Composer Valentyn Borysov. Symphony of life

Background. The aim of the article is examination and presentation of Valentyn Borysov’s creative life, who was a celebrated Ukrainian composer (1901–1988), a classic of Kharkiv composition school, author of vivid and profound works in such spheres as symphonic, choral, chamber, vocal and piano music; his 120th anniversary in 2021 will be a big milestone for artistic community of Ukraine. Valentyn Borysov’s creativity is an indispensable part of national music, one of its treasures. He belonged to artists who had defined ways of development of Ukrainian professional music in XX century. In his creative outcome we can see influences of numerous artistic tendencies, characteristic for extremely controversial, but also prolific epoch. Composer being a part of quite ambivalent period of Ukraine’s cultural history conditioned usage of diverse research approaches; his works are regarded both in the light of existing musical traditions and on the background of his contemporary cultural environment. This is the novelty of the study. Integrity of presentation of Valentyn Borysov’s creative life is supported by the fact that this article considers his pedagogical activity in his alma mater, nowadays Kharkiv I. P. Kotlyarevsky National University of Arts, which resulted in bringing up a constellation of well-known Ukrainian composers, as well as his public and aimed at cultural enlightenment work. Results and conclusions. For V. Borysov, stage of accumulation of professional and personal experience coincided in time with a turning point in development of Ukrainian musical art. In these years composer attended classes of S. S. Bogatyrov, forefather of Kharkiv composition school; he studied alongside with M. Koliada, H. Tumeneva, D. Klebanov, V. Barabashov, M. Tits, who constituted a brilliant generation of Ukrainian composers several decades later. Symphonic and chamber works of this time showed such features of V. Borysov’s creative method as large-scale thought, leaning towards epic and heroic images, skilful usage of advanced composition techniques. At the same time, under the influence of external factors V. Borysov turned to relevant genre of his time, such as mass song and choral music. As early as on the primary stage of his development as a composer, V. Borysov defined Ukrainian folklore as one of the main sources for his inspiration. Folklore component of musical language became one of the prominent features of his style, its presence is conspicuous on each stages of his evolution. Submission of individual to collective, national conditioned V. Borysov’s interest to monumental forms of symphony, oratorio, cantata, poem, defined their leading role through late style of composer’s creativity. Unique combination of already existing aesthetic premises, high level of moral imperative, relevance of musical language created phenomenon of “V. Borysov’s late style”. The article regards the most original works, which were received very well by the contemporaries: “Divertissement” for symphonic orchestra, “Music for strings”, concert compositions for piano, violin, viola, sets of piano miniatures, composed on late period (70s–80s). Singularity of musical language in these works is created by the fact that V. Borysov succeeded to create a unique mixture of folklore tradition with “sonic field” of avantgarde musical art; with this musical language incredibly relevant, “eternal” problems of existence are embodied. This article was inspired by a desire to draw attention to V. Borysov’s legacy, to revive profound and immensely talented works of the composer, to enrich culture of modernity with them, to remind people of XXI century about such a treasure, that his works are.

Postmodernism in Education and System Inversions

This paper is a detailed review of the article by P.A. Orekhovsky and V.I. Razumov ‘The Carnival Time: Russian Higher School and Science in the Postmodern Era’. The author considers the main problems shown in this article. In order to study these problems the author uses a method of analysis of inverse relations in hierarchical systems as a theoretical basis. System inversion is a form of relations in hierarchical systems, in which the lowest element receives the dominant value in the system, formally remaining in the same subordinate position. This situation can occur both in the social hierarchy and, for example, in the hierarchy of values. As a result of the developed inversion, contradictions accumulate in the system, which can lead to the collapse of this system or to a radical transformation. Such processes can be observed in modern education. This is why there is a priority of the visible over the existent, as it happens in the situation of ‘carnival’. The article by P.A. Orekhovsky and V.I. Razumov examines the postmodern cultural context in which modern education functions. In this regard, the author presents an interpretation of the postmodern situation from the point of view of analyzing system inversions. The current state of the educational sector is determined by the resolution of inversion in the system of human activity. This inversion covers the instrumental and symbolic aspects of human activity. Due to this, there are features of educational activities related to the introduction of digital technologies, which P.A. Orekhovsky and V.I. Razumov pay special attention to. The authors of the article describe the status of the modern teacher’s activity as ‘spiritual prostitution’. Indeed, the activities of some teachers can be described by this term. However, this happens when both the teacher and the student experience a value inversion (as is the case with ordinary prostitution). Instead of this model of behavior, the author suggests another one, more worthy, – a ‘soldier of culture’. ‘Soldiers of culture’ do not ‘provide educational services’, they have a mission to broadcast and enrich culture, which is the highest, terminal value.

7. Migrants in society

‘Migrants in society’ examines how migrants affect destination societies by considering the economic, political, social, and cultural impacts of immigration. Migrants are seen by some to aid economic growth with their ambition or willingness to take on low-paid jobs; others say they increase native unemployment and undercut unions. Future generations of migrants should be better off than their parents, but ethnic minorities can still struggle. Migrants enjoy voting rights in many countries, but European far right politics has re-emerged. Migrants may be a short term solution to ageing populations and low birth rates, but this is not a permanent fix. Immigration can enrich culture, but important integration challenges must be met.

Evaluation of an in vitro and in vivo model for experimental infection with Leishmania (Viannia) braziliensis and L. (V.) peruviana

SUMMARYLeishmania (Viannia) braziliensis and L. (V.) peruviana are two parasite species characterized by a very different pathogenicity in humans despite a high genetic similarity. We hypothesized previously that L. (V.) peruviana would descend from L. (V.) braziliensis and would have acquired its ‘peruviana’ character during the southward colonization and adaptation of the transmission cycle in the Peruvian Andes. In order to have a first appreciation of the differences in virulence between both species, we evaluated an in vitro and in vivo model for experimental infection. A procedure was adapted to enrich culture forms in infective stages and the purified metacyclics were used to infect macrophage cell lines and golden hamsters. The models were tested with 2 representative strains of L. (V.) braziliensis from cutaneous and mucosal origin respectively and 2 representative strains of L. (V.) peruviana from Northern and Southern Peru respectively. Our models were reproducible and sensitive enough to detect phenotypic differences among strains. We showed in vitro as well as in vivo that the L. (V.) braziliensis was more infective than L. (V.) peruviana. Furthermore, we found that in vitro infectivity patterns of the 4 strains analysed, were in agreement with the geographical structuring of parasite populations demonstrated in our previous studies. Further work is needed to confirm our results with more strains of different geographical origin and their specific clinical outcome. However, our data open new perspectives for understanding the process of speciation in Leishmania and its implications in terms of pathogenicity.