scholarly journals The ecology and bioactivity of some Greco-Roman medicinal minerals: the case of Melos earth pigments

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (10) ◽  
Author(s):  
C. W. Knapp ◽  
G. E. Christidis ◽  
D. Venieri ◽  
I. Gounaki ◽  
J. Gibney-Vamvakari ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Antibacterial Activity ◽  
Dna Extraction ◽  
Methodological Approach ◽  
Analytical Techniques ◽  
Medical Texts ◽  
White Pigment ◽  
Mineralogical Characterization ◽  
Deep Time ◽  
The Past ◽  
Greco Roman

AbstractMineral compounds, as pigments and therapeutics, appeared regularly in the technical and medical texts of the Greco-Roman (G-R) world. We have referred to them as ‘G-R medicinal minerals’ and we suggest that despite their seeming familiarity, there are actually many unknowns regarding their precise nature and/or purported pharmacological attributes. Earth pigments are part of that group. This paper presents a brief overview of our work over the past twenty years relating to: a. the attempt to locate a select number of them in the places of their origin; b. their chemical/mineralogical characterization; c. the study of their ecology via the identification of the microorganisms surrounding them; d. their testing as antibacterials against known pathogens. In the process, and to fulfil the above, we have developed a novel methodological approach which includes a range of analytical techniques used across many disciplines (mineralogy, geochemistry, DNA extraction and microbiology). This paper focuses on a select number of earth pigments deriving from the island of Melos in the SW Aegean, celebrated in antiquity for its Melian Earth, a white pigment, and asks whether they might display antibacterial activity. We demonstrate that some (but not all) yellow, green and black earth pigments do. We also show that the manner in which they were dispensed (as powders or leachates) was equally important. The results, although preliminary, are informative. Given their use since deep time, earth pigments have never lost their relevance. We suggest that the study of their ecology/mineralogy and potential bioactivity allows for a better understanding of how our perception of them, as both pigments and therapeutics, may have evolved.

Satire: An explication

2019 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 585-604 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dakota Park-Ozee
Keyword(s):  
Interdisciplinary Collaboration ◽  
Methodological Approach ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Poetic Form ◽  
Empirical Measures ◽  
The Past ◽  
Greco Roman

Abstract Over the past two millennia, satire has transformed from a uniquely Greco-Roman theatrical and poetic form into an ambiguous catch-all applied to political and sociocultural commentary, humor, parody, sarcasm and irony. Despite being a subject of study in any number of fields, explications of satire are limited. It is likely for this reason that there are inter- and intra- disciplinary disconnects in theoretical and methodological approach. Given the contemporary proliferation of satirical work, a proper explication of satire will improve text identification, empirical measures, and interdisciplinary collaboration in satirical research. To that end, this paper explicates satire, evaluates contemporary satirical research in the context of this explication, and recommends future research lines to expand the study of a pervasive construct.

Archaeometry of ceramic materials

2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (11) ◽  
Author(s):  
Giacomo Eramo ◽  
Annarosa Mangone
Keyword(s):  
Raw Materials ◽  
Methodological Approach ◽  
Analytical Techniques ◽  
Integrated Approach ◽  
Ceramic Materials ◽  
Mineralogical Characterization ◽  
Trade Routes ◽  
Analytical Technique ◽  
Technical Ceramics ◽  
Production Technologies

Abstract Ceramics are among the most studied findings, one of the best markers for providing technological and functional information in archaeological contexts. Their chemical-mineralogical characterization allows to answer a large number of historical-archaeological questions about classification, provenance, production technologies, trade routes, economic exchange, etc. The best methodological approach not only integrates morphological-stylistic studies to the archaeometric ones, but also includes a synergic instrumental strategy aimed both to take advantage of each different analytical technique to the best of its potentiality and to over step the problems connected to the preciousness and uniqueness of the objects. As far as the mineralogical and petrographical composition of preindustrial ceramics is concerned, its determination is crucial to answer provenance and technological issues like raw materials procurement and the production processes in this respect, equivalent firing temperature, redox atmosphere during firing are important factors that help in understanding the relevant mineralogical and micro-structural transformations. In this paper, we illustrate how an integrated approach of analytical techniques, tested on different classes of ceramics – pottery with spathic calcite, Apulian red figure pottery and technical ceramics – can provide answers to archaeological questions.

The Use of Advanced Analytical Techniques for Characterization of the Chemical, Physical, and Crystallographic Nature of a Surface

1973 ◽  
Vol 31 ◽  
pp. 132-133 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. E. Herfert
Keyword(s):  
Surface Characterization ◽  
Analytical Techniques ◽  
X Ray Diffraction ◽  
Depth Of Penetration ◽  
X Ray ◽  
The Past ◽  
Transmission Electron ◽  
Scanning Electron

Studies of the nature of a surface, either metallic or nonmetallic, in the past, have been limited to the instrumentation available for these measurements. In the past, optical microscopy, replica transmission electron microscopy, electron or X-ray diffraction and optical or X-ray spectroscopy have provided the means of surface characterization. Actually, some of these techniques are not purely surface; the depth of penetration may be a few thousands of an inch. Within the last five years, instrumentation has been made available which now makes it practical for use to study the outer few 100A of layers and characterize it completely from a chemical, physical, and crystallographic standpoint. The scanning electron microscope (SEM) provides a means of viewing the surface of a material in situ to magnifications as high as 250,000X.

scholarly journals Chitosan hydrogel/silk fibroin/Mg(OH)2 nanobiocomposite as a novel scaffold with antimicrobial activity and improved mechanical properties

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Reza Eivazzadeh-Keihan ◽  
Fateme Radinekiyan ◽  
Hooman Aghamirza Moghim Aliabadi ◽  
Sima Sukhtezari ◽  
Behnam Tahmasebi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Antibacterial Activity ◽  
Cell Viability ◽  
Silk Fibroin ◽  
Analytical Techniques ◽  
Structural Features ◽  
Mechanical Tests ◽  
Chitosan Hydrogel ◽  
Biological Capacity ◽  
Ft Ir ◽  
Novel Scaffold

AbstractHerein, a novel nanobiocomposite scaffold based on modifying synthesized cross-linked terephthaloyl thiourea-chitosan hydrogel (CTT-CS hydrogel) substrate using the extracted silk fibroin (SF) biopolymer and prepared Mg(OH)2 nanoparticles was designed and synthesized. The biological capacity of this nanobiocomposite scaffold was evaluated by cell viability method, red blood cells hemolytic and anti-biofilm assays. According to the obtained results from 3 and 7 days, the cell viability of CTT-CS/SF/Mg(OH)2 nanobiocomposite scaffold was accompanied by a considerable increment from 62.5 to 89.6% respectively. Furthermore, its low hemolytic effect (4.5%), and as well, the high anti-biofilm activity and prevention of the P. aeruginosa biofilm formation confirmed its promising hemocompatibility and antibacterial activity. Apart from the cell viability, blood biocompatibility, and antibacterial activity of CTT-CS/SF/Mg(OH)2 nanobiocomposite scaffold, its structural features were characterized using spectral and analytical techniques (FT-IR, EDX, FE-SEM and TG). As well as, given the mechanical tests, it was indicated that the addition of SF and Mg(OH)2 nanoparticles to the CTT-CS hydrogel could improve its compressive strength from 65.42 to 649.56 kPa.

Transition Experiences of Indian Nurses Into Australian Mental Health System

2021 ◽  
pp. 104365962110263
Author(s):  
Bindu Joseph ◽  
Michael Olasoji ◽  
Cheryl Moss ◽  
Wendy Cross
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Thematic Analysis ◽  
Mental Health System ◽  
Methodological Approach ◽  
Hermeneutic Phenomenology ◽  
Dual Culture ◽  
The Past ◽  
Transition Experience ◽  
Depth Interview ◽  
Insight Into

Introduction: In the past decade, there has been an influx of migrant nurses from India to Australia. Migrant professionals have specific transition needs associated with working in Mental Health (MH). This study aimed to explore the transition experience of overseas trained nurses from India working in Australian MH settings. Method: Hermeneutic phenomenology was the methodological approach used in the study. The participants ( N = 16) were overseas trained nurses from India. Data were collected through in-depth interview and analysed using thematic analysis. Results: The findings resulted in the identification of the following themes: (1) Living in dual culture, (2) Loneliness, (3) Discrimination, and (4) Feeling incomplete. Discussion: It is evident that the transition to work in MH in Australia was a journey of mixed experiences. While certain findings of this study are comparable with experiences of migrant nurses in other settings, it provides insight into those that are working in MH.

At the Still Point of the Turning World: Freud's Reception of Winckelmann's Greece

2014 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 137-152
Author(s):  
Sharon Kool
Keyword(s):  
Vital Role ◽  
Classical Literature ◽  
German Culture ◽  
Classical Greece ◽  
Cultural Ideal ◽  
The Past ◽  
Greco Roman ◽  
Late Nineteenth ◽  
With Memory ◽  
Of Greece

Freud's theory is primarily concerned with memory, about the present contained within the past. It is also rooted to the past in another way; Freud's reception of the Greek classical tradition played a vital role in the genesis of his oeuvre. Winckelmann's revival of ‘Greece’ dominated German culture up to the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, yet besides the importance of Bildung in shaping Freud's early Gymnasium experience, his influence upon Freud is often neglected. While Freud's debt to German Hellenism is clearly demonstrated in his library of classical literature and his collection of Greco-Roman antiquities, the afterlife of Winckelmann's legacy is more subtly inscribed upon psychoanalysis. This paper focuses on Winckelmann's aesthetic reconstruction of classical Greece which made beauty, self-restraint and repression a cultural ideal to be imitated and admired. It is argued that hysteria provided one of the most powerful challenges to this ideal. Psychoanalysis can thus be seen as developing out of a milieu that was still overshadowed by Winckelmann's idealization of Greece. Further, it is argued that Winckelmann advanced a homoerotic tradition in German culture and the sedimentation of this tradition can be discerned in Freud's response to hysteria, his privileging of the masculine and his theory of bisexuality.

scholarly journals DE-CENTERING CHINESE HISTORY

2017 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 191-201
Author(s):  
John E. Herman
Keyword(s):  
Seventeenth Century ◽  
Methodological Approach ◽  
Chinese History ◽  
The Past ◽  
Alternative Perspective ◽  
Chinese Perspective ◽  
Qing History ◽  
Chinese Texts ◽  
Cultural Tensions ◽  
Seismic Impact

What would Chinese history look like if we were to examine it from the perspective of the peoples living along China's periphery? How might a non-Chinese perspective challenge the dominant themes in Chinese historiography, themes which represent Chinese history as a linear narrative arising from the Central Plain and its original inhabitants, the Han Chinese? If, for example, we rely solely on Chinese sources to tell us about Chinese-Jurchen/Manchu relations during the first half of the seventeenth century, we will have privileged Chinese sources, affirmed the authority of the Chinese perspective, and suppressed voices that might offer an alternative perspective. Only an aggressive deconstruction of such “authoritative” Chinese texts can expose biases and logical inconsistencies, unpack cultural tensions that demand more rigorous scrutiny, and tease out into the open silenced voices from spaces buried deep in the text. Those historians who engage in such a methodological approach, however, run the risk of being accused of applying fanciful postmodernist conjecture or presentist interpretations to the past. This is why the recent (since the 1980s) addition of Manchu language sources to our examination of Qing history (1636–1912) has had such a seismic impact on the field.

scholarly journals Temps et récit : un défi pour l'écriture de l'histoire. À propos d'une lecture ricœurienne de Landscape and Memory de Simon Schama

2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 54-66
Author(s):  
Josef Řídký
Keyword(s):  
Paul Ricoeur ◽  
Historical Consciousness ◽  
The Other ◽  
Work Time ◽  
Deep Time ◽  
Historical Discourse ◽  
The Past ◽  
Paul Ricœur ◽  
The One

During the past fifty years, a dispute over the nature of historical discourse has taken place with the narrativist approach, arguing for the dominance of narration in history, on the one hand, and professional historians defending historiography's will to tell the truth, on the other. Paul Ricoeur entered the discussion with his work Time and Narrative where he offered an inventive response. According to him, both narration and scientific explication are essential to historical discourse. To support his statement, he introduces terms such as ‘a third time,‘ ‘a quasi-narration’ or ‘a historical consciousness.’ Thus, he shifts attention from narration to time. These terms can prove their usefulness when interpreting historical works. In the rest of the article, we aim to carry out such an interpretation on the example of Landscape and Memory by Simon Schama. In a Ricœurian perspective, Schama's book reveals its deep time significance.

scholarly journals Green Synthesis of Zinc Nanoparticles Using Aqueous Extract of Magnoliae officinalis and Assessment of its Bioactivity Potentials

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 7765-7774
Keyword(s):  
Antibacterial Activity ◽  
Zeta Potential ◽  
Aqueous Extract ◽  
Analytical Techniques ◽  
Crystal Form ◽  
Biological Properties ◽  
Synthesis Process ◽  
Diffusion Method ◽  
Zno Nps ◽  
Zinc Nanoparticles

Today, considerable attention has been drawn to the unique physicochemical and biological properties of zinc nanoparticles. In this study, ZnO-NPs were synthesized using Magnoliae officinalis (MO) aqueous extract as a reducing and capping agent. Characteristics of ZnO-NPs were analyzed using analytical techniques such as UV, FTIR, SEM, XRD, EDX, DLS, and zeta potential. After that, the antibacterial activity of ZnO-NPs against methicilin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) was studied. The results of FTIR and UV-vis spectra showed successful biosynthesis of ZnO-NPs, because the absorption peaks and functional groups involved in the synthesis process were well developed. Additionally, the SEM micrograph and the DLS showed that the morphology and size distribution of the ZnO-NPs were spherical with a size of 150 nm. XRD, EDX, and zeta potential indicated crystal form of ZnO-NPs with zinc: oxygen ratio of 72.35:27 and a surface charge of +28 mv. The antibacterial activity of ZnO-NPs with the assessment of the well-diffusion method, MIC and MBC indicated the highest inhibitory effect at a concentration of 300 µg/ml, MIC 250 µg/ml and MBC 300 µg/ml. As regards the desirable antimicrobial activity of biosynthesized ZnO-NPs using MO extract, they may be used for medicinal purposes, in particular as antimicrobials and antiseptic agents.

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