The relationship of air temperature variations over the northern hemisphere during the secular and 11-year solar cycles

A comparison was made of air temperature anomaly maps for the months of January and July against a background of high and low secular solar activity, with and without regard for the 11 year cycle. By comparing temperature variations during the 11 year and secular cycles, it is found that the 11 year cycle influences thermal conditions more strongly than the secular cycle, and that temperature differences between extreme phases of the solar cycles are greater in January than in July

MULTIMEDIA REPRESENTATION OF KNOWLEDGE IN ACADEMIC DISCOURSE

The article focuses on academic presentations created with the help of multimedia programmes. The presentation is regarded as a special form of new academic knowledge representation. An academic presentation is explored as a multimodal phenomenon due to the fact that different channels or modes are activated during its perception. Data perception constitutes a part of the context which in itself is a semiotic event involving various components (an addresser, an addressee, the message itself, the channel of communication and the code). The choice of the code and the channel depends on different factors (type of the audience, the nature of the message, etc). In this way, the information for non-professionals will be most likely presented through visualization with the help of infographics (schemes, figures, charts, etc). Talking about the professional audience the speaker may resort to visualization to a lesser degree or he may not use it at all. His message will be transmitted only with the help of verbal means, which will not prevent the audience from perceiving and understanding new knowledge correctly. The presentation regime of rapid successive slide show may be regarded the heritage of ‘clip thinking’ which is characterized by a non-linear, simultaneous way of information perception. At the present stage of technology development visualization is becoming the most common means of transmitting information in academic discourse, due to peculiarities of data perception by the man of today

Silent, but salient: gestures in simultaneous interpreting

This study is aimed at studying the saliency in the gestures of simultaneous interpreters. To distinguish between distinguished gestures and non-selected ones, two groups of parameters are proposed - main and auxiliary, which are evaluated in relation to the general gesticulation style of the same interprete

An ancient bison from the mouth of the Rauchua River (Chukotka, Russia)

An incomplete carcass of an extinct bison, Bison ex gr. priscus, was discovered in 2012 in the mouth of the Rauchua River (69°30'N, 166°49'E), Chukotka. The carcass included the rump with two hind limbs, ribs, and large flap of hide from the abdomen and sides, several vertebrae, bones of the forelimbs and anterior autopodia, stomach with its contents, and wool. The limb bones are relatively gracile, which is unusual in bison, and a SEM study of the hair microstructure suggests higher insulating capacity than in extant members of the genus. Additionally, mitochondrial DNA analyses indicate that the Rauchua bison belonged to a distinct and previously unidentified lineage of steppe bison. Two radiocarbon dates suggest a Holocene age for the bison: a traditional 14C date provided an estimate of 8030±70 14C yr BP (SPb-743) and an AMS radiocarbon date provided an age of 9497±92 14C yr BP (AA101271). These dates make this the youngest known bison from Chukotka. Analysis of stomach contents revealed a diet of herbaceous plants (meadow grasses and sedges) and shrubs, suggesting that the early Holocene vegetation near the mouth of the Rauchua River was similar to that of the present day: tundra-associated vegetation with undersized plants

Fairy tale images as a component of cultural programming: gender aspect

The paper considers male and female images in the Yakut fairy tales as a component of cultural programming of gender behavior in a tribal society. The analysis of the Yakut fairy tales reveals that the main male characters whole being integral are represented as a rule by three types – in the image of heroes, hunters and poor men. Female images are more diverse, among them there are girls of the Upper World and udagans (shaman women), endowed with magical powers and the gift of transformation; girls of the Middle World, who can be both passive and active characters; the third group of female images is represented by old women, who are often embodied in the collective image of the old woman Simekhsin. The results of the analysis suggest that the masculine images correspond to the stereotypical male behavior patterns in the patriarchate society, while the feminine images may deviate from the accepted gender stereotypes for various reasons

Authentic Texts with a Person-Centered Message as an Education Resource for Extensive Reading Textbooks

The paper offers insights into extensive reading issue in connection with a person-centered approach. The major objective of the study was to ascertain the significance of extensive reading not only for the improvement of language skills in learning English but also in the development of a learner’s worldview through reading and discussing authentic texts used as an education resource. Empirical data for the study were authentic texts and graded readers as well as workbooks and manuals as support materials. The methodological approach used in the data analysis is a mixed methodology based on comparison of techniques applied in extensive reading in graded readers and in Russian university educators’ workbooks and manuals. The research follows a two-side design worked out by the authors, with the analysis of techniques used in extensive reading and of content features of authentic texts. Drawing upon our findings of application of authentic texts for extensive reading, we propose three main recommendations for making an effective extensive reading textbook, which can contribute both to the improvement of language skills and to the appearance of mental and emotional response to the topics raised in authentic texts. This type of response we consider to be a sign of the developments of students’ personality while learning English