Logical-Semantic Analysis and the Development of L.S. Vygotsky's Ideas About “Units” and “Elements” of Psychological Systems

Based on an analysis of L.S. Vygotsky's concepts of “units” and “elements” of psychological systems, this article highlights five of their attributes. It shows that these attributes are logically symmetrical, since in their wording they can be converted into one another by negation or by replacing some words with their opposites. This suggests that the concepts of the “unit” and “element” of a system are different poles of one theoretical construct of the activity of human psychology. Thus methods for the study of psychological systems by breaking them down into elements or by separating them into units can be seen as complementary. The article describes differences among the concepts of “unit,” “minimal unit,” and “cell” of a psychological system. It reviews several problems that are solvable using the “method of units,” as well as some concepts of the theory of psychological systems that are understood as holistic, conceptual, and active processes and/or results of human interaction with the world. Among the examples of such systems are “systems of psychological functions” (according to Vygotsky), as well as separate activities (according to A.N. Leontiev), human actions and operations (interactions with the world on the level of objects and mental or physical means). The “component” of a psychological system is defined as any “something” that in some sense belongs to or is included in human interaction with the world. A component that belongs to the system is called an “element” of it, but a component that is included in the functioning and development of the system is called a “part” of it. The article presents the mathematical and psychological foundation of these definitions. It identifies and discusses the substantial (independently existing) components of psychological systems and their attributes (properties and conditions). It describes the relationships between them using the bipolar theoretical constructs “part-element” and “substantial-attributive” component of a system.     

L.S. Vygotsky and the Theater

The article presents the analysis of L.S. Vygotsky's works dedicated to the theater arts and is organized according Vygotsky's different life and work stages. Meanwhile special attention is paid to the Gomel period during which a large number of reviews were written by Vygotsky and published in “Nash ponedel'nik” and “Polesskaia pravda” newspapers. Biographical facts are widely used in this analysis and help to clarify Vygotsky's interest in art. It is shown that even at the beginning of his oeuvre, he was interested not only in a range of problems in art, but also psychological problems related to art perception and creativeness. Vygotsky's usage of structural concept ideas about the peculiar properties of literary text composition are also explored. Vygotsky analyzes the socio-psychological mechanisms of theatrical art effect. Furthermore, those areas which are widely used by Vygotsky in determining the characteristics of cast reincarnation are examined. Special emphasis is placed on the different elements of the actor techniques (speech, movement, emotional expression, acting personality and etc.). Materials are widely used in this study and help identify the socio-cultural context that defined Vygotsky's values at different stages of his work, related to his drama criticism and his formation as a professional psychologist.     

Prayer,Silence, and Psychotherapy

A new interpretation of L.S. Vygotsky's “The Tragedy of Hamlet, the Prince of Denmark” and his little-known publication “Traurnye stroki-Den' 9 ava.” An essential question (object) of these texts is the secret of genuine human overcoming of suffering. This is also the main problem of psychotherapy. Vygotsky's answer has both psychological and religious sgnificance: the experience of a tragedy is mediated by prayer. Vygotsky's idea creates the basis for religiously oriented, “synergetic” psychotherapy where the main process will be spiritual, including prayer.     

Formation of a Δ9-dodecenoic dibasic acid from linoleic acid by young pea leaves

A “crude plastid” preparation from young pea leaves converts linoleate [1-¹⁴C] or [U-¹⁴C] (ammonium salt or free acid) into a C₁₂ dibasic acid with a double bond at Δ⁹.     

Moved to Dance: Remix,Rasa, and a New India

This article looks at Bollywood dance to explore the production of the commodified bodies of global consumer culture. It focuses on “embodiment” to examine how dominant sensibilities are altered through changes in dance training and technological innovations. I argue that analyzing the dancing body as a locus of experience and expression shifts the ground from culture as text or discourse (popular in postcolonial, poststructuralist or choreographic analysis) to embodiment of subjectivity. “Remix” is the term that describes both the new training techniques and the aesthetics of Indian dances. Since the older boundaries of high and low, classical and popular are fluid under globalization, “remix” is replacing traditional codes and aesthetic experiences associated with rasa. I draw on my fieldwork among the “background dancers” in Bollywood films to argue that as consumer culture creates the dominant mode of cultural expression in India, the only durable form of dance practice seems to be the practice of consumption.     

Diversity and seasonal composition of the scorpion fauna from a mountainous system on pampean grasslands in central Argentina

Scorpions are one of the most important taxa for ecological, conservation, and biogeographic studies. Biodiversity in the pampean grassland hilly environment is relevant because of the high number of native plant and animal taxa. We studied the diversity, abundance and phenology of a scorpion community in a natural reserve from central Argentina. Samples were taken monthly using 10 pitfall traps. Five species of scorpions (269 individuals) were observed in the study site (Bothriuridae). Bothriurus prospicuus was the most abundant species with 40.15% of the total individuals captured. The Shannon index was H´ = 0.69 and the evenness index was 0.83. Scorpion abundance was significantly different between months and was significantly correlated with monthly mean temperature. The knowledge on the scorpion fauna in “Ernesto Tornquist” Provincial Park could help in the preservation of natural grassland habitats.     

Study of artemisinin and sugar accumulation in Artemisia vulgaris and Artemisia dracunculus “hairy” root cultures

We studied the effect of genetic transformation on biologically active compound (artemisinin and its co-products (ART) as well as sugars) accumulation in Artemisia vulgaris and Artemisia dracunculus “hairy” root cultures. Glucose, fructose, sucrose, and mannitol were accumulated in A. vulgaris and A. dracunculus “hairy” root lines. Genetic transformation has led in some cases to the sugar content increasing or appearing of nonrelevant for the control plant carbohydrates. Sucrose content was 1.6 times higher in A. vulgaris “hairy” root lines. Fructose content was found to be 3.4 times higher in A. dracunculus “hairy” root cultures than in the control roots. The accumulation of mannitol was a special feature of the leaves of A. vulgaris and A. dracunculus control roots. A. vulgaris “hairy” root lines differed also in ART accumulation level. The increase of ART content up to 1.02?mg/g DW in comparison with the nontransformed roots (up to 0.687?mg/g DW) was observed. Thus, Agrobacterium rhizogenes-mediated genetic transformation can be used for obtaining of A. vulgaris and A. dracunculus “hairy” root culture produced ART and sugars in a higher amount than mother plants.     

‘To bring out the best that is in their blood’: Race,reform, and civilization in the journal of race development (1910–1919)

The Journal of Race Development [JRD], published out of Clark University in the United States between 1910 and 1919, aimed, in its founder's words, “to present … the important facts which bear upon race progress, and the different theories as to the methods by which developed peoples may most effectively aid the progress of the undeveloped”. Its basic premise was that scientific knowledge could harness racial or civilizational “evolution” and turn it into “development”. This article examines that project, the conceptual apparatus that the JRD's writers and editors brought to bear on it, and how racial ideas informed their conceptions of development and progressive social change through elite scientific and political intervention. Central to this project was an organic notion of “civilization” in which “nature” and “culture” did not so much overlap as flow seamlessly one into the other.     

Moralizing regulation: the implications of policing “good” versus “bad” immigrants

Recently, the US has dramatically expanded immigration enforcement. At the same time, some advocates have sought to support “good” immigrants. This paper considers how the resulting good/bad binaries affect undocumented immigrants. I examine a case study in Los Angeles, where policing intertwined with protection. Based on participant observation and interviews, I show that respondents believed state agents classified them either as “bad” criminals or “good”, immigrants. To the extent immigrants identified as “good”, they credited the US with offering them “freedom” and hoped for political inclusion. At the same time, in what I call moralizing regulation, they also performed “good” behaviour and distinguished themselves from those seen as “bad”. Some also tied “good” behaviour to femininity and “acting white”. At the extreme, they blamed other migrants for inviting state mistreatment. The effects were ambivalent: while immigrants appreciated US support, they also adopted and adapted to the state’s moral norms.     

Distribution,ecology and conservation survey on Trifolium michelianum Savi (Fabaceae) in Sicily (Italy)

We report the identification of four residual stations for Trifolium michelianum Savi (Fabaceae) in Sicily, whereas the species was documented to be extinct at the Gorgo Cerro station (western Sicily), the only locality previously reported in the literature. In addition to an update on the distribution of the species, a survey on the new Sicilian populations led to their biological, ecological and phytosociological characterization, as well as to an assessment of the risk factors. The species, here relegated to the limit of its distribution area, occurs in particularly sensitive and vulnerable environments, such as the “Mediterranean temporary ponds”, considered “priority” by the Council Directive 92/43/EEC. Moreover, a new Sicilian association (Trifolio micheliani–Glycerietumspicatae ass. nova), framed in the alliance Glycerio-Sparganion (class Phragmito-Magnocaricetea), is described.     

Towards a new politics of migration?

This paper reconsiders Stephen Castle’s classic paper Why Migration Policies Fail. Beginning with the so-called migration crisis of 2015 it considers the role of numbers is assessing success or failure. It argues that in the UK public debates about immigration changed with European Union (EU) Enlargement in 2004, when the emphasis shifted from concerns about asylum to concerns about EU mobility. Concerns were exacerbated by the government’s failure to meet its promise to reduce net migration. This policy is hampered by the general problem of definition of “migrant” and the gap between statistical measures and popular usage in which “migration” signifies problematic mobility. In fact, concern about migration has become a placeholder for concerns about globalization and democratic accountability. A new politics of migration must make connections between migrants and citizens, but also between migration and other global processes, particularly outsourcing and the exploitation of labour and resources in the global south.     

枸杞根际土壤真菌群落多样性的高通量测序

【目的】为了解不同枸杞产区枸杞根际真菌多样性的差异,从枸杞根际土壤真菌群落的角度试图解释宁夏枸杞优良品质与其土壤微生物菌群的联系。【方法】采用Mi Seq高通量测序方法,分别将我国4个不同地区枸杞根际土壤样品进行ITS区的高通量测序,并分析了物种组成和丰度、Alpha多样性、Beta多样性和菌群结构,测定不同产区枸杞主要有效成分,同时对枸杞品质和其土壤理化因子及枸杞根际真菌种群多样性的相关性做了分析。【结果】多糖含量和甜菜碱含量均是中宁枸杞高于兴仁和精河,格尔木含量最低;宁夏兴仁、宁夏中宁、新疆精河3个地区菌群结构类似,子囊菌门和结合菌门占总菌群的80%左右,而青海格尔木除了子囊菌门占58%外,壶菌门和新丽鞭毛菌门远远高于其他3个地区,比例占总菌群的近25%;4个地区枸杞根际土壤真菌菌群结构相似性依次为宁夏兴仁、新疆精河、宁夏中宁、青海格尔木。【结论】枸杞根际土壤样品真菌物种组成丰富,不同地区枸杞根际土壤真菌种群结构有一定差异;枸杞主要有效成分含量与枸杞根际土壤真菌种群结构具有一定相关性。     

Isolation and characterization of key contributors to the “kokumi” taste in soybean seeds

The water extract of soybean seeds (Glycine max (L.) Merr.) is nearly tasteless, but “kokumi” taste sensation was confirmed upon addition of a basic umami solution containing glutamic acid, inosine monophosphate, and sodium chloride. To identify the key contributors to the “kokumi” taste sensation in soybean seeds, sensory-guided fractionation, taste sensory analyses, and LC–MS/MS analyses were utilized. γ-glutamyl-tyrosine and γ-glutamyl-phenylalanine were identified as contributors to “kokumi taste”; specifically, these γ-glutamyl peptides imparted the “kokumi” taste sensation at a low taste threshold in a basic umami solution. Raffinose and stachyose, which are sufficiently present in soybean seeds, exhibited a synergistic effect in regard to the enhanced “kokumi” taste sensation of γ-glutamyl peptides. This is the first report that the combined use of γ-glutamyl peptides and oligosaccharides can increase the “kokumi” intensity, which suggests that soybean extracts or soymilk can be used to enhance the “kokumi” taste sensation in food products.     

Where Empathy in Psychotherapy Originated: C. Rogers,His Psychoanalytic Predecessors and Followers

This article presents a historical-psychological analysis of how the concept of empathy appeared and became established in psychotherapy. It examines in detail the early psychoanalytic approaches of S. Ferenczi and O. Rank and their possible influence on C. Rogers’s laying the groundwork for the role of empathy. For the first time in Russian psychology, the article illuminates certain aspects of the biographies of Rogers and H. Kohut as the founders of new schools in psychotherapy, of which empathy is the paramount feature. Kohut’s self-psychology is analyzed from the standpoint of his postulation of the “threefold” status of empathy as a method of psychology, a tool of the analyst, and the subject of a universal requirement of development. It briefly considers the development of the views of Rogers and Kohut in the latest “experiential” schools in the person-centered approach and intersubjective psychoanalysis.     

REVIEW: Is the “flagellate” pattern of spermatogenesis plesiomorphic in Metazoa?

Summary

The phenomenon of “flagellate spermatogenesis” typically known among marine invertebrates with “primitive” sperm and external or external-internal fertilization is discussed. It is suggested that “flagella bearing” in early germinative cells might be explained by plesiomorphic similarity between these cells and flagellate somatic epithelial cells. The early germ cells of more apomorphic multicellular animals using internal fertilization with “modified” and “aberrant” sperm typically have no flagella and this organelle, as the sperm tail, first appears in spermatids. It is speculated that the “flagellate” pattern typifies the basal level and that the transition between “flagellate” and “specialized” spermatogenesis constitutes a significant step in evolution.     

Polarographically active carbohydrates in tissues

Polarographically active nitrogen containing carbohydrate (“C_h-” and “C-substances”), present in rapidly proliferating normal and cancerous animal and plant tissues appears to be identical. The same substances were also found in the extracts of “germ cells”.In noncancerous and nonproliferating tissues, with the exception of “germ” cells the “C-substances” appear to be present in polarographically inactive, bound form. Treatment with pepsin liberates the active component.The possible relation of the “C-” and “C_h-substances” to the mitiotic activity of tissues and a relationship between cellular components and regulation of animal and plant cells is discussed.     

A Unified Law of Spatial Allometry for Woody and Herbaceous Plants

Abstract: The objective of the present paper is to provide both proof and theoretical deduction of an overlapping, valid law of allometry for woody and herbaceous plants used in agriculture and forestry. In his attempt to find an adequate expression for stand density, independent of site quality and age, Reineke (1933^[281]) developed the following equation for even‐aged and fully stocked forest stands in the northwest of the USA: ln(N) = a ‐ 1.605 . ln(dg), based on the relationship between the average diameter dg and the number N of trees per unit area. With no knowledge of these results, Kira et al. (1953^[281]) and Yoda et al. (1957^[281] and 1963^[281]) found the boundary line ln(m) = b ‐ 3/2 . ln(N) in their study of herbaceous plants. This self‐thinning rule ‐ also called the ‐ 3/2‐power rule ‐ describes the relationship between the average weight m of a plant and the density N in even‐aged herbaceous plant populations growing under natural development conditions. It is possible to make a transition from Yoda's rule to Reineke's stand density rule if mass m in the former rule is substituted by the diameter dg. From biomass analyses for the tree species spruce (Picea abies [L.] Karst.) and beech (Fagus sylvatica L.), allometric relationships between biomass m and diameter d are derived. Using the latter in the equation ln(m) = b ‐ 3/2 . ln(N) leads to allometric coefficients for spruce (Picea abies [L.] Karst.) and beech (Fagus sylvatica L.), that come very close to the Reineke coefficient. Thus Reineke's rule (1933^[281]) proves to be a special case of Yoda's rule. Both rules are based on the simple allometric law governing the volume of a sphere v and its surface of projection s: v = c₁ . s^3/2. If the surface of projection s, is substituted by the reciprocal value of the number of stems s = 1/N and the isometric relationship between volume v and biomass m is considered v = c₂ . m^1.0 we come to Yoda's rule m = c₃ . N^‐3/2 or, in logarithmic terms, ln(m) = ln c₃ ‐ 3/2 . ln(N).     

Rapid selective stimulation by growth factors of the incorporation by BALB/C 3T3 cells of [35S]methionine into a glycoprotein and five superinducible proteins

Within four hours of adding fibroblast growth factor, epidermal growth factor, prostaglandin F_2α, or serum to quiescent $\text{Balb}\text{c}$ 3T3 cells we observe selective increases in the incorporation of [³⁵S]methionine into six proteins; “major excreted protein” (MEP) and five “superinducible proteins” (SIPs). The mechanisms regulating the extracellular expression of MEP and the SIPs differ. 1) The levels of MEP but not SIPs are increased by NH₄Cl; and 2) Cycloheximide increase SIP and decreases MEP production. These results suggest that production of MEP and the SIPs are controlled by other proteins; MEP by a positive, and the SIPs by a negative effector.     

Intestinal parasites of sympatric Pan troglodytes and Papio Spp. at two sites: Gombe (Tanzania) and Mt. Assirik (Senegal)

Experimental and clinical parasitology need natural baselines or “controls”. We present normative data intestinal parasite loads in two genera of African primates. Wild Pan troglodytes and Papio spp. were studied at two sites: Gombe in Tanzania (P. anubis) and Mt. Assirik in Senegal (P. papio). Presence or absence of parasites, especially nematodes, was recorded from fecal specimens. Gombe's primates were more often infected than were Mt. Assirik's. At Gombe, but not at Mt. Assirik, chimpanzees seemed to have a higher incidence of infection than baboons. Comparison of three baboon troops yielded apparent differences in prevalence of infection. No differences in infection were found between the wet and dry seasons in Mt. Assirik's chimpanzees.