Representation of Christmas Rituals in Leonid Solomatkin’s Paintings as a Folkloristic and Ethnographic Source

When studying folklore, knowledge of its contextual framework and social functions is of particular importance. For example, the study of the tradition of Russian nineteenth-century realist painting is especially relevant for the understanding of those folklore phenomena where the performing principle played a prominent role. The article examines the paintings of the artist L.I. Solomatkin that represented Christmas rituals (wassailing and mummer tradition) in the urban environment. Analysis of the paintings that represented wassails tradition suggests that in the urban environment of the 1870s, this tradition appears as largely formalized and mediated by the “framework” of commodity-money relations. Former ritual that engaged and brought together its participants gave place to the formalized routine that implied monetary exchange. However, this tradition remained integral part of the urban Christmas festivities, not only for the singers, but also for the listeners, since for the latter the arrival of the singers was a sign of social prestige. The painting that represents mummer tradition, instead, is a proof that in the urban environment of the second half of the 19 th century, this rite preserved its inherent “scary-fun” atmosphere

Petrushka in the Theatre for Children in the First Ten Years After the October Revolution (Two Plays by S.I. Marshak)

Samuil Marshak came to Ekaterinodar in 1918 and became the leader of the Department for children’s orphanages and colonies in 1920. In July 1920, he assisted and promoted the foundation of the professional theatre for children. He favored children’s improvisation, use of theatrical conventionality, and group work. The same principles were at the basis of the Petrushka theatre; therefore, Marshak’s turn to folklore theatre was a natural outcome of his previous work. Marshak wrote his first play Petrushka in 1921 upon meeting a popular folklore artist I. Zaitsev. In his play, Marshak attempted to make an emphasis on improvisation that was typical for folklore theatre, for example, encouraging performers to cross a boundary between the stage and the audience. These principles persevered in the staging of the play. Marshak thus naturally combined formulas and plot elements of folklore theatre with those of his own art. He was among those writers who tried to adapt Petrushka theatre for children. The plot and structure of the next play — Petrushka the Foreigner (1927) — were not as dependent on the folklore play as the previous one. Marshak builds the plot as a chain of events, gets rid of traditional folklore characters (except Petrushka), and substitutes the latter with contemporary characters that reflected new social reality. Petrushka as a character also undergoes changes. He is no longer a conventional character without social background and age but a mischievous little boy and urchin. Verbal structure of this play no longer bears on the verbal structure of the folklore play as before. Thus, the essay concludes that Marshak “Petrushka” plays illustrated the main trends of the folklore adaptation for children during the first ten years after the October revolution

Vertical structure of recent arctic warming from observed data and reanalysis products

The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10584-011-0192-8Spatiotemporal patterns of recent (1979–2008) air temperature trends are evaluated using three reanalysis datasets and radiosonde data. Our analysis demonstrates large discrepancies between the reanalysis datasets, possibly due to differences in the data assimilation procedures as well as sparseness and inhomogeneity of high-latitude observations. We test the robustness of Arctic tropospheric warming based on the ERA-40 dataset. ERA-40 Arctic atmosphere temperatures tend to be closer to the observed ones in terms of root mean square error compare to other reanalysis products used in the article. However, changes in the ERA-40 data assimilation procedure produce unphysical jumps in atmospheric temperatures, which may be the likely reason for the elevated tropospheric warming trend in 1979-2002. NCEP/NCAR Reanalysis show that the near-surface upward temperature trend over the same period is greater than the tropospheric trend, which is consistent with direct radiosonde observations and inconsistent with ERA-40 results. A change of sign in the winter temperature trend from negative to positive in the late 1980s is documented in the upper troposphere/lower stratosphere with a maximum over the Canadian Arctic, based on radiosonde data. This change from cooling to warming tendency is associated with weakening of the stratospheric polar vortex and shift of its center toward the Siberian coast and possibly can be explained by the changes in the dynamics of the Arctic Oscillation. This temporal pattern is consistent with multi-decadal variations of key Arctic climate parameters like, for example, surface air temperature and oceanic freshwater content. Elucidating the mechanisms behind these changes will be critical to understanding the complex nature of high-latitude variability and its impact on global climate change.acceptedVersio

AlGaAs/GaAs photovoltaic converters for high power narrowband radiation

AlGaAs/GaAs-based laser power PV converters intended for operation with high-power (up to 100 W/cm(2)) radiation were fabricated by LPE and MOCVD techniques. Monochromatic (lambda = 809 nm) conversion efficiency up to 60% was measured at cells with back surface field and low (x = 0.2) Al concentration 'window'. Modules with a voltage of 4 V and the efficiency of 56% were designed and fabricated

INTRASPECIES PTEROMYS-TALLENNUSTEN (SCIURIDAE, MAMMALIA) TALVEN TURKIVÄRJEN VÄRITTÄMINEN MALLISSA

Peer reviewe

Особливості ринку та економічного стану підприємств косметичної галузі у контексті реформування нормативно-правової бази та гармонізаціїї до вимог регламенту Євросоюзу

There is a certain dissonance between the rate of increase in demand, for an expanded range of perfumery and cosmetic goods, and the slow development of regulatory and legal regulation of their production and safety. During the research, it was established that the inertia of state bodies regarding the approval of laws has a significant impact on the economic development of industry enterprises. Problems in methods for determining substances have been identified; ambiguity of the legislative framework regarding the legal liability of producers for falsification, use of non-regulated components, labeling requirements. To solve the problem, a critical analysis of the regulatory impact of the regulatory framework, in time, on the economic condition and competitiveness of industry products was carried out. The legislative requirements put forward in Ukraine, EU countries, Canada, America, China on control of production and testing of cosmetics on animals have been analyzed. As a result of the research, four stages of reforming regulatory regulation by the state and bringing the legislative framework of the industry in line with European requirements have been identified and substantiated. New categories introduced into the regulatory framework have been identified and the prospects for exporting goods produced within the framework of the new regulatory framework are shown. Based on the results of the research, identical and different requirements of the Ukrainian and European regulations for cosmetic products, for packaging, labeling, methods for studying stability, physical and chemical indicators, sampling procedure for expert evaluation were established. It is shown that the introduced changes meet the requirements of European standards and could increase the competitiveness and investment potential of domestic enterprises of the cosmetic industryВиявлено певний дисонанс між темпами підвищення попиту, на розширений асортимент парфюмерно-косметичних товарів, та повільним розвитком нормативно-правового регулювання їх виробництва і безпечності. При проведенні досліджень встановлено, що значний вплив на економічний розвиток підприємств галузі чинить інертність державних органів щодо затвердження законів. Виявлено проблеми у методах визначення речовин; неоднозначність законодавчої бази щодо юридичної відповідальності виробників за фальсифікацію, використання не регламентованих складових, вимог до маркування. Для рішення проблеми, проведено критичний аналіз регуляторного впливу нормативно-законодавчої бази, у часі, на економічний стан та конкурентоспроможність продукції галузі. Розібрано законодавчі вимоги, що висуваються в Україні, країнах ЄС, Канаді, Америці, Китаї щодо контролю виробництва та тестування на тваринах косметики. У результаті досліджень визначено та обґрунтовано чотири етапи проведення реформування нормативно-правового регулювання зі сторони держави і приведення законодавчої бази галузі у відповідність до Європейських вимог. Виявлено нові категорії, що введені до нормативно-законодавчої бази та показано перспективи експорту товарів, вироблених у рамках нового нормативно-правового поля. За результатами досліджень встановлено ідентичні та відмінні вимоги Українського і Європейського регламенту на косметичну продукцію, щодо пакування, маркування, методів дослідження стабільності, фізико-хімічних показників, порядку відбору проб для експертної оцінки. Показано, що запроваджені зміни відповідають вимогам Європейських стандартів і дозволять підвищити конкурентоспроможність та інвестиційний потенціал вітчизняних підприємств косметичної галуз

The role of the Barents Sea in the Arctic climate system

Present global warming is amplified in the Arctic and accompanied by unprecedented sea ice decline. Located along the main pathway of Atlantic Water entering the Arctic, the Barents Sea is the site of coupled feedback processes that are important for creating variability in the entire Arctic air-ice-ocean system. As warm Atlantic Water flows through the Barents Sea, it loses heat to the Arctic atmosphere. Warm periods, like today, are associated with high northward heat transport, reduced Arctic sea ice cover, and high surface air temperatures. The cooling of the Atlantic inflow creates dense water sinking to great depths in the Arctic Basins, and ~60% of the Arctic Ocean carbon uptake is removed from the carbon-saturated surface this way. Recently, anomalously large ocean heat transport has reduced sea ice formation in the Barents Sea during winter. The missing Barents Sea winter ice makes up a large part of observed winter Arctic sea ice loss, and in 2050, the Barents Sea is projected to be largely ice free throughout the year, with 4°C summer warming in the formerly ice-covered areas. The heating of the Barents atmosphere plays an important role both in “Arctic amplification” and the Arctic heat budget. The heating also perturbs the large-scale circulation through expansion of the Siberian High northward, with a possible link to recent continental wintertime cooling. Large air-ice-ocean variability is evident in proxy records of past climate conditions, suggesting that the Barents Sea has had an important role in Northern Hemisphere climate for, at least, the last 2500 years

Atomic-Scale Modification of Oxidation Phenomena on the Ge(100) Surface by Si Alloying

Properties of Ge oxides are significantly different from those of widely used Si oxides. For example, the instability of GeOx at device junctions causes electronic defect levels that degrade the performance of Ge-containing devices (e.g., transistors and infrared detectors). Therefore, the passivating Si layers have been commonly used at Ge interfaces to reduce the effects of Ge oxide instability and mimic the successful strategy of Si oxidation. To contribute to the atomic-scale knowledge and control of oxidation of such Si-alloyed Ge interfaces (O/Si/Ge), we present a synchrotron radiation core-level study of O/Si/Ge, which is combined with scanning probe microscopy measurements. The oxidation processes and electronic properties of O/Si/Ge(100) are examined as functions of Si amount and oxidation doses. In particular, the incorporation of Si into Ge is shown to cause the strengthening of Ge−O bonds and the increase of incorporated oxygen amount in oxide/Ge junctions, supporting that the method is useful to decrease the defect-level densities.</p