Language and Culture in Eighteenth Century Russia

Victor Zhivov's Language and Culture in Eighteenth-Century Russia is one of the most important studies ever published on eighteenth-century Russia. Historians and students of Russian culture agree that the creation of a Russian literary language was key to the formation of a modern secular culture, and this title traces the growth of a vernacular language from the "hybrid Slavonic" of the late seventeenth century through the debates between "archaists and innovators" of the early nineteenth century. Zhivov's study is an essential work on the genesis of modern Russian culture; the aim of this translation is to make it available to historians and students of the field

Screening of energy efficient technologies for industrial buildings' retrofit

This chapter discusses screening of energy efficient technologies for industrial buildings' retrofit

“Tsar and God”

Featuring a number of distinguished essays by internationally known Russian cultural historians Boris Uspenskij and Victor Zhivov, this collection encompasses various ground-breaking works appearing in English for the first time. Focusing on several of the most interesting and problematic aspects of Russia’s cultural development, these essays examine the survival and reconceptualization of Russia’s past in later systems, and some of the key transformations of Russian cultural consciousness. This volume contains important examples of cultural semiotics and indispensable contributions to the history of Russian civilization

Facebook - The Final Frontier For TV Fandom: A Lurker’s Perspective

The technology of Web 2.0 and especially social media has opened new avenues for creating communities online. Marketing to such communities can lead to better communication between consumers and those producing the product. By engaging communities online those who market film and television shows can use this new avenue to better communicate with their fans and build better communities. Through the study of three online fan pages on Facebook this paper observed how television and film companies are using this environment to market to their audience as well as what is working well and where improvement can be made

In vivo confocal microscopy in scarring trachoma.

OBJECTIVE: To characterize the tissue and cellular changes found in trachomatous scarring (TS) and inflammation using in vivo confocal microscopy (IVCM). DESIGN: Two complimentary case-control studies. PARTICIPANTS: The first study included 363 cases with TS (without trichiasis), of whom 328 had IVCM assessment, and 363 control subjects, of whom 319 had IVCM assessment. The second study included 34 cases with trachomatous trichiasis (TT), of whom 28 had IVCM assessment, and 33 control subjects, of whom 26 had IVCM assessment. METHODS: All participants were examined with ×2.5 loupes. The IVCM examination of the upper tarsal conjunctiva was carried out with a Heidelberg Retina Tomograph 3 with the Rostock Cornea Module (Heidelberg Engineering GmbH, Dossenheim, Germany). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The IVCM images were graded in a masked manner using a previously published grading system evaluating the inflammatory infiltrate density; the presence or absence of dendritiform cells (DCs), tissue edema, and papillae; and the level of subepithelial connective tissue organization. RESULTS: Subjects with clinical scarring had a characteristic appearance on IVCM of well-defined bands and sheets of scar tissue visible. Similar changes were also seen in some clinically normal subjects consistent with subclinical scarring. Scarred subjects had more DCs and an elevated inflammatory infiltrate, even after adjusting for other factors, including the level of clinical inflammation. Cellular activity was usually seen only in or just below the epithelium, rarely being seen deeper than 30 μm from the surface. The presence of tissue edema was strongly associated with the level of clinical inflammation. CONCLUSIONS: In vivo confocal microscopy can be quantitatively used to study inflammatory and scarring changes in the conjunctiva. Dendritic cells seem to be closely associated with the scarring process in trachoma and are likely to be an important target in antifibrotic therapies or the development of a chlamydial vaccine. The increased number of inflammatory cells seen in scarred subjects is consistent with the immunopathologic nature of the disease. The localization of cellular activity close to the conjunctival surface supports the view that the epithelium plays a central role in the pathogenesis of trachoma. FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE(S): The author(s) have no proprietary or commercial interest in any materials discussed in this article

Desainer Grafis yang Menciptakan dan Menjual Produk Berupa Barang

Graphic designers in their economic activities are more widely known simply as seller of the product in the form of services. Whereas in reality it is not so since the days of Art and Craft movement spearheaded by William Morris at the end of the 19th century. William Morris, a graphic designer, had created products with good design for sale. Many reasons are behind it, starting from desires to break free from pressures of the clients, expanding spaces to express creativity to economic motives. Discussion of graphic designers crossing border of disciplines by creating products is very interesting. They do not just perform the profession on the basis of orders (client-based), but they are able to read the market that will absorb the products they created. Even, they create market trend (as a trendsetter). At this level, a designer does not just make value-added work, but already at the level of creating new value (value creation)

In vivo confocal microscopy and histopathology of the conjunctiva in trachomatous scarring and normal tissue: a systematic comparison.

AIM: To compare in vivo confocal microscopy (IVCM) with the histopathological examination of tissue and cellular changes in normal and diseased conjunctiva. METHODS: Participants underwent clinical examination and IVCM of the tarsal conjunctiva. A biopsy of the upper tarsal conjunctiva was collected and stained with tinctorial stains and by immunohistochemical staining for CD45 and CD83. Connective tissue scarring, inflammatory cell density and the presence of dendritiform cells were quantitatively assessed in a masked manner by both IVCM and histological assessments for comparative analysis. RESULTS: Thirty-four participants with severe trachomatous conjunctival scarring and 33 participants with healthy conjunctiva were recruited. The IVCM connective tissue scarring score was strongly associated with the histological grading of scarring (p<0.001). There was limited evidence of an association between the IVCM inflammatory cell infiltrate and the histological inflammatory cell grade (p=0.05). We did not find any evidence to support the hypothesis that dendritiform cells seen with IVCM are mature, conventional dendritic cells. CONCLUSIONS: The results show that IVCM can be used to robustly quantitate connective tissue scarring and also has a role in measuring the inflammatory cell infiltrate. The discordance between IVCM dendritiform cells and immunohistochemical dendritic cells may be a result of study limitations or may be because these dendritiform structures represent another cell type, such as fibroblasts, rather than dendritic cells

Факторы риска развития и методики коррекции послеоперационного стеноза везикоуретрального анастомоза (обзор литературы)

Considerable life expectancy after radical prostatectomy dictates a necessity to preserve high quality of life of these patients. Conversely, attention is paid to functional results of the surgery, including preservation of the erectile function and quality of urination. Urinary obstruction in the postoperative period, caused primarily by postoperative vesicourethral anastomotic strictures, not only negatively impacts patients’ health but also has a pronounced maladaptation effect. The main factors of maladaptation are weak urine stream; frequent, often painful urination; episodes of acute urine retention. Currently, there are no strict guidelines for prevention of vesicourethral anastomotic strictures or for selection of an optimal method of correction of this postoperative complication of radical prostatectomy. This study highlights the main existing theories concerning development of vesicourethral anastomotic strictures and effectively used methods/ regimens for its treatment. Большая ожидаемая продолжительность жизни пациентов после проведения радикальной простатэктомии диктует необходимость сохранения высокого качества их жизни. Соответственно, внимание уделяется функциональным результатам операции, под которыми подразумевают как сохранение эректильной функции, так и качество мочеиспускания пациентов. Обструктивное мочеиспускание в послеоперационном периоде, одной из главных причин которого является развитие послеоперационного стеноза везикоуретрального анастомоза, помимо отрицательного воздействия на здоровье пациентов также оказывает выраженное дезадаптирующее влияние. Основные дезадаптирующие факторы – ослабление струи мочи, частое, нередко болезненное мочеиспускание, эпизоды острой задержки мочи. Четких руководств по профилактике формирования стеноза везикоуретрального анастомоза и выбору оптимальной методики коррекции этого послеоперационного осложнения радикальной простатэктомии пока не существует. Настоящая работа освещает основные теории развития и наиболее широко и эффективно применяемые методики/схемы лечения стеноза везикоуретрального анастомоза.

Spatial analysis improves the detection of early corneal nerve fiber loss in patients with recently diagnosed type 2 diabetes

Corneal confocal microscopy (CCM) has revealed reduced corneal nerve fiber (CNF) length and density (CNFL, CNFD) in patients with diabetes, but the spatial pattern of CNF loss has not been studied. We aimed to determine whether spatial analysis of the distribution of corneal nerve branching points (CNBPs) may contribute to improving the detection of early CNF loss. We hypothesized that early CNF decline follows a clustered rather than random distribution pattern of CNBPs. CCM, nerve conduction studies (NCS), and quantitative sensory testing (QST) were performed in a cross-sectional study including 86 patients recently diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and 47 control subjects. In addition to CNFL, CNFD, and branch density (CNBD), CNBPs were analyzed using spatial point pattern analysis (SPPA) including 10 indices and functional statistics. Compared to controls, patients with diabetes showed lower CNBP density and higher nearest neighbor distances, and all SPPA parameters indicated increased clustering of CNBPs (all P97.5th percentile of controls in up to 23.5% of patients. When combining an individual SPPA parameter with CNFL, ≥1 of 2 indices were >99th or <1st percentile of controls in 28.6% of patients compared to 2.1% of controls, while for the conventional CNFL/CNFD/CNBD combination the corresponding rates were 16.3% vs 2.1%. SPPA parameters correlated with CNFL and several NCS and QST indices in the controls (all P<0.001), whereas in patients with diabetes these correlations were markedly weaker or lost. In conclusion, SPPA reveals increased clustering of early CNF loss and substantially improves its detection when combined with a conventional CCM measure in patients with recently diagnosed type 2 diabetes