scholarly journals An interpretation of Cueva de la Huachizca, Santa Clara del Cobre, Michoacan, Mexico

2021 ◽  
Vol 83 (3) ◽  
pp. 133-140
Author(s):  
Cinthia Campos ◽  
Jose Punzo-Díaz ◽  
Veronica Delgado ◽  
Avto Goguitchaichvili ◽  
Juan Morales

Cueva de la Huachizca is located in the humid forests of the Municipio of Santa Clara del Cobre, Michoacán. During the Postclassic period (1300−1520 ad), Santa Clara del Cobre was a part of the Tarascan Señorio. Ethnographic accounts describe the use of Cueva de la Huachizca as a place of refuge during the Cristero Rebellion (1921−1926). Recent investigations suggest a long history of use including graffiti and inscriptions from the 1800s–1900s and a rock art panel. The panel consists of pecked petroglyphs depicting a man facing an eagle, above a spiral motif. Stylistic analysis of the panel suggests that the rock art was created during pre-Hispanic times, likely by the Postclassic Tarascans. As observed in several regions of Mesoamerica, for the Tarascans, caves were also liminal spaces and had an important role in Postclassic Tarascan cosmology. A ceramic resinera, a pine resin pot, an eagle’s feather, and charcoal were also recovered. The resinera age was estimated by researchers at Archaeomagnetic Services, Geophysics Institute at the National Autonomous University of México-Campus Morelia, Michoacán to between 1921 and 1980. Ethnographic and ethnohistoric accounts describe caves as houses of fertility and rain deities, an idea that while slightly transformed, has survived over 500 years of colonization, and remains in the communities’ social memories. These findings demonstrate the cave’s significance among the descendent communities and Cueva de la Huachizca as an important sacred site.

Author(s):  
Mariane C. Ferme

Out of War is an ethnographic engagement with the nature of intercommunal violence and the material returns of history during and after the 1991–2002 Sierra Leone civil war. The questions raised concern the nature and reckoning of time and reality, fact and fiction; the experience of violence and trauma; the reversibility of perpetrator and victim, friend and enemy; and past, present, and future in the colony and postcolony. The book is a reflection on West African epistemologies and ontologies that contribute to questions in counterpoint with those of international humanitarianism, struggling with the possibilities of truth and quandaries of justice. In the context of massive population displacements and humanitarian interventions, the ethnography traces strategies of psychological, political, and cultural survival and material dwelling in liminal spaces in the midst of the destruction of the social fabric engendered by war. It also examines the juridical creation of new figures of crimes against humanity at the Special Court for Sierra Leone. The Sierra Leone scene, in the aftermath of war, is visualized as a landscape of chronotopes, neologisms that summon the uncertainty of war: the sobel (“soldier by day, rebel by night”), pointing to the instability of distinctions between enemy and friend, or of opposing parties in the war (the rebels of the Revolutionary United Front [RUF] and soldiers in the national army), and the rebel cross, pointing to the possibility that the purported neutrality of the Red Cross masked partisan interests alongside the RUF. Chronotopes also testify to the difficulty of discerning between facts and rumors in war, and they freeze in time collective anxieties about wartime events. Finally, beyond the traumas of war, the book explores the returns of material traces in counterpoint to the more “monumental” presence of Chinese investments in Africa today, and it explores the forgotten sensory history of another China (Taiwan versus the People’s Republic of China) and another Africa inscribed in ordinary agrarian practices on rural landscapes, and in the fabric of domestic life, particularly since the non-aligned movement emerged from the Bandung conference in 1955.


Polymers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (11) ◽  
pp. 1711
Author(s):  
Heba A. Gad ◽  
Autumn Roberts ◽  
Samirah H. Hamzi ◽  
Haidy A. Gad ◽  
Ilham Touiss ◽  
...  

Jojoba is a widely used medicinal plant that is cultivated worldwide. Its seeds and oil have a long history of use in folklore to treat various ailments, such as skin and scalp disorders, superficial wounds, sore throat, obesity, and cancer; for improvement of liver functions, enhancement of immunity, and promotion of hair growth. Extensive studies on Jojoba oil showed a wide range of pharmacological applications, including antioxidant, anti-acne and antipsoriasis, anti-inflammatory, antifungal, antipyretic, analgesic, antimicrobial, and anti-hyperglycemia activities. In addition, Jojoba oil is widely used in the pharmaceutical industry, especially in cosmetics for topical, transdermal, and parenteral preparations. Jojoba oil also holds value in the industry as an anti-rodent, insecticides, lubricant, surfactant, and a source for the production of bioenergy. Jojoba oil is considered among the top-ranked oils due to its wax, which constitutes about 98% (mainly wax esters, few free fatty acids, alcohols, and hydrocarbons). In addition, sterols and vitamins with few triglyceride esters, flavonoids, phenolic and cyanogenic compounds are also present. The present review represents an updated literature survey about the chemical composition of jojoba oil, its physical properties, pharmacological activities, pharmaceutical and industrial applications, and toxicity.


Molecules ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (12) ◽  
pp. 3712
Author(s):  
Ryan D. Rattray ◽  
Ben-Erik Van Wyk

The Lamiaceae is undoubtedly an important plant family, having a rich history of use that spans the globe with many species being used in folk medicine and modern industries alike. Their ability to produce aromatic volatile oils has made them valuable sources of materials in the cosmetic, culinary, and pharmaceutical industries. A thorough account of the taxonomic diversity, chemistry and ethnobotany is lacking for southern African Lamiaceae, which feature some of the region’s most notable medicinal and edible plant species. We provide a comprehensive insight into the Lamiaceae flora of southern Africa, comprising 297 species in 42 genera, 105 of which are endemic to the subcontinent. We further explore the medicinal and traditional uses, where all genera with documented uses are covered for the region. A broad review of the chemistry of southern African Lamiaceae is presented, noting that only 101 species (34%) have been investigated chemically (either their volatile oils or phytochemical characterization of secondary metabolites), thus presenting many and varied opportunities for further studies. The main aim of our study was therefore to present an up-to-date account of the botany, chemistry and traditional uses of the family in southern Africa, and to identify obvious knowledge gaps.


Molecules ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 175
Author(s):  
David M. Stevens ◽  
Rachael M. Crist ◽  
Stephan T. Stern

The chloroquine family of antimalarials has a long history of use, spanning many decades. Despite this extensive clinical experience, novel applications, including use in autoimmune disorders, infectious disease, and cancer, have only recently been identified. While short term use of chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine is safe at traditional therapeutic doses in patients without predisposing conditions, administration of higher doses and for longer durations are associated with toxicity, including retinotoxicity. Additional liabilities of these medications include pharmacokinetic profiles that require extended dosing to achieve therapeutic tissue concentrations. To improve chloroquine therapy, researchers have turned toward nanomedicine reformulation of chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine to increase exposure of target tissues relative to off-target tissues, thereby improving the therapeutic index. This review highlights these reformulation efforts to date, identifying issues in experimental designs leading to ambiguity regarding the nanoformulation improvements and lack of thorough pharmacokinetics and safety evaluation. Gaps in our current understanding of these formulations, as well as recommendations for future formulation efforts, are presented.


Molecules ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (5) ◽  
pp. 1306
Author(s):  
Diane Purcell-Meyerink ◽  
Michael A. Packer ◽  
Thomas T. Wheeler ◽  
Maria Hayes

Seaweeds have a long history of use as food, as flavouring agents, and find use in traditional folk medicine. Seaweed products range from food, feed, and dietary supplements to pharmaceuticals, and from bioenergy intermediates to materials. At present, 98% of the seaweed required by the seaweed industry is provided by five genera and only ten species. The two brown kelp seaweeds Laminaria digitata, a native Irish species, and Macrocystis pyrifera, a native New Zealand species, are not included in these eleven species, although they have been used as dietary supplements and as animal and fish feed. The properties associated with the polysaccharides and proteins from these two species have resulted in increased interest in them, enabling their use as functional foods. Improvements and optimisations in aquaculture methods and bioproduct extractions are essential to realise the commercial potential of these seaweeds. Recent advances in optimising these processes are outlined in this review, as well as potential future applications of L. digitata and, to a greater extent, M. pyrifera which, to date, has been predominately only wild-harvested. These include bio-refinery processing to produce ingredients for nutricosmetics, functional foods, cosmeceuticals, and bioplastics. Areas that currently limit the commercial potential of these two species are highlighted.


Daphnis ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 50 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-84
Author(s):  
Sabine Seelbach

Abstract This article presents the project “Virtual Benedictine library Millstatt” (www.virtbibmillstatt.com/), which is dedicated to the cultural memory and educational history of Carinthia in the broadest sense. It aims to reconstruct the hitherto little-known and little-researched corpus of manuscripts from the Benedictine Abbey of Millstatt, to identify its texts, and to shed light on their history of use. Against the background of the eventful history of ownership of the Millstatt library, the problems that arise when trying to reliably assign manuscripts scattered around the world to the Millstatt corpus are outlined. Examples will be used to show the extent to which external features (binding, signature system, accessories), but also text-internal indications, make the origin and ownership history of the manuscripts traceable. Spectacular new finds are presented, but also erroneous assumptions about the affiliation of certain texts to the reading canon of the Millstatt Benedictines are pointed out.


2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 (12-2) ◽  
pp. 60-68
Author(s):  
Marina Deveykis

The topic is relevant, since the museum, having become a civilization achievement, has been serving the spiritual development of society for over three centuries and preserving St. Petersburg’s cultural heritage. The article considers the peculiarities of building museums in the most important region of the country, different architectural styles of museum buildings, for the first time the grouping of all created museums of St. Petersburg from 1894 to 1917 in accordance with the areas of museum architecture was carried out, the problems faced by architects in designing museum buildings of each group were highlighted, the degree of dependence between museum founders and types of buildings was determined. The methods of historicism, artistic and stylistic analysis and systematization were used in the research.


T oung Pao ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 107 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 1-39
Author(s):  
Mark Meulenbeld

Abstract Though long seen uniquely from the perspective of the Chinese literary canon, Tao Qian’s 陶潛 (365?–427) famous “Record of the Peach Blossom Spring” (“Taohuayuan ji” 桃花源記) may find an even more fruitful disciplinary home in religious studies. The story refers itself to a grotto at Wuling 武陵 (present-day northern Hunan province), a site that has been associated with Daoist transcendents (shenxian 神仙) at least since the middle of the sixth century. A Daoist monastery on that same site, the Peach Spring Abbey (Taoyuan guan 桃源觀) or Peach Blossom Abbey (Taohua guan 桃花觀), became officially recognized in 748 and received imperial support not long after. This article studies the long history of Peach Spring as a sacred site, or, as Tao Qian referred to it in his poem, a “divine realm” (shenjie 神界).


2018 ◽  
Vol 45 ◽  
pp. 19-24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kun Zhang ◽  
Laura Rampazzi ◽  
Maria Pia Riccardi ◽  
Antonio Sansonetti ◽  
Alberto Grimoldi

Abstract. In this survey we present studies on mortar mixes added with oxblood, which was a commonly found local waste material, with a wide application and long history of use; a precise recipe of lime–pozzolan mortar with blood addition from a 19th-century Italian manual was chosen, and model samples were prepared accordingly, with the aim of better understanding the chemical, mineralogical and physical characteristics of such compositions, starting with a blank reference specimen. The specimens were analysed by means of scanning electron microscopy, infrared spectroscopy, thermal analysis and X-ray diffraction, and the results suggested that amorphous calcium carbonate could be formed in the specimens with oxblood addition. These preliminary results allow a better understanding of historical building practices, measuring effects induced by organic additives on mortar microstructure, as well as an evaluation of new performances obtained in mortar mixes. Moreover, this paper intends to propose a full multi-discipline approach to bridge the history of architecture and building materials to conservation science.


2018 ◽  
Vol 75 (19) ◽  
pp. 1460-1466 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessica M. Zacher ◽  
Francesca E. Cunningham ◽  
Xinhua Zhao ◽  
Muriel L. Burk ◽  
Von R. Moore ◽  
...  

Abstract Purpose Results of a study to estimate the prevalence of look-alike/sound-alike (LASA) medication errors through analysis of Veterans Affairs (VA) administrative data are reported. Methods Veterans with at least 2 filled prescriptions for 1 medication in 20 LASA drug pairs during the period April 2014–March 2015 and no history of use of both medications in the preceding 6 months were identified. First occurrences of potential LASA errors were identified by analyzing dispensing patterns and documented diagnoses. For 7 LASA drug pairs, potential errors were evaluated via chart review to determine if an actual error occurred. Results Among LASA drug pairs with overlapping indications, the pairs associated with the highest potential-error rates, by percentage of treated patients, were tamsulosin and terazosin (3.05%), glipizide and glyburide (2.91%), extended- and sustained-release formulations of bupropion (1.53%), and metoprolol tartrate and metoprolol succinate (1.48%). Among pairs with distinct indications, the pairs associated with the highest potential-error rates were tramadol and trazodone (2.20%) and bupropion and buspirone (1.31%). For LASA drug pairs found to be associated with actual errors, the estimated error rates were as follows: lamivudine and lamotrigine, 0.003% (95% confidence interval [CI], 0–0.01%); carbamazepine and oxcarbazepine, 0.03% (95% CI, 0–0.09%); and morphine and hydromorphone, 0.02% (95% CI, 0–0.05%). Conclusion Through the use of administrative databases, potential LASA errors that could be reviewed for an actual error via chart review were identified. While a high rate of potential LASA errors was detected, the number of actual errors identified was low.


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