Embassy of Canada in Washington, D.C

The article is devoted to the Persian Campaign of 1722–1723 and mission of 1715– 1717 under the leadership of Colonel A. P. Volynsky. The mission faced a wide range of different tasks: from the collection of strategic information and the conclusion of a trade treatise, to the creation of a consular service and a permanent mission of the Russian Orthodox Church in Iran. The author concluded that the Russian emperor Peter I had decided to prepare for the beginning of the famous Persian campaign largely based on confidence in the information and conclusions of his envoy. The article contains data from The Foreign Policy Archives of Imperial Russia and The Russian State Archive of Ancient Documents.

Les États-Unis sont en bonne position dans la course aux petits réacteurs modulaires (SMR). Fin 2020, le ministère de l’Énergie américain (DOE) a annoncé le soutien à de nombreux projets pour déployer les premiers SMR d’ici à 2030 mais aussi pour développer des technologies avancées, en rupture avec les réacteurs d’aujourd’hui.

The overarching aim of this research is to carefully review Nepal’s energy scenario from the technical and socio-economic perspective in order to determine the optimal near-term as well as long-term strategies to overcome the energy crisis. Renewable energy sources are pivotal to this research due to the abundant availability of these resources in Nepal. The long-term energy supply and demand forecast for Nepal overthe next 30 years was obtained in Long-Range Energy Planning (LEAP) software.Other quantitative results were obtained using software packages, including PVsyst,Meteo, and HOMER. In many other cases, energy data collected from open literature,government and regulator reports were analysed. There are also several case studies considered in the thesis.The PV rooftop energy systems for Nepalese town and rural households can minimise the energy trade deficit with neighbouring India, enhance energy security,and improve local employment opportunities as well as improve utilisation of the local resources. In particular, a 3kW PV rooftop system was designed and simulated inMATLAB/Simulink, and the corresponding PV and IV curves were obtained,including analysing the effects of environmental temperature and solar irradiation. The design was followed by techno-economic feasibility, assuming typical households in the Kathmandu valley. The study outcome is that the PV system for a residential building in Kathmandu is economically feasible, and it can provide nearly 6,000kWh/year of energy.The potential energy efficiency improvements in the cement industry were studied using data collected directly at one of the major cement plants in Nepal. The cement production processes are very energy-intensive, and they have not changed for years.Since the energy costs in Nepal are abnormally high, they represent over half of the cement production costs. It creates substantial pressure to conserve energy and materials while reducing the carbon footprint. Other important factors that must be considered apart from energy issues are production efficiency and sustainability, and how to exploit innovations and encourage investments.The chaotic energy situation in Nepal is exacerbated by rather significant electricity distribution losses and frequent cases of electricity theft. These two issues are significant contributors to a widening gap between energy supply and demand. iv Other such issues include overpriced and delayed hydropower projects, insufficient and outdated infrastructure, lack of energy conservation, deficient energy management, inadequately low efficiency of equipment, unsustainable energy pricing strategies, indecisive energy market regulations, reliance on energy imports, and especially inadequate exploitation of vast amounts of renewable energy resources. All these factors are also adversely affecting the geopolitical, environmental, and socioeconomic situation in Nepal. The developments in the energy sector in Nepal are also discussed in light of the relevant energy policies which have been adopted by the government over the past two decades.The results presented in the thesis can be used by the government regulators and energy policy planners, and possibly also by the public and private energy companies.It should be noted that the findings and observations in the thesis are also applicable to other countries with a similar development status and geography as Nepal.

The “loop” approach of the circular model, which aims to live in the business or market environment, requires a radical evolution of the production techniques, management, and skills in a new concept or idea for the market. Circular Economy results from a long awareness-raising process connected with problems concerning environmental protection. The dissemination of circular economy supposes the adoption of business models which will eventually enable environmental sustainability oriented behaviors, an efficient use of resources, and the respect of ethical, social, and environmental values. Benefit Corporations are companies pursuing these objectives. This chapter identifies and discusses the potential of B Corp certification to apply the principle of Circular economy. In particular, a compared multiple analysis of case studies is used to evaluate how the requirements of the scheme of certification influence the potential circularity of the enterprises analyzed.

observao feito em dois 6 anos, cada um em uma escola municipal de So Paulo. Ao final do terceiro captulo descrevemos a experincia do pr-teste em uma das escolas, o que nos levou, depois de ajustes, a uma verso final da situao de aprendizagem. No quarto captulo analisamos qualitativamente o dilogo e uma representao grfica de um

GEORGE F. KENNAN AND THE “POLISH CAUSE” AT THE END OF WORLD WAR IIThe article aims at explaining why the famous American diplomatist and intriguing political thinker George F. Kennan already in 1944 considered “the Polish cause” as the “all alost cause” and did not believe in the possibility of restitution of Poland as an independent country after World War II. According to Kennan, this was determined primarily by the Russo-German Nonaggression Pact signed in August 1939. Strictly speaking, by the crimes committed on the Polish population by the Soviet police authorities in 1939–1941. Another important factor was the general expansionist nature of the Soviet regime. Even the Warsaw uprising filled with the unprecedented heroism could not change anything in Stalin’s policy towards Poland.

The optimum method for training military personnel for combat casualty care is unknown. In particular, there is debate regarding the incremental benefit of live animal tissue training (LTT) over inanimate human patient simulators (HPSs). Although both LTT and HPS are currently used for predeployment training, the efficacy of these models has not been established. Canadian Armed Forces combat medics, deployed to Afghanistan between 2006 and 2011, were surveyed retrospectively regarding their experience with combat casualty care and predeployment training. HPSs were used to prepare these combat medics for early rotations. In later years, personnel received a combination of training modalities including HPS and LTT, using anaesthetized porcine models in accordance with appropriate animal care standards. Among those deployed on multiple rotations, there was a cohort who was prepared for deployment using only HPS training, and who later were prepared using mixed-modality training, which included LTT. We asked these medics to compare their predeployment training using HPS only versus their mixed-modality training in how each training package prepared them for battlefield trauma care. Thirty-eight individuals responded, with 20 respondents deployed on multiple rotations. Respondents performed life-saving skills during 89% of the rotations. Self-perceived competence and preparedness were notably higher after incorporation of LTT than after HPS alone. Of 17 respondents deployed on both early and late rotations, the majority felt the latter training was more worthwhile. In addition, almost all individuals felt that LTT should be added to HPS training. Narrative comments described multiple benefits of adding LTT to other types of training. Among many experienced Canadian Armed Forces personnel, LTT is considered essential predeployment preparation. Individuals who experienced only HPS training before active duty on their first combat deployment reported feeling more competent on subsequent combat deployments after the addition of live tissue models. There has been a movement away from the use of LTT in preparing combat medics for deployment. This article suggests that we should reconsider any decision to completely exclude Live Tissue Training as part of our training plan for combat medics. Military medical organizations should consider judiciously incorporating LTT with human patient simulation training to prepare combat medics for treating battlefield trauma.