153 research outputs found
ARA PACIS AVGVSTAE: AN ASTRO-ARCHAEOLOGICAL ANALYSIS
No full textThe Ara Pacis Augustae (Altar of Augustan Peace) is examined as a shrine of light consistent with the astroorientation principles of Roman architect Vitruvius (c.25 BC). Italian archaeologists excavated (1937-38) and relocated the altar along Rome"s Tiber River – rotating it 75º counter- clockwise from the original orientation. While its magnificent marble sculpture may be viewed at the Museo dell’Ara Pacis, a key astronomical component of the altar"s architectural design has until now remained encoded on a paper site map. The author calculated the horizon declination (+11.3º decl.) of the altar"s original northeast opening with Program STONEHENGE (Hawkins 1983, 328-330), Guglielmo Gatti"s 1938 site map, and Google Earth satellite imagery: True Azimuth ≈ 75º; Latitude/Longitude = 41° 54" 10.47” N/12° 28" 44.60” E; Elevation ≈ 10 meters ASL; and Horizon Altitude ≈ +1.1º. The Ara Pacis was dedicated in 9 BC (Moretti 1947,7). Analysis shows that the axis of the Ara Pacis enclosure"s northeast opening originally was oriented to the rising Sun (+11.0º decl.) on both April 21st and August 27th. However, the iconography of the Ara Pacis supports an interpretation that only the April 21st sunrise orientation was intended, because each sculptural element of the Tellus frieze (young woman, flowing amphora, pair of fishes, ram, bull, infant twins) uniquely mirrors the astronomy: Venus (Morning Star phase) and the Zodiac constellations Aquarius-Pisces-Aries-Taurus- Gemini at dawn on the festival of Par ilia (Pales, goddess of shepherds), 21 April 9 BC. This month and day coincide with the founding of Rome on 21 April 1 ab urbe condita (a.u.c) as recorded by Roman historian Marcus Terentius Varro. The dedication year of 9 BC coincides with the 93rd iteration of the eight-year Earth-Venus Synodic Period when Venus also appeared as Morning Star on the first Dies Natalis Romae, 21 April 753 BC
Il muro divisorio tra il Foro Transitorio e il Templum Pacis. Considerazioni architettoniche e topografiche
No full textToday’s extremely incomplete state of both the Forum Transitorium and the Templum Pacis forces
scholars to attempt to construe hypotheses of various kinds and varying quality in order to arrive at a
plausible building history for the Argiletum area (one of the vital centers of Ancient Rome). Moreover,
even if this results in a credible chronology for the major interventions in the Flavian era (building of
the Porticum Pacis, first layout of the Forum of Domitian, building of the Porticus Absidata, reversal
and expansion of the Domitian Forum - inaugurated by Nerva in its new aspect and thereafter named
Forum of Nerva or Forum Transitorium) the various phases in which these changes actually took place
have not yet been defined. The author makes here a few proposals, based on a personal reading of the
remains of the stratified wall that divided the two Flavian complexes and its doors, allowing (or in some
cases not) for communication between them
Il nesso tra honestum e virtù. L'influenza stoica sulla visione antropologica del De Jure belli ac pacis di Ugo Grozio
No full textThis essay aims to analyse the anthropological vision developed by Hugh Grotius in his De Jure belli ac pacis
(1625), in order to emphasise its ontological-rational foundation, which the author adopts after going beyond
the theological voluntarism still present in his earlier works. Therefore, the relationship between the two peculiar
qualities of mankind, namely the appetitus societatis and recta ratio, has been explored in depth, highlighting
the influence of Stoicism on Grotius’ conception of honestum and virtus
Epigenetic regulation of innate immune responses to infection
No full textL’importance des modifications épigénétiques sur le contrôle de l’expression génique est clairement établie dans la littérature. Il demeure cependant incertain si les marques épigénétiques modulent l’activité transcriptionnelle ou si ce sont plutôt des conséquences découlant de facteurs régulateurs qui modulent préalablement cette activité. Pour ma thèse, j’ai investigué le rôle de la méthylation de l’ADN dans le contexte de l’activation du système immunitaire inné. Plus précisément, j’ai conduit une analyse intégrant des données de méthylation à l’échelle génomique, de modifications d’histones, d’accessibilité à la chromatine et d’expression génique sur des cellules dendritiques avant et après une infection provoquée par Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB). Dans le cadre du projet, je montre que la réponse immunitaire à l’infection est associée à la perte de méthylation sur des milliers de sites CpG, indépendamment de la prolifération cellulaire. Les déméthylations actives se trouvent principalement sur des éléments amplificateurs éloignés des sites d’initiation de la transcription et sont fortement associées à l’induction de gènes situés dans leur voisinage. Cependant, une analyse longitudinale indique que la plupart des changements d’expression se produisent avant les changements perceptibles de méthylation. Une analyse de footprint de l’ADN a révélé que le recrutement de facteurs de transcriptions impliqués dans la réponse immunitaire, tel que NF-κB/Rel, précède les pertes de méthylation observées. Il est intéressant de noter que les niveaux de méthylation dans les régions déméthylées ne sont pas rétablis durant l'infection, même pour des gènes dont l’expression retourne à l’état basal. Ces résultats suggèrent que la déméthylation de l’ADN n’est probablement pas cruciale à la mise en place du programme de régulation central enclenché par les cellules du système immunitaire en réponse aux pathogènes. Celle-ci pourrait cependant jouer un rôle dans la mémoire épigénétique et pourrait permettre une réponse plus rapide à une seconde infection. De manière générale, les résultats ouvrent la porte à l’utilisation des régions de méthylation de l’ADN comme bio-marqueur prédictifs d’infections passées et présentes.The importance of epigenetic modifications in the control of gene expression is widely accepted. Yet, it often remains unclear whether altered epigenetic patterns themselves invoke transcriptional modulation or are instead downstream consequences of regulatory factors. During my thesis, I investigated the role of DNA methylation in the regulation of innate immune responses. Specifically, I performed an integrated analysis of data on genome-wide DNA methylation, histone modifications, chromatin accessibility, and gene expression, in dendritic cells (DCs), before and after infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB). I demonstrate that the immune response to infection is associated with loss of methylation at thousands of CpG sites, independent of cell proliferation. Active demethylation was specifically targeted to distal enhancer elements and was strongly associated with induction of nearby genes. However, time course analysis further indicates that most changes in gene expression in response to infection occur prior to detectable changes in DNA methylation. Footprinting analysis revealed that the recruitment of immune-related transcription factors, such as NF-κB/Rel, to these regions preceded the observed loss in methylation. Interestingly, levels of methylation at differentially methylated CpG sites never reverted back to higher levels during the course of infection, even among genes for which expression levels return to basal state. Collectively, these results show that DNA demethylation is likely not crucial for the establishment of the core regulatory program engaged by innate immune cells in response to a pathogen. Instead, it might play a role in the establishment of epigenetic memory, which allows for a faster response to a secondary infection. More generally, the results from this thesis opens the door for using DNA methylation marks as a predictive biomarker of past or present infection
Dynamic epigenetic changes in immune responses to infection in human dendritic cells
No full textLa méthylation de l'ADN est une marque épigénétique importante chez les mammifères. Malgré le fait que la méthylation de la cytosine en 5' (5mC) soit reconnue comme une modification épigénétique stable, il devient de plus en plus reconnu qu'elle soit un processus plus dynamique impliquant des voies de méthylation et de déméthylation actives. La dynamique de la méthylation de l'ADN est désormais bien caractérisée dans le développement et dans le fonctionnement cellulaire des mammifères. Très peu est cependant connu concernant les implications régulatrices dans les réponses immunitaires. Pour se faire, nous avons effectué des analyses du niveau de transcription des gènes ainsi que du profilage épigénétique de cellules dendritiques (DCs) humaines. Ceux-ci ont été faits avant et après infection par le pathogène Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB). Nos résultats fournissent le premier portrait génomique du remodelage épigénétique survenant dans les DCs en réponse à une infection bactérienne. Nous avons constaté que les changements dans la méthylation de l'ADN sont omniprésents, identifiant 3,926 régions différentiellement méthylées lors des infections par MTB (MTB-RDMs). Les MTB-RDMs montrent un chevauchement frappant avec les régions génomiques marquées par les histones associées avec des régions amplificatrices. De plus, nos analyses ont révélées que les MTB-RDMs sont activement liées par des facteurs de transcription associés à l'immunité avant même d'être infecté par MTB, suggérant ces domaines comme étant des éléments d'activation dans un état de dormance. Nos données suggèrent que les changements actifs dans la méthylation jouent un rôle essentiel pour contrôler la réponse cellulaire des DCs à l'infection bactérienne.DNA methylation is an important epigenetic mark in mammals. Although methylation at the 5’ position of cytosine (5mC) is recognized as a stable epigenetic modification, it is becoming increasingly viewed as a more dynamic process that involves both active methylation and demethylation pathways. While the dynamics of DNA methylation has been well characterized in mammalian development and normal cellular function, little is known about its regulatory implications in immune responses. To that end, we performed comprehensive transcriptional and epigenetic profiling of primary dendritic cell (DC) samples from humans, before and after infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB). Our results provide the first complete genomic portrait of the extensive epigenetic remodeling occurring in primary DCs in response to a bacterial infection. We found that active changes in DNA methylation are pervasive, identifying 3,926 MTB-induced differentially methylated regions (MTB-DMRs). MTB-DMRs show a striking overlap with genomic regions marked by histones associated with enhancer activity. ATAC-seq footprinting analysis revealed that regions that change methylation were actively bound by immune-related TFs prior to MTB-infection suggesting that these domains are likely to represent enhancer elements in a poised state. Our data suggests that active changes in DNA methylation play an essential and previously unappreciated role at controlling of the regulatory programs engaged by DCs in response to a bacterial infection
Dynamic epigenetic changes in immune responses to infection in human dendritic cells
No full textLa méthylation de l'ADN est une marque épigénétique importante chez les mammifères. Malgré le fait que la méthylation de la cytosine en 5' (5mC) soit reconnue comme une modification épigénétique stable, il devient de plus en plus reconnu qu'elle soit un processus plus dynamique impliquant des voies de méthylation et de déméthylation actives. La dynamique de la méthylation de l'ADN est désormais bien caractérisée dans le développement et dans le fonctionnement cellulaire des mammifères. Très peu est cependant connu concernant les implications régulatrices dans les réponses immunitaires. Pour se faire, nous avons effectué des analyses du niveau de transcription des gènes ainsi que du profilage épigénétique de cellules dendritiques (DCs) humaines. Ceux-ci ont été faits avant et après infection par le pathogène Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB). Nos résultats fournissent le premier portrait génomique du remodelage épigénétique survenant dans les DCs en réponse à une infection bactérienne. Nous avons constaté que les changements dans la méthylation de l'ADN sont omniprésents, identifiant 3,926 régions différentiellement méthylées lors des infections par MTB (MTB-RDMs). Les MTB-RDMs montrent un chevauchement frappant avec les régions génomiques marquées par les histones associées avec des régions amplificatrices. De plus, nos analyses ont révélées que les MTB-RDMs sont activement liées par des facteurs de transcription associés à l'immunité avant même d'être infecté par MTB, suggérant ces domaines comme étant des éléments d'activation dans un état de dormance. Nos données suggèrent que les changements actifs dans la méthylation jouent un rôle essentiel pour contrôler la réponse cellulaire des DCs à l'infection bactérienne.DNA methylation is an important epigenetic mark in mammals. Although methylation at the 5’ position of cytosine (5mC) is recognized as a stable epigenetic modification, it is becoming increasingly viewed as a more dynamic process that involves both active methylation and demethylation pathways. While the dynamics of DNA methylation has been well characterized in mammalian development and normal cellular function, little is known about its regulatory implications in immune responses. To that end, we performed comprehensive transcriptional and epigenetic profiling of primary dendritic cell (DC) samples from humans, before and after infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB). Our results provide the first complete genomic portrait of the extensive epigenetic remodeling occurring in primary DCs in response to a bacterial infection. We found that active changes in DNA methylation are pervasive, identifying 3,926 MTB-induced differentially methylated regions (MTB-DMRs). MTB-DMRs show a striking overlap with genomic regions marked by histones associated with enhancer activity. ATAC-seq footprinting analysis revealed that regions that change methylation were actively bound by immune-related TFs prior to MTB-infection suggesting that these domains are likely to represent enhancer elements in a poised state. Our data suggests that active changes in DNA methylation play an essential and previously unappreciated role at controlling of the regulatory programs engaged by DCs in response to a bacterial infection
The mythology of the Ara Pacis Augustae: Iconography and symbolism of the western side
No full textThe guiding idea of my article is to see the mythical and political ideology conveyed by the western side of the Ara Pacis Augustae in a (hopefully) new light. The Augustan ideology of power is in the modest opinion of the author intimately intertwined with the myths and legends concerning the Primordia Romae. Augustus strove very hard to be seen by his contemporaries as the Novus Romulus and as the providential leader (fatalis dux, an expression loved by Augustan poetry) under the protection of the traditional Roman gods and especially of Apollo, the Greek god who has been early on adopted (and adapted) by Roman mythology and religion
Controversy over the Power Between the Papacy and the Empire in the light of Marsilius’ of Padua Defensor pacis
No full textThe most famous medieval controversy over the power and the temporal dominion took place between the papacy and the empire. One of the greatest advocates of the imperial domination was Marsilius of Padua, the author of an original work that demonstrated the advantage of acknowledging the emperor’s superiority over the Pope’s. The Defensor pacis, written between 1319 and 1324, was devoted to the dispute on such sovereignty issues as proving that the Pope should be subordinate to the Emperor, and not vice versa. The Defensor pacis takes issue with numerous arguments and views uttered by the papal camp and uses the appropriate quotations from the Bible and Aristotle to show their weakness and inconsistency. The work comprises three parts. The first part is a description of the ideal system, i.e., an elective monarchy, with the specified role of a ruler and a clear indication of the sovereignty of the people. The second and third parts present a challenge to the arguments of the papal camp (including the famous argument of the “power keys”) and analyze the general situation of the Church, suggesting the necessary reforms. Thus, the whole work becomes a compendium of knowledge on appropriate governance.The most famous medieval controversy over the power and the tempo‑ ral dominion took place between the papacy and the empire. One of the greatest advocates of the imperial domination was Marsilius of Padua, the author of an original work that demonstrated the advantage of acknowledging the emperor’s superiority over the Pope’s. The Defensor pacis, written between 1319 and 1324, was devoted to the dispute on such sovereignty issues as proving that the Pope should be subordinate to the Emperor, and not vice versa. The Defensor pacis takes issue with numerous arguments and views uttered by the papal camp and uses the appropriate quotations from the Bible and Aristotle to show their weak‑ ness and inconsistency. The work comprises three parts. The first part is a description of the ideal system, i.e., an elective monarchy, with the specified role of a ruler and a clear indication of the sovereignty of the people. The second and third parts present a challenge to the arguments of the papal camp (including the famous argument of the “power keys”) and analyze the general situation of the Church, suggesting the neces‑ sary reforms. Thus, the whole work becomes a compendium of knowl‑ edge on appropriate governance
Wokół sporu papieża i cesarza o władzę — Marsyliusza z Padwy Defensor pacis
No full textThe most famous medieval controversy over the power and the temporal dominion took place between the papacy and the empire. One of the greatest advocates of the imperial domination was Marsilius of Padua, the author of an original work that demonstrated the advantage of acknowledging the emperor’s superiority over the Pope’s. The Defen¬sor pacis, written between 1319 and 1324, was devoted to the dispute on such sovereignty issues as proving that the Pope should be subordinate to the Emperor, and not vice versa. The Defensor pacis takes issue with numerous arguments and views uttered by the papal camp and uses the appropriate quotations from the Bible and Aristotle to show their weakness and inconsistency. The work comprises three parts. The first part is a description of the ideal system, i.e., an elective monarchy, with the specified role of a ruler and a clear indication of the sovereignty of the people. The second and third parts present a challenge to the arguments of the papal camp (including the famous argument of the “power keys”) and analyze the general situation of the Church, suggesting the necessary reforms. Thus, the whole work becomes a compendium of knowledge on appropriate governance
Technology-Mediated Sharing Economy : Understanding User Participation in Collaborative Consumption Through the Benefitcost Perspective
No full textFueled by the widespread deployment of information communication technologies, the notion of collaborative consumption has become popular in recent years. Traditionally, individuals have viewed ownership as the most desirable way to access products. In recent years, individuals have shown a robust appetite for collaborative consumption. While the prevalence of collaborative consumption activities has significantly affected the industry and the individual, scientific understanding of this emerging phenomenon remains scant. A review of the extant literature suggested that little is known about the motivating and inhibiting factors for participation in collaborative consumption. Building on the benefit-cost framework, this research-in-progress paper proposes an integrated model to explain the influence of perceived benefits (enjoyment and economic reward), perceived costs (privacy risk and security risk), and perceived platform quality on collaborative consumption. The research model will be tested with 300 active users who have participated in car-sharing activity with Uber. This study is expected to contribute to the research on, and practice of, the sharing economy by revealing the factors affecting participation in collaborative consumption
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