Naked Power: The Phallus as an Apotropaic Symbol in the Images and Texts of Roman Italy

Representations of the phallus abound in both the art and the literature of the first-century A.D. Roman world. On frescoes in both private homes and public buildings, on amulets, statues, etchings, tripods, drinking cups and vases, exaggerated phallic images, these purportedly apotropaic symbols protect the inhabitant, the passerby, the wearer, the user from outside evil. The contemporary Latin literature, Roman satire and elegy in particular (Catullus, Martial, Juvenal, Horace, Tibullus), and the Priapea, a collection of poems about the phallic god Priapus, offer descriptions of the phallus and its functions that both coincide with and differ from the material examples. This paper will investigate these correspondences and discrepancies between verbal and artistic representation, and, in particular, what these similarities and inconsistencies reveal about the public function of this private imagery in the contemporary culture of ancient Roman Italy

Detection of blaCTX-M and blaDHA genes in stool samples of healthy people: comparison of culture- and shotgun metagenomic-based approaches.

We implemented culture- and shotgun metagenomic sequencing (SMS)-based methods to assess the gut colonization with extended-spectrum cephalosporin-resistant Enterobacterales (ESC-R-Ent) in 42 volunteers. Both methods were performed using native and pre-enriched (broth supplemented with cefuroxime) stools. Native culture screening on CHROMID® ESBL plates resulted in 17 positive samples, whereas the pre-enriched culture (gold-standard) identified 23 carriers. Overall, 26 ESC-R-Ent strains (24 Escherichia coli) were identified: 25 CTX-M and 3 DHA-1 producers (2 co-producing CTX-Ms). Using the SMS on native stool ("native SMS") with thresholds ≥60% for both identity and coverage, only 7 of the 23 pre-enriched culture-positive samples resulted positive for blaCTX-M/blaDHA genes (native SMS reads mapping to blaCTX-M/blaDHAs identified in gold-standard: sensitivity, 59.0%; specificity 100%). Moreover, an average of 31.5 and 24.6 antimicrobial resistance genes (ARGs) were detected in the 23 pre-enriched culture-positive and the 19 negative samples, respectively. When the pre-enriched SMS was implemented, more blaCTX-M/blaDHA genes were detected than in the native assay, including in stools that were pre-enriched culture-negative (pre-enriched SMS reads mapping to blaCTX-M/blaDHAs identified in gold-standard: sensitivity, 78.3%; specificity 75.0%). In addition, the pre-enriched SMS identified on average 38.6 ARGs/sample, whereas for the corresponding native SMS it was 29.4 ARGs/sample. Notably, stools resulting false-negative by using the native SMS had lower concentrations of ESC-R-Ent (average: ~105 vs. ~107 CFU/g) and E. coli classified reads (average: 193,959 vs. 1.45 million) than those of native SMS positive samples. Finally, the detection of blaCTX-M/blaDHA genes was compared with two well-established bioinformatic tools. In conclusion, only the pre-enriched SMS assured detection of most carriers of ESC-R-Ent. However, its performance was not comparable to the pre-enriched culture-based approach

Qualidade de vida do idoso e vinculação ao lugar

Inexistenteinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Cis-epistasis at the LPA locus and risk of cardiovascular diseases

AIMS Coronary artery disease (CAD) has a strong genetic predisposition. However, despite substantial discoveries made by genome-wide association studies (GWAS), a large proportion of heritability awaits identification. Non-additive genetic-effects might be responsible for part of the unaccounted genetic variance. Here we attempted a proof-of-concept study to identify non-additive genetic effects, namely epistatic interactions, associated with CAD. METHODS AND RESULTS We tested for epistatic interactions in ten CAD case-control studies and UK Biobank with focus on 8,068 SNPs at 56 loci with known associations with CAD risk. We identified a SNP pair located in cis at the LPA locus, rs1800769 and rs9458001, to be jointly associated with risk for CAD (odds ratio OR=1.37, p = 1.07 $\times$ 10-11), peripheral arterial disease (OR = 1.22, p = 2.32 $\times$ 10-4), aortic stenosis (OR = 1.47, p = 6.95 $\times$ 10-7), hepatic lipoprotein(a) (Lp(a)) transcript levels (beta = 0.39, p = 1.41 $\times$ 10-8), and Lp(a) serum levels (beta = 0.58, p = 8.7 $\times$ 10-32), while individual SNPs displayed no association. Further exploration of the LPA locus revealed a strong dependency of these associations on a rare variant, rs140570886, that was previously associated with Lp(a) levels. We confirmed increased CAD risk for heterozygous (relative OR = 1.46, p = 9.97 $\times$ 10-32) and individuals homozygous for the minor allele (relative OR = 1.77, p = 0.09) of rs140570886. Using forward model selection, we also show that epistatic interactions between rs140570886, rs9458001, and rs1800769 modulate the effects of the rs140570886 risk allele. CONCLUSIONS These results demonstrate the feasibility of a large-scale knowledge-based epistasis scan and provide rare evidence of an epistatic interaction in a complex human disease. We were directed to a variant (rs140570886) influencing risk through additive genetic as well as epistatic effects. In summary, this study provides deeper insights into the genetic architecture of a locus important for cardiovascular diseases. TRANSLATIONAL PERSPECTIVE Genetic variants identified by GWAS studies explain about a quarter of the heritability of coronary artery disease by additive genetic effects. Our study demonstrates that non-additive effects contribute to the genetic architecture of the disease as well and identifies complex interaction patterns at the LPA locus, which affect LPA expression, Lp(a) plasma levels and risk of atherosclerosis. This proof-of-concept study encourages systematic searches for epistatic interactions in further studies to shed new light on the aetiology of the disease

Limited Association Between Perceived Control and Health-Related Quality of Life in Patients with Heart Failure

Background: Perceived control has been suggested as a modifiable factor associated with health-related quality of life (HRQOL). However, the relationship between perceived control and HRQOL has not been evaluated in patients with heart failure (HF). The purpose of this study was to determine whether perceived control independently predicts HRQOL in HF patients. Methods: A total of 423 HF patients were included. Hierarchical linear regression was performed to determine the independent association of perceived control to HRQOL after controlling for covariates. Results: Higher levels of perceived control were associated with better HRQOL in univariate analysis. However, this relationship was strongly attenuated after controlling for relevant demographic, clinical, and psychological factors; the variance in HRQOL explained by the addition of perceived control to this model was small (1.4%). Conclusions: We found only a weak relationship between perceived control and HRQOL when considered in the presence of demographic, clinical, and psychological factors

Assessment of the energy performance of a solar/biomass hybrid system for the climatization of smalland medium-scale buildings

The H2020 EU-funded project Hybrid-BioVGE aims to develop an efficient system entirely based on solar energy and biomass for the climatization of buildings during both the heating and cooling seasons. The most innovative component of the concept is a solar-driven Variable Geometry Ejector (VGE) cooling cycle, which can adjust its internal geometry with two degrees of freedom, according to the effective operating conditions. This paper presents the components of the Hybrid-BioVGE concept and describes a demonstrator of the proposed solution installed in a single-family house in Porto (Portugal). The main characteristics of the building, the size and typology of thermal energy storages included in the system are presented as well. In order to demonstrate the energy-saving potential of the Hybrid-BioVGE concept, the numerical model of the demonstrator was implemented in the TRNSYS 18 environment. Outcomes of simulations include the system’s energy performance for both heating and cooling seasons, the achievable solar fraction and the VGE efficiency. Numerical results show that up to 98% of the system energy input derives from renewable sources, with a solar fraction of 61.5%, during the heating season. On the contrary, the seasonal performance factor in cooling operating mode is lower than expected. The VGE cooling cycle efficiency is mainly penalised by the heat rejection loop, which should be optimised to achieve the best performance

Enhanced Intersystem Crossing and Transient Electron Spin Polarization in a Photoexcited Pentacene-Trityl Radical

Identifying and characterizing systems that generate well-defined states with large electron spin polarization is of high interest for applications in molecular spintronics, high-energy physics and magnetic resonance spectroscopy. The generation of electron spin polarization on free-radical substituents tethered to pentacene derivatives has recently gained a great deal of interest for its applications in molecular electronics. After photoexcitation of the chromophore, pentacene-radical derivatives can rapidly form spin-polarized triplet excited states through enhanced intersystem crossing. Under the right conditions, the triplet spin polarization, arising from mS-selective intersystem crossing rates, can be transferred to the tethered stable radical. The efficiency of this spin polarization transfer depends on many factors: local magnetic and electric fields, excited state energetics, molecular geometry, and spin-spin coupling. Here we present transient electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) measurements on three pentacene derivatives tethered to Finland trityl, BDPA or TEMPO radicals to explore the influence of the nature of the radical on the spin polarization transfer. We observe efficient polarization transfer between the pentacene excited triplet and the trityl radical, but do not observe the same for the BDPA and TEMPO derivatives. The polarization transfer behavior in the pentacene-trityl system is also investigated in different glassy matrices and is found to depend markedly on the solvent used. The EPR results are rationalized with the help of femtosecond and nanosecond transient absorption measurements, yielding complementary information on the excited-state dynamics of the three pentacene derivatives. Notably, we observe a two orders of magnitude difference in the timescale of triplet formation between the pentacene-trityl system and the pentacene systems tethered with the BDPA and TEMPO radicals