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There is no doubt that the emergence of ChatGPT in November 2022 has become one of the most significant technological events in recent decades. The new-generation chat platform developed by OpenAI has caused a veritable "tsunami" of interest in its underlying Generative Artificial Intelligence (Gen AI). Business organizations in all economic areas are dramatically increasing their investments in this new technology and launching pilot projects testing its capabilities. Banks are no exception to this trend. With the vast amounts of data at their disposal and ever-increasing user demands, they are quickly realizing that Gen AI promises numerous benefits both concerning customer service and in terms of internal banking processes and operations. This paper examines the characteristics of generative artificial intelligence by comparing it with traditional AI models that have been used in banks. The main factors that make banking the perfect place for the application of the new technology are brought out. Based on this, the analysis focuses on surveying the many potential benefits of its implementation – from improving customer experiences, through better risk management, to optimizing the work of back-office employees and developers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At the Institute of Agriculture - Karnobat, Bulgaria, laboratory research was conducted on 5 varieties of two-row and 5 varieties of multi-row winter barley. The aim of the research is to determine the genotypic differences in the initial growth of winter barley varieties. The varieties were studied in a laboratory experiment using the roll method. Number of indicators number of roots (number), length of roots (cm), length of the first leaf (cm) were recorded. 20 seeds of each variety were placed on filter paper in 3 replicates. The rolls are immersed in water and after 10 days the length of the first leaf, the number of roots and their length are counted. The results of the analysis show that Zahir and Alexan varieties form the largest number of roots. The Lardeya and Bozhin varieties form the smallest number of roots. The Kuber and Siela varieties have the longest root length and the first leaf. The varieties Zahir and Achinora have the smallest root length, and Lardea and Zemela have the smallest length of the first leaf. To improve the length of the first leaf, good combinations are expected when crossing the varieties Daria, Bozhin with Alexan, Achinora. Siela, Zemela, Alexan and Achinora varieties are genetically the most distant from Lardea, Kuber and Zahir in terms of length and number of roots. It is recommended to use them for crosses in order to create a better root system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the last few years, Artificial Intelligence (AI) has gained immense popularity for one of its abilities, namely to create images from textual prompt. This has sparked an extremely wide controversy among visual artists and their analysts, as well as the entire community. One of the most important and distinctive questions is, what is the ethical boundary that can be set in the use of this technology and what is the way it can be used in different forms of visual art? The paper discusses several different aspects of using artificial intelligence for creation of images. Thay can be categorized as positive in certain situations and negative in others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Psalter is the Bible book most used in Orthodox worship. In the Middle Ages, illustrated psalters spread, and miniatures with New Testament subjects appeared on their pages. The paper shows the direct connection between the miniatures with a New Testament character and the worship of the Orthodox Church and confirms the perception of the Psalter in the Church as a book of prophecies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Bioeconomy concept uses as a starting point the natural cycles of materials and covers all sectors of the economy that produce, work and process, use and trade renewable resources such as plants, animals, microorganisms, and their derivatives. The accepted definition is that “The Bioeconomy covers the production of renewable biological resources and their conversion into food, feed, biological products and bioenergy”. It includes the sectors of agriculture, forestry, fisheries, food production and pulp and paper, as well as and parts of the chemical, biotechnological and energy industries. The purpose of the study is to assess the state of the circular Bioeconomy in the country and outline guidelines for developing its potential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nozick (1977) set a challenge for Austrian economics. On the one hand, this school of thought rejects the notion of indifference, and along with it, indifference curves. On the other hand, the praxeological school accepts the concepts of supply and demand curves. But the latter supposition logically implies indifference, in that the persons for whom the supply and demand curves apply look upon all the constituent items as identical; if not, these diagrams could not be drawn. A similar account applies to diminishing marginal utility, another tool of economic analysis accepted by Austrians. But this, too, implies indifference, at least according to Nozick. Block (1980) responded critically to Nozick (1977). Hoppe (2005, 2009), a leading Austrian economist, agreed with Block that Nozick was in error, but also rejected Block’s specific refutation this eminent philosopher’s critique. Wysocki (2021) sided with Nozick and Hoppe in this debate. The present paper is an attempt to support the Blockian view vis a vis that of these three scholars. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The topic of farm viability is very important and widely discussed in scientific studies. It is important not only for the farms themselves, but also for all agricultural entities. Its relevance is based on the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy 2014 – 2020, which recognizes increasing the viability of small and medium-sized farms as one of its priority objectives. Increasing the viability of farms is sought by promoting entrepreneurship among farms, creating new jobs and taking measures against the decline of the rural population, rather than increasing the size of farms. The aim of this paper is to investigate the level of economic viability of small farms in mountain areas. For the classification of individual small farms in the mountain lessfavoured areas thus defined, the variance analysis developed by P.L. Fischer (ANOVA - Analysis of Variance) was used, analysing the relationship between two random variables – dependent and independent (also called the factor). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper primarily aims to address aspects related to regional development in Romania, which has become a challenge both at the national and global level. The way regional development is approached is different, depending on the particularities of each country, as well as the governing ideologies in each state. However, the goal is common, one aims at shaping a competitive and strong economy, a high standard of living, access to education and medical assistance. The purpose of the paper is to compare socio-economic indicators from two time periods, to highlight similarities and differences and to observe their evolution within a 10-year timespan. The method used is Principal Component Analysis (PCA) to identify groups of statistical indicators (variables) that explain the level of development within a sample, in our case the development regions of Romania. In the context of regional development, PCA can be applied to extract relevant information about economic, social or demographic variability in different regions of the country. Several objectives of regional development analyzed through the lens of this method were pursued: identification of regional disparities, optimization of resource allocation, evaluation of the determining factors of economic development, monitoring of the impact of regional policies. Following the PCA analysis, it was observed that regional development cannot be evaluated by means of variables belonging to a single sector. This method allowed the identification of the variables that have the greatest weight describing economic, social, educational and infrastructure aspects. PCA was applied for two time periods and similar situations were obtained, the first main component called by the authors the economic statistics includes for both periods the indicators: Gross average nominal salary gain, GDP by development regions, Employees from research and development activity at the end of the year, Beds in health facilities (state and private). The second component was called social statistics and includes the indicator Employment rate in working age (15-64 years), and the third component called agricultural statistics includes the indicator Population served by the public water supply system. As a conclusion, we consider that the situations are not overlapping because there are indicators that have undergone changes during the 10 years, which is expected and normal in regional development. For example, the number of graduates decreased due to the continuously decreasing birth rate, the vacancy rate decreased in 2018-2019 compared to 2008-2009 because Romania went through the financial economic crisis.

With this text I am publishing three identical brass spikes with production stamps, from the hull of the Saint Nicholas Bay Shipwreck (SNBS). While identical, the stamps were illegible to the naked eye. By deciphering one of them, we were able to establish that they relay the name of the largest Austro-Hungarian private shipyard of the 'Long nineteenth century,' the Technical Establishment of Trieste (Stabilimento Tecnico Triestino, 1857-1929). The production stamps provided the latest terminus post quem for the formation of the archaeological site in Saint Nicholas Bay and a tangible link between the historic ship, as presented in the archaeological record, and the Austro-Hungarian coast of the Adriatic Sea. This paper summarises the archaeology of the SNBS, discusses the fastening system of its wooden hull, analyses the three artefacts and assesses their significance for the interpretation of the underwater archaeological site. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current paper discusses the Late Neolithic anthropomorphic figurines with a hollow body originating from three settlements in the Struma River Valley to the north of the Kresna Gorge: Bersin, Mursalevo - Gerena locality and Kocherinovo - Ganevi Nivi locality. Only upper body fragments are preserved. Three groups are defined based on the typical features of the upper half of the body, the cavity shape and its location. The largest group has been divided to subgroups depending on the way the head and the upper torso around the breasts are shaped, as well as the transition to the abdomen and the bottom. The systematisation takes into account the fragmentary state of the objects. The first group consists of anthropomorphic figurines with elongated, almost cylindrical, flattened-cylindrical (sometimes widening at the top) or flat head. All of them have arms shaped as horizontally perforated short side knobs. The body is hollow and bell-shaped in the preserved part. This shape suggests that the lower half was a separate piece, and the two would attach to form the body. A fragmented figurine from Kocherinovo, with compactly shaped legs divided by a vertical groove, offers an example for a possible shaping of the lower part. The other two groups are represented by single examples. Late Neolithic hollow anthropomorphic figurines are discovered at sites dated to various phases of the Late Neolithic along the Struma River Valley to the north of the Kresna Gorge. Similar artefacts have been published within the catchment area of the Vardar River. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper highlights the need for cyber protection and application of new technologies in cyber security in our increasingly digitalized world. It examines the development, application and potential of blockchain technology to date, as well as its nature. It presents the possible benefits and challenges of implementing blockchain applications and innovations in cybersecurity, drawn from the experiences of blockchain innovations and applications already implemented in other sectors of our lives. The work is of a review rather than analytical nature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Teaching methods in secondary education have undergone significant changes due to COVID-19. The paper examines the positive impact of investing in education through the Strategic Framework for the Development of Education, Training and Learning in the Republic of Bulgaria (2021-2030) and digital technologies. The aim of this paper is to identify key challenges and relevant solutions through a study of teaching methods in secondary education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines current aspects related to the growing popularity of telecommuting. The past pandemic has accelerated processes in this direction and more and more employers are taking advantage of the opportunities provided by digital technologies for remote work. There are multiple factors that influence such decisions for both business organizations and their employees. This paper examines the perspective of employees on some key factors such as productivity, stress and attitudes towards such an opportunity. Research on the topics covered is also cited in the theoretical review. The results of a study conducted to provide general insight into employee attitudes towards telecommuting opportunities and self-assessment of their perceptions of stress, productivity and motivation are described. Conclusions based on the empirical data and generalizations about telework are drawn. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

I've often heard young students say, "Let me check on the internet," when they're unsure of an answer. It's also evident that traditional paper dictionaries are rarely used nowadays, with foreign language words being automatically translated online. While the internet provides quick access to information, the accuracy of these answers needs research on sources and may require deep reading of different materials. This raises questions about the internet's role as a learning tool and how it's shaping our learning habits. Conducted in February 2024, a survey among 35 Romanian high school students aged 15-19 serves as the basis for this paper, which seeks to delve into students' internet usage for learning, their platform preferences, and their perceptions of how internet usage affects their learning styles. In conclusion, the paper will underscore the evolving learning needs identified and suggest ways educators can adapt to maintain students' interest in learning, guiding them towards focused research topics that align with their passions and future career aspirations.

Private labels are gaining ground in almost all product categories today, especially in the food trade. In the case of food, the share and penetration of private labels has been a success story for food retailers worldwide, and in Europe their market share has been steadily increasing in recent years. Although they were initially seen as a low-cost alternative for consumers, many retailers have now recognised their potential to differentiate themselves from their competitors and increase profits. With private labels, businesses can differentiate themselves more easily from their competitors and increase their profits due to their high margin content. The present paper focuses on presenting some partial results of a broader research, with the primary aim of highlighting the role and place of private brands in consumer decisions. We conducted primary, quantitative research using survey methods. We investigated the attitudes, attitudes, and knowledge of the respondents towards private brands in comparison to manufacturer brands. We investigated the circumstances of purchase and the factors influencing the purchase decision-making process among groups with different socio-demographic characteristics. Our research results are mostly in harmony with the literature and secondary research, with no significant differences. Overall, it can be concluded that Hungarian consumers are willing to buy private brands and are familiar with them when purchasing food. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the paper is to examine the changes in wine consumption habits in the last few years and the effect of the Covid-19 pandemic in Hungary, the changes in international wine trade regarding the online and offline sales trends. The pandemic caused a great challenge for the wine sector, since many consumption premises (restaurants, events) could not be in operation, however, with the development of the online trade a sales channel became stronger. Surveys related to wine consumption and trade in Hungary are usually ad hoc, and barely deal with online shopping. At the same time, the Great Wine Test follow the domestic wine consumption and purchasing habits by the same questionary from 2016, therefore it is suitable to track the possible changes. This study analyses the online buying tendencies based on the 2016, 2018 and 2021 data with a sample of 27993, 8552, and 1461 respectively, to compare the years before and after the pandemic. Research questions were as follows: had the wine consumption been changed in this period and was there any shift towards online wine purchasing. Results show that there are no significant changes in most of the indicators, however, the proportion of online purchasing notably increased in the years of the pandemic. It is important to note that no significant change took place in the total sales volume. Results on online buying habits show that there were similar changes in Hungary to other markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The solemn entry of the Lord Jesus Christ into Jerusalem is described by the four evangelists. With the Lord's entrance into Jerusalem, the road to His suffering begins. The worship glorifies Christ as God and King - Victor and Saviour, but it also mentions the coming Passover and voluntary suffering. The feast, located after the Great Lent and preceding Holy Week and Pascha, has a distinctly eschatological character. Three Old Testament readings (paroemias) are read on the eve of Palm Sunday: Gen. 49:1-2, 8-12, Zeph. 3:14-19, and Zech. 9:9-15. The paper presents an interpretation of the pericopes through the writings of the Holy Fathers and the hymnography of the Orthodox Church. The theme of the humility of the King is a kind of "gateway" to the next Holy Week, when the Creator of heaven and earth will suffer and die at the hands of His creatures in order to conquer death and exalt the nature of Adam. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article deals with the prologue (synaxarion) Vitae of St. Nicholas in Slavonic Cyrillic literature from the 13th to the 17th century. These texts function within the hymnographic composition practice and can be found in two types of liturgical books - the Prologue and the Menaion. They are usually extracts from extensive narratives, which is why this paper also looks at texts from two other types of medieval books (the Panegyric and the Reading Menaion) that contain The Acts of St. Nicholas, The Miracles of St. Nicholas and the so-called „Another" Vita - St. Nicholas of Sion Vita. These texts also functioned as synaxarion vitae. The Vita of St. Nicholas in the Simple Prologue is the shortest and earliest version of a hagiographic narrative about the saint translated in Bulgaria during the First Bulgarian Empire, and it is very rarely found in the hymnographic composition of the Menaion. St. Nicholas' Vita in the Turnovo translation of the Verse Prologue is the most popular and common after the sixth song of the canon in the hymnographic composition practice. That Vita is a more extensive version of the Acts of St. Nicholas, based on the Metaphrastian Vita, preceded by a verse and an added miracle of St. Nicholas. The article mentions two interesting cases in Serbian menaia of the 15th century, which present different traditions to place the synaxarion texts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article assesses the development of retail e-commerce under the influence of global digitalization processes. The authors prove that current trends in the global economy reflect key aspects of the development of the digital economy and, accordingly, retail e-commerce. Under their influence, significant changes are taking place in the living conditions of society, market conditions and in the scientific sphere, and there is an increasing demand for highly qualified workers. The paper emphasizes that under the influence of profound and extensive changes brought about by digital technologies, conceptual models of business development and social communication are transforming, and the role of the state in the new digitalized environment is being reconsidered. These transformations require participants to be highly adaptable, develop new skills and competencies, and be ready to take advantage of digital transformation. The paper emphasizes that there are potential risks of negative impact of digital transformation, which are manifested primarily in the need to adapt to new conditions, such as the inevitability of displacement of outdated professions by new technologies or artificial intelligence systems, the disappearance of traditional markets, as well as the threats of personal data leakage and the need to protect copyrights and other aspects. The authors prove that e-commerce encompasses more than just online advertising or launching a virtual retail store. Successful enterprises in this area are based on reliable technologies of interaction with consumers, which arise from the experience gained in the early stages, sound business schemes and a carefully developed infrastructure for servicing business processes. The main advantage of using digital technologies in the field of online retail is the ability to predict demand and thoroughly study consumer needs.

Since the COVID-19 outbreak, Bulgaria has mobilized significant financial resources to overcome the consequences of the pandemic on the economy, labour market and household wellbeing. The 60/40 measure, under which employers from affected sectors can receive financial support to retain existing jobs, became a significant element of these efforts. With a budget of almost 2 billion BGN, the measure supported the retention of over 340 000 jobs. From a research point of view, however, its social impacts, including on labour market inequalities, remain insufficiently clear. This paper tries to contribute to the fulfillment of this gap by putting the results of the implementation of the 60/40 measure in the context of the problem about the labour market segmentation. Based on freely accessible data published by state institutions, the paper discusses the existence of some disbalances linked to the implementation of the 60/40 measure which could deepen the labour market inequalities and expand the segment of jobs with worsening wage adequacy. In that regard, areas of future research and possible improvements of the approach towards the study of the impacts of the measure have been identified. Moreover, the discussed problem areas shed light on some aspects regarding the role of the state and public policies in shaping the labour market segmentation in Bulgaria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study presents a comparative analysis of the two modern pro-market schools in the field of monetary theory and banking – the school of free banking with fractional reserves and the school of full deposit reservation. In this way, the paper outlines the guidelines to be followed in developing theories, concepts and proposals for improving or perfecting the money supply management. In concrete terms, the analysis considers the alternatives for the implementation of banking and the positioning of the central bank in the schools of free banking with fractional reserves and the full reservation of deposits, the methodological nature of a market process in their frameworks and an interpretation of the two schools in relation to the functions of deposits, the interest rate, deflation and quantitative easing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Modern financial markets create a new criterion for evaluating the investment performance of companies - a multidimensional approach that combines the financial, social and environmental aspects together. A sustainable and responsible investment approach is perceived as a long-term driver of value and many institutional investors around the world, incl. pension funds, integrate it into their traditional investment process. At the same time, Bulgarian private pension funds either neglect (underestimate) the issues of sustainable development, or changе their investment policy too timidly and uncertainly. After an in-depth analysis of the sustainable and responsible investment practices imposed by the ecological leaders among the pension funds, the current research paper offers an adapted model for integrating the "green" investment trend, consistent with the organization and development of voluntary private pension funds in Bulgaria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The scientific and technological changes that have occurred are leading to a transformation in the operations and business processes of the agricultural industries. When using unmanned aerial vehicles in modern agricultural technologies, it is necessary to improve their functions such as search, recognition and manipulation-robotic actions. This paper examines the cost-effectiveness issues of aerial photography using unmanned aerial vehicles with low-end photographic systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The successful development of tourism products largely depends on the proper selection of tourist sites, the study of the possibilities of their integration and their targeting to appropriate target groups. In this sense, the present paper examines the results of the application of the author's methodology for an assessment of immovable archaeological monuments from the Roman era with the aim of analyzing the possibilities for their inclusion in cultural-tourism products of the Rila-Pirin tourist region. The applied methodology is based on a multi-aspect and detailed assessment of immovable Roman sites, on the one hand as a resource, and on the other as tourist sites. It provides an opportunity to carry out an objective analysis of the current state of the archaeological values and maximally reveal their tourist potential. The achieved results point to the possible ways of including the monuments in tourism products according to the state and prospects for their future development. This will greatly facilitate the making of reasoned decisions about how archaeological immovable sites can be most rationally used for the purposes of tourism based on cultural heritage and what are the possibilities for their successful integration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lithography is one of the emblematic graphic techniques discovered in the late 17th century to create large print runs. It is practically a prototype of modern color, offset printing. For this reason, it is one of the mandatory disciplines in higher education institutions that can afford the appropriate equipment. Three-dimensional computer graphics, on the other hand, is a technology that has only been available for use by a wider range of people since the last decade of the twentieth century. The combination of these two techniques for creating a visual product, although it sounds illogical, is the subject of this paper. In addition, the possibility of including and augmented reality (AR) to printed works created in this way will be considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The archive "Immovable Cultural Assets" at the Regional History Museum – Sofia contains 1300 documentation folders of buildings, bridges and monuments located in the centеr of the city. Currently, all folders have their own digital copies - text in MS Word file and original old photos, mainly from the 70s and 80s of the last century, with corresponding image from current time. Plans and sketches of the surrounding landscape are attached as well. However, the focus of the digital unit is not on the architectural ensemble and urban planning, but for the historical reference for the person or event related to the particular monument. Through various methods of work, an attempt was made to preserve part of the history of the city - preserving its memory in digital format. Тhey consisted digitalization of the paper folder, collecting information in two various ways: at the libraries, archives and in the field – by describing and photographing the monument. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research is dedicated to preserving and studying architectural memory. The attention is focused on the architectural archive at the Institute of Art Studies at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences where a cultural architectural heritage is collected over decades. Specifically, research interest is towards the collections in fund "Drawings and Surveys" conducted on the case study of a 19th century house of the Hrusanovi brothers in the town of Sungurlare. The building was depicted in plans and facades on paper 60 years ago. In development the knowledge on this old architecture is boosted by transforming it into a digital three-dimensional structure through two software applications. The analysis consists of reading of the archived drawings in the context of reconstruction and achieving a high level of authenticity in it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to present the elements of the methodology for the statistical study of the profile characteristics of prospective university students. In order to achieve this goal, the following tasks аre carried out: Review of the main strategic and normative documents in the field of higher education; Analysis of the current normative basis of different higher education institutions; Presentation of data sources on prospective students and statistical analysis methods; Formulation of recommendations for the study of prospective students’ profile characteristics and admission procedures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The issue of personalized education in accounting disciplines in higher schools is posed in the present paper, rather to provoke interest in the topic than to categorically formulate answers. The author’s goal is to attempt to outline the degree of opportunity for personalized education versus mass education in accounting disciplines and to reveal some potential advantages of implementing this approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A Case of the Non-Directionality of Language Change: The Strength of Auxiliaries and Pronouns in South and West Slavic This paper discusses the directionality of language change on the basis of Slavic data. Specifically, it addresses the question of whether there exist predefined patterns and diachronic trends that affect words in terms of their prosodic and morphosyntactic strength. The paper investigates two classes of functional elements, auxiliary verbs and pronominal clitics, showing that they have undergone diachronic changes in opposite directions: while auxiliaries have weakened, pronominal forms have become strengthened in some Slavic languages. Bezkierunkowość zmian językowych. Siła czasowników posiłkowych i zaimków osobowych w językach południowo- i zachodniosłowiańskich Artykuł omawia zagadnienie kierunkowości zmian językowych, opierając się na danych z języków słowiańskich. W szczególności artykuł podejmuje kwestię istnienia uniwersalnych trendów i wzorców zmian diachronicznych w języku, takich jak jednorodne osłabienie słów pod względem prozodycznym i morfoskładniowym. Badane są dwa typy wyrazów funkcyjnych: czasowniki posiłkowe i zaimki osobowe. Jak wykazano, formy te podległy zmianom diachronicznym, które nastąpiły w przeciwnych kierunkach: podczas gdy czasowniki posiłkowe uległy prozodycznemu i morfoskładniowemu osłabieniu, w niektórych językach słowiańskich zaimki osobowe uległy wzmocnieniu.

Polish Translations of “The Life of Adam and Eve” as a Research Problem: An Analysis of Translation Strategies This paper presents the results of translatological research into Teresa Dąbek-Wirgowa and Agata Kawecka’s translations of the Old Church Slavonic apocrypha “The Life of Adam and Eve” into modern Polish. The two texts were examined independently of each other, since they do not form a translation series. The translations were compared with the Bulgarian and Old Church Slavonic sources, which made it possible to follow closely how the translators applied the fundamental techniques of translation. Using selected examples, the article discusses the types of translation transformations used, and characterises the dominant elements presented in the translations. Some errors are also pointed out, especially those that change the meaning of the translated text. The final part of the paper contains general conclusions about the translators’ work and indicates possible directions of future research, including further research into anthologies of ancient literature as translations and into the skills exhibited by translators of such literature. Przekłady Słowa o Adamie i Ewie na język polski jako problem badawczy. Analiza strategii tłumaczenia Artykuł prezentuje wyniki badań translatologicznych nad przekładami staro-cerkiewno-słowiańskiego apokryfu Słowo o Adamie i Ewie na współczesny język polski, których autorkami są Teresa Dąbek-Wirgowa i Agata Kawecka. Oba teksty zostały zbadane niezależnie od siebie, ponieważ nie tworzą serii przekładowej. Przekłady zestawiono ze źródłami (bułgarskim oraz staro-cerkiewno-słowiańskim), co umożliwiło dokładne prześledzenie sposobu pracy tłumaczek z podstawami tłumaczenia. W artykule na wybranych przykładach zostały omówione typy transformacji przekładowych wykorzystane przez tłumaczki, a ponadto przedstawiono charakterystykę dominant obecnych w przekładach. Wskazano także nieliczne błędy, w tym przede wszystkim te, które zmieniają sens tłumaczonego tekstu. W podsumowaniu przedstawiono ogólne wnioski dotyczące pracy tłumaczek oraz perspektywy badawcze obejmujące dalsze badania nad antologiami literatury dawnej jako przekładami oraz nad warsztatem tłumaczy tej literatury.

The skeletal remains of two individuals were discovered in a dugout dwelling (# 10) during rescue excavations of the early medieval metallurgical centre "Brestnitsa-Poleto", northwestern Bulgaria. While these are not the only skeletons discovered on the site, this find is of note because, unlike other burials excavated nearby, it doe s not represent a regular Christian burial Instead the remains were found on the floor of a housing structure. The radiocarbon dating of the bones indicates they were from the first decade / half of the 9th century. The current paper examines the process of discovering and documenting the skeletal remains in situ. It offers a reconstruction of the situation of the bodies at the time of their death - their positions and location, as well as a possible cause of death. The consequent laboratory analysis presents a detailed report of the individual characteristics of each skeleton starting with age, sex and stature estimation, and a thorough examination of pathological marks and changes, as well as dental and craniometrical indexes where the condition of the bones allowed a reconstruction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cultural differences in internationalization are defined in Hofstede’s methodology and examined in the internationalization settings in Asia of international small and medium-sized enterprises. The objective is to be determined whether cultural differences exert any effect on the internationalization of enterprises in Asian countries in the context of their internationalization approaches. On the basis of the theoretical review it is deducted that in most cases disregardance of Asian cultural differences can result in negative consequences for the internationalization of small and medium-sized enterprises as well as that the network approach to internationalization dominates in the field. The research paper elucidates the necessity for overcoming cultural differences in internationalization in Asian countries as well as the significance of cultural differences in internationalization approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Residential construction, as part of the construction sector, has developed quite dynamically over the last twenty years. This paper examines the dynamics of new housing construction over a seventeen-year period. The panel dataset includes household-related factors of demographic, social, and economic character regarding the demand for newly built housing estate. Different specifications of econometric panel models for the dynamics of new housing construction at district level in Bulgaria are built and estimated. The results show that the dependence of housing area of newly built dwellings by regions in Bulgaria is directly proportional to natural increase, migration, average annual wage, and number of pupils, and inversely proportional to unemployment. Interestingly, the variable “net enrollment rate of children in kindergartens” did not show the expected effect on the growth of newly built housing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Crusade of Nicopolis (1396) was one of the last crusades directed against the Ottomans, led primarily by joint Franco-Burgundian and Hungarian forces. Albeit on the margins, the Byzantines and Emperor Manuel II Palaiologos were also involved in this crusading project as they hoped to relieve Constantinople from the Ottoman blockade it endured since 1394. The resounding defeat inflicted on the crusaders by the Ottomans was echoed in both Byzantine, French and Ottoman sources. This paper shall attempt to offer a comparative reading of Byzantine, French and Ottoman sources on some aspects of the Crusade of Nicopolis. The first part of this paper will seek to analyze the Byzantine sources, consisting of histories, letters and orations, investigating their literary, political, and religious perceptions of the event. The second part will deal with French and Ottoman sources, especially focusing on their depictions of the Byzantine involvement in the crusade, as well as the narrative links between Nicopolis, the blockade of Constantinople and the travels of Manuel II.

Building on the recent results of Serbian and Croatian historiography and the reinterpretation of some data from primary historical sources, the paper examines the issue of the conflict between the Serbian ruling house, the Nemanjić dynasty, and the Croatian magnate family of Šubić Bribirski in the region of Hum (Zachlumia, Humska zemlja) in the first twenty years of the 14th century. The paper reviews the conclusions of historians who dealt with this issue in more detail, highlighting the fact that, due to the scarcity and typology of the sources, only two reliable conclusions can be drawn: 1) from the beginning of the conflict until the collapse of the regional domain of Mladen II Šubić in 1322, neither side completely withdrew from Hum, and 2) knez Konstantin (comes Constantinus), who governed Hum on behalf of the Šubić family (ca. 1304-1307), was not the son of knez Izan Nelipčić, as some historians believed, but a member of the older generation of the Nelipčić family who bore the same name.

This paper analyzes the information provided in the Byzantine historical narratives composed between the end of the 10th and mid-13th century on Bulgarians, Serbs and the Rus as these peoples permanently settled or just temporarily resided in the area of the Central Balkans. This paper attempts to show how the Byzantine historiography of the mentioned period presented the peoples in question.

The paper presents the circumstances in which musicological medievalism emerged in Serbia after the Second World War as a separate discipline within the research projects of the newly founded Institute of Musicology of the Serbian Academy of Sciences. It focuses on the contributions of three first musicologists medievalists: Miloš Velimirović, Stojan Lazarević and Dimitrije Stefanović. It outlines the conditions under which these researchers adopted the methodological principles of the Western musicological school - Monumenta Musicae Byzantinae - which were current at the time but soon became outdated. In light of the disagreements among Western and Greek scholars regarding the approach to the interpretation of the development of neumatic notation immediately before and after the fall of Byzantium, the paper also shows the personal scholarly credo and interests of certain Serbian researchers, as well as their (un)willingness to adopt and even present new knowledge and trends to the wider academic community.

This paper discusses how the Venetian chronicles written in the 14th-18th centuries represent the episode in which the ban on wearing beards in Venice under Doge Domenico Michiel is connected to the hostilities with the Byzantine Empire in the context of the expedition against Cephalonia in 1126. It is about a strange connection at the first glance; however, some Venetian chroniclers that inserted this event were tempted to consider this decision as an act of contempt against the Greeks that even made Emperor John II Comnenus decide to end the hostilities and demand peace. The paper also brings fragments that introduce this event in Venetian chronicles.

The office of praetor in Byzantium represents a vestige of antiquity revived in the middle years of the reign of Justinian I. The paper offers a history of the function following the chronological timeline, as well as an analysis of the praetor’s competences in the judicial and administrative spheres. Firstly, relying on the few available sources up to the 10th century, it brings an overview of the praetor’s competences. In the 10th century, the praetor became a thematic judge, the supreme civil officer in the province, outranking the strategos, which is how most sources portray the praetor in the 11th and 12th centuries. The paper examines the praetor’s service in law and juxtaposes it with his authority as the supreme figure in the province. Simultaneously, in the 11th century, the praetor was part of the capital’s judiciary system, with a possible scope of duties in private law. The last known sources describe the praetor as the court’s official in contacts with the Latins.

The paper examines some of the main metaphysical concepts of the thought of Dionysius the Areopagite and Maximus the Confessor, such as unity, differentiation, movement, limit, and logoi, in the context of the metaphor of circles and radii. It begins with an analysis of simple diagrams that appear in some Greek and Slavonic manuscripts of Dionysius’ works On the Divine Names. The paper goes on to examine more complex diagrams involving a circle or square centre, outer circumference, concentric rings, multicoloured radii and twisted cruciform bands that accompany the Instructions of Dorotheus of Gaza in many Greek and Slavic manuscripts. The paper argues that these new diagrammatic elements were employed to visualize complex ideas such as the Holy Trinity as unity of differentiations, the ontological limit of creation set by divine providence, the triadic structure of logoi of beings and the double movement of procession and reversion.

This paper takes a fresh look at the sources of Leo the Deacon and comments on what has been written about them by other Byzantinists. It will also study Leo the Deacon’s style of writing, which is certainly innovative, since the History he authored stands apart from the historiographical works that preceded it, as it seeks to meld the new historiography that had emerged from the circle of Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos with the classical tradition. And Leo blazes new trails by praising specific individuals, the vast majority of them military men, around whose actions and achievements - on the field of battle, in the main - his narrative near exclusively revolves. The paper then goes on to indicate that one of the most important texts that has been identified as a source of Leo’s History is the Pophyrogennetos’ vast collection conventionally labelled the Excerpta Constantiniana; the Excerpta are then re-evaluated, particularly in terms of their links to Leo, which turn out to be close, as a number of examples illustrate.

The paper examines the complex, multifaceted role that the settlement of Tana played for the Venetian and Genoese Republics, Byzantium, the Golden Horde, the Russian principalities, the Mendicant Orders, and long-distance trade in the Late Middle Ages. The author discusses some of the essential problems in the history of Tana, such as the relations between Venetian and Genoese settlers, between Venetian Tana and Genoese Caffa, and between the Western inhabitants of Tana and various groups of local population (Muslims, Greeks, Jews, Zich, and Circassians). It concludes that while the Venetians and the Genoese in Tana treated each other with a combination of rivalry and mistrust, they cooperated in trade to their mutual benefit and were usually able to form a united front in response to an external threat. In general, there was an intense confrontation between Venetian Tana and Genoese Caffa, but this does not seem to be the case between the Venetians and the Genoese within Tana. Other controversial issues raised in the paper include the so-called double suzerainty of the Italian settlements in Tana, the discrepancy between their economic and strategic significance and the size of the site, and the dating of the capture of Tana by the Ottomans.

The paper explores the problem of the tomb of Queen Theodora, the first wife of King Stefan Dečanski and mother of King and later Emperor Stefan Dušan, at the Banjska Monastery, a foundation of King Stefan Uroš II Milutin. The tomb is the main topic of the charter King Dušan issued to this monastery. The paper minutely examines the previous research on the subject, including different identifications of the personages buried at Banjska. Special attention was accorded to the analysis of new sources, written and material, relevant to this problem. The author concludes that the transfer of Queen Theodora’s remains to Banjska, on the orders of King Dušan, was an ideologically motivated move. The tomb on the north side of the west bay is identified as Theodora’s. The author cautiously proposes that Konstantin, King Milutin’s younger son, might have also been interred at Banjska, in the north parekklesion along the narthex. The funerary program of Banjska is assessed from the perspective of traditional solutions and the reception of new models adopted from Byzantium.

This paper examines the extent to which the Xenon of the Kral, founded by Stefan Uroš II Milutin in Constantinople in the first part of the 14th century, reflected Byzantine hospital traditions. Milutin’s biography, written around 1332 by the Serbian Archbishop Danilo II, is of great value as a document of medical history, as it contains essential details on the Xenon’s infrastructure and medical staff and the purposes of this charitable foundation in comparison with Byzantine institutions. The regulations on patient admission allow the conclusion that the Xenon of the Kral was probably a hospital for emergency admission. Recent research has tended to focus on the hospital infrastructure at the Xenon of the Kral rather than its status as an international centre of education associated with the teaching activities of the Byzantine humanist John Argyropoulos in the period between 1444 and c. 1453. Furthermore, his teaching had an extremely interesting focus on the intensive study of Galen’s works. Special attention should be paid to the close connection between the Prodromos Monastery τῆς Πέτρας, its library and the Xenon, whereby some traces might also lead to Bessarion’s library and especially to his collection of medical manuscripts. The aim of this paper is thus to contextualise the already available research results on the Xenon of the Kral with some sources of Byzantine medical literature, opening up new aspects and research questions which might be of interest for elucidating the intellectual and cultural exchange between Byzantium and Serbia.

The paper examines the social position and reputation of artists, primarily painters, in Byzantium and the countries under its cultural influence, in the area of the socalled Byzantine Commonwealth. It concludes that painters were treated like all other craftsmen in many aspects of social life from the time of the Book of Eparch (from the tenth century). Nevertheless, some artists were highly respected, and this prestige manifested itself in different ways: prominent painters were praised for their artistic skill or their wisdom and education, some were engaged as witnesses or guarantors in court cases due to their civic and personal credibility, some enjoyed a reputation that stemmed from their other profession - many of them were members of the clergy (priests, hieromonks, monks, hegoumenoi, chartophylaxes, metropolitans), some were elected state, city or military officials, and judges, and some were sent on diplomatic missions. Accordingly, many painters were addressed by the title kyr (Sir), which also testifies to their reputation and social status. Others, however, were forced to earn a living by trading, sometimes even by farming or herding. On the other hand, sources testify that occasionally figures of the highest social ranks (emperors, archbishops, metropolitans, nobles) also dabbled in painting, but they usually did so for fun, and are thus rightly seen in scholarship as amateur painters and cannot be used to illuminate the social status of painters. It seems, however, that the artist’s reputation, about which this paper provides original testimonies and a range of other indicators, generally did not bring a better or higher social status to the painters themselves, so until the end of the Middle Ages, much as in the tenth century, as evidenced by the Book of Eparch, they retained the status of artisans. To corroborate that claim, the paper brings original data on the social strata from which apprentices in painting workshops were recruited and the social circles from which came the spouses of painters or their family members.

This paper examines how Kharms uses performativity in his 1928 play Elizaveta Bam to explore the relationship between the subject and the state. The play follows Elizaveta as she attempts to escape a murder charge by cycling through a series of radically different and strange personae. Her many transformations obfuscate her actual identity and personality; in the context of her flight from men who would kill her, this ability to transform is a survival mechanism. Ultimately, however, she is caught, and Kharms frames this as an inevitability. This approach to the relationship between state and subject corresponds to Althusser’s concept of interpellation, which tracks the deep connection between individuals and the ideologies that surround them. This paper argues that Kharms makes the actor’s performance into the central device of the play, and in so doing, he uses the tools of theater itself to depict (futile) resistance to overwhelming state power.

The avant-garde literary group OBĖRIU, with its poetics of the absurd, alogism and grotesque, had a great influence on later Soviet Russian literature and on neo-avant-garde movements as well. This paper investigates the connection between OBĖRIU and the neo-avant-garde of the 1970s and 1980s, especially by comparing two representatives of these different ‘ages’ of avant-garde – Daniil Kharms and Dmitrii Prigov. The analysis will focus particularly on the genre of the anecdote, with which they both experimented. After tracing the heritage of OBĖRIU poetics in Conceptualism and in the work of Prigov, who was interested in the form of Kharmsian prose miniatures, the paper will compare the well-known Anecdotes from the Life of Pushkin by Kharms (1937) with a series of quasi-hagiographical texts, Stories about Stalin, by Prigov (1975-1989). These bizarre sketches have several common features related to the genre, the formal structure, and the stylistic devices employed. Despite some striking parallels, however, the analysis will demonstrate that Kharms and Prigov have two different approaches to understanding deconstruction of myths, the grotesque, and the absurd.