The Lived Experience of the Black Death

During the late Middle Ages, the experience of plague pervaded the discourse of the body and influenced such disparate subjects as anatomy and art. These cultural motifs were expressed in a variety of ways that correlated the experience of plague with the mortification of the flesh required for Christian martyrdom. Similar ideas were expressed in how medical practitioners conceptualized and justified postmortems and university dissections. The somatic nature of Christian spirituality resonates through the images of plague saints with those of anatomical illustrations of dissected figures. It links together the bodily experience of saints, dissected criminals, and sufferers of plague. This theme culminates in the time when the influences of the physical experience of plague are most visible : following the Italian epidemic of 1477- 79. During this period the Italian peninsula experienced the swift advent of the cult of St. Roch, a sudden shift in the presentation of St. Sebastian, and the rise in anatomical research and dissection culminating in the publication of Berengario da Carpi \u27 s Isagogae Breves in 1 523 . The history of plague and the history of anatomy are intimately linked. The purpose of this essay is to explore the common thread of Christian ideas about physicality and suffering that arise in both plague narratives and medical texts, a theme that remains under-examined in current historiographies of both plague and medieval medicine

The Lived Experience of the Black Death

The historiography of the Black Death includes a debate as to the exact epidemiology of the pathogen that struck Europe in 1348. Various historians have chimed in as to what, exactly, may have been the root cause of the pestilence – with theories ranging from bubonic plague to anthrax or influenza. There is also a question as to whether this debate is even relevant to the study of the Black Death – whether a confirmed medical diagnosis can illuminate a new understanding of the pestilence, or if the epidemiological debate only serves to obfuscate the Black Death’s greater historical consequences. This paper argues that the lived experience of the body is an important and insufficiently explored, sector of historical inquiry. The presentation, treatment, and attitudes associated with a specific disease are effected by its biology. Understanding the epidemiology of that disease is therefore integral to understanding a culture’s reactions to its incidence

Influence of Production System on Animal Performance, Carcass Characteristics, Meat Quality, Environmental Impacts, Production Economics, and Consumer Preference for Beef

The overall objective of this study was to determine if the level of growth promotant technology used among production systems influence animal and carcass performance, meat quality, production economics, the environmental impact, and determine consumer preferences and perception. Angus � Simmental steer calves (n =120) were stratified by birth date, birth weight, and dam age in a completely randomized design and assigned to one of four treatments: 1) no antibiotics (NA, receiving no technology); 2) non-hormone treated (NHTC, fed monensin and tylosin); 3) implant (IMPL, administered a series of three implants), and 4) implant plus fed a beta-agonist (IMBA, administered the same implant strategy as IMPL plus, fed ractopamine-HCI for the last 30 d prior to harvest). Animal weight, production expenses, and environmental factor data were collected from the production segments including: cow-calf, backgrounding, and finishing. During the finishing segment, animal feed intake, average daily gain (ADG), and efficiency was obtained. Carcass meat quality and yield performace was assessed. Striploins were collected for analyses post fabrication. Steaks were designated to specific postmortem aging periods, utilized for Warner-Bratzler shear force (WBSF), crude fat, and consumer sensory analyses. The consumer analyses evaluated beef production system information undisclosed and disclosed or simiply, without and later with information to assess palatability only, perception only, and perception plus palatability among untrained consumer panelists. IMPL had the greatest (P \u3c 0.01) ADG and gain to feed (G:F). The final calculated body weight and hot carcass weight was similar (P \u3e 0.05) and heavier (P \u3c 0.01) for IMPL and IMBA in comparison to NA and NHTC, which were similar (P \u3e 0.05). The actual branded carcass value was similar (P \u3e 0.01) for NA and IMPL and greater (P \u3c 0.05) than NHTC and IMBA, which was similar (P \u3e 0.05). Excluding the cost of the calf, production costs were similar (P \u3e 0.05) and lowest (P \u3c 0.05) for NA and IMPL, NHTC was intermediate (P \u3c 0.05), and IMBA had the greatest (P \u3c 0.05) production cost. Net return was similar (P \u3e 0. 01) between NA and IMPL, which was greater (P \u3c 0.01) than NHTC and IMBA, which were similar (P \u3e 0.01). In the environmental analysis, IMPL reduced GHG (CO2e/kg HCW) emissions by 8%, energy use (MJ/kg HCW) by 6%, water use (kg H2O/kg HCW) by 6%, and reactive N loss (g N/kg HCW) by 6%. The IMBA reduced GHG emissions by 7%, energy use by 3%, and reactive N loss by 1%. Meat quality analyses for marbling score and crude fat among NA and NHTC did not differ (P \u3e 0.05) but were greater (P \u3c 0.05) than IMPL and IMBA, which were similar (P \u3e 0.05) and lower in crude fat. Steaks from NA and NHTC did not differ (P \u3e 0.05) for WBSF though were more tender (P ≤ 0.05) than IMPL and IMBA, which were similar (P \u3e 0.05) and tougher (P ≤ 0.05). During the Undisclosed without Meat panel, NA was most preferred (P ≤ 0.05) and IMBA was least preferred (P ≤ 0.05) while NHTC and IMPL were intermediate and similar (P \u3e 0.05). All samples differed (P ≤ 0.05) during the Disclosed with Meat panel where, NHTC was most preferred followed by NA, IMPL, and IMBA. Despite improvements from use of monensin, tylosin, growth promoting implants with and without ractopamine HCl, cattle within IMPL and IMBA resulted in greater animal and carcass weights, were most effective at minimizing the environmental impact, and improved producer net return (IMPL only). However, consumers may have detected reductions in tenderness and palatability as IMPL and IMBA were least preferred. Consumers preferred the palatability of meat raised with judicious use of antimicrobials and antibiotics to ensure animal health when production information was disclosed (NHTC)

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Large-scale variation in wave attenuation of oyster reef living shorelines and the influence of inundation duration

One of the paramount goals of oyster reef living shorelines is to achieve sustained and adaptive coastal protection, which requires meeting ecological (i.e., develop a self-sustaining oyster population) and engineering (i.e., provide coastal defense) targets. In a large-scale comparison along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the United States, the efficacy of various designs of oyster reef living shorelines at providing wave attenuation was evaluated accounting for the ecological limitations of oysters with regards to inundation duration. A critical threshold for intertidal oyster reef establishment is 50% inundation duration. Living shorelines that spent less than half of the time (\u3c 50%) inundated were not considered suitable habitat for oysters, however, were effective at wave attenuation (68% reduction in wave height). Reefs that experienced \u3e 50% inundation were considered suitable habitat for oysters, but wave attenuation was similar to controls (no reef; ~5% reduction in wave height). Many of the oyster reef living shoreline approaches therefore failed to optimize the ecological and engineering goals. In both inundation regimes, wave transmission decreased with an increasing freeboard (difference between reef crest elevation and water level), supporting its importance in the wave attenuation capacity of oyster reef living shorelines. However, given that the reef crest elevation (and thus freeboard) should be determined by the inundation duration requirements of oysters, research needs to be re-focused on understanding the implications of other reef parameters (e.g. width) for optimising wave attenuation. A broader understanding of the reef characteristics and seascape contexts that result in effective coastal defense by oyster reefs is needed to inform appropriate design and implementation of oyster-based living shorelines globally. Accepted manuscript version

The potential for haptic-enabled interaction to support collaborative learning in school biology

This paper discusses the rationales and design considerations for developing the use of haptics (virtual touch) for learning aspects of cell biology in secondary schools. The paper considers issues in understanding concepts in cell biology and how a 3-D environment enabled by haptics could support learning of difficult concepts. In this endeavour, a number of educational and design challenges need to be addressed. First we need to identify the level of detail and realism that will support learning and visualisation rather than confuse through its overcomplexity or create misconceptions through oversimplification. Secondly we need to integrate the use of the 3-D environment into classroom teaching by identifying relevant curriculum and pedagogical challenges and solutions. Significant design challenges include navigating the content and scale changes involved in moving between the visible, microscopic and nanoscale in an intuitive and realistic way and enabling collaborative learning