A modern research for the Turkish ethnography

The urgency of the problem under study is caused by the need to consider the achievements of field researchers of the XIXth century from the standpoint of modern science. The purpose of the article is to characterize the research method of the ethnographer and folklorist Nikolai Katanov (1862-1922). The historical-genetic method is the leading one to the study of this problem. The main results of the research consist in the systematization of the unrecognized intellectual heritage from N. Katanov to the end and its analysis in the context of contemporary Turkish studies. The article is of interest to the experts who are involved in Eurasian studies, the history of Russia, the history of Oriental studies, anthropology and ethnography of the Turkish people of Central Asia.peer-reviewe

Teaching of Asian languages

The article presents the main stages and directions of East education and science establishment and development in Kazan during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. They showed the role of the Kazan Gymnasium in the environment development for the training of experts in Eastern languages and their relevance in the academic environment of Russia during the 18th - 19th centuries. An important reason for the authority of the Kazan school on Oriental studies was the attention to the classical component and the priority of Oriental language practical study. The activities of the First Kazan Men's Gymnasium, opened in 1758, became the most important for the training of oriental personnel for the needs of the Ministry of Education, the Asian Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other Russian educational and scientific centers of the empire. The origins of Russian oriental studies were represented by the educational programs of the First Kazan Gymnasium associated with the Eastern languages, which became the basis for the research and humanistic traditions of Russian Oriental studies.peer-reviewe

A Nonsingular Brans Wormhole: An Analogue to Naked Black Holes

In a recent paper, we showed the Jordan frame vacuum Brans Class I solution provided a wormhole analogue to Horowitz-Ross naked black hole in the wormhole range -3/2<{\omega}<-4/3. Thereafter, the solution has been criticized by some authors that, because of the presence of singularity in that solution within this range, a wormhole interpretation of it is untenable. While the criticism is correct, we show here that (i) a singularity-free wormhole can actually be obtained from Class I solution by performing a kind of Wick rotation on it, resulting into what Brans listed as his independent Class II solution (ii) the Class II solution has all the necessary properties of a regular wormhole in a revised range -2<{\omega}<-3/2 and finally, (iii) naked black holes, as described by Horowitz and Ross, are spacetimes where the tidal forces attain their maxima above the black hole horizon. We show that in the non-singular Class II spacetime this maxima is attained above the throat and thus can be treated as a wormhole analogue. Some related issues are also addressed.Comment: 20 pages, 4 figure

Electrophilic PPARγ Ligands Attenuate IL-1β and Silica-Induced Inflammatory Mediator Production in Human Lung Fibroblasts via a PPARγ-Independent Mechanism

Acute and chronic lung inflammation is associated with numerous important disease pathologies including asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and silicosis. Lung fibroblasts are a novel and important target of anti-inflammatory therapy, as they orchestrate, respond to, and amplify inflammatory cascades and are the key cell in the pathogenesis of lung fibrosis. Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARγ) ligands are small molecules that induce anti-inflammatory responses in a variety of tissues. Here, we report for the first time that PPARγ ligands have potent anti-inflammatory effects on human lung fibroblasts. 2-cyano-3, 12-dioxoolean-1, 9-dien-28-oic acid (CDDO) and 15-deoxy-Δ12,14-prostaglandin J2 (15d-PGJ2) inhibit production of the inflammatory mediators interleukin-6 (IL-6), monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1), COX-2, and prostaglandin (PG)E2 in primary human lung fibroblasts stimulated with either IL-1β or silica. The anti-inflammatory properties of these molecules are not blocked by the PPARγ antagonist GW9662 and thus are largely PPARγ independent. However, they are dependent on the presence of an electrophilic carbon. CDDO and 15d-PGJ2, but not rosiglitazone, inhibited NF-κB activity. These results demonstrate that CDDO and 15d-PGJ2 are potent attenuators of proinflammatory responses in lung fibroblasts and suggest that these molecules should be explored as the basis for novel, targeted anti-inflammatory therapies in the lung and other organs