loss, and some extra costs will likely mean lower economic benefits. Perhaps the most difficult task though is assessing what the Games symbolized. Tokyo's bid to host these Games was viewed as an effort to move on from the prolonged “lost decades,” a sign of recovery after the triple disaster of March 11, 2011, a way to showcase Japan's technological prowess, and a tool to improve the country's tourist destination image, among other things. Unfortunately, these aspects were poorly addressed during the Games, that is, the results of efforts made fell short of expectations. Nonetheless, in spite of some initial skepticism, the final international assessments as well as public opinion in Japan turned out to be overwhelmingly positive. This indicates that the decision to hold the Games was correct, and the sporting extravaganza made a significant contribution to the Olympic movement.

In the second half of the 18th century large-scale transformations known in historical science as Catherine II's provincial reform took place in Russia. As a result, an extensive network of arms of government in which regional authorities worked headed by governors appeared. Beside that in regions there were created numerous administrative units tasked at local management including fire engineering services, educational institutions, relief aid committees, hospitals, theaters, libraries, etc. In this publication the reform of local management of the second half of the 18th century is not shown briefly as a general process on materials of all huge Russian Empire. On the opposite the author explores here the materials of a single historical region. Special attention is paid to the preparation and the very process of the transformations. At the same time the main objectives of the reform resulted in the creating new administrative, police, social structures are exposed to the analysis. The impact on the result of reforms by personal and professional qualiies of its chief performers - the empress's deputies in regions is assessed in the article. As the research demonstrates, the personal factor at a stage of implementation of the program of transformations was significant. The research is performed on the extensive archive material. The majority of sources is introduced for scientific use for the first time. A territorial framework covers the central provinces of Russia: Kaluga, Vladimir, Moscow and Yaroslavl since they carry out a role of a basis of one of the main regions of the country, its historical kernel.

The large-scale provincial reform undertaken in Catherine II's government led to emergence of new administrative-territorial formations which became the base of the country. In the analysis of its results steadily point out artificiality and the "arithmetic" principle in allocation of new formations and the cities administrative centers. At the same time the process of preparation and carrying out the reform within which local conditions and features expressed themselves and which substantially predetermined these results were shown is steadily missed. Besides along with mechanical division of former "big" provinces into new "small" the creation of the administrative centers to which functions of management were assigned was conducted, and for this purpose necessary infrastructure was created in the cities. These problems were for the first time solved in practice in so large scale. Obligations for realization of reform in life were assigned to local top managers - deputies (governor generals) and governors. The presented work is devoted to process of preparation and carrying out administrative reform in the Yaroslavl province, process of preparation and implementation of reform at all its stages is sorted and analysed. The research is executed on the extensive archive material. The majority of sources is for the first time introduced for scientific use.

This article provides a technique for design and simulation of an active second order band-pass filter with lineal tuning of Q-factor and independent tuning over a wide range of resonant frequency and transfer coefficient. The tunable band-pass RC-filter is required for selective processing of electric signals in radio engineering systems and devices, as well as in in-formation measuring systems, the acoustic and hydro acoustic equipment, including devices for noise and vibration analysis. The band-pass RC-filter is required in equalizers for allocation of useful signals.It is shown that the filter is constructed on the basis of the active second order correcting link with the use of tunable RCcircuit T-bridge. Calculation formulas for filter parameters are received, i.e. resonant frequency, polar Q-factor and transfer coefficient. It is shown that in the filter circuit these parameters can independently be tunable over a wide range. Resonant frequency of the filter is tuned by means of dual variable resistors with the Q-factor and transfer coefficient remaining constant.Polar Q-factor is regulated by change of resistance of the variable resistor with transfer coefficient and resonant frequency remaining constant. The transfer coefficient changes by means of another variable resistor.The conclusions of expressions for the tuned parameters of the suggested circuit of the active band-pass RC-filter confirming the research are provided, as well as the filter frequency characteristics and tunable parameter diagrams. Filter implementation is supported by simulation with the use of MicroCap10 software.

Article Retracted.The paper presents the results of a study related to the assessment of the impact of economic and non-economic factors on the international export of capital.The purpose of the study was an econometric assessment of the influence of some economic and non-economic indices on the export of capital in 2015 throughconstruction of a consistent econometric model.To select a method for the capital outflow evaluation for the research purposes, three potential methods for measuring the scale of the capital escape from the country are analyzed: the CBR method, the World Bank method and assessment of direct foreign investments. The authors exposed methodological differences in approaches to evaluating the amount of capital outflow to be taken into account in such studies.In the course of the study a number of regression models were developed and some of them confirmed the existence of the relationship between capital outflow and non-economic factors.It is concluded that the non-economic factors influence the magnitude of capital outflow from the national economy and political events may significantly affect the decisions of investors. In our models, non-economic factors such as presidential and parliamentary elections, time to start a business have an impact on the amount of capital outflow. The study is a part of the research work related to the development of the matrix of the Russian economy investment climate. [1] Subsequent research activities may include the construction of a model to analyze the influence of economic and non-economic factors on the capital outflow amount in different types of national economies (for example, in developed and developing countries). This will make it possible to use simulation results to predict amounts of the capital outflow from the Russian economy.The research findings can be used in the practice of the development of the economic and investment policies at the macro and the micro levels, the national economylevel as well as at the regional level

In the territory of the Republic of Crimea, the production of growing cereal crops in arid conditions is becoming topical. The most effective method is the introduction of a system of saving farming. Existing analogues of seeders with disc coulters in conditions of heavy and loamy soils of the arid region of the Republic of Crimea have limited opportunities. A scheme of sowing with rolling out at the level of seed occurrence and a construction of a vomer section with a roller pressing in the seeds is proposed. This scheme includes: cropping of soil; Seedbed formation; Distribution and indentation of seeds into the soil; Transportation and separation of the undercut loose soil layer; Upsetting and leveling of the soil covering the seed. The structure of the proposed vomer section includes a stand on which a seed conduit, a diffuser and a cultivator leg with two flat-cutting knives and a chisel are fixed. A rolling device with a cutter in the form of an ellipsoid of rotation is hinged to the stand. Behind the packing roller to the frame there are attached lamellar tines, made in the form of segments of a logarithmic spiral. At justifying the design parameters and operating modes, methods of theoretical and agricultural mechanics, mechanics of continuum, elasticity theory, integral and differential calculus were applied. Taking into account the need to ensure an even distribution of the sealing action of the paw on the soil, an analytical expression describing the law of distribution of the contact pressure of the cutting edge of the paw on the soil was obtained, which allowed to justify the shape of the cutting edge of the blade of the paw of the vomer section. The shape of the cutting blade is determined taking into account the physico-mechanical properties of the soil: the deformation index, the shear modulus and the friction coefficient of the blade on the soil. The shape of the compacting roller is determined, which ensures the uniformity of indenting seeds into the soil compacted by the blade. The roller must have the form of a truncated ellipsoid of revolution. Covering the dented seeds with a roller is carried out by the guide trays. Overtake is carried out with the final precoating and leveling of the soil surface.

The article describes designing of a simple active filter circuit for an amplitude RC equalizer on three operational amplifiers with reconfigurability of all three main parameters: resonance frequency transfer coefficient and Q. Reconfigurability of these parameters is carried out by two variable resistors and one potentiometer. To adjust the resonance frequency, a dual potentiometer is not required. The quality factor and the transmission coefficient are adjusted within one decade. The tuning of the resonance frequency is possible within one octave without a significant effect on the Q-value. The obtained scheme of a simple tunable amplitude corrector is suitable for working in the range of low frequencies to video frequencies.

An implementation scheme for active RC all pass filter of the second order with independent frequency and Q-factor tuning is considered. The frequency of the all pass filter is rebuilt nine times with a single potentiometer with a constant phase-frequency characteristics slope and unitary value of the transmission coefficient in the operating frequency range.

Aim. The aim of the current study was the improvement of intraoperative quick parathyroid hormone (PTH) test, enabling to receive the results in a shorter period of time and to reduce the cost of the test, comparing with the existing methods. Methods. 404 consecutive patients with primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT) were included in the study. All patients were subjected to selective parathyroidectomy – by traditional or videoassisted technique. We performed two parathyroid tests – traditional and modified – in each patient. Blood was taken a) before skin incision, b) before cutting the parathyroid adenoma vessels and c) in 10 minutes after cutting the parathyroid adenoma vessels. We used immunochemiluminescent analyzer DiaSorin Liaison. Modified test for parathyroid hormone differed in the duration of reagents incubation – two times shorter than in traditional method, resulting in immune reaction break before plateau occurrence. The statistical analysis of the results was performed using Microsoft Excel 2010. Results. With 50% cut-off level for PTH level fall (between the maximal level – before operation or before cutting parathyroid adenoma vessels – and the level in 10 minutes after cutting the adenoma vessels), the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value for modified test reached 92.73%, 60.00%, 97.81% and 30.00%, accordingly, comparing with 95.84%, 55.00%, 97.62% and 40.74% for conventional method. Cut-off level change to 40% improved the results of modified test application, and increased its sensitivity and negative predictive value (97.14%; 50.00%; 97.40%; 47.62%). Conclusions. 2 times reduction of incubation time with cut-off level change to 40% allowed to cut the duration of intraoperative test for parathyroid hormone by half, and to improve diagnostic accuracy of the test, and at the same time to preserve low cost of the test.

The early 2010s brought significant changes to the regional trade between neighboring provinces of Japan and Russia. In particular, international cooperation has allowed elimination of illegal deliveries of Russian crabs, and the rationalization of domestic used cars circulation in Japan has reduced stolen vehicles’ exports. In the first case, reduction of the shadow economy caused a sharp drop in trade, indicating a trade-off between sustainability of marine resources and volumes of operations. In the second case, the decrease of Japanese used cars exports to Russia was connected to the state of the Russian automotive market: crisis drop in sales, changes in domestic demand for second-hand cars and protectionist restrictions by the Russian government. Therefore, it is possible to speak about country-specific approaches for elimination of shadow economy in Japan and Russia. These differences should be considered in development of bilateral economic cooperation.

IZMIRAN was founded about 65 years ago with one of the goals of carrying out geomagnetic prognoses. More or less, this activity has been developed during its entire history, but about 6 years ago this aim became sufficiently feasible due to the organization of the Forecasting Center of helio-geo-physical conditions. This Center appeared in response to new technologies, numerous new data available and new social demand. The Center uses the extended experimental basis of IZMIRAN and all available Internet sources. Its main tasks consist of continuous monitoring of the processes at the Sun and in the near-Earth environment, development of different kinds of prognoses and delivering them to users. The main product is a short-term (1-6 days) prognosis of geomagnetic activity (mainly daily Ap-index and maximum Kp-index), a long-term (from weeks to years) prognosis and detailed forecasting on the special fixed dates. Among its consumers it is worth mentioning the Russian Space Agency, the Russian Ministry of Civil Defense, Emergencies and Disaster Relief, railway departments, a number of medical institutions, and mass media. In this work we discuss some activities of the Center, along with presenting several examples of the real influence of geomagnetic disturbances on different sides of human activity. Our six years of experience show a growing interest in prognoses of this type and this tendency seems to be retained.

A large database of anomalies, registered by 220 satellites in different orbits over the period 1971-1994 has been compiled. For the first time, data from 49 Russian Kosmos satellites have been included in a statistical analysis. The database also contains a large set of daily and hourly space weather parameters. A series of statistical analyses made it possible to quantify, for different satellite orbits, space weather conditions on the days characterized by anomaly occurrences. In particular, very intense fluxes (>1000 pfu at energy >10 MeV) of solar protons are linked to anomalies registered by satellites in high-altitude (>15000 km), near-polar (inclination >55°) orbits typical for navigation satellites, such as those used in the GPS network, NAVSTAR, etc. (the rate of anomalies increases by a factor ~20), and to a much smaller extent to anomalies in geostationary orbits, (they increase by a factor ~4). Direct and indirect connections between anomaly occurrence and geomagnetic perturbations are also discussed.