Andreas Vesalius: Celebrating 500 years of dissecting nature

December 31st, 2014 marked the 500-year anniversary of the birth of Andreas Vesalius. Vesalius, considered as the founder of modern anatomy, had profoundly changed not only human anatomy, but also the intellectual structure of medicine. The impact of his scientific revolution can be recognized even today. In this article we review the life, anatomical work, and achievements of Andreas Vesalius

Galileo Galilei: Science vs. faith

Galileo Galilei (1564\u20131642), professor of mathematics at the University of Padua from 1592 to 1610, was a pillar in the history of our University and a symbol of freedom for research and teaching, well stated in the university motto \u2018\u2018Universa Universis Patavina Libertas\u2019\u2019 (Total freedom in Padua, open to all the world).1 He invented the experimental method, based on evidence and calculation (\u2018\u2018science is measure\u2019\u2019) and was able, by using the telescope, to confirm the Copernican heliocentric theory, a challenge to the Bible. Bertrand Russell (1872\u20131970), in his book \u2018\u2018The Problems of Philosophy\u2019\u2019 stated: \u2018\u2018Almost everything that distinguishes modern world from earlier centuries is attributable to science, which achieved the most spectacular triumphs in the seventeenth century. Together with Harvey, Newton and Keplero, Galileo was a protagonist of this scientific revolution in the late Renaissance\u2019\u2019. His life was a continuous struggle to defend science from the influence of religious prejudices. He was catholic, forced by the Inquisition to deny his views, and was condemned to home arrest for the rest of his life. Here is the history of his life, a pendulum between science and religious beliefs

New life to Italian university anatomical collections: desire to give value and open museological issues. Cases compared

The anatomical museums are one of the most difficult categories of museums to deal with because the issues addressed and the stored materials are complex to communicate and often not suitable for all audiences. The history of medicine teaches us that the knowledge of our body is a fascinating topic that continues to be the subject of study and research. The Italian anatomical museums are mostly university property, often closed and with specimens in urgent need of restoration. Their rooms still house important collections of human biological samples, dry or in liquid, collected between the eighteenth and twentieth century: a historical heritage that testifies to the evolution of medical science and provides a searchable archive of biological and genetic data. The curator of such a museum must confront many issues \u2013 museological, legislative and ethical \u2013 many of which are unclear and incomplete. This article provides an overview of museological issues in the anatomical area in order to offer ideas and visions, from a comparison of three different examples: the Museum of Human Anatomy of the University of Pavia, the Museum of Pathological Anatomy at the University of Padua and the Gordon Museum of Pathology in London

Gli scalottati di Vicenza. Analisi antropologica dei resti rinvenuti a Palazzo San Michele.

In 2016, during the restoration of San Michele Palace in Vicenza, several human bones were found in two types of different burials: the first is a mass grave with more than 1100 bone elements arranged chaotically, while the second burial concerns an isolated hole with inside skulls with clear signs of craniectomy. Anthropological and historical investigations have focused on clarifying why these skulls were without skullcap

Occupational markers and pathology of the castrato singer Gaspare Pacchierotti (1740\u20131821)

Following the birth of modern opera in Italy in 1600, the demand for soprano voices grew up and the prepuberal castration was carried out to preserve the young male voice into adult life. Among the castrati, Gaspare Pacchierotti was probably one of the most famous. The remains of Pacchierotti were exhumed for the first time in 2013, for a research in the reconstruction of his biological profile, to understand the secrets behind his sublime voice and how the castration influenced the body. All the findings discovered, through anthropological and Computed Tomography analyses, are consistent both with the occupational markers of a singer and with the hormonal effects of castration. The erosion of cervical vertebrae, the insertion of respiratory muscles and muscles of the arms can be an effect of the bodily position and exercise during singing. The hormonal effect of castration were related to osteoporosis and to the disorders of spine

Information and Willingness to Pay in a Contingent Valuation Study: The Value of S. Erasmo in the Lagoon of Venice

This paper reports on a contingent valuation study eliciting willingness to pay for a public program for the preservation of lagoon, beach and infrastructure in the island of S. Erasmo in the Lagoon of Venice. A referendum dichotomous choice approach with a follow-up question is used to obtain information about willingness to pay from a sample of residents of the Veneto Region in Italy. We use split samples to investigate the effect of providing different levels of information to respondents before asking the payment questions. Our experimental treatment is a reminder of possible reasons for voting in favor or against the proposed program before the referendum question. We find that reminding respondents of the reasons for voting for or against the public works increases WTP among less highly educated respondents, and decreases WTP among more highly educated respondents.Contingent valuation, Effects of information

Aspetti antropologici e socioculturali dell\u2019emigrazione schedata. Il caso dei trevigiani in Argentina durante il fascismo.

The so-called recorded emigrants were a new figure of migrant appeared during the Fascist period. They represented the clearest example of the mixture between political ideals and primary economic needs. This case study is about the recorded migration from Treviso to Argentina during the interwar period. Our aim is not only to reject the Fascist biased version on the antifascists, but also analyse Treviso emigrants\u2019 socio-cultural conditions and their ability to integrate into such a different country as contemporary Argentina

Cardiocentrism in ancient medicines

History of cardiology starts scientifically in 1628, when William Harvey (1578-1657) published his revolutionary book Extercitatio anatomica de motu cordis et sanguinis in animalibus, where he described "general" circulation, movements and functions of heart, heart valves, veins and arteries. Consequently, all theories and practices of ancient medicines were reduced to superstitions. Historians relegated pre-Harveian cardiology to roughs notes, preventing a proper historical evaluation of many centuries of conceptions and practices. All the ancient civilizations shared the conviction that the heart was the biological and spiritual center of the body, the seat of emotions, mind, will, a vital energy produced by breathing and healing, and the soul. This cardiocentric view maintained a special role both in religion and in medicine across millennia from east to west, passing over cultural and scientific revolutions. Here, we will try to give a schematic account of medical beliefs on the heart from the most important pre-classic medicines. Some of them today show to have a kernel of truth. This demonstrates, at least, that history is a non-linear process and that intuitions or even truths, potentially useful for the present and scientific development, can re-emerge from the past

Adição de mancozebe às misturas de fungicidas IDMs + IQes e IQes + ISDHs no controle das manchas foliares do trigo

Reis, Erlei Melo. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Agronomía. Buenos Aires, Argentina.Zanatta, Mateus. Agroservice - Pesquisa e consultoria agrícola. Passo Fundo - RS, Brasil.Forcelini, Carlos Alberto. Universidade de Passo Fundo. Faculdade de Agronomia. Passo Fundo - RS, Brasil.23-27Wheat leaf blights caused by Drechslera siccans, D. tritici-repentis, especially D. tritici-repentis, are difficult to be controlled by site-specific fungicide mixtures. Due to development of resistance, the use of double site-specific mixtures has shown control inferior to 50%. In an experiment conducted in the field with the wheat cultivar Jadeite 11, in 3 x 6 m plots and four replicates, the effect of a muli-site fungicide added to fungicide mixtures on the control of leaf blights was evaluated. The effect of the following mixtures was evaluated: picoxystrobin + cyproconazole, kresoxim-methyl + epoxiconazole, azoxystrobin + cyproconazole, pyraclostrobin + epoxiconazole, pyraclostrobin + fluxapyroxad, trifloxystrobin + prothioconazole and zoxystrobin + propiconazole, added of five mancozeb levels, 0; 1.5; 2.0; 2.5 and 3.0 kg/ha. The first application occurred after 30% Reis, E. M.; Zanatta, M.; Forcelini, C.A. Addition of mancozeb to the fungicide mixtures DMI + QoI and SDHI + QoI on the control of wheat leaf blights. Summa Phytopathologica, v.45, n.1, p.23-27, 2019. leaf incidence, and the remaining two occurred at 15 and 18-day intervals. The fungicides were applied with a backpack sprayer pressurized by CO2, delivering 180 L/ha. Leaf blights severity was quantified, control was calculated, the percentage of chlorophyll in flag leaves was determined, and grain yield was assessed. The mean control of leaf blights by the mixtures without addition of the multi-site fungicide was 44%. The disease severity reduced as a function of the addition of mancozeb levels for all treatments. Control superior to 80% was obtained with the mixtures resoxim methyl + epoxiconazole and pyraclostrobin + epoxiconazole, both added at least 2.0 kg/ha mancozeb. There was a positive reflex on the increase in wheat grain yield as a function of control, varying from 3005 kg/ha for the best treatment to 2026 kg/ha for control