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Mark’s Gospel:A counter cultural Bios
Get PDFThe Gospels of the New Testament are Jesus bioi that take inspiration from other literary traditions, such as Jewish apocalypticism. The oldest Gospel, the Gospel of Mark, raises particularly many questions about the conditions in which it was writ-ten. It is initially characterized by an anecdotal-topical structure. As is typical for bios, time management changes with the beginning of the story of death. The main charac-ter Jesus is characterized in particular by means of showing. After his (special) genos and a preparatory phase, his effectiveness is demonstrated in public. In terms of con-tent, he represents a revaluation of values. In accordance with God’s will, he ap-proaches his death, which turns into a triumph. Although a greater-than-life charac-ter, the Markan Jesus is intended to serve as an ethical role model. The Twelve, on the other hand, appear ambivalent and serve as background foils for the characterization of the main character. „King“ Herod also serves as a negative foil. Features that are atypical of bioi, such as the lack of a foreword or an external description of the main character, can be traced back to the author’s roots in the Old Testament-early Jewish tradition
The Sanctuary of Apollo Hyperteleatas in Laconia:A central Perioikic cult in the Malea Peninsula
Get PDFThe aim of this article is to investigate the local religious habits of the perioikoi (dwellers around), the free populations living in small city-states (poleis) in Laconia and Messenia during the Archaic and Classical periods, when Laconia was under Spartan control. As a case study, I examine the sanctuary of Apollo Hyperteleatas, located beside the Molaoi Plain in the Malea Peninsula of Greece. The discussion considers the sanctuary of Apollo Hyperteleatas from a multimodal perspective, by looking at the bronze dedications and by placing the site in the setting of the Malea Peninsula. I argue that this cult site was of regional importance to the communities living in the Molaoi Plain and more widely in the Malea Peninsula. As a focal point in the religious life of the communities, the sanctuary contributed to a local identity that bonded people living in the area. The study of the sanctuary gives us a local perspective on perioikic cults and a broader view of Laconian religion
Cholangiocarcinoma 2025: Status Quo, unmet needs and priorities
Get PDFCholangiocarcinoma (CCA) is a cancer that originates within the bile ducts. Traditionally considered a rare neoplasm, increased awareness of CCA along with advancements in diagnosis and the rising prevalence of certain risk factors, have contributed to a global increase in incidence and mortality rates. CCAs are highly heterogeneous from clinical, histomorphological, and molecular perspectives, but they commonly share a poor prognosis. These tumours usually develop and progress silently; by the time they are detected, it is often too late for curative surgical intervention. In such cases, current therapeutic approaches offer modest survival improvements and are generally considered185 palliative. While well-known risk factors predispose individuals to develop CCA, the majority of cases are considered sporadic, occurring without any identifiable underlying condition. Over the past decade, substantial collaborative efforts have been made to understand the etiopathogenesis of these tumours better, aiming to identify novel biomarkers and therapeutic targets for developing more effective treatments. The ultimate goal is to improve patient outcomes and overall well-being. However, significant gaps of the molecular mechanisms driving cholangiocarcinogenesis remain to be understood. In this International Expert Consensus Statement, endorsed by the European Network for the Study of Cholangiocarcinoma (ENSCCA), we provide a critical review of the latest advancements in the field of CCA. We highlight the key aspects on CCA etiopathogenesis and clinical management and provide insights into promising new treatments for CCA. Further, the document includes a set of consensus recommendations and future research priorities for CCA, based on a Delphi Panel questionnaire involving international experts
The protection of cultural property in times of armed conflict:Ethics, gender, and coloniality
Get PDFCultural heritage rests on imaginings of a shared humanity transcending national dividing lines. Yet, cultural heritage sites are frequently targeted in war. Thus, the politics of cultural protection is marked by tensions and contestations. Notably, the protection of cultural heritage in armed conflict is a higly militarised practice that rests on notions of protection that are broadly western-centred, masculinized and insensitive to the gendered and colonial power relations that undergird armed conflict and by extension the protection of cultural property. Informed by critical heritage studies, cosmopolitanism and feminist IR scholarship I elucidate the broad claims of this article through a feminist narrative analysis of the protection of heritage and cultural property. This involves identifying what is said and what is obscured and silenced in the narration of heritage protection. First, I zoom in on the wider storytelling that surrounds heritage protection, unpacking the ethical, gendered and colonial assumptions employed in that narrative. Second, I unpack the narration of military protection in the UNESCO military manual published in 2016, attending to its ethical underpinnings, its protection logics and its privileging of distinctively western military knowledge and best practices
Assessment of hepatic steatosis and liver stiffness using transient elastography in late pregnancy: a cross-sectional study
Get PDFBackgroundSteatotic liver disease is increasingly affecting younger individuals and women of reproductive age. Pregnancy provides an opportunity to identify maternal disease predispositions and to apply preventive interventions. The aim of this study was to establish reference ranges for vibration controlled transient elastography (VCTE) measurements in pregnancy and to examine factors associated with the presence of steatotic liver disease.MethodsIn this cross-sectional study, pregnant women were prospectively recruited at Harris Birthright Research Centre (London, UK) between 35 weeks and 36 weeks and 6 days of gestation. Women with a history of chronic liver disease, alcohol consumption of more than 14 units per week before pregnancy, multifetal gestation, or major fetal abnormalities were excluded. Controlled attenuation parameters (CAPs) and liver stiffness measurements (LSMs) were recorded using a FibroScan. Cutoffs for non-pregnant populations were used to determine the prevalence of hepatic steatosis (CAP ≥248 dB/m) and increased liver stiffness (LSM ≥6 kPa). The 90th percentile of each parameter was used to establish gestational cutoffs, and these values were used to investigate determinants of disease through multiple linear and logistic regression analyses.FindingsBetween Oct 1, 2023, and Jan 31, 2025, 5088 pregnant women were included. 501 (9·8%) of 5088 women had steatosis and 768 (23·2%) had increased liver stiffness according to the cutoffs for non-pregnant populations. The 90th percentile for CAP was 247 dB/m and for LSM was 6·8 kPa. In multivariable analysis using the gestational cutoffs, the factors associated with steatosis were history of type 2 diabetes (odds ratio 3·93, 95% CI 1·09–14·01) and weight in early pregnancy (1·05, 1·05–1·06). Factors associated with increased liver stiffness were type 1 diabetes (8·20, 2·37–26·40), type 2 diabetes (4·28, 1·29–13·40), pre-eclampsia (1·86, 1·19–2·82), and weight in early pregnancy (1·07, 1·01–1·14).InterpretationOur results suggest that obesity, pregestational diabetes, and pre-eclampsia might be associated with hepatic steatosis or increased liver stiffness in pregnancies assessed with VCTE, although due to the single-centre nature of our study, these findings need replication in larger multicentre studies. Future longitudinal studies targeting these subgroups are also needed to better understand the natural course of hepatic changes throughout pregnancy, the prognostic value of VCTE, and to evaluate postnatal interventions that could improve long-term liver health
Introduction:Encounters with difference
Get PDFThis special issue examines encounters across religious difference asking how these are shaped by and exceed the limits of liberal frameworks. Building on the editors' research into religious encounters in non-liberal contexts, this volume argues that such ethnographic settings provide a distinctive vantage point for rethinking the governance and theorization of difference. Liberal discourses of diversity and tolerance often narrow our focus to prescribed arenas and sanctioned forms of engagement, sidelining other processes, ideas, and modes of existence. The articles gathered here identify recurring dynamics through which such erasures unfold, demonstrating how attention to non-liberal encounters can expand our conceptual and political horizons by emphasizing particularistic, ephemeral, processual and embodied modes of engagement. At a moment when liberalism faces challenges both from the far right and from its own complicities in violence and exclusion, this collection calls for an openness to forms of engagement with difference that push beyond and unsettle liberal frameworks
Dual-module coupled rolling optimization for hydro-wind-PV-battery complementary system:Considering battery capacity degradation
Get PDFHydro-wind-PV-battery multi-energy system (HWPB-MES) is an effective technique route to enhance the utilization of large-scaled renewable energy sources. The integration of battery energy storage system (BESS) plays an essential role in reducing unfavorable operation of hydropower units and renewable energy curtailment. However, the impact of BESS capacity degradation on flexibility and operational risks of HWPB-MES remains an open challenge. Traditional planning methods tend to use replacement cost of battery from economic perspective, failing to adequately account for the interacting mechanism between battery capacity fading and hydro-BESS coordination pattern. To address the challenge, this study proposes a novel dual-module coupled rolling optimization methodology for HWPB-MES, which captures the mutual feedback mechanism between battery aging and multiple operational risks at both component & systematic levels. Meanwhile, based on the embedded hydro-BESS coordinating strategy, the correlation between frequencies of hydropower risky operation (start/stop and vibration zone crossing) and BESS remaining capacity is analyzed. Also, comparative case studies are carried out to validate the methodology based on region of Northwest China. Results show that the proposed strategy significantly reduces risky hydropower operation. However, with battery capacity fading to 80 % by fourth year, hydropower units are forced to experience a 7.7 % increase in start-stop cycles and a 6.9 % increase in vibration zone crossings. Shifting patterns of renewable curtailment and electricity shortages are witnessed with sharp rises of 14.5 % and 17 % due to BESS degradation, respectively. The proposed methodology clearly reveals the bidirectional interaction between reliabilities of battery storage and hydropower unit to regulate fluctuation of renewable energy, which provides a theoretical reference to enhancing the long-term stability and short-term flexibility of similar systems.</p
Trypanosoma brucei cattle infections contain cryptic transmission-adapted bloodstream forms at low parasitaemia
Get PDFTsetse-transmitted Trypanosoma parasites infect a wide host range and cause Human African Trypanosomiasis and Animal African Trypanosomosis. The dominant hosts of Trypanosoma brucei sensu lato are non-human mammals, including agriculturally important cattle. In rodent infections, T. brucei transitions from proliferative slender to tsetse-transmissible stumpy forms at high parasitaemia in a density-dependent quorum sensing-type process. However, chronic bovine infections are characterised by markedly lower blood parasitaemia levels; mostly substantially below the density assumed to trigger slender-to-stumpy differentiation. This challenges the current (rodent-based) assumptions and quantitative parameter estimations around stumpy form generation in the bloodstream. By combining scRNA-seq and microscopy we observe mixed populations of parasites with both slender- and stumpy-associated transcriptomes in cattle blood. The appearance of the latter coincides with fewer detectably dividing parasites and parasites with shortened flagellum indicative of differentiation, despite the absence of stumpy morphology or developmental marker protein expression. Comparisons with murine infections and in vitro culture demonstrates conserved transcriptomic signatures for both slender- and stumpy-like forms, as well as host specific differences, including a subpopulation of slender-like parasites upregulating pyruvate metabolism and TCA cycle transcripts in cattle samples. These similarities and differences are key to understanding parasite development and transmission in its natural host.<br/
Addressing biases in sliding window analysis gives new insight into the response of parturition date to weather in a wild mammal
Get PDFAnimal breeding phenology in temperate and high latitude regions is often predicted by weather variables, such as temperature. Much work on this topic has focused on taxonomic groups that employ adaptive plastic responses to annual variation in an environmental cue, with analytical approaches developed to determine when weather has an effect and the magnitude of response. However, adaptive responses are not always likely, so it is important to consider the assumptions and limitations of an approach when analysing similar questions in distinct taxonomic groups. The prolonged period between conception and birth means parturition date in seasonally breeding ungulates, such as red deer, is unlikely to show adaptive plastic responses to variation in weather. Prior studies of red deer on the Isle of Rum, Scotland, have documented that parturition date is sensitive to summer temperature and getting earlier over time, while birth weight is sensitive to spring temperature but shows no temporal trend. Here, we reinvestigate this topic with updated statistical methods to establish confidence in previous results by deploying two approaches: permutations, combatting anti-conservative aspects of sliding window analyses, and detrending, a valuable tool for weather attribution studies containing temporal trends. Incorporating detrending within the sliding window analyses of parturition date identified a different window as best fitting with a shallower temperature slope estimate compared to sliding windows that did not detrend. Permutations then showed all our parturition date results could be achieved by chance. In contrast, and consistent with earlier work, birth weight was predicted by spring temperature. Our novel results regarding the environmental sensitivity of parturition date in red deer suggest a lack of plasticity in response to weather and highlight the distinction between the phenology of mammals with long gestations and many more commonly studied taxa. We encourage the use of permutations and detrending within sliding window analyses when a trait shows temporal trends, to prevent inaccurate windows and effect sizes being identified
CD43, but not CD41 or GPI-80, marks first definitive haematopoietic stem cells in the human embryo
Get PDFDuring mammalian embryonic development, haematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) first emerge in the aorta-gonad-mesonephros (AGM) region. Human definitive HSCs emerge in low numbers and reside within the VE-CAD+CD45+ population consisting of 500–1000 cells. Accurate identification of the first HSCs emerging within this population is important for understanding their biology and underlying developmental mechanisms. Here, we characterised the expression of potential markers labelling HSCs during their emergence in the AGM at Carnegie stages (CS) 14–17. We found that the first definitive HSCs are marked by CD43, but not CD41, similar to the early haematopoietic progenitor cells differentiating in culture from human ES cells. We show that, during development in the AGM region and in the beginning of liver colonisation, HSCs remain GPI-80 negative, in contrast to liver HSCs at the later midtrimester foetal development. Together with our previous observations, these findings provide firm evidence that HSCs colonise human embryonic liver at CS17-18
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