| November 20 |
| 269 |
|
Diocletian is proclaimed emperor of
Numerian in Asia Minor by his soldiers. He had been the commander of the
emperor's bodyguard.
Saint Sebastian and the Black Death.
Abstract
The
martyrdom of Saint Sebastian is one of the most enduring themes in
Western religious art. The execution scene so often portrayed - with the
Saint transfixed with arrows - is based on the legend about his life
and death during the reign of the Roman emperor, Diocletian.
However, it is the symbolic association of arrows with the Black Death -
during the Middle Ages and during the Renaissance - which identifies
Sebastian as the patron saint of plague victims. After more than four
centuries of recurrent epidemics, the plague died out in Europe; but the
image of St. Sebastian continued to inspire artists until the end of
the 19th century.
|
| 1695 |
|
Zumbi dos Palmares, the Brazilian leader of a 100-year-old rebel slave group, is killed in an ambush.
Effect of Gender on the Knowledge of Medicinal Plants: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
- 1Laboratory
of Ecology and Evolution of Social-Ecological Systems (LEA),
Departamento de Biologia, Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco, Av.
Dom Manoel de Medeiros, s/n, Dois Irmãos, 52171-900 Recife, PE, Brazil.
- 2Ethnobiology
and Human Ecology Group, Centro de Ciências Agrárias, Universidade
Federal de Alagoas, Rod. BR 104, Km 85, s/n, 57000-100 Rio Largo, AL, Brazil.
Abstract
Knowledge of medicinal plants
is not only one of the main components in the structure of knowledge in
local medical systems but also one of the most studied resources. This
study uses a systematic review and meta-analysis of a compilation of
ethnobiological studies with a medicinal plant component and the
variable of gender to evaluate whether there is a gender-based pattern
in medicinal plant knowledge on different scales (national, continental,
and global). In this study, three types of meta-analysis are conducted
on different scales. We detect no significant differences on the global
level; women and men have the same rich knowledge. On the national and
continental levels, significant differences are observed in both
directions (significant for men and for women), and a lack of
significant differences in the knowledge of the genders is also
observed. This finding demonstrates that there is no gender-based
pattern for knowledge on different scales.
|
| 1700 |
|
Sweden's 17-year-old King Charles XII defeats the Russians at Narva.
Biogerontology. 2016 Aug;17(4):771-82. doi: 10.1007/s10522-016-9644-x. Epub 2016 Apr 4.
Ageing with elegans: a research proposal to map healthspan pathways.
Luyten W1, Antal P2, Braeckman BP3, Bundy J4, Cirulli F5, Fang-Yen C6, Fuellen G7, Leroi A8, Liu Q9, Martorell P10, Metspalu A11, Perola M12,13,14, Ristow M15, Saul N16, Schoofs L17, Siems K18, Temmerman L19, Smets T20, Wolk A21, Rattan SI22.
- 1Department
of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, KU Leuven, Naamsestraat
59, Box 2469, 3000, Leuven, Belgium. walter.luyten@med.kuleuven.be.
- 2Department
of Measurement and Information Systems, Budapest University of
Technology and Economics, Abiomics Europe Ltd., Budapest, 1118, Hungary.
- 3Biology Department, Ghent University, Proeftuinstraat 86N1, 9000, Ghent, Belgium.
- 4Department of Surgery and Cancer, Imperial College London, South Kensington Campus Exhibition road, SW7 2AZ, London, UK.
- 5Section
of Behavioral Neuroscience, Department of Cell Biology and
Neurosciences, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, 00161, Rome, Italy.
- 6Department
of Bioengineering, School of Engineering and Applied Science,
University of Pennsylvania, 210 S 33rd St, 240 Skirkanich Hall,
Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA.
- 7Institute for
Biostatistics and Informatics in Medicine and Ageing Research, Rostock
University Medical Center, 18057, Rostock, Germany.
- 8Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, South Kensington Campus Exhibition road, SW7 2AZ, London, UK.
- 9Tsinghua University, B 407, Medical Science Building, Haidian District, 100084, Beijing, China.
- 10Cell Biology Laboratory, Food Biotechnology Department, Biópolis SL, Paterna, 46980, Valencia, Spain.
- 11Estonian
Genome Center & Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, University
of Tartu, Riia Street 23B, 51010, Tartu, Estonia.
- 12Department of Health, National Institute for Health and Welfare, Helsinki, Finland.
- 13Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland, University of Helsinki, Mannerheimintie 166, 00271, Helsinki, Finland.
- 14The Estonian Genome Center, University of Tartu, 50090, Tartu, Estonia.
- 15Energy
Metabolism Laboratory, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH)
Zürich, Schorenstrasse 16, 8603, Schwerzenbach, Switzerland.
- 16Molecular
Genetics Group, Faculty of Life Sciences, Institute of Biology,
Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Chausseestr. 117, 10115, Berlin,
Germany.
- 17Laboratory of Genomics and Proteomics, Department of Biology, KU Leuven, Naamsestraat 59, 3000, Leuven, Belgium.
- 18Analyticon Discovery GmbH, Hermannswerder Haus 17, 14473, Potsdam, Germany.
- 19Laboratory of Molecular and Functional Neurobiology, Department of Biology, KU Leuven, Naamsestraat 59, 3000, Leuven, Belgium.
- 20Cartagenia, Part of Agilent Technologies, Inc., Technologielaan 3, 3001, Louvain, Belgium.
- 21Division of Nutritional Epidemiology, Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, 17177, Stockholm, Sweden.
- 22Laboratory of Cellular Ageing, Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Aarhus University, 8000, Aarhus-C, Denmark.
Abstract
Human
longevity continues to increase world-wide, often accompanied by
decreasing birth rates. As a larger fraction of the population thus gets
older, the number of people suffering from disease or disability
increases dramatically, presenting a major societal challenge. Healthy
ageing has therefore been selected by EU policy makers as an important
priority ( http://www.healthyageing.eu/european-policies-and-initiatives
); it benefits not only the elderly but also their direct environment
and broader society, as well as the economy. The theme of healthy ageing
figures prominently in the Horizon 2020 programme (
https://ec.europa.eu/programmes/horizon2020/en/h2020-section/health-demographic-change-and-wellbeing
), which has launched several research and innovation actions (RIA),
like "Understanding health, ageing and disease: determinants, risk
factors and pathways" in the work programme on "Personalising
healthcare" (
https://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/portal/desktop/en/opportunities/h2020/topics/693-phc-01-2014.html
). Here we present our research proposal entitled "ageing with elegans"
(AwE) ( http://www.h2020awe.eu/ ), funded by this RIA, which aims for
better understanding of the factors causing health and disease in
ageing, and to develop evidence-based prevention, diagnostic,
therapeutic and other strategies. The aim of this article, authored by
the principal investigators of the 17 collaborating teams, is to
describe briefly the rationale, aims, strategies and work packages of
AwE for the purposes of sharing our ideas and plans with the
biogerontological community in order to invite scientific feedback,
suggestions, and criticism.
KEYWORDS:
Caenorhabditis elegans; Healthspan; Longevity Nutraceuticals; Medicinal plants; Natural products
|
|
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|
| 1928 |
|
Mrs. Glen Hyde becomes the first woman to
dare the Grand Canyon rapids in a scow (a flat-bottomed boat that is
pushed along with a pole).
Proc Biol Sci. 2016 May 25;283(1831). pii: 20160221. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2016.0221.
Tiny vampires in ancient seas: evidence for predation via perforation in fossils from the 780-740 million-year-old Chuar Group, Grand Canyon, USA.
- 1Department of Earth Science, University of California at Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA porter@geol.ucsb.edu.
Abstract
One
explanation for the Early Neoproterozoic expansion of eukaryotes is the
appearance of eukaryovorous predators-i.e. protists that preyed on
other protists. Evidence for eukaryovory at this time, however, is
indirect, based on inferences from character state reconstructions and
molecular clocks, and on the presence of possible defensive structures
in some protistan fossils. Here I describe 0.1-3.4 µm circular holes in
seven species of organic-walled microfossils from the 780-740
million-year-old Chuar Group, Grand Canyon,
Arizona, USA, that are similar to those formed today by predatory
protists that perforate the walls of their prey to consume the contents
inside. Although best known in the vampyrellid amoebae, this
'vampire-like' behaviour is widespread among eukaryotes, making it
difficult to infer confidently the identity of the predator.
Nonetheless, the identity of the prey is clear: some-and perhaps all-of
the fossils are eukaryotes. These holes thus provide the oldest direct
evidence for predation on eukaryotes. Larger circular and
half-moon-shaped holes in vase-shaped microfossils from the upper part
of the unit may also be the work of 'tiny vampires', suggesting a
diversity of eukaryovorous predators lived in the ancient Chuar sea.
© 2016 The Author(s).
KEYWORDS:
Neoproterozoic; Precambrian palaeontology; Vampyrellida; acritarch; drill holes
|
|
|
|
| 1947 |
|
Princess Elizabeth (future Queen Elizabeth II) marries Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, in Westminster Abbey.
Birth of scientific surgery. John Hunter versus Joseph Lister as the father or founder of scientific surgery.
- 1Michigan
State University, Kalamazoo Center for Medical Studies and Western
Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI, USA. toledo@kcms.msu.edu
Abstract
John Hunter (1728-1793) has frequently been considered the "Father or Founder of Scientific Surgery". His inscription at Westminster Abbey
presents him as "a gifted interpreter of the Divine Power and wisdom at
work in the laws of organic life and the Founder of Scientific
Surgery." I take issue with Hunter being considered the father or
founder of scientific surgery and propose Joseph Lister (1827-1912) as
the one who should receive this consideration. Hunter was a skilled
surgeon, an inquisitive innovator, keen observer, great naturalist, and
astute thinker, who made no surgical discoveries of any transcendence to
the discipline. His scientific observations were not in the field of
surgery. Therefore, he should not be considered the "Father or Founder
of Scientific Surgery." On the contrary, Lister became a revolutionary
scientific innovator by explaining the pervasive role of microorganisms
in surgical wounds. His work directly affected surgery and its role in
medicine. Lister, therefore, should be considered the "Father or Founder
of Scientific Surgery."
|
|
|
|
| 1955 |
|
The Maryland National Guard is ordered desegregated.
Explore (NY). 2016 Jan-Feb;12(1):55-62. doi: 10.1016/j.explore.2015.10.004. Epub 2015 Oct 26.
Context Effects in Western Herbal Medicine: Fundamental to Effectiveness?
- 1Maryland University of Integrative Health, 7750 Montpelier Road, Laurel, MD 20723. Electronic address: jsnow@muih.edu.
Abstract
Western
herbal medicine (WHM) is a complex healthcare system that uses
traditional plant-based medicines in patient care. Typical preparations
are individualized polyherbal formulae that, unlike herbal pills, retain
the odor and taste of whole herbs. Qualitative studies in WHM show
patient-practitioner relationships to be collaborative. Health
narratives are co-constructed, leading to assessments, and treatments
with personal significance for participants. It is hypothesized that the
distinct characteristics of traditional herbal preparations and
patient-herbalist interactions, in conjunction with the WHM physical
healthcare environment, evoke context (placebo) effects that are
fundamental to the overall effectiveness of herbal treatment. These
context effects may need to be minimized to demonstrate pharmacological
efficacy of herbal formulae in randomized, placebo-controlled trials,
optimized to demonstrate effectiveness of WHM in pragmatic trials, and
consciously harnessed to enhance outcomes in clinical practice.
Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
KEYWORDS:
Context; Herbal preparations; Patient–practitioner relationship; Placebo effect; Western herbal medicine
|
| 1962 |
|
President John F. Kennedy bars religious or racial discrimination in federally funded housing.
"A Powerful Protector of the Japanese People": The History of the Japanese Hospital in Steveston, British Columbia, Canada,1896-1942.
- 1University of Saskatchewan.
Abstract
From 1896 to 1942, a Japanese hospital operated in the village of Steveston, British Columbia, Canada.
For the first 4 years, Japanese Methodist missionaries utilized a small
mission building as a makeshift hospital, until a larger institution
was constructed by the local Japanese Fishermen's Association in 1900.
The hospital operated until the Japanese internment, after the attack on
Pearl Harbor during World War II. This study offers important
commentary about the relationships between health,
hospitals, and race in British Columbia during a period of increased
immigration and economic upheaval. From the unique perspective of
Japanese leaders, this study provides new insight about how Japanese
populations negotiated hospital care, despite a context of severe racial discrimination.
Japanese populations utilized Christianization, fishing expertise, and
hospital work to garner more equitable access to opportunities and
resources. This study demonstrates that in addition to providing medical
treatment, training grounds for health-care
workers, and safe refuge for the sick, hospitals played a significant
role in confronting broader racialized inequities in Canada's past.
Evaluating the cytotoxic effects of the water extracts of four anticancer herbs against human malignant melanoma cells.
- 1Drug
Discovery and Development Research Group, College of Pharmacy and
Nutrition, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK; Department of
Biomedical and Molecular Sciences, Queen's University, Cancer Biology
& Genetics Division, Queen's Cancer Research Institute, Kingston,
ON, Canada.
- 2Drug Discovery and Development Research Group, College of Pharmacy and Nutrition, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK.
Abstract
Malignant melanoma (MM) is the most dangerous type of skin cancer, killing more than 1,100 people each year in Canada.
Prognosis for late stage and recurrent MM is extremely poor due to
insensitivity to chemotherapy drugs, and thus many patients seek
complementary and alternative medicines. In this study, we examined four
commonly used anticancer herbs in traditional Chinese medicine, Hedyotis diffusa, Scutellaria barbata, Lobelia chinensis, and Solanum nigrum, for their in vitro antitumor effects toward human MM cell line A-375. The crude water extract of S. nigrum
(1 g of dry herb in 100 mL water) and its 2-fold dilution caused
52.8%±13.0% and 17.3%±2.7% cytotoxicity in A-375 cells, respectively (P<0.01). The crude water extract of H. diffusa caused 11.1%±12.4% cytotoxicity in A-375 cells with no statistical significance (P>0.05). Higher concentrated formulation might be needed for H. diffusa
to exert its cytotoxic effect against A-375 cells. No cytotoxicity was
observed in A-375 cells treated with crude water extract of S. barbata and L. chinensis. Further high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectroscopy analysis of the herbal extracts implicated that S. nigrum and H. diffusa
might have adopted the same bioactive components for their cytotoxic
effects in spite of belonging to two different plant families. We also
showed that the crude water extract of S. nigrum reduced
intracellular reactive oxygen species generation in A-375 cells, which
may lead to a cytostatic effect. Furthermore, synergistic effect was
achieved when crude water extract of S. nigrum was coadministered with temozolomide, a chemotherapy drug for skin cancer.
KEYWORDS:
HPLC-MS/MS; cytotoxicity; herbal extract; malignant melanoma; reactive oxygen species
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|
| 1981 |
|
Microsoft Windows 1.0 released.
PLoS One. 2015 Jun 26;10(6):e0130834. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0130834. eCollection 2015.
"Just
Another Tool for Online Studies" (JATOS): An Easy Solution for Setup
and Management of Web Servers Supporting Online Studies.
- 1Independent Researcher, Berlin, Germany.
- 2Department of Lifespan Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany.
Abstract
We
present here "Just Another Tool for Online Studies" (JATOS): an open
source, cross-platform web application with a graphical user interface
(GUI) that greatly simplifies setting up and communicating with a web
server to host online studies that are written in JavaScript. JATOS is
easy to install in all three major platforms (Microsoft Windows,
Mac OS X, and Linux), and seamlessly pairs with a database for secure
data storage. It can be installed on a server or locally, allowing
researchers to try the application and feasibility of their studies
within a browser environment, before engaging in setting up a server.
All communication with the JATOS server takes place via a GUI (with no
need to use a command line interface), making JATOS an especially
accessible tool for researchers without a strong IT background. We
describe JATOS' main features and implementation and provide a detailed
tutorial along with example studies to help interested researchers to
set up their online studies. JATOS can be found under the Internet
address: www.jatos.org.
|
| 1992 |
|
Fire in England's Windsor Castle causes over £50 million in damages. |
|
|
|
|
Born on November 20 |
| 1858 |
|
Selma Lagerdorf, Swedish novelist (The Story of Gosta Berling). |
| 1889 |
|
Edwin Hubble, American astronomer who proved that there are other galaxies far from our own. |
| 1908 |
|
Alistair Cooke, English journalist, television host. |
| 1916 |
|
Thomas McGrath, poet and novelist. |
| 1923 |
|
Nadine Gordimer, Nobel Prize-winning South African novelist. |
| 1925 |
|
Robert F. Kennedy, U.S. Attorney General, New York senator and brother of President John F. Kennedy. He was assassinated while running for president. |
| 1936 |
|
Don DeLillo, author (White Noise, Libra). |
| 1939 |
|
Dick Smothers, actor, singer; half of the
Smothers Brothers whose controversial comedy-variety TV show challenged
censorship boundaries in the 1960s, finally resulting in cancellation in
1969. |
| 1942 |
|
Joe Biden, politician; US Senator from Delaware (1973–2009); President Barack Obama's vice-president, beginning in 2009 |
| 1946 |
|
Duane Allman, singer, songwriter,
musician; co-founder and primary leader of the The Allman Brothers Band
until his death in 1971. |
| 1963 |
|
Wan Yanhai, Chinese activist. |
| 1975 |
|
Dierks Bentley, country singer, songwriter ("What Was I Thinkin'", "Every Mile a Memory"). |
