New insights on respondents’ recall ability and memory effects when repeatedly measuring political efficacy

Many study designs in social science research rely on repeated measurements implying that the same respondents are asked the same (or nearly the same) questions at least twice. An assumption made by such study designs is that respondents second answer does not depend on their first answer. However, if respondents recall their initial answer and base their second answer on it memory effects may affect the survey outcome. In this study, I investigate respondents’ recall ability and memory effects within the same survey and randomly assign respondents to a device type (PC or smartphone) and a response format (response scale or text field) for reporting their previous answer. While the results reveal no differences regarding device types, they reveal differences regarding response formats. Respondents’ recall ability is higher when they are provided with the response scale again than when they are only provided with a text field (without displaying the response scale again). The same finding applies to the size of estimated memory effects. This study provides evidence that the size of memory effects may have been overestimated in previous studies.

“Voices of the Night” by Rollan Seisenbayev as metafiction

The object of this research is “Voices of the Night” by the Kazakh Russian-language novelist Rollan Seisenbayev. The subject of this research is the metafiction structure implemented by Rollan Seisenbayev in the text field. Analysis is conducted on the layers of narration, transition from the novel to the metafiction level. A precise pattern of interaction between these levels is described. The article explores the authorial question and the “author's mask”, as well as the techniques that allow intentionally confusing the reader in distinguishing between these figures. The subject of analysis is also the need for using metafiction structure in the composition written within the framework of realism. The author analyzes the important theme in the works of Rollan Seisenbayev – interrelation between art and life. The novelty of this paper lies in the fact that Rollan Seisenbayev’s works of the Soviet period are extensively studied by the Soviet critics, while his compositions of the post-Soviet period rarely draw the scientific interest of modern researchers. His contemporary mark the shift from the trends of realism and gravitation towards the techniques of polystylistics, which synthesizes the techniques of various literary directions. The article reviews Rollan Seisenbayev’s novel “Voices of the Night”, which demonstrates the application of metafiction structure. The writer usesthis genre to reflect on the creative act and the nature of creativity.

Fields of locally compact quantum groups: Continuity and pushouts

We prove that discrete compact quantum groups (or more generally locally compact, under additional hypotheses) with coamenable dual are continuous fields over their central closed quantum subgroups, and the same holds for free products of discrete quantum groups with coamenable dual amalgamated over a common central subgroup. Along the way we also show that free products of continuous fields of [Formula: see text]-algebras are again free via a Fell-topology characterization for [Formula: see text]-field continuity, recovering a result of Blanchard’s in a somewhat more general setting.

Textual Coherence and Language Means of Its Expression in German

This article addresses the textual category of coherence and discusses verbal means of its expression. The paper analyzes textual connections that mirror systemic relations between objects, phenomena and processes of a "primary" reality. The paper argues that language units of different levels can be addressed as markers of textual connections which contribute to the semantic organization and shaping the text's formal structure. The paper distinguishes the following types of textual connections: lexical, grammatical, word-forming, stylistic, structural-compositional, etc. Special attention is paid to the phenomenon of word-forming textual connections. The paper highlights patterns of the said units' repetition and interaction within the text. The paper focuses on the binary semantics of derivatives and argues that it is responsible for both explicit and implicit representation of textual connections. In particular, derived nouns employing suffixes -ung and -tion are identified as language markers responsible for explicating diverse textual connections. Text-forming and text-binding functions of suffixed derivatives depend on their systemic characteristics i.e. their semantic motivation, a certain isomorphism of their word-forming structure and semantics, as well as semantic correlations of suffixes -ung and -tion in the language system and in the text. Linear unfolding of the text determines the respective arrangement of text's components. This unfolding of the textual space as a surface structure is determined by the components' local micro-arrangements and quantitative representation of different types of connections in the text field. The paper regards these phenomena as both functional and stylistic characteristics of the text.

Character features of uttered free indirect speech by the example of Marina Tsvetaeva’s prose and letters

The purpose of this work is to identify the character features of the uttered free indirect speech in the prose works of Marina Tsvetaeva (stories, novels and letters) and to analyze its functioning in the author’s text field. The object of the study requires: 1) to review the scientific literature on the problem of free indirect speech, 2) to select and analyze factual material from the stories, novels and letters of M. I. Tsvetaeva, illustrating the theoretical positions put forward in the work. Based on the structural and semantic classification proposed by the Belorussian linguist E.Ya. Kus’ko, the authors of the article describe the distinctive features of various types of uttered free indirect speech: thematic speech, hidden speech, speech in the speech, collective speech, and quotation speech. It is concluded that the latter type of uttered free indirect speech finds the greatest application in the prose texts of the outstanding Russian poet of the twentieth century, whereas M. I. Tsvetaeva resorts to uttered free indirect speech very rarely, which is due to the specifics of the poet's idiostyle.

Character features of uttered free indirect speech by the example of Marina Tsvetaeva’s prose and letters

The purpose of this work is to identify the character features of the uttered free indirect speech in the prose works of Marina Tsvetaeva (stories, novels and letters) and to analyze its functioning in the author’s text field. The object of the study requires: 1) to review the scientific literature on the problem of free indirect speech, 2) to select and analyze factual material from the stories, novels and letters of M. I. Tsvetaeva, illustrating the theoretical positions put forward in the work. Based on the structural and semantic classification proposed by the Belorussian linguist E.Ya. Kus’ko, the authors of the article describe the distinctive features of various types of uttered free indirect speech: thematic speech, hidden speech, speech in the speech, collective speech, and quotation speech. It is concluded that the latter type of uttered free indirect speech finds the greatest application in the prose texts of the outstanding Russian poet of the twentieth century, whereas M. I. Tsvetaeva resorts to uttered free indirect speech very rarely, which is due to the specifics of the poet's idiostyle.

Kink–antikink scattering-induced breathing bound states and oscillons in a parametrized ϕ4 model

Recent studies have emphasized the important role that a shape deformability of scalar-field models pertaining to the same class with the standard [Formula: see text] field, can play in controlling the production of a specific type of breathing bound states so-called oscillons. In the context of cosmology, the built-in mechanism of oscillons suggests that they can affect the standard picture of scalar ultra-light dark matter. In this paper, kink scatterings are investigated in a parametrized model of bistable system admitting the classical [Formula: see text] field as an asymptotic limit, with focus on the formation of long-lived low-amplitude almost harmonic oscillations of the scalar field around a vacuum. The parametrized model is characterized by a double-well potential with a shape-deformation parameter that changes only the steepness of the potential walls, and hence the flatness of the hump of the potential barrier, leaving unaffected the two degenerate minima and the barrier height. It is found that the variation of the deformability parameter promotes several additional vibrational modes in the kink-phonon scattering potential, leading to suppression of the two-bounce windows in kink–antikink scatterings and the production of oscillons. Numerical results suggest that the anharmonicity of the potential barrier, characterized by a flat barrier hump, is the main determinant factor for the production of oscillons in double-well systems.

Point disclinations in the Chern–Simons geometric theory of defects

We use the Chern–Simons action for a [Formula: see text]-connection for the description of point disclinations in the geometric theory of defects. The most general spherically symmetric [Formula: see text]-connection with zero curvature is found. The corresponding orthogonal spherically symmetric [Formula: see text] matrix and [Formula: see text]-field are computed. Two examples of point disclinations are described.

Acknowledgment of Libraries in the Journal Literature: An Exploratory Study

PurposeThis study examines acknowledgments to libraries in the journal literature, as well as the efficacy of using Web of Science (WoS) to locate general acknowledgment text.Design/methodology/approachThis mixed-methods approach quantifies and characterizes acknowledgments to libraries in the journal literature. Using WoS's Funding Text field, the acknowledgments for six peer universities were identified and then characterized. The efficacy of using WoS to locate library acknowledgments was assessed by comparing the WoS Funding Text search results to the actual acknowledgment text found in the articles.FindingsAcknowledgments to libraries were found in articles at all six peer universities, though the absolute and relative numbers were quite low (< 0.5%). Most of the library acknowledgments were for resources (collections, funding, etc.), and many were concentrated in natural history (e.g. zoology). Examination of Texas A&M University zoology articles found that 91.7% of the funding information came from “acknowledgments” and not specifically a funding acknowledgment section. The WoS Funding Text search found 56% of the library acknowledgments compared to a search of the actual acknowledgment text in the articles.Research limitationsLimiting publications to journals, using a single truncated search term, and including only six research universities in the United States.Practical implicationsThis study examined library acknowledgments, but the same approach could be applied to searches of other keywords, institutions/organizations, individuals, etc. While not specifically designed to search general acknowledgments, WoS's Funding Text field can be used as an exploratory tool to search acknowledgments beyond funding.Originality/valueThere are a few studies that have examined library acknowledgments in the scholarly literature, though to date none of those studies have examined the efficacy of using the WoS Funding Text field to locate those library acknowledgments within the journal literature.