To avoid post-neurosurgical language deficits, intraoperative mapping of the language function in the brain can be complemented with preoperative mapping with functional magnetic resonance imaging. The validity of an fMRI “language localizer” paradigm crucially depends on the choice of an optimal language task and baseline condition. This study presents a new fMRI “language localizer” in Russian using overt sentence completion, a task that comprehensively engages the language function by involving both production and comprehension at the word and sentence level. The (...) paradigm was validated in 18 neurologically healthy volunteers who participated in two scanning sessions, for estimating test–retest reliability. For the first time, two baseline conditions for the sentence completion task were compared. At the group level, the paradigm significantly activated both anterior and posterior language-related regions. Individual-level analysis showed that activation was elicited most consistently in the inferior frontal regions, followed by posterior temporal regions and the angular gyrus. Test–retest reliability of activation location, as measured by Dice coefficients, was moderate and thus comparable to previous studies. Test–retest reliability was higher in the frontal than temporo-parietal region and with the most liberal statistical thresholding compared to two more conservative thresholding methods. Lateralization indices were expectedly left-hemispheric, with greater lateralization in the frontal than temporo-parietal region, and showed moderate test-retest reliability. Finally, the pseudoword baseline elicited more extensive and more reliable activation, although the syllable baseline appears more feasible for future clinical use. Overall, the study demonstrated the validity and reliability of the sentence completion task for mapping the language function in the brain. The paradigm needs further validation in a clinical sample of neurosurgical patients. Additionally, the study contributes to general evidence on test–retest reliability of fMRI. (shrink)

Introduction. The article examines the dynamics of electoral competition over four electoral cycles from 2005 to 2019 as exemplified by forming representative bodies of local self-government in the city of Chelyabinsk. Particular attention is paid to the impact that the transition of Chelyabinsk to a twotier model of forming local self-government bodies in 2014 had on the electoral competition. The purpose of the paper is to study the dynamics of electoral competition in municipal elections in Chelyabinsk before and after the (...) 2014 reform. Methods. The empirical basis of the study is the database “Electoral competition in the elections of municipal deputies of Chelyabinsk (2005—2019)”, which includes 414 observation units. The analysis of the empirical material is carried out according to the method of G.V. Golosov’s triangle of relative sizes, proposed for classifying party systems and adapted for analyzing elections in single-mandate constituencies. Scientific novelty. The author suggests a methodology for analyzing electoral competition in singlemandate constituencies. For the first time, the phenomenon of “controlled competition” is analyzed on the basis of 4 municipal elections cycles. Results. The analysis makes it possible to speak about fluctuations in electoral competition, its decline in 2009 and 2014 compared to the 2005 elections and increasing by the 2019 elections Conclusions. The “controlled competition” was formed in Chelyabinsk in the period preceding the reform of 2014. The reform introduced a level of local self-government, the effectiveness and necessity of which is not obvious with the existing design of the electoral system. In the course of the reform, the principal-agent model of relations between local self-government bodies and state authorities was finally consolidated. The reform contributed to conserving the “controlled competition”. (shrink)

Recently (2010–2011) new criminal legislation to combat illegal income and corruption was passed and publicly discussed in Lithuania. Within the list of the new legal measures, special attention should be paid to criminalisation of illicit enrichment, establishment of a model of extended property confiscation, reinforcement of responsibility for corruption-related offenses, a provision that not only property but also personal benefits may constitute a bribe. It can be seen from the explanatory letters attached to the draft laws and the political debate (...) that the new regulation is expected to achieve decisive breakthrough in the fight against corruption and illegal income. However, without any doubt as to the necessity to fight against those social evils, the author presents critical evaluation of the reform by applying the test of principles of criminal law, legal language and practical effectiveness. By making critical conclusions that the new criminal legislation deliberately lightens the prosecution’s goal of incrimination and the burden of proof, the author warns about the purposive instrumental nature of the new laws, which are balancing on the threshold of legitimacy. In the article the author reveals crucial shortcomings of the new legislation: in some aspects it lacks legal certainty, in other aspects it ignores the principles of guilt, presumption of innocence and proportionality as well as the conception of criminal law as a last resort (ultima ratio). As a result, the new legal means against illegal income and corruption leave space for applying inadequate repression beyond their intended purpose, in addition, they criminalise human conduct that is insufficiently dangerous and create preconditions for senseless criminal prosecutions and violation of human rights. (shrink)

The paper consists of brief literature review of fundamentals and ways of the Russian approach to the studying of the doctrine of love in Latin Patristic IV-V centuries. This topic is peripheral theme for the Russian science; however, it has some development. The literature review describes the most popular ideas and the reasons for their choice.

У статті досліджуються проблеми функціонування газового ринку України в контексті критеріїв ефективності, відкритості, транспарентності, міжнародної конкурентоспроможності. Оцінений потенціал нарощування власного видобутку газу із традиційних та нетрадиційних джерел з урахуванням природно-ресурсних, технологічних, соціально-економічних, управлінських і геополітичних факторів. Окреслені шляхи розвитку розвідки, видобутку, транспортування, зберігання й дистрибуції природного газу. Обґрунтована необхідність розширення та організаційно-правового оформлення міжнародного співробітництва зі світовими ТНК у цих сферах. Підкреслено критичну значущість для України активної політики енергоефективності й газозаміщення.

C’est la première édition critique du Liber particularis de Michel Scot, traité cosmologique latin qui constitue la deuxième partie de son Liber introductorius, rédigé entre 1220 et 1235 environ. L’édition est effectuée sur la base du ms. Bodl. Canon. Misc. 555 (collationné avec les mss Vatican, BAV Rossi IX 11 et Milan, Ambrosiana L 92 Sup), afin de restituer une version qui circula, sous une forme relativement stable, en Italie dans la première moitié du xiv e siècle. Dans l’introduction, on (...) trouvera les données essentielles sur les manuscrits du Liber particularis, sur la place de ce traité dans l’œuvre de Michel Scot et dans le contexte intellectuel de la cour de Frédéric II, ainsi qu’un essai préliminaire visant à l’inscrire dans le développement des savoirs en Occident dans la première moitié du xiii e siècle. (shrink)

The article examines the place of graphic design in modern post-industrial society, extending beyond purely applied art and aspiring to play the role of an expert in the interiors of human existence, determining the social and cultural status of an individual. It is argued that graphic design, organically integrating into contexts and actively responding to the challenges of such a social-decorative phenomenon as fashion, plays a significant role in shaping taste culture. This attests to the multiplicity of ambivalent cultural manifestations (...) of graphic design. Special attention is given to identifying the functional potential of graphic design in creating cross-cutting trends that, through non-verbal means of communication, can form and maintain social and cultural unity. In connection with this, an analysis of graphic design is carried out through the prism of philosophical communication, allowing the identification of graphic design as the most effective practice of nonverbal communication and information visualization in post-industrial society. It is determined that graphic design is capable not only of generating new meanings but also of creating communicative gaps. Given this specificity, the article particularly focuses on identifying the educational and upbringing potential of graphic design. It is demonstrated that the process of creating visual images and their subsequent interpretation by consumers of graphic information depends not only on the aesthetic taste, ethical beliefs, and humanistic orientation of the designer (visualizer) but also on their educational and upbringing potential. The necessity of strengthening humanistic orientations in modern Ukrainian design and art education is emphasized. (shrink)

The authors investigated the relevance of consequentialism in commercial space exploration as well as in the actively developing space market. The authors conclude that space expansion and colonization of space objects will lead to a revision of the foundational consequentialism provisions. Consequentialism, formed during the history of terrestrial civilization, loses its effectiveness under conditions of space commercialization. The basics of planetary thinking are different from those of cosmic thinking. Therefore, considering the meaning of the terms “cosmic expansion” and “colonization of (...) the cosmos” through the existing theory of consequentialism faces serious contradictions. There is a range of problems that are not explored in modern philosophy and ethics due to the lack of an empirical basis for philosophical analysis. (shrink)

Primatological and archaeological evidence along with anthropological accounts of hunter-gatherer societies indicate that lethal between-group violence may have been sufficiently frequent during our ancestral past to have shaped our evolved behavioral repertoire. Two simulations explore the possibility that heroism (risking one's life fighting for the group) evolved as a specialized form of altruism in response to war. We show that war selects strongly for heroism but only weakly for a domain-general altruistic propensity that promotes both heroism and other privately costly, (...) group-benefiting behaviors. A complementary analytical model shows that domain-specific heroism should evolve more readily when groups are small and mortality in defeated groups is high, features that are plausibly characteristic of our collective ancestral past. (shrink)

This study is devoted to examining the introduction of the Content and Language Integrated Learning classes that combine the history of religion philosophy and English language education within the Ph.D. programme. New global challenges and the BRICS development require the implementation of the CLIL programmes for organizing and improving intercultural cooperation, to give it a more profound value-grounded character. In this regard, it is necessary not only to introduce the teaching of the English language but also to improve the discursive (...) possibilities of postgraduate students, in order to promote their discussions skills. This article, written under the supervision of practicing CLIL educators, is based on the best practices of these programs and describes an example of one session in English. (shrink)

The article discusses the current topic of international interuniversity exchanges in the field of theater education. The subject of the study is the interaction of theater schools in Russia and China within the framework of the experimental Russian–Chinese theater and educational project of the Central Academy of Drama and the Russian State Institute of Performing Arts. The project has been implemented since 2015. According to the terms of the project, Russian and Chinese teachers of acting and special disciplines work together (...) in St. Petersburg and Beijing. Upon graduation, students receive diplomas from two universities recognized in both countries. The author, a direct participant of the project, analyzes the results of this experiment from the position of compliance with the principles and requirements of the dialogue of cultures.  The novelty of the research lies in the substantiation of the cultural value, the prospects of the modern version of the interaction of theater schools in Russia and China. The results of the study were the following conclusions: in the implementation of the Russian-Chinese theater and educational project, all the basic conditions are present and fulfilled, which make it possible to determine the events, events and their results that took place within the framework of the project as a full-fledged dialogue of cultures. Today, as never before, there are points of contact and mutual enrichment of the cultures of Russia and China. There are mutually significant cultural ties, dialogue and interaction of cultures. This variant of intercultural interaction is also productive from the point of view of innovation, creating a unique field of cross-cultural experiments. (shrink)

The article investigates the problem of the correlation between sense and communicative situation which characterizes philosophical and scientific texts. The analysis of ancient genre of “table-talk", which goes back to Plato's dialogue “Banquet", shows that the dialogue as a text construction form defines the philosophical sense of the text in coordination with communication features of a real table-talk (symposion). This communicative mechanism coordinates text (dialogue) and reality (symposion), and its action can be clarified by “format of text" concept. It is (...) determined by three essential characteristics of the text: the circumstances of his generation, communicative situation between the author and the reader, and the form of the text. The variety of formats in every cultural and historical situation is determined, in its turn, by the actual text culture.dentification and analysis of symposion format allows to trace the transformation of its textual expression of “Table Talk" through “aphorisms" of modern times to modern “abstract" and “round table materials". It is noted that the process of cultural transformation of the text reflects the changes in the social reality of the transition from the ancient symposion to the French salon in the seventeenth century and further to modern symposium. It is revealed the basic feature of the modern version of symposion format that is convergence, and sometimes interference of communicative and public dimensions of the text. (shrink)

This article presents a study of coping behavior regarding Orthodox religious students in Russia. The paper analyzes the investigation results concerning psychological features of modern Orthodox students from two universities in Russia. The data collection methods are: Folkman and Lazarus’s coping-test, Smirnov’s psychometric techniques "Questionnaire of religious activity" and Shcherbatykh’s "Test for revealing of the level of individual religiosity". The study suggests that coping behavior is connected with the level of religiosity.

This anthology of philosophical texts by Greek and Roman authors brings together works from the late fifth century BC to the sixth century AD that comment on major aesthetic issues such as the perception of beauty and harmony in music and the visual arts, structure and style in literature, and aesthetic judgement. It includes important texts by Plato and Aristotle on the status and the role of the arts in society and in education, and Longinus' reflections on the sublime in (...) literature, in addition to less well-known writings by Philodemus, Cicero, Seneca, Plotinus, Augustine and Proclus. Most of the texts have been newly translated for this volume, and some are available in English for the first time. A detailed introduction traces the development of classical aesthetics from its roots in Platonism and Aristotelianism to its ultimate form in late Antiquity. (shrink)

The modern Lithuanian legal doctrine recognises that criminal liability is a last resort (ultima ratio) protecting the society from various law violations. This idea has got deep roots in criminology and is obviously based on the position of rational approach towards the state criminal policy. However, it is not clear whether it is of obligatory legal status to the legislature and the courts. This article attempts to present the idea of a last resort as a concept based on the constitutional (...) principles of the rule of law, justice, proportionality and rationality in the legislation and case law. The author concludes that the main precursors of the ultima ratio principle are the German legal doctrine of protection of legal goods (Rechtsgüterschutz) and Harm principle respected in the common law tradition, as well as the need for protection of human rights in the democratic world. These concepts raise the duty of the legislator to justify the act of criminalisation by legitimate purpose and to comply with certain constitutional limits of application of criminal law. The idea of criminal liability as a last resort is recognised both in the jurisprudence of the Constitutional Court (obiter dictum) and in the practice of the Supreme Court of Lithuania reasoning particular decisions in criminal cases, especially delimiting criminal and other types of legal liability. The author concludes that the fact of discrepancy of criminal law to ultima ratio test can be one of the arguments in support of its objection to the Constitution and even the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. At the same time, the author of the article has found that many norms of the Criminal Code are in conflict with the idea of a last resort. (shrink)

This article focuses on the problem of criminal liability for unlawful engagement in economic activities, analyses the emergence and development of this norm in criminal law and the ways of its optimal explanation. Special attention is paid to the problem of identification of illegality of activities, based on specific tax and economic regulation. The study concludes that criminal liability must be limited to a violation of fundamental requirements for the legality of business, and does not include particular abuses occurring in (...) legal business. The author also deals with the criteria of delimitation of criminal and administrative liability for unlawful engagement in economic activities. Under Article 202(1) of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Lithuania, application of criminal liability is limited by two alternative conditions: either a person illegally undertakes activity in entrepreneurial way or on a large scale. According to the paper, the above-mentioned regulation lacks clarity and leads to the risk of unfounded prosecutions. The author gives practical examples, where on the basis of inexplicable criterion of an entrepreneurial way, criminal charges are filed in respect of petty economic activities. Such practice is incompatible with the purposes and principles of criminal law. The paper proposes to delete the criterion of an entrepreneurial way from the definition, leaving the possibility of criminal liability only in case of large scale illegal economic activity. The article also substantiates the conclusion that prohibited business activities provided for in Article 202(2) of the Criminal Code actually defies logical explanation and should be removed from the regulation. At the end of the article, the author offers a sample of optimal legal wording of unlawful engagement in economic activities in criminal law. (shrink)

У статті висвітлюються та досліджуються процеси становлення й розвитку законодавства про створення й діяльність політичних партій у сучасній Україні. Автор аналізує чинне законодавство України та формулює необхідність його вдосконалення, зауважуючи, що головною запорукою успіху законотворчої діяльності держави в царині розбудови законодавства щодо політичних партій є активна участь громадян у суспільно-політичному житті країни, залучення громадськості до обговорення стану й перспектив розвитку законодавства, принаймні того, що безпосередньо регулює реалізацію громадянських прав і свобод.

A careful evaluation of well-documented historical data, along with ancient and modern theological writings, reveals the matriarch Rebekah as one of the most important and controversial individuals of the biblical narrative. Her exceptional beauty, hospitality, morality, faithfulness and sacrificial love were highly admired and praised as iconic by ancient historians, philosophers, the Hebrew community, the Church Fathers and numerous other scholars; yet, some theologians and clerics of the past few 100 years have depicted Rebekah in a negative light. This article (...) intends to highlight this contradiction for the contemporary community of believers by providing an insightful description of the ancient hermeneutics of Rebekah's story. It further aims to encourage biblical scholars to methodologically re-evaluate Rebekah's life, investigating possible reasons as to why the positive image of Rebekah has been overturned in recent years, and thereby determine the cause of such a conceptual paradigm shift in interpreting this key biblical narrative. (shrink)