Diatreta Cups, Light in Roman Dining Spaces

Cage cups or Diatreta are ancient Roman glass vessels produced by creating a thick blown blank of glass that, once cooled down, is taken to a glass cutter or diatretarii. The latter would cut and carve away most of the glass leaving a transparent vessel inside and an open-work decoration separated through thin posts of glass. The work is very delicate and exclusive, produced within limited space in time with no record of similar vessels until the late 1800 (Donald B. Harden & Toynbee 1959, p.181). Many of these glass objects have good-will inscriptions or decorations that express the importance of drinking. As for their provenance, most –when found in context- have been found in pagan burials. Nevertheless some fragments have been found in Christian environments or with Christian motifs like the Szekszárd cup. The location of these finds is mostly in the Rhine area –northern Empire, when Milan was one of its capitals (Aquaro 2004)- but the actual extent of finds expand throughout the 4th century extent of the Roman Empire. Considering their typological analysis there are basically two types, beaker and bowl. Beakers are considered drinking vessels as they either display a legend or a mythological reference to drink or wine. Whereas a general consensus agrees that open bowl-form cups were hanging lamps (Whitehouse 1988, p.28) since the 1986 find of a diatreta bowl with copper alloy hanging attachments. It is clear these were luxury objects to be used in special occasions and spaces. The aim of this paper is to understand the space were socialisation and drinking took place and the importance of luxurious objects to adorn, display and use. The paper will also put forward the idea that the beaker shaped diatreta vessels, usually considered for drinking, could have been lamps that encouraged drinking and good will to the guests. This paper is structured to first consider an introduction to late luxury Roman glass and then analysing the typological shape of all, or most of the diatreta currently known; secondly, through assessment by the means of comparison, analyse the writings or decorations the vessels were endowed with. Thirdly, by describing and understanding the people and the space were these vessels would have been used, emphasise the beauty of illuminating such spaces with these vessels. According to Herodotus in his historical investigation –5th century-, dress habits and food regime are elements of extreme importance to understand a people (Caporusso et al. 2011, p.12). This idea is not only valid for Herodotus’ time but it is something anthropology uses time and again to explain different aspects in people’s way of life. Through food and its environment, the dining space, this paper will aim to put the cage cups into a social context in order to give emphasis to the hypothesis of light versus wine

Meta-analysis of type 2 Diabetes in African Americans Consortium

Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is more prevalent in African Americans than in Europeans. However, little is known about the genetic risk in African Americans despite the recent identification of more than 70 T2D loci primarily by genome-wide association studies (GWAS) in individuals of European ancestry. In order to investigate the genetic architecture of T2D in African Americans, the MEta-analysis of type 2 DIabetes in African Americans (MEDIA) Consortium examined 17 GWAS on T2D comprising 8,284 cases and 15,543 controls in African Americans in stage 1 analysis. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) association analysis was conducted in each study under the additive model after adjustment for age, sex, study site, and principal components. Meta-analysis of approximately 2.6 million genotyped and imputed SNPs in all studies was conducted using an inverse variance-weighted fixed effect model. Replications were performed to follow up 21 loci in up to 6,061 cases and 5,483 controls in African Americans, and 8,130 cases and 38,987 controls of European ancestry. We identified three known loci (TCF7L2, HMGA2 and KCNQ1) and two novel loci (HLA-B and INS-IGF2) at genome-wide significance (4.15 × 10(-94)<P<5 × 10(-8), odds ratio (OR)  = 1.09 to 1.36). Fine-mapping revealed that 88 of 158 previously identified T2D or glucose homeostasis loci demonstrated nominal to highly significant association (2.2 × 10(-23) < locus-wide P<0.05). These novel and previously identified loci yielded a sibling relative risk of 1.19, explaining 17.5% of the phenotypic variance of T2D on the liability scale in African Americans. Overall, this study identified two novel susceptibility loci for T2D in African Americans. A substantial number of previously reported loci are transferable to African Americans after accounting for linkage disequilibrium, enabling fine mapping of causal variants in trans-ethnic meta-analysis studies.Peer reviewe

Novel Loci for Adiponectin Levels and Their Influence on Type 2 Diabetes and Metabolic Traits : A Multi-Ethnic Meta-Analysis of 45,891 Individuals

J. Kaprio, S. Ripatti ja M.-L. Lokki työryhmien jäseniä.Peer reviewe

Supplementary Material for: Syncytia Induction by Clinical Isolates of Human Respiratory Syncytial Virus A

<i>Objective:</i> Syncytia formation is the hallmark of the cytopathic effect caused by human respiratory syncytial virus (HRSV), which is the most important viral respiratory pathogen in children. This article reports methodological improvements in primary HRSV isolation and the importance of syncytia formation and mRNA levels of F protein for the progeny yield, using clinical isolates of HRSV. <i>Methods:</i> The A and B strains of HRSV were isolated in HEp-2 cell cultures from fresh and frozen nasopharyngeal aspirates. The formation of syncytia was evaluated using 2 different assays. Levels of F protein mRNA were quantified by real-time PCR while HRSV progeny titration was done by plaque assay. <i>Results:</i> HRSV was primarily isolated from 238 of 312 (90.7%) samples, and 13 of these (12 HRSV-A and 1 HRSV-B) were continuously passaged in vitro. The quantity and size of syncytia formed by 6 pure HRSV-A clinical isolates were different, as were the levels of F protein mRNA. <i>Conclusion:</i> There is a direct correlation of quantities of syncytia and inoculum size, but not with mRNA levels of HRSV-A F protein. Importantly, levels of F protein mRNA were directly related to progeny production

Oralidade, memória e a mediação do outro: práticas de letramento entre sujeitos com baixos níveis de escolarização - o caso do cordel (1930-1950) Orality, memory and the mediation of the other: literacy practices between subjects with low schooling levels - the cordel case (1930-1950)

O artigo propõe-se a discutir quais as especificidades da relação que sujeitos vinculados, em sua origem, a uma cultura em que a oralidade é predominante estabelecem com a cultura escrita. Essa discussão é realizada a partir dos resultados de uma pesquisa concluída que teve como objetivo (re)construir o público leitor/ouvinte e os modos de ler/ouvir literatura de cordel entre 1930 e 1950 em Pernambuco. Pode-se considerar que vários fatores, destacando-se a leitura em voz alta, intensiva e coletiva e o papel desempenhado pela memorização, facilitada pelas situações de leitura e pela própria estrutura narrativa e formal dos poemas, contribuíam para que as relações entre analfabetos e semi-alfabetizados e a leitura de folhetos fossem marcadas pelo prazer e por um relativo desprendimento. Essas práticas permitiam a pessoas que, em sua origem, estavam pouco habituadas ao mundo da escrita, vivenciarem práticas de letramento, ou seja, experimentarem situações em que utilizavam as palavras escrita e impressa.<br>This paper discusses the specificities of the relationship that subjects deeply rooted in a predominantly oral culture establish with the written language. It uses the results of a completed research aimed at retracing the reading/listening public and the different forms of listening to/reading cordel literature between 1930 and 1950 in Pernambuco. It is argued that several factors, mainly reading aloud, intensively and collectively, and the role of memorization, favored by the reading situations and the narrative and formal structure of the very poems, made the relations between both illiterates and semi-literates and the reading of cordel enjoyable and relaxed. Such practices allowed people who, originally, were not very familiar with the reading world to experience literacy practices, that is, to experience situations where they used printed words

Infecção por C. psittaci: uma revisão com ênfase em psitacídeos C. psittaci infection: a review with emphasis in psittacines

A clamidiose ou ornitose é uma doença infecciosa, causada pela bactéria Chlamydophila psittaci, que acomete aves e mamíferos. Trata-se de uma das principais zoonoses de origem aviária. A transmissão ocorre principalmente por inalação de secreções contaminadas. Os sinais clínicos mais comuns incluem alterações no sistema gastrointestinal, respiratório e ocular, porém é possível encontrar aves infectadas sem sinais aparentes, dificultando a identificação da doença. O diagnóstico definitivo em aves vivas pode ser difícil, devido às características da infecção pela bactéria. Há duas principais abordagens para o diagnóstico, a primeira envolve a detecção direta da bactéria e a segunda implica a detecção de anticorpos anti-Chlamydophila sp. O tratamento é longo e envolve o uso de tetraciclinas, quinolonas ou macrolídeos, durante 21-45 dias, dependendo da espécie e do fármaco de escolha. Atualmente, o Brasil não dispõe de medidas padronizadas que visam a guiar o clínico na identificação, manejo e tratamento para a doença. Tais medidas tornam-se necessárias, bem como a pesquisa de novos métodos diagnósticos e auxiliares para a doença.<br>Chlamydiosis or ornitosis is an infectious disease which affects birds and mammals caused by the bacteria Chlamydophila psittaci. It is one of the most important avian zoonosis. The transmission occurs through inhalation of infected secretions. The most common clinical signs include problems in the gastrointestinal, respiratory and ocular tracts. However, it is possible to find infected birds with no clinical signs, which hinders the diagnosis. Definitive diagnosis in live birds can be difficult, because of the bacteria's infection characteristic. There are two main approaches to the diagnosis, the first one involves the direct detection of the bacteria, the second one involves the detection of antibodies anti-Chlamydophila sp. The treatment is long and includes the use of tetraciclines, quinolones and macrolides, during 21-45 days, depending of the specie or drug of choice. Currently, Brazil has no standardized procedures to guide clinicians in the identification, management, and treatment of the disease. Such measures become necessary, as well as research on new diagnostic methods