Concepts of ecstasy in Euripides’ “Bacchanals” and their interpretation

In dealing with ecstasy in antiquity, scholars usually refer to Euripides'  "Bacchanals"' as one of the most reliable sources with regard to this phenomenon. This drama can also be supplemented by vase paintings, which to a great extent deal with motives from the circle of Dionysos. We can observe that the ecstatic experience, as depicted by Euripides contains such psychological phenomena as hallucinations, including optical, acoustic and olfactive delusion, anesthesia, delusion as to one's own strength and possession. Euripides' description can be explained in different ways according to the view taken of religion and its function

Ancient Ephesus: Processions as Media of Religious and Secular Propaganda

The significance of religious rituals often reaches beyond their strict religious intentions. Specifically a procession, performed in front of the public, is a most effective instrument of disseminating a message to the crowds. Consequently, this ritual, as is well known, has often been used not only in religious but also in secular contexts; a procession under the cloak of religion can even become a politically useful medium to avoid popular disturbances on peaceful terms. This was the case in ancient Ephesus, where Roman power conflicted with Greek culture from the middle of the first century B.C. onwards. In the beginning of the second century A.D. the public religious life in the city of Ephesus was to a great extent characterized by processions relating to the cult of Artemis Ephesia. The one traditionally performed on the birthday of the goddess called to mind the Greek origin of the city; it was strictly associated with the religious sphere bringing about a close relationship between the goddess and her adherents. The other, artificially created by a Roman, was entirely secular, and spread its message every fortnight in the streets of Ephesus. It referred to the political field of action and intended to strengthen the Roman rule over the city. The Greek origin of Ephesian culture was later included in the message of the procession, reminding the Greeks not to rebel against Roman rule

Ghost Islands

Ghost Islands is a series of installations which investigates numerous fishing related activities, invisible stories, and multiple cultures. As part of a network of artworks set up in different regions of Asia, it addresses the issue of fishing nets discarded or lost at sea, as well as the health of our oceans, corals, and sea creatures. Shaped in the form of a group of islands and made from a complex assemblage of bamboo poles and disused fishing nets, Ghost Islands are composed by the accumulation and stratification of these numerous, yet distinct, layers. In addition, the construction of each new island helps to clean up the marine ecosystem through the collection of the nets from the surrounding sea. This process also engages with activist divers and establishes connections with fisherman to create new domestic products with the broken nylon threads of the collected nets

Beyond seek and destroy: How to generate allelic series using genome editing tools

Genome editing tools have greatly facilitated the functional analysis of genes of interest by targeted mutagenesis. Many usable genome editing tools, including different site-specific nucleases and editor databases that allow single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) to be introduced at a given site, are now available. These tools can be used to generate high allelic diversity at a given locus to facilitate gene function studies, including examining the role of a specific protein domain or a single amino acid. We compared the effects, efficiencies and mutation types generated by our LbCPF1, SpCAS9 and base editor (BECAS9) constructs for the OsCAO1 gene. SpCAS9 and LbCPF1 have similar efficiencies in generating mutations but differ in the types of mutations induced, with the majority of changes being single-nucleotide insertions and short deletions for SpCAS9 and LbCPF1, respectively. The proportions of heterozygotes also differed, representing a majority in our LbCPF1, while with SpCAS9, we obtained a large number of biallelic mutants. Finally, we demonstrated that it is possible to specifically introduce stop codons using the BECAS9 with an acceptable efficiency of approximately 20%. Based on these results, a rational choice among these three alternatives may be made depending on the type of mutation that one wishes to introduce, the three systems being complementary. SpCAS9 remains the best choice to generate KO mutations in primary transformants, while if the desired gene mutation interferes with regeneration or viability, the use of our LbCPF1 construction will be preferred, because it produces mainly heterozygotes. LbCPF1 has been described in other studies as being as effective as SpCAS9 in generating homozygous and biallelic mutations. It will remain to be clarified in the future, whether the different LbCFP1 constructions have different efficiencies and determine the origin of these differences. Finally, if one wishes to specifically introduce stop codons, BECAS9 is a viable and efficient alternative, although it has a lower efficiency than SpCAS9 and LbCPF1 for creating KO mutations

La production scientifique issue de la formation initiale à la faculté de médecine d’Angers entre 2002 et 2008 : de bonne qualité mais insuffisante

IntroductionL’activité de publication scientifique issue de la formation initiale est mal connue. Nous avons évalué la proportion des thèses et des mémoires de spécialité aboutissant à une publication, leur impact en termes de points SIGAPS et les principaux obstacles à la publication de ces travaux. Méthodes Les thèses de doctorat en médecine soutenues de 2002 à 2008 à la faculté de médecine d’Angers ont été recensées à partir du système universitaire de documentation (SUDOC), et les mémoires de spécialité directement auprès des diplômés. Les publications ont été recherchées dans Medline via Pubmed, ISI Web of Knowledge et dans les trois rapports SIGAPS de 2002 à 2008. Une enquête cherchant à connaître les obstacles à la publication a été lancée auprès de tous les directeurs de thèses et responsables de discipline impliqués. Résultats Cinq cent quatre-vingt-dix-huit thèses ont été soutenues, 311 (52 %) en médecine générale et 287 (48 %) en spécialités. Cent soixante-cinq thèses ont donné lieu à publication (28 %) dont 97 (16 %) indexés dans Medline via Pubmed (soit 11 % en médecine générale et 22 % en spécialité). Trente-trois de ces 97 articles (35 %) ont été publiés dans des journaux de haute qualité classés A, B ou C de la classification SIGAPS. Ces articles issus des thèses ont représenté 4,17 % du score SIGAPS du CHU calculé sur un total de 2088 articles au cours de cette période. Deux cent quatre mémoires de spécialités ont donné lieu à 69 articles (33,8 %), dont 50 (24,5 %) indexés dans Medline. Les taux de publication des mémoires de DES et de DESC ont été respectivement de 31 % (45/145) et de 40,7 % (24/59). Ils ont représenté 1,9 % (432 points) du score total SIGAPS. Les principaux obstacles ressentis pour la publication ont été le manque de temps des directeurs, l’éloignement des étudiants après la soutenance et le manque de moyens logistiques. Conclusion La production scientifique issue de la formation initiale à la faculté de médecine d’Angers a été de bonne qualité mais insuffisante quantitativement et peu contributive au financement du CHU malgré un nombre important de diplômés. Un soutien logistique mérite d’être envisagé afin de valoriser la production scientifique issue de la formation initiale

Knowledge and beliefs of endocrine disruptors in pediatrics: all hands on deck!

Endocrine disruptors (ED) are ubiquitous pollutants, possibly implicated in chronic disease. Exposure of vulnerable populations; including neonates, infants and children; must therefore be limited. Informing parents is now a public health challenge. We conducted a quantitative cross-sectional study at the Lyon Mother and child Hospital. We used questionnaires to assess the beliefs and knowledge about ED of parents and pediatric healthcare professionals in the pediatric ward in Lyon, France. A total of 746 questionnaires were completed: 444 for professionals and 302 for parents. The majority of both populations had already heard of ED but only 10% of parents and 5% of professionals felt sufficiently informed. Professionals answered better than parents (73% vs. 60%). The main source of information was similar: media. Only 20% of professionals had read a scientific article about ED and 4% have followed a training. Environmental exposure and EDs is an increasing concern for parents but specific knowledge remains scare for parents and professionals. Specific training is needed

Pyclen-based Gd complex with ionisable side-chain as a contrastophore for the design of hypersensitive MRI nanoprobes: Synthesis and relaxation studies

peer reviewe

Molecular mobility of hydroxyethyl cellulose (HEC) films characterised by thermally stimulated currents (TSC) spectroscopy

Molecular mobility has long been established to relate to textural properties and stability of polymer films and is therefore an important property to characterise to better understand pharmaceutical film formulations. The molecular mobility of solvent cast hydroxyethyl cellulose (HEC) films has been investigated by means of thermally stimulated current (TSC) below the temperature at which the film was formed. Preliminary physical characterisation of the films was performed using XRPD, TGA, DSC and texture analysis (tensile properties). XRPD results showed the films to be completely amorphous with Tg determined by DSC to be 127 ± 1 °C. TGA analysis showed the films to contain 8 ± 1% water and film was dried to only 0.06 ± 0.01% water content when heated to 160 °C. Application of TSC detected molecular mobility in HEC films at sub-zero temperatures. Two motional transitions with average relaxation time of 50 ± 3 s were identified; a β-relaxation at −57 ± 2 °C, attributed to localised non-cooperative orientation of HEC polymer chain ends and the hydroxyethyl side groups and an α-relaxation, originating from cooperative segmental mobility, at −20 ± 2 °C. The tensile properties i.e., elongation, tensile strength and elastic modulus of the HEC film have been related to the molecular relaxation processes detected by TSC

Multimodal nanogels combining ZW800-1 as an optical absorber and gadolinium chelates for multispectral optoacoustic tomography (MSOT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) »

peer reviewe