Sculpture is a form of the agonal tradition of ancient culture

The purpose of the article consists of exploring sculpture as a form of the agonal tradition of ancient culture. The research methodology consists in the application of analytical method - to determine the theoretical and methodological foundations of the study of the phenomenon of sculpture as a form of the agonal tradition of ancient culture, using works of ancient classics; the method of comparative studies is used to analyze approaches to understanding sculpture as a form of agonal tradition in the context of «Entertainment» (the discourse of antiquity); the hermeneutic method is used to interpret the concept of «Entertainment» in the context of ancient culture; the method of theoretical generalization is used to summarize the intermediate and general results of the study. The scientific novelty of the work is that for the first time the essence of the sculpture as a form of the agonal tradition of ancient culture in the context of the phenomenon of «Entertainment». Conclusions. In ancient culture, agonism was its fundamental essence, and this manifested itself in all spheres of socio-cultural life, in art, politics, and sports. The spirit of competition was present in all aspects of the phenomenon of «Entertainment», shows dedicated to the February Lupercalia, December Saturnalia, Big and Small Dionysias, Big Panathenes, Pythian, Nimean, Isthmian, Olympic Games, where gods and winners were revered by the personification of their statue (Dionysus; Olympic winners: Epikharin hoplitodrome, Xenombrot, Xenodik, Kinisk). In antiquity, the anthropocentric perception of a person as an individual is not important, but an exclusively living body, corporeality is the main category underlying all forms of ancient culture. But sculpture, as a form of agonal tradition in ancient culture, is a great opportunity to show your own individuality within the framework of the canon, generally accepted traditions (Myron, Polycletus). Ancient plasticity became a great force, for it was the personification of the bodily understanding of life, the slave was understood exclusively as a thing, a body. But there is also a mythologized aspect of the artist's divine gift, sculpture as a means of transferring the divine gift of the gods to the artist who creates it, with this aspect of irrationality, antique plastic looks from a different perspective, from the perspective of the exaltation of the gods and heroes, the winners of the Olympics, who are beginning to be seen in the context of anthropocentrism. A hero is a person, he becomes, at least for a moment, like a god, and this is personified in the sculpture. Keywords: sculpture, agonal tradition, «Entertainment», collective experience, interpretation, ancient culture.

Bodies in motion and image recomposition in the early 20th Century

The question of the appearance of the body surges in a play of overwhelming forces, and its register in artworks assumes different shapes as their representation spreads towards other mediums. Firstly, following Aby Warburg’s thought, this article will analyse the process of the survival of bodies as potential motion in images. Warburg proposed an Iconological approach where the analysis of potential movement in the image yielded a formula for its analytic recomposition. Furthermore, he captured the transition at the beginning of the twentieth century, when the body representation moved to media that allowed movement reproduction, such as animation and cinema. The bodies' survival or capture contained an animist belief that gained propulsion with the first apparatuses and optical toys that allowed movement and live-action recording. This movement allowed for the production of a simulacrum of the living body and the power to recompose it in space. Therefore, this article will focus on the evolution of body representation and its survival to understand how images from the early twentieth century shaped and traveled around the world.

On the Outage Capacity of Transdermal Optical Wireless Links with Stochastic Spatial Jitter and Skin-Induced Attenuation

The tremendous development of both optical wireless communications (OWC) and implantable medical devices (IMDs) has recently enabled the establishment of transdermal optical wireless (TOW) links that utilize light waves to transfer information inside the living body to the outside world and conversely. Indeed, numerous emerging medical applications such as cortical recording and telemetry with cochlear implants require extremely high data rates along with low power consumption that only this new technology could accommodate. Thus, in this paper, a typical TOW link is investigated in terms of outage capacity which is a critical performance metric that has so far not been evaluated for such wireless systems in the open technical literature. More precisely, an outage capacity analysis is performed considering both skin-induced attenuation and stochastic spatial jitter, i.e., pointing error effects. Analytical expressions and results for the outage capacity are derived for a variety of skin channel conditions along with varying stochastic pointing errors which demonstrate the feasibility of this cross-field cooperation. Lastly, the corresponding simulation outcomes further validate our suggestions.

Variational approach for recovering viscoelasticity from MRE data

This paper deals with an inverse problem for recovering the viscoelasticity of a living body from MRE (Magnetic Resonance Elastography) data. Based on a viscoelastic partial differential equation whose solution can approximately simulate MRE data, the inverse problem is transformed to a least square variational problem. This is to search for viscoelastic coefficients of this equation such that the solution to a boundary value problem of this equation fits approximately to MRE data with respect to the least square cost function. By computing the Gateaux derivatives of the cost function, we minimize the cost function by the projected gradient method is proposed for recovering the unknown coefficients. The reconstruction results based on simulated data and real experimental data are presented and discussed.

Inter-group Transfer of Anti-alcoholic Effect of Nux vomica 200 CH through the Body of a Live Toad

Background: A homeopathic potency is usually given to the nursing mother for the treatment of her baby. Potencies above 12 CH cross the Avogadro number and are, therefore, too dilute to contain any original drug molecules. A potency is thought to be specifically structured water carrying the imprint of original drug molecules. It may convert the water structure in the body of the mother and through her milk reach the suckling baby. Using a toad model we have recently demonstrated that the antialcoholic effect of Nux vomica 200 CH could be transferred from one group of toads to another through capillary water which carries the information of Nux vomica. Homeopathic potencies show UV spectra distinct from its diluent medium of aquous ethanol. Does a potency remain effective even after passage through a living body? Objectives: To demonstrate that a potency effect can be transferred through the body of a live toad to other groups of toads connected through water to the live toad. Further, we want to see whether the UV spectra of drug solution and of water connected to the drug are similar in nature. Methods: A live toad was held vertically with one hind limb dipped in Nux vomica 200 CH solution in a beaker and another limb in distilled water in another beaker. The second beaker was connected by wet cotton threads encased in polythene tubes to 5 beakers, each of which contained adult toads in distilled water. A batch of toads was directly treated with Nux vomica 200 CH. An equal number of toads in distilled water served as the untreated control. After 30 min the control and the two batches of treated toads were kept separately in 209 mM ethanol solution. Toads, that stopped movement, were placed in supine position on a dry surface. Failure to assume a normal sitting posture within a cutoff time of 60 sec was regarded as loss of righting reflex (RR). The experiment was replicated using large number of toads. UV spectra of Nux vomica 200 CH solution and of water before and after connection with the drug were obtained. Results: The percentage of toads losing RR in the three groups of toads increased with time of exposure to 209 mM ethanol solution. The loss of RR was significantly delayed with the direct treatment group ( P < 0.001, chi square test) and the connected groups ( P < 0.01 , χ2 test ) as compared to the control. The two former groups did not differ from each other significantly. UV spectra of Nux vomica 200 CH solution were similar to that of water connected to the drug solution. Conclusion: The antialcoholic effect of Nux vomica 200 CH could be transferred through the body of a live toad to other groups of toads. The drug did not undergo denaturation during its passage through the living body. That water carries the information of original drug is further evidenced by the spectral properties of water connected to the drug solution through capillary water.

Experimental Evaluation of 65Zn Decorporation Kinetics Following Rapid and Delayed Zn-DTPA Interventions in Rats. Biphasic Compartmental and Square-Root Law Mathematical Modeling

The decorporation kinetics of internal radionuclide contamination is a long-term treatment raising modeling, planning, and managing problems, especially in the case of late intervention when the radiotoxic penetrated the deep compartments. The decorporation effectiveness of the highly radiotoxic 65ZnCl2 by Zn-DTPA (dosed at 3.32 mg and 5 mg/0.25 mL/100 g body weight) was investigated in Wistar male rats over a ten-day period under various treatments (i.e., as a single dose before contamination; as a single dose before and 24 h after contamination; and as daily administrations for five consecutive days starting on day 12 after contamination). The radioactivity was measured using the whole-body counting method. Mono- and bi-compartmental decorporation kinetics models proved applicable in the case of a rapid intervention. It was found that a diffusion model of the radionuclide from tissues to blood better describes the decorporation kinetics after more than ten days post treatment, and the process has been mathematically modeled as a diffusion from an infinite reservoir to a semi-finite medium. The mathematical solution led to a square-root law for describing the 65Zn decorporation. This law predicts a slower release than exponential or multiexponential equations, and could better explain the very long persistence of radionuclides in the living body. Splitting data and modeling in two steps allows a better understanding, description and prediction of the evolution of contamination, a separate approach to the treatment schemes of acute and chronic contamination.

Cumulative Structure in Zhuangzi's “The Great and Venerable Teacher”

The secret of the “cumulative structure,” one of Zhuangzi's favorite rhetorical devices, is “adding.” To add is not to repeat but to arrange meanings of different shapes in various incremental parallel structures. This effective tool is used in his chapter titled “The Great and Venerable Teacher” to explicate the highest order of true understanding of the Way, or zhenzhi, and to symbolize the climactic pursuit of the Daoist truth. Vertically the Daoist epistemological value system, with the zhenzhi at its apex, is extended into a graphic hierarchy; horizontally the step-by-step progressive process of the attainment of this true knowledge is sometimes subjected to contemplative examination and sometimes compressed along the axle of time flow into an intense moment of sudden enlightenment. Since the cumulative structure works as a living body of correlation, the palpable contour of which corresponds to the message it conveys, it enables the readers to experience—not just to understand—Zhuangzi's teaching.

Study of the effect of alcoholic extracts of Maidenhair fern and corn silk in breaking up kidney stones out of living body

This study was conducted on a number of patients with kidney stones, as (60) samples were collected for patients from Baghdad hospitals, while recording the necessary information about the patients. As the results of the analysis on stones taken from 60 patients with kidney stones that shows the materials involved in the formation of the stones were analyzed and the following percentages were calcium 60%, phosphate 30%, oxalate 30%, uric acid 5%, ammonium 3%, magnesium 2%, carbonate and cysteine 0%. Some chemical discoveries have been made of the active compounds in plants, such as the active substances in the coriander plant are tannins, saponins, steroids, glycosides, and phenolic compounds, and the absence of coumarins. As for maize stigmas, the active substances are the presence of coumarins, saponins, steroids, phenolic compounds, and glycosides. The presence of tannins, and the toxicity of plant extracts was revealed, as it showed the non-toxicity of maidenhair and the toxicity of corn stigma. The effect of the alcoholic extracts of plants on the gravel weight and the percentage of degradation outside the body, as well as the concentrations of liberated phosphates, uric acid, calcium, and the acidic function of each of the alcoholic extracts of coriander and corn stems were estimated before adding the gravel and after adding it, and it was calculated over a period of four weeks.