Introduction to politeness and impoliteness research in global contexts

Im/politeness research has been a solid and growing research field in sociolinguistics, pragmatics and discourse analysis during the last four decades. The scientific interest in this topic is not accidental and may be explained by the general anthropocentric paradigm of modern interdisciplinary linguistic studies which are not focused on the language as an abstract system, but on its  functioning in various contexts and types of interaction. Knowledge of the strategies and politeness mechanisms used in various social and cultural contexts promotes mutual understanding in communication. In this introduction to the special issue on im/politeness in global contexts we will briefly position the topic of im/politeness research, highlight advancements in im/politeness theory, method and data. We then turn to a brief synopsis of each individual paper and highlight the theoretical and methodological contributions and innovations proposed by our authors. We end with a discussion of the results and a brief outlook on future research

Differential sensitivity of brainstem vs cortical astrocytes to changes in pH reveals functional regional specialization of astroglia

Astrocytes might function as brain interoceptors capable of detecting different (chemo)sensory modalities and transmitting sensory information to the relevant neural networks controlling vital functions. For example, astrocytes which reside near the ventral surface of the brainstem (central respiratory chemosensitive area) respond to physiological decreases in pH with vigorous elevations in intracellular Ca(2+) and release of ATP. ATP transmits astroglial excitation to the brainstem respiratory network and contributes to adaptive changes in lung ventilation. Here we show that in terms of pH-sensitivity ventral brainstem astrocytes are clearly distinct from astrocytes residing in the cerebral cortex. We monitored vesicular fusion in cultured rat brainstem astrocytes using total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy and found that approximately 35% of them respond to acidification with an increased rate of exocytosis of ATP-containing vesicular compartments. These fusion events require intracellular Ca(2+) signaling and are independent of autocrine ATP actions. In contrast, the rate of vesicular fusion in cultured cortical astrocytes is not affected by changes in pH. Compared to cortical astrocytes, ventral brainstem astrocytes display higher levels of expression of genes encoding proteins associated with ATP vesicular transport and fusion, including vesicle-associated membrane protein-3 and vesicular nucleotide transporter. These results suggest that astrocytes residing in different parts of the rat brain are functionally specialized. In contrast to cortical astrocytes, astrocytes of the brainstem chemosensitive area(s) possess signaling properties which are functionally relevant – they are able to sense changes in pH and respond to acidification with enhanced vesicular release of ATP

Functional genomics studies of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) development, and sac fry responses to chronic incremental hyperthermia

Functional genomics techniques, including the 32K cGRASP microarray and real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (QPCR), were used to study gene expression in a single Atlantic salmon cohort: 1) during embryonic and early sac fry development; and 2) after sac fry were exposed to chronic incremental hyperthermia (water temperature increased by 1°C every 24 hours, from 7.4 to 21.4°C). The first study focused on the transcript expression of four microarray-identified paralogous γM-crystallin genes as well as four paralogous α-sHSP genes. The four α-sHSPs, as well as cryGM4-like and cryGM3-like, were shown by QPCR as higher expressed at hatch or post-hatch stage relative to eye-up stage (although the degree of induction varied between paralogues). This research provides possible evidence of divergent transcript expression (i.e., regulation) of duplicated genes, suggesting that some of the paralogues studied may have diverged functionally. These results provide insight into the evolutionary relationships between these genes, and may provide evidence of neofunctionalization following GD events. The second study focused on four microarray-identified genes of interest (trypsin-1 precursor, chymotrypsin b, ferritin middle subunit, and ubiquitin) as well as the four paralogous α-sHSP genes. The transcripts encoding trypsin-1 precursor, ferritin middle subunit, and ubiquitin, as well as α-sHSPs 1, 3 and 4, were shown by QPCR as responsive to the incremental hyperthermia conditions. This study identified molecular biomarkers that may be useful for studying adaptation of early life stage salmon under potentially stressful conditions (e.g., warming climate)

Unidirectional convective flows of a viscous incompressible fluid with slippage in a closed layer

An exact solution describing the flow of a viscous incompressible fluid in a closed horizontal layer is obtained in view of the Navier slip condition and the inhomogeneous pressure distribution on one of the layer boundaries. The principal possibility of velocity field stratification and the dependence of the number of stratification points on the slip length are demonstrated. © 2019 Author(s)

Means of Lexical Representation of Spatial Continuum in Early Stories of I. A. Bunin

The question of ways of creating a spatial continuum in the early stories of I. A. Bunin “On the wrong side”, “On the farm” and “On the Donets”, united by a single principle of nomination and included in the first book of the writer’s prose “To the end of the world” (1897) is considered in the article. The semantics of the title actualizes the spatial component of the author’s linguistic picture of the world, which determined the path of linguistic and stylistic analysis of the linguistic material of stories. The authors pay special attention to the means of lexical representation of space as one of the basic linguo-cognitive categories. The novelty of the research lies in the fact that the language material has been identified, systematized and described, which makes it possible to determine the individual author's characteristics in the creation of the spatial continuum of I. A. Bunin’s early stories. The relevance of the study is due to the appeal to the problems of cognitive linguistics. On the basis of statistical, descriptive and linguo-cognitive methods of analysis, the authors identify and describe the means of lexical representation of the spatial model created in the stories of I. A. Bunin, which is characterized by a clear structuredness and individuality of the author’s approach. In the course of the study, the authors come to conclusions that make it possible to characterize the features of the construction of space in the early stories of the writer, taking into account the individual characteristics of the author's world modeling, and also to analyze the linguistic parameters of the idiostyle of I. A. Bunin

Анна Вежбицкая: язык, культура, коммуникация

The Introductory article to the second part of the Special Issue dedicated to Anna Wierzbicka's anniversary focuses on her research in the domain of language and culture interchange. It overviews the fundamental concepts of Wierzbicka's research program, those of cultural keywords and cultural scripts within the cultural semantics and ethnopragmatics paradigm. As is the case with other Wierzbicka's linguistic studies, the analysis involves representation of meaning in terms of universal human concepts of the Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM). The article also discusses the concept of Minimal Language as a recent development in the NSM programme and associated research into various fields.Данная статья открывает вторую часть специального выпуска журнала «Вестник РУДН. Серия: Лингвистика», посвященного юбилею Анны Вежбицкой. В статье предыдущего номера (Гладкова, Ларина 2018) мы рассмотрели ключевые положения концепции Естественного Семантического Метаязыка (ЕСМ), разработанного А. Вежбицкой в качестве инструмента семантического анализа. В этой статье мы остановимся на специфике реализации научного подхода А. Вежбицкой, направленного в первую очередь на анализ культурных аспектов смысла, а именно - на ключевых словах языка и культуры и культурных скриптах. Затем мы рассмотрим различные применения данного подхода в трудах А. Вежбицкой, ее коллег и последователей и кратко представим авторов данного выпуска и их исследования. Таким образом, в данном номере в основном будут рассмотрены вопросы культурной семантики и прагматики и взаимодействия языка, культуры и коммуникации

Motive of “Liberated Soul” as a World-Modeling Universal in Lyrics of S. Parnok

The article is devoted to the analysis of the motif-figurative paradigm of the Silver Age poetess S. Parnok’s lyrics. The author’s attention is focused on the ways of stylistic representation of the world-modeling universals of the poetic world of S. Parnok, an important place among which belongs to the motive of the “liberated soul”. It is a starting point in the construction of the author’s picture of the world, in the center of which the path of the lyrical heroine to her soul underlies: its comprehension, acceptance of its contradictions and embodiment in a creative act. The novelty of the study is in the analysis of S. Parnok’s lyrics as an integral compositional and stylistic unity, structured by poetic leitmotifs. The relevance of the article is due to the appeal to the problematic field of research on poetic style. The authors made an attempt to deepen and expand scientific ideas about the stylistic phenomenon of women’s poetry of the Silver Age based on the analysis of S. Parnok’s lyrics. The conclusions of the study substantiate the semantic load and the functional role of the “liberated soul” motif in structuring the author’s poetic picture of the world. It is shown that the leading methods of its representation are metaphorization, epithets, including synesthetic ones, antithesis, oxymoron, at the level of syntactic organization — gradation, enjambment technique

ПАРАМЕТРИЧНІ ОСОБЛИВОСТІ ТА КРИТЕРІАЛЬНІ УМОВИ РОЗВИТКУ РИНКУ ЛІНІЙНИХ ПЕРЕВЕЗЕНЬ

The need to develop scientific regulations is determined by the basic conditions and new trends in the global market for linear technologies, the problems of functioning of maritime transport enterprises on the market of transportation services. The experience of the development of the global maritime market confirms the influence of the number of operators on the economic balance of the subsystem. As the number of shipping and carrier companies increases, the degree of satisfaction of the need for goods transportation according to urgency criteria increases. At the same time, with an increase in the number of shipping companies, competition in the main segments of the freight market intensifies, which ultimately leads to a slowdown in the growth of tariff and charter rates at development stages. Therefore, a relatively low rate of return on capital, especially for vessels with a high level of innovative technologies, remains. The key players in the container market are the state business and diversified business. The conditions of operation of shipping companies within the maritime trade market system are analyzed. An assessment of the development prospects of linear shipping companies in the light of new trends. The process of consolidation of the container technology market is considered and evaluated, and the factors that are not conducive to cartel agreements are highlighted. Criteria features of the positioning of marine transport enterprises are identified. The specifics of competitive positioning of container terminals in the Black Sea-Azov region are noted. The analysis of the working conditions of national stevedoring container operators is conducted and the problems of their competitive positioning on the regional market of linear transportation are revealed. For example, a graphical model showing monthly dynamics of container turnover of Ukrainian ports in 2017 is represented. The parametric features of the functioning of container lines passing through the ports of Ukraine are substantiated. The conditions for achieving the adequacy of the technical and economic level of the national sea trading ports with respect to the requirements of the external system are noted. Thus, an information and logistic model is suggested. It reflects the interconnection between the system parameters affecting the sustainable development of the maritime business in the sector of container technologies. As a result, the conditions for making rational decisions regarding investments of maritime transport enterprises have been substantiated.Необхідність розроблення наукових положень диктується основними умовами і новими тенденціями в системі глобального ринку лінійних технологій, проблемами функціонування морських транспортних підприємств на ринку транспортних послуг. Досвід розвитку світового ринку морської торгівлі підтверджує закономірність впливу числа операторів на економічну збалансованість підсистеми. При зростанні числа судноплавних і операторських компаній зростає ступінь задоволення потреби в перевезеннях вантажів за критеріями терміновості. Разом з тим зі збільшенням числа судноплавних компаній посилюється конкуренція в основних сегментах фрахтового ринку, що призводить у кінцевому підсумку до уповільнення зростання тарифних і чартерних ставок на етапах розвитку. Тому залишається порівняно низька норма прибутку на капітал, особливо у суден із високим рівнем інноваційних технологій. Ключовими гравцями контейнерного ринку є держава і диверсифікований бізнес. Проаналізовано умови функціонування судноплавних компаній у системі ринку морської торгівлі. Дано оцінку перспективам розвитку лінійних компаній з урахуванням нових тенденцій. Розглянуто і дано оцінку процесові консолідації ринку контейнерних технологій і відзначено фактори, які не сприяють картельним угодам. Виявлено критеріальні особливості позиціонування морських транспортних підприємств. Відзначаються особливості конкурентного позиціонування контейнерних терміналів у Чорноморсько-Азовському регіоні. Проаналізовано умови роботи національних стивідорних контейнерних операторів і виявлено проблеми їхнього конкурентного позиціонування в регіональному ринку лінійних перевезень. Наприклад, представлена графічна модель, що відображає динаміку контейнерообігу портів України по місяцях за 2017 рік. Обґрунтовано параметричні особливості функціонування контейнерних ліній, що проходять через порти України. Відзначено умови досягнення адекватності техніко-економічного рівня національних морських торговельних портів вимогам зовнішньої системи. Таким чином, представленo інформаційно-логістичну модель, яка відображає взаємозв’язок системних параметрів, які впливають на сталий розвиток морського бізнесу у сфері контейнерних технологій. У результаті обґрунтовано умови ухвалення раціональних рішень інвестиційної діяльності підприємств морського транспорту