Pavao Ritter Vitezovic : defining national identity in the baroque age

This thesis is intended as a contribution to the understanding of national identity construction by national elites in early modern Europe. It examines the development of national identity among the Croats and concentrates upon the life and work of the Croatian writer and scholar Pavao Ritter Vitezovic (1652-1713). His work in the fields of national history, linguistics and genealogy is treated as typical of the type of early modern scholar concerned with national identity, here termed identity constructor. The phenomenon of identity construction among the early modern Croats is set in the context of current debates over western and eastern models of national development. This is followed by an account of the development of a Croatian identity in the fields of politics and culture during the early modern period. Chapter Two is concerned with the social and intellectual forces which led early modern scholars to address questions of national identity. It examines Vitezovic's intellectual and moral world, in particular the character of his patriotism and its origins in humanist learning and in chivalry. Chapter Three looks at ideas of national renewal in Vitezovic's work. It discusses his analysis of the threats facing the Croats in terms of external enemies, namely the Turks and the lack of coherence among the Christian alliance, and internal enemies, namely the Croats' own decadence and indifference to their national identity. The next three chapters examine aspects of the identity which Vitezovic presented to the Croats in order to halt their decline into obsolescence. Chapter Four uses Vitezovic's ethnographic writings to examine how national identities are fashioned from existing material to suit current circumstances. It discusses his use of Slav and Illyrian literature to inspire the Croats with nostalgia for their former period of greatness. This longing would rouse the Croats from their present state of apathy and direct them towards the task of national self-renewal. Chapters Five and Six look at the importance of statehood for Croatian national identity. Chapter Five examines how Vitezovic set the existing political institutions of the Kingdom of Croatia within the context of the Croats' national history and defined the relations between the Croats and their king, the Habsburg Emperor. The following chapter looks at Vitezovic's grand scheme for an enlarged Kingdom of Croatia to be built under the aegis of the Emperor after the Ottoman withdrawal from the Balkans. It considers how historical and ethnic arguments are used to invest territory with national content. The concluding chapter examines problems of change and continuity within national identities. A brief survey of developments in Croatian national identity in the half century after Vitezovic's death and before the rise of the romantic movement is followed by a general conclusion on the constraints which determine how a nation creates its identity

Evaluation of Off-Farm Income-Generating Activities among Agroforestry Farmers in Sakponba Forest Reserve area, Edo State, Nigeria

The study evaluated off-farm generating activities among agro-forestry farmers in the Sakponba forest reserve area of Edo State, Nigeria. A multi-stage random sampling technique was used to collect data from one hundred and twenty (120) agroforestry farmers using a structured interview schedule. Percentages and frequency counts were used to analyse the objectives of the study. The result showed that majority 64.2% of the farmers were male. Further analysis indicated that 88.3% of the farmers engaged in cassava processing and 32.5% in okada business as off-farm income-generating activities. Further analysis revealed that 88.3% were involved in off-farm activities to generate additional income. However, 70.8% highlighted that high cost of transportation was a constraint, while, 59.2% indicated that inadequate diversification skills and training opportunities were the main constraints faced in engaging in off-farm income-generating activities. The study recommended that the government provide infrastructure such as a good road network, electricity, potable water, and affordable healthcare system, since they are important indicators for enhancing socio-economic activities in rural areas. It was also recommended that the government initiate policies for reducing risk and uncertainties inherent with agricultural activities such as access to credit to improve their standard of living and increase productivity

Outcome domains in lichen sclerosus

Lichen Sclerosus (LS) is a chronic inflammatory dermatosis predominantly affecting the genitals. It can affect men, women and children. LS affecting female genitalia typically presents with itchy patches that impact on physical and psychosocial‐sexual functioning1,2. Symptoms in men include difficulty urinating due to urethral narrowing, difficulty in foreskin retraction due to scarring, and dyspareunia. Complications include loss of anatomy and malignant transformation

The Pelvis and Beyond: Musculoskeletal Tender Points in Women With Chronic Pelvic Pain

To determine the feasibility of a detailed pain sensitivity assessment using body wide musculoskeletal tender points (TPs) in women with different types of chronic pelvic pain (CPP) and compare phenotypic differences

Prey naiveté to invasive lionfish Pterois volitans on Caribbean coral reefs

Native prey can be particularly vulnerable to consumption by exotic predators. Prey naiveté, the failure to recognize a novel predator due to lack of recent co-evolutionary history, likely facilitates the disproportionate impact that some exotic predators exert on prey populations. Lionfish Pterois volitans, exotic predators from the Pacific, have invaded coral reefs and other coastal habitats along the western Atlantic. Prey naiveté towards novel lionfish was tested in field experiments and with observations using closest approach distance as the anti-predator response. We quantified the distance of prey fishes to exotic lionfish in both the Atlantic and Pacific (invasive and native ranges of lionfish) as well as to native predators in the Atlantic. In the Atlantic, experiments indicated that Haemulon plumierii, prey of lionfish, generally display a closer approach distance to exotic than to native predators, and field observations of free-ranging fish revealed that at least 5 other species of small fishes (Halichoeres bivitattus, Halichoeres garnoti, Scarus taeniopterus, Stegastes leucostictus and Thalassoma bifasciatum) also might exhibit limited predatoravoidance behaviour towards invasive lionfish. We also found that 3 families of small fish (Labridae, Pomacentridae and Scaridae) maintained greater distances from lionfish in the Pacific compared with the Atlantic in both experimental and field observations. These results suggest prey naiveté to exotic lionfish by at least 8 species of fish (Abudefduf saxatilis, H. plumierii, H. bivitattus, H. garnoti, S. taeniopterus, Sparisoma aurofrenatum, S. leucostictus and T. bifasciatum) in the Atlantic, which could be contributing to the rapid expansion of this invasive species by enhancing its fitness and reproductive output through high predation efficiency

Macrophage Ontogeny Underlies Differences in Tumor-Specific Education in Brain Malignancies.

Extensive transcriptional and ontogenetic diversity exists among normal tissue-resident macrophages, with unique transcriptional profiles endowing the cells with tissue-specific functions. However, it is unknown whether the origins of different macrophage populations affect their roles in malignancy. Given potential artifacts associated with irradiation-based lineage tracing, it remains unclear if bone-marrow-derived macrophages (BMDMs) are present in tumors of the brain, a tissue with no homeostatic involvement of BMDMs. Here, we employed multiple models of murine brain malignancy and genetic lineage tracing to demonstrate that BMDMs are abundant in primary and metastatic brain tumors. Our data indicate that distinct transcriptional networks in brain-resident microglia and recruited BMDMs are associated with tumor-mediated education yet are also influenced by chromatin landscapes established before tumor initiation. Furthermore, we demonstrate that microglia specifically repress Itga4 (CD49D), enabling its utility as a discriminatory marker between microglia and BMDMs in primary and metastatic disease in mouse and human

Governing processes for reactive nitrogen compounds in the atmosphere in relation to ecosystem climatic and human health impacts

Reactive nitrogen (Nr) compounds have different fates in the atmosphere due to differences in governing processes of physical transport, deposition and chemical transformation. Nr compounds addressed here include reduced nitrogen (NHx: ammonia (NH3) and its reaction product ammonium (NH4+)), oxidized nitrogen (NOy: nitrogen monoxide (NO) + nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and their reaction products) as well as organic nitrogen compounds (organic N). Pollution abatement strategies need to take into account these differences in the governing processes of these compounds when assessing their impact on ecosystem services, biodiversity, human health and climate. NOx (NO + NO2) emitted from traffic affects human health in urban areas where the presence of buildings increases the residence time in streets. In urban areas this leads to enhanced exposure of the population to NOx concentrations. NOx emissions have little impact on nearby ecosystems because of the small dry deposition rates of NOx. These compounds need to be converted into nitric acid (HNO3) before removal through deposition is efficient. HNO3 sticks quickly to any surface and is thereby either dry deposited or incorporated into aerosols as nitrate (NO3−). In contrast to NOx compounds, NH3 has potentially high impacts on ecosystems near the main agricultural sources of NH3 because of its large ground-level concentrations along with large dry deposition rates. Aerosol phase NH4+ and NO3− contribute significantly to background PM2.5 and PM10 (mass of aerosols with a diameter of less than 2.5 and 10 μm, respectively) with an impact on radiation balance as well as potentially on human health. Little is known quantitatively and qualitatively about organic N in the atmosphere, other than that it contributes a significant fraction of wet-deposited N, and is present in both gaseous and particulate forms in the atmosphere. Further studies are needed to characterize the sources, air chemistry and removal rates of organic N emissions

A systematic review of gut microbiota composition in observational studies of major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia

The emerging understanding of gut microbiota as ‘metabolic machinery’ influencing many aspects of physiology has gained substantial attention in the field of psychiatry. This is largely due to the many overlapping pathophysiological mechanisms associated with both the potential functionality of the gut microbiota and the biological mechanisms thought to be underpinning mental disorders. In this systematic review, we synthesised the current literature investigating differences in gut microbiota composition in people with the major psychiatric disorders, major depressive disorder (MDD), bipolar disorder (BD) and schizophrenia (SZ), compared to ‘healthy’ controls. We also explored gut microbiota composition across disorders in an attempt to elucidate potential commonalities in the microbial signatures associated with these mental disorders. Following the PRISMA guidelines, databases were searched from inception through to December 2021. We identified 44 studies (including a total of 2510 psychiatric cases and 2407 controls) that met inclusion criteria, of which 24 investigated gut microbiota composition in MDD, seven investigated gut microbiota composition in BD, and 15 investigated gut microbiota composition in SZ. Our syntheses provide no strong evidence for a difference in the number or distribution (α-diversity) of bacteria in those with a mental disorder compared to controls. However, studies were relatively consistent in reporting differences in overall community composition (β-diversity) in people with and without mental disorders. Our syntheses also identified specific bacterial taxa commonly associated with mental disorders, including lower levels of bacterial genera that produce short-chain fatty acids (e.g. butyrate), higher levels of lactic acid-producing bacteria, and higher levels of bacteria associated with glutamate and GABA metabolism. We also observed substantial heterogeneity across studies with regards to methodologies and reporting. Further prospective and experimental research using new tools and robust guidelines hold promise for improving our understanding of the role of the gut microbiota in mental and brain health and the development of interventions based on modification of gut microbiota

Search for Global Dipole Enhancements in the HiRes-I Monocular Data above 10^{18.5} eV

Several proposed source models for Ultra-High Energy Cosmic Rays (UHECRs) consist of dipole distributions oriented towards major astrophysical landmarks such as the galactic center, M87, or Centaurus A. We use a comparison between real data and simulated data to show that the HiRes-I monocular data for energies above 10^{18.5} eV is, in fact, consistent with an isotropic source model. We then explore methods to quantify our sensitivity to dipole source models oriented towards the Galactic Center, M87, and Centaurus A.Comment: 17 pages, 31 figure