The function of structure and imagery in Shakespeare's last plays

Scholars are far from agreed as to the basic nature of Shakespeare's last plays or Romances. Concentrating mainly on Pericles, Cymbeline, and The Winter's Tale, this thesis seeks to add to our understanding of the Romances by examining their structure and imagery, which contain a number of peculiarities. It is argued that the main function of the structure of the last plays is to give shape to Shakespeare's final vision: a vision as profound as, though different from, that of the Tragedies. As the Romances are complex poetic dramas, a conception of structure merely in terms of "the arrangement of the incidents would be inadequate. All those elements, as far as they can be traced, which contributed to their design, are relevant. Imagery, in particular, closely interacts with structure, though not equally clearly in all of the Romances. It clarifies their function of structure. To express his vision clearly, and in effective dramatic form, presented even Shakespeare, the mature dramatist, with unusual difficulties. His first two Romances are interesting experiments rather than successful plays, pericles being written in the manner of a saint-play, Cymbeline in the more complex form of Alexandrian romance. In The Winter's Tale and The Tempest, Shakespeare accomplished his purpose fully, employing basically different types of structure. His final vision is at once wider and more optimistic than that of the Tragedies. It comprehends levels of romance as well as of reality. Though the good man encounters evil and is subjected to suffering, even to despair, divine Providence restores him to joy. During his trials, he acquires patience and moral wisdom. Providence acts partly through the younger generation who represent man's hope of renewal in life. This action is mainly inward and requires many years. The findings, however, should be regarded as tentative, since they are based on merely one angle of approach.<p

‘The art history and methodology of Millard Meiss and the question of his lukewarm reception in Italy’. Review of: Jennifer Cooke, Millard Meiss, American Art History, and Conservation: From Connoisseurship to Iconology and Kulturgeschichte, New York and London: Routledge, 2021, 219 pp., 11 b. & w. illus., ISBN 978-0-367-13834-9

This book review focuses on Jennifer Cooke’s careful and incisive analysis of the different methodological approaches adopted by Millard Meiss in his art-historical writing. Her extensive research in Meiss’s personal letters allows for an intimate portrait of his scholarly interactions, including over thirty years of correspondence with Erwin Panofsky. The originality and importance of Cooke’s perspective on the reception of Meiss’s work in Italy is acknowledged, but it is also suggested that a fully balanced appraisal would have to include the profound influence Meiss had in North America

Development of a phage cocktail to control Proteus mirabilis catheter-associated urinary tract infections

"Article 1024"Proteus mirabilis is an enterobacterium that causes catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTIs) due to its ability to colonize and form crystalline biofilms on the catheters surface. CAUTIs are very difficult to treat, since biofilm structures are highly tolerant to antibiotics. Phages have been used widely to control a diversity of bacterial species, however a limited number of phages for P. mirabilis have been isolated and studied. Here we report the isolation of two novel virulent phages, the podovirus vB_PmiP_5460 and the myovirus vB_PmiM_5461, which are able to target respectively, 16 of the 26 and all the Proteus strains tested in this study. Both phages have been characterized thoroughly and sequencing data revealed no traces of genes associated with lysogeny. To further evaluate the phages ability to prevent catheter´s colonization by Proteus, the phages adherence to silicone surfaces was assessed. Further tests in phage-coated catheters using a dynamic biofilm model simulating CAUTIs, have shown a significant reduction of P. mirabilis biofilm formation up to 168 h of catheterization. These results highlight the potential usefulness of the two isolated phages for the prevention of surface colonization by this bacterium.This study was supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) under the scope of the strategic funding of UID/BIO/04469/2013 unit, COMPETE 2020 (POCI- 01-0145-FEDER-006684) and by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) under the scope of the Project RECI/BBB-EBI/0179/2012 (FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER- 027462). NC and SS also thank FCT for the individual support through Investigador FCT contracts

Stress-induced adaptive morphogenesis in bacteria

Bacteria thrive in virtually all environments. Like all other living organisms, bacteria may encounter various types of stresses, to which cells need to adapt. In this chapter, we describe how cells cope with stressful conditions and how this may lead to dramatic morphological changes. These changes may not only allow harmless cells to withstand environmental insults but can also benefit pathogenic bacteria by enabling them to escape from the immune system and the activity of antibiotics. A better understanding of stress-induced morphogenesis will help us to develop new approaches to combat such harmful pathogens.Microbial Biotechnolog