Neoptolemos: Zu einer Reliefbasis aus Athen – ein Denkmal der Kulturpolitik des Lykurg

Das Relieffragment Athen, Nationalmuseum Inv. 2636 ist im Jahre 1904 im Piräus beschlagnahmt worden. Den erhaltenen Abschnitt der Darstellung beherrscht die Gestalt eines Kriegers mit Schild, der sich nach links auf ein Kultbild des Apollon zubewegt, das auf einer Basis steht und einen Bogen in der linken Hand hält. Am rechten Rand ist der rechte Fuß einer weiteren Gestalt erhalten, zu der der Krieger seinen Kopf zurückwendet. In der Kriegergestalt wird Neoptolemos erkannt, der vor seinen Verfolgern ins Heiligtum des Apollon in Delphi flieht. Technische Details führen zu dem gesicherten Ergebnis, dass das Fragment von einem Relieffries stammt, der sich im Inneren eines Heiligtums des Apollon Pythios in Athen befunden hat. Bekanntlich wurde Apollon Pythios in Athen auch als Apollon Patroos verehrt, dessen Tempel auf der Agora errichtet wurde. Anhand der Überlieferung, die Vergoldung des Altars des Apollon Patroos sei von dem sehr reichen Athener Neoptolemos, Sohn des Antikles, finanziert worden, wird die Hypothese aufgestellt, dass derselbe Mann auch die Kosten für die Herstellung der Statue übernommen haben könnte, wodurch sich die Wahl des Neoptolemosmythos für den Reliefschmuck der Statuenbasis erklären würde. Die letztgenannte Annahme führt nahezu zwangsläufig zur wahrscheinlichen Herkunft des beschlagnahmten Fragments von der Athener Agora.The relief fragment Athens, NM Inv. 2636 was confiscated in 1904 in Piraeus. The preserved segment of the relief is dominated by the figure of a warrior with a shield, who moves left towards a cult image of Apollo set upon a base and holding a bow in his left hand. At the right-hand edge of the segment the right foot is preserved of another figure, who the warrior turns his head back to. The warrior is recognized as being Neoptolemos, fleeing from his persecutors to the sanctuary of Apollo at Delphi. Technical details establish securely that the fragment comes from a relief frieze that was situated inside a sanctuary of Apollo Pythios in Athens. It is known that in Athens Apollo Pythios was also worshipped as Apollo Patroos, whose temple was erected on the Agora. Given the tradition that the gilding of the altar of Apollo Patroos was financed by the very wealthy Athenian Neoptolemos, son of Antikles, we propose the hypothesis that the same man may also have borne the cost of producing the statue, which would account for the choice of the Neoptolemos myth for the relief decoration of the statue base. The latter conjecture necessarily leads to the probable provenance of the confiscated fragment being the Athens Agora

Life after care: psychological adjustment to bereavement in family carers of people with dementia

BACKGROUND: Despite well-documented evidence of the psychological effects of caring for a relative with dementia, little is known about the bereavement experiences of family carers. The aim of this study was to explore the key psychological changes associated with carers' adjustment to bereavement and "life after care." METHODS: All carers taking part were recruited from a day care center, providing specialist services to people with dementia. We asked carers to describe the key changes associated with psychological adjustment to bereavement through semi-structured qualitative in-depth interviews. Strategies carers used to cope with and adapt to their new role were also explored. All data were thematically analysed. RESULTS: Thirty-one carers were interviewed. The most frequent emotional reactions to bereavement were feelings of loneliness, loss, void, sadness, anger, and relief. Most carers were able to adapt to their new role, and engaging in pleasant activities was the most frequent strategy used to cope with loss and "life after care." CONCLUSIONS: Feelings of loneliness and loss are amongst the key emotional reactions shaping carers' adjustment to bereavement. Most carers are able to adapt to loss; however, a minority experience increased psychological distress after the death of their loved one. A small percentage of carers continues caring for other dependants. Further research is required to identify how carers of people with dementia adapt to bereavement and how this increasing number of individuals can be best supported

A QUASI-EXPERIMENTAL PILOT STUDY OF THE EFFECTS OF A STRESS MANAGEMENT & HEALTH PROMOTION PROGRAM IN CHILDREN WITH ADHD

Objective: The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effects of a stress management and health promotion program on the primary and secondary symptoms of Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) as well as on other variables concerning the daily routine and lifestyle of children with ADHD. Furthermore, the effects on the levels of perceived stress and the quality of life of parents of children with ADHD were investigated.Method: The research type was quasi-experimental. Two groups were created (intervention and control group) with a total of 50 participants. Each participant in the intervention group engaged in 8 meetings over a period of two months. The intervention program included information relevant to stress and lifestyle (daily and eating habits, routine, exercise, sleep) as well as the application of cognitive behavioral therapy and stress management techniques.Results: The results are summarized as follows: significant decrease in anxiety and symptoms of ADHD, and improvement in sleep conditions, eating habits and frequency of physical exercise of the children were noted. Furthermore, a positive effect on perceived stress and quality of life of the parents of children with ADHD was observed.Conclusions: The results of the present study show that the stress management and health promotion program significantly improves both the symptoms of the disorder and the emotional state of children with ADHD, as well as their general lifestyle.  Article visualizations

Harm caused by Marine Litter

Marine litter is a global concern with a range of problems associated to it, as recognised by the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD). Marine litter can impact organisms at different levels of biological organization and habitats in a number of ways namely: through entanglement in, or ingestion of, litter items by individuals, resulting in death and/or severe suffering; through chemical and microbial transfer; as a vector for transport of biota and by altering or modifying assemblages of species. Marine litter is a threat not only to marine species and ecosystems but also carries a risk to human health and has significant implications to human welfare, impacting negatively vital economic sectors such as tourism, fisheries, aquaculture or energy supply and bringing economic losses to individuals, enterprises and communities. This technical report aims to provide clear insight about the major negative impacts from marine litter by describing the mechanisms of harm. Further it provides reflexions about the evidence for harm from marine litter to biota comprising the underlying aspect of animal welfare while also considering the socioeconomic effects, including the influence of marine litter on ecosystem services. General conclusions highlight that understanding the risks and uncertainties with regard to the harm caused by marine litter is closely associated with the precautionary principle. The collected evidence in this report can be regarded as a supporting step to define harm and to provide an evidence base for the various actions needed to be implemented by decision-makers. This improved knowledge about the scale of the harmful effects of marine litter will further support EU Member States (MSs) and Regional Seas Conventions (RSCs) to implement their programme of measures, regional action plans and assessments.JRC.D.2-Water and Marine Resource

Enhancing public awareness and promoting co-responsibility for marine litter in Europe: The challenge of MARLISCO

Marine litter is a pervasive and complex societal problem but has no simple solution. Inadequate practices at all levels of production–use–disposal contribute to accumulation of waste on land and at sea. Enhanced societal awareness but also co-responsibility across different sectors and improved interactions between stakeholders are necessary. MARLISCO was a European initiative, which developed and implemented activities across 15 countries. It worked towards raising societal awareness and engagement on marine litter, through a combination of approaches: public exhibitions in over 80 locations; a video competition involving 2100 students; and a legacy of educational and decision-supporting tools. 12 national participatory events designed to facilitate dialogue on solutions brought together 1500 stakeholders and revealed support for cross-cutting, preventive measures. Evaluation during implementation shows that these activities are effective in improving individuals' perceptions about the problem but also commitment in being part of the solution. This paper summarises MARLISCO's approach and highlights a selection of outcomes

Effect of intravenous clarithromycin in patients with sepsis, respiratory and multiple organ dysfunction syndrome: a randomized clinical trial.

Clarithromycin may act as immune-regulating treatment in sepsis and acute respiratory dysfunction syndrome. However, clinical evidence remains inconclusive. We aimed to evaluate whether clarithromycin improves 28-day mortality among patients with sepsis, respiratory and multiple organ dysfunction syndrome. We conducted a multicenter, randomized, clinical trial in patients with sepsis. Participants with ratio of partial oxygen pressure to fraction of inspired oxygen less than 200 and more than 3 SOFA points from systems other than the respiratory function were enrolled between December 2017 and September 2019. Patients were randomized to receive 1 gr of clarithromycin or placebo intravenously once daily for 4 consecutive days. The primary endpoint was 28-day all-cause mortality. Secondary outcomes were 90-day mortality; sepsis response (defined as at least 25% decrease in SOFA score by day 7); sepsis recurrence; and differences in peripheral blood cell populations and leukocyte transcriptomics. Fifty-five patients were allocated to each arm. By day 28, 27 (49.1%) patients in the clarithromycin and 25 (45.5%) in the placebo group died (risk difference 3.6% [95% confidence interval (CI) - 15.7 to 22.7]; P = 0.703, adjusted OR 1.03 [95%CI 0.35-3.06]; P = 0.959). There were no statistical differences in 90-day mortality and sepsis response. Clarithromycin was associated with lower incidence of sepsis recurrence (OR 0.21 [95%CI 0.06-0.68]; P = 0.012); significant increase in monocyte HLA-DR expression; expansion of non-classical monocytes; and upregulation of genes involved in cholesterol homeostasis. Serious and non-serious adverse events were equally distributed. Clarithromycin did not reduce mortality among patients with sepsis with respiratory and multiple organ dysfunction. Clarithromycin was associated with lower sepsis recurrence, possibly through a mechanism of immune restoration. Clinical trial registration clinicaltrials.gov identifier NCT03345992 registered 17 November 2017; EudraCT 2017-001056-55

Guidance on Monitoring of Marine Litter in European Seas

This publication is a Reference Report by the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission.The MSFD Technical Subgroup on Marine Litter was tasked to deliver guidance so that European Member States could initiate programmes for monitoring of Descriptor 10 of the MSFD. The present document provides the recommendations and information needed to commence the monitoring required for marine litter, including methodological protocols and categories of items to be used for the assessment of litter on the Beach, Water Column, Seafloor and Biota, including a special section on Microparticles

A European threshold value and assessment method for macro litter on coastlines: Guidance developed within the Common Implementation Strategy for the Marine Strategy Framework Directive

The Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD, 2008/56/EC) requires that European threshold values (TVs) for marine litter (descriptor 10) be defined. The MSFD Technical Group on Marine Litter (TG ML) decided to focus on coastline litter (Criterion 1), often referred to as beach litter, in a first step, since for this criterion a monitoring framework is in place and a substantial amount of fit-for-purpose beach litter monitoring data is available at the European scale (see Hanke et al., 2019). This report describes the rationale and method to obtain a European TV for beach litter, as developed by Member States and other experts within the TG ML. It was concluded by TG ML that a TV cannot be based on quantitative ecological and socio-economic harm due to a lack of scientific data on harm caused by marine litter on beaches. Of the remaining options, the use of the 10th percentile value of the total litter abundance dataset from all European beaches in the baseline period 2015-2016 was selected and applied, as it was considered to be sufficiently precautionary while being based on already available beach litter abundances in the EU. The underlying baseline dataset was developed within the TG ML. Calculation of the 10th percentile of the EU baseline dataset resulted in a value of 13 litter items per 100 m of coastline length. Further consideration of the 95% confidence intervals of the TV and assessment value, respectively, led to a final TV of 20 litter items/100 m beach length, which corresponds to the 15th percentile value of the EU baseline dataset. This TV is estimated by experts from TG ML to reduce harm from beach litter to a sufficiently precautionary level. The methodology acknowledges uncertainties in the underlying data which is considered in the proposal. The median assessment value is compared with this TV for compliance checking. It is acknowledged that achieving this TV will require substantial and sustained measures over a longer period. Intermediate targets over time towards the proposed TV are proposed to support the achievement of the TV.JRC.D.2-Water and Marine Resource

Tobacco Smoke: Involvement of Reactive Oxygen Species and Stable Free Radicals in Mechanisms of Oxidative Damage, Carcinogenesis and Synergistic Effects with Other Respirable Particles

Tobacco smoke contains many toxic, carcinogenic and mutagenic chemicals, as well as stable and unstable free radicals and reactive oxygen species (ROS) in the particulate and the gas phase with the potential for biological oxidative damage. Epidemiological evidence established that smoking is one of the most important extrinsic factor of premature morbidity and mortality. The objective of this study was to investigate oxidative and carcinogenic mechanisms of tobacco and synergistic action with other respirable particles in the respiratory system of smokers. Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (EPR) and spin-trapping techniques were used to study stable free radicals in the cigarette tar, and unstable superoxide anion (O2•−) and hydroxyl (HO•) radicals in the smoke Results showed that the semiquinone radical system has the potential for redox recycling and oxidative action. Further, results proved that aqueous cigarette tar (ACT) solutions can generate adducts with DNA nucleobases, particularly the mutagenic 8-hydroxy-2’-deoxyguanosine (a biomarker for carcinogenesis). Also, we observed synergistic effects in the generation of HO•, through the Fenton reaction, with environmental respirable particles (asbestos fibres, coal dust, etc.) and ambient particulate matter (PM), such as PM10, PM2.5 and diesel exhaust particles (DEP). The highest synergistic effects was observed with the asbestos fibres (freshly grounded), PM2.5 and DEP. Finally, we discuss results from our previous study of conventional cellulose acetate filters and “bio-filters” with hemoglobin impregnated activated carbon, which showed that these filters do not substantially alter the free radical content of smoke in the particulate and in the gaseous phase