Ancient Elements Research Articles

A Methodology to Manage and Correlate Results of Non-Destructive and Destructive Tests on Ancient Timber Beams: The Case of Montorio Tower

Intending to safeguard architectural heritage, the assessment of the health of timber structures is crucial, though challenging, due to the organic nature of wood and to the uncertainties of its preservation state. To this end, useful support is provided by the ICOMOS guidelines, which provide conservation strategies based on thorough diagnosis and safety evaluations. In this context, the study summarized in this paper focuses on the medieval Tower of Montorio, which suffered considerable damage due to the strong earthquake that occurred in those area in September 2003. Its subsequent process of rehabilitation and restoration involved a widespread experimental campaign and the substitution of some timber beams. This circumstance has offered a rare opportunity to study these ancient elements in detail, although they are limited in number. Six beams made of oak and removed from an intermediate floor of the tower were evaluated through a comprehensive approach that included both non-destructive tests (NDT) and destructive tests (DT). Particularly, they were subjected to visual inspections, ultrasonic, sclerometric, and resistographic methods, and destructive four-point bending tests. Overall, the study presented here provides a useful qualitative comparison between them. Results highlighted that relying only on NDT might lead to an overestimation of mechanical properties and that combining NDT with DT is crucial for a more accurate assessment. Therefore, the need to deepen the research on correlations between NDT and DT to obtain reliable values of mechanical properties while respecting the conservation aim was confirmed.

Lexicon of Samarkand and Sariasian Tajiks and their Comparative Analysis

Annotation: By studying historical, social, and ethnographic linguistics, the history, customs, traditions, cultural heritage, and national values of each nation are enriched. The study of dialects and dialects is based on the achievements of ethnography, history, archeology, and folklore. The lexicon of local dialects is inextricably linked with the life and history of the people, and the vocabulary of the living language of any people and nation is closely related to its history. The object of study is one of the oldest regions of the Tajiks, and ancient elements of the Tajik language have taken their place in the dialect of this region. From a practical point of view, the research results can be used as material for the creation of theoretical and practical teaching-methodical manuals for the study of the Uzbek and Tajik languages, bilingualism, their role in the development of interlinguistic relations, lexicology, and dialectology.

Alhalalalai as a form of cultural memory of the Itelmens

The article examines the most significant folk holiday of the Itelmen, Alhalalalai, in the context of the cultural memory of this indigenous small people living in Kamchatka. The object of the study was the cultural memory of the Itelmens, and its subject was the culture of the Alhalalalai holiday, the beliefs, rituals, traditions and customs associated with it. It is noted that Alhalalalai is of great importance in the Itelmen culture, representing a traditional autumn celebration dedicated to the completion of household work, giving thanks to the forces of Nature, unity with nature, cleansing from evil spirits, expelling failures, troubles, fears and diseases before a new cycle. Since ancient times, the main goal of Alhalalalai was to prepare for the new annual cycle and ensure its success with the help of carnival events. The research is carried out on the basis of a systematic approach using theoretical-analytical, descriptive-analytical, typological, historical-genetic, semiotic, axiological and other methods. The article pays attention to the issue of the admissibility of the reconstruction method in relation to ancient forms of cultural memory; It is noted that reconstruction is one of the current ways to revive elements of cultural memory that have temporarily, for objective historical reasons, lost their significance. Attention is focused on the fact that culture cannot and cannot be static and stop developing; it combines traditional and innovative components, and therefore changes in the celebration of Alhalalalai, its “modernization” are quite natural. A conclusion is drawn about the exceptional role of the Itelmen celebration Alhalalalai in preserving the cultural identity of the Kamchatka people, about its significance in the context of the revival of ancient elements of cultural memory at a new historical stage in the existence of the people.

FORMATION OF THE UKRAINIAN NATION: ETHNOCULTURAL TRADITIONS AND HISTORICAL CIRCUMSTANCES

Ukraine's frontline position between the West and the East influenced nation–building. The modern civil nation in the country is formed on the basis of Ukrainians, who are an ethnic majority, although there are minorities. The task of the study is to consider this basis for the formation of the nation and the circumstances of its formation. Themethodology is the concepts of nation–building, which combines moderate primordialism and constructivism, and frontier theory. Results. Ukrainians are a nation with an ancient agricultural culture, which determined the specifics of life, holidays and ceremonies, oral art, worldview of the people. In the twentieth century, as a result of the modernization of society and negative Soviet practices, many ancient elements of culture are a thing of the past. But a number of traditions have retained functionality (in construction, agriculture, clothing, food), and some have become national symbols (embroidery, jewelry, traditional cuisine, kobza culture, etc.). The Cossacks greatly influenced the formation of the Ukrainian nation. Cossacks – originally a frontline society, during the Cossack Revolution in the middle of the XVII century won the position of social elite in the newly created state of the Zaporozhian Cossack Army (autonomy within the Russian Empire). The heroics of the Cossack struggle formed the basis of Ukrainian identity, and the Cossack subculture became dominant. The ethnonym «Ukrainians» is the name of the population of the Cossack region, whose dialect formed the basis of the Ukrainian literary language. With the decline of ancient Russia, Ukraine was part of several states and was united in the middle of the twentieth century as part of the USSR. Only since 1991 has a modern state project been implemented in Ukraine. Nation–building began in the nineteenth century and came to an end with independence. The brake factors were the colonial legacy and the influence of the former metropolis. Being on the border between East and West, Ukraine made the final choice in favor of the latter during the revolutions of 2004 and 2014 and the large–scale Russian–Ukrainian war. Ethnic minorities rallied around Ukrainians, which was facilitated by the legal consolidation of European rights and freedoms, as well as religious tolerance. During the Revolution of Dignity in 2014, all denominations, except the UOC–MP, supported the idea of Ukraine's independence. The Ukrainian language is recognized by the only state majority of the country's population, which is an additional factor in uniting the Ukrainian nation in the conditions of Russia's political leadership's inclusion of all Russian–speakers in the «Russian world».

New Achievements in Bulgarian Onomastics Review of the book: Choleva-Dimitrova, A. (2019). Mestni i rodovi imena ot Tsaribrodsko [Toponyms and Patronyms of Tsaribrod Municipality]. Blagoevgrad: Neofi t Rilski. 314 p.

The review of the book Toponyms and Patronyms of Tsaribrod Municipality presents the work of Prof. Anna Choleva-Dimitrova in the context of her research activity and against the background of modern toponymic research in Bulgaria and abroad. The monograph consists of 314 pages, includes an introduction, five chapters, and appendices: a map of the investigated settlements of the former Tsaribrod district and an etymological reference for the settlement names. The study aims to explore the toponymic and anthroponymic system of the settlements that remained outside of the Bulgarian state border after 1919 and that presently belong to the Republic of Serbia. The research covers over 3,000 microtoponyms and 545 patronyms preserving common features and many ancient elements of the Bulgarian onymic system. The review explores the methodology of linguistic analysis applied to the onymic material from the Tsaribrod region and points out its contribution to Slavic onomastics study. This includes: 1) anthroponymic reconstruction of names which allows the author to discover a part of the Slavic anthroponymic system, 2) the method of applying multiple comparative data on onyms (toponymic parallels) from the neighboring regions.

Generalized nuclear localization of retroelement transcripts

BackgroundLINE-1s, Alus and SVAs are the only retrotransposition competent elements in humans. Their mobilization followed by insertional mutagenesis is often linked to disease. Apart from these rare integration events, accumulation of retrotransposition intermediates in the cytoplasm is potentially pathogenic due to induction of inflammatory response pathways. Although the retrotransposition of LINE-1 and Alu retroelements has been studied in considerable detail, there are mixed observations about the localization of their RNAs.ResultsWe undertook a comprehensive and unbiased approach to analyze retroelement RNA localization using common cell lines and publicly available datasets containing RNA-sequencing data from subcellular fractions. Using our customized analytic pipeline, we compared localization patterns of RNAs transcribed from retroelements and single-copy protein coding genes. Our results demonstrate a generalized characteristic pattern of retroelement RNA nuclear localization that is conserved across retroelement classes as well as evolutionarily young and ancient elements. Preferential nuclear enrichment of retroelement transcripts was consistently observed in cell lines, in vivo and across species. Moreover, retroelement RNA localization patterns were dynamic and subject to change during development, as seen in zebrafish embryos.ConclusionThe pronounced nuclear localization of transcripts arising from ancient as well as de novo transcribed retroelements suggests that these transcripts are retained in the nucleus as opposed to being re-imported to the nucleus or degraded in the cytoplasm. This raises the possibility that there is adaptive value associated with this localization pattern to the host, the retroelements or possibly both.

Structures of a mobile intron retroelement poised to attack its structured DNA target.

Group II introns are ribozymes that catalyze their self-excision and function as retroelements that invade DNA. As retrotransposons, group II introns form ribonucleoprotein (RNP) complexes that roam the genome, integrating by reversal of forward splicing. Here we show that retrotransposition is achieved by a tertiary complex between a structurally elaborate ribozyme, its protein mobility factor, and a structured DNA substrate. We solved cryo-electron microscopy structures of an intact group IIC intron-maturase retroelement that was poised for integration into a DNA stem-loop motif. By visualizing the RNP before and after DNA targeting, we show that it is primed for attack and fits perfectly with its DNA target. This study reveals design principles of a prototypical retroelement and reinforces the hypothesis that group II introns are ancient elements of genetic diversification.

Style of life and dwelling

The 14th Dalai Lama Lhamo Dondrub said that one can achieve happiness in two ways. The first way is external. By acquiring a better dwelling, better clothes, nicer friends, we can achieve happiness and satisfaction to a greater or lesser extent. The second way is the way of spiritual development...
 But for the architect, spiritual development is inextricably linked to the dwelling, its arrangement and appearance. Probably, only the place where one is happy can be called home. At home even the walls help, my home is my fortress, there is no place like home... The dwelling that a person calls home reflects and preserves his or her image and style of life.
 Interior painting is an ancient and everlasting way to make a dwelling cosier, friendlier and closer, that is to make it a home. Especially in the case of mass housing, when the houses are initially standard and impersonal. Builders can provide people with square meters of housing, but the houses are often seriously transformed by landlords after their occupancy. How should we deal with these processes? Alejandro Aravena’s projects welcome the self-activity of tenants. Are the standard designs which are now replicated in mass construction ready for this?Our view on a happy house is supplemented by comparing standard housing with unique projects of talented architects (the article about the manor designed by Totan Kuzembaev). Comparing traditions and customs of different and distant cultures helps to see the complex nature of a happy house. It includes not only walls and furniture but also methods of protection against climate extremes, the music playing in the house and the role that the ancient element of fire plays in the house.Not humant hills that oppress the individual, but Houses – stable, worthy of a long life span of generations, and renewable. Like in our favourite books by the Strugatsky brothers, where the most diverse people, regardless of age, education or worldview, find their own, intimate thoughts, we want everyone in our cities to find a place to live and fulfil themselves, a place to be happy.

팡원산(方文山)의 ‘중국풍’ 가사 분석을 통한 문학 요소 연구

This study is an in-depth analysis of the Chinese-style work of modern Chinese lyricist Fang Wen shan. Fang Wen shan's work has been evaluated as a lyric containing ancient elements, so the characteristics of creation and literary elements contained in the lyrics of the song “Fa Ru Xue” were studied. To this end, in order to analyze the characteristics of the rhyme, artistic conception, and rhetoric of the notice contained in the lyrics, Fang When san’s creative career was investigated, and previous studies on Fang Wen shan’s work were found. Through prior research on Fang Wen shan’s work, the keyword and literary value of the song were explored, and the positive effects of Fang Wen shan’s Chinese-style work on the development of the Chinese music industry were explored through creative characteristics and literary value analysis of the lyrics.

Research on Cross Media Communication of Ancient Literature from the Perspective of Media Integration

With the development of society, the integration trend of media is also gradually deepening. Media technology and information science have a great impact on the change of ancient literature communication. In the current information society, cultural practitioners and humanistic explorers should constantly improve their knowledge structure, so as to grasp the opportunity of "Chinese dream" to the world, And constantly excavate and innovate the ancient traditional elements, make them become various cross-media art products, further timely adjust and market the operation mode of the whole international market, and better and faster realize the worldwide development of Chinese traditional ancient literature and culture.

Comparative Analysis of Qajar Historic Houses in Tabriz, Isfahan, Yazd, and Kashan, Regarding their Architectural Forms and Elements

There are a lot of precious beautiful Qajar houses in many cities of Iran indicating the high quality of talents and wisdom of their architects. Using a row of columns in the main façade, emphasizing on symmetry axis in the entrance, and replacing the new ornamental patterns with the ancient elements are some of the architectural qualities of this era. This article attempts to answer the question that what are the similar characteristics of Qajar houses in different cities of Iran. For achieving this aim, the history of Iranian houses especially in the Qajar period is studied in Tabriz, Isfahan, Yazd, and Kashan cities. The methodology of this historic survey is comparative and qualitative using the reliable books of libraries and first-hand resources. This article concludes that the architects in that era harmonized the culture of other countries to improve their own values according to their own culture and climate.

МІФОЛОГІЧНІ ОБРАЗИ В ЛАТИНСЬКОМОВНІЙ ПОЕЗІЇ УКРАЇНСЬКОГО БАРОКО

The article examines the peculiarities of mythological characters in the Latin poetry of the baroque period in Ukraine. This period contributed a lot to intercultural relations between Ukraine and Western Europe and gave a birth to the phenomenon of the baroque Ukrainian poetry, written in Latin language. In the present paper much research has been devoted to the poetic works of Theophan Prokopovych, Grygoriy Vyshnevsky and Ilarion Yaroshevytsky; their poetic texts are found in printed editions ("Elegia paraenetica", "Epinikion", "Elegia Alexii", "Comparatio vitae monasticae", "Descriptiuncula Kijowiae", "Possesoris horum librorum luctuosum vale") and manuscripts ("Iter laureatum", "Cupido seu amor alatus"). The study analyzes the poetry in various genres, such as panegyric, elegy, epigram, lyrical poem. Addressing to the ancient legacy was defined as the sufficient and necessary feature of the baroque style. The article suggests the idea that a poet gives a preference to one or another mythological character in his individual author's interpretation. The analysis of the poetic texts reveals the most productive mythological characters, which can be classified into the following categories: 1) art (Apollo with the Muses, the winged horse Pegasus); 2) martial arts (Mars); 3) celebrations (Bacchus, Hymenaeus); 4) love (Venus, Cupid, Cypride ); 5) natural phenomena (Aurora, Lucifer, Phosphorus, Titan, Zephyrus, Thetis). The research has demonstrated that contamination of the two worldviews was natural for the baroque poet. This contamination was embodied in the bizarre combination of Christian and ancient elements in their literary works. It was traced that Latin poets of the Ukrainian baroque completely followed the literary traditions of the classical theory of poetry, what was marked in the form of the poetic work and its content.

The Food, Water, Air and Fire Doctrines in Ancient Indian and Greek Philosophies from a Comparative Perspective

The main aim of this article lies in the comparison of ancient cosmico-natural elements from the Vedic period with their counterparts in the Presocratics, with a focus on food, air, water and fire. By way of an introduction to the ancient elemental world, we first present the concept of food (anna) as an idiosyncratic Vedic teaching of the ancient elements. This is followed by our first comparison—of Raikva’s natural philosophy of Vāyu/prāṇa with Anaximenes’s pneûma/aér teaching in the broader context of both the Vedic and Presocratic teachings on the role of air/breath. Secondly, water as brought to us in pañcāgnividyā teaching from Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad and Chāndogya Upaniṣad is compared to the teaching of the Greek natural philosopher Thales. Finally, the teaching on fire as heat being present in all beings (agni vaiśvānara) and in relation to cosmic teachings on fire in the ancient Vedic world are compared to Heraclitus’ philosophy of fire as an element. Additionally, this article also presents a survey and analysis of some of the key representatives of comparative and intercultural philosophy dealing with the elemental and natural philosophy of ancient India and Greece.

PHRASEOLOGY: SOMATISM IN KAZAKH AND TURKISH LANGUAGES

Somatic phraseology is one of the oldest and most frequently used language units of the general phraseological fund in any language, which has a deep cognitive function. Issues related to the general lexical and grammatical features of somatic phraseology in the Kazakh and Turkish languages were considered. The vast majority of somatic phraseologies in the Kazakh and Turkish languages belong to the verb lexicon. Somatisms in the Kazakh and Turkish languages were formed from the ancient Turkic language and have not lost their ancient elements to this day. The aim of the article is to collect somatic phraseologies in the Kazakh and Turkish languages, to identify their features, to compare their features, to make a connection about the worldview, feelings and general culture of the people based on common semantic fields.

Detection of Flaviviral-Like DNA Sequences in Aedes aegypti (Diptera: Culicidae) Collected From Argentina.

Diseases caused by flaviviruses are a major public health burden across the world. In the past decades, South America has suffered dengue epidemics, the re-emergence of yellow fever and St. Louis encephalitis viruses, and the introduction of West Nile and Zika viruses. Many insect-specific flaviviruses (ISFs) that cannot replicate in vertebrate cells have recently been described. In this study, we analyzed field-collected mosquito samples from six different ecoregions of Argentina to detect flaviviruses. We did not find any RNA belonging to pathogenic flaviviruses or ISFs in adults or immature stages. However, flaviviral-like DNA similar to flavivirus NS5 region was detected in 83-100% of Aedes aegypti (L.). Despite being previously described as an ancient element in the Ae. aegypti genome, the flaviviral-like DNA sequence was not detected in all Ae. aegypti samples and sequences obtained did not form a monophyletic group, possibly reflecting the genetic diversity of mosquito populations in Argentina.

The role of chemotaxis and efflux pumps on nitrate reduction in the toxic regions of a ciprofloxacin concentration gradient.

Spatial concentration gradients of antibiotics are prevalent in the natural environment. Yet, the microbial response in these heterogeneous systems remains poorly understood. We used a microfluidic reactor to create an artificial microscopic ecosystem that generates diffusive gradients of solutes across interconnected microenvironments. With this reactor, we showed that chemotaxis toward a soluble electron acceptor (nitrate) allowed Shewanella oneidensis MR-1 to inhabit and sustain metabolic activity in highly toxic regions of the antibiotic ciprofloxacin (>80× minimum inhibitory concentration, MIC). Acquired antibiotic resistance was not observed for cells extracted from the reactor, so we explored the role of transient adaptive resistance by probing multidrug resistance (MDR) efflux pumps, ancient elements that are important for bacterial physiology and virulence. Accordingly, we constructed an efflux pump deficient mutant (∆mexF) and used resistance-nodulation-division (RND) efflux pump inhibitors (EPIs). While batch results showed the importance of RND efflux pumps for microbial survival, microfluidic studies indicated that these pumps were not necessary for survival in antibiotic gradients. Our work contributes to an emerging body of knowledge deciphering the effects of antibiotic spatial heterogeneity on microorganisms and highlights differences of microbial response in these systems versus well-mixed batch conditions.

Discovery of inhibitors of Pseudomonas aeruginosa virulence through the search for natural-like compounds with a dual role as inducers and substrates of efflux pumps.

Multidrug efflux pumps are ancient elements encoded in every genome, from bacteria to humans. In bacteria, in addition to antibiotics, efflux pumps extrude a wide range of substrates, including quorum sensing signals, bacterial metabolites, or plant-produced compounds. This indicates that their original functions may differ from their recently acquired role in the extrusion of antibiotics during human infection. Concerning plant-produced compounds, some of them are substrates and inducers of the same efflux pump, suggesting a coordinated plant/bacteria coevolution. Herein we analyse the ability of 1243 compounds from a Natural Product-Like library to induce the expression of P. aeruginosa mexCD-oprJ or mexAB-oprM efflux pumps' encoding genes. We further characterized natural-like compounds that do not trigger antibiotic resistance in P. aeruginosa and that act as virulence inhibitors, choosing those that were not only inducers but substrates of the same efflux pump. Four compounds impair swarming motility, exotoxin secretion through the Type 3 Secretion System (T3SS) and the ability to kill Caenorhabditis elegans, which might be explained by the downregulation of genes encoding flagellum and T3SS. Our results emphasize the possibility of discovering new anti-virulence drugs by screening natural or natural-like libraries for compounds that behave as both, inducers and substrates of efflux pumps.

A négy alapelem a képzőművészetben

The four basic elements: Earth, Water, Fire, Air. Ancient classical element theories. Ancient elements in prehistoric cultures, mythologies, Egypt, and Greek vase painting. Ideas of philosophers and artists.

De Olympische Spelen van 1936 en de Duitse aanspraken op het antieke Griekenland

Abstract The modern Olympic Games started with a modest, but international event in Athens in 1896, the result of a long preparation process launched by Baron De Coubertin. Some ancient elements were included, but as a whole these and subsequent Olympics were purely modern manifestations. Several classical references in the modern games were only introduced in the 1936 games which took place in a sinister Nazi Berlin. Here the organizers, in the context of a temporarily international and ‘open to the world’ national socialism, connected classical antiquity to contemporary ideology and instrumentalized ancient body culture as expressions of the ideology of Aryanism and German superiority. These claims of the Nazi games on antiquity form the subject of this contribution.

The "Earth" element in Emily Dickinson's poetry

Gaston Bachelard (1884 – 1962) and Carl Gustav Jung (1875 – 1962) may have had similar ground for their theories about the images in human imagination, the ground that originated and was shaped very long ago in humankind’s history. However, Bachelard and Jung are principally dissimilar about their treatment of the notion of imagination. While the concept of “collective unconscious” shapes Jung’s explication, Bachelard confirms that it is essentially the elements of the universe, namely earth, water, fire, and air, that generate dreams and mental images. Those substances enable writers to create meaningful and timeless images, without which their symbols are but perishable and vain. He named it material imagination, or imaginative analysis of material. On studying Emily Dickinson’s life and poetry, I have come to acknowledge her talent in poetry as having grown on the substance of “earth.” This essay examines and analyzes her poetry under the theory of material imagination by Bachelard, thus arriving at the conclusion that the element “earth” is visibly present in her life and imagination, making her poetry heavily affected by that ancient element.