Transcriptional Regulation and Implications for Controlling Hox Gene Expression

Hox genes play key roles in axial patterning and regulating the regional identity of cells and tissues in a wide variety of animals from invertebrates to vertebrates. Nested domains of Hox expression generate a combinatorial code that provides a molecular framework for specifying the properties of tissues along the A–P axis. Hence, it is important to understand the regulatory mechanisms that coordinately control the precise patterns of the transcription of clustered Hox genes required for their roles in development. New insights are emerging about the dynamics and molecular mechanisms governing transcriptional regulation, and there is interest in understanding how these may play a role in contributing to the regulation of the expression of the clustered Hox genes. In this review, we summarize some of the recent findings, ideas and emerging mechanisms underlying the regulation of transcription in general and consider how they may be relevant to understanding the transcriptional regulation of Hox genes.

Contemporary trends in the territorialisation of regional identities in Bosnia and Herzegovina on the example of Croats in Herzegovina

The article analyses new trends in the territorialisation of regional identities in the case of Croats in Herzegovina and other parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina. An analysis of media reports, popular culture and field research revealed a shift in the perception of Herzegovina’s regional identity. It spread northwest into the area of Canton 10 with a predominantly Croat population, persisted in the areas of Herzegovina’s historical borders, and decreased to some extent in eastern Herzegovina with a Serb ethnic majority.

The Origins of Common Identity: Evidence from Alsace-Lorraine

We study how more negative historical exposure to the actions of nation-states—like war, occupation, and repression—affects the formation of regional identity. The quasi-exogenous division of the French regions Alsace and Lorraine allows us to implement a geographical regression discontinuity design at the municipal level. Using measures of stated and revealed preferences, we find that more negative experiences with nation-states are associated with a stronger regional identity in the short, medium, and long run. This is linked to preferences for more regional decision-making. Establishing regional organizations seems to be a key mechanism to maintaining and strengthening regional identity. (JEL H77, N43, N44, N93, N94, Z13)

Nation-building and identity development through ethnocultural content in university English for Specific Purposes courses in Kazakhstan

It seems obvious that that educational activity establishes conditions for the development of a person capable of combining ancestral traditions and values while maintaining their distinctive ethnoculture. This paper investigates how integrating ethnocultural material into English for Specific Purposes (ESP) university courses contributes to nation-building and students’ identity development while at the same time exerting impact on ESP curriculum advancement. The empirical part of the research involved 104 first-year engineering students learning English as a foreign language for specific purposes. The experiment demonstrated that exposing students to regional material and enabling them to communicate in English about their region empowers them in their national and regional identity, while contributing to nation-building goals of university education. The findings of the study reveal that integrating ethnocultural material into ESP university courses positively impacts both students’ motivation and their national identity development. Keywords: Ethnocultural material, ESP, national identity, nation-building, students, criteria, reflection.

The language problem of minorities in a homogeneous state.

In this paper, I aim at presenting the language situation of some regional minorities in Poland: Silesians (Ślązacy), Kashubians (Kaszubi) and the residents of Wilamowice. Protection of language minorities is extremely important from the point of view of cultural development of countries. Throughout a long period of its existence, Poland has been a multi-cultural country populated by representatives of different national, regional and ethnic groups. However, the national and ethnic situation of Poland changed radically after the Second World War. Today Poland is one of the most homogenous states not only in Europe but also worldwide. However, Poland is not free from the discussion about minority rights. Shaping a strong regional identity, which was particularly true for the Silesians and Kashubians and residents of Wilamowice, was a social and cultural phenomenon, completely unknown in the long history of Poland. The Act on national and ethnic minorities and on the regional languages dated January 6, 2005, allows to use of Kashubian language as a “supporting language” before the municipality authorities, the smallest ad-ministrative unit. The other obvious point of this description concerns the demanding of similar linguistic rights by Silesians. The study also highlights the efforts of the residents of Wilamowice to preserve their unique language.

Concept of Regional Security in Philosophical Approaches

The paper focuses on regional security, which has become a significant issue in situations where there has been a growth in the level of regional identity and the desire for relative autonomy in the general pro- cess of security system development. The approaches to security in the history of philosophy are analyzed in order to highlight the evolution of the concept of “regional security”. Comparative, systematic and her- meneutic methods are employed to reveal the aspects of regional security in terms of the problems of state, national and public security. The novelty of the research is associated with the development of the evolu- tion of ideas concerning regional security from abstract representations to the various aspects of regional practice. The conclusion is that modern regional security concepts are based on the synthesis of the meth- odology of systemic and constructivist approaches. This methodology is used to substantiate the claim that any state has to deal with the security problems of its regions and pay attention to any threats and regional interests, which may be constructible in nature, and pose a real danger associated with challenges from political, economic, military, environmental, and social spheres.

Język w procesie kształtowania nowych regionów w Polsce

Language in the Creation Process of the New Regions of PolandThe article concerns the influence of state reform on the evolution of regional identity. The aim of the article is to describe the role of language in these changes. In 1999, sixteen large regions (voivodeships) were established; it is significant that the contemporary names of these voivodeships refer to historical choronyms. The boundaries between administrative divisions and traditional ethnographic regions are indistinct due to the use of variant names like Małopolska, Podkarpacie, Pomorze Zachodnie instead of the formal names województwo małopolskie, podkarpackie, zachodniopomorskie etc., as well as the creation of new names of inhabitants (e.g. Zachodniopomorzanie, Małopolanie, Ślązacy, Lubuszanie) and nomina-abstracta (e.g. “małopolskość”, “podkarpackość”). The meaning of the Polish word region (‘area’, ‘territory’, also ‘private homeland’) became synonymous with województwo (‘voivodeship’, ‘province’). Furthermore, the blurred distinction between geographical and administrative names gives rise to the misconception that dialectal differentiation in Poland is related to the boundaries of voivodeships. Język w procesie kształtowania nowych regionów w PolsceArtykuł dotyczy ewolucji tożsamości regionalnej, jaka dokonała się w wyniku administracyjnej regionalizacji sprzed 20 lat. Celem artykułu jest pokazanie roli języka w tych zmianach. Nazwy 16 województw utworzonych w Polsce w 1999 roku nawiązują do historycznych nazw geograficznych, a same terminy województwo i region traktowane są jako synonimy. Użycie nazw typu Małopolska, Podkarpacie, Pomorze Zachodnie jako wariantywnych nazw województw (zamiast określeń województwo: małopolskie, podkarpackie, zachodniopomorskie itp.), tworzenie nowych nazw mieszkańców (np. Zachodniopomorzanie, Małopolanie, Ślązacy, Lubuszanie), a także abstrakcyjnych nazw cech (np. „małopolskość”, „podkarpackość”) powodują, że zaciera się różnica między podziałem administracyjnym a tradycyjnymi regionami. Mieszanie się nazewnictwa administracyjnego i geograficznego sprzyja również powstawaniu przekonania o istnieniu podziałów gwarowych i dialektalnych odpowiadających granicom województw.

Nawiązania do tradycji budownictwa wiejskiego w architekturze Wolnego Miasta Gdańska w dobie narodowego socjalizmu

After the establishment of the Free City of Danzig, the process of the renovation and inventory of arcaded houses (Vorlaubenhäuser) and timber -framed churches in the vicinity of Gdańsk began, along with the increasing scientific interest in them. At the same time, in numerous projects from the 1930s, the interest of architects in traditional rural construction, related to the orders of the Nationalist Socialist Party for certain types of structures, can be observed. In the suburbs of Gdańsk and Sopot, standard, posed as idyllic workers’ housing estates were founded, which were to combine the advantages of living in the countryside and in the city. The network of kindergartens of the National Socialist People’s Welfare (Nationalsozialistische Volkswohlfahrt) as well as youth hostels used by the Hitler Youth (Hitlerjugend) and the League of German Girls (Bund Deutscher Mädel) was expanded. According to the Blut -und -Boden ideology, a network of camps for the Land Service (Landdienst) for the Hitlerjugend, community houses for members of the NSDAP Party, and exemplary farms were also founded. The repertoire of local materials, traditional architectural details, as well as references in interior design were intended as manifestations of the regional identity, used by the National Socialist authorities to serve the purposes of the Party propaganda, which was creating the myth of an idyllic, strong, homogeneous national community and proving the uninterrupted continuity of German culture in the Free City of Danzig, despite its separation from the German Reich.

Идентичность как причина появления сепаратистских тенденций (на примере Украины)

The intensification of separatism in Ukraine in 2014 became possible due to profound changes in the worldview of a significant part of the population, which manifested in the changing of national self-identification. The purpose of the article is to clarify scientific ideas about the essence and relationship of separatism and identity on the example of Donbas. The article argues for the idea of the absence of an ethnic marker in the conflict in Donbass, where separatism is based on the specific regional identity, to which, through the efforts of Russian propaganda, the cultural, ideological, civilizational characteristics of the «Russian world» are added.