Narrative Fresco and Ritual: Filippo Lippi, Domenico Ghirlandaio and Performative Properties of the Religious Art in Quattrocento Florence

The present study analyses Filippo Lippi’s frescoes in the main chapel of the Prato cathedral and Domenico Ghirlandaio’s decoration of the Tornabuoni chapel in Santa Maria Novella in Florence. It focuses on the relationship between the frescoes and the ritual practices of the period, in particular, the religious spectacle. The aim of the research is to analyse the little-known and somewhat elusive relations between the two chapel decorations and other public expressions of devotional culture, such as the religious spectacles performed in the city during religious festivities. Chapter 1 provides a necessary theoretical and historiographical background to the work, while chapter 2 examines the performative production of Florence. It locates the tradition of religious plays within the context of the fifteenth-century devotion and analyses a sample of texts of sacre rappresentazioni. Chapter 3 provides archival evidence of the involvement of Florentine artists, including the two at the centre of this research, with the social and cultural world of the lay confraternities. Chapters 4 and 5 focus on the two fresco decorations. The iconographic analysis allows us to recognize the hagiographic and philosophical sources of the paintings. The study shows the influence of Renaissance culture on the sacred iconography, and the introduction of new themes to the sacred narratives, such as Ficino’s idea of prisca theologia. Finally, the study discusses the relationship between the frescoes and the drama and asks questions about the relationship between the decorations and the ritual. The argument of the thesis is that the visual elements coming from the religious spectacles penetrated to the Florentine narrative paintings thanks to the personal exchange between both environments. Moreover, the study suggests that these inserts were meaningful and allowed the frescoes to become part of the ritual of intercession. Finally, the research shows in which ways the ruling elite participated to the cultural life of the city and used its visual aspects in order to promote their values and to obtain political consent

The effects of 3-year growth hormone treatment and body composition in Polish patients with Silver-Russell syndrome

Introduction: Silver-Russell syndrome (SRS) is characterized by clinical and genetic heterogeneity. SRS is the only disease entity associated with (epi)genetic abnormalities of 2 different chromosomes: 7 and 11. In SRS, the 2 most frequent molecular abnormalities are hypomethylation (loss of methylation) of region H19/IGF2:IG-DMR on chromosome 11p15.5 (11p15 LOM) and maternal uniparental disomy of chromosome 7 (upd(7)mat). Therapy with recombinant human growth hormone (rhGH) is implemented to increase body height in children with SRS. The effect of the administered rhGH on height, weight, body mass index (BMI), body composition, and height velocity in patients with SRS during 3 years of rhGH therapy was analysed. Material and methods: 31 SRS patients (23 with 11p15 LOM, 8 with upd(7)mat) and 16 patients small for gestational age (SGA) as a control group were diagnosed and followed up in The Children’s Memorial Health Institute. Patients were eligible for the 2 Polish rhGH treatment programmes [for patients with SGA or with growth hormone deficiency (GHD)]. Anthropometric parameters were collected in all patients. Body composition using bioelectrical impedance was measured in 13 SRS and 14 SGA patients. Results: Height, weight, and weight for height (SDS) at baseline of rhGH therapy were lower in SRS patients than in the SGA control group: –3.3 ± 1.2 vs. -2.6 ± 06 (p = 0.012), –2.5 vs. -1.9 (p = 0.037), –1.7 vs. –1.1 (p = 0.038), respectively. Height SDS was increased from –3.3 ± 1.2 to –1.8 ± 1.0 and from –2.6 ± 0.6 to –1.3 ± 0.7 in the SRS and SGA groups, respectively. Patients with 11p15 LOM and upd(7)mat achieved similar height, 127.0 ± 15.7 vs. 128.9 ± 21.6 cm, and –2.0 ± 1.3 vs. –1.7 ± 1.0 SDS, respectively. Fat mass percentage decreased in SRS patients from 4.2% to 3.0% (p < 0.05) and in SGA patients from 7.6% to 6.6% (p < 0.05). Conclusions: Growth hormone therapy has a positive influence on the growth of SRS patients. Regardless of molecular abnormality type (11p15 LOM vs. upd(7)mat), height velocity was similar in SRS patients during 3 years of rhGH therapy

Ghirlandaio, Ficino and Hermes Trismegistus: the Prisca Theologia in the Tornabuoni Frescoes

The study offers a Neoplatonic reading of certain iconographic elements of Domenico Ghirlandaio’s frescoes in the Tornabuoni Chapel in Florence. It focuses on the nude figure sitting on the steps in the “Presentation of the Virgin in the Temple” as well as the group of four listeners gathered on the right in the “Preaching of St. John the Baptist”. Following an investigation of the relationship between these figures and Marsilio Ficino’s philosophical ideas and the apocryphal gospels the author suggests that the nude represents Saturn and that the four men are Ficino’s famiglia filosofica: Hermes Trismegistus, Moses, Aristotle and Plato. This analysis therefore attempts to show that the decoration not only expresses the political supremacy of the Medicean faction but also conveys Ficino’s ideas about the prisca theologia

Ophthalmic applicator displacement as a method of treating large diffuse uveal melanomas

Purpose: The presentation of results of an ophthalmic plaque displacement as a brachytherapy treatment method of large diffuse uveal melanomas. Material and methods: This was a retrospective analysis of treatment results of 9 patients with large diffuse uveal melanomas using ophthalmic plaque displacement. Patients were treated with this method in our center between 2012 and 2021 (last follow-up visit in 2023). To achieve appropriate radiation dose distribution for large tumors with a base greater than 18 mm, brachytherapy ($^{106}$Ru in 7 patients and $^{125}$I in 2 patients) with applicator displacement was used as primary treatment. Median follow-up was 2.9 years, and for patients with positive primary treatment results, it was 1.7 months. Median time to local relapse was 2.3 years. Results: In 5 patients, a positive result of local treatment was obtained, out of whom, one patient underwent enucleation due to complications. In the next 4 cases, local recurrence developed. In all tumors, the use of applicator displacement method caused that planning target volume (PTV) was effectively covered with treatment isodose. Conclusions: Brachytherapy with ocular applicator displacement allows for the treatment of tumors with base measurements larger than 18 mm. The application of this method may be considered as an alternative for eye enucleation in particular cases of large diffuse tumors, such as a neoplasm of the eye with vison, or when a patient does not consent to enucleation

Breakpoint Mapping of Symptomatic Balanced Translocations Links the EPHA6, KLF13 and UBR3 Genes to Novel Disease Phenotype

De novo balanced chromosomal aberrations (BCAs), such as reciprocal translocations and inversions, are genomic aberrations that, in approximately 25% of cases, affect the human phenotype. Delineation of the exact structure of BCAs may provide a precise diagnosis and/or point to new disease loci. We report on six patients with de novo balanced chromosomal translocations (BCTs) and one patient with a de novo inversion, in whom we mapped breakpoints to a resolution of 1 bp, using shallow whole-genome mate pair sequencing. In all seven cases, a disruption of at least one gene was found. In two patients, the phenotypic impact of the disrupted genes is well known (NFIA, ATP7A). In five patients, the aberration damaged genes: PARD3, EPHA6, KLF13, STK24, UBR3, MLLT10 and TLE3, whose influence on the human phenotype is poorly understood. In particular, our results suggest novel candidate genes for retinal degeneration with anophthalmia (EPHA6), developmental delay with speech impairment (KLF13), and developmental delay with brain dysembryoplastic neuroepithelial tumor (UBR3). In conclusion, identification of the exact structure of symptomatic BCTs using next generation sequencing is a viable method for both diagnosis and finding novel disease candidate genes in humans