Cultural Interactions and Religious Iconography in 16th Century Kerala: the Mural Paintings of St. Mary’s Church in Angamaly

St. Mary\u27s Jacobite Syrian Church is an ancient church in Angamaly (Kerala). One account has Syrian Christians arriving in Angamaly in 384 CE and the church being established in 409 CE. Syrian Christians are the earliest Christian community of India, and they attribute their origin to the evangelical efforts of the apostle Saint Thomas who is believed to have travelled through the Malabar country in 52 CE evangelizing and building churches. It was when he moved east that he is supposed to have met his death and (martyrdom) at Mylapore near Madras

Variantes iconográficas de una Virgen armada: Nuestra Señora del Socorro

 In the first Christian works of art, Mary is shown enthroned holding the child Jesus on her lap. However, there are a number of Marys representations in Christian art that associate her with evil and the devil. This work will discuss the development of Marys image as an armed Virgin from its origins in Italy -under the advocation of Out Lady of Help- until its diffusion in Spain. At the same time, it will point out the important role that this image played during the counterreformation period.  Resumen: María en las primeras obras artísticas cristianas se representa entronizada cargando el niño Jesús en su regazo. Sin embargo, existen en al arte cristiano otras imágenes de María que asocian esta divinidad a la lucha contra el mal representado por el diablo. Este trabajo traza el desarrollo de la representación de María como Virgen armada desde sus orígenes en Italia -bajo la advocación de Nuestra Señora del Socorro- hasta su difusión en España, destacando el importante papel que esta imagen jugó durante todo el periodo de la contrarreforma.Abstract: In the first Christian works of art, Mary is shown enthroned holding the child Jesus on her lap. However, there are a number of Marys representations in Christian art that associate her with evil and the devil. This work will discuss the development of Marys image as an armed Virgin from its origins in Italy -under the advocation of Out Lady of Help- until its diffusion in Spain. At the same time, it will point out the important role that this image played during the counterreformation period

Sacred and Healing Plants in Huaxtepec: The Pre-Hispanic and European Medicinal Legacy in Nueva España

Huaxtepec uno de los más famosos jardines aztecas, pertenecía a Moctezuma I (1440-1469 Ilhuicamina). Este jardín prehispánico, como otros, contenía plantas rituales y medicinales. Los frailes misioneros fueron los primeros que a mediados del siglo XVI se interesaron por las prácticas médicas desarrolladas por los indígenas y por las plantas que utilizaban en sanaciones y rituales religiosos. Estos frailes fundaron también los primeros hospitales como el Hospital de la Santa Cruz en Huaxtepec. Este estudio intenta demostrar cómo este Hospital mantuvo un papel importante durante la colonia como lugar de relajación y curación en donde las plantas del antiguo jardín de Moctezuma se siguieron utilizando y mezclaron con las provenientes de otros continentes para la sanación de los enfermos.Huaxtepec, one of the most famous Aztec gardens, belonged to Moctezuma I (1440-1469 Ilhuicamina). This pre-Hispanic garden, like others, contained ritual and medicinal plants. The missionary friars were the first who, in the middle of the 16th century, became interested in the medical practices developed by the indigenous people and in the plants they used in healing and religious rituals. These friars also founded the first hospitals such as the Hospital de la Santa Cruz in Huaxtepec. This study tries to demonstrate how this Hospital maintained an important role during the colony as a place of relaxation and healing where the plants of the old garden of Moctezuma continued to be used and mixed with those from other continents for the healing of the sick.Facultad de Arte

Gut-derived metabolites mediating cognitive development in 5-year-old children: Early-life transplant in mice has lasting effects throughout adulthood

The gut microbiota has been causally linked to cognitive development. We aimed to identify metabolites mediating its effect on cognitive development, and foods or nutrients related to most promising metabolites. Faeces from 5-year-old children (DORIAN-PISAC cohort, including 90 general population families with infants, 42/48 females/males, born in 2011-2014) were transplanted (FMT) into C57BL/6 germ-free mice. Children and recipient mice were stratified by cognitive phenotype, or based on protective metabolites. Food frequency questionnaires were obtained in children. Cognitive measurements in mice included five Y-maze tests until 23 weeks post-FMT, and (at 23 weeks) PET-CT for brain metabolism and radiodensity, and ultrasound-based carotid vascular indices. Children (faeces, urine) and mice (faeces, plasma) metabolome was measured by 1H NMR spectroscopy, and the faecal microbiota was profiled in mice by 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing. Cognitive scores of children and recipient mice were correlated. FMT-dependent modifications of brain metabolism were observed. Mice receiving FMT from high-cognitive or protective metabolite-enriched children developed superior cognitive-behavioural performance. A panel of metabolites, namely xanthine, hypoxanthine, formate, mannose, tyrosine, phenylalanine, glutamine, was found to mediate the gut-cognitive axis in donor children and recipient mice. Vascular indices partially explained the metabolite-to-phenotype relationships. Children's consumption of legumes, whole-milk yogurt and eggs, and intake of iron, zinc and vitamin D appeared to support protective gut metabolites. Overall, metabolites involved in inflammation, purine metabolism and neurotransmitter synthesis mediate the gut-cognitive axis, and holds promise for screening. The related dietary and nutritional findings offer leads to microbiota-targeted interventions for cognitive protection, with long-lasting effects

The ideology of the English landscape garden 1720-1750

My topic is the genesis of the English landscape garden 1720-1750. This was developed in Britain in the first half of the eighteenth century and has been called "emblematic or learned", since the visitor was expected to decipher its various meanings. These were often communicated through buildings, sculptures and inscriptions, and cumulatively conveyed through the sequences in which these features were arranged. While historians have studied the iconography of some of those gardens (notably Stowe) in depth, there are areas which, though acknowledged, have yet to be dealt with thoroughly. These include the well-known "Chinese" connection, the details of the gardens' political status, the significance of the Venetian aspect of the Palladian revival, and the role of Freemasonry and masonic ideas. In this dissertation my aim has been to explore these various aspects showing how, if considered all together, they can help us to better understand the different meanings of the early landscape garden. In the introduction I give a description of the early English landscape gardens. In the first part I discuss the importance of the Chinese gardens for the origins of the "idea of irregularity" in the new style of garden. Then in the second part I go on to investigate the eighteenth century political background and its connections with the architecture of the early landscape garden discussing the influence that the surviving myth of Venice had on Neo-Palladianism. Finally, I examine whether the garden contained buildings that could reflect masonic moral and architectural concepts

Variantes iconográficas de una virgen armada: Nuestra Señora del Socorro

Resumen: María en las primeras obras artísticas cristianas se representa entronizada cargando el niño Jesús en su regazo. Sin embargo, existen en al arte cristiano otras imágenes de María que asocian esta divinidad a la lucha contra el mal representado por el diablo. Este trabajo traza el desarrollo de la representación de María como Virgen armada desde sus orígenes en Italia -bajo la advocación de Nuestra Señora del Socorro- hasta su difusión en España, destacando el importante papel que esta imagen jugó durante todo el periodo de la contrarreforma. Abstract: In the first Christian works of art, Mary is shown enthroned holding the child Jesus on her lap. However, there are a number of Marys representations in Christian art that associate her with evil and the devil. This work will discuss the development of Marys image as an armed Virgin from its origins in Italy -under the advocation of Out Lady of Help- until its diffusion in Spain. At the same time, it will point out the important role that this image played during the counterreformation period

El daoísmo y el arte de la jardinería china

William Chambers escribió en Dissertation on Oriental Garden­ing: “Los jardineros chinos no son sólo botánicos, sino también pintores y filósofos que poseen un profundo conocimiento sobre la mente humana y las artes, que estimulan sus sentimientos más poderosos”. Los chinos construían sus casas guiados por el ideal confuciano del hombre social y diseñaban sus jardines cuidadosamente para hacer de ellos un retiro informal para el daoísta, el hombre natural. “Por tanto, se consideraba que la jardinería era un pasatiempo filosófico muy respetable y la mayoría de los hombres instruidos la practicaban en mayor o menor medida.” De hecho, en los jardines chinos se intenta representar de forma simbólica la visión taoísta de una vida que se centra y se vive en armonía con el Dao

"Delirium Day": A nationwide point prevalence study of delirium in older hospitalized patients using an easy standardized diagnostic tool

Background: To date, delirium prevalence in adult acute hospital populations has been estimated generally from pooled findings of single-center studies and/or among specific patient populations. Furthermore, the number of participants in these studies has not exceeded a few hundred. To overcome these limitations, we have determined, in a multicenter study, the prevalence of delirium over a single day among a large population of patients admitted to acute and rehabilitation hospital wards in Italy. Methods: This is a point prevalence study (called "Delirium Day") including 1867 older patients (aged 65 years or more) across 108 acute and 12 rehabilitation wards in Italian hospitals. Delirium was assessed on the same day in all patients using the 4AT, a validated and briefly administered tool which does not require training. We also collected data regarding motoric subtypes of delirium, functional and nutritional status, dementia, comorbidity, medications, feeding tubes, peripheral venous and urinary catheters, and physical restraints. Results: The mean sample age was 82.0 ± 7.5 years (58 % female). Overall, 429 patients (22.9 %) had delirium. Hypoactive was the commonest subtype (132/344 patients, 38.5 %), followed by mixed, hyperactive, and nonmotoric delirium. The prevalence was highest in Neurology (28.5 %) and Geriatrics (24.7 %), lowest in Rehabilitation (14.0 %), and intermediate in Orthopedic (20.6 %) and Internal Medicine wards (21.4 %). In a multivariable logistic regression, age (odds ratio [OR] 1.03, 95 % confidence interval [CI] 1.01-1.05), Activities of Daily Living dependence (OR 1.19, 95 % CI 1.12-1.27), dementia (OR 3.25, 95 % CI 2.41-4.38), malnutrition (OR 2.01, 95 % CI 1.29-3.14), and use of antipsychotics (OR 2.03, 95 % CI 1.45-2.82), feeding tubes (OR 2.51, 95 % CI 1.11-5.66), peripheral venous catheters (OR 1.41, 95 % CI 1.06-1.87), urinary catheters (OR 1.73, 95 % CI 1.30-2.29), and physical restraints (OR 1.84, 95 % CI 1.40-2.40) were associated with delirium. Admission to Neurology wards was also associated with delirium (OR 2.00, 95 % CI 1.29-3.14), while admission to other settings was not. Conclusions: Delirium occurred in more than one out of five patients in acute and rehabilitation hospital wards. Prevalence was highest in Neurology and lowest in Rehabilitation divisions. The "Delirium Day" project might become a useful method to assess delirium across hospital settings and a benchmarking platform for future surveys