Primordial World Research Articles

The primordial world of soviet orphanhood in the diary entries of the educators of orphanages

The article analyzes the diary entries of the educators of orphanages and the degree of reflection in them of the daily practices of the pupils and employees of orphanages, for this purpose excerpts from the diary of the educators of the orphanage № 10 of the experimental demonstration school at the Kryashen Pedagogical College are given. It is concluded, that the diaries of educators allow, having been studied in sufficient quantity, to present a panorama of the structures of everyday life in institutions of the Soviet system of social care.

Memories as the Articulation of Being in Vladimir Besleaga’s Novels

This article analyzes the problem of recovering personal and cultural identity of the characters in Vladimir Besleaga's novels Zbor frânt (Broken Flight) and Viața și moartea nefericitului Filimon (The Life and Death of the Unfortunate Filimon). The main role in the journey of self-search belongs to the involuntary memory and intuition, which drive the protagonists through a series of events, the ones from the bitter, disturbing past, to finally discovering the magical dimension of childhood, revealing mysteries about one's own split up destiny. Memories and the anamnesis process represent, therefore, the divine act of restoring the primordial world, of uttering the being and resurrecting the mankurt to the conscious, free and full life. Beyond the hostile reality of the regime, both Isai and Filimon reveal unique experiences and feelings from the labyrinth of their own consciousness, which bring them closer to the essence of existence.

Helicase-like functions in phosphate loop containing beta-alpha polypeptides

The P-loop Walker A motif underlies hundreds of essential enzyme families that bind nucleotide triphosphates (NTPs) and mediate phosphoryl transfer (P-loop NTPases), including the earliest DNA/RNA helicases, translocases, and recombinases. What were the primordial precursors of these enzymes? Could these large and complex proteins emerge from simple polypeptides? Previously, we showed that P-loops embedded in simple βα repeat proteins bind NTPs but also, unexpectedly so, ssDNA and RNA. Here, we extend beyond the purely biophysical function of ligand binding to demonstrate rudimentary helicase-like activities. We further constructed simple 40-residue polypeptides comprising just one β-(P-loop)-α element. Despite their simplicity, these P-loop prototypes confer functions such as strand separation and exchange. Foremost, these polypeptides unwind dsDNA, and upon addition of NTPs, or inorganic polyphosphates, release the bound ssDNA strands to allow reformation of dsDNA. Binding kinetics and low-resolution structural analyses indicate that activity is mediated by oligomeric forms spanning from dimers to high-order assemblies. The latter are reminiscent of extant P-loop recombinases such as RecA. Overall, these P-loop prototypes compose a plausible description of the sequence, structure, and function of the earliest P-loop NTPases. They also indicate that multifunctionality and dynamic assembly were key in endowing short polypeptides with elaborate, evolutionarily relevant functions.

Doğal Dünyanın Logos’undan Estetik Dünyanın Logos’una: Cézanne’nın Dinleyen Gözleri

From a phenomenological point of view on the relationship between art and philosophy, we can see that both of them refer to a pre-subjective and a preobjective field. In this context, art becomes a creative activity that makes the world itself visible in a way independent of all human values and judgments, rather than giving a representation of the objective world. However, its creativity is shaped not only due to the artistic abilities but to the fact of being actually a corporeal entity. Perceiving refers to an endless creation since it emerges as the founding activity of the body anchored in the world. The artist, like the philosopher, whether with words or brush strokes also has the possibility to express this primordial perception which is prior to all the correction and the arrangement of mind, in its birth. The pre-reflexive ground of perception refers to an existence which is both individual and collective as being filled with invisible meaning horizons. The aesthetical experience arises in seizing this existence. But in order to understand this, the true nature of the vision must be conceived. This paper tries to indicate the role that aesthetic experience plays in making the Logos of the primordial world visible. In this context, the relation between Merleau-Ponty and Paul Cézanne, who is a very important figure for him, is considered from both philosophy and art as well as from a philosopher and a painter. What we encounter here is not a philosophy of art nor an aesthetics, but the artistic nature of philosophy itself.

The RNA i-Motif in the Primordial RNA World.

The primordial RNA world is a hypothetical era prior to the appearance of protein and DNA, when RNA molecules were the sole building blocks for early forms of life on Earth. A critical concern with the RNA-world hypothesis is the instability of the cytosine nucleobase compared to the other three bases (adenine, guanine, and uracil). The author proposes that cytosine residues could have stably existed in the primordial world in the RNA i-motif, a four-stranded quadruplex structure formed by base-pairing of protonated and unprotonated cytosine residues under acidic conditions. The i-motif structure not only increases the lifetime of cytosine residues by slowing their deamination rate, but could also allow RNA polymers to bind to certain ligands (e.g., anions) to perform critical functions. Future studies focused on determining the rate of cytosine deamination in RNA i-motifs over a range of pH, temperature, and pressure conditions, and on interrogating the interactions between ligands and RNA i-motifs, could uncover new evidence of the origin of life on Earth.

Circular RNA (circRNA) was an important bridge in the switch from the RNA world to the DNA world

The concept that life on Earth began as an RNA world has been built upon extensive experimentation demonstrating that many of the building blocks required for living cells could be synthesized in the laboratory under conditions approximating our primordial world. Many of the building blocks for life have also been found in meteorites indicating that meteors may have been a source for these molecules, or more likely, that they represent the chemical library present in most/all bodies in the universe after the big bang. Perhaps the most important support for the concept comes from the fact that some RNA species possess catalytic activity, ribozymes, and that RNA could be reverse transcribe to DNA. The thrust of numerous papers on this topic has been to explore how the available molecules on Earth, at its birth, gave rise to life as we know it today. This paper focuses more on a reverse view of the topic. The “how” molecular building blocks were synthesized is not addressed nor how the “first” RNA molecules were synthesized. We can clearly speculate on the variable environmental conditions and chemistry available on Earth billions of years ago. However, we can never truly replicate the changing conditions or know the chemical composition of Earth at the beginning of time. We can, however, confirm that over millions, perhaps billions of years the basic building blocks for life accumulated sufficiently to initiate evolution to an RNA world followed by our RNA/DNA world. Here we are attempting to take the information from our current knowledge of biology and by inference and extrapolation work backward to hypothesize biological events in the march forward from RNA to DNA. It is proposed that the primordial replicating RNA cell, the ribocyte, evolved from liposomes encompassing required reactants and products for “life” and that ribonucleopeptide complexes formed membrane pores to support bidirectional ion and molecular transport to maintain biological functions and osmolarity. Circular RNA, circRNA, is proposed as a critical stable RNA molecule that served as the genetic precursor for the switch to DNA and the replication of circRNA by a rolling circle mechanism gave rise to the RNA complexity required for the genetic functions of the cell. The replicating ribocyte would have required protein synthesis as well as RNA replication and a model for non-coded and primordial coded protein synthesis is proposed. Finally, the switch from the RNA to the DNA world would have involved the synthesis of an RNA:DNA hybrid prior to the formation of dsDNA. If the hybrid was a circular molecule that ultimately yielded a circular dsDNA molecule, it could predict that the primordial DNA cell would evolve into a bacterial cell with a single circular chromosome. One would hope that continued speculation of the origin of life will spur new directions of research that may never fully answer the questions of the past but add to our ability to regulate potentially harmful biological events in the present and in the future.

Midday

Midday Vladislav Khodasevich Translated from the Russian by Alex Cigale Along the avenue, how quiet, lucid, slumbering!Taken up by the wind, the sand raced as a waveAnd, like a crumbling comb, splashed on the grass. . . .These days, it soothes me so to come hereAnd sit a long time in semi-forgetfulness.I love, almost without glancing, to listenTo the laughter and crying of children on the little pathBeyond the creek, their resonating playfulness. Wonderful!It is a rustle, just as eternal and truthfulAs the rustle of the rain, the waves of the wind. No one recognizes me. Here I am simplyA passerby, a local, a "sir"Wearing an anonymous brown coat and round hat,In no way distinct. Near me,A young lady has sat down with an open book. A boyWith a pail and toy shovel has cozied upAt my very feet. Knotting his brows,He busies himself in the sand, and I seem so hugeIn comparison by this proximityThat it makes me recallHow I myself sat on the pediment of the lion columnIn Venice. Above this minuscule life,Above his head, wearing a green peaked cap,I am magnified, like a heavy stone,Centuries old, that has outlived manyKingdoms and folks, betrayals and heroisms.And the boy, in businesslike fashion, is fillingHis little pail with sand and, turning it upside down,Pours it on my feet, on my shoes. . . . How wonderful! And with a light heart I recallHow hot that Venetian midday was,How above me the winged lion soaredImmobile with an open book in its paw,And how above the lion, growing rounder and pinker,A little cloud scudded. And higher, higher still—The deep and dense blue, and wheeling in it, [End Page 239] The invisible but fiery stars.This very moment they are flaming above the boulevard,Above the boy and above myself. Frantically,Their rays are battling the rays of the sun. . . . The windContinues rustling with its sand-strewing waves,Turning the pages of the young lady's book. And everythingI hear is transformed by some sort of miracle,And in to such full measure fills the heart,That I no longer need neither words nor thoughts,And I look, as though with an inverted gaze,Into myself.And so captivating to the soul are these living waters,That, Narcissus-like, I, from the earthly shoreVanish and fly there, where I am alone,In my private, primordial world,Face to face with myself, lost once upon a time––And rediscovered anew. . . . And barely perceptiblyI hear the young lady's voice: "Please, forgive me.What hour is it?" 1918 [End Page 240] Copyright © 2018 Vladislav Khodasevich

Catalysis in the Primordial World

Catalysis in the Primordial World

Mito e modernidade: Diálogos com Leucó e tragédia contemporânea

O presente trabalho parte de uma análise da reinvenção dos mitos gregos antigos realizada na obra "Diálogos com Leucó", de Cesare Pavese, buscando entender até que ponto o modo como o autor reescreve subversivamente essa tradição consegue fazer com que ela alcance novos significados e nova relevância para a sociedade contemporânea. Entendendo que os mitos gregos transmitem um contínuo e inevitável conflito do humano contra a natureza e os deuses, Pavese contrapõe a esse mundo primordial a sociedade industrial do pós-guerra eurpoeu, na qual se reatualizariam os conflitos contra as potências míticas que governam o mundo. Os mitos se tornam assim transmissão da condição universal e inescapável que é dada pelo destino humano, pois é criação constantemente renovada pela fala dos deuses superiores. E a poesia, enquanto linguagem pela qual o mortal se comunica com a fala divina, é a eterna tentativa humana de criar um destino diverso, uma outra fala para uma outra relação com os deuses.

The Monstrous Virginity of a Predatory Trout: Deleuze's Impulse-Image and Perverse Fetishism in Joseph Losey's La Truite

Gilles Deleuze’s impulse-image—the becoming-animal of immanent naturalism—is the quintessential cinematic manifestation of a schizophrenic desiring-machine. The conventional action-image is powerless to represent or disperse impulse into actions-in-situations; the affection-image is powerless to make it felt. As Deleuze notes, “the action-image represses the impulse-image, which is too indecent because of its brutality, its very restraint, and its lack of realism” (Cinema 1: The Movement Image. Trans. Hugh Tomlinson and Barbara Habberjam. Minneapolis, MN: U of Minnesota P, 1986. 134). However, once unleashed, the impulse is distributed along four co-ordinates, which fold into and across each other as so many traces or lines of flight: the originary world coupled with a derived milieu; impulses and fetishes channeled into specific modes of behavior. Focusing specifically on Joseph Losey’s 1982 adaptation of Roger Vailland’s 1964 novel, La Truite, this essay explores the symptomological ways that Frédérique, a predatory virgin from the primordial world of a trout farm in the French Jura, willfully deterritorializes the psycho-sexual desires of every man she meets into a fetishistic series of unstable assemblages.

The Old and New RNA World

Among the numerous hypotheses offering a scenario for the origin of life on Earth, the one called “The RNA World” has gained the most attention. According to this hypothesis RNA acted as a genetic information storage material, as a catalyst of all metabolic reactions, and as a regulator of all processes in the primordial world. Various experiments show that RNA molecules could have been synthesized abiotically, with the potential to mediate a whole repertoire of metabolic reactions. Ribozymes carrying out aminoacyl-tRNA reactions have been found in SELEX (systematic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment) approaches and the development of a ribosome from a RNA-built protoribosome is easy to imagine. Transfer RNA aminoacylation, protoribosome origin, and the availability of amino acids on early Earth allowed the genetic code to evolve. Encoded proteins most likely stabilized RNA molecules and were able to create channels across membranes. In the modern cell, DNA replaced RNA as the main depositor of genetic information and proteins carry out almost all metabolic reactions. However, RNA is still playing versatile, crucial roles in the cell. Apart from its classical functions in the cell, a huge small RNA world is controlling gene expression, chromatin condensation, response to environmental cues, and protecting the cell against the invasion of various nucleic acids forms. Long non-coding RNAs act as crucial gene expression regulators. Riboswitches act at the level of transcription, splicing or translation and mediate feedback regulation on biosynthesis and transport of the ligand they sense. Alternative splicing generates genetic variability and increases the protein repertoire in response to developmental or environmental changes. All these regulatory functions are essential in shaping cell plasticity in the changing milieu. Recent discoveries of new, unexpected and important functions of RNA molecules support the hypothesis that we live in a New RNA World.

Shadow of the Dragon: The Convergence of Myth and Science in Nineteenth Century Paleontological Imagery

The dinosaur—as image and concept—is a ubiquitous presence in modern culture. As noted by numerous scholars including W. J. T. Mitchell, it has garnered numerous connotations and meanings over the course of more than two centuries of paleontological exploration and the translation of scientific knowledge into public discourse. In the nineteenth century, as cultural understanding of dinosaurs and the primordial world first began to develop out of nascent scientific inquiry, a process or pattern of convergence between the ancient, mythic figure of the dragon and the new and often controversial concept of prehistoric animals helped to shape the public’s conception and acceptance of dinosaurs and their nature. This process, which was accomplished primarily through dinosaur imagery, can be traced historically. Such an investigation reveals that factors including taxonomic manipulation and the power of visual illustration brought the dragon and the dinosaur to a point of cultural convergence. Beginning with the first large-scale replicas of dinosaurs, created for the rebuilt Crystal Palace complex at Sydenham, England under the direction of the noted naturalist Richard Owen, the concept of the dragon was deliberately co-opted into both the literature and the imagery of paleontology. Our twenty-first-century understanding of the dinosaurs that routinely populate our visual and other media is highly informed by this process, which is in itself an important aspect of the history of the prehistoric beast in western culture.

Die Chemie am Ursprung des Lebens

Metabolic evolution is evolution without genetic replication and mutagenesis. Chemical reactions and their laws determine the formation of organic molecules from inorganic precursors in a primordial world of surface catalysis. Through ligand effects enhancement of transition metal catalysts may occur which could lead to an expanding pool of organic molecules with growing complexity and potential for the establishment of a primordial metabolism.

Rabinal Achi: A Fifteenth-Century Maya Dynastic Drama

Rabinal Achi: A Fifteenth-Century Maya Dynastic Drama

Nature Inspired Hay Fever Therapy

The survival oriented adaptation of evolved biosystems to variations in their environment is a selective optimization process. Recognizing the optimised end product and its functionality is the classical arena of bionic engineering. In a primordial world, however, the molecular organization and functions of prebiotic systems were solely defined by formative processes in their physical and chemical environment, for instance, the interplay between interfacial water layers on surfaces and solar light. The formative potential of the interplay between light (laser light) and interfacial water layers on surfaces was recently exploited in the formation of supercubane carbon nanocrystals. In evolved biosystems the formative potential of interfacial water layers can still be activated by light. Here we report a case of hay fever, which was successfully treated in the course of a facial rejuvenation program starting in November 2007. Targeting primarily interfacial water layers on elastin fibres in the wrinkled areas, we presumably also activated mast cells in the nasal mucosa, reported to progressively decrease in the nasal mucosa of the rabbit, when frequently irradiated. Hay fever is induced by the release of mediators, especially histamine, a process associated with the degranulation of mast cells. Decrease in mast cells numbers implies a decrease in the release of histamine. To the best of our knowledge this is the first report on the treatment of hay fever with visible light. This approach was inspired by bionic thinking, and could help ameliorating the condition of millions of people suffering from hay fever world wide.

Bioinformatic Identification of the Most Ancient Copper Protein Architecture

Since copper ions participate in many cellular processes and are implicated in pathogenesis of many diseases, copper proteins have important biological significance. Thus, it is of interest to explore their origins, especially to address the following question: which is the most ancient architecture of copper proteins? In this paper, through analyzing the architectural features of copper proteins, we find that the fold-domain relationship of these proteins follows a power law, which can be explained by preferential attachment principle and implicates that the architecture of the most ancient copper proteins belonged to Cupredoxin-like (b.6) fold. According to the chronology of protein folds, this architecture originated rather late, which can be understood in terms of the low abundance of reducing amino acids (e.g., His, Cys and/or Met) in the primordial world, because these amino acids are required by copper proteins to bind copper ions.

Organic cofactors participated more frequently than transition metals in redox reactions of primitive proteins

Protein redox reactions are one of the most basic and important biochemical actions. As amino acids are weak redox mediators, most protein redox functions are undertaken by protein cofactors, which include organic ligands and transition metal ions. Since both kinds of redox cofactors were available in the pre-protein RNA world, it is challenging to explore which one was more involved in redox processes of primitive proteins? In this paper, using an examination of the redox cofactor usage of putative ancient proteins, we infer that organic ligands participated more frequently than transition metals in redox reactions of primitive proteins, at least as protein cofactors. This is further supported by the relative abundance of amino acids in the primordial world. Supplementary material for this article can be found on the BioEssays website.

Structural Co-Evolution of Viruses and Cells in the Primordial World

Viruses and cells co-evolve due to the parasitic nature of viruses. Yet there are no models suggesting how the unicellular organisms and their viruses might co-evolve structurally. Here, in this study, we plunge into this unexplored field from a wide perspective and try to describe some of the intriguing ways in which viruses may have shaped the cellular life forms on the ancient Earth. At first we propose a scenario where viruses act as a driving force in the emergence of bacterial cell walls by providing favorable intermediates for the otherwise improbable steps in the cell wall generation. We also discuss the role of viruses in the evolution of cell surface components such as receptors and second membranes. Finally we focus on hypothetical proto-viruses, the selfish abusers of the RNA-world, in explaining some of the very early stages in the origin and evolution of life. Proto-viruses may be responsible for creating the first true cells in order to support their selfish needs. In this model we also suggest a logical pathway to explaining the emergence of modern viruses.

Winslow Homer: an American vision

Introduction - Chapter 1: Early Experiences - Chapter 2: The American Civil War - Chapter 3: Observations of Modern Life - Chapter 4: Rural America - Chapter 5: A Turn to the Cosmopolitan - Chapter 6: England: Shedding the Past - Chapter 7: Homer's Refuge in Maine - Chapter 8 A Ravenous Sea - Chapter 9: A Man's World in the North Woods - Chapter 10: A Primordial World - Chapter 11: Heaven and Hell in the Tropics - Chapter 12: The Final Years - Conclusion - Chronology - Bibliography

Comedy and the Satyr-Chorus

Despite a superficial kinship, Old Comedy and satyr-play avoid each other. Tragedy has extensive ties with both. Comedy engages tragedy but systematically ignores satyr-play. This "firewall" is documented across the entire comic corpus (e.g., Cratinus' Dionysalexandros). The "hauling scene" in Aristophanes' Peace emerges as the unique exception. Here comedy reproduces a visual from Sophocles' satyr-play Pandora (Sphyrokopoi). Comedy needs to invoke the primordial world of satyr-play that is uniquely relevant to a scene representing the utopian heuresis of peace by a pan-Hellenic discovery team. The two genres located at opposite ends of a political-cultural polarity uniquely cooperate in Peace.