bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Keratinase, Caseinolitic, Cellulase and β-Mananase Activities of Bacteria Isolated from the Black Sea
Authors:   Zabolotny Institute of Microbiology and Virology, NAS of Ukraine, Gudzenko O.V. , Avdiyuk K.V. ,   Zabolotny Institute of Microbiology and Virology, NAS of Ukraine, Borzova N.V. ,   Zabolotny Institute of Microbiology and Virology, NAS of Ukraine, Ivanytsia V.О. ,   Mechnikov Odesa National University, Varbanets L.D. ,   Zabolotny Institute of Microbiology and Virology, NAS of Ukraine
Published: January 2023

For a long time, the main interest in the marine environment, considered extreme, was the isolation and identification of natural products with biological properties, and for that, numerous organisms and chemical structures have been studied. Thus, marine bacteria isolated from various substrates, such as sediments, seawater, and mangrove detritus, are producers of enzymes with different activities, i.e., amylase, cellulase, alginate lyase, chitinase, glucosidase, inulinase, keratinase, ligninase, xylanase, and others. Nowadays, researchers are also focusing on the enzymes produced in the marine environment that can present special properties. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the ability of marine strains of microorganisms to exhibit cellulase, β-mannanase, keratinase, and caseinolytic activities. Methods. Enzymatic activities were studied in the culture liquid supernatant. To determine β-mannanase and cellulase activities, guar gum galactomannan and Na-carboxymethylcellulose respectively were used as substrates. Casein and crushed defatted feathers served as substrates for the determination of proteolytic activity. Results. Growing 10 cultures of microorganisms on a nutrient medium containing chicken feathers as the sole source of carbon and nitrogen (nutrient medium 1) did not give positive results. When using medium 2, active growth was observed in four of the studied strains (51, 52, 54, 247) in the supernatant of culture liquid (CLS), the activity of which both to keratin (6.0—16.0 U/mL) and casein (0.025—0.33 U/mL) was found. In the CLS of only six of the 10 studied cultures (7, 20, 51, 52, 50, 247), cellulase and β-mannanase activities were observed. The highest cellulase activity was found in culture 20 (1.8 U/mL). The activity of culture 7 was somewhat lower (1.0 U/mL). An insignificant activity was noted in cultures 54 (0.06 U/mL), 56, and 50 (0.05 U/mL). Trace levels of activity were observed in culture 247. Conclusions. Strains 7, 20, 247, and 51, for the first time isolated from the Black Sea, are promising for further studies as producers of cellulase, β-mannanase, keratinase, and caseinolytic enzymes.
Virus Occurrence and Survival in Reusable Resources: A Minireview
Authors:   Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Shevchenko O.V. , Kharina A.V. ,   Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Snihur H.O. ,   Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Holovan V.V. ,   Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Shevchenko T.P. ,   Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Budzanivska I.G. ,   Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Liping Hao ,   College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tongji University,   School of Earth System Science, Tianjin University
Published: January 2023

This work covers important aspects of the occurrence and viability of various viruses in the two most common reusable waste resources: wastewater and biomass waste. Detection of human, bacterial and plant viruses in these wastes are summarized. Historically, human viruses have been monitored in wastewater for decades. Evidence suggests that wastewater mostly contains fecal-orally transmitted viruses, which are abundant and diverse. Recently, an increasing occurrence of SARS-CoV2 in sewage water with the spreading epidemics has been confirmed but lacking biological proof of infectivity yet. Besides human pathogens, wastewater is shown to be rich in bacteriophages and plant viruses as well, which supposedly enter the water from human guts. Viruses serving as water quality indicators are also discussed here. Lastly, we focus on biomass waste treatment, showing the presence of some common and stable plant viruses which may supposedly survive the technological process.
Bats of Galicia and Bukovina in the 1830–1850s: composition and changes of fauna for 180 years
Authors:   National Museum of Natural History, NAS of Ukraine (Kyiv, Ukraine), Zagorodniuk Igor , Kharchuk Sergiy ,   Ukrainian Theriological Society (Kyiv, Ukraine)
Published: January 2023

The chiropterological component of one of the most significant zoological written monuments of the 19th century of Ukraine in general and the Carpathian region in particular is analysed. This is Stanislaw Petruski’s monograph titled ‘Natural History of Wild Mammals of Galicia’ (1853). The translation of this part has been arranged and commented in accordance with modern schemes of bat taxonomy and nomenclature supplemented with appropriate descriptions from the works of Alexander Zawadski (1840) and Ivan Verkhratsky (1869). Consequently, the most complete picture of the species composition and some features of the biolo-gy of the bat fauna of Prykarpattia (essentially the Carpathian region on the whole) within Ukraine was reconstructed and described, which is important for understanding the composition of past fauna states in neighbouring countries, including Poland and Romania. Descriptions of 12 species from 9 genera are presented and commented taking into account the current state of knowledge. The underestimation concerned only rare species and those morphologically simi-lar to other more common ones (e.g. lesser horseshoe bat, Brandt’s bat, Nathusi-us’s pipistrelle, lesser noctule, etc.). Features of contemporary taxonomy, fauna composition, descriptions of dwellings and display of synanthropy are considered. Special attention is paid to the consideration of fauna changes that have occurred over almost 100 years, as well as the features of the fauna of that time, which shows obvious signs of the ‘warm phase.’ The latter is evidenced by descriptions of species in the fauna in general, which are currently more southern, and descrip-tions of winter finds of those species that in the last period of research (second half of the 20th century) were considered migratory and distant migrants. The main body of data by Petrusky, as follows from his text, dates from 1830–1850, and this corresponds to the period of climatic optimum reconstructed for Poland, where the period 1820–1850 was characterised by warm late winters and early springs. Apparently, the same period extended to Galicia, and later descriptions of ‘warm fauna’ in Ukraine are known for the period of the 1920–1930s and the modern period (1990–2020). The phenomenon of constant cycle of fauna and its regular changes due to climate fluctuations is considered.
Bridge structures as habitats of bats (Chiroptera): species and spatial diversity
Authors:   Institute of Ecology of the Carpathians, NAS of Ukraine (Lviv, Ukraine), Bashta Andriy-Taras ,   Skolivski Beskydy National Nature Park (Skole, Ukraine)
Published: January 2023

In 2000–2021, 150 various types of bridge structures were examined in different regions of Ukraine, where 742 individuals of 13 bat species were found: Myotis dasycneme, Myotis daubentonii, Myotis brandtii, Myotis mystacinus, Myotis aurascens, Myotis nattereri, Nyctalus noctula, Plecotus auritus, Plecotus austriacus, Pipistrellus pygmaeus, Pipistrellus nathusii, Pipistrellus kuhlii, and Eptesicus serotinus. The occupancy rate was 30.7%. M. daubentonii and P. auritus were observed in most of the studied regions. The frequency of observations of M. daubentonii was 50% of inhabited bridges (n = 23) and almost 65% of the number of individuals, with a concentration of localities in the western and north-western parts of the country. P. auritus (frequency 32.6%) dominated the bridges of the Dnipro Lowland and the Western Polissia. M. aurascens (Azov Sea region), M. mystacinus and M. brandtii (Western Polissia), P. austriacus (Black Sea region), and P. kuhlii (Azov Sea region) were found singly or only in some regions. Nursery colonies of M. daubentonii were found in the Western Polissia, Volynian–Podolian Upland, and Dnipro Lowland, N. noctula in the Dnipro region, P. auritus in the Western Polissia and the Black Sea region, and M. aurascens in the Azov Sea region. In a geographical aspect, the number of species in bridges is the highest in the regions of Western Polissia and Azov Sea (7 species each), and slightly lower in the Dnipro Lowland (n = 6). The highest percentage of inhabited bridges (64.3%) was found in the Dnipro Lowland; in other regions it was 37.8–10.5%. Bridges play an important role as summer roosts for bats (both for single individuals and breeding colonies), as well as in late summer–autumn (after the disbandment of breeding colonies) and as spring roosts (during seasonal migrations). Bridge structures can be important for the settlement of bats in regions with no underground cavities of natural or anthropogenic origin. We assume that this is the reason why the maximum number of species and abundance of bats in bridges was found in the Western Polissia and Dnipro Lowland, which are characterised by flat topography and lack of abundant and various underground cavities.
Elaboration of a self-compacting concrete with drawn steel fiber
Authors: Inga-Campos Maricruz , Santamaría-Albujar Dante Beder , Muñoz-Pérez Sócrates Pedro
Published: January 2023

Currently seeking to improve the characteristics of concrete, the use of drawn steel fibers in a self-compacting concrete can increase resistance and reduce cracks, with a high level of fluidity for installation. The objective of this research is to evaluate the properties of self-compacting concrete by adding drawn steel fibers. Concrete samples were made by adding 1%, 1.5%, 2%, 2.5% fiber CHO 80/60 and 65/35 NB, with concrete specimens to be tested at 7, 14 and 28 days of curing, to Analyze the physical and mechanical properties. The results showed that they increased the compressive strength by 4.94%, traction by 8.15% and bending by 6.64% with the addition of 1.5% of the two fibers. It is concluded that adding drawn steel fiber contributes to the mechanical properties and can be a great alternative for high-strength concrete.
Caracterización espacial del desplazamiento forzado en Colombia durante el periodo 1984-2016
Authors: Siabato Willington , Montilla-Montilla Yeimy
Published: January 2023

Al considerar el desplazamiento forzado como el hecho histórico con mayor número de víctimas en el conflicto armado colombiano, este artículo presenta la caracterización espacial de este fenómeno durante el periodo 1984-2016. Se analizaron principalmente los datos oficiales del Registro Único de Víctimas y del Centro Nacional de Memoria Histórica mediante la aplicación de métodos como la autocorrelación espacial (índice de Moran, coeficiente de Geary) y la media central ponderada (centro de gravedad). Se identificaron patrones espaciales que indican que el fenómeno analizado responde principalmente a la disputa entre diferentes actores armados por el control territorial de áreas valoradas como geoestratégicas en el marco del conflicto armado colombiano. Además, los resultados del análisis de correlación sugieren que el desplazamiento forzado está principalmente motivado por hechos victimizantes como la desaparición forzada, las amenazas, los delitos contra la libertad y la integridad sexual, el homicidio y las masacres. Se vinculan los resultados del análisis espacial con hitos histórico-sociales y hechos victimizantes documentados que contextualizan los patrones identificados. Este artículo muestra a través de la estadística espacial que el desplazamiento forzado no es un fenómeno aleatorio, por el contrario, sigue un patrón espacial tipo clúster que revela cómo ha afectado de forma localizada a diversas zonas de Colombia según el periodo estudiado. Mediante los análisis se determinaron como principales núcleos de afectación la región del Magdalena Medio; las subregiones de Urabá, Alto Sinú, San Jorge y los Montes de María; la Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta; el Litoral Pacífico y la antigua zona de distensión. El desplazamiento forzado es un fenómeno permanente en el territorio colombiano.
Effects of school violence and work context on teachers’ health
Authors: Pinheiro Francisco Pablo Huascar Aragão , Aquino Cássio Adriano Braz de , Vieira Emanuel Meireles , Marques Natália Santos , Vieira Camilla Araújo Lopes , Cunha Esthela Sá , Aguiar Hellyne Maria Teles , Feijão Ana Raquel Cardoso , Rodrigues Haline Maria Parente
Published: January 2023

The presented study aimed to understand how school violence and work context affect teachers’ health. The study included 744 teachers of public schools. The instruments used for data collection were: Victimization Questionnai- re, Work Context Assessment Scale, and Work-Related Harm Scale. Multinomial logistic regression analyses were performed. The results indicate that a high percentage of the participants considered the psychological and social harms as bearable. More than a third of the teachers evaluated physical harm more negatively. Gender and employment status were associated with physical harm. Physical aggression affected psychological harm. Verbal harassment and work organization were predictors of all types of harm. We concluded that models of work structuring, management practices, and being a victim of verbal harassment have a central role in teachers’ health.
Slab from Izmir with Two Peacocks. Depictions of Peacocks in Byzantine Architectural Sculpture of Asia Minor
Authors:   Arkeoloji Bolumu, Laflı Ergun , Buora Maurizio ,   Societa Friulana di Archeologia odv
Published: January 2023

This paper presents a marble slab from the Archaeological Museum of Izmir in western Turkey, which was published by Anastasios K. Orlandos in 1937 and its inscription was re-considered by Georg Petzl in 1990. Its epigraphy mentions a formerly unknown bishop, Euethios, who was probably the bishop of Smyrna during the Early Byzantine period. On this occasion, a brief review of the depiction of two peacocks flanking a vase in the marble architectural sculpture of Byzantine Asia Minor is presented, in order to assign a more concise date for the slab from Izmir. An accompanying catalogue with several examples of peacocks’ depictions from Asia Minor was made and a marble plate with a peacock depiction from Skopje, Macedonia is also included. Authors’ contribution. In this article Ergün Laflı gives a detailed description of this inscribed plate which is a valuable historical document, while Maurizio Buora analyses its inscription and makes its epigraphic assessment as well as a systematic examination of the iconography of peacocks in the marble architectural sculpture of Byzantine Asia Minor through over thirty examples in Turkish museums.
Why Should I Become a Christian? The “Kristian Legend” in the Context of Byzantine Thought
Authors:   University of Presov, Jezek Vaclav
Published: January 2023

In this brief account we offer a thematic and comparativist interpretation of the legend of monk Kristian in terms of its Christian ideology and philosophy. Our contextualisation and thematic analysis help also in the long run to assess the date of the legend. We ponder the basic question of “why Christianity”, which in dependance on whether it was significant for monk Kristian or not, reveals to us other historical realities of Bohemia and Moravia of his period. There is an internal dynamic but also contradiction in the legend. Monk Kristian perhaps on political motives sets to show how saints Václav and Ludmila are a source of unity and national identity. However, in his task he falls into a contradiction because what was promised was not delivered. And Christianity is anything, but a road to unity, accord, power that he promised at the outset, which he betrays in his historical information. At the same time an internal dynamic shows that the humble attitudes of Václav and Ludmila bring about the end goal or fulfil the promises about the worthiness of Christianity and its role, since their miracles and sacrifice unite and harmonise the state and build nationhood. A detailed, in-depth study of the thematic construction of the legend offers material for comparison, especially with for the neighbouring Frankish/German areas. We solve these tasks set in the study by comparing the “Kristian Legend” under research with Byzantine sources.
New Inscriptions on Instrumenta from the Northern Periphery of the Byzantine World
Authors:   HSE University, Vinogradov Andrey
Published: January 2023

Introduction. Byzantine inscriptions on instrumenta, i.e. portable objects (ceramics, tools, objects of personal piety, etc.), usually attract little attention by researchers. Meanwhile, such inscriptions make it easier to look into the world of an ordinary Byzantine. Analysis. The author publishes (in two cases – anew) seven non-standard inscriptions of this type, found recently or previously unpublished. These are the inscriptions on the phylactery, encolpion, amphorae, jug, and bowl. They have a different character: an apotropaic text, a business letter, a humorous poem, an owner’s inscription. Results. These seven monuments open a window to the world of medieval Rhomaios: the fear of the evil eye and the protective prayers, written from hearing; the cheerful world of wine and wine drinking during the voyage and on a bet; jokes about a broken cup, often expressed in verses, that the Byzantines used for any purpose, including the owner’s inscriptions; the world of merchants, who send their goods overseas, take care of its safety and the well-being of sailors. These inscriptions are distinguished by the peculiarities of spelling and style, which make it possible to better imagine the ordinary Byzantine environment. The travelling of the inscriptions on instrumenta, including pilgrims’ inscriptions, reflect, among other things, the ways of spreading Greek writing.
Military Recruitment as a Means of Pacification of the Byzantine Periphery: Tzani in the Imperial Army (6th Century)
Authors:   Ural Federal University, Nazarov Andrey
Published: January 2023

Introduction. The article is devoted to the problem of integration of territories inhabited by the Tzani into the Eastern Roman empire in the 6th century. They were a people who lived in the Pontine Mountains during Antiquity and the Middle Ages. In the face of the threat posed by Sasanian Iran, Justinian I (527–565) actively sought to integrate Tzanica into the empire. Methods. There is a need not only to determine the nature of the Byzantine presence in the country of the Tzani. It is also important to study the significance assigned to this region in the military system of Byzantium, since its subdual was necessary for the further activity in Transcaucasia. Analysis. There were no Byzantine governors in Tzanica, the tribal leaders retained their power positions. Fortresses were erected in this region, and its Christianization was also actively carried out. Under Justinian I, Tzani were recruited into the imperial army. They served both in regular units and in detachments of tribal militias that took part in battles for Lazica. Results. The author concludes that Justinian I first of all sought to establish control over the warlike population of Tzanica. Service in the Byzantine army was intended to reorientate the military activity of the Tzani in such direction that was beneficial to the empire itself. Nominally, they were considered as the subjects of the emperor, but the real power in Tzanica was in the hands of local leaders, not the Eastern Roman administration.
The Canons 9 and 17 of the Council of Chalcedon (451) in the Light of the Western Synodal Heritage of the 4th Century
Authors:   St. Tikhon’s Orthodox University for the Humanities, Zakharov Georgy
Published: January 2023

Introduction. The article is devoted to the problem of interpretation of the canons 9 and 17 of the Council of Chalcedon (451) which regulate the arbitrage in disputes between clerics. Of particular importance is the prescription to resolve disputes in which the metropolitans participate through an appeal to the exarch of the diocese or the See of Constantinople. These canons are often viewed as the foundations of the ecumenical primacy and special judicial prerogatives of the See of Constantinople in the entire Orthodox Church. Methods. Given the status of Constantinople as the New Rome, the author compares the contents of the rules of the Council of Chalcedon with the decisions of the Council of Serdica (343) and the Council of Rome (378) concerning the judicial prerogatives of the Roman see. Analysis. As a result, the article criticizes the thesis about the similarity of the rules of the Council of Chalcedon with the appeal canons of the council of Serdica, which has become widespread in historiography. At the same time, in the letter of the Council of Rome (378) and in the rescript of the emperor Gratian who responded to this text, we can find some similarity with the Chalcedonian decrees. For example, in the decisions of both councils, there is alternativeness in the choice of the judicial instance. Their common feature is also the idea that it is impossible to conduct a trial of the metropolitan’s case at the provincial level. At the same time, if the decisions of the Council of Rome deal with the accusations in grave crimes, the canons of the Council of Chalcedon speak about arbitration in litigation. Results. Despite some differences, the decrees of the councils in Rome and Chalcedon are inextricably linked with the general tendencies in the development of the system of ecclesiastical organization at the super-provincial level.
Five Anastasiae and Two Febroniae: A Guided Tour in the Maze of Anastasia Legends. Part Two. The Roman Dossier. I. Anastasia Between Aquileia and Rome. 1a. From Aquileia back to the Early Roman Legend
Authors:   Institute of Philosophy and Law of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Lourie Basil
Published: January 2023

Sections from 1 to 4 of Part Two of our study, which is dedicated to the western legends of Anastasia, are focused on an investigation of the Aquileian legend and, then, going in the reverse chronological order, on the early Roman legend before its reception in Aquileia. The plot line dedicated to Chrysogonus is an Aquileian addition lacking from the earlier Roman legend. The pious mother of Anastasia called Fausta belongs to the same plot line, whereas the mother of the “original” Anastasia was pagan.
An Act as the Energy and Intention of an Gesture
Authors:   Institute of Philosophy of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Neretina Svetlana
Published: January 2023

The Middle Ages staged a grand experiment, showing in Revelation the clash of creative principles: divine and human, respectively real and actual. The given and the proclamation of the world generated а question of how to think inside this given. There has never been such a challenge before. A special logic of turning (tropology) was needed, which was able to recognize the actual world as a phenomenon of the hidden world, but communicated a powerful energy of searching for connections with it, possible through analogies, symbols, allegories. The release of creative energy through the word made it possible to discover the effectiveness of the Word. The emphasis of medieval Christianity on the energy of the Word, unfolded from reality and communed with it, assumed both an analysis of the good, the source of which was the sacred reality, and an analysis of evil, which consisted in worldly, profane actuality and left a sad mark in history, which still represents the Christian Middle Ages as a dark era. In medieval Christianity, energy was expressed through action-an act, force and intention, contributing to the understanding of any creative possibilities and abilities outgoing from the Creator of the world or created man. God the Creator is an unknown reality, the only true Thing (Res) that the world knows about in the image and likeness of created things and on the basis of evidence preserved in language. Thanks to such phenomena, the most important of which is the Epiphany, it became possible to build arguments in favor of the existence of God. The reality revealed in the actual world is evidenced by such states of human subjectivity as oblivion, i. e. the state of memory of that other event that lies behind the invisible beginning, visions, the ability to think, speak, listen, and perform actions (gestures). In any such accomplishment, the procedures for its execution continue to operate, not only what is actualized, but also the actualization itself. The idea of a gesture is considered as an intensely intuitive, internal action, a moral response to an act. The energy of making is concentrated in it, revealing both the theoretical significance of the judgment, and the intention and action of the subject as an actor of this judgment. Man is not only active by the status of a created being, but is also capable of self-construction, of changing himself, together possessing subjectivity and substantiality (substantia subiecta).
Heuristic Potential of the Concept of Energy in the Philosophy of Culture (Bataille’s Case)
Authors:   Volgograd State University, Javorskiy Dmitriy
Published: January 2023

The article examines an example of the use of the concept of energy in humanitarian knowledge. The interdisciplinary concept of French writer, philosopher, social thinker Georges Bataille, described by him in the book "The Accursed Share", is presented. It is shown that the concept of energy is applicable to the study of sociocultural systems. In the light of this approach, culture appears as a system of devices ("organs", "machines") that utilize free (psychic, social) energy. In the absence of these devices, socio-cultural systems experience internal pressure of excess energy (the "accursed part"), which is fraught with the destruction of these systems due to troubles, civil wars and other conflicts. Bataille examines in detail three ways of utilizing free energy, which can be described in the framework of the philosophy of culture as three «organs» or three «machines» – war, religion and labor. The article gives a non-classical understanding of these phenomena. War cannot be reduced only to a set of violent actions to seize resources or impose will on the enemy. Religion cannot be reduced only to establishing a connection with the divine. Labor cannot be reduced only to the production of material or spiritual goods. All these activities are partly self-referential, and this self-referential can only be explained by an additional function, which is disclosed in this article. In conclusion, the relevance of the use of the concept of energy in the cultural and philosophical analysis of the current situation is shown. This situation cannot fail to attract the attention of those who rely on a humanistic position.
Social Forecasting and Elusive Reality: Our World as a Social Construct
Authors: Danylova T. V.
Published: January 2023

Purpose. The paper attempts to investigate the constructivist approach to the social world and its implications for social forecasting. Theoretical basis. Social forecasting is mainly based on the idea that a human is "determined ontologically". Using the methodology of the natural sciences, most predictions and forecasts fail to encompass all the multiplicity and variability of the future. The postmodern interpretation of reality gave impetus to the development of the new approaches to it. A constructivist approach to social reality began to compete with essentialism. Social constructivism asserts that reality is a set of mental constructs, that it is ultimately a text. Radical constructivism interprets reality as a specific system of meanings emphasizing the artifact aspects of our reality. An interpretation of the social actors’ behavior is based on the ways of understanding accepted in a given society/community and do not possess ontological universality. The creators of social space are also its creations. Originality. Within the framework of the postmodern approach to reality, the second-order forecasting, or forecasting of forecasting, is particularly relevant. That means that the observers-forecasters must be included in the forecast as a part of one-unified process. At this stage, a forecaster must realize that he/she is a part of a larger system, a part of the world he/she observes (and actually creates). The situation changes dramatically – the forecaster is forced to take responsibility for his/her own observations. This ultimately leads to the "humanization" of forecasting. Acting in our world full of uncertainty, unpredictability, and turbulence, modern researchers of the future should be mindful of powerful social constructs of reality. Conclusions. Social forecasting should be embedded in a wider context, which requires a joint effort of philosophers, foresight practitioners, historians, psychologists, sociologists, political scientists, religious scholars, anthropologists, etc. To develop promising visions and scenarios of the future, it is necessary to answer the question "Why?", which is the task of philosophically oriented research, because without this answer, we will deal with the consequences; and the implementation of the negative scenarios will reproduce itself in new socio-cultural and historical conditions. An in-depth understanding of this "Why?" provides opportunities to be in the flow of transformations. The study of the deep mental processes of the actors of social changes, the multidimensional influence on the transformation of social structures can gradually expand an answer to the question "Why?", that can cause positive changes and, accordingly, allow to create fruitful projects of the future and form effective behavioral strategies that correspond to the desired level of social development.
The Grunwald Swords and Lech Wałęsa’s Ballpoint Pen. Ordinary objects – extraordinary events
Authors:   Uniwersytet Łódzki, Kasprzyk Damian
Published: January 2023

The article is devoted to the Grunwald swords and Wałęsa’s ballpoint pen as material correlates of concrete events and objects that can deliver a message whose content depends on the current political, social and cultural context.
Przeglądanie się w zwierciadle kultury czeskiej, czyli współczesne polskie badania nad historią społeczno-kulturową ziem czeskich i Słowacji XIX i XX w.
Authors:   Uniwersytet Jagielloński w Krakowie, Jarząbek Marcin
Published: January 2023

The paper presents current Polish research on modern Czech and Slovak social and cultural history. Using a spectrum of examples, it advocates for developing comparative, microhistorical, source-based studies on modern social and cultural history.
On the Aspects of Social Work Support for Adoptive Parents in the Process of Adoption
Authors:   Klaipeda University, Lithuania, Baranauskienė Ingrida , Kazakauskaitė Ieva ,   Klaipeda University, Lithuania, Rimkus Valdas ,   Klaipeda University, Lithuania
Published: January 2023

The article represents a part of a master thesis research project carried out at Klaipeda university. Concepts of biological, emotional, and procedural parenting obligations were utilised to analyse the issues of social work support for adoptive families. Procedural and emotional components were found to raise the biggest challenges. Although fostering and adoption mean raising a child deprived of parental care and usually needing additional help, social work support is mostly oriented towards fostering families. Therefore, social work support for adoptive parents while rather intensive in preparing the necessary documentation, initial training and matching of a family and a child, basically stops after the child arrives in a family. After that support remains purely voluntary and occasional. Research results show that the adoption process needs to be improved by revising training programmes, enhancing inter-institutional communication, and enriching the information provided for adoptive parents. The current procedures are seen as inefficient by social workers and adoptive parents.
Empowerment in Social Workers and Academic Teachers Training
Authors:   University of Silesia in Katowice, Borzucka-Sitkiewicz Katarzyna , Kowalczewska-Grabowska Katarzyna ,   University of Silesia in Katowice, Geerts Lieve ,   Karel de Grote University, Belgium, Pollefait Roland ,   Haute Ecole de Bruxelles-Brabant, Belgium
Published: January 2023

The modern world is currently facing new social threats, which pose a challenge to the existing aid systems. Circumstances like intensive migration processes or the uncertain situation resulting from ongoing military conflicts cause increased cultural differences, which intensify the marginalisation and social exclusion of minority groups. The Acting in Context by Training the Trainers in Social Empowerment (ACTTE) project was prepared to respond to emerging needs. The project was implemented in a consortium of 4 universities and 4 NGOs from Poland, France, Spain, Italy, and Belgium. The main goals of the project were: (1) development of tools for intervention work (toolbox) based on the Empowerment concept (emphasising increased control over one’s own life, self-confidence, and one’s abilities, and social integration among recipients of aid activities) for employees of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) working with marginalised and socially excluded people as well as academic teachers educating future educators and social workers, (2) developing competencies/skills in DPA (Developing the Power to Act) – an approach using the concept of Empowerment in people participating in training (both NGO employees and academic teachers). The article focuses on the project’s implementation process.
Care of a Close Relative as a Change in the Carer’s Lifestyle and Social Situation
Authors:   Tomas Bata University in Zlín, Czech Republic, Haburajová Ilavská Lenka , Kwadrans Łukasz ,   University of Silesia in Katowice, Poland, Lešková Lýdia ,   Catholic University in Ružomberok, Slovak Republic.
Published: January 2023

Introduction: This paper focuses on providing social care to a close relative. It is crucial in social services. Design: qualitative methodology – method of semi-structured interviews. Methods: respondents were selected to satisfy specific criteria. Particularly, these criteria were the care of a close relative who was assigned level III or IV care benefits. Another criterion according to which we selected respondents was that the carer belonged to the age group in which a person is still usually economically active. The research sample consisted of 6 respondents. Results: Based on the data analysis, we created categories to present the content of semi-structured interviews. Needs focusing on the body carried over into maintenance of one’s own physical and mental health are: the need for safety, the need for acceptance, the need for acknowledgement and respect, and the need for self-fulfilment and perspective. Conclusions: It is important to identify the care of a close relative, the specifics and needs, in the interests of configuring effective management of medical, psychological and social care, and creation of a system of social protection.
Pluricentrism in Education and Communication – Lexical Differences in English and German Varieties – Outcomes of the Research
Authors:   Jan Długosz University in Czestochowa, Skubis Ida
Published: January 2023

The existence of language varieties has a considerable impact on communication. They influence the interaction between language users from various centres due to the number of linguistic differences observed on the level of phonetics, spelling, grammar, lexis, and pragmatics. On the one hand, pluricentric languages connect people from various centres by using the “same” language, and on the other hand, they separate them by developing national norms. This article aims to demonstrate the importance of teaching language varieties in foreign language classes because the knowledge of national norms of pluricentric languages is essential in communication with people from various centres. Both English and German are pluricentric languages. Advanced language users should be aware of the differences between language varieties and be able to use the appropriate variety according to the communicative situation. The research undertaken in this article is meant to verify the undergraduate students’ knowledge of English and German varieties, emphasising terminology used in everyday life and their abilities to communicate in languages other than English or German.
Musical Development of Children in a Family Environment from the Research Perspective. Application of Elements of E.E. Gordon’s Music Learning Theory
Authors:   Kazimierz Wielki University, Bydgoszcz, Bonna Beata
Published: January 2023

The article focuses on the musical interactions of parents with children based on elements of E.E. Gordon’s music learning theory which intensify their musical development in different periods of their life. The individual case method and the interview technique were used in the research. The description of the results was generalised and synthesised by analysing interviews with nine family members. The research showed that almost all parents included intentional and varied activities to support their children’s musical development in the prenatal period. They also undertook them at later stages of their lives. These activities often focused on presenting diverse music in terms of style, dynamics, pace, tonality and meter, moving to it, singing for a child and with a child, and performing tonal and rhythmic patterns. It resulted in a wide variety of musical behaviours in the children, conditioned by their age and stage of musical development. It proves that early musical support is an important foundation for the proper course of this process and further musical education.
Gender Factor in the Russian Propaganda of the Ally’s Image during World War I
Authors:   Ural Federal University, Ekaterinburg, Porshneva Olga S.
Published: January 2023

This article analyses the role of the gender factor in promoting the image of an ally in the conditions of the First World War. The author shows that in the pre-revolutionary period of Russia’s participation in the war, pro-allied propaganda was used as an instrument of patriotic political mobilisation of society. The main plot of such propaganda was the successes of the allies, primarily England and France, in mobilising material and human resources in the interests of the war, and the achievements of those countries in organising the rear. In the publications of the press, gender language was widely used, as well as images of masculinity and femininity as examples of proper male and female participation in the war, and the patriotic efforts of men and women. The concepts of ideal masculinity used in promoting the image of an ally included the ideas of a responsible civic attitude, decisiveness, and energy as the main attributes of a man in the conditions of the “home front” of a new industrial war. Until the February Revolution of 1917, Great Britain served as a model when it came to national mobilisation in the propaganda of the Russian media, and its leaders, like the heads and representatives of the British Empire governments, became personal incarnations of masculinity. In contrast to them, the position of W. Wilson before the US entered the war was viewed as humiliating and humble, which contained negative gender connotations and contradicted the ideal of masculinity. The images of the allied nations’ women played a special role in patriotic mobilisation, embodying selflessness as the traditional ideal of femininity, while simultaneously involving new connotations and meanings associated with the proactive position of women in a new type of war. During the Revolution of 1917, in a situation of growing disillusionment with the war, the propaganda of the mobilisation efforts of the allies ceased to be a popular subject of Russian socio-political discourse. Titanic propaganda efforts undertaken by the allies themselves also failed. The public demand for gender equality actualised by the Revolution manifested itself in the movement to form women’s battalions, which also became a demonstration of the patriotic civic position of women. Despite its predominantly propagandistic rather than military significance, this movement also did not work as an instrument of patriotic mobilisation, showing the persistence of gender stereotypes and society’s weariness from war.
The Origins of the Personal Type of Narrative in D. N. Mamin-Sibiryak’s Shorter Prose
Authors:   Ural Federal University, Ekaterinburg, Zyryanov Oleg V.
Published: January 2023

Based on D. N. Mamin-Sibiryak’s shorter prose (essays, stories), the author distinguishes various types of narrative, i.e. first and third person narration and a personal type of narration. In several stories of the essay type, special markers of the presence of the personal narrator stand out expressed in characteristic motifs of admiration, interest, and curiosity. The author proves that during the period of the so-called “second debut” (1881–1882), Mamin began with the development of the form of a personal narrator, most characteristic of the genre of the essay, and gradually switched to the auctorial type of narrative, typical already of the genre of the story and assuming the form of an objective narrator author. It is also noted that in the form of an auctorial narration, Mamin successfully mastered the device of non-personal direct speech, or the speech interference of the character and the narrator author, which brings us to the rudimentary forms of “personal” narrative. From about the mid-1880s, the tendency towards a personal narrative became apparent, which is most noticeable in the stories Korobkin, Doctor Osokin’s Amendment and Simply, which focus on the state of the split consciousness of the character who finds himself in a situation of “man in front of a mirror” (M. M. Bakhtin) and acts as a direct subject of cognition. In the works of the same period (stories Between Us, The Old Fife, and others) a personal type of narration emerges clearly, which continues logically in the stories of the 1900s (Influenza. Monologue, A Dumpling and a Blot). The writer pays attention to the situation of the relationship between the character and the stereotyped nickname imposed on him, a certain “foreign” word-nomination, which leads to an increase in the act of self-awareness of the character and an intensification of the personal narrative. Finally, the article concludes that the development of a personal point of view in the narrative structure of the story leads Mamin-Sibiryak to the emergence of a new genre form, i.e. a personal “monologue” or “diary”, as well as to focus on the aesthetic potential of receptive poetics, which reveals points of convergence with genre variation of Chekhov’s “discovery story”.
Illegitimate Fertility in the Urals During the Late 19th and Early 20th Centuries
Authors:   Institute of History and Archaeology UB RAS, Ekaterinburg, Glavatskaya Elena M. ,   Ural Federal University, Ekaterinburg, Zabolotnykh Elizaveta A. ,   Institute of History and Archaeology UB RAS, Ekaterinburg
Published: January 2023

Out-of-wedlock births are one of the important aspects of the demographic history in late imperial Russia. The percentage of children born to unwed mothers in the Russian Empire during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries was lower than the general average in European countries. However, in the specific context of the Russian demographic order, with earlier age at marriage and more universal nuptiality than in Europe generally, the study of out-of-wedlock births and especially their spatial distribution, acquires special significance. This work is aimed at studying the dynamics of out-of-wedlock births in Perm province in the decades around 1900. The authors pay particular attention to out-of-wedlock births in the city of Ekaterinburg, using official statistics and the “Ural Population Project” database, URAPP based on parish registers with vital events in five city parishes. The authors reconstruct the dynamics of out-of-wedlock births in each of the twelve Perm province counties, reflecting a general downward trend, especially in counties containing a significant proportion of Old Believers. It is established that the average level of illegitimate births among the rural population was 4%, and in cities — 9%. The out-of-wedlock birth rate increased during times of wars and social upheavals, especially in cities differing from parish to parish. In St Epiphany parish of Ekaterinburg, the illegitimate birth rate reached 41% during the famine of 1892. Concurrently, at least 11% of the women, including some from relatively wealthy families, baptised up to seven “illegitimate” children in the parish. This gives grounds to perceive the phenomenon of out-of-wedlock births not only because of the unfortunate circumstances for young women, but also as a sign of modernisation in the sphere of family and marriage relations, slowed down by archaic legislation.
Reconstructing the Economic Landscape of Ekaterinburg City in 1914 Based on the Telephone Network
Authors:   Institute of History and Archaeology UB RAS, Ekaterinburg, Bakharev Dmitry S. , Bobitsky Aleksandr V. ,   Institute of History and Archaeology UB RAS, Ekaterinburg
Published: January 2023

This paper reconstructs Ekaterinburg’s economic landscape in 1914. The research is based on the 1910 city map and quantitative data from the 1914 city phonebook and relies on the space syntax method. During the study, the authors created a database including 390 local companies’ phone numbers before World War I classified in accordance with the Fisher-Clark economic sector model (primary sector — extraction of raw materials, secondary — manufacturing, tertiary — service industries, quaternary — finances and information services, quinary sector — administration, education, medicine, sciences, etc.). The research demonstrates that there were just a couple of primary sector businesses in Ekaterinburg in the early twentieth century. Most secondary sector plants and factories had been moved outside of the city, while the others were evenly distributed following the environmental regulations and proximity to labour force. Tertiary sector firms dominated in the western part of the city and formed a commercial district around Market Square. The quaternary sector companies had almost the same location, spreading further to the northwest. Quinary sector organisations were dispersed all over the city with a notable concentration in the center and north-western part. The reconstruction of the Ekaterinburg economic landscape reveals that its centre occupied the area around the dam that locked the Iset River running through the city and spread towards the west and north-west part in the early twentieth century forming the city’s future business district.