Міфологема великого міста у сфері готичних шукань Клима Поліщука

Стаття присвячена вивченню готичної версії міста в художній прозі 1920-х на основі творів маловідомого українського письменника Клима Поліщука. Простежуються класичні й новітні підходи до готичних канонів у першій чверті ХХ століття. Розглядається міфологема Великого міста, змальована у сфері катастрофічної свідомості періоду воєн і революцій. Подаються паралелі літературних конструкцій для розрізнення готичних та інших ситуацій з метою осмислення факту існування української готичної новели.Статья посвящена изучению готической версии города в художественной прозе 1920-х на основе произведений малоизвестного украинского писателя Клима Полищука. Прослеживаются классические и новейшие подходы к готическим канонам в первой четверти ХХ века. Рассматривается мифологема Великого Города, обрисованная в сфере катастрофического сознания периода воен и революций. Подаются параллели литературных конструкций для отличия готических і других ситуаций с целью осознания факта существования украинской готической новеллы.The article is devoted to the study of gothic version of city in artistic prose of 1920th on the basis of works of the not popular Ukrainian writer Clem Polischuk. The classic and newest approaches are traced near gothic canons in the first fourth of XX century. The mifologeme of the Great City is examined in the field of catastrophic consciousness of the military and revolutionary period. The parallels of literary constructions are given for the difference of gothic and other situations with the purpose of awareness of the fact of existence of the gothic revolutionary

Ideals, education and happy flourishing

In this essay, Doret J. de Ruyter defends the claim that parents as well as professional educators need to impart ideals to children in order to realize their wish that children become happy and flourishing adults. The argument consists of two parts. First, de Ruyter shows how ideals are important to construing the meaning of objective goods. Second, she contends that educating children with ideals is important to motivating them to strive for something higher or better. De Ruyter's analysis rests on two key concepts: "ideals," which refer to things one believes to be superb, excellent, or perfect, but that are as yet unrealized, and "happy flourishing," which describes the fulfillment of objectively identifiable generic goods and the person's satisfactory meaningful interpretation of these goods. © 2007 Board of Trustees

The Importance of Ideals in Education

The article argues that it is important to offer children ideals. Ideals are defined as imagined excellences, which are so desirable that people will try to actualise them. These characteristics show the importance of ideals for people: ideals give direction and meaning to their lives. The motivating power of ideals can, however, also lead to fanaticism. Education should therefore involve several worthy ideals that children can commit themselves to as well as critical reflection on the ways in which people are committed to and try to actualise them

Taking the right to exit seriously

Both diversity and autonomy liberals agree that adults have the right to exit from voluntary associations. As children do not have this right, the paradoxical character of the upbringing of children in fundamentalist and ultra-orthodox communities is evident. Diversity liberals like Galston and Spinner-Halev seem to take an ambivalent position with regard to the right to exit, because they want to defend both the child's future right to exit, which requires particular capacities, as well as the parental right to upbringing according to their conception of the good even if this undermines the required capacities. We defend that people need to be at least autarchic, that is self-determining and morally accountable, in order to be able to exercise their right to exit. Since this right is a civic freedom right, the state has the right and duty to ensure that children will be able to develop into autarchic persons. Therefore, our claim is that school education should aim for minimal autonomy and that such education should be compulsory. We argue that this will not undermine legitimate diversity and therefore that Galston and Spinner-Halev should be able to take an unequivocal position. © 2006, SAGE Publications. All rights reserved

Self-concept and social integration. The Dutch case as an example

This article evaluates the credo ‘integration while maintaining one's identity’ with the help of psychological arguments. First, it explores the requirements of being a good citizen in a liberal democracy. Following Rawls, we state that justice is the cardinal liberal virtue and that this virtue includes having the disposition to respect the rights of all citizens equally. It then investigates psychological theories about identity and the relation between culture and identity. We focus on the distinction between collectivistic cultures and an interdependent self-concept on the one hand and individualistic cultures and an independent self-concept on the other. We come to the conclusion that the development into a good citizen of a liberal democracy cannot be combined with the full preservation of an interdependent self-concept. Further, we argue that the state has the right and the duty to offer civic education to all pupils, even if this means that the development of an inter-dependent self-concept of children from particular immigrant groups will be hampered. © 2004, SAGE Publications. All rights reserved

The novel transcriptional regulator SczA mediates protection against Zn2+ stress by activation of the Zn2+-resistance gene czcD in Streptococcus pneumoniae

Maintenance of the intracellular homeostasis of metal ions is important for the virulence of many bacterial pathogens. Here, we demonstrate that the czcD gene of the human pathogen Streptococcus pneumoniae is involved in resistance against Zn2+, and that its transcription is induced by the transition-metal ions Zn2+, Co2+ and Ni2+. Upstream of czcD a gene was identified, encoding a novel TetR family regulator, SczA, that is responsible for the metal ion-dependent activation of czcD expression. Transcriptome analyses revealed that in a sczA mutant expression of czcD, a gene encoding a MerR-family transcriptional regulator and a gene encoding a zinc-containing alcohol dehydrogenase (adhB) were downregulated. Activation of the czcD promoter by SczA is shown to proceed by Zn2+-dependent binding of SczA to a conserved DNA motif. In the absence of Zn2+, SczA binds to a second site in the czcD promoter, thereby fully blocking czcD expression. This is the first example of a metalloregulatory protein belonging to the TetR family that has been described. The presence in S. pneumoniae of the Zn2+-resistance system characterized in this study might reflect the need for adjustment to a fluctuating Zn2+ pool encountered by this pathogen during infection of the human body