She will give birth immediately. Pregnancy and childbirth in medieval Hebrew medical texts produced in the Mediterranean West

This essay approaches the medieval Hebrew literature on women’s healthcare, with the aim of analysing notions and ideas regarding fertility, pregnancy and childbirth, as conveyed in the texts that form the corpus. Firstly, the work discusses the approach of written texts to pregnancy and childbirth as key elements in the explanation of women’s health and the functioning of the female body. In this regard it also explores the role of this approach in the creation of meanings for both the female body and sexual difference. Secondly, it examines female management of pregnancy and childbirth as recorded in Hebrew medical literature. It pays attention to both the attitudes expressed by the authors, translators and copyists regarding female practice, as well as to instances and remedies derived from «local» traditions —that is, from women’s experience— in the management of pregnancy and childbirth, also recorded in the texts. Finally, the paper explores how medical theories alien to, or in opposition to, Judaism were adopted or not and, at times, adapted to Jewish notions with the aim of eliminating tensions from the text, on the one hand, and providing Jewish practitioners with adequate training to retain their Christian clientele, on the other

She will give birth immediately. Pregnancy and childbirth in medieval Hebrew medical texts produced in the Mediterranean West

This essay approaches the medieval Hebrew literature on women's healthcare, with the aim of analysing notions and ideas regarding fertility, pregnancy and childbirth, as conveyed in the texts that form the corpus. Firstly, the work discusses the approach of written texts to pregnancy and childbirth as key elements in the explanation of women's health and the functioning of the female body. In this regard it also explores the role of this approach in the creation of meanings for both the female body and sexual difference. Secondly, it examines female management of pregnancy and childbirth as recorded in Hebrew medical literature. It pays attention to both the attitudes expressed by the authors, translators and copyists regarding female practice, as well as to instances and remedies derived from "local" traditions -that is, from women's experience- in the management of pregnancy and childbirth, also recorded in the texts. Finally, the paper explores how medical theories alien to, or in opposition to, Judaism were adopted or not and, at times, adapted to Jewish notions with the aim of eliminating tensions from the text, on the one hand, and providing Jewish practitioners with adequate training to retain their Christian clientele, on the other

OTALEXC - 15 anos de cooperação transfronteiriça em Território e SIG

As matérias relacionadas com o Território, a análise das suas características, potencialidades, valores e debilidades é uma das preocupações de todas a entidades que tem de tomar decisões sobre o ordenamento e gestão territoriais. Os Sistemas de Informação Geográfica aliadas a sistemas periciais, redes neuronais e análise multicritério são as ferramentas essenciais para as tarefas relacionadas com a caracterização e análise territorial e ambiental. No âmbito da cooperação transfronteiriça juntaram-se diversas entidades, ao nível local (Diputações e Associações de Municípios – atuais Comunidades Intermunicipais- CIMs), regional (Comissão de Coordenação e Desenvolvimento Regional do Alentejo – CCDRA e Junta da Extremadura – JE), e nacional (Institutos geográficos Português e Espanhol – IGP e IGN) com responsabilidades na gestão e planeamento territorial. Estas entidades começaram por colaborar na área da compatibilização de SIG e cartografia, e tem atualmente em produção a primeira infraestrutura de dados espaciais transfronteiriça – www.ideotalex.eu, onde se encontra compatibilizada informação geográfica de ambos os lados da fronteira e informação temática de indicadores sociais, económicos, territoriais e ambientais do Alentejo e Extremadura estando em curso a integração da informação da região Centro. Os princípios inspiradores que norteiam esta cooperação são: promover o desenvolvimento económico e social dando especial relevância aos valores ambientais,contribuir para o efetivo desenvolvimento sustentável e melhoria da qualidade de vida das populações. Este artigo dá conta dos projetos em que as diversas entidades de ambos os lados da fronteira têm cooperado, ao longo de já 15 anos e dos resultados e prémios alcançados em cada um deles assim como dos efeitos colaterais positivos que essa colaboração tem induzido

Development of wheat—Hordeum chilense Chromosome 2Hch Introgression Lines Potentially Useful for Improving Grain Quality Traits

The chromosome 2Hch of Hordeum chilense. has the potential to improve seed carotenoid content in wheat as it carries a set of endosperm carotenoid-related genes. We have obtained structural changes in chromosome 2Hch in a common wheat (Triticum aestivum L. “Chinese Spring”) background by crossing a wheat double disomic substitution 2Hch(2D) and 7Hch(7D) line with a disomic addition line carrying chromosome 2Cc from Aegilops cylindrica Host.. Seven introgressions of chromosome 2Hch into wheat were characterized by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) and DNA markers. Chromosome-specific simple sequence repeats (SSRs) were used for identifying wheat chromosomes. In addition, we tested 82 conserved orthologous set (COS) markers for homoeologous group 2, of which 65 amplified targets in H. chilense and 26 showed polymorphism between H. chilense and wheat. A total of 24 markers were assigned to chromosome 2Hch with eight allocated to 2HchS and 16 to 2HchL. Among the seven introgressions there was a disomic substitution line 2Hch(2D), a ditelosomic addition line for the 2HchL arm, an isochromosome for the 2HchL arm, a homozygous centromeric 2HchS·2DL translocation, a double monosomic 2HchS·2DL plus 7HchS·D translocation, a homozygous centromeric 7HchS·2HchL translocation and, finally, a 2HchL·7HchL translocation. Wheat—H. chilense macrosyntenic comparisons using COS markers revealed that H. chilense chromosome 2Hch exhibits synteny to wheat homoeologous group 2 chromosomes, and the COS markers assigned to this chromosome will facilitate alien gene introgression into wheat. The genetic stocks developed here include new wheat—H. chilense recombinations which are useful for studying the effect of chromosome 2Hch on grain quality traits

Solvent-Free Enantioselective Organocatalyzed Aldol Reactions

The use of proline as catalyst for the aldol process has given a boost to the development of organocatalysis as a research area. Since then, a plethora of organocatalysts of diverse structures have been developed for this and other organic transformations under different reaction conditions. The use of an organic molecule as catalyst to promote a reaction meets several principles of Green Chemistry. The implementation of solvent-free methodologies to carry out the aldol reaction was soon envisaged. These solvent-free processes can be performed using conventional magnetic stirring or applying ball milling techniques and are even compatible with the use of supported organocatalysts as promoters, which allows the recovery and reuse of the organocatalysts. In addition, other advantages such as the reduction of the required amount of nucleophile and the acceleration of the reaction are accomplished by using solvent-free conditions leading to a “greener” and more sustainable process.This research was supported by the Ministerio de Ciencia Innovación (MICINN: Projects CTQ2007-62771/BQU, CTQ2010-20387, and Consolider Ingenio 2010 CSD2007-00006), FEDER, the Generalitat Valenciana (Project PROMETE0/2009/039), the University of Alicante and the EU (ORCA action CM0905). A.B.C. thanks the Spanish ME for a predoctoral fellowship (FPU AP2009-3601)