Infrared Spectra of Hydrogen-Bonded Molecular Complexes Under Spatial Confinement

Infrared (IR) spectroscopy is commonly used in chemical laboratories to study the geometrical structure of molecules and molecular complexes. The analysis of experimental IR spectra can nowadays be reliably supported by the results of quantum-chemical computations as vibrational frequencies and corresponding vibrational transition intensities are routinely calculated using harmonic approximation by virtually all quantum chemistry packages. In the present study we combine the methodology of computing vibrational spectra using high-level electron correlation treatments with an analytical potential-based approach to take into account spatial confinement effects. Using this approach, we perform a pioneering analysis of the impact of the spatial confinement caused by a cylindrical harmonic oscillator potential on the harmonic vibrational transition intensities and frequencies of two hydrogen-bonded complexes: HCN…HCN and HCN…HNC. The emphasis is put on the largest-intensity bands, which correspond to the stretching vibrations. The obtained results demonstrate that embedding the molecular complexes in an external confining potential causes significant changes of transition intensities and vibrational frequencies.

Development of Microchip Isotachophoresis Coupled with Ion Mobility Spectrometry and Evaluation of Its Potential for the Analysis of Food, Biological and Pharmaceutical Samples

An online coupling of microchip isotachophoresis (µITP) with ion mobility spectrometry (IMS) using thermal evaporation interface is reported for the first time. This combination integrates preconcentration power of the µITP followed by unambiguous identification of trace compounds in complex samples by IMS. Short-chain carboxylic acids, chosen as model analytes, were first separated by the µITP in a discontinuous electrolyte system at pH 5–6, and subsequently evaporated at 130 °C during their transfer to the IMS analyzer. Various parameters, affecting the transfer of the separated sample components through the evaporation system, were optimized to minimize dispersion and loss of the analytes as well as to improve sensitivity. The following analytical attributes were obtained for carboxylic acids in the standard solutions: 0.1–0.3 mg L−1 detection limits, 0.4–0.9 mg L−1 quantitation limits, linear calibration range from the quantitation limit to 75 mg L−1, 0.2–0.3% RSD of the IMS response and 98–102% accuracy. The analytical potential of the developed µITP-IMS combination was demonstrated on the analysis of various food, pharmaceutical and biological samples, in which the studied acids are naturally present. These include: apple vinegar, wine, fish sauce, saliva and ear drops. In the real samples, 0.3–0.6% RSD of the IMS response and 93–109% accuracy were obtained.

The Effect of Formation Processes on The Frequency of Palaeolithic Cave Sites in Semi-Arid Zones: Insights From Kazakhstan

Central Asian caves with Palaeolithic deposits are few but they provide a rich record of human fossils and cultural assemblages that has been used to model Late Pleistocene hominin dispersals. However, previous research has not yet systematically evaluated the formation processes that influence the frequency of Palaeolithic cave sites in the region. To address this deficiency, we combined field survey and micromorphological analyses in the piedmont zone of south Kazakhstan. Here we present our preliminary results focusing on selected sites of the Qaratau mountains. Sediment cover varies among the surveyed caves and loess-like sediments dominate the cave sequences. The preservation of cave deposits is influenced by reworking of cave sediments within the caves but also by the broader erosional processes that shape semi-arid landscapes. Ultimately, deposits of potentially Pleistocene age are scarce. Our study provides new data in the geoarchaeologically neglected region of Central Asia and demonstrates that micromorphology has great analytical potential even within the limitations of rigorous survey projects. We outline some of the processes that influence the formation and preservation of cave deposits inKazakhstan, as well as broader implications for the distribution of Palaeolithic cave sites in Central Asia and other semi-arid environments.

“Intersubjectivity”: The Emergence of a Socio-Phenomenological Concept

The article outlines the author’s vision of the formation and development of “intersubjectivity” as a concept of socially oriented thought. Introduced into sociohumanitarian knowledge by E. Husserl’s phenomenology, this notion initially possessed powerful sociological potential and was called to explain on an abstract-philosophical level the existence of social order from an egological perspective (which is the perspective of a subject with a sphere of consciousness that other participants of interaction have no access to). The main tendency inherent to the post-Husserlian change in the concept’s semantic profile is linked to the gradual loss of its metaphysical potential, as well as its psychologization and instrumentalization. Intersubjectivity — which is something that was brought into sociology by A. Schütz’s social phenomenology — gained a pragmatic interpretation, effectively becoming an axiomatically presupposed attribute of the “life world”. Constructivist semantic valences of the analyzed concept were implemented in the social constructivism of P. Berger and T. Lukman, and at this point said concept had pretty much exhausted its initial analytical potential. The reinvigoration of sociological interest towards this category is associated with a postclassical redirection of attention towards interactive processes of generating meanings within situations of the “life world”, processes that are multidimensional, conditioned by context and cannot be fully reduced to just the subject. The matter of whether returning to Husserl’s intuitions is appropriate demands further consideration, in order to consider other interpretations of intersubjectivity, including those that focus on the historical course of the social process.

Acting for the Local Community: Hybrid Ethnography in the Careers of Local Culture Animators

This article focuses on the innovative methodology used to collect data. We describe how we have utilized the diary method and what analytical potential it contains. We also flag the limitations we have perceived during the research. At the same time, so as not to refrain entirely from a discussion of the study findings, we recreate selected shared attributes in the careers of culture animators. A hybrid research method was used to report and interpret the reality of our surroundings. This involved the use of a diary in which the animators described facts and events from the previous day while also plotting data concerning their location on the Google map; they enriched their notes with short essays, pictures, and video clips. Then, the animators as subjects in the research took part in one-on-one in-depth interviews to summarize their experience. Deliberations on the utility and innovativeness of these ethnographic methods are accompanied by considerations as to the variety of experience held by culture animators and the factors driving their occupational choices.

Materialized Trauma Narratives of Border Crossings

The purpose of this article is to discuss the applicability of the concept of materialized narrative in the analysis of border and mobility related experiences. In this article, the concept and its analytical potential are discussed in three examples that address difficult, even traumatic experiences related to various kinds of border crossings in Finnish and Estonian contexts. The concept of materialized narrative allows the conceptualization of border and mobility related traumas in supplementary and alternative ways. The materialized narrative is defined as a form of narrative and non-narrative knowledge that is linked with objects that people carry with them across various borders and their difficult experiences. The aim of the concept is to bring together the narrative and non-narrative knowledge of traumatic experiences that is embodied in a material object. The research thesis of the article is to examine how a materialized narrative can function as a trauma narrative. The article argues that materialized narratives can function as instruments for processing traumatic experiences related to border crossings, similarly to autobiographical trauma narratives that are regarded to be among the most central narrative forms analyzed in multidisciplinary trauma research. The research material includes interviews and artwork accomplished in the project “A Lost Mitten and Other Stories: Experiences of Borders, Mobilities, and New Neighbor Relations” (funded by the Kone Foundation).

Charting the Rough Journey to ‘Home’: The Contribution of Qualitative Longitudinal Research to Understandings of Homelessness in Austerity

This article reflects on the contribution of qualitative longitudinal research (QLR) to understandings of homeless peoples’ experiences of support service interventions in an era of austerity in the UK. It brings into ‘analytic conversation’ data from qualitative longitudinal evaluations of homeless support projects operated by voluntary sector organisations in Scotland. With fieldwork spanning 2014-2019, the analysis expands the analytical potential of pooling small-scale studies through an interrogation of individuals’ ‘journeys’ through homelessness services and their rough path to ‘home’. By reflecting on our substantive findings, the article explores the added value and challenges of a longitudinal approach. It concludes that while QLR can deliver deep insight into lives lived by vulnerable populations and potentially reduce the distance between policy makers and those affected, its benefits must be balanced against pragmatism and the ethical responsibilities associated with the method.