Социал-конструктивистская интерпретация дилеммы «актер-структура» в науке о международных отношениях

Статтю присвячено проблематиці дослідження соціал-конструктивістської концептуалізації співвідношення «актор-структура». Визначено основні постулати та особливості соціал-конструктивістського теоретизування взаємовідношення структурного та суб’єктного рівнів системи міжнародних відносин, суб’єктності акторів та сутності структур, проілюстровано відмінності від класичної концептуалізації. Оцінено вплив соціальних та інтерсуб’єктивних чинників, зокрема колективних знань (ідей), правил і норм, а також інтересів на становлення взаємозалежності акторів і структур у міжнародному середовищі. З’ясовано співвідношення колективних та іманентних ідентичностей агентів і їх значення для перебігу процесу реципрокності акторів і структур. Охарактеризовано форми, механізми, особливості та наслідки соціалізації акторів у рамках міжнародних структур. Встановлено, що у межах соціал-конструктивістських досліджень вперше агенти і структури розглядаються як онтологічно рівні та взаємозалежні об’єкти.Social constructivist explanation of the «agency-structure» correlation in the theory of international relations has been presented in the article. The «agency-structure» dilemma appeared in the focus of social constructivist researches at the end of the XX century, that researches have gained dominant positions among the theoretical and methodological approaches to the study of international relations. But despite this, the social constructivist interpretation of the «agency-structure» dilemma hasn’t got enough attention by Ukrainian scientists. The actuality of the paper is determined, firstly, by the necessity to describe the social constructivist conceptualization of the «agency-structure» dichotomy, secondly, to answer the key question of discussion about the nature of agency and structure, and thirdly, to determine the impact of social and inter-subjective factors on the interrelation of structural and subjective levels of the international system.The main aim of the research is to analyze the social constructivist interpretation of the «agency-structure» dilemma. Basic forms and characteristics of social constructivist research of «agency-structure» dilemma have been represented in the article. Essence of structures and actors’ subjectivity has been revealed. Moreover, separate fragments of social constructivism explanation have been given on the basis of its main peculiarities’ characterization.The influence of social and inter-subjective factors on the formation of structure and agents’ interdependence in the international environment has been considered in the article. The correlation of inherent and collective identities of agents and its significance for the «agency-structure» reciprocity has also been presented. Forms, features and consequences of agents’ socialization within international structures has been characterized.The significance of social constructivism in modern researches of «agency-structure» correlation has been substantiated in research by summarizing a considerable number of factual materials and use of general scientific methods, such as logical and systematic methods, analysis and synthesis.The scientific novelty of the article has been pointed out by accents, which allow making a comprehensive analysis and describing an alternative approach to the study of structural and subjective levels of the international system

The Oncoprotein EVI1 and the DNA Methyltransferase Dnmt3 Co-Operate in Binding and De Novo Methylation of Target DNA

EVI1 has pleiotropic functions during murine embryogenesis and its targeted disruption leads to prenatal death by severely affecting the development of virtually all embryonic organs. However, its functions in adult tissues are still unclear. When inappropriately expressed, EVI1 becomes one of the most aggressive oncogenes associated with human hematopoietic and solid cancers. The mechanisms by which EVI1 transforms normal cells are unknown, but we showed recently that EVI1 indirectly upregulates self-renewal and cell-cycling genes by inappropriate methylation of CpG dinucleotides in the regulatory regions of microRNA-124-3 (miR-124-3), leading to the repression of this small gene that controls normal differentiation and cell cycling of somatic cells. We used the regulatory regions of miR-124-3 as a read-out system to investigate how EVI1 induces de novo methylation of DNA. Here we show that EVI1 physically interacts with DNA methyltransferases 3a and 3b (Dnmt3a/b), which are the only de novo DNA methyltransferases identified to date in mouse and man, and that it forms an enzymatically active protein complex that induces de novo DNA methylation in vitro. This protein complex targets and binds to a precise region of miR-124-3 that is necessary for repression of a reporter gene by EVI1. Based on our findings, we propose that in cooperation with Dnmt3a/b EVI1 regulates the methylation of DNA as a sequence-specific mediator of de novo DNA methylation and that inappropriate EVI1 expression contributes to carcinogenesis through improper DNA methylation

Mechanical Bonds and Topological Effects in Radical Dimer Stabilization

While mechanical bonding stabilizes tetrathiafulvalene (TTF) radical dimers, the question arises: what role does topology play in catenanes containing TTF units? Here, we report how topology, together with mechanical bonding, in isomeric [3]- and doubly interlocked [2]catenanes controls the formation of TTF radical dimers within their structural frameworks, including a ring-in-ring complex (formed between an organoplatinum square and a {2+2} macrocyclic polyether containing two 1,5-dioxynaphthalene (DNP) and two TTF units) that is topologically isomeric with the doubly interlocked [2]catenane. The separate TTF units in the two {1+1} macrocycles (each containing also one DNP unit) of the isomeric [3]catenane exhibit slightly different redox properties compared with those in the {2+2} macrocycle present in the [2]catenane, while comparison with its topological isomer reveals substantially different redox behavior. Although the stabilities of the mixed-valence (TTF2)^(•+) dimers are similar in the two catenanes, the radical cationic (TTF^(•+))_2 dimer in the [2]catenane occurs only fleetingly compared with its prominent existence in the [3]catenane, while both dimers are absent altogether in the ring-in-ring complex. The electrochemical behavior of these three radically configurable isomers demonstrates that a fundamental relationship exists between topology and redox properties

Nonlinearity and Topology

The interplay of nonlinearity and topology results in many novel and emergent properties across a number of physical systems such as chiral magnets, nematic liquid crystals, Bose-Einstein condensates, photonics, high energy physics, etc. It also results in a wide variety of topological defects such as solitons, vortices, skyrmions, merons, hopfions, monopoles to name just a few. Interaction among and collision of these nontrivial defects itself is a topic of great interest. Curvature and underlying geometry also affect the shape, interaction and behavior of these defects. Such properties can be studied using techniques such as, e.g. the Bogomolnyi decomposition. Some applications of this interplay, e.g. in nonreciprocal photonics as well as topological materials such as Dirac and Weyl semimetals, are also elucidated

Development of a methodology for data validation in power systems using different types of measurements

In recent years, the technology of synchrophasor measurements has been introduced in power systems around the world. When managing a power system and predicting its operation conditions, the important task is to check the validity of power system data. At the same time, the traditional types of measurements, such as digital fault recorders and telemetry devices are still widely used. It is known that redundancy of measurements contributes to a more accurate solution of the data validation problem. It is useful to create a method for data validation in power systems, which could involve various types of measurements in order to increase the redundancy and, hence, the overall accuracy of measurements. This study presents some validity criteria that use the idea described above. The results of testing the proposed methodology on the substation model in Matlab software package are presented and discussed