"Aphrodite Erykina", 25 Years After: The Interpretation of the Sanctuary Revised

Papers from the third international seminar on Ancient Arcadia, held at the Norwegian Institute at Athens, 7-10 May 2002My paper deals with the well-known sanctuary of "Aphrodite Erykina" according to Chr. Kardara's interpretation, who excavated it in 1968-69 and 1980-81 and published it with admirable promptness: Αφροδίτη Ερυκίνη. Ιερόν και μαντειον εις τήν ΒΔ' Αρκαδίαν, Βιβλιοθήκη της εν Αθήναις Αρχαιολογικής Εταιρείας vol. 106, Athens 1988. The sanctuary was situated on the saddle of Hagios Petros (about 1155 m above sea level) on Mount Aphrodision, in the modem prefecture of Gortynia, between Erymanthos and the Ladon valley, just on the frontier between Psophis and Thelphousa. Today a new road leads to Kontovazaina (12 km), branching off from Highway 111 (Tripolis - Patra), and reaches the saddle with the sanctuary after 8 km. I present the data of the excavation and I propose a new interpretation of the remains of the buildings of the sanctuary, 25 years after my participation in another excavation at the same territory under the auspices of Prof. Chr. Kardara and the study of the finds from the sanctuary in the museum of Olympia (1977). I also present a new plan of the sanctuary complex. (Fig. 1) According to my interpetation the "altar" and the "sacred road" are remains of the main entrance to the sanctuary, like a propyl on. The "telesterion" was actually a double stoa and the "temenos" was in fact the temple, today partly preserved (not excavated) under the modern church of Hagios Petros; the temple was Doric and peripteral. The so-called "omphalos", inside the cella, was a typical thesauros. The complex of buildings to the east consisted rather of workshops, guest-houses etc. There is no evidence for the existence of a "stadium" or an "odeion". It is more probable that the sanctuary was an Artemision than an Aphrodision, and not specifically an oracle/manteion, as Kardara argued. Pausanias did not mention this sanctuary or the surrounding area

The Access to Amyklaion

Στο άρθρο μας παραθέτουμε τα δεδομένα για την πρόσβαση από τη Σπάρτη στο Αμυκλαίον. Θεωρούμε ότι η διάβαση της Μαγουλίτσας γινόταν σχεδόν στη σημερινή γέφυρα του Αγίου Νικολάου στο Χατίπι, όπου κατέληγε η περίφημη Αφεταΐς οδός· η τελευταία ταυτίζεται ασφαλώς με την οδό Γκορτσολόγου, μετά τον εντοπισμό του ιερού του Ταιναρίου Ποσειδώνος στη συμβολή Διοσκούρων και Γκορτσολόγου. Στη χάραξη της διαδρομής της προς Αμυκλαίον «ιεράς οδού» δόθηκε ιδιαίτερη έμφαση στη διάσχιση των από τον Ταΰγετο (δυτικά) παραπόταμων του Ευρώτα, που δημιουργούν ένα πολυσχιδές σύστημα, επιβάλλοντας αντίστοιχες ζεύξεις-γέφυρες. Η αρχαία οδός διεσώθη σε δύο σημεία, όπως απέδειξαν σωστικές ανασκαφές της οικείας Εφορείας, στο ΟΤ Γ 256 (νέο ΤΕΛ Σπάρτης) και στις παρυφές του οικισμού της Ριβιώτισσας (σε δύο παρακείμενα οικόπεδα). Τέλος, πιθανολογούμε ότι θα μπορούσε η προς Αμυκλαίον, εκ Σπάρτης, οδός να ταυτισθεί με την Υακινθίδα (Αθην. IV 173f).No abstract available in Englis

Super-heavy fermion material as metallic refrigerant for adiabatic demagnetization cooling

Low-temperature refrigeration is of crucial importance in fundamental research of condensed matter physics, as the investigations of fascinating quantum phenomena, such as superconductivity, superfluidity and quantum criticality, often require refrigeration down to very low temperatures. Currently, cryogenic refrigerators with $^3$He gas are widely used for cooling below 1 Kelvin. However, usage of the gas is being increasingly difficult due to the current world-wide shortage. Therefore, it is important to consider alternative methods of refrigeration. Here, we show that a new type of refrigerant, super-heavy electron metal, YbCo$_2$Zn$_{20}$, can be used for adiabatic demagnetization refrigeration, which does not require 3He gas. A number of advantages includes much better metallic thermal conductivity compared to the conventional insulating refrigerants. We also demonstrate that the cooling performance is optimized in Yb$_{1-x}$Sc$_x$Co$_2$Zn$_{20}$ by partial Sc substitution with $x\sim$0.19. The substitution induces chemical pressure which drives the materials close to a zero-field quantum critical point. This leads to an additional enhancement of the magnetocaloric effect in low fields and low temperatures enabling final temperatures well below 100 mK. Such performance has up to now been restricted to insulators. Since nearly a century the same principle of using local magnetic moments has been applied for adiabatic demagnetization cooling. This study opens new possibilities of using itinerant magnetic moments for the cryogen-free refrigeration

The impact of immediate breast reconstruction on the time to delivery of adjuvant therapy: the iBRA-2 study

Background: Immediate breast reconstruction (IBR) is routinely offered to improve quality-of-life for women requiring mastectomy, but there are concerns that more complex surgery may delay adjuvant oncological treatments and compromise long-term outcomes. High-quality evidence is lacking. The iBRA-2 study aimed to investigate the impact of IBR on time to adjuvant therapy. Methods: Consecutive women undergoing mastectomy ± IBR for breast cancer July–December, 2016 were included. Patient demographics, operative, oncological and complication data were collected. Time from last definitive cancer surgery to first adjuvant treatment for patients undergoing mastectomy ± IBR were compared and risk factors associated with delays explored. Results: A total of 2540 patients were recruited from 76 centres; 1008 (39.7%) underwent IBR (implant-only [n = 675, 26.6%]; pedicled flaps [n = 105,4.1%] and free-flaps [n = 228, 8.9%]). Complications requiring re-admission or re-operation were significantly more common in patients undergoing IBR than those receiving mastectomy. Adjuvant chemotherapy or radiotherapy was required by 1235 (48.6%) patients. No clinically significant differences were seen in time to adjuvant therapy between patient groups but major complications irrespective of surgery received were significantly associated with treatment delays. Conclusions: IBR does not result in clinically significant delays to adjuvant therapy, but post-operative complications are associated with treatment delays. Strategies to minimise complications, including careful patient selection, are required to improve outcomes for patients

A local grid refinement technique for fluid flow predictions in 3-D.

A numerical technique for the prediction of fluid flow in three-dimensional domains is presented. The technique is based on local grid refinement and the current state of the mathematical framework as well as the numerical solution procedure based on the finite- volume methodology is reviewed. There follows an examination of various already existing formulations and techniques related to local grid refinement, and, thereafter desirable features of the proposed scheme are set out. The method is a finite-volume one employing the primitive variables and a collocated grid. It can be classed as a grid-embedding technique, but it is distinctive in that the coarse- and fine-grid domain are treated simultaneously over the whole computational domain. A computational molecule is selected which serves as an interface between regions of different grid-node density. Then, the discretisation procedure as well as the solution method for the linear equation system, arising from the discretisation, along with a novel approach to the treatment of the interfaces is presented. A user-friendly pre-processor has been developed to generate desired meshes with as many levels of refinement in any or all the co-ordinate directions. Access to the information required by the solution procedure is facilitated by a data structure especially arranged for this purpose. As far as the modelling of turbulence is concerned, a two equation model (k-e) is used. Example solutions are presented, illustrating the efficiency and stability of the method and verifying the fact that high levels of accuracy are obtainable using low-order discretisation schemes and without complex formulations. The proposed method is extendible to the prediction of two-phase flows and it will be particularly useful for the simulation of ambustión chambers where multiple burner arrangements and large variations in physical scale are common.Open acces

"Aphrodite Erykina", 25 Years After: The Interpretation of the Sanctuary Revised

My paper deals with the well-known sanctuary of "Aphrodite Erykina" according to Chr. Kardara's interpretation, who excavated it in 1968-69 and 1980-81 and published it with admirable promptness: Αφροδίτη Ερυκίνη. Ιερόν και μαντειον εις τήν ΒΔ' Αρκαδίαν, Βιβλιοθήκη της εν Αθήναις Αρχαιολογικής Εταιρείας vol. 106, Athens 1988. The sanctuary was situated on the saddle of Hagios Petros (about 1155 m above sea level) on Mount Aphrodision, in the modem prefecture of Gortynia, between Erymanthos and the Ladon valley, just on the frontier between Psophis and Thelphousa. Today a new road leads to Kontovazaina (12 km), branching off from Highway 111 (Tripolis - Patra), and reaches the saddle with the sanctuary after 8 km. I present the data of the excavation and I propose a new interpretation of the remains of the buildings of the sanctuary, 25 years after my participation in another excavation at the same territory under the auspices of Prof. Chr. Kardara and the study of the finds from the sanctuary in the museum of Olympia (1977). I also present a new plan of the sanctuary complex. (Fig. 1) According to my interpetation the "altar" and the "sacred road" are remains of the main entrance to the sanctuary, like a propyl on. The "telesterion" was actually a double stoa and the "temenos" was in fact the temple, today partly preserved (not excavated) under the modern church of Hagios Petros; the temple was Doric and peripteral. The so-called "omphalos", inside the cella, was a typical thesauros. The complex of buildings to the east consisted rather of workshops, guest-houses etc. There is no evidence for the existence of a "stadium" or an "odeion". It is more probable that the sanctuary was an Artemision than an Aphrodision, and not specifically an oracle/manteion, as Kardara argued. Pausanias did not mention this sanctuary or the surrounding area

UT Gardens in Winter

I hope this image captures and represents the beauty of our UT Gardens that are present even during the cold days of winter.https://trace.tennessee.edu/utiaphoto_2013/1140/thumbnail.jp