Caduceus vs. Rod of Asclepius: A Serpentine Dilemma in Medical Iconography.

This scholarly inquiry delves into the historical significance of two enduring medical symbols: the Rod of Asclepius and the Caduceus. Tracing their origins back to ancient Greek mythology, we uncover their distinct identities and profound meanings as symbols of healing, unity among medical practitioners, and ethical responsibilities. Beyond aesthetics, these emblems serve as powerful educational tools, fostering universal understanding and connecting modern medicine to its historical heritage. Consequently, embracing their true essence can inspire genuine dedication to the noble mission of caring for others.

La sombra de Buffon: en torno a la iconografía zoológica de la botica del Hospital de San Juan Bautista de Astorga / Buffon's shadow: around the zoological iconography of the pharmacy of the Hospital of San Juan Bautista de Astorga

Presentamos un análisis de la iconografía zoológica perteneciente a la botica de San Juan Bautista de Astorga, conservada en el Museo de la Farmacia Hispana de la Universidad Complutense de Madrid. Aun cuando la construcción de la cajonería está fechada en el siglo XVIII, el análisis iconográfico pone de manifiesto que debió ser repintada, al menos parcialmente, en el segundo tercio del XIX.(AU)

We present an analysis of the zoological iconography belonging to the pharmacy of San Juan Bautista de Astorga, preserved in the Hispanic Pharmacy Museum of the Complutense University of Madrid. Even though the construction of the chest of drawers dates from the 18th century, iconographic analysis shows that it must be repainted, at least partially, in the second third of the 19th century.(AU)

The Genesis of Iconographic Exegesis.

The article presents the genealogy and maps Iconographic Exegesis or Biblische Ikonographie. From social-material lenses, it addresses the foundation and development of the perspective, often construed as the explanation of the Bible with contemporary pictorial material. Starting with Othmar Keel and the Fribourg Circle's works and reaching scholars from other academic environments, such as South Africa, Germany, the United States, and Brazil, the paper describes the transformation of the perspective from research interest to research circle and its formalization as a subspecialization within Biblical Studies. The outlook highlights commonalities and particularities of the perspective and its enabling factors and comments on its characterization and definition.

Far-right boundary construction towards the "other": Visual communication of Danish People's Party on social media.

This paper explores how images are used in online far-right political communication to create distinct groups of "otherness." Focusing on the Danish People's Party, we look at how symbolic boundaries are constructed through images to emphasize an exclusive conception of the nation and its citizens, who need protection from the threatening "others." In order to understand the global rise of the far right, scholars of social movements and digital media have called for new research on how visual images serve the mainstreaming of extremist and nationalist beliefs online. We look at images communicated by the Danish People's Party on their Facebook page, exploring how digital images visually communicate the party's slogan of "Safety and trust" (in Danish: "Tryghed og tillid"). With a focus on boundary construction, we present a multimodal visual analysis of 1120 images posted by the party from 2012 to 2020. The data shows how the party constructs an imaginary of Danishness through an exclusionary impermeable boundary construction of a trusted in-group's values and traditions in opposition to culturally distinct "others."

Iconography of Beans and Related Legumes Following the Columbian Exchange.

Common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.), maize, and squash were described by explorers as early as 1492. The illustration of common bean recognized as the first in Europe is in Fuchs' Di Historias Stirpium, published in 1542 and a half-century after beans were observed in the Caribbean. Besides herbals and herbarium specimens, the sources of information on the introduction of New World crops are paintings and illustrations. Two early sources of images of maize and squash are the Grandes Heures d'Anne de Bretagne and the Loggia di Amore e Psiche in the Villa Farnesina, Rome. The former was illustrated between 1507 and 1508 and has an image identified as the common bean. The Villa Farnesina Loggia was decorated in 1515-1518, with festoons containing three instances of bean pods. Our first objective was to evaluate these images to determine whether they represented depictions of common bean earlier than the illustration by Fuchs. Neither image appears to be a common bean based on a combination of botanical characters and size. Folio 194 of the Grandes Heures d'Anne de Bretagne is most likely a Vigna species in the Ceratotropis subgenus. In the Loggia, one set of pods appears to be a species in the Mimosoideae subfamily and the second and third sets of pods most closely resemble Canavalia gladiata. Neither image likely represents common beans and are probably Old-World species. Secondly, illustrations of common beans from ten early herbals were analyzed for traits that are characteristic of the centers of domestication and races of common beans. Our objective was to characterize the diversity observed among herbals and determine whether beans from both centers of domestication were present. We potentially identified both Middle American, race Mesoamerica and Andean, race Nueva Granada types. We posit that both Middle American and Andean types were in the Caribbean at the time of the Columbian exchange and that beans from both centers were informally introduced into Europe early on. This review of 16th-century manuscripts and illustrations has provided some answers to the questions of what and when common beans reached Europe and provide new hypotheses for researchers studying the origins, diversity, and distribution of this crop.

Uterine Tumor Resembling Ovarian Sex Cord Tumors (UTROSCT): Two Case Reports of the Rare Uterine Neoplasm with Literature Review.

INTRODUCTION: Uterine tumors resembling ovarian sex cord tumors (UTROSCTs) are rare neoplasms with unknown etiology. This type of tumor has low malignant potential and mostly manifests as a benign clinical course. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This article analyzes the case data, clinical manifestations, and histopathological characteristics of two cases of UTROSCT, and reviews the relevant literature. The diagnosis of UTROSCT is mainly based on histopathological examination. The histological characteristics of granulosa and Sertoli cell tumours are similar to the ovary under the microscope. These cases' clinical and radiological (MRI) findings have also been discussed. RESULTS: The sex cord components are mixed in different proportions. The immunohistochemistry is diverse and can express sex cord markers together with both epithelial and smooth muscle markers. Both two cases revealed the signs of intratumoral cystic degeneration, intratumoral hemorrhage, and necrosis under MRI. These MRI features were helpful to prompt UTROSCT, which is histologically similar to granular cell tumors and is conducive to the differential diagnosis. CONCLUSION: The current recommended treatment is total hysterectomy, but its biological behavior is not yet clear, and long-term follow-up is needed.

Few-Shot Object Detection: Application to Medieval Musicological Studies.

Detecting objects with a small representation in images is a challenging task, especially when the style of the images is very different from recent photos, which is the case for cultural heritage datasets. This problem is commonly known as few-shot object detection and is still a new field of research. This article presents a simple and effective method for black box few-shot object detection that works with all the current state-of-the-art object detection models. We also present a new dataset called MMSD for medieval musicological studies that contains five classes and 693 samples, manually annotated by a group of musicology experts. Due to the significant diversity of styles and considerable disparities between the artistic representations of the objects, our dataset is more challenging than the current standards. We evaluate our method on YOLOv4 (m/s), (Mask/Faster) RCNN, and ViT/Swin-t. We present two methods of benchmarking these models based on the overall data size and the worst-case scenario for object detection. The experimental results show that our method always improves object detector results compared to traditional transfer learning, regardless of the underlying architecture.

Novel Potential Biomarkers for Retinopathy of Prematurity.

Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) is the main risk factor for vision-threatening disease in premature infants with low birth weight. An accumulating number of independent studies have focused on ROP pathogenesis and have demonstrated that laser photocoagulation therapy and/or anti-VEGF treatment are effective. However, early diagnosis of ROP is still critical. At present, the main method of ROP screening is based on binocular indirect ophthalmoscopy. However, the judgment of whether ROP occurs and whether treatment is necessary depends largely on ophthalmologists with a great deal of experience. Therefore, it is essential to develop a simple, accurate and effective diagnostic method. This review describes recent findings on novel biomarkers for the prediction, diagnosis and prognosis of ROP patients. The novel biomarkers were separated into the following categories: metabolites, cytokines and growth factors, non-coding RNAs, iconography, gut microbiota, oxidative stress biomarkers, and others. Biomarkers with high sensitivity and specificity are urgently needed for the clinical applications of ROP. In addition, using non-invasive or minimally invasive methods to obtain samples is also important. Our review provides an overview of potential biomarkers of ROP.

Social representations, media, and iconography: A semiodiscursive analysis of Facebook posts related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The aim of this study was to explore the COVID-19 pandemic social representation in the early stages of its development. Following a free association task and a categorical analysis, a corpus of COVID-19-related editorial illustrations from articles posted by leading French newspapers was collected. Iconographic analysis of editorial illustrations revealed 12 iconic patterns that seemed typical of the pandemic iconography. Findings suggest that articles eliciting the greatest engagement (i.e. reactions, comments, and shares) are those that use a stable iconography so that the topic can easily be identified by most Facebook users. Therefore, these images could play an important role in the objectification process development of the COVID-19 social representation. Future studies should therefore explore the impact of the relationship between the news media and their audiences on the visual representation of highly topical issues, in the light of the objectification process of social representation theory.

Estudio de la identidad enfermera a partir del análisis iconográfico de la vestimenta de los profesionales a lo largo de la historia / Study of the nurse identity from the iconographic analysis of the clothing of professionals throughout history

Históricamente, se ha intentado definir el concepto de identidad profesional desde la relación que el propio profesio-nal establece con la sociedad, y como “un conjunto de atribu-tos que permiten al individuo sentirse parte de un gremio profesional”. Se trata de una variable contextual influenciados por coyunturas históricas y cultura-les, e incluso influenciado por discursos públicos (AU)

El nuevo patronazgo de san José: reflejo artístico y espiritual de la enfermedad y la muerte en la Edad Moderna / Saint Joseph’s new patronage: artistic and spiritual reflection of disease and death during the Early Modern Age

Objetivo principal: Identificar la evolución devocional de san José entre los siglos XVI y XVIII en relación con la proliferación de su imagen artística en los espacios hospitalarios y asistenciales, tomando incluso su nombre en algunos casos. Metodología: Realización de un estudio bibliográfico y documental revisando fuentes (literatura, hagiográficas, tratados y literatura crítica) seguido de un trabajo de campo y rastreo de ejemplos de imágenes y advocaciones vinculadas al santo en los ambientes hospitalarios. Resultados principales: San José fue sustituyendo progresivamente a los tradicionales patrones de enfermos y moribundos, llegando a protagonizar una gran cantidad de escenas e imágenes presenten en capillas hospitalarias y vinculadas a casas de beneficencia congregacionales y gremiales. Conclusión principal: Identificación de un paralelismo entre el desarrollo del arte y la actividad hospitalaria. En el ámbito artístico, se vincularon tipos iconográficos concretos a asociaciones asistenciales, en particular la muerte de san José, como ejemplo de serenidad para agonizantes y modelo caritativo para asistentes (AU)

Objective: To identify the devotional evolution of st. Joseph between the 16th and 18th centuries in relation to the expansion of his artistic image in hospitals and healthcare spaces, which even in some cases took his name. Methods: A bibliographical review of sources (literature, hagiographies, treatises and secondary sources) and the search for examples of images and dedications linked to the saint in hospitals. Results: St. Joseph gradually replaced the traditional patron saints of the sick and dying, and came to be the protagonist of a large number of scenes and images present in hospital chapels and charity houses supported by fraternities and guilds. Conclusions: It has been identified a parallel between the development of art and care activities. For instance, specific iconographic types were assigned to care societies, in particular the death of st. Joseph, as an example of serenity for the dying and a charitable model for the caretakers (AU)

Prácticas de cuidado de la Universidad Pedagógica y Tecnológica de Colombia (UPTC): reflejos de la memoria fotográfica / Care practices of the Pedagogical and Technological University of Colombia: reflections of photographic memory

La fotografía es un documento de valioso análisis histórico de la Enfermería. Signos de reconocimiento profesional han sido una fuente de estos análisis, como el uniforme y la imagen en prensa y otros medios, pero también la fotografía ha sido usada como dispositivo para visibilizar los imaginarios y prácticas de estudiantes y profesionales. Objetivo principal: Describir los espacios donde se ejercen las prácticas de cuidado de la enfermería en Boyacá (Colombia). Metodología: A través de un estudio iconográfico con análisis panofskiano a 20 fotografías cedidas voluntariamente por los propietarios o sus custodios. Resultados principales: Se evidencia la fuerza de lo simbólico en los espacios de cuidado intramural y cómo se elaboran significaciones en espacios en los que la presencia del profesional es frecuente. Conclusión principal: El análisis de las fotografías nos permitió reconocer los espacios de práctica, aunque es necesario aprender a usar la fotografía para documentar el cuidado de tal forma que enriquezca no solo la imagen de enfermeros y enfermeras, sino que permita análisis más amplios sobre lo que se desea establecer en la memoria profesional y social sobre la enfermería (AU)

The photograph is a document of valuable historical analysis of Nursing. Signs of professional recognition have been a source of these analyses, such as the uniform and the image in the press and other media, but photography has also been used as a device to make visible the imaginaries and practices of students and professionals. Objective: Describe the spaces where nursing care practices are practiced in Boyacá (Colombia). Methods: Through an iconographic study with panofskian analysis to 20 photographs voluntarily provided by the owners or their custodians. Results: The strength of the symbolic in the spaces of intramural care is evidenced and how meanings are elaborated in spaces in which the presence of the professional is frequent but not represented mostly. Conclusions: The analysis of the photographs allowed us to recognize the spaces of practice, although it is necessary to learn to use photography to document care in such a way that it enriches not the professional image and allows broader analyses of what we want to establish in the professional and social memory about nursing (AU)

The Case Report on Dentatorubral-Pallidoluysian Atrophy / 罕见病研究

Dentatorubral-pallidoluysian atrophy (DRPLA) is an autosomal dominant neurodegenera-tive disease rarely reported in China. Its symptoms include: cerebellar ataxia, epilepsy, dementia, myoclonus and choreoathetosis. We reported one case of adult-onset DRPLA family in the article. The female proband developed ataxia at the age of 45, followed by cognitive impairment and possible seizure. Five people in her family had similar symptoms. In addition, cranial MRI showed atrophy of the brainstem and cerebellar, as well as diffuse white matter lesions. Analysis of the ATN1 gene showed CAG repeat sizes to be 14/54 in the proband. Besides, we reviewed relevant literature published in recent years to improve the understanding of the disease, including its clinical manifestations, genetic characteristics, diagnosis and treatments.

A chromosome-level genome of a Kordofan melon illuminates the origin of domesticated watermelons.

Wild relatives or progenitors of crops are important resources for breeding and for understanding domestication. Identifying them, however, is difficult because of extinction, hybridization, and the challenge of distinguishing them from feral forms. Here, we use collection-based systematics, iconography, and resequenced accessions of Citrullus lanatus and other species of Citrullus to search for the potential progenitor of the domesticated watermelon. A Sudanese form with nonbitter whitish pulp, known as the Kordofan melon (C. lanatus subsp. cordophanus), appears to be the closest relative of domesticated watermelons and a possible progenitor, consistent with newly interpreted Egyptian tomb paintings that suggest that the watermelon may have been consumed in the Nile Valley as a dessert by 4360 BP. To gain insights into the genetic changes that occurred from the progenitor to the domesticated watermelon, we assembled and annotated the genome of a Kordofan melon at the chromosome level, using a combination of Pacific Biosciences and Illumina sequencing as well as Hi-C mapping technologies. The genetic signature of bitterness loss is present in the Kordofan melon genome, but the red fruit flesh color only became fixed in the domesticated watermelon. We detected 15,824 genome structural variants (SVs) between the Kordofan melon and a typical modern cultivar, "97103," and mapping the SVs in over 400 Citrullus accessions revealed shifts in allelic frequencies, suggesting that fruit sweetness has gradually increased over the course of watermelon domestication. That a likely progenitor of the watermelon still exists in Sudan has implications for targeted modern breeding efforts.

An early representation of a gorilla from fifteenth-century Central Asia.

The present work describes the earliest known image of a gorilla (Gorilla sp.) to appear outside Africa. This is found in an Asian miniature painted on silk from the second half of the fifteenth century, called Four captive demons. The inspirational source of this painting is obscure and the artist unknown, but it may have been created in the Timurid-Turkmen region of Central Asia. A commercial network linking the African Great Lakes region-where the eastern gorilla (Gorilla beringei) still occurs-and the Swahili ports could have served to facilitate trade in fauna at that time in history. Countless African animals were sent by Egyptian and Eastern African rulers to their counterparts in Central Asia as diplomatic gifts, and a captive gorilla specimen could have been kept in one of the "gardens" of the Timurid-Turkmen rulers and portrayed by an artist working at their courts. This image is intriguing and worthy of attention because it opens up new scenarios regarding the extent of knowledge of Great Apes prior to the Age of Discovery, giving potentially important new insights into human-anthropoid interaction.

The staff of madness: the visualization of insanity and the othering of the insane.

In this article I trace a history of the most ubiquitous visual symbol of madness: the staff. First, I argue that the staff, in its variants (such as the pinwheel) and with its attachments (such as an inflated bladder), represents madness as air. It thus represents madness as an invisible entity that must be made visible. Secondly, I claim that the staff - being iconic of other 'unwanted' categories such as vagabonds - represents the insane as outsiders. Also in this case, the staff serves the purpose of making madness visible. Through this interpretation I show that the urge to make madness visible outlives icons of insanity such as the staff, making it a constant presence in popular culture and medical practice.

The Blows and Capoeira Movements From the Caricatures of Calixto Cordeiro.

This study analyses some elements of the historical and social nature of Capoeira, such as the juridical-political, the clothing, the symbolic and the identity, but, essentially, those of a physical and linguistic nature, from the caricatures produced by Calixto Cordeiro, which illustrated the work of Lima Campos in 1906. In this work, a multi-method process was applied, represented by the presuppositions of Historical Archeology, the interpretation of images indicated by Panofsky, and the documental analysis of various sources. The use of these presuppositions and the confrontation of sources of diverse natures allowed us to interpret the signs, symbols, and meanings from the facts and data described by Cordeiro, about Capoeira presented by different literates. The results of these analyses showed substantial information about the blows/moves of this struggle, as well as its different names, slang and expressive forms, often associated with different groups of practitioners from different Brazilian cities.

[The "Plague Doctor's Mask" in the German Museum for the History of Medicine, Ingolstadt]. / Die Pestarztmaske im Deutschen Medizinhistorischen Museum Ingolstadt.

This paper is part of Forum COVID-19: Perspectives in the Humanities and Social Sciences. The figure of the plague doctor with the beak mask has become the symbol of the plague par excellence. It's little wonder that the plague mask in the collection of the German Museum of the History of Medicine in Ingolstadt (Bavaria) is one of the museum's most popular objects and motifs. This forum paper investigates the figure of the plague doctor on several levels: first, it analyses contemporary textual and image sources in regard to protective clothing used in times of plague and the respective role of the beak-like part of the mask. Then it takes a close look at the Ingolstadt specimen. By examining the mask's materiality and fabrication, questions of its authenticity and practicability are raised. Finally, the Ingolstadt mask is compared with the specimen at the German Historical Museum in Berlin.The conclusion: the beak mask is not mentioned before the mid-seventeenth century, and then only in Italy and Southern France. There is no proof at all of its use during plague outbreaks in Middle Europe. And the specimens in Ingolstadt and Berlin? Both masks present details which suggest that they were not used as protective clothing at all. We do not know, however, if they were produced as replicas for historic reasons or as fakes for the modern art market.

Contribution to the knowledge of Carabus (Lipaster) stjernvalli Mannerheim, 1830 in the Caucasus, with description of two new subspecies (Coleoptera: Carabidae: Carabini).

Based on material collected by the authors in the South Caucasus mainly in 2014-2018, further data are provided on the taxonomy, distribution, and ecology of the Carabus Linnaeus, 1758 subgenus Lipaster Motchulsky, 1866. C. stjernvalli paravanicus subsp. nov. is described from the vicinity of lake Paravani and C. stjernvalli kartalinicus subsp. nov.-from the NE Trialeti Mountain Range and its vicinity. The subspecific status of C. stjernvalli bogatshevi Zamotajlov, 1989 is resurrected.