The Literary Legacy of Kallistos Angelikoudes: An Attempt at Systematization

This article explores the little studied and partially unpublished literary corpus of Kallistos Angelikoudes, one of the most fascinating late Byzantine hesychast authors. It addresses some of the problems associated with the manuscript tradition of his writings and offers a new approach to the systematization of his oeuvre. Despite the uncertainty regarding the identification of the two groups of texts that make up the “books” of Angelikoudes’ literary corpus, that is, the Hesychastic Education and the Hesychastic Consolation, this article advances an argument with regard to the possible composition of these works

MICHAEL PSELLOS’ THEOLOGICA I.30 AND THE BYZANTINE INTERPRETATIONS OF SCALA PARADISI XXVII/2.13

The article2 examines the exegesis of Michael Psellos on the most mysterious of the “difficult places” of the Ladder by John of Sinai — Step XXVІІ/2.13. This interpretation is one of the so-called Theologica treatises (Theol. I.30). It differs significantly from the rest of the Byzantine explanations of this “difficult place”. Michael Psellos decisively rejects the Christological interpretation of the “vision” and the questions of St. John. He also develops the doctrine of the accessibility to a human in present life of the vision of God in “symbols” and “forms” only. Higher contemplations are linked to the degree of detachment of the soul from the body. Unlike Michael Psellos, other interpreters, firstly, pay more attention to the context in which the chapter of the Ladder in question is located, secondly, they mostly prefer a Christological interpretation of St. John’s questions to the unknown interlocutor, thirdly, they ask themselves who this interlocutor was, an angel or Christ Himself. One of the anonymous Byzantine commentaries convincingly defends the point of view according to which John Climacus talked with Christ. This paper analyses all the extensive interpretations of the difficult passage, and on the basis of the handwritten tradition, draws the conclusion that the exegesis of Michael Psellos had much circulation in Byzantium along with other conceptions of the mysterious chapter. In addition, there has been noted the reception of Psellos’s interpretation in the first Slavic edition of the Ladder in 1647. Appendices I and II contain the edition of the Greek text of an anonymous Scholium and a fragment from the commentary by Elias of Crete respectively

Protonation and Photocatalytic Activity of the Rb 2

The Rb2La2Ti3O10 layered oxide was synthesized by the solid-state method. Three phases with different protonation degrees and intercalated water contents were obtained from the initial compound by the treatment with distilled water and hydrochloric acid. The obtained samples were characterized by powder X-ray diffraction, SEM, X-ray microanalysis, BET, DRS, and TG. It was found that the complete ion exchange of Rb+ for H+ in the layered oxide Rb2La2Ti3O10 proceeds through the formation of two metastable intermediate phases with average protonation degrees of 0.5 and 0.75, which successively transform from one to another. Each of these phase transformations is accompanied not only by the contraction of the interlayer distance but also by the displacement of adjacent perovskite layers by 1/2 of the cell parameter which results in the change in the space group. The photocatalytic activity of obtained samples decreases with the increase in the protonation degree, which correlates with the decrease in the intercalated water content

Martian dust storm impact on atmospheric H₂O and D/H observed by ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter

Global dust storms on Mars are rare but can affect the Martian atmosphere for several months. They can cause changes in atmospheric dynamics and inflation of the atmosphere, primarily owing to solar heating of the dust. In turn, changes in atmospheric dynamics can affect the distribution of atmospheric water vapour, with potential implications for the atmospheric photochemistry and climate on Mars. Recent observations of the water vapour abundance in the Martian atmosphere during dust storm conditions revealed a high-altitude increase in atmospheric water vapour that was more pronounced at high northern latitudes, as well as a decrease in the water column at low latitudes. Here we present concurrent, high-resolution measurements of dust, water and semiheavy water (HDO) at the onset of a global dust storm, obtained by the NOMAD and ACS instruments onboard the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter. We report the vertical distribution of the HDO/H O ratio (D/H) from the planetary boundary layer up to an altitude of 80 kilometres. Our findings suggest that before the onset of the dust storm, HDO abundances were reduced to levels below detectability at altitudes above 40 kilometres. This decrease in HDO coincided with the presence of water-ice clouds. During the storm, an increase in the abundance of H2O and HDO was observed at altitudes between 40 and 80 kilometres. We propose that these increased abundances may be the result of warmer temperatures during the dust storm causing stronger atmospheric circulation and preventing ice cloud formation, which may confine water vapour to lower altitudes through gravitational fall and subsequent sublimation of ice crystals. The observed changes in H2O and HDO abundance occurred within a few days during the development of the dust storm, suggesting a fast impact of dust storms on the Martian atmosphere

MODELLING AND RATIONAL CHOICE OF TREATMENT ON BASE OF BIO-MEDICAL INTEGRATED SYSTEM

The aim is to create the methods, models and algorithms for formation and functioning of the educational-research systems (ERS) on base of the computer-aided learning procedures at modelling, diagnosis and choice of the treatment and to approve them in the midicinal-diagnostic process, in the system of learning and improving qualification of the staffs. The structure and algorithms for rational choice of the components in the learning systems, algorithms of the learning procedures, methods for integration of the medical devices and equipment permittimg to perform the choice of the learning elements, processing of the bio-medical information during learning and making solutions have been considered. The ERS software-hardware complex oriented to the integration of the tools and learning procedures and realizations on base of the microprocessor computer network has been developed. ERS has been introduced in practice. The approvement of ERS in the clinic conditions and in the educational process shown the time reduction of the educational material mastering up to 20%, diagnostic up to 40%, treatment time up to 27 - 33% and general dose of medical preparations by 32 - 47%.Available from VNTIC / VNTIC - Scientific & Technical Information Centre of RussiaSIGLERURussian Federatio