Thoughts on Myth and Religion in Early Greek Historiography

El artículo examina el nacimiento del concepto de mythos/mito en el contexto de la historiografía y la mitografía de la Grecia arcaica. La posibilidad de oponerse a relatos tradicionales es un factor crítico en este proceso y se relaciona estrechamente con los esfuerzos de los autores por fijar su autoridad. Se compara la práctica de Heródoto con la de los primeros mitógrafos y, aunque hay amplias similitudes, hay diferencias cruciales en el tratamiento de los asuntos religiosos. Los escrúpulos personales de Heródoto responden en parte a su bien conocida reserva en lo referente a los dioses, pero es también relevante su actitud acerca de la tarea del historiador y su noción de cómo los dioses intervienen en la historia. Mientras que los mitógrafos tratan de historicizar la mitología, Heródoto trata de modo notable de desmitologizar la historia, separando ambas, pero al mismo tiempo definiendo con más profundidad que nunca sus auténticas interconexiones. Esta situación sugiere algunas consideraciones generales acerca de la relación entre mito y ritual en Grecia.The article examines the emerging concept of mythos/myth in the context of early Greek historiography and mythography. The possibility of contesting traditional stories is a critical factor in this process, and is closely related to the efforts of writers to establish their authority. Herodotos' practice is compared with that of the early mythographers, and though there are some broad similarities, there are crucial differences in their approach to religious matters. Herodotos' personal scruples account for some of his well-known reticence about the gods, but also relevant is his attitude to the historian's task, and his notion of how gods act in history. If mythographers attempt to historicise mythology, he quite remarkably attempts to demythologise history, separating the two but at the same time defining more profoundly than ever their true interconnections. This situation prompts some general thoughts on the relationship between Greek myth and ritual

Thoughts on Myth and Religion in Early Greek Historiography

The article examines the emerging concept of mythos/myth in the context of early Greek historiography and mythography. The possibility of contesting traditional stories is a critical factor in this process, and is closely related to the efforts of writers to establish their authority. Herodotos’ practice is compared with that of the early mythographers, and though there are some broad similarities, there are crucial differences in their approach to religious matters. Herodotos’ personal scruples account for some of his well-known reticence about the gods, but also relevant is his attitude to the historian’s task, and his notion of how gods act in history. If mythographers attempt to historicise mythology, he quite remarkably attempts to demythologise history, separating the two but at the same time defining more profoundly than ever their true interconnections. This situation prompts some general thoughts on the relationship between Greek myth and ritual.El artículo examina el nacimiento del concepto de mitos/mito en el contexto de la historiografía y la mitografía de la Grecia arcaica. La posibilidad de oponerse a relatos tradicionales es un factor crítico en este proceso y se relaciona estrechamente con los esfuerzos de los autores por fijar su autoridad. Se compara la práctica de Heródoto con la de los primeros mitógrafos y, aunque hay amplias similitudes, hay diferencias cruciales en el tratamiento de los asuntos religiosos. Los escrúpulos personales de Heródoto responden en parte a su bien conocida reserva en lo referente a los dioses, pero es también relevante su actitud acerca de la tarea del historiador y su noción de cómo los dioses intervienen en la historia. Mientras que los mitógrafos tratan de historicizar la mitología, Heródoto trata de modo notable de desmitologizar la historia, separándo ambas, pero al mismo tiempo definiendo con más profundidad que nunca sus auténticas interconexiones. Esta situación sugiere algunas consideraciones generales acerca de la relación entre mito y ritual en Grecia

How to Tell a Myth

This article investigates the linguistic register of Classical mythography in order to infer the purpose for which these works were composed. Using sociolinguistics, narratology, and a brief analysis of the enunciative circumstances of the texts, it suggests that the texts were works of reference much like those of later mythography. This has important implications for the contemporary status of mythology.Comment raconter un mythe : généalogie, mythologie, mythographie. Cet article étudie le registre linguistique de la mythographie de l’époque classique afin d’identifier la fonction de ces textes. Au moyen de la sociolinguistique, de la narratologie et d’une brève analyse des circonstances énonciatives des textes, il suggère qu’il s’agissait bien d’œuvres de référence, à la manière des productions de la mythographie plus tardive. Cette conclusion a des implications importantes pour le statut contemporain de la mythologie

Pointed-end capping by tropomodulin3 negatively regulates endothelial cell motility

Actin filament pointed-end dynamics are thought to play a critical role in cell motility, yet regulation of this process remains poorly understood. We describe here a previously uncharacterized tropomodulin (Tmod) isoform, Tmod3, which is widely expressed in human tissues and is present in human microvascular endothelial cells (HMEC-1). Tmod3 is present in sufficient quantity to cap pointed ends of actin filaments, localizes to actin filament structures in HMEC-1 cells, and appears enriched in leading edge ruffles and lamellipodia. Transient overexpression of GFP–Tmod3 leads to a depolarized cell morphology and decreased cell motility. A fivefold increase in Tmod3 results in an equivalent decrease in free pointed ends in the cells. Unexpectedly, a decrease in the relative amounts of F-actin, free barbed ends, and actin-related protein 2/3 (Arp2/3) complex in lamellipodia are also observed. Conversely, decreased expression of Tmod3 by RNA interference leads to faster average cell migration, along with increases in free pointed and barbed ends in lamellipodial actin filaments. These data collectively demonstrate that capping of actin filament pointed ends by Tmod3 inhibits cell migration and reveal a novel control mechanism for regulation of actin filaments in lamellipodia

NASA Sea Ice Validation Program for the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program Special Sensor Microwave Imager

The history of the program is described along with the SSM/I sensor, including its calibration and geolocation correction procedures used by NASA, SSM/I data flow, and the NASA program to distribute polar gridded SSM/I radiances and sea ice concentrations (SIC) on CD-ROMs. Following a discussion of the NASA algorithm used to convert SSM/I radiances to SICs, results of 95 SSM/I-MSS Landsat IC comparisons for regions in both the Arctic and the Antarctic are presented. The Landsat comparisons show that the overall algorithm accuracy under winter conditions is 7 pct. on average with 4 pct. negative bias. Next, high resolution active and passive microwave image mosaics from coordinated NASA and Navy aircraft underflights over regions of the Beaufort and Chukchi seas in March 1988 were used to show that the algorithm multiyear IC accuracy is 11 pct. on average with a positive bias of 12 pct. Ice edge crossings of the Bering Sea by the NASA DC-8 aircraft were used to show that the SSM/I 15 pct. ice concentration contour corresponds best to the location of the initial bands at the ice edge. Finally, a summary of results and recommendations for improving the SIC retrievals from spaceborne radiometers are provided

Forecasts of Opportunity for Northern California Soil Moisture

Soil moisture anomalies underpin a number of critical hydrological phenomena with socioeconomic consequences, yet systematic studies of soil moisture predictability are limited. Here, we use a data-adaptive technique, Linear Inverse Modeling, which has proved useful as an indication of predictability in other fields, to investigate the predictability of soil moisture in northern California. This approach yields a model of soil moisture at 10 stations in the region, with results that indicate the possibility of skillful forecasts at each for lead times of 1&ndash;2 weeks. An important advantage of this model is the a priori identification of forecasts of opportunity&mdash;conditions under which the model&rsquo;s forecasts may be expected to have particularly high skill. Given that forecast errors (and inversely, their skill) can be estimated in advance, these findings have the potential to greatly increase the utility of soil moisture forecasts for practical applications including drought and flood forecasting.</p

Dynamics and functional diversity of the smallest phytoplankton on the Northeast US shelf

Author Posting. © National Academy of Sciences, 2020. This article is posted here by permission of National Academy of Sciences for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 117(22), (2020): 12215-12221, doi: 10.1073/pnas.1918439117.Picophytoplankton are the most abundant primary producers in the ocean. Knowledge of their community dynamics is key to understanding their role in marine food webs and global biogeochemical cycles. To this end, we analyzed a 16-y time series of observations of a phytoplankton community at a nearshore site on the Northeast US Shelf. We used a size-structured population model to estimate in situ division rates for the picoeukaryote assemblage and compared the dynamics with those of the picocyanobacteria Synechococcus at the same location. We found that the picoeukaryotes divide at roughly twice the rate of the more abundant Synechococcus and are subject to greater loss rates (likely from viral lysis and zooplankton grazing). We describe the dynamics of these groups across short and long timescales and conclude that, despite their taxonomic differences, their populations respond similarly to changes in the biotic and abiotic environment. Both groups appear to be temperature limited in the spring and light limited in the fall and to experience greater mortality during the day than at night. Compared with Synechococcus, the picoeukaryotes are subject to greater top-down control and contribute more to the region’s primary productivity than their standing stocks suggest.We thank E. T. Crockford, E. E. Peacock, J. Fredericks, Z. Sandwith, the MVCO Operations Team, and divers of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution diving program. This work was supported by NSF Grants OCE-0119915 (to R.J.O. and H.M.S.) and OCE-1655686 (to M.G.N., R.J.O., A.R.S., and H.M.O.); NASA Grants NNX11AF07G (to H.M.S.) and NNX13AC98G (to H.M.S.); Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation Grant GGA#934 (to H.M.S.); and Simons Foundation Grant 561126 (to H.M.S.).2020-11-1

Natural killer cells attenuate cytomegalovirus-induced hearing loss in mice

<div><p>Congenital cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection is the most common non-hereditary cause of sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) yet the mechanisms of hearing loss remain obscure. Natural Killer (NK) cells play a critical role in regulating murine CMV infection via NK cell recognition of the Ly49H cell surface receptor of the viral-encoded m157 ligand expressed at the infected cell surface. This Ly49H NK receptor/m157 ligand interaction has been found to mediate host resistance to CMV in the spleen, and lung, but is much less effective in the liver, so it is not known if this interaction is important in the context of SNHL. Using a murine model for CMV-induced labyrinthitis, we have demonstrated that the Ly49H/m157 interaction mediates host resistance in the temporal bone. BALB/c mice, which lack functional Ly49H, inoculated with mCMV at post-natal day 3 developed profound hearing loss and significant outer hair cell loss by 28 days of life. In contrast, C57BL/6 mice, competent for the Ly49H/m157 interaction, had minimal hearing loss and attenuated outer hair cell loss with the same mCMV dose. Administration of Ly49H blocking antibody or inoculation with a mCMV viral strain deleted for the m157 gene rendered the previously resistant C57BL/6 mouse strain susceptible to hearing loss to a similar extent as the BALB/c mouse strain indicating a direct role of the Ly49H/m157 interaction in mCMV-dependent hearing loss. Additionally, NK cell recruitment to sites of infection was evident in the temporal bone of inoculated susceptible mouse strains. These results demonstrate participation of NK cells in protection from CMV-induced labyrinthitis and SNHL in mice.</p></div

Bostonia: The Boston University Alumni Magazine. Volume 32

Founded in 1900, Bostonia magazine is Boston University's main alumni publication, which covers alumni and student life, as well as university activities, events, and programs