Les racines du vaudou. Religion africaine et société haïtienne dans la Saint-Domingue prérévolutionnaire

RÉSUMÉLes racines du vaudou. Religion africaine et société hai'tienne dans la Saint-Domingue prérévolutionnaireOn conçoit souvent le vaudou comme une religion africaine plus ou moins intacte ayant cours en Haïti, et dont les composantes chrétiennes font partie de l'héritage colonial. La population d'Haïti, et en conséquence sa religion, provient dans une large mesure de deux bassins de populations africaines : la région entourant le Dahomey et son arrière-pays, et celle du Kongo au centre ouest de l'Afrique. Dans ces deux régions, existait un processus de changement religieux dû au fait qu'aucune de ces deux traditions n'avait un sens aigu de l'orthodoxie, de sorte que toutes deux se montraient capables de flexibilité. Ces deux régions, mais surtout celle du Kongo. avaient aussi fait l'expérience d'un long contact avec le christianisme. Dans le cas du Kongo. la population se considérait elle-même comme chrétienne : au Dahomey, elle se montrait intéressée par le christianisme et en avait une certaine connaissance. Parvenues en Haïti, ces populations régionales créèrent des communautés nationales fondées sur l'entraide et le soutien mutuel entre compatriotes, ce qui comprenait la pratique religieuse. Mais la vie dans les plantations forçait aussi les gens originaires de différentes régions à vivre ensemble. Le christianisme sous sa forme vaudouisante procura à ces différentes communautés le moyen de communiquer entre elles.Mots clés : Thornton. religion, vaudou. Haïti. AfriqueABSTRACTRoots of Voodoo. African Religion and Haitian Society in Pre-Revolutionary Saint DomingueVoodoo is often seen as a more or less intact African religion functioning in Haiti. and ils Christian éléments are a part of the colonial heritage. Haiti's population, and hence ils religion, derived in large measure from two African source populations : the religion around Dahomey and ils hinterland and the Kongo region of west central Africa. In both these regions there was an ongoing process of religions change occasioned by the fact that neither tradition had a strong sensé of orthodoxy and was thus capable of flexibility. Both régions, but especially Kongo had also had long contact with Christianity. In the case of Kongo. the population regarded itself as Christian, in Dahomey they were interested and had some knowledge of Christianity. Once people from these regions reached Haiti they developed national communities built around mutual aid and support of people from their home regions, including religious life. but plantation life also forced people from different regions to live close together. Christianity in ils Voodoo form provided a means of communicating between the diverse communities.Key words : Thornton. religion, voodoo, Haiti. Afric

The Florentine relation: a newly discovered sixteenth-century description of the Kingdom of Kongo

A newly discovered Spanish description of Kongo increases our knowledge of the country, joining Filippo Pigafetta’s famous account to expand our knowledge of Kongo in this early period. This research shows that the MS was written in 1587 or 1588 and was written by Carmelite Diego de la Encarnación. It adds details on the history of the country, daily life culture, and links to other Carmelite works, including an unpublished chapter of an account by Diego de Santissimo Santo and shows the author could have written a longer but well-known account in the Vatican Library. It includes extensive quotations from the new text.Published versio

Volavka, Zdenka. -- Crown and Ritual : The Royal Insignia of Ngoyo. Edited by Wendy A. Thomas, Introduction and conclusion by Colleen E. Kriger. Toronto, University of Toronto Press, 1998, 411 p., illustrations.

In 1976 Zdenka Volavka discovered the central item of a royal shrine of the Kingdom of Ngoyo among uncatalogued items in the basement of the Musée de l'Homme. It was labeled, ignominiously, a "fishing basket" even though it was made of carefully worked copper. She spent the remainder of her life studying this object and its context, and died in 1990 with a large unfinished manuscript of her lengthy and painstaking work. Fortunately, Wendy Thomas took over the project and, working from ..

Identification of salivary mucin MUC7 binding proteins from Streptococcus gordonii

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The salivary mucin MUC7 (previously known as MG2) can adhere to various strains of streptococci that are primary colonizers and predominant microorganisms of the oral cavity. Although there is a growing interest in interaction between oral pathogens and salivary mucins, studies reporting the specific binding sites on the bacteria are rather limited. Identification and characterization of the specific interacting proteins on the bacterial cell surface, termed adhesins, are crucial to further understand host-pathogen interactions.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We demonstrate here, using purified MUC7 to overlay blots of SDS-extracts of <it>Streptococcus gordonii </it>cell surface proteins, 4 MUC7-binding bands, with apparent molecular masses of 62, 78, 84 and 133 kDa from the <it>Streptococcus gordonii </it>strain, PK488. Putative adhesins were identified by in-gel digestion and subsequent nanoLC-tandem mass spectrometry analysis of resultant peptides. The 62 kDa and 84 kDa bands were identified as elongation factor (EF) Tu and EF-G respectively. The 78 kDa band was a <it>hppA </it>gene product; the 74 kDa oligopeptide-binding lipoprotein. The 133 kDa band contained two proteins; alpha enolase and DNA-directed RNA polymerase, beta' subunit. Some of these proteins, for example alpha enolase are expected to be intracellular, however, flow cytometric analysis confirmed its location on the bacterial surface.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our data demonstrated that <it>S. gordonii </it>expressed a number of putative MUC7 recognizing proteins and these contribute to MUC7 mucin binding of this streptococcal strain.</p

NASA-UVA Light Aerospace Alloy and Structures Technology Program: LA(2)ST

The NASA-UVA Light Aerospace Alloy and Structures Technology (LA(2)ST) Program continues a high level of activity, with projects being conducted by graduate students and faculty advisors in the Departments of Materials Science and Engineering, Civil Engineering and Applied Mechanics, and Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the University of Virginia. This work is funded by the NASA-Langley Research Center under Grant NAG-1-745. We report on progress achieved between July 1 and December 31, 1992. The objective of the LA(2)ST Program is to conduct interdisciplinary graduate student research on the performance of next generation, light weight aerospace alloys, composites and thermal gradient structures in collaboration with NASA-Langley researchers. Specific technical objectives are presented for each research project. We generally aim to produce relevant data and basic understanding of material mechanical response, corrosion behavior, and microstructure; new monolithic and composite alloys; advanced processing methods; new solid and fluid mechanics analyses; measurement advances; and critically, a pool of educated graduate students for aerospace technologies

Investing in animal health research to alleviate poverty

This presentation starts with a discussion on the need of this study and outlines its framework. It then assesses in detail how to attack poverty, and tries to answer the question where do livestock and their diseases fit in? Then it presents the study design and how it is achieved. It then presents a quantitative assessment of poverty, and looks into qualitative approach, poverty indicators, livestock production systems, priority species for the poor along with their objectives and step to achieving them. It then presents an assessment of disease impact with examples. It then examines the distribution of poverty, the association of livestock species with the poor, animal diseases and their impact on the poor, and zoonotic diseases and their impact on the poor. It also presents in detail disease impact ranking. The role of research in alleviating poverty through animal health; research opportunities for the development and adaptation of disease control technologies targeted at the poor and for their delivery adoption and impact; the balance between diseases with the highest impact and the opportunities for research on their better control (a synthesis of research priorities) are other topics of discussion. The paper concludes its discussion with examining issues like generic areas from the field, generic delivery and adoption issues, synthesis of opportunities derived from all sources, and the balance between diseases with the highest impact and the opportunities for research on their better control. The presentation ends with a summary of funding requirements and sources