Recording Miracles in Renaissance Italy

If you take the train from Naples around the northern rim of Mount Vesuvius, you will arrive at Madonna dell’Arco, on the edge of the town of Sant’Anastasia. The station takes its name from the large and rather grandiose whitewashed sanctuary that dominates the neighbourhood. With its generic belfry and copper-green cupola, the church building, begun in 1593 and much extended in the twentieth century, is nothing to write home about architecturally. But its bulky presence is a good starting point for thinking about the concrete means by which communities seek to record miraculous events.European Research Counci

New genetic loci link adipose and insulin biology to body fat distribution.

Body fat distribution is a heritable trait and a well-established predictor of adverse metabolic outcomes, independent of overall adiposity. To increase our understanding of the genetic basis of body fat distribution and its molecular links to cardiometabolic traits, here we conduct genome-wide association meta-analyses of traits related to waist and hip circumferences in up to 224,459 individuals. We identify 49 loci (33 new) associated with waist-to-hip ratio adjusted for body mass index (BMI), and an additional 19 loci newly associated with related waist and hip circumference measures (P < 5 × 10(-8)). In total, 20 of the 49 waist-to-hip ratio adjusted for BMI loci show significant sexual dimorphism, 19 of which display a stronger effect in women. The identified loci were enriched for genes expressed in adipose tissue and for putative regulatory elements in adipocytes. Pathway analyses implicated adipogenesis, angiogenesis, transcriptional regulation and insulin resistance as processes affecting fat distribution, providing insight into potential pathophysiological mechanisms

Introduction

This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from Brill via http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/22141332-0020400

Venetian Nunneries in the Counter-Reformation, 1550-1630

In the period following the Council of Trent there were over fifty convents in Venice and its surrounding islands, at times housing more than 3000 nuns. This thesis treats these institutions as an integrated feature of Venetian society, and seeks to illuminate the interactions between nunneries and the outside world at a time when ecclesiastical and state authorities were united in their determination to isolate female religious both physically and emotionally. The five chapters of the thesis explore the following themes: Chapter I examines the web of authorities which governed the nuns of Venice. It analyses the interest which the local church and state displayed in controlling the city's convents, and assesses the degree of self-rule exercised by female religious communities. Chapter II reappraises the circumstances in which so many women entered religion. An analysis of conventual dowries and other payments made by nuns' families casts doubt on the view that monacazione was a cheap way of disposing of superfluous daughters. Chapter III looks at the post-Tridentine drive to enclose all nunneries. Enclosure was often a disruptive and unwelcome innovation, which was inevitably compromised by the practical and emotional demands of female religious. This tension provides a focal-point for this thesis as a case-study in the reception and negotiation of religious reform. Chapter IV details the friendships and recreational pursuits of nuns. These women craved gossip from the outside world and tempted family and friends to visit by means of hospitality, gifts, and offers of practical help. Chapter V extends the discussion of nuns' social interactions to take into account the motives behind their sexual exploits. Trial records provide abundant evidence of men loitering on the edge of enclosure, talking, laughing and flirting with nuns. Here the motivation behind these heterosocial exchanges is considered