De tidlige trekirkenes planlegging og design: Et bidrag til en teoridannelse

Planning and Design of the Early Wooden Churches. A Contribution to a Theory By Jørgen H. Jensenius. For more than 160 years, researchers have conducted investigations into the churches which existed before the stave churches in Norway, and they have pointed out possible prototypes both at home and abroad. However, theories relating to origins often deal only with external form. In my dissertation (Jensenius 2001) the conclusion reveals that church building was part of an experiencebased tradition wherein knowledge about the buildings’ visible and invisible order (measurements) was transferred from prototypes through imitation of a series of actions

Hvorfor ble kirkegårder velsignet?

Why were churchyards blessed? By Jørgen H. Jensenius The question asked in this article is why churches were dedicated and churchyards were solemnly blessed in the Middle Ages. Five possible reasons are proposed. Firstly, because a possible pagan place of worship had to be purified by exorcism and blessing before it was suitable for Christian worship. Secondly, because a priest was not allowed to celebrate mass in a church before the altar was dedicated to God in the name of a Saint. By this action the whole place was reserved for Christian worship perpetually. Thirdly, because the dedication ceremony was meant to create awe and respect for the holy place so fugitives seeking sanctuary should be left unharmed. Fourthly, because the public and circumstantial rite was meant to make visible the transfer of property and the new property boundaries. Finally, because the ritual should inculcate into the public respect for the property of the Church. Dedication of churches and solemnly blessing of churchyards were therefore both mean and aim. The aim was to promote respect for the site and the people residing there. The mean was to create awe by connecting it to holiness. In a predominant oral culture this had to be done by actions and statements

Osebergskipets gravkammer

The Oseberg burial mound, containing the Oseberg ship, was archaeologically excavated in Vestfold, Norway, in 1904. In the middle of the ship there was a small edifice; this was interpreted as a burial chamber because it contained two skeletons. The edifice has been dated dendrochronologically to the year 834, potentially making it the oldest preserved wooden building in Norway. This article discusses how the edifice may have been planned, prepared and equipped in accordance with the regional building tradition at the time. Comparisons are drawn to archaeological traces of contemporary wooden pit houses, or Grubenhäuser, used on the farms in Northern Europe as store houses or weaving workshops. More in-depth analyses of these edifices can therefore contribute to our knowledge of vernacular building practices in the Viking era

Risk Factors for African Tick-Bite Fever in Rural Central Africa

African tick-bite fever is an emerging infectious disease caused by the spotted fever group Rickettsia, Rickettsia africae, and is transmitted by ticks of the genus Amblyomma. To determine the seroprevalence of exposure to R. africae and risk factors associated with infection, we conducted a cross-sectional study of persons in seven rural villages in distinct ecological habitats of Cameroon. We examined 903 plasma samples by using an indirect immunofluorescence assay for antibodies to R. africae and analyzed demographic and occupational data collected from questionnaires. Of the 903 persons tested, 243 (26.9%) had IgG/IgM/IgA reactive with R. africae. Persons from four of the seven village sites were significantly more likely to be seropositive (P < 0.05), and lowland forest sites tended to have higher seroprevalences. These results suggest that African tick-bite fever is common in adults in rural areas of Cameroon and that ecological factors may play a role in the acquisition of R. africae infection

Engineering novel complement activity into a pulmonary surfactant protein

Complement neutralizes invading pathogens, stimulates inflammatory and adaptive immune responses, and targets non- or altered-self structures for clearance. In the classical and lectin activation pathways, it is initiated when complexes composed of separate recognition and activation subcomponents bind to a pathogen surface. Despite its apparent complexity, recognition-mediated activation has evolved independently in three separate protein families, C1q, mannose-binding lectins (MBLs), and serum ficolins. Although unrelated, all have bouquet-like architectures and associate with complement-specific serine proteases: MBLs and ficolins with MBL-associated serine protease-2 (MASP-2) and C1q with C1r and C1s. To examine the structural requirements for complement activation, we have created a number of novel recombinant rat MBLs in which the position and orientation of the MASP-binding sites have been changed. We have also engineered MASP binding into a pulmonary surfactant protein (SP-A), which has the same domain structure and architecture as MBL but lacks any intrinsic complement activity. The data reveal that complement activity is remarkably tolerant to changes in the size and orientation of the collagenous stalks of MBL, implying considerable rotational and conformational flexibility in unbound MBL. Furthermore, novel complement activity is introduced concurrently with MASP binding in SP-A but is uncontrolled and occurs even in the absence of a carbohydrate target. Thus, the active rather than the zymogen state is default in lectin·MASP complexes and must be inhibited through additional regions in circulating MBLs until triggered by pathogen recognition

Acute Spotted Fever Rickettsiosis among Febrile Patients, Cameroon

Although potential arthropod vectors are abundant in Cameroon, acute febrile illnesses are rarely evaluated for arboviral or rickettsial infections. Serum samples from 234 acutely febrile patients at clinics in Tiko and Buea, Cameroon, were examined for antibodies to Rickettsia africae and African alphaviruses and flaviviruses. These serum samples did not contain antibodies against typhoid, and blood malarial parasites were not detected. Serum samples of 32% contained immunoglobulin M antibodies reactive with R. africae by immunofluorescence assay and were reactive with outer membrane proteins A and B of R. africae by immunoblotting. These findings established a diagnosis of acute rickettsiosis, most likely African tick-bite fever. Hemagglutination inhibition testing of the serum samples also detected antibodies to Chikungunya virus (47%) and flaviviruses (47%). High prevalence of antibodies to arboviruses may represent a major, previously unrecognized public health problem in an area where endemic malaria and typhoid fever have been the principal diagnostic considerations

Serologic Analysis of Returned Travelers with Fever, Sweden

We studied 1,432 febrile travelers from Sweden who had returned from malaria-endemic areas during March 2005–March 2008. In 383 patients, paired serum samples were blindly analyzed for influenza and 7 other agents. For 21% of 115 patients with fever of unknown origin, serologic analysis showed that influenza was the major cause

Arboviral and other illnesses in travellers returning from Brazil, june 2013 to may 2016: Implications for the 2016 olympic and paralympic games

We evaluated EuroTravNet (a GeoSentinel subnetwork) data from June 2013 to May 2016 on 508 ill travellers returning from Brazil, to inform a risk analysis for Europeans visiting the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Brazil. Few dengue fever cases (n = 3) and no cases of chikungunya were documented during the 2013-15 Brazilian winter months, August and September, the period when the Games will be held. The main diagnoses were dermatological (37%), gastrointestinal (30%), febrile systemic illness (29%) and respiratory (11%)