Transformation of the myth of the Minotaur in “Gene” by Stel Pavlou

Fantasy of the XXI century becomes more attentive to the socio-political realities of our time. The resultant vector of the genre's problematic spectrum becomes a widely understood problem of memory - from generic, national civilization. The genre potential of fantasy gives the writer high opportunities, primarily mythological. Stel Pavlou interprets the issues of personal and cultural memory in an original way, touches the actual problem of the “beast” in man in the novel “Gene” - a representative work of Minotaurianism of the first decades of the XXI century. The purpose of our article is to determine for the first time the features of the author's version (associative model) of the Minotaur myth in the novel “Gene” by S. Pavlou against the background of the typology of modern Minotaurians, the specifics of the author's picture of the world and the accompanying philosophical subtext. In the interpretation of the key legendary-mythological image "Gene" we turn to the teaching of C. G. Jung. We show that the reinterpretation of the Minotaur's image is organically relevant to modern trends, actualizing the question of the meaning of existence, memory, man's choice of the future. In "Gene," man comprehends his essence (the Minotaur as unconscious) and recognizes the animal in himself as evil, suffers disappointment in himself and history, but must endure through love and forgiveness. We see the precondition for this original approach in Minotauri in the universalization in the twentieth century. (J. L. Borges, R. Sheckley, S. Sherrill, etc.) of the Image of the Labyrinth. Further study of the prose of S. Pavlou promising as an important component of the new world fantasy.

The concept of "conscience" as an ethical category

The concept of “conscience” is one of the oldest components in the axiosphere and the central factor in the moral self-awareness of the individual. This phenomenon is closely related to the features of a person’s existential position in the world. The study presents an associative model of the concept of “conscience” in the biblical cultural discourse. The semantic components of the concept are determined and its biblical meanings are considered.

Western Immigration in the fourteenth-century Golden Horde: The Case of Venetian Tana

Objective: This paper’s aim is to reconstruct the Western population of Venetian Tana in the fourteenth century, the residents’ perception of their condition as “mig­rants”, and finally this population’s interactions with the other communities who lived there. Research materials: The sources used are primarily the notarial deeds of the Venice State Archive together with the vast and excellent scholarship produced in recent decades. Research results and novelty: For over two centuries the settlement of Tana, situated in the territory of the Golden Horde, represented the easternmost outpost of the Latin emporia in the Levant. Here, the utilitarian concept of the Western urban mercantile class found itself confronted with a new experience. This group was a minority living in close contact with larger, cohesive communities whose cultural background was extremely diverse. Those who emigrated east were mainly the emerging urban bourgeoisie, but also families of ancient noble origin who had nothing in common with the world of the Steppe and its traditional roots. These citizens came to the Levant, bringing with them the urban associative model. The life of the settlement at the mouth of the river Don is an ideal basis for observing the flow of people who left Venice and its surroundings on galleys and, after months of travel, arrived on the shores of the Sea of Azov.

Overcoming the Obstacle of Time-dependent Model Output for Statistical Analysis by Nonlinear Methods

Modelica models represent static or dynamic systems. Their outputs can be scalar (numbers) or time-dependent (time series). Most advanced mathematical methods for the analysis of numerical models cannot cope with functional outputs. This paper aims at showing an efficient method to reduce a time-dependent output to a few numbers. The Principal component analysis is a well-established method for dimension reduction and can be used to tackle this issue. It relies however on a linear hypothesis that limits its applicability. We adapt and implement an existing method called the auto-associative model, invented by Stéphane Girard, to overcome this shortcoming. The auto-associative model generalizes PCA, as it projects the data on a nonlinear (instead of linear) basis. It also provides physically interpretable data representations. The difference in efficiency between both methods is illustrated in a case study, the well-known bouncing ball model. We perform output reduction and reconstruction using both methods to compare the completeness of information kept throughout the dimension reduction process. Doi: 10.28991/HIJ-2021-02-01-01 Full Text: PDF

SUBSTITUTION REACTIONS OF THE MONOFUNCTIONAL GOLD(III) COMPLEX AND SULPHUR-DONOR BIOLOGICALLY IMPORTANT LIGANDS

Gold(III) complexes have found application in catalysis, materials science and medical inorganic chemistry. Considering that the right choice of inert ligands in the structure of Au(III) complexes is crucial for their properties and reactivity toward biomolecules, we have studied the substitution reactions between monofunctional Au(III) complex, [Au(Cl-Ph-tpy)Cl]Cl2 (Cl- Ph-tpy = 4′-(4-chlorophenyl)-2,2′:6′, 2″-terpyridine) and sulfur-donor biomolecules, glutathione (GSH) and L-methionine (L-Met), in 25 mM Hepes buffer (pH = 7.2) and 40 mM NaCl. The reactions were followed under the pseudo-first-order conditions as a function of ligand concentration and temperature, using the stopped-flow technique. Calculations were made by Microsoft Excel 2019 and Origin2019b 64Bit. Observed kinetics traces follow a single exponential function, suggesting that the process of the substitution undergoes as one reversible step. Also, L-Met was more reactive than GSH. This order is related to the positive inductive effect of the methyl group, which increases the nucleophilicity of the thioether. According to the values of the activation parameters, the reactions follow an associative model. These results demonstrate the strong connection between the reactivity of Au(III) complexes and the structural and electronic characteristics of the biologically important ligands.

A new model for recovery-from-extinction effects in Pavlovian conditioning and exposure therapy

Exposure therapy is an effective intervention for anxiety-related problems. A mechanism of this intervention has been the extinction procedure in Pavlovian conditioning, and their findings have provided many effective intervention strategies that can promote the effect of and prevent relapse following exposure sessions. However, traditional associative theories that have explained Pavlovian conditioning cannot comprehensively explain their findings. In particular, it was difficult to explain the recovery-from-extinction effects, which is the reappearance of conditioned response following extinction. In this study, we propose a new associative model that can deal with procedures that promote an effect of extinction and many recovery-from-extinction effects. The cores of this model are that the asymptotic strength of the inhibitory association depends on the degree of excitatory association retrieved in a context in which CS is presented and that the retrieval is determined by the similarity between contexts during reinforcement and non-reinforcement and the present context. Moreover, this model assumes that these similarities change under specific conditions. By adding these assumptions to the traditional framework, many difficulties in explaining these phenomena can be resolved. Our model can provide not only a new perspective in associative learning, but also many implications for exposure therapy.

Responding to preconditioned cues is devaluation sensitive and requires orbitofrontal cortex during cue-cue learning

The orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) is necessary for inferring value in tests of model-based reasoning, including in sensory preconditioning. This involvement could be accounted for by representation of value or by representation of broader associative structure. We recently reported neural correlates of such broader associative structure in OFC during the initial phase of sensory preconditioning (Sadacca et al., 2018). Here, we used optogenetic inhibition of OFC to test whether these correlates might be necessary for value inference during later probe testing. We found that inhibition of OFC during cue-cue learning abolished value inference during the probe test, inference subsequently shown in control rats to be sensitive to devaluation of the expected reward. These results demonstrate that OFC must be online during cue-cue learning, consistent with the argument that the correlates previously observed are not simply downstream readouts of sensory processing and instead contribute to building the associative model supporting later behavior.

The Basis For A Neurobiological-Associative Model of Personality and Group Cohesion: The Evolutionary And System Biological Origins Of Social Exclusion, Hierarchy, and Structure

By using a systems biological perspective and available literature on human social interaction, grouping, and cohesiveness, a new coherent model is proposed that integrates existing social integration and neurobiological research into a theoretical neurobiological framework of personality and social interaction. This model allows for the coherent analysis of complex social systems and interactions within them, and proposes a framework for estimating group cohesiveness and evaluating group structures in order to build and organize optimized social groups. This „Neurobiological-Associative“ model proposes two primary feedback loops, with environmental conditioning (learning) being sorted into an associative model that modulates interaction with the social environment, and which impacts the second feedback loop involving the individuals' neurobiological capacity. In this paper, the concept of neurobiological capacity is developed and based upon contemporary research on intelligence, personality, and social behavior with a focus on the oxytocin, serotonin, and dopamine systems. The basis of social exclusion and group structure is thus, expressed in the very most simple terms, neurobiological compatibility and risk assessment modulated by an internal associative model.