The national nature of Vitaism and Vasily Barvinsky

The article raises the problem of one of the dimensions of national modernism in the first half of the twentieth century – Vitaism, which is manifested not only in literature, but also other forms of art, in particular, music. The synthetic nature of Vitaism, the platform of which was outlined by M. Khvylovy, answered the aesthetic requests of the development of the new Ukrainian culture at that time and proved to be in agreement with many of its representatives. Acting in correspondence with the artists of the Dnieper Ukraine, professing the ideas of the uniqueness and unity of Ukrainianness, V. Barvinsky showed vivid and vibrant vitaistic tendencies in his work The nation-building idea gathers and absorbs all the life processes of the artist, revealing deep mental roots as the basis of vitaism - the heart animation of life. The fusion of ethnogenetic origin (through intense folklorizm) with a historical tradition (broad national and European temporal perspective) occurs at the composer under the denominator of cordocentric lyrical, however, active romanticism. Numerous vectors of neo- (baroque, classicism, romanticism) as one of the centrifugal axes of V. Barvinsky's style, opens a new round of vision and renewal of tradition. Along with the bright, solid pages of the composer's music, there is also a tangible tragedy. Responsible "heart-universe" does not avoid darkness, because light and darkness are in the only indivisible heart of a person, who is responsible for the dark first, too, grasping the antithetical and contradictory life. The main method of the artist is the desire for synaesthetic fusion in the sound matter of play, plasticity, color, symbol and movement (light rhythm). Conceptual modeling based on such a synthesis gives unique Ukrainian pictures of our own poetic image of the world. The rationalism of Vitaism was manifested in the high education and professionalism of the artist, who called for responsibility for the need to build a serious national cultural school, which served as a voluminous critical journalistic and scientific-pedagogical activity. Barvinsky, as one of the central figures of Galician musical culture of the first half of the twentieth century, reveals an original and unique synthesis of the tendencies of numerous artistic and aesthetic directions of the day. However, the optic ideological axis and active romanticism that shape the composer's stylistic dominance, vital conceptualism in the artistic modeling of the artist's world, make V. Barvinsky one of the brightest representatives of Vitaism.

PHOTOPERIODIC CONTROL OF LH RELEASE IN THE RAM

ABSTRACT The influence of variations in the duration of light photoperiod on LH release has been studied in intact and castrated rams submitted to a 6 months "annual" light rhythm. Blood was collected once a month and the plasma LH levels were determined by radioimmunoassay. In intact rams, the LH level is decreased when the light photoperiod is increased, but as soon as this photoperiod begins to decrease, a sharp increase (about 80%) in the LH level is observed. Thereafter a slow decline in plasma LH occurs until the photoperiod reaches a minimum. In the castrated animals, the plasma LH level is three to four times higher than in the intact animals but the pattern of the variations with regard to the light photoperiod duration, is essentially the same. Thus an increase of 59 and 43 % in plasma LH occurs in the two breeds used when the light photoperiod begins to decrease. These results indicate that hypothalamo-hypophyseal activity is modulated by gradual changes in the duration of light photoperiods either in the presence or absence of androgens.

The reproductive performance of Border Leicester ewes in contrasting photoperiodic environments

SUMMARYBorder Leicester ewes were kept in three contrasting photoperiodic environments, the rhythm at latitude 30° 32′ S (group 1) - 12 h light: 12 h dark interrupted by 6 weeks of continuous light (group 2a) and 12 h light: 12 h dark (group 2b) - from August 1972 to September 1973. In group 1 all ewes exhibited oestrus compared with 87·5% and 57·1% in groups 2(a) and 2(b) respectively. The mean number of oestrous periods per ewe ranged from 4·4 in group 1 to 3·0 in group 2(a) and 1·0 in group 2(b). It is concluded that the non-fluctuating light rhythm had an adverse effect on the reproductive potential of the treated groups and that Border Leicester ewes are dependent on a fluctuating light rhythm for normal reproductive function.

The effect of imposed light rhythms on semen production of Suffolk rams

SummaryThe effects of two, symmetrically opposing, light treatments on the semen of Suffolk rams were investigated over two years. The light rhythm had an amplitude of 12 h and a cycle of 24 weeks. Data on semen volume, spermatozoa concentration, total spermatozoa per ejaculate, fructose concentration, seminal fluid fructose concentration and total fructose were collected during 38 semen collection periods. During the last 20 periods libido was assessed on the interval to mounting.The effects of treatments were assessed by fitting Fourier curves with 24-week cycles to the observed fluctuation of the differences between treatments and with 52-week cycles to the means of treatments. From periodic regression analysis of the treatment differences it is concluded that the Suffolk rams were susceptible to the artificial light rhythms and that both groups adapted to the imposed rhythms. Some effects of the pretreatment photic environment appeared to persist during the first year of the treatment period. There appeared to be a lag between the fluctuations of the semen attributes resulting in a series of sequential changes.

Shell Movements of the Freshwater Mussel, Hyridella australis Lam. (Lamellibranchiata)

An analysis of about 4,500 hours of shell movement tracings of the freshwater mussel, Hyridella australis Lam., is presented. Nine series of experiments have been conducted, representing variations in light and temperature conditions. It has been found that, as well as shell movements, shell position or degree of openness must be considered. The shells may be closed (phase 1), completely open (phase 3), or stationary, intermediate between the two (phase 2), for the validity of which position mathematical proof has been found. The characteristics of each phase have been outlined. Temperature, within the range 17 to 27°C shows no well-definded influence on shell movements or the degree of openness. The influence of light, especially in regard to phase 2, is discussed. A diurnal light rhythm is associated with a diurnal feeding rhythm; under continuous illumination the shells tend to remain apart but in phase 2, darkness suppresses shell movements and feeding. The shell movements during ovulation are discussed.