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Professors Krystyna Pietrych and Jacek Brzozowski talk to Professor Helena Karwacka about the Polish and library studies in Krakow, her cooperation with prominent figures of Polish history of literature, and the cultural life in the post-war Łódź.
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With the development of geoinformation technologies and geoinformation mapping the sphere of activity of professional geographers and cartographers has been enriched by a wide application of databases (DB). They enable geographical information to be put in order in a user-friendly system. The article considers the methodological aspects of the organizations and creation of such a system - the "Municipal settlements of Ukraine" databases. The basic stages and databases forming the principles which the author designated during the creation of this specific database are highlighted. The DB structure is revealed - the list of the data included in every table is given. The ways of DB applications are determined; they consist in using DB for the creation of various cartographic studies and reference books about the municipal settlements in Ukraine. The prospects of DB development and perfection are considered.
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Any researcher who works with local people in a small town soon finds a number of repeating topics, stories, symbols, characters, and attitudes. Together they create a generalized image that, to a greater or lesser degree, is shared by its inhabitants. In order to move beyond merely recording different forms of self-description and to use these data as instruments of explanation and comparative analysis, the author proposes a model for the genre analysis of such “local” narratives. This allows us to a) reveal links between the past (cultural memory), present (image), and future (expectations and scenarios) of a city; b) explain the cultural preconditions of observed collective and individual actions; and c) explain the specificity of the affective connection between citizens and their city. In the second part of the paper the author demonstrates some results of the application of this model, using two case studies: Myshkin (visited in 2013) and Kologriv (visited in 2010). The narratives of local inhabitants are structured according to the genres of ”progress” (development) and ”regress” (decay). The author is especially interested in how these genres constitute peculiar types of agency, as well as a repertoire of (im)possible actions.
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The aim of this paper is to analyze the effects of media literacy in Serbia five years after "The Strategy for the Development of the Public Information System in the Republic of Serbia" came into force. Among other things, the "Strategy" proclaimed the introduction of new ICTs in order to contribute to better informing and education for children and youth. "Medijska koalicija" ("Media coalition") and US Agency for International Development (USAID), with the help of Serbian Ministry of Education and Science, started the project in order to encourage and support the democratization of the society via promotion of media literacy and responsible journalism in the Republic of Serbia. The target groups of the project were both teachers and secondary school students, as well as journalists. The project resulted in many seminars as well as a web-site which provide permanent support for the establishment of critical understanding of media messages using the most up-to-date learning models such as webinars and other multimedia tools.
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Wrocław jako palimpsest
The process of so called “degermanization” of Wrocław involved, among other things, removing traces of German history from the urban space by displacement of former residents, changing street names, introducing new symbols and erasing German-language signboards. Despite the communist historical policy in Wrocław, many examples of post-German traces in the urban space have survived. The article describes Wrocław as a palimpsest, a city of intertwined German and Polish records, where old layers are not removed, but only given new meanings. It refers to the project “Spod tynku patrzy Breslau” (From under the plaster Breslau gazes), which aims to conduct a social register of Germanlanguage epigrams in the urban space. It describes the changes in attitudes towards post-German heritage over time, especially after 1989
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Forests and forestry of a part of the Croatian littoral Karst, going from Povila to St. Magdalene, had a great importance in the entire life on that area during the 19th and 20th c. The outstanding position at that time was entitled to a special forestry institution for Karst managing, called the "Royal Inspection for the Afforestation of Military Border Karst - Inspectorate for the Afforestation of Karst, Bare Rocky Grounds and Flood Control". By analyzing in details all the segments of the continuous activities from the 1878 - 1942, its importance has been objectively evaluated in the context of either forestry or the whole life of our homeland. The achievements of the above institution have been successfully applied in works on the Karst even at present and will be so in the future as well. The special Karst Institution was covering some 51.777 ha, where were established 95 crop areas - forest preserves on 10.097 ha. In those areas some 1.738 ha were wooded and 1.441 ha complemented while 7.435 ha were renovated spontaneously. In their own nurserygardens were produced 82.724.368 pieces of seedlings, mostly for their own requirements, but also for the afforestation throughout the country. Beside the afforestation as a main occupation, a great deal of breeding and technical works of less intensity were performed as well. For the realisation of 25 different kinds of works and for the salaries of the staff was spent 33.027.000. dinars. In the forester's trade, the history was the one which was investigated less of all until now, although it may in a great deal help in exploring the pattern of forestry development. Based on such conceptions much better results with much less expenditures could be achieved in the future managings. The investigations on a continuous 64 years old activities of the Inspectorate of Senj have ranged Senj in an important centre of our Karst forestry.
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Far Eastern ceramics have had an important place in the development of ceramic art in the historical process. Owing to the technological developments in the Far East, the discovery of loam resources, the high degrees kiln technology and the discovery of glazes, remarkable changes have been experienced in the field of ceramics. In addition,these changes have also led to a development in aesthetic understanding and the emergence of different types of artistic glazes. Celadon glazes, one of the Far Eastern glazes, have taken their place among the artistic glaze types as a special glaze type used by ceramic artists in their works. In this study, a literature review was considered on a preferential basis and the development of Seladon glazes in the historical process was examined through accessible document. Examples are given from artists who do research on Celadon glazes and use Celadon glazes in their works. In the process of creating the recipes, the mixtures of ash and clay, which formed the first Celadon blends of the Far Eastern potters, were used. In the first part of the research, in which the triple diagram method was used, mixtures consisting of feldspar, ash and kaolin, and in the second part, feldspar, whiting and kaolin were prepared. The iron oxide additive, which gives the main color to the celadon glazes, was determined as 1%. The firings were carried out in the Anagama kiln in a reducing atmosphere at 1250°C for 36 hours. The optained Celadon greens are presented with their recipes, surface images and comparative results.
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This article focuses on the introduction of the Georgian-Turkish Reader that was compiled in Georgia in the 18th century for teaching students Turkish and looks at how it explains Turkish pronunciation and words in Georgian. We also examined Georgian sources referring to this manuscript using comparative and historical linguistics and compared our findings. Judging by the use of Greek letters in the text, we estimate that Ioakime Protosingelos, who had immigrated to Georgia from [Southern] Cyprus and settled down in the city of Vardzia, had probably written it. Our findings revealed that it was, rather, written in the Georgian Mkhedruli alphabet somewhere between 1780 and 1790. In addition, we discovered that the author had devised a clever system to phonetically transcribe the Turkish vocabulary into Georgian. Our findings should shed light on the relationship between Turkish and Georgian as languages, and the history of Turkish being taught in Georgia.
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The results of the census of 1887 which was published in 1888 by the smallest settlements provide an understanding of the religion, language and to some extent the migration characteristics of the population during the transition from Turkish authority to Bulgarian dominance. The aim of this study is to show the spatial distribution of these characteristics by mapping them in the possible smallest settlement. As a result, it has been seen that the Turks and Muslims have been concentrated mostly to the northern borders of the province especially where the Deli Kamçık strait connects Burgaz to Varna and is an important chokepoint to the “Sağ Kol” while the Orthodox Greeks are in majority at the most of the coastal cities such as Sozopol, Burgaz, Anhialo and Mesemvri. Bulgarian Orthodox population is located in the southern part of the province while to the north gradually Bulgarian coexists with the Turkish population.
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To understand the 19th century Caucasus, it is necessary to comprehend the tactics of non-regional expansionist powers, such as France, England, and Russia, which gathered momentum in the course of the rise of the so-called Western modern era, and the situation of the regional powers, namely the Ottoman and Qajar (Iran) empires. If we evaluate the activities of the local and external actors as a whole beginning from the commencement of Russian expansion in the 18th century and the Russian invasion that started in the early 19th century, we can get closer to learn the truth and get the picture more accurately. The interest-based policies adopted by all these powers between 1800-1825, their standpoints that can instantly change or be restructured in line with the policy shifts, and the impact of these shifts on the region are of significance to explain seemingly complex issues. The Russians, who invaded and settled in the North Caucasus in the 18th century, began to occupy the South Caucasus by trespassing the Caucasus Mountains near the end of the century. Russia had become the protector of Georgia against the local powers, namely Ottoman and Qajar Empires, by signing a patronage agreement with her, then Russia annexed the entire South Caucasus. This annexation was not only political and administrative, but it was far-reaching enough to incorporate the Georgian Church into the Russian Church, and to unite the Caucasian Albanian Church with the Armenian Church. To confront these developments, the local power in the Caucasus, the Ottoman and Qajar Empires, sought help from France and England, which were rising power in the West. Their mandates were shaped in accordance with FranceEngland-Russia relations, and accordingly alliances were built, and wars were fought. As an expected result of these conditions, the Ottoman and Qajar Empires were forged by the Russian hammer on the French or English anvil under the pressure of circumstances.
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The Karabakh Problem arose among neighbors in the South Caucasus. This situation between Armenia and Azerbaijan has created the problem of territorial claims and actions involving various genocides. Various international contacts have been made regarding the solution of the problem. A temporary ceasefire has been established in the middle. This process has naturally become an event that is at the top of the regional and world agenda. With the violation of the ceasefire that existed in 2020, the problem has turned into war. In addition, a new ceasefire was established with the superiority of Azerbaijan. In the general lines of the study, the emergence of the problem, the contacts in the process and the last situation were examined.
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History of NIRD URBAN-INCERC: research in civil engineering, architecture and spatial planning.
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The study comparatively evaluated the performance of Islamic and Conventional funds that comprised of South African unit trusts listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) vis-à-vis selected market benchmark indices. Whilst the study utilised descriptive statistical analysis for the nonrisk adjusted performance analysis, several investment performance models were used for the risk adjusted performance analysis. Relevant statistical tests were performed to decipher relationships between the Islamic fund and the Conventional fund vis-à-vis the selected market benchmarks. Based on the non-risk adjusted performance analysis and absolute risk adjusted performance analysis, the empirical evidence suggests that the Conventional fund performed better than the Islamic fund. However, the relative risk adjusted performance analysis shows a mixed overall result during the entire period of the study. While the Modigliani & Modigliani measure and Jensen alpha showed that the Conventional fund performed better than the Islamic fund from a risk adjusted return perspective, the Treynor ratio showed that the Islamic fund performed better than the Conventional fund. More so, while the t-test analysis suggests that there is no statistically significant evidence to support that the Islamic fund under or outperforms the Conventional fund, the correlation analysis showed that both funds are more positively correlated and statistically significant with the South African market indices. The findings of the study imply that an investment in the Conventional fund would have offered a superlative non-risk adjusted return than the Islamic fund. Also, the relative risk adjusted performance imply that upon the diversification of unsystematic risks in some market indices, the Islamic fund may perform better than the Conventional fund.
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The objective of this paper is to publish a chapter in Hungarian translation from one of the most notable works of the Presbyterian missionary Stephen Return Riggs (1812–1883), whose book—Tah-Koo Wah-Kan; or, the Gospel among the Dakotas (Boston: 1869)—is probably the first systematic description of the Dakota nation’s religion from an outsider’s viewpoint. Our further goal is to place this work in the context of the earliest ethnographical literary accounts the Dakotas.
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The paper presents the results of research, whose main goal is to evaluate the aviation and rocket capability of the armed forces of the Russian Federation and Ukraine in terms of a possible launch of regular warfare. The authors primarily focus on changes in the military doctrine of the Russian Federation, which have created legal determinants of the use of armed forces outside the country’s territory in defense of national minorities, illustrated by taking control of Crimea. The authors also stress Russia’s military plans, including the development directions of the potential of armed forces as well as a possible threat to the security of the eastern NATO’s flank in the event of a conflict in Ukraine. In this respect, the capabilities of the air defense of countries on the eastern NATO flank, particularly Poland’s capability, were analyzed.
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This article presents, for the city of Fortaleza, the result of the indicators of five of the seventeen sections of the standard NBR ISO 37120:2017 - “Sustainable Development of Communities - Indicators for urban services and quality of life" which establishes an international standard of key indicators and encourages communities to become more proactive, ensuring that stakeholders develop and implement a management system suited to the needs of each region. This standard, launched in 2014, defines the methodology for a set of 100 indicators, divided into 17 sections, which address social, environmental and economic aspects of cities. The five sections chosen for this work were: education, health, security, shelter and transport, since they are key areas for the development of any city. Fortaleza's results, in each of these sections, are discussed and compared with those of 58 other cities available through the World Council on City Data (WCCD) database. It is, therefore, an unprecedented study, since there is no related work in the literature for the chosen city. As a result, it can be seen that, of the 31 indicators evaluated in this work, Fortaleza was below the average of the cities certified by the WCCD in 19 indicators, above the average in 7 indicators and it was not possible to calculate another 5 indicators. It is also evident that in all the sections studied there are critical points that must be evaluated by the public power for the treatment and consequent improvement of urban services and quality of life of the population of Fortaleza.
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The Black Sea region has lately emerged as a region of main concern due to its increased geopolitical importance and the wide range of security issues it confronts with. As a result both regional and international actors have focused their attention in finding suitable solutions to secure the area. Finding solutions is not an easy issue as there is not regional identity and the regionalization process is nascent. Using information present in academic and government literature, this paper concludes that the process of NATO integration, regional cooperation and defense transformation has been the main drivers for Romania’s contribution in improving the security environment in the region. The paper also identifies international cooperation and standardization as tools for increasing the confidence and security in the Black Sea region.
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Place branding as an integral part of competitive place development strategy became a relevant topic for urban and rural municipalities in Latvia relatively recently, at the beginning of 2000. In particular, the issue of narrative exploration of place identities in Latvia has become a key subject, linked to sustainable demonstrations of the attractiveness of places, and the listing of their unique benefits in order to increase economic value and improve social welfare for place residents and other stakeholders. The article seeks answers to a range of interdisciplinary research questions related to the topic of place branding: how can a place brand identity be created that is relevant to place residents and expresses the distinctiveness of the place; what are the main features of belonging to place; and what intangible and/or tangible attributes of the place can provide an authentic and convincing identity narratives for place brands? The empirical part of the article is based on a qualitative research methodology, indepth semi-structured interviews with place branding experts, and analysis of the content of brand identities of Latvian cities and regions. The article reveals how place branding as a strategic marketing process is managed by local municipalities and involved stakeholders, provides a critical view of local practices and strengthens appreciation of one of the most important reference stages of the place-branding development process: cooperation in finding the key narratives for place identities.
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The unpredictability and the seriousness of the potential earthquake consequences for people and residential buildings in Serbia imply the need for improving the resilience of local communities. The paper presents the results of a quantitative research regarding the level and factors of influence on the awareness of citizens about the seismic resistance of their residential buildings to earthquake consequences. Multiple-point random sampling was used to survey 1,018 citizens (face to face) during 2017 in 8 local communities: Kraljevo, Lazarevac, Jagodina, Mionica, Prijepolje, Vranje, Lapovo and Kopaonik. The questionnaire consisted of two segments: questions on demographic, socio-economic and psychological characteristics of respondents and questions regarding resistance of residential buildings to earthquake consequences. The results show that 35% of respondents state that they live in residential buildings that are not resistant to earthquakes, while 70.7% state that they live in buildings built of reinforced concrete, which are considered safe. Beside that 9.2% of respondents examined the resistance of their facilities to earthquake consequences. Inferential statistical analyses show that men to a greater extent than women state that their buildings are resistant to earthquake consequences. Starting from the multidimensionality of citizen vulnerability to earthquakes, it is necessary to conduct additional studies and further elucidate the sociological dimension of vulnerability and resilience.
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Trematodes are one of the most numerous and widespread groups of parasitic invertebrates among helminths, characterized by a complex life cycle. As the final host, digenetic flukes parasitize vertebrates, including domestic waterfowl. Infection of hosts with parasitic digenetic worms causes huge economic damage to poultry. But trematode fauna of domestic geese are presented mainly only for individual regions. Despite the fact that there is already a systematic review of tapeworms and acanthocephala of domestic birds - geese and ducks, there are, unfortunately, no review articles on the taxonomy of digenetic flukes for geese (Anser anser dom.). Taking into account the relevance of the topic, based on our own and extensive literature data, we set the task to determine the general species composition of digenetic flukes (Trematoda), parasitizing in domestic geese which have been recorded in the world until 2020. Each Trematoda species is provided with the following data: scientific name, authority and year, first, second intermediate, auxiliary and final hosts, site in the host body, collecting localities and geographic distribution, and literature sources. Currently it is established that there are 149 species of helminths parasitising domestic geese. The taxonomic composition of the class Trematoda registered in domestic geese consists of 2 classes, 14 families, 30 genera and 65 species. Of all the species of trematodes parasitizing in domestic geese, 44 species have been recorded in Europe, 26 species in Asia, 6 species in North America, 1 species in South America, 1 species in Africa and 2 species in Oceania. Three species are registered in domestic geese (Echinoparyphium recurvatum, Echinostoma revolutum, Prosthogonimus ovatus) are cosmopolitan parasites. The biggest species diversity is characterized by the families Echinostomatidae (17 species) and Notocotylidae (12 species). There are 11 species of digenetic flukes recorded in domestic geese Cyclocoelum mutabile, Echinostoma grande, E. paraulum, E. revolutum, E. robustum, Hypoderaeum conoideum, Paryphostomum novum, P. pentalobum, Catatropis verrucosa, Notocotylus attenuatus, N. parviovatus) on the territory of Azerbaijan. Four of them (Echinostoma revolutum, Hypoderaeum conoideum, Paryphostomum novum, Notocotylus attenuatus) were also noted in the course of our helminthological studies. The trematode Cyclocoelum mutabile was recorded in domestic ducks only in Azerbaijan. Most species of trematodes were found in the north-eastern part (total 9 species) and southern part (total 5 species) of Azerbaijan. This is due to the widespread distribution of molluscs - intermediate hosts of digenetic flukes, in these regions. Eighteen species of digenetic flukes parasitize both birds and mammals (Rodentia, Carnivora, Lagomorpha, Artiodactyla). And eleven species of trematodes are of medical importance, registered in humans.
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