The Elegiac Ass: The Concept of Servitivm Amoris in Apuleius' Metamorphoses

Seruitium amoris, the notion of love as slavery, is a frequent theme in Roman elegy. It inverts Roman reality in representing a free Roman citizen dominated by a woman, evidently from a lower social class. The elegiac amator (‘lover') elevates his beloved puella (‘girl') and treats her as a slave would treat his mistress (domina), obeying her orders and yielding to her wishes and moods. Although it has been widely observed that Lucius, the protagonist of Apuleius' Metamorphoses, acts like a slave towards his beloved, the slave girl Fotis, the idea of elegiac seruitium amoris has not been analysed systematically as an explanation of this strange relationship, and affinities between the Metamorphoses and Roman elegy have even been denied altogether. To date, most investigations have focused not on the mode but on the consequences of Lucius' servile behaviour, culminating in his transformation into an ass and a series of painful adventures brought to an end by the intervention of the goddess Isis. My discussion will argue that in presenting Lucius and Fotis as an elegiac couple, Apuleius adds yet another form of love to the broad spectrum of relationships between the sexes that he presents in the Metamorphoses. It will also contend that by introducing the theme of seruitium amoris, he helps his audience interpret the complex and richly described relationship between protagonist and slave, a key theme throughout the wor

High precision real-time location estimates in a real-life barn environment using a commercial ultra wideband chip

Structural changes lead to an increase in the number of dairy cows and dry sows kept per group. This has consequences in how easily a farmer can supervise his herd and may be detrimental to animal welfare, specifically regarding social relations, time budget and area of residence. An automated tracking system can support the farmer in his management activities and can provide the foundation for a scientific assessment of the welfare consequences of large groups. In this study, a relatively simple and inexpensive real time location system (RTLS) was developed with the aim of achieving precise localization of several tags (animals) in real time and in a real barn environment. The RTLS was based on the ultra-wideband (UWB) technology provided by DecaWave and was adapted for a time difference of arrival (TDoA) procedure to estimate the tags’ positions. The RTLS can handle up to a hundred tags simultaneously using a Pure ALOHA random access method at 1-second intervals. The localization of the tags was estimated in 2D on a given fixed height using a constrained Gauss-Newton algorithm to increase accuracy and stability. The performance of the overall system was evaluated in two different dairy barns. To determine the precision of the system, static and dynamic positions measured at withers height of a cow (1.5 m) and closer to the ground mimicking a lying cow were compared with a reference system (theodolite). The 2D deviations between the systems were used as a measure of precision. In addition, the scalability in respect to the number of tags and the size of the observed area was examined in situations with ten tags and the situation with 100 tags was simulated with a ten-fold increase in sampling rate. According to the field test, the system as developed can be used for the individual localization of animals. At withers height, most of the measured locations deviated less than 0.5 m from the localizations as measured by the theodolite. At lower heights, and closer to the corners of the observed area, some localization estimates were somewhat larger. This was also the case close to large metal barn infrastructure. The measured collision rate of 11% for 100 tags was low. In spite of its low price, the system as a whole is therefore promising and ready for a next step, which should include the observation of large groups of real animals on working farms

Autoantibodies against NMDAR subunit NR1 disappear from blood upon anesthesia

Anesthetics penetrate the blood-brain-barrier (BBB) and - as confirmed preclinically – transiently disrupt it. An analogous consequence in humans has remained unproven. In mice, we previously reported that upon BBB dysfunction, the brain acts as ‘immunoprecipitator’ of autoantibodies against N-methyl-D-aspartate-receptor subunit-NR1 (NMDAR1-AB). We thus hypothesized that during human anesthesia, pre-existing NMDAR1-AB will specifically bind to brain. Screening of N = 270 subjects undergoing general anesthesia during cardiac surgery for serum NMDAR1-AB revealed N = 25 NMDAR1-AB seropositives. Only N = 14 remained positive post-surgery. No changes in albumin, thyroglobulin or CRP were associated with reduction of serum NMDAR1-AB. Thus, upon anesthesia, BBB opening likely occurs also in humans