"Recalling the Council of Ferrara and Florence: two fifteenth-century Florentine 'uomini famosi' cycles"

In this thesis, I examine the two extant Florentine fresco cycles of famous men, or uomini famosi created in the quattrocento: Andrea del Castagno's Famous Men and Women (1448-51) [figure 1], created for the private residence of the Carducci family, and Domenico Ghirlandaio's Apotheosis of St. Zenobius and Famous Men (1482-83) [figure 2] located in the Sala dei Gigli in the Palazzo Vecchio, suggesting that each recalled the Council of Ferrara and Florence (1438-39), called by Pope Eugenius VI in 1438 in an attempt to unify the Eastern and Western divisions of the Church. While extensive art historical study has been dedicated to each cycle individually, neither installation has been considered in relation to contemporary political events or in relation to the other. Reference to the Council, its temporary success, and the lasting effect that it had in the hearts of Florentines, I suggest, aids in understanding what have been, in the past, identified as the cycles' "unusual" iconography, such as the inclusion of contemporary Florentine men and a somewhat minor saint placed as a central figure. To support this expanded analysis of the frescoes, I first consider the history of uomini famosi cycles, demonstrating that, indeed, both Florentine cycles contain unprecedented groupings and portrayals, intentional departures from cycles produced outside of Florence. Close consideration of both fresco cycles suggests that the multilayered and complex programs each referenced the concerns of their patrons, public and private, to recall the positive nature of the Council of Ferrara and Florence. (Published By University of Alabama Libraries

Artwrite 50

This issue of Artwrite is the collective effort of students studying the Master of Art Administration in the College of Fine Arts, UNSW working under the direction of Associate Professor Joanna Mendelssoh

Scandal! Early Supreme Court News Coverage and the Justice-Journalist Divide

In January of 1900, United States Supreme Court Associate Justice Henry Brown (author of Plessy v. Ferguson) had apparently just about had it with the press. He gave what was called [t]he principal address before members of the New York State Bar Association in Albany and focused not principally on law, but on what he called journalism\u27s sensationalistic methods.\u27 Ugly stories are told, he told the gathered attorneys, of spies put upon houses to unearth domestic scandals or upon the steps of public men to ferret out political secrets, including early reports of court decisions. The greatest of the cruelties done by journalists, in Justice Brown\u27s estimation, were their assaults upon private character. The worst of the publications, he complained, were those newspapers that published Sunday editions. This Essay explores some of that early press coverage of the Supreme Court, particularly of its Justices, and it attempts to explain what could have so provoked Justice Brown. The story is personal to Justice Brown, who was of some interest to journalists of the time, but it is also much broader. A Supreme Court press corps that had once been at least somewhat compliant and respectful of the Court became more critical of both the Justices and their decisions, and more interested in them as personalities. Ultimately, this Essay argues that such a history-one that began with at least partial quiet deference and turned distinctly toward sensationalism-laid the groundwork for Justice Brown\u27s anti- journalism speech and the distrust shown to media by today\u27s Justices

Higher sequence diversity in the vaginal tract than in blood at early HIV-1 infection

<div><p>In the majority of cases, human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infection is transmitted through sexual intercourse. A single founder virus in the blood of the newly infected donor emerges from a genetic bottleneck, while in rarer instances multiple viruses are responsible for systemic infection. We sought to characterize the sequence diversity at early infection, between two distinct anatomical sites; the female reproductive tract vs. systemic compartment. We recruited 72 women from Uganda and Zimbabwe within seven months of HIV-1 infection. Using next generation deep sequencing, we analyzed the total genetic diversity within the C2-V3-C3 envelope region of HIV-1 isolated from the female genital tract at early infection and compared this to the diversity of HIV-1 in plasma. We then compared intra-patient viral diversity in matched cervical and blood samples with three or seven months post infection. Genetic analysis of the C2-V3-C3 region of HIV-1 <i>env</i> revealed that early HIV-1 isolates within blood displayed a more homogeneous genotype (mean 1.67 clones, range 1–5 clones) than clones in the female genital tract (mean 5.7 clones, range 3–10 clones) (p<0.0001). The higher <i>env</i> diversity observed within the genital tract compared to plasma was independent of HIV-1 subtype (A, C and D). Our analysis of early mucosal infections in women revealed high HIV-1 diversity in the vaginal tract but few transmitted clones in the blood. These novel <i>in vivo finding suggest a possible</i> mucosal sieve effect, leading to the establishment of a homogenous systemic infection.</p></div

HIV-1 diversity in cervical samples and blood at very early and early infection.

<p>Average nucleotide p-distance (s/nt) and the number of unique sequences were analyzed following NGS. Average distance and number of unique sequences of cervical (red symbols and boxplot) and plasma (blue symbols and boxplot) samples were grouped into very early (0–3 months) and early infection (3–7 months) (<b>A-D</b>). Analysis of significance was done using a two-tailed Mann-Whitney test. Each symbol represents an individual subject.</p

Viral loads in cervical and plasma samples early in infection.

<p>Viral RNA copies/ml were quantified in cervical (n = 29; red symbols) and plasma (n = 67; blue symbols) samples collected between 0–7 months of infection. Analysis of significance was done using a two-tailed Mann-Whitney test (p<0.001). Each symbol represents an individual subject.</p

Higher HIV-1 diversity in the female genital tract than in blood within 7 months of infection.

<p>The HIV-1 C2-V3-C3 <i>env</i> region present in cervical (red symbols and red boxplot) and plasma (blue symbols and blue boxplot) samples were PCR amplified and analysed by NGS. The average p-distance (s/nt) of HIV sequences within C2-V3-C3 region were calculated using MEGA 6 with sequences below 200bp excluded from analysis (<b>A</b>). The number of unique sequences within each sample were identified using online Galaxy software to collapse all sequence reads for each sample (<b>B</b>). Frequency of clones in cervical (<b>C</b>) and plasma samples (<b>D</b>) were determined from the number of unique clones. Average distance (<b>E</b>) and the number of unique sequences (<b>F</b>) in cervical and plasma samples grouped by subtype of infection. Analysis of significance was done using a two-tailed Mann-Whitney test. Each symbol represents an individual subject.</p

Slower CD4 T cell decline is associated with HIV-1 subtype infection.

<p>Declines in CD4 T cell rates per week from longitudinal sampling of study subjects (n = 72) were plotted. Each slope was derived from multiple time points of plasma sampling between viral set point and cART. Scatter dot plots of CD4 T cell declines in plasma stratified by subtype A, C and D infection are depicted on the left Y-axis (<b>A</b>). A marginal model with generalized estimating equation (GEE) approach was used to analyze CD4 T cell decline rates in a larger sample number of Ugandan and Zimbabwean women (n = 286) of the same cohort [<a href="http://www.plospathogens.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.ppat.1006754#ppat.1006754.ref024" target="_blank">24</a>]. Box plots with mean and error bars of GEE calculated CD4 T cell declines grouped by subtype A, C and D are depicted on the right Y-axis (<b>A</b>). Statistical significance was done using a two-tailed Mann-Whitney test and two sample t-test assuming unequal variances. Spearman Rank correlation of the CD4 T cell loss versus average HIV genetic distance in the early plasma samples were separated and plotted by the infecting subtype A (<b>B</b>), subtype C (<b>C</b>) and subtype D (<b>D</b>).</p

Envelope sequence diversity in the cervical tract and matched plasma samples early in infection.

<p>Paired cervical and plasma samples (n = 21) from individuals infected between 0–7 months were compared for C2-V3-C3 <i>env</i> diversity by calculating genetic distance using MEGA6 software (<b>A</b>). The number of unique sequences was derived by collapsing the number of total sequences (range = 93–2409 sequences) for each individual sample using online Galaxy software (<b>B</b>). Paired cervical and plasma sequences were analyzed for selective pressure by estimating the dN/dS ratio in each sample using SNAP v2.11 and plotted (<b>C</b>). Sequences of dS = 0 or dN = 0, resulting in dN/dS = 0 were included as zeros or no evolution. Statistical significance between matched cervical and plasma samples were determined using a two-tailed Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed rank test. The average of 100 maximum likelihood bootstrapped trees of nucleotide sequences were generated with MEGA6, rooted to the SIVcpz CD.90.ANT sequence, and visualized with FigTree 1.4.2 to highlight sequence heterogeneity. The C2-V3-C3 <i>env</i> sequences from cervical (C) and plasma (P) paired samples aligned to the reference HIV sequences from the Los Alamos Sequence Database (<b>D</b>) and following trees provide bootstrapping values.</p

Models of heterosexual HIV-1 transmission bottlenecks.

<p>Donors infected with HIV-1 have a genetically diverse HIV-1 population in the blood. Within the donor, a genetic bottleneck has been reported to occur between the blood compartment and semen, resulting in less diverse HIV-1 populations. The intact female vaginal mucosa is known to act as an efficient barrier to HIV-1 transmission, resulting in only a single TF variant establishing infection in the recipient (<b>Model 1</b>). Aside from the bottleneck within the donor the most stringent HIV-1 sieve effect is thought to take place in the female genital tract. In this study we show high HIV genetic diversity and distinct HIV-1 clones in the endocervix during early infection suggesting either an infection of the female genital tract with a population of HIV-1 clones from the donor (<b>Model 2</b>) or infection of the female genital tract with a single or limited number of HIV-1 clones which then evolves prior to systemic transmission (<b>Model 3</b>). Model 2 has been expanded in the bottom schematic figure. Transmission processes across the female genital tract: HIV-1 virions from the donor fluid are trapped by mucus or entry is blocked by the physical barrier of the mucosae (<b>A</b>). HIV-1 virions can be captured and internalized by intraepithelial Langerhans cells (<b>B</b>). HIV-1 can infect stromal CD4 T cells leading to productive infection (<b>C</b>). HIV-1 virions can bind to and infect DCs in the stroma and infect CD4 T cells <i>in trans</i> through an infectious synapse (<b>D</b>). Infected CD4 T cells and DCs can disseminate the virus from the mucosa to the blood (<b>E</b>).</p