Verses of Faith and Devotion. Seeing, Reading, and Touching Monumental Crucifixes with Inscriptions (12th–13th century)

The paper discusses a group of monumental crucifixes from the 13th-century East Adriatic and Italy, pained or executed in low relief, that display a verse inscriptions on the transverse limb of the cross. The main scope of the paper is to examine the provenance of the text inscribed in order to yield clearer insight into their function, use and original location in the church interiors. The paper specifically aims at analyzing three monumental crucifixes from the East-Adriatic city of Zadar which, although have already been the subject of a respectable number of studies, have not attracted attention as objects of devotion. My interest, therefore, is turned towards verse inscription as their distinctive feature and, as I shall argue, a key aspect in understanding their function. Examining the nature of the text displayed, iconography and materiality of these crucifixes, my main argument is to demonstrate how these objects provoked a multi-faced response from their audience, since were experienced by seeing, hearing and touching respectively

Journal editors and academic medicine

Twenty years ago, the Croatian Medical Journal (CMJ) published a series of articles about academic medicine and the ways to revitalize it in the context of contemporary challenges in medicine (1,2). The articles were from all around the world (Albania, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Canada, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Israel, Republic of Macedonia, Malawi, Poland, Russia, Slovenia, Switzerland, United Kingdom, and USA) and discussed the future of academic medicine as the intersection of research, professional practice, and education (1,2). Figure 1 shows the cover page of the CMJ from 2004, when the FORUM series on academic medicine was started

Thurifer Angels of the Crucifixion Groups in Ragusan Friaries: Wonders, Images and Cults

This paper sets out to explore the miraculous accounts concerning the Crucifixion groups in two Ragusan mendicant churches. The starting point is a well-documented case of the Franciscan high cross, which was embellished by a pair of wooden thurible-bearing angels by the prominent fifteenth-century preacher, Giacomo della Marca, later to become a blessed and saint. As legend has it, Giacomo announced a miracle, as was later corroborated at high feast days when the angels were incensing the cross by swinging their censers. Apart from a number of early modern accounts of these wondrous occurrences, the miracle-working imagery that graced the triumphal arch of St Francis’ church has come down to us through an early seventeenth-century drawing, which allows for the examination of the iconographical features of the venerated object lost in the aftermath of the 1667 earthquake. As scholars have already rightly recognised, the illustration shares remarkable closeness to the mid-fourteenth-century Crucifixion group in the Ragusan Dominican church, a surviving composition that was endowed with the same miraculous narrative. Admittedly, different early modern writers accredited the trope of the miraculous thurible-swinging angels to both the Franciscan and Dominican crucifixions. These sources, therefore, testify to the complex yet understudied histories of the Ragusan Crucifixion groups, and call for a more attentive examination of wonders reverberated centuries after the enshrinement of these imposing compositions in the city’s principal mendicant churches

National vs. international journals: views of medical professionals in Croatia

Scholarly journals, especially in non-English-speaking countries, may perform very different functions depending on whether they are published for national or international audiences. Four hundred and sixty-six academic physicians and non-academic general practitioners in Croatia were surveyed on their knowledge about two Croatian medical journals: Liječnički vjesnik (published in Croatian) and Croatian Medical Journal (published in English). The physicians were also surveyed about the importance of all national and international journals published in Croatia, and the types of articles they thought should be published in these journals. More respondents rated national (n = 329, 72.6%) than international journals (n = 275, 63.5%, P < 0.001, Wilcoxon test) as very important for the medical profession. On the other hand, publishing in international journals was more often rated as important than publishing in national journals (n = 184, 42.5% vs. n = 125, 27.8%; P < 0.001, Wilcoxon test). Guidelines for clinical practice were rated as the most important publication item in national journals, and original scientific articles in international journals

Between forwarding and mentoring: a qualitative study of recommending medical doctors for international postdoctoral research positions

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Young scientists rarely have extensive international connections that could facilitate their mobility. They often rely on their doctoral supervisors and other senior academics, who use their networks to generate opportunities for young scientists to gain international experience and provide the initial trigger for an outward move.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>To explore the process of informal recommending of young physicians from a small country for postdoctoral research positions in foreign countries, we conducted in-depth interviews with eight senior academics who acted as recommenders and eight physicians who, based on the recommendations of senior academics, spent at least a year working in a laboratory abroad. Interviews were transcribed and analyzed by using the framework approach.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The findings showed that recommending can take four distinct forms: 1) forwarding information, 2) passive recommending, 3) active recommending, and 4) mentor recommending. These forms differ in their level of commitment and mutual trust among actors, and possible control over the success of the process. Two groups of recommendees - 'naive' and 'experienced' - can be distinguished based on their previous scientific experience and research collaboration with the recommender. Crucial for the success of the process is an adequate preparation of recommendees' stay abroad, as well as their return and reintegration. The benefits of recommending extend beyond the individual participants to the scientific community and broader society of the sending country.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>With a sufficient level of commitment by the actors, informal recommending can be a part of or grow into an all-encompassing developmental relationship equal to mentoring. The importance of senior academics' informal contacts and recommendations in promoting junior scientists' mobility should be acknowledged and encouraged by the research institutions and universities, particularly in developing countries.</p

War Photography in Medicine

Fotografija je poznata kao oblik umjetnosti i kao oblik dokumentirane informacije. Kada se izravno poveže s ratom, njezina se važnost povećava i sva njezina svojstva postaju jasnija i osjetljivija. Ratna medicinska fotografija ponajprije je dokument i informacija. To vrijedi za fotografije iz svih područja medicine - od masovnih scena izbjegličkih logora do mikroskopskih slika koje su laiku najčešće nerazumljive. Time se medicinska ratna fotografija još više udaljava i od ilustracije i umjetničkog izričaja, ali su njezina konkretna funkcija i korist vrlo važni, često i presudni za medicinsko djelovanje i pomoć pojedincu i populaciji.Photography is a well known form of art but also a document providing information. In relation to war, its importance as a document and information is crucial in medicine. This is true for photographs from all areas of medicine, from those of refugee camps, which provoke emotional reaction, to microscopic images, which are not comprehensible to the layman. Medical war photography is thus even more remote from illustration and art and becomes crucial for medical action and for providing help to the individuals and population