Михайло Грушевський і Франція (Mykhailo Hrushevskyi and France)

Текст стосується одного з багатьох аспектів грушевськознавства – Михайла Грушевського і Франції. Хоча це дослідження не становить наукової новизни, але все ж потребує доопрацювання та переосмислення. Історіографія питання становить низку праць, що включає в себе не лише вивчення «французьких» епізодів з життя вченого, але й також рецепцію його особи французькою історіографією. Дві поїздки до цієї країни, публікації на сторінках українського часопису у Франції, взаємини із французькими науковцями М.С. Грушевського становлять предмет дослідження та заслуговують на увагу вчених. (The article deals with one of the many aspects of the study about Mykhailo Hrushevskyi namely the historian and France. Although the topic of this research is not innovative but still needs some analysis and reconsideration. The historiography of this issue has a number of works that include not only the study of “French” episodes from the life of a scholar but also the reception of his personality by the French historiography. The two trips of the scholar to the country, the publication in the Ukrainian magazine in France, relations with between Mykhailo Hrushevskyi and French scholars are the subject of the research and deserve the attention of academics.

Ольга Хохлова і Ніжин: до 125-річчя з дня народження відомої балерини, дружини Пабло Пікассо (Olha Khokhlova and Nizhyn: to the 125th Anniversary of the Birth of a Famous Bllerina, Wife of Pablo Picasso)

Досліджено непростий життєвий шлях відомої української балерини Ольги Хохлової. Дружина всесвітньо відомого митця Пабло Пікассо, у європейському середовищі часто сприймалася як росіянка, незважаючи на українське коріння. Автором подано важливі факти сімейного походження, раннього життя О. Хохлової у Ніжині, з’ясовано обставини її знайомства та одруження з П. Пікассо. Розглянуто її вплив на творчість художника, особливості їх непростих стосунків, подальшого розлучення, а також останні роки життя балерини у Франції. (The difficult life of famous Ukrainian ballerina Olha Khokhlova is explored. In the European circles, the wife of the world famous artist Pablo Picasso was often perceived as Russian, despite her Ukrainian origins. Important facts about the family roots are supplied by the author, circumstances of her acquaintance and marriage with Pablo Picasso are ascertained. Her influence on the oeuvre of the artist, peculiarities of their intricate relationship, further parting, and final Paris years of the ballerina’s life are examined.

The Human–Nature Relationship and Its Impact on Health: A Critical Review

Within the past four decades, research has been increasingly drawn toward understanding whether there is a link between the changing human–nature relationship and its impact on people’s health. However, to examine whether there is a link requires research of its breadth and underlying mechanisms from an interdisciplinary approach. This article begins by reviewing the debates concerning the human–nature relationship, which are then critiqued and redefined from an interdisciplinary perspective. The concept and chronological history of “health” is then explored, based on the World Health Organization’s definition. Combining these concepts, the human–nature relationship and its impact on human’s health are then explored through a developing conceptual model. It is argued that using an interdisciplinary perspective can facilitate a deeper understanding of the complexities involved for attaining optimal health at the human–environmental interface

Wildlife in urban parks—why sustain it?

The author argues that it is not possible, especially in an urbanized landscape, to trace any clear dividing lines between natural structures and processes and those caused by the human. Simplifying things to the extreme, we assume that “wildlife” includes those organisms which live permanently (or are capable of living) in a given area without any deliberate human assistance. Arguments for sustaining “wild life” in city parks are many, deriving from humanitarian, ecological, social, or economic considerations. The author acquaints the reader with research conducted as part of the project Nature of the Skaryszewski Park. The diagnosis relating to that Warsaw park enabled the formulation of a range of recommendations whose application would protect and foster living nature in city parks

Heterologous expression of Ananas comosus proteins for elucidation of bromelain mode of action

Ziel der Arbeit war die Herstellung der pharmakologisch aktiven Komponenten von Bromelain in Form von rekombinanten Proteinen. Mit den bisher angewendeten Trennmethoden ist es jedoch nicht möglich, einzelne Proteine aus dem Gemisch zu isolierten und daher die pharmakologische Wirkung einer Fraktion auf ein Protein zurückzuführen. Die Arbeit beschäftigte sich daher mit der rekombinanten Herstellung von Cysteinproteasen, die die Hauptbestandteile biochemisch und pharmakologisch charakterisierter Fraktionen bilden. Gene von Vertretern aus der Gruppe der Stamm- und Fruchtbromelaine, sowie Ananain wurden aus einer hergestellten cDNA-Bank des Ananasstammes isoliert, wobei eine neue Stammbromelainsequenz entdeckt wurde. Durch Modifikation des Expressionskonstruktes und Optimierung der Expressionsbedingungen konnte die Ausbeute von 1 mg/ml auf 12,5 mg/l aktives Protein gesteigert werden. Es muss weiterhin in Betracht gezogen werden, dass an der pharmakologischen Wirkung der Fraktion auch andere Proteine als die Cysteinproteasen beteiligt sein könnten, da einige pharmakologische Wirkungen eindeutig nicht auf die Cysteinproteasen zurückzuführen sind. Als Kandidat für ein solches Protein wurde der Bromelaininhibitor vorgeschlagen und exprimiert. Erstmalig besteht so die Möglichkeit, die Wechselwirkungen der Inhibitoren und der Proteasen zu untersuchen. Die rekombinant hergestellten Proteine bilden die Grundlage für pharmakologische Tests zur Aufklärung des Wirkmechanismus von Bromelain, sowie der Resorption intakter Protein vom Darm in das Blut und eventuell zum therapeutischen Nutzen der Proteine.There is significant interest in understanding the mode-of-action of bromelain, an extract of pineapple (Ananas comosum) used to treat a variety of medical conditions. On the basis of biochemical characterisation of fractionated extracts, cysteine proteases were identified as likely candidates for the active proteins. However, attempts to separate single protein components from native fruit extracts using various chromatographic methods, were not successful. Thus, the specific protease composition of bromelain remained unknown. We aimed, therefore, to produce the active components of bromelain in recombinant form, in order to try to elucidate the basis for its pharmacological activity. To this end, genes encoding for known cysteine proteases in pineapple, including stem bromelain, fruit bromelain, and ananain were isolated from a cDNA-library constructed from pineapple stem. By modification of the expression constructs and optimisation of expression conditions, yield of ananain was increased from 1 mg/l to 12.5 mg/l of active protein. In addition to the known proteases, bromelain inhibitors were also considered as candidates for the pharmacologically active agents as some of the effects do not correlate to protease activity. To investigate this proposal, the pre-protein and isoform BI-III were expressed heterologously. The successful heterologous expression of multiple components of bromelain sets the stage for future experiments to clarify the molecular details of its mode-of-action, as well as investigations into the protein-protein interactions between the proteases and their inhibitors