Broader Circles Research Articles

The Theology of Sacrifice as Gift in Ben Sira

Abstract: In this article, I endeavor to advance discussion of the symbolic “meaning” of sacrifice during the Second Temple period by examining the wisdom instruction of Ben Sira. As part of his longest exposition of his views on sacrifice, Ben Sira emphasizes the “gift” aspects of the regular, literal altar service initiated by an individual (35:6–13). Such ritual gifts sought to be “acceptable” (35:9a) and communicated a relationship of gratitude for God’s prior generosity (35:11–13). These gifts may also have aimed, as the contemporaneous Samaritan inscriptions would have it, at “good remembrance” (cf. Sir 35:9b)—perhaps concretely realized as Yhwh’s bestowal of benefits like healing upon his pious dependent (38:9–11). The ritual joy and generosity initiated by the individual participated in a divinely ordained temple cultus by which the cosmos was thought to be properly ordered, and contributed conceptual support for broad circles of reciprocity encompassing God, the pious Israelite, and neighbors who may never have been able to “repay” (35:3–4; cf. 29:8–13).

PREVENTION OF TERRORISM IN THE NORTH CAUCASUS

The article reflects the experience of recent years in the field of terrorism prevention in the republics of the North Caucasus, where today there is a significant decline in terrorist activity. Based on the analysis of the research data, it is argued that the success of the state in preventing terrorism is due to an increase in the quality of interdepartmental and inter-level interaction of all subjects of countering terrorism, focusing on targeted work with categories of persons most exposed to the ideology of terrorism and extremism, as well as the involvement of broad public circles in this activity. The article also describes some problems in the approaches and organization of measures to prevent terrorism in a number of republics of the North Caucasus, and suggests for testing those solutions that are successfully practiced in individual municipalities and regions.

Сила легенды: Повесть о Словене и Русе в общерусском летописании XVII в.

The article examines the influence of the 1630s Novgorod literary tale about the descendants of Noah, the Scythian princes Sloven and Rus, the Great City of Slovensk, which later became Novgorod, the empire they founded and their descendant Gostomysl, for the broad circles of scholarly book lovers of the 17th – early 18th centuries. The author tries to explain why this tale became extremely popular among highly educated chroniclers and was included into the largest chronicle and chronographic monuments, from the Code of 1652 to the Russian Chronograph, as well as into works of the annalistic scriptorium of Patriarch Joachim, the Novgorod Zabelinskaya Chronicle, Latukhin’s Book of Degrees, the Synopsis and the Detailed Chronicle from the Beginning of Russia to the Battle of Poltava. The tale remained stable in the writings of the overwhelming majority of authors, who were accustomed in other cases to seriously revise, shorten or supplement the text. The fact that the attempt remake the tale in a scholarly way and to integrate it into the chronographic text was unique and unsuccessful makes us think that ancient scribes and readers of their works, like M.V. Lomonosov later, were attracted by the literary merits of this poetic legend. We see the opposite picture in the history of the similarly conceived scholarly story about Mosokh existence, confirming this conclusion by constant alterations of its text.

The Jewish Proletariat of the USSR in the Late 1920s — Early 1930s

The article explores general tendencies of the Jewish proletariat formation in Ukraine in the late 1920s and early 1930s, analyzes the dynamic of this phenomenon in the USSR and the Ukrainian SSR, and concludes that their growth rates coincided. It shows main tendencies of the increasing number of Jewish workers at industrial enterprises of Odesa and Kyiv, and also the main spheres of employment of the Jewish population according to the population censuses of 1926 and 1939. Also, it identifies reasons for the entry of the Jewish population into the working class of the USSR, which include economic (unemployment, hunger) and political one (the need to demonstrate loyalty to the new Soviet power). It shows that the policy of industrialization served as the impetus for the encouragement of broad circles of the population, including national minorities and the Jewish population in particular, to work at factories and plants. The article considers the sources of the proletariat formation in the USSR and suggests that among the Jews there was a high proportion of artisans, employees, and traders who were converted to workers, while the share of peasants was insignificant given the policy of agrarian settlement of the Jewish population pursued by the Soviet authorities. The mechanism of recruiting potential workers in the USSR is revealed. The author elucidates the description of life of Jewish workers in the Soviet press. Using the example of Jewish workers of the Shcherbynskyi mine, author shows the path of vast majority of unskilled Jews to factories and plants, and their transformation into workers. The research concludes that despite numerous difficulties of various kinds, the number of Jewish workers in the Ukrainian SSR was constantly increasing, which can be interpreted as a logical consequence of the need to adjust to new living conditions under the Soviet rule.

Basic Interaction of People and their Civil-Social Culture as a Subject of Study

From the point of view of the anthroposocicultural (ASC) approach, the author substantiates the subject matter of two new areas of sociological research. The subject of the first direction is the basic interaction of the population of the country as a cell of the ASC-being of people: it is a large cycle of interactions of citizens with each other and with the institutions of society, the individual-socialized results of which are: the position of the individual in society and the type of basic interaction of large groups of citizens with society as a whole. The subject of another direction is the meaning of the basic interactions of large groups of citizens, the civil-social culture of these interactions; their typology is based on the characteristics of the content of basic interactions and their results for the population and society. There are two main types of results: rises, downs of the population and society (ASC-rises); trauma, declines in their livelihoods (ASC-injuries); there are also intermediate types of results. The identification of these results in the history of Russia and their interpretation on the basis of the active paradigm allowed the author to propose the concept of “anthroposocultural rise and trauma as the main events-processes of historical activity of large masses of people”. The contradictory interaction of these events-processes forms the pulsar of the history of society (country): “the divide rise/trauma … the divide trauma/rise = stage (epoch)”. In the monograph “The complexity of the formation of a new Russia and the civil-social culture of its population” (2021) the author showed that in the history of Russia the heterogeneous type of civil-social culture of the population is enbeddednessed: foreign policy is flexible, retaining different ethnic groups in the common civilizational process, but domestically politically routine, symbio-owning, by the results – traumatic. Its preservation is fraught with new risks of catastrophes. In order to prevent them and form a new Russia, to achieve a strong social state of national welfare, a qualitatively different type of civil-social culture is needed – homogeneous, corresponding to the ethos of Russian and cultural potential of multi-ethnic Russia – innovative, assembling-composite, combining civilization-gathering culture with innovative socialachieving. Such transformation is possibly not exogenously-mobilizing, but endogenously-democratic – by all-civilian Self-enlightenment through the established channels of socialization of individuals with the support of specialized and broad circles of the public, institutions of the state, business, media, family.

«Only in the Peasantry Lies the Future of the Ukrainian Revival»: the Agrarian Discourse of Revolutionary Journalism by Mykhailo Hrushevskyi

The aim of the article is to comprehend the agrarian discourse of M. Hrushevsky’s revolutionary journalism. The methodological basis of the research is an interdisciplinary approach with particular emphasis on the structural-functional systematic analysis of historiographical facts and the method of critical analysis of documentary material. The scientific novelty of the article is an attempt at a special analysis of the conceptual and ideological principles and problem-thematic diversity of M. Hrushevsky’s journalism of the revolutionary era. Conclusions. The article has concluded that M. Hrushevsky focused most of his journalism on overcoming the atomization of leaders and members of the Ukrainian movement. Therefore, he was rapidly developing a new unifying ideology for Ukrainians, which had to meet the requirements of those times, largely breaking with the old cultural slogans. At the same time, the historian made a lot of efforts to build a network of Ukrainian media, realizing that without them it would not be possible to spread the ideology of the new Ukrainians outside Kyiv. In fact, in the columns of restored and newly created magazines, he shared with the public his own understanding of current challenges and offered solutions. M. Hrushevsky called for conscious and dynamic self-organization of the peasantry as a quantitatively dominant class, which in his view was the main socio-cultural basis for the development of Ukrainian statehood. His journalism performed ideological-educational, informational, and mobilizing functions. Due to the dialogically constructed discourse and focus on the problems of the people, the journalistic letters of the chairman of the Central Council had a considerable resonance, contributing to the growth of political culture in broad peasant circles.

The Soviet Plenipotentiary Mission and the Belarusian diaspora in Lithuania in the 1920s

The article is dedicated to little-known pages of the history of Soviet diplomacy. Contacts with emigrant circles were an important part of the work of the Soviet representative office in Lithuania in the 1920s. The search for effective ways to infiltrate communist propaganda in broad circles of the population of neighboring countries, as well as attempts to persuade political figures of these countries to cooperate, were the main motives of these relations. Starting in 1921, the emigrants themselves, including members of the Council of the Belarusian People’s Republic, the unrecognized Belarusian government in exile, sought connections with Soviet diplomats, mainly for financial reasons. These contacts became interesting for Soviet establishment in 1923, when the Council of ambassadors of the Entente recognized the Soviet-Polish borders under the Riga Peace treatment. Looking for the way out of situation they decided to transfer to BSSR to implement even partially their ideas, or to cooperate closely with the Soviet mission. This one in its turn used this channel for access to Belarusian minority in Lithuania. The article is based on archival materials of the People’s Commissariat of Foreign Affairs of the USSR.

Белорусская историография в российских исторических журналах второй половины XIX – начала XX века

There is a number of articles on Belorussian history in Russian historical journals of the second half of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century. Those are publicistic articles, news reports, obituaries and book reviews. The articles presented the history of Belorussia to the broad circles of readers, noting ethnographical, confessional and cultural aspects of Belorussia in the spirit of “West-Russism” conception.

The proletarian revolution in early books of Soviet Ukraine (1919—1927)

In this article the author continues a series of explorations devoted to the analysis of Bolshevik literature of the first decade of Soviet power. This article focuses on the genre of "Bolshevik non-fiction", extended since the inception of the Soviet republic in Ukraine (1919) and especially actualized in honor of the fifth and tenth anniversaries of the Great October Revolution of 1917. The author is characterized by unique qualitative characteristics, namely: a synergistic presentation of revolutionary events, which makes it possible to simultaneously and comprehensively consider different episodes of complex political application; a chronicle detailing the revolutionary processes, while subsequently the details were either forgotten or consciously concealed; active use of personalization to the broad circles of the revolutionary participants, whereas in the future historical memory was sung only by individual, power-determined heroes. In addition, much of this literature was written shortly by repressed authors and therefore had a rather unfortunate fate: first it was sent to special funds (as it was done, in particular, in the Book Chamber of Ukraine), and then to catalog Stalin's confusions, catalog cards to particularly dangerous literature were noticed. rectangular ink stamp in blue with the words "removed". Even now, this inscription gives the impression of a speedy three-year sentence from the NKVD bodies. Given these circumstances, the author seeks to actualize the little-known Bolshevik memoirs, which are early books of Soviet Ukraine.

CHILDREN OF SERVANTS IN RUSSIA IN THE MID-19TH – THE EARLY 20TH CENTURY

In this article, based on the historical and anthropological approach, we study the possibilities of implementing the maternal role of female servants in Russia at the turn of the 19th – 20th centuries. Based on a wide source base, represented by reports of various societies, court cases, reports of Zemstvo and public congresses, etc., the author analyses the extent to which servants had the «right to a family», which was the reason for the desire or unwillingness to have a child, the possibility of raising children. Using concrete examples, the study shows that most of the servants’ children were illegitimate and unwanted. Very often, because of the fear of dismissal and loss of means of subsistence, the servants had to get rid of the child. The author comes to the conclusion that the options for the development of the mother-child relationship were reduced to «getting rid» of the child by abortion, infanticide, dumping it in an orphanage; giving it to relatives or public organisations for upbringing; providing the child to itself. The example of servants’ children shows that they were forced to grow up early, and the resulting «freedom», in most cases, was realised in deviant behaviour. By the end of the 19th century the fate of street children had become a problem that caused serious concern not only for Russian pedagogues and hygienists, but also for the broad circles of Russian society.

MYRON KORDUBA AS A POPULARIZER OF HISTORICAL KNOWLEDGE (BUKOVINA PERIOD)

Abstract. The purpose of the study is to generalize multifaceted popular science works of M. Korduba in the diversity of its thematic manifestations and taking into account the peculiarities of the Bukovina period scientist’s work. The methodology of the study is based on the tradition of historiographic work combining the principles (ones of historicism and objectivity) and methods (general and specific historical ones) of scientific work. The scientific novelty of the article is an attempt to comprehensively reconstruct the work of Korduba-populariser in the early twentieth century. Conclusions . According to the design of M. Korduba, his popular works created among the broad circles of the Ukrainian community a sense of community, national awareness and dignity, taught to know and love their past, called to honour heroes and plan for a common future. The works of the Korduba-populariser are marked by respect for its reader, manifested in the refusal from popular retelling of mythological stories as the most «suitable» for the peasant community. Having been responsible, the scientist deliberately broadcast to the readers a purely scientific knowledge of the past, however complicated it might have been. In addition, the historian spoke to his readers in a language they understood, while at the same time not indulging in an instructive tone and vulgar didacticism. All this made his popular science studios extremely popular among the general public, as evidenced by their considerable circulation and approving professional reception.

Polish Nobility’s Opinions on the Political Reasons behind the Khmelnytsky Uprising

The article discusses the political reasons for the Khmelnytsky Uprising, as they were expressed in the opinions of the nobility of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The outbreak of the Cossack insurrection led by Bohdan Khmelnytsky with the beginning of 1648, which from the first moment stimulated the broad strata of Ukrainian society and quickly transformed into a national liberation war, provoked terror in broad circles of the nobility. An additional factor influencing the mood of the noblemen was the growing awareness of Khmelnytsky’s political ambitions, the implementation of which was a deadly threat to the current political system of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Therefore, the main part of the publication is devoted to discussing the views of the nobility on the subject of political motives underlying the Cossacks’ armed resistance against the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. These opinions fundamentally influenced the noblemen’s assessment of the nature of the uprising. Detailed analysis is presented concerning such sources as correspondence, lauda, and sejmik instructions as well as occasional and journalistic literature. It is emphasised that there was a conviction among the nobility of the Republic of the political motives of the Cossack uprising. This conviction was based mainly on the news coming to the noblemen about Khmelnytsky’s aspirations to separate Ukraine and build an independent state entity, referred to by the nobility as the Russian Principality. Understanding of the emancipatory aspirations of the insurgents by the gentry had a huge impact on the shape of the Republic of Poland’s policy towards the events in Ukraine in the second half of the seventeenth century. Consequently, one of its main goals was to stop the movement that posed a threat to the wholeness and existence of the state.

Essay on the life and activities of V. Lihin (1846-1900)

The article deals with the facts of the life and work of the prominent Odessa scientist, doctor of mechanics, professor of the Novorossiisk University Valerian Lihin (1846-1900). At the present stage of development of the history of science and technology, a comprehensive analysis of the scientific work of V. Lihin, presented in the field of mechanics and mathematics, while work in other directions remained beyond the curiosity of historians. The role of Lihin in the organization of the scientific school of theoretical and applied kinematics is shown. As a teacher, Valerian Mykolayovych formed a new approach to teaching applied mechanics, constantly emphasizing the important influence of this science on the development of technical progress and the industrial complex of the economy. And his activities in the number of scientific, technical and charitable societies are almost unknown. Thus, Valerian Lihin was a member and held management positions in the three most famous scientific and technical societies of Odessa. Their influence on the socio-economic development of the city and region is analyzed. The basic directions of activity of Lihin in the structure of the Association are established and their expediency from the point of view of historical retrospective is considered. Particular attention is paid to the Odessa branch of the Russian Technical Society, which Lihin has been managing for 15 years. This time has become a period of intensive and extensive development, and its activity has actively contributed to the development of the city and the economic prosperity of the region. Equally important, in our opinion, is the research and organizational work of Valerian Lihin in the Society of Naturalists, which contributed to the dissemination of the results of his research work in broad circles. Also the work of a scientist within the Society of Horticulture is noted, where he demonstrated his talent as an organizer of the educational process. The gardening school, created on the initiative of Lihin, contributed to the transformation of Odessa into a flowered garden among the steppe. The article highlights his role in the organization and development of special technical education in the South of Ukraine. It was this talent that contributed to his rapid career growth.

Tolerance in young people in the tuition in an educational institution

Аbstract. The issues of tolerance in young people in the process of learning in an educational institution are analyzed. At present, representatives of different cultural traditions, principles of life are forced to share one geographical space. This rapprochement, as real experience shows, does not always proceed peacefully and calmly. Interethnic (intercultural) tension, right up to open confrontation, ethnocentrism, xenophobia - all this testifies to serious problems in modern social relations. There is an opinion that in spite of all the relevance and discussion of this topic in broad social science circles there are no unified approaches to understanding the essential characteristics of the phenomenon of tolerance, there is no understanding of who and how tolerant relations are possible, what are the mechanisms for achieving this goal, Some people see it as a kind of a panacea through which only it is possible to save and preserve civilization, while others believe that it serves only to symbolically hide and cure the real schism and indifference that humanity is exhibiting. A theoretical analysis of the essence of the concept of «tolerance» is reduced to the fact that tolerance by origin is a social category (arises and manifests itself in the process of human interaction with society, with man); it fixes a special (non-violent) type of relationship between a person and society. A characteristic feature of tolerance is the stability of manifestations: at the level of consciousness, it manifests itself in the form of an individual’s attitude, and at the level of behavior as a conscious action or deed, as co-creation. Often, researchers formulate such tasks of psychological and pedagogical activity on the formation of ethnic tolerance of students as the formation of a value attitude to one’s own and other ethnocultures; the formation of motivation for intercultural cooperation; fostering a positive attitude towards cultural differences, the development of intercultural sensitivity; development of skills and skills for effective interaction with representatives of different cultures in the spirit of peace, ethnic tolerance and mutual understanding. Therefore, an important condition for joint activities is the creation in groups with a mixed national composition of an atmosphere of inter-ethnic understanding and tolerance, where everyone, regardless of ethnicity, feels comfortable, open to interaction with others, where ethical standards of behavior in interpersonal communication are observed. That is, the cognitive and emotional components of tolerance are most significant when there are contradictions, clashes of values, dissent in conflict situations. Wherein a tolerant behavior is characterized by the ability not to actualize the conflict, which in turn is determined by the level of upbringing and education.

Killing Stalin: An Interpretation in Three Acts

Killing StalinAn Interpretation in Three Acts Stephen M. Norris (bio) The Death of Stalin. Directed by Armando Iannucci. 107 min. UK/France, 2017. Sheila Fitzpatrick, On Stalin’s Team: The Years of Living Dangerously in Soviet Politics. 364 pp. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2015. ISBN-13 978-0691145334. $35.00. Fabien Nury and Thierry Robin, The Death of Stalin. 120 pp. London: Titan Comics, 2017. $24.99. Joshua Rubenstein, The Last Days of Stalin. 271 pp. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2016. ISBN-13 978-0300192223. $35.00. Prologue The 3 March 1953 edition of Pravda carried two headlines. The first, “The Day of Our Motherland,” had a number of stories that provided content for this topic.1 One consisted of a report about a session held the day before at Moscow State University dedicated to the “work of genius” recently produced by I. V. Stalin, “Economic Problems of Socialism in the USSR.” Other reports showcased the achievements of the Soviet peoples: the labor of Soviet machine operators in Kiev, awards given to Moldovan Komsomol leaders, positive inspections in Cheliabinsk machine factories, the workings of Abkhazian sanatoriums (including one named after Stalin), updates on construction projects underway in Ashgabat, and the successful start to a [End Page 827] sugar factory in Belarus. The photograph accompanying these articles also captured these rosy depictions of Soviet life: it depicted new machines in the new factory built under the new five-year plan (the fifth overall), machines located in Kramatorsk in a plant named for I. V. Stalin. The second headline, “The Most Important Conditions for the Raising of Propaganda,” had a lengthy story that reported on the “millions of Communists and broad circles of Soviet intellectuals” currently meeting to study the “brilliant work” of I. V. Stalin, “Economic Problems of Socialism in the USSR,” and how to use it to advance the cause of communism. The most important task facing these ardent readers of Stalin, the enthusiastic readers of Pravda are told, is to appoint appropriate propagandists to carry forth the word of Stalin, a duty defined as the “highest honor” for a Soviet citizen.2 Two days before this issue appeared, Iosif Stalin, whose work of genius was inspiring new propagandists, whose achievements helped bring about a “day of our motherland” and gave name to its machines, had been found on the floor of his Kuntsevo dacha in a puddle of his own urine. Stalin suffered a stroke after hosting Georgii Malenkov, Lavrentii Beria, Nikolai Bulganin, and Nikita Khrushchev for drinks and hijinks, as was usual. The guests left between five and six o’clock in the morning on Sunday, 1 March. By ten that evening, when Stalin had not emerged from his office, the guards who watched over his closed doors, too fearful to enter, asked Stalin’s long-serving maid, Matrëna Petrovna, to enter and bring him his mail. Thus it was she who found the Soviet dictator on the floor, unconscious, in his nightshirt and soaked with his urine. Stalin’s subordinates were soon called. They arrived on the scene and established a regimen to supervise his care. According to the memories of these men, Beria immediately began his behind-the-scenes machinations for power, with Khrushchev not far behind. They held off telling the general population about the state of Stalin’s health. Only on Tuesday, 3 March, as the party’s newspaper yet again extolled the genius of their great leader, his great recent work, and the greatness of the motherland he had built, did fearful doctors tell them that death was inevitable. The front page of Pravda the next day, 4 March, came emblazoned with a radically different headline, a “Government Message” about the illness of Iosif Vissarionovich Stalin. Meanwhile, the very same page on the very same edition of the very same newspaper carried a story that the Moscow City Council of Deputies unanimously elected “the great leader and teacher of peoples, Comrade I. V. Stalin,” as its honorary chairman on 3 March.3 [End Page 828] So we can conclude our prologue with a series of questions. How can we make sense of this? How can we explain and interpret...

Wkład „Ateneum Kapłańskiego” w polską dyskusję na temat wychowania do miłości w okresie międzywojennym

Poland had to face the difficulties which it inherited after the Partitions after regaining independence in 1918. Prostitution and related to it consequences such as sexually transmitted diseases, a large number of abandoned children, killing newborn babies and human trafficking belonged to these difficulties . All these problems led to the realizing in the circles of the elite of Polish society the need to introduce sexual education among the young generation on as wide as possible scale. Doctors, educators, priests were widely engaged in this activity. It was also discussed in magazines. A theological journal Ateneum Kaplanskie was also included in this discussion in the interwar period .The article by the priest Karol Mazurkiewicz was especially valuable. He presented a positive vision of sexual education which was inscribed in the integral development of the whole human person .The publication of this text contributed to bringing into general use the need for sexual education in the broad circles of the Polish clergy. He showed a wealth of educational resources that can be used in this upbringing, referring to pedagogical knowledge.

Reflections on Cultivating Community-based Participatory Research Partnerships with the Afghan Immigrant Community.

Reflections on Cultivating Community–based Participatory Research Partnerships with the Afghan Immigrant Community Mehra Shirazi Background Using a community–based participatory research (CBPR) approach, we describe the process of a first–time campus–community partnership between UC Berkeley School of Public Health and the Afghan Coalition in California. Objectives: We reflect on lessons learned in cultivating a unique community health partnership to provide a preliminary understanding of how Afghan immigrant women view their breast health, and to determine and assess their barriers to breast cancer screening. This story will emphasize the importance and challenges of (1) negotiating equitable collaborative relationships, (2) recruitment and retention of participants by community members and ways to overcome cultural and language barriers, (3) training of community members, and (4) data dissemination. Conclusion Conducting meaningful community partnerships should be driven by a social justice agenda where community has control over the production of knowledge and engaged in all phases of research. There is also a need for transparency and mutual agreement around roles and responsibilities where researchers take on facilitative roles and do not attempt to control the research process. These are the reflections of the first community/campus partnership between the Afghan Coalition of Alameda County, CA and the UC Berkeley School of Public Health in an effort to provide a preliminary understanding of how Afghan women view their breast health. This was done through in–depth semi–structured interviews conducted with non–English speaking first–generation immigrant Afghan women above the age of 40. This narrative aims to describe the experience of engaging in community–academic partnerships that brought forth essential information pertaining to the breast health [End Page 21] screening practices of Afghan women which then led to a five–year breast health education intervention program funded by the National Institute of Health. My mother, my sister, my aunt, my daughter . . . In telling their stories, the women were speaking about their struggles, their pain and resilience. They painted an accurate picture of breast cancer in their communities, which remained a subject considered taboo in Afghan culture. It was clear this was more than a “make sure everyone gets a pamphlet” intervention. No intervention was going to work unless it was a part of the community itself; not for them or about them or even from them. In a refugee community struggling against the label of terrorist as the United States entered its second decade of war in Afghanistan, information and access to preventative healthcare, including breast cancer screening, was minimal. And the stories kept coming. My niece, my daughter–in–law . . . Working with the Afghan community of Alameda County, CA, the largest Afghan refugee population in the United States, two–thirds of whom are female, meant we were approaching a long–established community with its own politics, social and cultural norms, and community leaders. It can be easy, and expedient, to paint broad circles in the name of increased access, but it was clear that previous research on immigrant Muslim women and breast cancer hadn’t addressed the scope of what we were facing. The women here were less literate, unaware of screening recommendations, and hampered by their immigrant status, cultural valuation of female modesty, and a necessary wariness of any dealings with officialdom in the age of the “War on Terror” wherein the community was consistently approached for informants. My mother–in–law, my cousin, my wife . . . Establishing any partnership is part act of faith and part extended learning curve, but the development of a true partnership across culture, language, religion, and deep societal mistrust required more than good intentions. The high rates of breast cancer anecdotally reported in the population, as well as the lack of access to care still faced by an established community (mean residence in the US was 16 years) pointed to the need for a culturally based intervention program to establish and address attitudes toward breast cancer screening among a population with limited English language usage, high rates of illiteracy in any language, cultural concerns around female modesty, and limited access to healthcare providers. Two groups, from the UC Berkeley School of Public Health and the community via the non–profit Afghan Coalition came together for a...

Analysis of a spatial gene expression database for sea anemone Nematostella vectensis during early development.

BackgroundThe spatial distribution of many genes has been visualized during the embryonic development in the starlet sea anemone Nematostella vectensis in the last decade. In situ hybridization images are available in the Kahi Kai gene expression database, and a method has been developed to quantify spatial gene expression patterns of N. vectensis. In this paper, gene expression quantification is performed on a wide range of gene expression patterns from this database and descriptions of observed expression domains are stored in a separate database for further analysis.MethodsSpatial gene expression from suitable in situ hybridization images has been quantified with the GenExp program. A correlation analysis has been performed on the resulting numerical gene expression profiles for each stage. Based on the correlated clusters of spatial gene expression and detailed descriptions of gene expression domains, various mechanisms for developmental gene expression are proposed.ResultsIn the blastula and gastrula stages of development in N. vectensis, its continuous sheet of cells is partitioned into correlating gene expression domains. During progressing development, these regions likely correspond to different fates. A statistical analysis shows that genes generally remain expressed during the planula stages in those major regions that they occupy at the end of gastrulation.DiscussionObserved shifts in gene expression domain boundaries suggest that elongation in the planula stage mainly occurs in the vegetal ring under the influence of the gene Rx. The secondary body axis in N. vectensis is proposed to be determined at the mid blastula transition.ConclusionsEarly gene expression domains in N. vectensis appear to maintain a positional order along the primary body axis. Early determination in N. vectensis occurs in two stages: expression in broad circles and rings in the blastula is consolidated during gastrulation, and more complex expression patterns appear in the planula within these broad regions. Quantification and comparison of gene expression patterns across a database can generate hypotheses about collective cell movements before these movements are measured directly.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12918-015-0209-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Göttersöhne: Lk 1.26–38 als Kontrasterzählung zu einem römischen Gründungsmythos

Roman identity and legitimisation of imperial rule were closely connected to the mythological motive of divine descent. In this context, the myth of Romulus with the encounter between the god Mars and the virgin Rhea Silvia developed its own significance that was available for broader circles within the population of the Roman Empire. It is against this background that Luke 1.26–38 may be read as an alternative foundation narrative that assimilates essential features of the Roman myth of origin in order to reinterpret it christologically.

Protests and civil society in Russia: The struggle for the Khimki Forest

The main question on which this article focuses is this: What conditions determine whether a group carrying out protests in Russia is more likely to be successful in attracting support by recruiting people to participate in its activities and gaining sympathy from many members of the population? There is strong agreement among experts on Russian society and politics that protests in defense of abstract, general rights do not appeal to most citizens. This article focuses on groups using protest tactics that have been more successful in gaining support, such as the Defenders of the Khimki Forest. The evidence that is presented in this article suggests that Russians are more likely to take part in protests by an organized group if it seeks remedies for concrete problems that directly affect them and their families. The appeal to felt needs that are grounded in everyday experiences also seems to be an important factor that helps a group to evoke a favorable response toward its actions among broad circles of the general public. For those doing scholarly research, to interpret the development of civil society in Russia mainly in terms of the struggles of human rights groups and political opposition movements would lead the researchers to neglect the activities of most social organizations in Russia.