Cultural identity as a resource for social development

The purpose of the article is to conceptualize the phenomenon of cultural identity as a resource for social development. The methodology is based on the dialectical interrelationship of the following methods: hermeneutic method – for reveal the essence of the phenomena «cultural code» and «cultural identity»; systematic-structural approach – for comprehending cultural identity as a complex system in its structural correlation; historical-comparative – to determine the transformation algorithm of the phenomenon. The scientific novelty consists in the analysis of cultural identity (individual and group) in the chronotope through the prism of the cultural code and the identification of an invariant basis that ensures the integrity of its structure during external and internal changes. Conclusions. The essence and structure of the cultural code as a moderator of cultural identity are revealed. The interpretation of cultural identity as a resource of social development from the perspective of the I–Another concept was carried out. The semantic transformations of cultural identity in the context of the entry of one culture into the axiosphere of the Another were analyzed. Key words: cultural code, cultural identity, acculturation, a transformation of cultural identity.

The Effect of the APOE-ε4 Allele on the Cholinergic Circuitry for Subjects With Different Levels of Cognitive Impairment

Background: Cholinergic deficiency has been suggested to associate with the abnormal accumulation of Aβ and tau for patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, no studies have investigated the effect of APOE-ε4 and group differences in modulating the cholinergic basal forebrain–amygdala network for subjects with different levels of cognitive impairment. We evaluated the effect of APOE-ε4 on the cholinergic structural association and the neurocognitive performance for subjects with different levels of cognitive impairment.Methods: We used the structural brain magnetic resonance imaging scans from the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative dataset. The study included cognitively normal (CN, n = 167) subjects and subjects with significant memory concern (SMC, n = 96), early mild cognitive impairment (EMCI, n = 146), late cognitive impairment (LMCI, n = 138), and AD (n = 121). Subjects were further categorized according to the APOE-ε4 allele carrier status. The main effects of APOE-ε4 and group difference on the brain volumetric measurements were assessed. Regression analyses were conducted to evaluate the associations among cholinergic structural changes, APOE-ε4 status, and cognitive performance.Results: We found that APOE-ε4 carriers in the disease group showed higher brain atrophy than non-carriers in the cholinergic pathway, while there is no difference between carriers and non-carriers in the CN group. APOE-ε4 allele carriers in the disease groups also exhibited a stronger cholinergic structural correlation than non-carriers did, while there is no difference between the carriers and non-carriers in the CN subjects. Disease subjects exhibited a stronger structural correlation in the cholinergic pathway than CN subjects did. Moreover, APOE-ε4 allele carriers in the disease group exhibited a stronger correlation between the volumetric changes and cognitive performance than non-carriers did, while there is no difference between carriers and non-carriers in CN subjects. Disease subjects exhibited a stronger correlation between the volumetric changes and cognitive performance than CN subjects did.Conclusion: Our results confirmed the effect of APOE-ε4 on and group differences in the associations with the cholinergic structural changes that may reflect impaired brain function underlying neurocognitive degeneration in AD.

Biomechanical-Structural Correlation of Chordae tendineae in Animal Models: A Pilot Study

The mitral valve apparatus is a complex structure consisting of the mitral ring, valve leaflets, papillary muscles and chordae tendineae (CT). The latter are mainly responsible for the mechanical functions of the valve. Our study included investigations of the biomechanical and structural properties of CT collected from canine and porcine hearts, as there are no studies about these properties of canine CT. We performed a static uniaxial tensile test on CT samples and a histopathological analysis in order to examine their microstructure. The results were analyzed to clarify whether the changes in mechanical persistence of chordae tendineae are combined with the alterations in their structure. This study offers clinical insight for future research, allowing for an understanding of the process of chordae tendineae rupture that happens during degenerative mitral valve disease—the most common heart disease in dogs.

Mechanical and molecular activation lead to structurally analogous MscL states

The mechanosensitive channel of large conductance MscL gates in response to tension changes in the membrane to allow the exchange of molecules through its pore. Native ligands that bind and modulate MscL are unknown and trapping an activated state has been challenging. Disruption of lipid access to tension-sensitive transmembrane pockets by modification leads to a concerted structural and functional MscL response. However, it is unknown whether there is structural correlation between tension mediated and molecular activation in mechanosensitive channels. Here, we combine HDX mass spectrometry and ESEEM solvent accessibility measurements on MscL, coupled with molecular dynamics under bilayer tension, to investigate the structural changes associated with the two distinctively derived states. Membrane thinning is not sufficient to hydrate the MscL pore, when lipids are trapped in the pockets, under tensions capable to gate the native channel. Tension and molecule stabilised states present analogous MscL structures, suggesting a link between these two distinct activation mechanisms. These findings could hint at synergistic modes of regulation in mechanosensitive ion channels with implications for their multimodality.

The Cognitive Coherence of Sociolects Across the Lifespan: A Case Study of Swabian German

In a thought-provoking article, Guy (2013:63) claims that “lectal coherence ... [implies] that variables are correlated; if they are not, the cognitive and social reality of the ‘sociolect’ is problematic.” Considerable linguistic research has established that, for structural reasons, variables are correlated; however, structural correlation does not imply sociolectal coherence. Thus the question arises: do multiple variables cluster or correlate, loosely, tightly, or not at all, based on social factors, such as age, gender, community belonging, salience, prestige/stigma, or other external factors (Guy and Hinskens 2016)? This paper explores the unresolved question of cognitive sociolectal coherence by investigating a panel of 20 speakers of Swabian, a dialect spoken in southwestern Germany, across a 35-year lifespan. The corpus consists of Labovian-style sociolinguistic interviews, and the data comprise 20 phonological and morphosyntactic linguistic features, coded for a binary distinction between the dialect and standard variant. In concurrence with Guy (2013), the findings support the notion that sociolectal coherence is more multi-dimensional than previously believed. However, clear patterns have emerged, indicating that sociolectal coherence may lie in more cognitive constructs such as the type, status, and stigmatisation of the variable itself.