Les Pintures murals romàniques de Sant Martí Sescorts

En aquest article s'estudia la decoració mural romànica de l'església de Sant Martí Sescorts,1 tant els cinc fragments conservats al Museu Episcopal de Vic, dels quals destaquen els dos amb escenes del cicle d'Adam i Eva i, molt més malmesa, l'escena de la caritat de sant Martí, com un altre fragment, amb el Pecat Original, que es coneix només per una fotografia anterior al seu arrencament. A més, es ressalta que hi havia altres pintures del mateix conjunt, que tampoc ens han pervingut. És a dir, es ressegueix críticament la història dels frescos, que planteja molts interrogants. D'altra banda, la decoració mural es confronta amb l'edifici del qual prové i fins on és possible se situa en el seu lloc. També, s'examinen els dos cicles iconogràfics que decoraven l'absis, un veterotestamentari i un hagiogràfic, i, a partir del testimoni d'altres restes pictòriques, l'autora es pregunta si n'hi podria haver hagut un tercer, amb la història de la Salvació. Finalment, l'estil dels frescos s'analitza críticament.This paper deals with the Romanesque frescoes of the church of Sant Martí Sescorts, not only with the five panels preserved in the Museu Episcopal de Vic, two of which with very remarkable scenes of the cycle of Adam and Eve and another one, much more damaged, with St. Martins Charity, but also with a third mural with the Original Sin that is only known by a photograph taken before its removal from the wall. Its been pointed out that other frescos from the church have disappeared. In this paper the history of the frescoes is checked all through and arouse many questions. Besides, the mural decoration is confronted with the building, and placed on it. The two iconographical cycles which decorated the apse, the Old Testament and the hagiographical, are examined, and because of some pictorial remains, the author arouses the question of the possibility of a third cycle with the history of Salvation. Finally, the style of the paintings is critically analysed

Human Work and its Discontents

The objective of the proposed chapter is to discuss the evolution of research on meanings and quality of life at work, highlighting gaps and emphasizing the way the approach that articulates “work” and “human suffering” can contribute to advance in contemporary studies in this field [1]. Given its centrality in people\u27s life and in society development, work has been analyzed from different perspectives and methodological‐theoretical‐conceptual approaches [2–5]. Notwithstanding the plurality of views on the theme, it is generally possible to define it as an activity that has an objective and is aimed at producing some personal or collective result that is objectively and/or subjectively useful. It can also be carried out within the space of employment, employment being understood as the set of remunerated activities performed within a system that is economically organized and marked by institutionalized exchange relations

Novel pharmacological actions of Trequinsin Hydrochloride improve human sperm cell motility and function

Background and purposeAsthenozoospermia is a leading cause of male infertility, but the development of pharmaceuticals to improve sperm motility has been hindered by the lack of effective screening platforms and knowledge of suitable molecular targets. We have demonstrated that a high throughput screening (HTS) strategy in conjunction with established in vitro tests can identify and characterise the action of compounds that improve sperm motility. The study aimed to apply HTS to identify new compounds from a novel small molecule library that increase intracellular calcium, [Ca2+]I, promote human sperm cell motility and systemically determine the mechanism of action. Experimental approach A validated HTS fluorometric [Ca2+]i assay was used to screen an in-house library of compounds. Trequinsin hydrochloride (a phosphodiesterase 3 inhibitor) was selected for detailed molecular (plate reader assays, electrophysiology and cyclic nucleotide measurement) and functional (motility and acrosome reaction) testing in sperm from healthy volunteer donors and, where possible, patients.   Key resultsThe fluorometric analysis identified Trequinsin as an efficacious agonist of [Ca2+]i, although less potent than progesterone (P4). Functionally, Trequinsin significantly increased cell hyperactivation and penetration into viscous medium in all donor sperm samples and cell hyperactivation in 22/25 (88%) patient sperm samples. The Trequinsin-induced [Ca2+]i response was cross-desensitised consistently by prostaglandin E1 but not with P4. Whole-cell patch clamp electrophysiology confirmed that Trequinsin activates CatSper and partially inhibits potassium channel activity. Trequinsin also increases intracellular cGMP.   Conclusion and Implications Trequinsin exhibits a novel pharmacological profile in human sperm and may be a suitable lead compound for the development of new pharmaceuticals to improve patient sperm function and fertilisation potential

A PRESENÇA DO FEMININO NA LITERATURA ESCRAVISTA DE MACHADO DE ASSIS E MARIA FIRMINA DOS REIS

Este artigo tem como finalidade apresentar um estudo analítico sobre os contos Pai contra mãe, de Machado de Assis, e A escrava, de Maria Firmina dos Reis a partir da Análise do Discurso de linha francesa, de Dominique Maingueneau (2008, 2015) e da Estilística, segundo Nilce Sant´Anna Martins (2012), analisando a relação entre a história e a literatura por meio desses contos cuja a temática escravista marca os seus discursos. Para que seja possível mostrar a importância da presença da mulher negra e seu papel na sociedade e na literatura desses autores, a reflexão teórico-analítica abordará as personagens escravas presentes em ambos os contos

A PRESENÇA DO FEMININO NA LITERATURA ESCRAVISTA DE MACHADO DE ASSIS E MARIA FIRMINA DOS REIS

Este artigo tem como finalidade apresentar um estudo analítico sobre os contos Pai contra mãe, de Machado de Assis, e A escrava, de Maria Firmina dos Reis a partir da Análise do Discurso de linha francesa, de Dominique Maingueneau (2008, 2015) e da Estilística, segundo Nilce Sant´Anna Martins (2012), analisando a relação entre a história e a literatura por meio desses contos cuja a temática escravista marca os seus discursos. Para que seja possível mostrar a importância da presença da mulher negra e seu papel na sociedade e na literatura desses autores, a reflexão teórico-analítica abordará as personagens escravas presentes em ambos os contos

Rare mutations in SQSTM1 modify susceptibility to frontotemporal lobar degeneration

Mutations in the gene coding for Sequestosome 1 (SQSTM1) have been genetically associated with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and Paget disease of bone. In the present study, we analyzed the SQSTM1 coding sequence for mutations in an extended cohort of 1,808 patients with frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD), ascertained within the European Early-Onset Dementia consortium. As control dataset, we sequenced 1,625 European control individuals and analyzed whole-exome sequence data of 2,274 German individuals (total n = 3,899). Association of rare SQSTM1 mutations was calculated in a meta-analysis of 4,332 FTLD and 10,240 control alleles. We identified 25 coding variants in FTLD patients of which 10 have not been described. Fifteen mutations were absent in the control individuals (carrier frequency < 0.00026) whilst the others were rare in both patients and control individuals. When pooling all variants with a minor allele frequency < 0.01, an overall frequency of 3.2 % was calculated in patients. Rare variant association analysis between patients and controls showed no difference over the whole protein, but suggested that rare mutations clustering in the UBA domain of SQSTM1 may influence disease susceptibility by doubling the risk for FTLD (RR = 2.18 [95 % CI 1.24-3.85]; corrected p value = 0.042). Detailed histopathology demonstrated that mutations in SQSTM1 associate with widespread neuronal and glial phospho-TDP-43 pathology. With this study, we provide further evidence for a putative role of rare mutations in SQSTM1 in the genetic etiology of FTLD and showed that, comparable to other FTLD/ALS genes, SQSTM1 mutations are associated with TDP-43 pathology