Исследование самопонимания этнокультурной идентичности в титульном армянском этносе и сопряженной армянской диаспоре в России

The study was supported by the State Committee for Science of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Armenia within the Armenian-Russian joint research project “The psychological aspect of the person’s self-understanding of national identity in the context of historical experience in the post-Soviet space (the study of young people of Russia and Armenia)” This paper presents generalized results of a two-year empirical study. The sample involved Armenian respondents from Armenia (310 persons) and Armenians residingin the Kuban region (307 persons). Diagnostic tools of the present study included: (a) a modified technique of “graph-schemes” by B. V. Kaigorodov; (b) method of semantic differential; (c) questionnaire by S. Schwarz and V. Bilski; and (d) techniques for studying types of self-interpretation by T. Singelis and T. DeCicco. Findings of the present study concern (a) a nucleus of ethnic normativity in Armenian youngpeople, (b) statistically significant differences in representations of an ethno-cultural ideal in the respondents of the titular Armenian ethnos and the Armenian diaspora, (c) elements of self-image in the context of ethno-cultural norms and values. Self-understanding of ethno-cultural identity in the titular ethnos had a number of features: (a) the national and the civil were closely associated with each other in the feeling of belonging to a nation, its historical past, and cultural originality; (b) therespondents of the titular ethnos perceived civic consciousness as a personal value. In the Armenian diaspora, the multiplicity of identities led to a sense of responsibility for various communities and comprehension of ethnic cohesion as a personal value; this was a distinctive feature of self-understanding of ethno-cultural identity in this group of respondents.В статье представлены обобщенные результаты двухлетнего эмпирического исследования, проведенного на выборке респондентов – армян из Армении (310 человек) и армян, перманентно проживающих на Кубани (307 человек), с использованием модифицированной автором методики «граф-схем» Б. В. Кайгородова, метода семантического дифференциала, опросника С. Шварца и В. Билски, методик исследования типов самоинтерпретации Т. Сингелис и Т. ДеЧикко. В результате исследования было выявлено ядро этнической нормативности у армянской молодежи, обнаружены статистически значимые различия у респондентов из титульного армянского этноса и диаспоры в представлениях об этнокультурном идеале, а также элементов образа Я в контексте этнокультурных норм и ценностей. В результате проведенного исследования установлено, что в титульном этносе особенность самопонимания этнокультурной идентичности заключается в том, что национальное и гражданское переплетены в чувстве принадлежности к народу, его историческому прошлому и культурному своеобразию; гражданственность воспринимается в качестве личностной ценности; в условиях диаспоры множественность идентичностей обуславливает такую особенность самопонимания этнокультурной идентичности, как осознание ответственности перед различными общностями и осмысление этнической сплоченности как личностной ценности

Microglia Function on Precursor Cells in the Adult Hippocampus and Their Responsiveness to Serotonin Signaling

Microglia are the resident immune cells of the adult brain that become activated in response to pathogen- or damage-associated stimuli. The acute inflammatory response to injury, stress, or infection comprises the release of cytokines and phagocytosis of damaged cells. Accumulating evidence indicates chronic microglia-mediated inflammation in diseases of the central nervous system, most notably neurodegenerative disorders, that is associated with disease progression. To understand microglia function in pathology, knowledge of microglia communication with their surroundings during normal state and the release of neurotrophins and growth factors in order to maintain homeostasis of neural circuits is of importance. Recent evidence shows that microglia interact with serotonin, the neurotransmitter crucially involved in adult neurogenesis, and known for its role in antidepressant action. In this chapter, we illustrate how microglia contribute to neuroplasticity of the hippocampus and interact with local factors, e.g., BDNF, and external stimuli that promote neurogenesis. We summarize the recent findings on the role of various receptors in microglia-mediated neurotransmission and particularly focus on microglia's response to serotonin signaling. We review microglia function in neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration and discuss their novel role in antidepressant mechanisms. This synopsis sheds light on microglia in healthy brain and pathology that involves serotonin and may be a potential therapeutic model by which microglia play a crucial role in the maintenance of mood

Studying National Identity and Personal Historical Experience in the Titular Armenian Ethnic Group and in the Armenian Diaspora in Russia

Introduction. Studying the psychological phenomenon of national identity from the subjective perspective merits special attention. This paper: (a) introduces a new concept of personal historical experience and (b) provides justification for this concept within the framework of the subjective analysis. The paper main objective is to investigate the relationship between national identity and historical experience of Armenian youth depending on a socio-cultural situation – whether they belong to the titular Armenian ethnic group or to the Armenian diaspora in Russia. Methods. The study of respondents’ national identity and personal historical experience included several stages and employed the following assessment techniques: (a) the International Social Survey Program modified by L. K. Grigor'yan; (b) the Ethnic Identity Types technique by G. U. Soldatova and S. V. Ryzhova; (c) the Scale for Rapid Evaluation of Ethnicity Feelings by N. M. Lebedeva; (d) the Scale for Rapid Evaluation of Ethnic Identity Manifestation by N. M. Lebedeva; and (e) the Questionnaire for Studying Historical Experience developed by the authors. Results. The study failed to find significant difference in manifestations of ethnic and civil identity in the participating groups. However, the investigated components of national identity showed various interrelations. The level of nationalism among representatives of the titular Armenian ethnic group was negatively associated with the evaluation of ethnicity feelings, positive ethnic identification, ethnic isolationism, and the degree of manifestation of ethnic identity and positively associated with ethnic nihilism, ethnic indifference, and ethnic egoism. The findings of the study of personal historical experience suggest that, though both study groups have an overlap in ‘crystallization points’, they also differ substantially: the representatives of the titular ethnic group have more differentiated and multi-faceted notions about historical events and prominent historical figures of Armenia. Discussion. The paper concludes with the discussion of characteristics of the relationships between personal historical experience and national identity in the titular ethnic group and the related diaspora. Personal historical experience facilitates the formation and preservation of national unity. Highlights • The subjective perspective can be a methodological foundation for studying personal historical experience as a psychological phenomenon. • Historical experience substantially affects the characteristics of national identity. People’s pride for their nation in certain historical events is a psychological foundation for the formation and preservation of national unity. • Different elements of national identity underlie the feeling of national pride in Armenian respondents from Russia and Armenia. These are ethnicity and pride for the ethnic group among the respondents from Armenia and pride for the ethnic group, but also the level of patriotism and positive ethno-identity among the respondents from Russia

Исследование самопонимания этнокультурной идентичности в титульном армянском этносе и сопряженной армянской диаспоре в России

The study was supported by the State Committee for Science of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Armenia within the Armenian-Russian joint research project “The psychological aspect of the person’s self-understanding of national identity in the context of historical experience in the post-Soviet space (the study of young people of Russia and Armenia)” This paper presents generalized results of a two-year empirical study. The sample involved Armenian respondents from Armenia (310 persons) and Armenians residingin the Kuban region (307 persons). Diagnostic tools of the present study included: (a) a modified technique of “graph-schemes” by B. V. Kaigorodov; (b) method of semantic differential; (c) questionnaire by S. Schwarz and V. Bilski; and (d) techniques for studying types of self-interpretation by T. Singelis and T. DeCicco. Findings of the present study concern (a) a nucleus of ethnic normativity in Armenian youngpeople, (b) statistically significant differences in representations of an ethno-cultural ideal in the respondents of the titular Armenian ethnos and the Armenian diaspora, (c) elements of self-image in the context of ethno-cultural norms and values. Self-understanding of ethno-cultural identity in the titular ethnos had a number of features: (a) the national and the civil were closely associated with each other in the feeling of belonging to a nation, its historical past, and cultural originality; (b) therespondents of the titular ethnos perceived civic consciousness as a personal value. In the Armenian diaspora, the multiplicity of identities led to a sense of responsibility for various communities and comprehension of ethnic cohesion as a personal value; this was a distinctive feature of self-understanding of ethno-cultural identity in this group of respondents.В статье представлены обобщенные результаты двухлетнего эмпирического исследования, проведенного на выборке респондентов – армян из Армении (310 человек) и армян, перманентно проживающих на Кубани (307 человек), с использованием модифицированной автором методики «граф-схем» Б. В. Кайгородова, метода семантического дифференциала, опросника С. Шварца и В. Билски, методик исследования типов самоинтерпретации Т. Сингелис и Т. ДеЧикко. В результате исследования было выявлено ядро этнической нормативности у армянской молодежи, обнаружены статистически значимые различия у респондентов из титульного армянского этноса и диаспоры в представлениях об этнокультурном идеале, а также элементов образа Я в контексте этнокультурных норм и ценностей. В результате проведенного исследования установлено, что в титульном этносе особенность самопонимания этнокультурной идентичности заключается в том, что национальное и гражданское переплетены в чувстве принадлежности к народу, его историческому прошлому и культурному своеобразию; гражданственность воспринимается в качестве личностной ценности; в условиях диаспоры множественность идентичностей обуславливает такую особенность самопонимания этнокультурной идентичности, как осознание ответственности перед различными общностями и осмысление этнической сплоченности как личностной ценности

Single Prolonged Stress Decreases the Level of Adult Hippocampal Neurogenesis in C57BL/6, but Not in House Mice

Many people experience traumatic events during their lives, but not all of them develop severe mental pathologies, characterized by high levels of anxiety that persists for more than a month after psychological trauma, such as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). We used a single prolonged stress protocol in order to model PTSD in long-inbred C57BL/6 and wild-derived (house) female mice. The susceptibility of mice to single prolonged stress was assessed by behavior phenotyping in the Open Field and Elevated Plus Maze, the level of neuroinflammation in the hippocampus was estimated by real-time PCR to TNFα, IL-1β, IL-6, IL-10, Iba1 and GFAP, as well as immunohistochemical analysis of microglial morphology and mean fluorescence intensity for GFAP+ cells. The level of neurogenesis was analyzed by real-time PCR to Ki67, Sox2 and DCX as well as immunohistochemistry to Ki67. We showed that long-inbread C57BL/6 mice are more susceptible to a single prolonged stress protocol compared to wild-derived (house) mice. Stressed C57BL/6 mice demonstrated elevated expression levels of proinflammatory cytokines TNFα, IL-1β, and IL-6 in the hippocampus, while in house mice no differences in cytokine expression were detected. Expression levels of Iba1 in the hippocampus did not change significantly after single prolonged stress, however GFAP expression increased substantially in stressed C57BL/6 mice. The number of Iba+ cells in the dentate gyrus also did not change after stress, but the morphology of Iba+ microglia in C57BL/6 animals allowed us to suggest that it was activated; house mice also had significantly more microglia than C57BL/6 animals. We suppose that decreased microglia levels in the hippocampus of C57BL/6 compared to house mice might be one of the reasons for their sensitivity to a single prolonged stress. Single prolonged stress reduced the number of Ki67+ proliferating cells in the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus but only in C57BL/6 mice, not in house mice, with the majority of cells detected in the dorsal (septal) hippocampus in both. The increase in the expression level of DCX might be a compensatory reaction to stress; however, it does not necessarily mean that these immature neurons will be functionally integrated, and this issue needs to be investigated further

Afferent and efferent pathways in the visual system of the freshwater snail Planorbarius corneus

Afferent and efferent neural elements of the retina and central ganglia in the freshwater snail Planorbarius corneus were labelled using retrograde transport of neurobiotin through the optic nerve. Axons of at least some photoreceptor cells become direct contributors to the optic nerve as no synaptic junctions could be detected. The processes enter the cerebral ganglion and form a dense bundle of thin afferent fibres, the so-called optical neuropil. Efferent neurons were revealed in all ganglia, except the buccal ones. Some of the ascending axons branch in the cerebral ganglia, cross the cerebro-cerebral commissure, reach the contralateral eye and form arborizations in the eye cup. Some efferent neurons send axons to different peripheral nerves as well: n.n. intestinalis, pallialis dexter, pallialis sinister internus et externus. Serotonin- and FMRF-amide-ergic fibres were revealed in the optic nerve. These fibres belong to those central neurons which send their axons to the ipsilateral eye only. They form abundant varicoses in the eye cup and nuclear layer of the retina, and possibly help to regulate retinal sensitivity to light

Neuropeptide complexity in the crustacean central olfactory pathway: immunolocalization of A-type allatostatins and RFamide-like peptides in the brain of a terrestrial hermit crab

Abstract Background In the olfactory system of malacostracan crustaceans, axonal input from olfactory receptor neurons associated with aesthetascs on the animal’s first pair of antennae target primary processing centers in the median brain, the olfactory lobes. The olfactory lobes are divided into cone-shaped synaptic areas, the olfactory glomeruli where afferents interact with local olfactory interneurons and olfactory projection neurons. The local olfactory interneurons display a large diversity of neurotransmitter phenotypes including biogenic amines and neuropeptides. Furthermore, the malacostracan olfactory glomeruli are regionalized into cap, subcap, and base regions and these compartments are defined by the projection patterns of the afferent olfactory receptor neurons, the local olfactory interneurons, and the olfactory projection neurons. We wanted to know how neurons expressing A-type allatostatins (A-ASTs; synonym dip-allatostatins) integrate into this system, a large family of neuropeptides that share the C-terminal motif –YXFGLamide. Results We used an antiserum that was raised against the A-type Diploptera punctata (Dip)-allatostatin I to analyse the distribution of this peptide in the brain of a terrestrial hermit crab, Coenobita clypeatus (Anomura, Coenobitidae). Allatostatin A-like immunoreactivity (ASTir) was widely distributed in the animal’s brain, including the visual system, central complex and olfactory system. We focussed our analysis on the central olfactory pathway in which ASTir was abundant in the primary processing centers, the olfactory lobes, and also in the secondary centers, the hemiellipsoid bodies. In the olfactory lobes, we further explored the spatial relationship of olfactory interneurons with ASTir to interneurons that synthesize RFamide-like peptides. We found that these two peptides are present in distinct populations of local olfactory interneurons and that their synaptic fields within the olfactory glomeruli are also mostly distinct. Conclusions We discuss our findings against the background of the known neurotransmitter complexity in the crustacean olfactory pathway and summarize what is now about the neuronal connectivity in the olfactory glomeruli. A-type allatostatins, in addition to their localization in protocerebral brain areas, seem to be involved in modulating the olfactory signal at the level of the deutocerebrum. They contribute to the complex local circuits within the crustacean olfactory glomeruli the connectivity within which as yet is completely unclear. Because the glomeruli of C. clypeatus display a distinct pattern of regionalization, their olfactory systems form an ideal model to explore the functional relevance of glomerular compartments and diversity of local olfactory interneurons for olfactory processing in crustaceans.</p

Psychological and pedagogical research of the axiosphere of the younger generation as one of the activities of the Technopark

Additional, creatively oriented education of the younger generation of Russians in school technoparks requires studying the characteristics of Generation Z. The values were compared as noted by respondents (1st-year students and university entrants) among different generations of Russians: their own world (the world of children), the world of parents and the world of grandparents. All the three generations are dominated by being oriented towards hard work, study, mutual assistance both within the global environment and within a small society, that is, within family. These positions are represented by the phraseological layers of the language, which indicates their presence in the Russian national value worldview. In the world of parents and in that of children, the emergence of new groups of values ​​ absent in the world of grandparents is recorded: orientation towards consumer values, perceived from advertising in the media, and at the same time the extinction of the value of serving the homeland. A new value stands out in the world of children – a humorous approach to life problems, which can be considered global because it contains quotations from world literature and borrowed phraseological units. This value is distinguished by an optimistic view of the world and the role of man in it, which is characteristic of youth. The research results allow asserting that Generation Z is ready to be creative and is oriented towards technology. Taking into account the peculiarities of the generation allows scientifically organizing educational leisure activities in technoparks.A educação adicional orientada para a criatividade da geração mais jovem de russos em tecnoparques escolares requer o estudo das características da Geração Z. Os valores foram comparados conforme observado pelos entrevistados (alunos do primeiro ano e ingressantes na universidade) entre diferentes gerações de russos: seu próprio mundo (o mundo das crianças), o mundo dos pais e o mundo dos avós. Todas as três gerações são dominadas por serem orientadas para o trabalho árduo, o estudo, a ajuda mútua tanto no ambiente global quanto dentro de uma pequena sociedade, isto é, dentro da família. Essas posições são representadas pelas camadas fraseológicas da língua, o que indica sua presença na visão de mundo dos valores nacionais russos. No mundo dos pais e no dos filhos, registra-se a emergência de novos grupos de valores ausentes no mundo dos avós: a orientação para os valores de consumo, percebidos na publicidade na mídia, e ao mesmo tempo a extinção do valor dos servindo a pátria. Um novo valor se destaca no mundo infantil -uma abordagem humorística dos problemas da vida, que pode ser considerada global porque contém citações da literatura mundial e unidades fraseológicas emprestadas. Esse valor se distingue por uma visão otimista do mundo e do papel do homem nele, que é característico da juventude. Os resultados da pesquisa permitem afirmar que a Geração Z está pronta para ser criativa e voltada para a tecnologia. Levar em consideração as peculiaridades da geração permite organizar cientificamente atividades educacionais de lazer em tecnoparques.La educación adicional y orientada a la creatividad de la generación más joven de rusos en los tecnoparques escolares requiere el estudio de las características de la Generación Z. Los valores fueron comparados como lo señalaron los encuestados (estudiantes de primer año y estudiantes que ingresan a la universidad) entre diferentes generaciones de rusos: su propio mundo (el mundo de los niños), el mundo de los padres y el mundo de los abuelos. Las tres generaciones están dominadas por estar orientadas hacia el trabajo duro, el estudio, la asistencia mutua tanto dentro del entorno global como dentro de una sociedad pequeña, es decir, dentro de la familia. Estas posiciones están representadas por las capas fraseológicas del idioma, lo que indica su presencia en la cosmovisión del valor nacional ruso. En el mundo de los padres y en el de los hijos se registra la emergencia de nuevos grupos de valores ausentes en el mundo de los abuelos: orientación hacia los valores del consumidor, percibida desde la publicidad en los medios, y al mismo tiempo la extinción del valor de los abuelos. al servicio de la patria. Un nuevo valor se destaca en el mundo de los niños: un enfoque humorístico de los problemas de la vida, que puede considerarse global porque contiene citas de la literatura mundial y unidades fraseológicas prestadas. Este valor se distingue por una visión optimista del mundo y el papel del hombre en él, que es característico de la juventud. Los resultados de la investigación permiten afirmar que la Generación Z está lista para ser creativa y está orientada hacia la tecnología. Tener encuenta las peculiaridades de la generación permite organizar científicamente actividades de ocio educativo en tecnoparques

Use of terahertz spectroscopy for in vivo studies of lymphedema development dynamics

A laboratory model of lymphedema development induced by lymphatic vessel resection in rat extremities is presented. In vivo analysis of lymphedema development (monitoring for 4 weeks) employed reflective terahertz spectroscopy with a Dove prism. The incidence angle for an s-polarized electromagnetic wave directed to the boundary of the prism and the biological tissue was close to the Brewster’s angle. Significant changes in the spectral characteristics of the tissue in the animals’ extremities were detected on days 21– 28 of lymphedema development. A predictive model for disease diagnostics based on monitoring the changes of the tissue absorbance curve in the 0.4–1.1 THz range was constructed. Principal component analysis and support vector machines were used in the model