"Short history" of the patriarch Nikephoros : а historical analysis of the work

Кратка историја патријарха Никифора (806 – 815) одувек је у византијским студијама представљала незаобилазан извор у проучавањима историје Царства 7. и 8. века. Ово дело угледног цариградског световног достојанственика, а потом и патријарха, покрива временски период од 602. до 769. године историје царства Ромеја. Обзиром да је Кратка историја један од само два историјска дела која се баве мрачним вековима византијске цивилизације, дакле окренута је прошлости из перспективе једне сасвим другачије епохе у којој се Царство нашло крајем 8. и почетком 9. века, она је већ у повоју византијских студија, о чему сведоче прва издања већ из 17. века, била предмет научне пажње свих који су се бавили историјом назначеног периода. Циљ ове дисертације јесте да изучи унутрашњи карактер и особине дела које је обзиром на време свог настанка, крај 8. и прва деценија 9. века, стајало на самом почетку обнове византијске културе и учености, на тај начин прекидајући један прилично дуготрајан период византијске историје који је пре свега обележен одсуством литерарних дела из домена световне књижевности. Историјски значај и место самог аутора Кратке историје, његова значајна световна каријера која се одвијала у близини, или чак при самој царској палати, а потом његово управљање Цариградском црквом у бурном времену између два таласа иконоборства, поставља пред истраживача његовог најпознатијег световног дела мноштво питања, која се намећу уколико се само дело посматра у контексту времена у којем је настало и положаја који је његов писац у таквом времену заузимао. У вези са таквим поимањем Кратке историје, узимајући у обзир и личну историју самог Никифора, ми смо се посветили истраживању два важна аспекта овог дела која се појављују као доминантне теме на његовим страницама - слици царева и патријараха која се пројављује из карактеристичног начина нарације, одабира теме и њеног прецизног размештања унутар структуре дела. Пишући историју Царства 7. и 8. века, Никифор је оставио утисак апсолутне личне објективности и непристрасности спрам догађаја и личности које је описивао. Из наше анализе дела промаља се једно сасвим другачије виђење слике царева и патријараха, које је он представио у својој Краткој историји. Овај поступак био је изазван сасвим конкретним проблемима и питањима која су обележила његову сопствену епоху. У том смислу, цареви и патријарси који се помињу на страницама његовог дела, иако удаљене историјске личности из перспективе самог аутора, у својим узајамним односима, заправо представљају и одражавају основну идеју обновљене у православљу Цариградске цркве након 787. године. Идеја слободе и независности Цркве у односу на Царство које је по природи своје власти пребивало увек у потенцијалној опасности - из перспективе Цркве, да угрози њену слободу, присутна је кроз одговарајући наратив о царевима у Краткој историји. С тим у вези, проучавање слике царева у Краткој историји, наметнуло се као друга доминантна тема овог рад, у покушају да реконструишемо Никифоров лични став по питању положаја, места и улоге царске власти у византијској држави, а кроз комплексне приказе личности царева који су управљали Царством у периоду између година 602. и 769.In the studies of the 7th and 8th centuries of Byzantium, Short history of the patriarch Nikephoros is an irreplaceable source. This work of Nikephoros, who was a highly prominent Constantinopolitan, a lay official of the imperial palace, later to become a patriarch of the Church of Constantinople, covers the time period between the years 602. – 769. Since the Short history is one of the two only extant sources dealing with the so called dark centuries of Byzantium, having its attention towards the past directed from and within a different period and the specific perspective of the Empire from the end of the 8th and the beginning of the 9th centuries, it was attracting scholarly attention from the very beginnings of Byzantine studies. First editions of the source, appearing already in the 17th century, illustrate this point. The aim of this dissertation is to study the internal character and features of the work which, standing on the outsets of the Byzantine cultural and state revival in the end of the 8th and beginning of the 9th centuries, influenced the renewal of historical writing in Byzantium after the great barren period of the 7th and 8th centuries which was particularly sparse in the production of secular literature. Influential secular career of its author, in the domain of Byzantine court policy, who was later to become patriarch of the Church of Constantinople in the turbulent times between two iconoclastic persecutions, raises several issues, especially if judged in the historical context of the time from which Short history actually originates. Having this in mind, and also considering Nikephoros’ personal history, we have focused our attention on two important aspects of his work, which both appear as dominant themes in the course of his narration, namely, the manners of representation of both patriarchs and emperors of Byzantium, independently and in their mutual relationships, as they are depicted in Short history. While writing his history of the Empire in the 7th and 8th centuries, Nikephoros maintained features of a highly objective and unbiased author, both in regard to events and to personalities he mentions. However, on the basis of our analysis, we are inclined to offer a different view point concerning the issue of emperor/patriarch images in the Short history. Nikephoros’ treatment of this theme was caused by specific and particular problems of his own epoch which certainly had its own effects and shaped him as a personality totally, but also as a writer in particular. In this respect, emperors and patriarchs appearing in the narrative of Nikephoros’ work transmit, although they themselves are individuals from a remote and distant time period – from the writers own perspective, in their mutual relations, as expressed and described in the Short history, transmit the ideas of the Church of Constantinople after the reestablishment of her orthodoxy in 787. In other words, the ideal of ecclesiastical freedom and independence in regard to the imperial power – the basileia, which was by its essence almost determined to insult these two main ideals of the Church, is in fact emphasized in a specific literary treatment of the image of Byzantine emperors of the 7th and 8th centuries. In this connection, a study of the image and character of representations of emperors, as present in the Short history, imposed itself as a second dominant theme of this thesis. Thus our other aim was to attempt a reconstruction of Nikephoros’ personal attitudes towards the issue of the imperial office and power, its place and significance in the Byzantine state, by examining the complex images of the emperors who reigned in Byzantium in the 7th and 8th century

Physiological and biochemical mechanisms of regulation of tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) fruit growth in drought conditions

Suša je jedan od glavnih ograničavajućih faktora u intenzivnoj poljoprivrednoj proizvodnji i zbog toga produktivnost mnogih biljaka, uključujući i paradajz, zavisi od navodnjavanja. Međutim, kao posledica globalnih klimatskih promena i zagađenja životne sredine, resursi voda za potrebe navodnjavanja su ograničeni. Nove metode redukovanog navodnjavanja (regulisani deficit navodnjavanja - RDN i delimično sušenje korenova - DSK) su pokazale da se može smanjiti količina vode za navodnjavanje, a da se to u značajnoj meri ne odrazi na kvantitet i kvalitet prinosa poljoprivrednih kultura. Razlika između metoda je u tome što se kod RDN postupka ceo korenov sistem biljaka zaliva sa smanjenom količinom vode, dok se u DSK postupku vrši naizmenično zalivanje i sušenje dela korenovog sistema. Obe metode deficita navodnjavanja su zasnovane na poznavanju fizioloških reakcija biljaka na sušu. Cilj istraživanja ove disertacije je bio da se detaljno prouče fiziološki i biohemijski procesi koji su u osnovi regulacije rastenja i sazrevanja plodova paradajza u optimalnim uslovima vodnog režima biljaka i pod dejstvom delimičnog sušenja korenova (DSK) i regulisanog deficita navodnjavanja (RDN). Da bi se detaljnije objasnili ovi procesi ispitivani su i efekti DSK i RDN na rastenje vegetativnih organa paradajza. Kako u ispitivanim procesima ključnu ulogu ima hormon abscisinska kiselina (ABA), uporedna ispitivanja kod sorte Ailsa Craig i mutanta flacca, koji je deficitaran u sintezi ABA, imala su za cilj da doprinesu objašnjenju uloge ABA u reakcijama biljaka paradajza na sušu. Ispitivanja aktivnosti peroksidaze ćelijskog zida i proteomik analiza su imala za cilj da identifikuju biohemijske i metaboličke procese koji se dešavaju u toku procesa rastenja ćelija perikarpa plodova. Eksperimenti su rađeni u fitotronskoj komori i za istraživanje su korišćeni sorta paradajza Ailsa Craig i mutant flacca, koji su gajeni u sudovima sa Potground H supstratom (Klasmann-Deilmann, Germany). Za potrebe ispitivanja DSK sudovi su specijalno dizajnirani tako što je postavljena plastična pregrada po sredini i tako su dobijena dva odeljka iste zapremine, ali koja su bila hidraulički izolovana. To je omogućilo alternativno zalivanje i sušenje dela korenovog sistema...Drought is one of the major limiting factors of intensive agricultural production and therefore productivity of many crops, including tomato, requires irrigation. However, as a consequence of global climate changes and environmental pollution, water resources available for irrigation are often reduced. New deficit irrigation methods (regulated deficit irrigation - RDI and partial root drying - PRD) demonstrated that the use of water for irrigation could be decreased without significant or with the small effects on the quantity and quality of crop yield. The difference between the methods is that with the RDI technique the entire root system of the plants is irrigated with a reduced amount of water compared to optimal irrigation, while with PRD procedure alternately watering and drying part of the root system is performed. Both deficit irrigation methods are based on an understanding of the physiological and biochemical responses of plants to water deficit. The aim of presenting dissertation was to assess the physiological and biochemical processes that are at the base of the regulation of tomato fruit growth in optimal water regime conditions and under the influence of deficit irrigation (RDI and PRD). To explain in more detail these processes the effects of the PRD and the RDI on the growth of vegetative organs of tomato were also assessed. As in the investigated processes, plant hormone abscisic acid (ABA) plays a key role, comparative analyses with tomato variety Ailsa Craig (wild type) and flacca mutant (ABA-deficient) was done with the aim to better understand the role of ABA in reaction of tomato to drought. Investigation of the activity of cell wall-associated peroxidase and proteomic analyses was done with the aim to identify biochemical and metabolic processes that occurs during tomato fruit growth. The experiments were done in phytotron chamber and for experiments were used tomato variety Ailsa Craig and flacca mutant grown in pots filled with substrate Postground H (Klasmann-Deilmann, Germany). The pots were specially designed for PRD experiments, such that they were separated by plastic sheets into two equal-sized but hydraulically separated compartments..

Synthesis and characterization of conducting polyaniline nanotubes in the presence of colloidal TiO2 nanoparticles

Conducting polyaniline nanotubes were synthesized by the oxidative polymerization of aniline with ammonium peroxydisulfate in water, in the presence of colloidal TiO2 nanoparticles of an average diameter ~5 nm. Polyaniline-TiO2 nanocomposite has been characterized by the electrical conductivity measurements, thermogravimetric analysis, FTIR spectroscopy, scanning and transmission electron microscopies. The electrical conductivity of synthesized nanocomposite was 1.1 × 10–3 S cm–1, slightly higher than that of pure polyaniline prepared under the same conditions. Polyaniline nanotubes have an outer diameter of 45–230 nm nm, an inner diameter of 15–130 nm, and a length extending from 0.5 to 2.0 μm.Physical chemistry 2008 : 9th international conference on fundamental and applied aspects of physical chemistry; Belgrade (Serbia); 24-28 September 200

Struktura i stereohemija poli-(1-naftilamina) elektrohemijski sintetisanog u neutralnom acetonitrilnom rastvoru

Poly-(1-naphthylamine) films were synthesized potentiodinamically and potentiostatically from 1-naphthylamine in neutral acetonitrile medium using a platinum electrode. These polymer films were investigated by infrared spectroscopy. Contrary to earlier published results neglecting the stereochemistry of the poly-(1-naphthylamine), we predict on the basis of quantum stereochemical analysis of the possible structural subunits of the polymer, that the ordinary N–C(4) coupled product is not predominant in the polymer because it is far removed from the expected planarity. Based on the results of IR investigations and semiempirical quantum chemical calculations, it is proposed that the polymer products are formed via mixed N–C(4), N–C(5) and N–C(7) coupling routes. The heats of formation of the oxidized 1-naphthylamine dimers and hexamers were calculated.Poli-(1-naftilaminski) filmovi sintetisani su potenciostatski i potenciodinamički iz neutralnog acetonitrilnog rastvora 1-naftilamina na platinskoj elektrodi. Ovi polimerni filmovi ispitivani su IR spektroskopijom. Za razliku od ranije publikovanih rezultata koji su zanemarivali stereohemiju poli-1(-naftilamina), u ovom radu se predviđa na osnovu kvantne stereohemijske analize mogućih strukturnih jedinica polimera da uobičajeni N–C(4) kuplovani produkt nije predominantan u polimeru, jer njegova struktura nije planarna. Na osnovu rezultata IR ispitivanja i semiempirijskih kvantno-hemijskih proračuna mi pretpostavljeno je da se polimerni produkti formiraju kombinovanim N–C(4), N–C(5) i N–C(7) načinima vezivanja 1-naftilamina. U ovom radu su takođe izračunate toplote nastajanja oksidovanih dimera i heksamera 1-naftilamina

On Numerical Evaluation of Packet-Error Rate for Binary Phase-Modulated Signals Reception over Generalized-K Fading Channels

We present a numerical evaluation of packet error rate (PER) for digital binary phase modulations over wireless communication channels. The analysis is valid for a quasistatic fading communication channel, where multipath fading and shadowing appear simultaneously. The approach is based on numerical evaluation of signal-to-noise ratio threshold that is further used in PER computation. We analyze the threshold and PER dependence on signal power, multipath fading and shadowing severity, as well as packet length

Heavy metals concentration in soils from parks and green areas in Belgrade

The current study included the investigation of several metals and their distribution in urban soils from parks and green areas in the city of Belgrade. The soils were sampled in January and February 2008. The concentrations of Cd, Co, Cu, Pb, Mn and Zn were measured, as well as the pH values and organic matter contents. The obtained results showed that there was a significant level of contamination in some samples, especially with lead, and that it was most probably caused by anthropogenic activities, mostly from traffic. The results were compared with the National legislation and Netherlands standards. Also, the recent results were compared with the data from previous work and it was concluded that there has been a certain increase of the Pb concentration in the past three years. The level of pollution in playground soil was very high and each analyzed sample exceeded the Dutch target value for Cd, Co and Pb

Ferromagnetic response of nanocomposites based on polyaniline and TiO2 nanocrystals of different shape

Ferromagnetic polyaniline (PANI)/TiO2 nanocomposites were synthesized by the oxidative polymerization of aniline with ammonium peroxydisulfate (APS), in the presence of colloidal TiO2 nanoparticles and TiO2 nanotubes, without added acid. The morphological, magnetic and structural properties of the PANI/TiO2 nanocomposites were studied by SEM microscopy, SQUID magnetometer and FTIR spectroscopy. The electrical conductivity of synthesized nanocomposites was ~10-3 Scm-1. The room temperature ferromagnetic response significantly depends on shape of TiO2 nanoparticles