The Pahlavi Andarz literature.

The first part of the work gives a survey of the andarz books extant in Pahlavi. The texts are arranged according to whether they are attributed to a likely or legendary author or are anonymous. The sixth book of the Denkart, the largest collection of andarz, is dealt with separately. The discussion contains in each case, besides details of bibliographical interest, remarks on the character and structure of the text and notes on its relationship to other andarz compositions. Philological notes are included on difficult passages. The last sections of the first part deal with some general problems of the andarz literature; and an attempt is made to distinguish types of books and to comment on various stylistic devices used in these books. The question of the midrashic technique is discussed in some detail. The second part is devoted to analyzing the religious system of thought reflected in the andarz books, and particularly in Dk vi. This is done partly by examining the use of terms in different contexts. The main subjects discussed are: the various associations connected with the notion of wisdom; some techniques of instruction; the concepts of faith and religion; the complex of ideas centred round the term 'spirit'; the various ways of righteousness and the ideas connected with sin; the attitude to this world the concept of poverty and the poor; the idea of the measure; the reward in afterlife, the notion of xwarr, the problem of fate and free will. The probable existence of esoteric doctrines in Sasanian Iran is also considered

MTADV 5-MER peptide suppresses chronic inflammations as well as autoimmune pathologies and unveils a new potential target-Serum Amyloid A.

Despite the existence of potent anti-inflammatory biological drugs e.g., anti-TNF and anti IL-6 receptor antibodies, for treating chronic inflammatory and autoimmune diseases, these are costly and not specific. Cheaper oral available drugs remain an unmet need. Expression of the acute phase protein Serum Amyloid A (SAA) is dependent on release of pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-1, IL-6 and TNF-α during inflammation. Conversely, SAA induces pro-inflammatory cytokine secretion, including Th17, leading to a pathogenic vicious cycle and chronic inflammation. 5- MER peptide (5-MP) MTADV (methionine-threonine-alanine-aspartic acid-valine), also called Amilo-5MER, was originally derived from a sequence of a pro-inflammatory CD44 variant isolated from synovial fluid of a Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) patient. This human peptide displays an efficient anti-inflammatory effects to ameliorate pathology and clinical symptoms in mouse models of RA, Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) and Multiple Sclerosis (MS). Bioinformatics and qRT-PCR revealed that 5-MP, administrated to encephalomyelytic mice, up-regulates genes contributing to chronic inflammation resistance. Mass spectrometry of proteins that were pulled down from an RA synovial cell extract with biotinylated 5-MP, showed that it binds SAA. 5-MP disrupted SAA assembly, which is correlated with its pro-inflammatory activity. The peptide MTADV (but not scrambled TMVAD) significantly inhibited the release of pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-6 and IL-1β from SAA-activated human fibroblasts, THP-1 monocytes and peripheral blood mononuclear cells. 5-MP suppresses the pro-inflammatory IL-6 release from SAA-activated cells, but not from non-activated cells. 5-MP could not display therapeutic activity in rats, which are SAA deficient, but does inhibit inflammations in animal models of IBD and MS, both are SAA-dependent, as shown by others in SAA knockout mice. In conclusion, 5-MP suppresses chronic inflammation in animal models of RA, IBD and MS, which are SAA-dependent, but not in animal models, which are SAA-independent

Parole des anges, parole des démons : à propos des coupes magiques de la Babylonie sassanide

Shaked Shaul. Parole des anges, parole des démons : à propos des coupes magiques de la Babylonie sassanide. In: Bulletin de la Classe des lettres et des sciences morales et politiques, tome 10, n°7-12, 1999. pp. 285-301

Conférence de M. Shaul Shaked

Shaked Shaul. Conférence de M. Shaul Shaked. In: École pratique des hautes études, Section des sciences religieuses. Annuaire. Tome 101, 1992-1993. 1992. pp. 145-147

De Khulmi à Nikhšapaya : les données des nouveaux documents araméens de Bactres sur la toponymie de la région (IVe siècle av. n. è.)

Shaked Shaul. De Khulmi à Nikhšapaya : les données des nouveaux documents araméens de Bactres sur la toponymie de la région (IVe siècle av. n. è.). In: Comptes rendus des séances de l'Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres, 147ᵉ année, N. 4, 2003. pp. 1517-1535