ETHNOSOCIAL SYSTEM AND POLITOGENESIS OF ALTAI POPULATION IN II CENTURY BC – V CENTURY AD (BASED ON MATERIALS OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL COMPLEXES)

The article concerns the reconstructing the features of the formation and evolution of the ethnosocial system, as well as the processes of political genesis of the Altai population at the Xiongnu-Xianbei-Rouran period. The key approach of the research is a comprehensive analysis of materials from excavations of sites of the Bulan-Koby archaeological culture (II century BC – V century AD). More than 800 burials studied in different parts of Altai form the basis of the source base. It has been established that the genesis of the social organization of the population of the region during this period was determined by complex forms of interaction between different clans. The study shows their unequal status at certain stages of the existence of the Bulan-Koby archaeological culture in different regions of Altai, which probably reflects the hierarchy of tribes. The key factor in the political genesis of the region's population was its inclusion in the Xiongnu, Xianbei and Rouran empires. The most probable form of political unification of the Altai nomads in the II century BC – V century AD is a «tribal confederation» without an independent governing center in the person of a common leader and his apparatus.

Nidovirus transcription: how to make sense…?

Many positive-stranded RNA viruses use subgenomic mRNAs to express part of their genetic information. To produce structural and accessory proteins, members of the order Nidovirales (corona-, toro-, arteri- and roniviruses) generate a 3′ co-terminal nested set of at least three and often seven to nine mRNAs. Coronavirus and arterivirus subgenomic transcripts are not only 3′ co-terminal but also contain a common 5′ leader sequence, which is derived from the genomic 5′ end. Their synthesis involves a process of discontinuous RNA synthesis that resembles similarity-assisted RNA recombination. Most models proposed over the past 25 years assume co-transcriptional fusion of subgenomic RNA leader and body sequences, but there has been controversy over the question of whether this occurs during plus- or minus-strand synthesis. In the latter model, which has now gained considerable support, subgenomic mRNA synthesis takes place from a complementary set of subgenome-size minus-strand RNAs, produced by discontinuous minus-strand synthesis. Sense–antisense base-pairing interactions between short conserved sequences play a key regulatory role in this process. In view of the presumed common ancestry of nidoviruses, the recent finding that ronivirus and torovirus mRNAs do not contain a common 5′ leader sequence is surprising. Apparently, major mechanistic differences must exist between nidoviruses, which raises questions about the functions of the common leader sequence and nidovirus transcriptase proteins and the evolution of nidovirus transcription. In this review, nidovirus transcription mechanisms are compared, the experimental systems used are critically assessed and, in particular, the impact of recently developed reverse genetic systems is discussed.

An Efficient Lane Change Maneuver for Platoons of Vehicles in an Automated Highway System

The current lane change maneuver for vehicles in a platoon under the California PATH automated highway system (AHS) architecture is inefficient, because the follower has to split from the rest of the platoon before making a lane change. In this paper, we propose to add a lane change within platoons maneuver that allows a follower to change lanes and be inserted into another platoon directly without splitting either platoon. This maneuver is performed by aligning and locking the longitudinal positions of the two platoons in adjacent lanes. The estimated improvement in the AHS utilization, in term of the space-time, is approximately 4342 m.s. The longitudinal controller for the lane changing follower is designed and proved to maintain the string stability of the platoons. The leader law is modified for the common leader of the two locked platoons. An intra-platoon spacing adjustment procedure is also designed for the purpose of the proposed maneuver.