scholarly journals ANNIVERSARY REVIEW: 50 years since the discovery of bromocriptine

2018 ◽  
Vol 179 (2) ◽  
pp. R69-R75 ◽  
Author(s):  
G Michael Besser ◽  
Ronald F Pfeiffer ◽  
Michael O Thorner
Keyword(s):  
Middle Ages ◽  
Post Partum ◽  
Research Work ◽  
Pharmaceutical Product ◽  
Active Principle ◽  
Claviceps Purpurea ◽  
Subsequent Work ◽  
Chemical Company ◽  
Trade Name ◽  
The Many

Ergotism is the long-term ergot poisoning by ingestion of rye or other grains infected with the fungus Claviceps purpurea and more recently by excessive intake of ergot drugs. It has either neuropsychiatric or vascular manifestations. In the Middle Ages, the gangrenous poisoning was known as St. Anthony’s fire, after the order of the Monks of St. Anthony who were particularly skilled at treating the condition. In 1917, Prof. Arthur Stoll returned home to Switzerland from Germany, to lead the development of a new pharmaceutical department at Sandoz Chemical Company. Stoll, using the special methods of extraction learned from his work with his mentor Willstetter, started his industrial research work with ergot. He succeeded in isolating, from the ergot of rye, ergotamine as an active principle of an old popular remedy for excessive post-partum bleeding. The success of this discovery occurred in 1918 and was translated into a pharmaceutical product in 1921 under the trade name Gynergen. In subsequent work, Stoll and his team were leaders in identifying the structure of the many other alkaloids and amines produced by Claviceps purpurea. This was the cultural background and scientific foundation on which bromocriptine was discovered.

Medieval Combat in Colour: Hans Talhoffer’s Illustrated Manual of Swordfighting and Close-Quarter Combat from 1467, ed. and introduced by Dierk Hagedorn. Barnsley, S. Yorkshire: Greenhill Books, 2018, 319 pp., ill.

Mediaevistik ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 548-549
Author(s):  
Albrecht Classen
Keyword(s):  
Middle Ages ◽  
Late Middle Ages ◽  
The Creation ◽  
Close Quarter ◽  
The Many

The late Middle Ages witnessed the creation of numerous fencing books, mostly in Germany, illustrating the many different techniques, weapons, styles, strategies, and the movements, as Patrick Leiske discussed only recently in his Höfisches Spiel und tödlicher Ernst (2018; see my review here in vol. 32). Some of the true masters and teachers of this sport and fighting technique were Johannes Liechtenauer, Peter von Danzig, Sigmund Ringeck, and Hans Talhoffer, whom Leiske also discusses in a separate chapter.

The Fate of Small Towns, Hilltop Settlements, and Elite Residences in Merovingian-Period Gaul

2020 ◽  
pp. 610-640
Author(s):  
Luc Bourgeois
Keyword(s):  
Middle Ages ◽  
Late Antiquity ◽  
Fourth Century ◽  
Small Towns ◽  
Seventh Century ◽  
Archaeological Research ◽  
Power Networks ◽  
Early Middle Ages ◽  
The Many

The study of places of power in the Merovingian realm has long been focused on cities, monasteries, and royal palaces. Recent archaeological research has led to the emergence of other categories. Four of them are addressed in this chapter. These include the capitals of fallen cities, which continue to mark the landscape in one way or another. Similarly, the fate of small Roman towns during the early Middle Ages shows that most of them continued to host a variety of secular and ecclesiastical powers. In addition, from the fourth century onward, large hilltop fortified settlements multiplied anew. They complemented earlier networks of authority, whether elite residences, artisan communities, or real towns. Finally, from the seventh century onward, the great aristocratic villas of late antiquity were transformed into settlements organized around one or more courtyards and supplemented by funerary and religious structures. The evolution of political spaces and lifestyles explains both the ruptures in power networks that occurred during the Merovingian epoch and the many continuities that can be seen in the four kinds of places studied in this chapter that were marked by these developments.

scholarly journals Ergot Alkaloids in Wheat and Rye Derived Products in Italy

Foods ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (5) ◽  
pp. 150 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francesca Debegnach ◽  
Simona Patriarca ◽  
Carlo Brera ◽  
Emanuela Gregori ◽  
Elisa Sonego ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Durum Wheat ◽  
Middle Ages ◽  
Plant Pathogen ◽  
Ergot Alkaloids ◽  
Cereal Grains ◽  
Wheat Bread ◽  
Claviceps Purpurea ◽  
Eu Commission ◽  
Ongoing Monitoring ◽  
The Eu

Genus Claviceps is a plant pathogen able to produce a group of toxins, ergot alkaloids (EAs), whose effects have been known since the Middle Ages (ergotism). Claviceps purpurea is the most important representative specie, known to infect more than 400 monocotyledonous plants including economically important cereal grains (e.g., rye, wheat, triticale). EAs are not regulated as such. Maximum limits are in the pipeline of the EU Commission while at present ergot sclerotia content is set by the Regulation (EC) No. 1881/2006 in unprocessed cereals (0.05% as a maximum). This study aimed to investigate the presence of the six principal EAs (ergometrine, ergosine, ergocornine, α-ergocryptine, ergotamine and ergocristine) and their relative epimers (-inine forms) in rye- and wheat-based products. Of the samples, 85% resulted positive for at least one of the EAs. Wheat bread was the product with the highest number of positivity (56%), followed by wheat flour (26%). Rye and wheat bread samples showed the highest values when the sum of the EAs was considered, and durum wheat bread was the more contaminated sample (1142.6 μg/kg). These results suggest that ongoing monitoring of EAs in food products is critical until maximum limits are set.

scholarly journals Assessment of ergot (Claviceps purpurea) exposure in pregnant and postpartum beef cows

2018 ◽  
Vol 98 (4) ◽  
pp. 688-700 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Grusie ◽  
V. Cowan ◽  
J. Singh ◽  
J. McKinnon ◽  
B. Blakley
Keyword(s):  
Ergot Alkaloid ◽  
Post Partum ◽  
Ergot Alkaloids ◽  
Maximum Size ◽  
Beef Cows ◽  
Plasma Prolactin ◽  
Claviceps Purpurea ◽  
Ambient Temperatures ◽  
Beef Cow ◽  
The Impact

Cows were fed ration for 9 wk containing 5, 48, 201, and 822 μg kg−1 ergot alkaloids. The objective was to evaluate the impact of ergot consumption in beef cow–calf operations. Ergot alkaloids up to 822 μg kg−1 did not alter the weight of peripartum and postpartum beef cows (P = 0.93) or nursing calves (P = 0.08), rectal temperature (P = 0.16), or plasma prolactin concentrations (P = 0.30) at moderate ambient temperatures. Ergot did not influence the time (>1 ng mL−1; P = 0.79) or the progesterone concentration (P = 0.38) at the time of first postpartum rise or the size of the first (14 ± 0.6 mm; P = 0.40) and second (13 ± 0.5 mm; P = 0.41) follicles to ovulate. The maximum size of the first postpartum corpus luteum (CL) was 4 mm larger in the 822 μg kg−1 ergot group compared with the control (P = 0.03) for the first ovulation post partum, but not for the second (P = 0.11). There was no effect of ergot exposure on the number of days until the appearance of the first (43 ± 4 d; P = 0.95) or second (52 ± 4 d; P = 0.98) CL post partum. Ergot alkaloid concentrations up to 822 μg kg−1 did not affect pregnancy rates (X2 = 0.36). In conclusion, ergot alkaloid exposure for 9 wk to concentrations as high as 822 μg kg−1 did not alter performance in pregnant and postpartum beef cattle at moderate ambient temperatures.

Prospects for the Development of Source Studies in Modern Medieval Studies

Istoriya ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (6 (104)) ◽  
pp. 0
Author(s):  
Ekaterina Kirillova
Keyword(s):  
Middle Ages ◽  
Research Work ◽  
Scientific Conference ◽  
Medieval Studies ◽  
Russian Scientific ◽  
Source Studies ◽  
History Of ◽  
Source Study ◽  
Academy Of Sciences ◽  
The Middle Ages

Source study is the foundation of the research work of professional historians. It became the subject of the All-Russian Scientific Conference “Source Studies in Contemporary Medieval Studies”, which was held from 28 to 29 June 2021 at the Institute of World History at the Russian Academy of Sciences. The conference, conceived as a platform for regular communication of specialists in the history of the Middle Ages, allowed the participants and numerous listeners to get acquainted with the latest research on the source study of the history of Russia, Europe, the East and America. It included reports summarizing the experience of research and outlining the prospects for further work on key problems of source study of the history of the Middle Ages.

scholarly journals International Relations of Medieval Europe in Works of D. I. Kachenovskiy (1827–1872)

2019 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
International Law ◽  
Middle Ages ◽  
Research Work ◽  
Basic Research ◽  
Positive Influence ◽  
Substantial Impact ◽  
Feudal Society ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Middle Ages

The article dwells on reaearch and academic activity of D. I. Kachenovskiy at Kharkiv University. His contribution is shown to the study of international relations history at Middle Ages. It is emphasized that we are quite right to call D. I. Kachenovskiy one of most prominent Ukrainian experts in this field, despite his certain idealization of feudal society. Main teaching subjects of D. I. Kachenovskiy were international law and state law of European powers. The basic research work by D. I. Kachenovskiy became his doctoral thesis «On Privateers and Prize Proceedings Relative to Neutral Merchandise» (1855) which became widely known both in Russian Empire and Europe. D. I. Kachenovskiy admitted the appropriateness of privateering, characterized its essence and shared the opinion of well-known French scholar J.-M. Pardessus that charter by Aragon king Alfonso III of 1288 had been the first legislative act relating to privateering. The first period in European privateering history when “naval war was almost indistinguishable from piracy” lasted, by the scholar’s opinion, up to the end of XVI century. His «Course in International Law» was published in 1863, though unfinished, and embraced the antiquity as well as Middle Ages. The concept of international law development in the Middle Ages as proposed by D. I. Kachenovskiy included several basic elements. Those are: admission of the tremendous contribution of Christian Church, Roman Popes and German Emperors in elaboration of this law, influence of public order and national character of German tribes, as well as statement of general détente of mores and international tension in the Middle Ages under the effect of above-cited factors. The scholar emphasized positive influence of knighthood on customs of war and international relations. Medieval international law, history of privateering and trade, social-political and cultural life of Florence and effect of internal factors on its development were the main lines in research of the scientist. Works by D. I. Kachenovskiy exerted the substantial impact not only on students, but on his colleagues as well, and his scientific treatments mostly sustained time exam.

Genres and Motives

2015 ◽  
pp. 13-63
Author(s):  
Ram Ben-Shalom
Keyword(s):  
Middle Ages ◽  
The Other ◽  
Unified Approach ◽  
Historical Events ◽  
Southern France ◽  
Jewish Historiography ◽  
Religious Polemic ◽  
The Many ◽  
The One ◽  
Christian Discourse

This chapter examines the genres and motives behind Jewish chronology during the Middle Ages. Jewish historiography focused on correlating Jewish chronology, general chronology, and Christian chronology. This was a similar approach to Christian writers. The chapter shows that this correlation of Jewish chronology with Christian and general chronology was one of the many components of medieval Jewish–Christian discourse. On the one hand, this suggests that Jews had a unified approach to history, in which they saw themselves as full participants. On the other, the timing and meaning of historical events were part of the religious polemic with Christianity. Religious polemic and apocalypticism were important reasons why Jewish scholars in Spain and southern France engaged in historiography. Other motives included the moral lessons that could be found in history and intellectual curiosity.

The Periodic System

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric Scerri
Keyword(s):  
Middle Ages ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Platonic Solid ◽  
Ancient Greek ◽  
Platonic Solids ◽  
System P ◽  
Chemical Inertness ◽  
Dimensional Shape ◽  
The Many

In ancient Greek times, philosophers recognized just four elements—earth, water, air, and fire—all of which survive in the astrological classification of the 12 signs of the zodiac. At least some of these philosophers believed that these different elements consisted of microscopic components with differing shapes and that this explained the various properties of the elements. These shapes or structures were believed to be in the form of Platonic solids (figure 1.1) made up entirely of the same two-dimensional shape. The Greeks believed that earth consisted of microscopic cubic particles, which explained why it was difficult to move earth. Meanwhile, the liquidity of water was explained by an appeal to the smoother shape possessed by the icosahedron, while fire was said to be painful to the touch because it consisted of the sharp particles in the form of tetrahedra. Air was thought to consist of octahedra since that was the only remaining Platonic solid. A little later, a fifth Platonic solid, the dodecahedron, was discovered, and this led to the proposal that there might be a fifth element or “quintessence,” which also became known as ether. Although the notion that elements are made up of Platonic solids is regarded as incorrect from a modern point of view, it is the origin of the very fruitful notion that macroscopic properties of substances are governed by the structures of the microscopic components of which they are comprised. These “elements” survived well into the Middle Ages and beyond, augmented with a few others discovered by the alchemists, the precursors of modern-day chemists. One of the many goals of the alchemists seems to have been the transmutation of elements. Not surprisingly, perhaps, the particular transmutation that most enticed them was the attempt to change the base metal lead into the noble metal gold, whose unusual color, rarity, and chemical inertness have made it one of the most treasured substances since the dawn of civilization.

The Question of Francia (400–816)

On Hospitals ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 59-79
Author(s):  
Sethina Watson
Keyword(s):  
Middle Ages ◽  
Canon Law ◽  
Early Medieval ◽  
The West ◽  
Early Middle Ages ◽  
Common Life ◽  
Hospital Reform ◽  
The Poor ◽  
The Many

The consistency of the character of hospitals in law, as observed in Chapter 2, suggests a customary legal inheritance that preceded classical canon law. Part II turns now to the early middle ages to discover that inheritance. This chapter begins that process by unpicking the long-held model of the early medieval hospital. It surveys the many hypotheses for the origins of hospital law in the West, which claim that hospital law adopted from the East and accommodated via Frankish councils. The chapter confronts the latter of these claims and re-examines its twin pillars: a legal formula of ‘murderers of the poor’ (necator pauperum) and a hospital reform at Aachen (816). The first hinges on the council of Orléans (549), whose efforts were aimed at one royal foundation, King Childebert and Queen Ultrogotha’s xenodochium at Lyons. The council of Aachen’s (816) rules for canons and canonesses prescribed a way of common life for these religious, with different facilities for each for the poor. The chapter argues that the efforts of both councils were singular, and carefully circumscribed. Frankish councils were not to take an interest in xenodochia until c.850. Legal initiatives regarding hospitals began elsewhere.

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