Virtual unrolling and deciphering of Herculaneum papyri by X-ray phase-contrast tomography

A collection of more than 1800 carbonized papyri, discovered in the Roman 'Villa dei Papiri' at Herculaneum is the unique classical library survived from antiquity. These papyri were charred during 79 A.D. Vesuvius eruption, a circumstance which providentially preserved them until now. This magnificent collection contains an impressive amount of treatises by Greek philosophers and, especially, Philodemus of Gadara, an Epicurean thinker of 1st century BC. We read many portions of text hidden inside carbonized Herculaneum papyri using enhanced X-ray phase-contrast tomography non-destructive technique and a new set of numerical algorithms for 'virtual-unrolling'. Our success lies in revealing the largest portion of Greek text ever detected so far inside unopened scrolls, with unprecedented spatial resolution and contrast, all without damaging these precious historical manuscripts. Parts of text have been decoded and the 'voice' of the Epicurean philosopher Philodemus is brought back again after 2000 years from Herculaneum papyri

Candidate gene study of HOXB1 in autism spectrum disorder

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p><it>HOXB1 </it>plays a major role in brainstem morphogenesis and could partly determine the cranial circumference in conjunction with <it>HOXA1</it>. In our sample, <it>HOXA1 </it>alleles significantly influence head growth rates both in autistic patients and in population controls. An initial report, suggesting that <it>HOXB1 </it>could confer autism vulnerability in interaction with <it>HOXA1</it>, was not confirmed by five small association studies.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Our sample includes 269 autistic individuals, belonging to 219 simplex and 28 multiplex families. A mutational analysis of the two exons and flanking intronic sequences of the <it>HOXB1 </it>gene was carried out in 84 autistic patients by denaturing high performance liquid chromatography, followed by DNA sequencing. Identified rare variants were then searched by a restriction analysis in 236 autistic patients and 325-345 controls. Case-control and family-based association studies were performed on two common variants in 169 Italian patients versus 184 Italian controls and in 247 trios.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We identified three common polymorphisms, rs72338773 [c.82insACAGCGCCC (INS/nINS)], rs12939811 [c.309A>T (Q103H)], and rs7207109 [c.450G>A (A150A)] and three rare variants, namely IVS1+63G>A, rs35115415 [c.702G>A (V234V)] and c.872_873delinsAA (S291N). SNPs rs72338773 and rs12939811 were not associated with autism, using either a case-control (alleles, exact <it>P </it>= 0.13) or a family-based design [transmission/disequilibrium test (TDT)χ²= 1.774, <it>P </it>= 0.183]. The rare variants, all inherited from one of the parents, were present in two Italian and in two Caucasian-American families. Autistic probands in two families surprisingly inherited a distinct rare variant from each parent. The IVS1+63A allele was present in 3/690 control chromosomes, whereas rare alleles at rs35115415 and c.872_873delinsAA (S291N) were not found in 662 and 650 control chromosomes, respectively. The INS-T309 allele influenced head size, but its effect appears more modest and shows no interaction with <it>HOXA1 </it>alleles. The INS-T309 allele is also associated with more severe stereotypic behaviours, according to ADI-R scores (<it>N </it>= 60 patients, <it>P </it>< 0.01).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p><it>HOXB1 </it>mutations do not represent a common cause of autism, nor do <it>HOXB1 </it>common variants play important roles in autism vulnerability. <it>HOXB1 </it>provides minor, albeit detectable contributions to head circumference in autistic patients, with <it>HOXA1 </it>displaying more prominent effects. <it>HOXB1 </it>variants may modulate the clinical phenotype, especially in the area of stereotypic behaviours.</p

Virtual unrolling and deciphering of Herculaneum papyri by X-ray phase-contrast tomography

A collection of more than 1800 carbonized papyri, discovered in the Roman ‘Villa dei Papiri’ at Herculaneum is the unique classical library survived from antiquity. These papyri were charred during 79 A.D. Vesuvius eruption, a circumstance which providentially preserved them until now. This magnificent collection contains an impressive amount of treatises by Greek philosophers and, especially, Philodemus of Gadara, an Epicurean thinker of 1st century BC. We read many portions of text hidden inside carbonized Herculaneum papyri using enhanced X-ray phase-contrast tomography non-destructive technique and a new set of numerical algorithms for ‘virtual-unrolling’. Our success lies in revealing the largest portion of Greek text ever detected so far inside unopened scrolls, with unprecedented spatial resolution and contrast, all without damaging these precious historical manuscripts. Parts of text have been decoded and the ‘voice’ of the Epicurean philosopher Philodemus is brought back again after 2000 years from Herculaneum papyri

Virtual unrolling and deciphering of Herculaneum papyri by X-ray phase-contrast tomography

A collection of more than 1800 carbonized papyri, discovered in the Roman 'Villa dei Papiri' at Herculaneum is the unique classical library survived from antiquity. These papyri were charred during 79 A.D. Vesuvius eruption, a circumstance which providentially preserved them until now. This magnificent collection contains an impressive amount of treatises by Greek philosophers and, especially, Philodemus of Gadara, an Epicurean thinker of 1st century BC. We read many portions of text hidden inside carbonized Herculaneum papyri using enhanced X-ray phase-contrast tomography non-destructive technique and a new set of numerical algorithms for 'virtual-unrolling'. Our success lies in revealing the largest portion of Greek text ever detected so far inside unopened scrolls, with unprecedented spatial resolution and contrast, all without damaging these precious historical manuscripts. Parts of text have been decoded and the 'voice' of the Epicurean philosopher Philodemus is brought back again after 2000 years from Herculaneum papyri

PHerc. 1020 (Stoici Scriptoris anonymi Opus incertum). Condizioni fisiche, aspetti bibliologici e storia editoriale

P.Herc. 1020, transmitting an Early Stoic text (probably by Chrysippus), was unrolled between 1803 and 1804 and is preserved in 13 pieces, which have come to us in poor condition. One piece has been proven not to belong to this papyrus on palaeographical grounds. The stratification of the pieces ranges from absent to severe. The original order of fragments was upset after some pieces were hung on the walls of the Officina dei papiri around 1865 and subsequently taken down at the beginning of the 20th century. It has been reconstructed both by measuring the 'voluta' of each piece and on the basis of Hayter's numeration either legible on the 'cartoncino' on which some pieces are fixed or inferable from the 'disegni'. The impossibility of identifying with certainty the text layout of the outer pieces of the roll because of the presence of multiple layers in them make it difficult to estimate with precision the length of the lost portions between them. In addition, the lengthwise compression of the papyrus roll permits only an approximation of its original length and total number of columns. As far as the preserved text is concerned, in addition to the 8 columns previously edited by Hans von Arnim, 18 inedited columns have been read and transcribed so far. A new critical edition of the book is currently being prepared within the framework of the project ERC Starting Grant 241184-PHerc (European Commission, FP7, 'Ideas')

Scrittore stoico anonimo, Opera incerta (PHerc. 1020), coll. 104-112. Edizione, introduzione e commento

PHerc. 1020 (SVF 2. 131 = FDS 88) è uno dei sette papiri di sicura o probabile paternità stoica conservati nella collezione ercolanese. Esso è privo di subscriptio, per cui dell’opera in esso conservata si ignorano autore e titolo. Svariati elementi sembrano corroborare la tesi, risalente a Hans von Arnim, che PHerc. 1020 contenga parte di un’opera risalente a Crisippo o a uno dei suoi immediati successori. A favore della paternità crisippea vengono qui forniti nuovi argomenti, che si aggiungono a quelli già addotti da von Arnim, Pohlenz e Keil. Per quanto riguarda il contenuto del libro, non siamo autorizzati a concludere né che esso equivalesse a uno scritto di tipo esclusivamente morale, piuttosto che logico o epistemologico, né che trattasse unicamente del sapiente stoico. Al contrario, dall’esame puntuale del testo, volto in particolare a comprenderlo in relazione alle altre numerose testimonianze sullo Stoicismo antico in nostro possesso, è emerso che esso presentava una singolare compenetrazione di logica, etica ed epistemologia. Facendo uso di nuove metodologie in campo papirologico, i due editori hanno ricostruito per la prima volta l’anatomia del rotolo e la sequenza dei frammenti e hanno ristabilito il testo con nuovi criteri editoriali basandosi sull’autopsia del manoscritto originale. Il presente lavoro consiste in una nuova edizione critica delle ultime otto colonne del papiro (coll. 104-112 Alessandrelli-Ranocchia), le meglio conservate e le uniche sinora edite dagli studiosi, e si inquadra nell’edizione complessiva di PHerc. 1020 programmata nell’ambito del progetto ERC Starting Grant 241184-PHerc finanziato dalla Commissione Europea (FP7, Ideas, www.pherc.eu)PHerc. 1020 (SVF 2. 131 = FDS 88) is one of the seven certain or probable Stoic papyri of the Herculaneum collection. Since the papyrus has no subscriptio, the author and the title of the work contained in it are unknown. Several elements seem to corroborate Hans von Arnim’s thesis that PHerc. 1020 hands down a work by either Chrysippus or one of his immediate successors. New arguments are advanced here in favour of this authorship beside those formerly adduced by von Arnim, Pohlenz and Keil. As far as the book’s content is concerned, we are not allowed to conclude that it was merely ethical, rather than purely logical or epistemological, nor that it only focused on the Stoic sage. On the contrary, from a detailed exegetical analysis and a comparison with the other evidence on Early Stoicism available to us it emerges that the work displayed a unique combination of ethics, logic and epistemology. By using new methods for the reading and editing of Herculaneum papyri, the editors have reconstructed for the first time the anatomy of the roll and the sequence of the fragments, while also establishing the Greek text on the basis of personal inspection of the original manuscript. This study is a new critical edition of the last eight columns of the papyrus (coll. 104-112 Alessandrelli-Ranocchia) – the best preserved columns and the only ones to have been studied by scholars so far – and constitutes the first part of the comprehensive edition of PHerc. 1020 included in the Project ERC Starting Grant 241184-PHerc funded by the European Commission (FP7, Ideas, www.pherc.eu)