
Chapters gathered in Syriac Hagiography: Texts and Beyond explore a wide range of Syriac hagiographical works, while following two complementary methodological approaches, i.e. literary and cultic, or formal and functional. Grouped into three main sections, these contributions reflect three interrelated ways in which we can read Syriac hagiography and further grasp its characteristics: “Texts as Literature” seeks to unfold the mechanisms of their literary composition; “Saints Textualized” offers a different perspective on the role played by hagiographical texts in the invention and/or maintenance of the cult of a particular saint or group of saints; “Beyond the Texts” presents cases in which the historical reality behind the nexus of hagiographical texts and veneration of saints can be observed in greater details.

In Memory and Identity in the Syriac Cave of Treasures: Rewriting the Bible in Sasanian Iran Sergey Minov examines literary and socio-cultural aspects of the Syriac pseudepigraphic composition known as the Cave of Treasures, which offers a peculiar version of the Christian history of salvation. The book fills a lacuna in the history of Syriac Christian literary creativity by contextualising this unique work within the cultural and religious situation of Sasanian Mesopotamia towards the end of Late Antiquity. The author analyses the Cave’s content and message from the perspective of identity theory and memory studies, while discussing its author’s emphatically polemical stand vis-à-vis Judaism, the ambivalent way in which he deals with Iranian culture, and the promotion in this work of a distinctively Syriac-oriented vision of the biblical past.

This book introduces readers to state-of-the-art cases and tools for managing innovation in today’s rapidly changing business environment. It provides a wealth of methodological knowhow and guidance on practical applications, as well as case studies that reveal various challenges in technology and innovation management. Written by a mix of academic scholars and practitioners, the respective chapters present tools and approaches for the early detection of emerging fields of innovation, as well as relevant processes and resources. The contributing authors hail from leading innovative companies including Google, Amazon, Intel, Daimler-Benz, and NASA.

This book constitutes the post-conference proceedings of the 21st International Conference on Data Analytics and Management in Data Intensive Domains, DAMDID/RCDL 2019, held in Kazan, Russia, in October 2019.
The 11 revised full papers presented together with four invited papers were carefully reviewed and selected from 52 submissions. The papers are organized in the following topical sections: advanced data analysis methods; data infrastructures and integrated information systems; models, ontologies and applications; data analysis in astronomy; information extraction from text; distributed computing; data science for education.

Despite the fact that culture, aesthetics, and art were some of the main concerns of early classical sociology (e.g., Simmel’s essays are probably the most popular reference in this regard), later culture has become a matter of interest of a sub-discipline, that of the sociology of culture. The end of the 20th and the beginning of the 21st centuries brought a radical transformation of sociological understanding of culture, and it was Jeffrey Alexander who revived the notion and proposed a new understanding of sociological theory drawn on this notion. According to Alexander, culture should be treated as an autonomous realm being able to act and contribute to the social order. In (re)turning to this understanding, Alexander draws upon a variety of now-classical theories, but mainly on Durkheim’s theory of religion as explicated in The Elementary Forms of Religious Life. Clifford Geertz and his idea of thick description is one of the sources for the renewed cultural sociology. In Art as a Cultural System (1976), he wrote that “to study an art form is to explore a sensibility” and “such a sensibility is essentially a collective formation, and that the foundations of such a formation are as wide as social existence and as deep”. The special issue of the RSR is dedicated to empirical and theoretical discussion of how art can serve as a source of sociological imagination.

Coherently organised into seven parts, the book provides a structure through which EU-Russia relations can be studied in a comprehensive yet manageable fashion. It provides readers with the tools to deliver critical analysis of this sometimes volatile and polarising relationship, so new events and facts can be conceptualised in an objective and critical manner. Informed by high-quality academic research and key bilateral data/statistics, it further brings scope, balance and depth, with chapters contributed by a range of experts from the EU, Russia and beyond. Chapters deal with a wide range of policy areas and issues that are highly topical and fundamental to understanding the continuing development of EU-Russia relations, such as political and security relations, economic relations, social relations and regional and global governance.

The article presents a study of the reasons and motives for the emergence of educational requests from managers of a modern University. It was found that managers ' educational requests contradict real needs, and their motives are associated with weak and strong knowledge, which depends on their age and professional experience, and not on the University profile. Thus, the authors presented a variant of interaction between pro- ject teams based on strong knowledge.

7th International School and Conference "Saint-Petersburg OPEN 2020" on Optoelectronics, Photonics, Engineering and Nanostructures was held on April 27 - 30, 2020. The Organizer of the conference is the Alferov Federal State Budgetary Institution of Higher Education and Science Saint Petersburg National Research Academic University of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Initially, the School and Conference was supposed to be held in full-time format at the Alferov Academic University (Saint-Petersburg, Russia), as it happened in the past. However, due to the restrictions imposed by the city authorities on holding mass events due to the threat of the spread of the COVID-19 infection, the conference committees decided to move the conference to the online format. The conference consisted of poster reports presented by the participants and online oral presentations by invited speakers. Posters and video reports of the participants were posted on the conference website. Invited speakers made their presentations online. During their speeches, participants could discuss and ask questions in the chat. The School and Conference included a series of invited talks given by leading professors with the aim to introduce young scientists with actual problems and major advances in physics and technology.

This textbook on political geography is devoted to a discipline concerned with the spatial dimensions of politics. This course is an introduction to the study of political science, international relations and area studies, providing a systemic approach to the spatial dimension of political processes at all levels. It covers their basic elements, including states, supranational unions, geopolitical systems, regions, borders, capitals, dependent, and internationally administered territories. Political geography develops fundamental theoretical approaches that give insight into the peculiarities of foreign and domestic policies. The ability to use spatial analysis techniques allows determining patterns and regularities of political phenomena both at the global and the regional and local levels.

The publication was carried out within the framework of a joint project of HSE University and the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences for the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the USSR / Russia and the Republic of Indonesia. The project heads are Dr. Evgeny Kanaev (HSE University) and Dr. Dmitry Mosyakov (IOS RAS).


Cities possess massive resources, talent and creativity and serve as hubs for knowledge sharing, experimentation and innovation, generating new ideas, embedding these solutions locally and scaling-up successful practices. Cities, however, are not abstract sustainability-making machines; they are places where real people live, work, study and flourish. Cities are made of people, by people and for people. Sustainable measures will have to make sense to inhabitants of cities, making their life more liveable. Furthermore, it is people who drive sustainability and who are its ultimate source and beneficiaries. This vision underpins the notion of people-smart sustainable cities, introduced in this publication.

The papers deal with problems regarding the impact of critical historical approaches for New Testament theology, the relation between the Gospels' claim for truth and historical facts, Orthodox receptions of the Gospel literature, and the presentation of »the« Gospel in Byzantine liturgy.

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The 10-Point Action Plan to catalyse a Circular Bioeconomy of Wellbeing is a call for collective and integrated action to global leaders, investors, companies, scientists, governments, nongovernmental and intergovernmental organisations, funding agencies and society at large to put the world on a sustainable path. The Plan is guided by new scientific insights and breakthrough technologies from a number of disciplines and sectors. It is articulated around six transformative action points (1–6) and four enabling action points (7–10), which mutually reinforce each other and need to be implemented in an integrated manner.

The article suggests the integration of a neural network as a parallel element base in a telecommunication system. In this case, the ability to learn or adapt to external conditions is applied as the main advantage. For telecommunication systems in conditions when it is possible, this ability will improve noise immunity, reliability, operability, etc. The article considers an example of the integration of a neural network into a discrete matched signal filter. It is noted that the use of parallel mathematical methods in signal processing leads to the maximum effect of increasing the quality parameters of such telecommunication elements

Artificial intelligence and machine learning helps to improve the quality of customer service and change the methods of companies’ activities. For this reason, enterprises should consider integrating these technologies into digital transformation plans to remain competitive. Low-code machine learning platforms allow companies and business professionals with minimal coding experience to create applications and fill in the gaps of the personnel in their organization. Automated machine leaning (AutoML) technology represents the next step in the evolution of machine learning, providing non-technical companies with the ability to create machine learning applications quickly and cheaply
Although the high-pressure phase diagram of carbon at extreme temperatures and pressures is in focus of theoretical and experimental dynamic compression studies, there still exist outstanding problems including disagreement between theoretical predictions and experiments. Using first-principles molecular dynamics simulations at high temperatures and pressures and employing large unit cells, we construct an accurate phase diagram of carbon using two-phase and Z-methods. In accord with previous simulations, a large positive slope of the melting line is observed for pressures from 0 to 200 GPa, whereas at pressures above 500 GPa a very small negative slope exists, which is in contrast to most of previous simulations and experiment. Our accurate results demonstrate the necessity for future dynamic compression experiments to clarify behavior of carbon at extreme conditions including its melting line.
We present a new quantum accurate Spectral Neighbor Analysis Potential (SNAP) machine-learning potential for simulating carbon under extreme conditions of dynamic compression (pressures up to 1 TPa and temperatures up to 10,000 K). The development of SNAP potential involves (1) the generation of the training database comprised of the consistent and meaningful set of first-principles DFT (Density Functional Theory) data for carbon materials at high pressure and temperature; (2) the robust and physically guided training of the SNAP parameters on first-principles data involving statistical data analysis; and (3) the validation of the SNAP potential in MD simulations of carbon at high PT conditions. The excellent performance of quadratic SNAP potential is demonstrated by simulating the radial distribution functions at high pressure-temperature conditions and melt curve of diamond, which were found in good …
Investigations of the low-temperature radiation-induced transformations in the C2H2–H2O system are relevant to the chemistry occurring in interstellar and cometary ices. In this work, we applied a matrix isolation technique to study the radiation-driven evolution of this system at molecular level in order to get new mechanistic insight. The 1:1 C2H2⋅ ⋅ ⋅H2O complexes were prepared in various solid noble-gas matrices (Ar, Kr, Xe) and these icy matrices were subjected to X-ray irradiation at 5 K. Decomposition of initial complex and formation of products were monitored by Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. It was found that complexation with H2O resulted in significant enhancement of the radiolytic decay of C2H2 molecules and provided new channels for its radiation-induced transformations. Ketene (both isolated H2CCO and in the form of H2CCO–H2 pair), ketenyl radical (HCCO), carbon monoxide (CO), and methane (CH4) were observed as main products of the C2H2⋅ ⋅ ⋅H2O radiolysis. In addition, vinyl alcohol (CH2CHOH) was detected in an Ar matrix. The mechanistic interpretation (reaction routes leading to formation of these products) is discussed on the basis of consideration of kinetic dependences and matrix effects. Conversion of C2H2⋅ ⋅ ⋅H2O to CH4 is a prominent example of water-mediated cleavage of the C≡C triple bond, which may occur under prolonged irradiation in rigid media. Possible astrochemical implications of the obtained results are highlighted.
Using molecular dynamics simulation and evolutionary metadynamic calculations, a series of structures were revealed that possessed enthalpies and Gibbs energies lower than those of aragonite but higher than those of calcite. The structures are polytypes of calcite, differing in the stacking sequence of close-packed (cp) Ca layers. The two- and six-layered polytypes have hexagonal symmetry P6322 and were named hexarag and hexite, respectively. Hexarag is similar to aragonite, but with all the triangles placed on the middle distance between the cp layers. On the basis of the structures found, a two-step mechanism for the transformation of aragonite to calcite is suggested. In the first step, CO3 triangles migrate to halfway between the Ca layers with the formation of hexarag. In the second step, the two-layered cp (hcp) hexarag structure transforms into three-layered cp (fcc) calcite through a series of many …
Phases of CaCO3 stabilized at high pressures and temperatures are the potential agents of the global carbon cycle, transferring oxidized carbon in deep Earth’s interiors and thus are of special interest for the Earth sciences. Here, we report finding of the new phase, named disarag, which is dynamically disordered aragonite with freely rotating CO3 groups, similar to that in the CaCO3-V phase with a calcite-like structure. Disarag has a stability field expanding from 3 to 10 GPa and from 1600 to 2000 K. Consideration of twinned structure enlarges this field, decreasing the transition temperature from aragonite to disarag at 100–300 K. At P–T parameters corresponding to the transition from aragonite to disarag, the marked disappearance of the diffraction peaks is observed in in situ experiments. We show that, among known phases of CaCO3, disarag is the best candidate for the explanation of this reconstruction of …
We use a traditional surface science approach to create and study an atomically thin NiI2 film (a promising two-dimensional ferromagnetic material) formed on nickel substrate as a result of molecular iodine adsorption. The I/Ni(100) system was examined with scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), low energy electron diffraction (LEED) and density functional theory calculations. We found out that the iodine adsorption on Ni(100) at 300 K leads to the formation of non-equilibrium phases, whereas the adsorption at elevated temperature (≥390 K) gives rise to the thermodynamically stable phases. In both cases, a simple p(2 × 2) structure is formed at 0.25 ML. As more iodine is adsorbed at 300 K, the p(2 × 2) phase is replaced by the small coexisting domains of c(3 × 2) and c(6 × 2) phases both corresponding to the coverage of 0.33 ML, while adsorption at elevated temperature results in the formation of only one c(3 × 2) phase. At further iodine adsorption the c(3 × 2) phase transforms into the c(5 × 2) one, while the c(6 × 2) phase – into the (√10×√10)R18°(√10×√10)R18° one both corresponding to the coverage of 0.40 ML. In addition to simple chemisorbed phases, a new shifted-row reconstruction of Ni(100) induced by iodine adsorption was discovered. At coverages exceeding 0.40 ML, we observed complex LEED patterns and superstructures in STM and assigned them to specific surface reconstructions. We also found that prolonged iodine dosing leads to the nucleation of nickel iodide islands and the growth of a 2D atomically thin iodide film partially exfoliated from the substrate.
Pressure-temperature-volume (P-T-V) data on liquid iron-sulfur (Fe-S) alloys at the Earth’s outer core conditions (~136 to 330 GPa, ~4000 to 7000 K) have been obtained by first-principles molecular dynamics simulations. We developed a thermal equation of state (EoS) composed of Murnaghan and Mie-Grüneisen-Debye expressions for liquid Fe-S alloys. The density and sound velocity are calculated and compared with Preliminary Reference Earth Model (PREM) to constrain the S concentration in the outer core. Since the temperature at the inner core boundary (TICB) has not been measured precisely (4850~7100 K), we deduce that the S concentration ranges from 10~14 wt% assuming S is the only light element. Our results also show that Fe-S alloys cannot satisfy the seismological density and sound velocity simultaneously and thus S element is not the only light element. Considering the geophysical and …
The Zeeman interaction results in spontaneous current through a Josephson contact with a spin-orbit coupled normal metal, even in the absence of any voltage, or phase bias. In the case of the Rashba spin-orbit coupling of electrons in a two-dimensional (2D) electron gas this effect takes place for the Zeeman field which is parallel to the 2D system and to superconducting contacts. At the same time, the spontaneous current is absent when this field is perpendicular to the contacts. It is shown that in the latter case it may manifest itself in oscillations of the critical Josephson current at varying Zeeman energy. These oscillations have a form of the Fraunhofer diffraction pattern. The Josephson current under the phase bias was calculated based on the semiclassical Green’s functions for a disordered 2D electron gas with the strong spin-orbit coupling, as well as for surface electrons of a three-dimensional topological insulator. In the latter case the diffraction pattern was found to be most pronounced, while in the Rashba gas the oscillations of the critical current are weaker.
The interplay of the electron exchange interaction and spin-orbit coupling results in spontaneous supercurrents near magnetic insulator islands, which are placed on the top of a two-dimensional (2D) superconductor, and whose magnetization is parallel to 2D electron gas. It is shown that in contrast to the well-studied situation, where such an effect involves only topologically trivial spatial variations of the superconducting order parameter, one should take into account supercurrent vortices. The latter are spontaneously generated around the island’s boundary of an arbitrary shape, and they result in screening of the Zeeman field. This problem has been considered for electrons subject to a strong Rashba spin-orbit coupling, including Dirac systems as well. In the latter case, vortices can carry Majorana zero modes.
We consider a topology of a distributed communication network of weather stations and its hardware configuration. The operability criteria for the considered network are formulated. The theoretical foundations for optimizing the acquisition of spare parts, tools and accessories (SPTA) for distributed systems are considered. An algorithm for SPTA optimization for distributed systems has been developed. Optimization of the SPTA acquisition for the hardware components of the distributed communication network of 24 weather stations was carried out. The acquisition options are proposed, taking into account various criteria.
This case invites students to put themselves in the shoes of Delia, the company HR specialist responsible for the implementation of mystery shopping at Salsa, a chain restaurant. Students will have the opportunity to discuss the negative impact of this new performance appraisal system on employee morale. Salsa, located in the state of Florida, USA, decided to improve the quality of its customer service by implementing mystery shopping. Six months after this practice was implemented, the quality of customer service has slightly increased. At the same time, employees have grown increasingly unhappy with the practice. First, employees feel the company implemented mystery shopping to spy on them, so their trust in the restaurant management and corporate leadership has decreased. Second, employees of three service areas, kitchen, cashiers, and dining, do not like being evaluated as one big team and thought the old system that used separate criteria for each service area was fair. Third, the company did not provide a formal process for employees to appeal the results, ask questions, or provide suggestions related to the new practice. Observing the situation from Delia’s perspective, students will search for possible solutions to improve this situation.
This chapter focuses on discursive constructions of creativity in the Greek public sphere in connection to the Greek government debt crisis. Instrumentalized by policy makers and pundits pursuing neoliberal reforms in Greece, creativity is understood to serve a mode of biopolitical governmentality. This is connected to the production of a national consensus over the necessity for neoliberal reforms and to the individualization of the risks and insecurity that such reforms entail. This chapter looks at specific public discursive constructions of creativity in Greece from 2010 onward. Specifically, the creativity discourse is approached in both its progressive and conservative articulations as articulated by the social democrat Giorgos A. Papandreou, Greece’s prime minister during the first years of the crisis (2009–2011), and the conservative Kyriakos K. Mitsotakis, Greece’s prime minister in 2019 and at the time of writing. Simultaneously, this chapter foregrounds the examples of success stories of creative ventures that received publicity in Greece so as to unfold other examples of a hegemonic discourse meant to motivate society on a post-political, entrepreneurial, and nationalistic basis. Such success stories develop through the didactic narratives that proliferate in Greece’s mainstream news and lifestyle media, which are meant to establish a creative paradigm as a way out of unemployment and recession. Here, creativity forms a public repertoire that fabricates the crisis into a so-called opportunity for development that is borne through entrepreneurship.
The specific study here focuses on the moralist and culturalist meaning investments of the Greek crisis publicity, as it appeared in the Greek mainstream liberal news media. Following relevant critical literature (Bozatzis, 2016; Carastathis, 2014; Ervedosa, 2017), I wish to stress the neoorientalist character of the hegemonic Greek crisis’ explanations, and to focus on the reproduction of such narratives within the Greek public sphere, by mainstream news media. In this context, neoliberal austerity reforms emerge as a modernising and Europeanising project.
NASA stands for National Aeronautics and Space Administration. It is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for the civilian space program, as well as aeronautics and aerospace research. Given the complexities and challenges involved in space and aeronautics explorations, how does NASA manages its technology roadmap as it relates to research and development activities?
Internationalization is the trend that firms increasingly perform research and development activities outside their home countries. Reasons behind decentralized R&D are mostly related to faster learning of technology developments, customer needs, low costs, and globalizing the market. Capture knowledge and market opportunities internationally. The main goal of international cooperation is to capture knowledge that can be converted to profit through Technology exploration and Technology exploitation. The corporations were hesitant to internationalize their R&D work before the 1980s. The reasons for maintaining geographically clustered R&D are mostly related to maintaining optimum patterns of interaction. But market forces and the dissemination of technological know-how sources are forcing many companies to decentralize and internationalize their R&D labs. To order to stimulate this technical learning, businesses are internationalizing R&D to improve the process of technical learning and the management of the laboratory network.
According to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA), 10% of the USA total energy consumption and 13% of electricity generation was coming from renewable resources in 2015. The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) estimates that if renewable resources reached 27% of the US energy mix, it would save the US economy between $30 and $140 billion a year in terms of reduced health effects and CO2 emissions.
Nike was founded by Phil Knight in 1964 with the intent to distribute and eventually design and develop the best track shoes. The company went on to revolutionize the sportswear industry. At the time, Adidas dominated a vast majority of the industry market share. The company quickly developed a large following after bringing several innovative and technology-driven shoe designs to market. Soon Nike’s brand became synonymous with high-performance sportswear and elite athleticism.
Digitalization in sports provides a guide for future innovation showing the opportunities for innovation in sports sector. It defines a road map for R&D meeting health, social, environmental, and market needs. The effects of technologies such as mobile, cloud, artificial intelligence, sensors, and analytics are accelerating progress exponentially. Today, in sports sector right from organizing the event till broadcasting the sport everything is digitized which is redefining the traditional business. It is also creating a great platform for audience to discuss, share their opinions, and interact with their favorite player, sport, or team. Digital innovation increase fair play and good governance have success in revenues and expenses.