Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Human antiquity'

This thesis examines the cultural and literary impact of the establishment of the ‘antiquity of man’, or the discovery of human remains in geological association with those of extinct mammals. This mid-nineteenth-century scientific development greatly extended the length of human (pre)history and, when read in conjunction with the evolutionary theories of Charles Darwin, allowed for the possibility of the prior existence of other species of human. The thesis pursues contemporary discussions of human antiquity in the popular and periodical press before moving on to an examination of early ‘prehistoric fiction’, much of which was published in magazines and periodicals. Rather than dealing with the implications of human antiquity and evolution on their own terms, early prehistoric fiction, I suggest, amounted to a Victorian colonisation of human evolutionary history. The remainder of the thesis is given over to an analysis of the implications and effects of what I have termed ‘evolutionary colonialism’ through the work of George Meredith, Arthur Machen and Joseph Conrad – three writers with very different places in relation to the canon. Meredith’s work often seems to warn of the dangers of evolutionary colonialism, while in a handful of stories dealing with human antiquity Arthur Machen offers an alternative reading of human evolutionary history. Finally, in Conrad’s Heart of Darkness it is possible to perceive the consequences and underlying logic of the colonial interpretation of the evolutionary human.

This thesis examines the relationship between human will and divine will as mediated through state divination in the Roman Middle and Late Republic. The nature of ancient evidence for incidents involving state divination, and for divinatory ‘rules’, is scrutinized: the historicity of many divinatory incidents recorded in Roman tradition is defended, and the existence of a body of basic divinatory ‘rules’ posited. Current models of the relationship between human and divine will in Roman divination are examined; the thesis challenges the ‘alignment’ model wherein the outcomes of state divination are assumed routinely to have aligned with the will of their recipients. Cases where divinatory outcomes do not appear to have aligned with recipients’ will are identified in Cicero, Livy, and Cassius Dio. The modern view that state divinatory techniques (auspication, haruspicy in sacrifice, and prodigy-interpretation) routinely generated desired results is called into question. The thesis then re-evaluates the canon of ancient ‘rule-statements’ generally cited as evidence for augural ‘principles’ that the report of a sign was considered as valid as an actual sign, and that it was acceptable for individuals to fabricate or to reject signs at will. Instead, it is suggested that a real sign was preferable to a reported one, and that the validity of an oblative sign depended on the individual’s awareness of it. Finally, the thesis proposes an alternative to the currently-accepted understanding of the auspicial procedure ‘servare de caelo’, arguing that even this procedure need not be seen as invariably generating signs in alignment with human will and as countenancing sign-falsification. These conclusions are held to encourage a re-consideration of the modern understanding of the nature of Roman state divination and of Roman religion.

No figure of fourth-century Christianity seems to be at once so well known and so clouded in mystery as Hilary of Poitiers. His work as an historian provides invaluable knowledge of the mid-fourth century, and he was praised as a theologian throughout late antiquity. Today, however, discussions of his theology are founded upon less solid ground. This is largely due to methodological issues. Modern scholarship has often read Hilary through anachronistic historical and theological categories which have rendered his thought incomprehensible. Recent scholars have sought to overcome this and to reexamine Hilary within his own historical, polemical, and theological context. Much remains to be said, however, in regard to Hilary's actual theological contribution within these contextual parameters. This thesis contends that in all of Hilary's polemical and constructive argumentation in De Trinitate, which is essentially trinitarian, he is inherently and necessarily developing an anthropology. In all he says about the divine, he is saying as much about what it means to be human. This thesis therefore seeks to reenvision Hilary's overall theological project in terms of the continual, and for him necessary, anthropological corollary of trinitarian theology-to reframe it in terms of a 'trinitarian anthropology'. My contention is that the coherence of Hilary's thought depends upon his understanding of divine-human relations. I will demonstrate this through following Hilary's main lines of trinitarian argument, out of which flows his anthropological vision. These main lines of argument, namely, divine generation, divine infinity, divine unity, the divine image, and divine humanity, each unfold into a progressive picture of humanity from potentiality to perfection. This not only provides a new paradigm for understanding Hilary's own thought, but invites us to reexamine our approach to fourth-century theology entirely, as it disavows any reading of the trinitarian controversies in conceptual abstraction. Further, theological and religious anthropology are widely discussed in contemporary scholarship, and Hilary's profound exploration of divine-human relations, and what it means to be a human being as a result, has much to offer both historical and contemporary concerns.

For thousands of years, people have been hearing, reading, and interpreting stories and myths in light of their own experience. To read a work by a different author living in a different era and setting, people tend to imagine works of literature to be something they are not. To avoid this fateful tendency, I hope to elucidate what it means to read a work of literature and interpret it: love it to the point of wanting to foremost discuss its excellence of being a piece of art. Rather than this being a defense, I would rather call it a musing, an examination on two texts that I adore: Beowulf and the Anglo-Saxon Exodus

This thesis has as its subject piracy and its relation to Empire. Through a methodological approach, it investigates the ways in which different discourses, throughout modernity, have contributed to the construction of a ‘pirate legend’ that continue to animate our present. The first part of the dissertation is dedicated to a study of the pirate figure as it appears in the context of various global orders from antiquity until the early eighteenth century. In this context, I argue that the suppression of piracy was a constitutive moment in the early history of the world market. The second part follows the ways in which the spectre of eighteenth century piracy has continued to haunt modern international law, well after the dawn of the classic ‘golden age of piracy’. I argue that the evocation of the ‘pirate analogy’ has played an important role in: the history of nineteenth European imperialism, in the escalation to total war in the twentieth century, and today in the context of the war on terror. The aim is to systematically contextualize how and why particular individuals and groups were perceived and described as ‘piratical’ in a certain historical and geographical context. In this way, it becomes possible to consider the significant historical continuities that underlie different discourses that, throughout history, have made use of the concept of ‘the pirate’; but also, it enables to follow the ways in which the meaning of that same concept changed in passing from one global order to another. There is a sense in which pirates have always been with us and yet, beneath the superficial timelessness of the subject, we discover fundamental discontinuities, sudden turnarounds, discursive shifts that transform the meaning of what a pirate is supposed to be.

Le travertin, connu sous le terme de lapis tiburtinus dans l’Antiquité romaine, est une roche issue de la précipitation du carbonate dissous dans les eaux de sources chaudes (travertins) ou froides (tufs calcaires), sous l’influence de processus physico-chimiques et/ou biologiques. Ce phénomène est décrit dès l’époque gréco-romaine par les auteurs antiques (Strabon, Pline l’Ancien, Vitruve), qui témoignent d’une roche qui se forme sous leurs yeux, qui dessine le paysage et qui est largement exploitée pour la construction (p. ex. le Colisée à Rome, le Temple grec de Ségeste en Sicile). Abondamment répartis à la surface de la Terre et caractérisés par une certaine diversité morphologique, les travertins représentent d’excellents enregistreurs des conditions climatiques et hydrologiques de leur dépôt, offrant un potentiel très fiable d’archives sédimentaires utilisées au sein de problématiques paléoenvironnementales. La notion de travertins anthropiques définie ici prend en compte l’influence de l’Homme sur ces formations sédimentaires et les eaux qui leur sont associées. Elle est illustrée par une approche géoarchéologique des dépôts de travertins préservés sur le site antique de Jebel Oust, en Tunisie, où l’exploitation d’une source chaude est attestée depuis le début de notre ère jusqu’à son tarissement dès la fin de l’Antiquité tardive. La source thermale surgissant sur le versant oriental de la montagne fut l’objet d’un culte aux époques romaine puis paléochrétienne et alimentait en eau chaude, par le biais d’un aqueduc, un édifice thermal localisé en aval. Notre approche géoarchéologique met en lumière l’anthropisation du versant qui se traduit par un contrôle du fonctionnement de la source chaude et des dynamiques sédimentaires associées. En parallèle, l’analyse des travertins préservés au sein des structures antiques révèle des informations primordiales sur les conditions de déroulement du culte et sur les pratiques balnéaires (fonction des salles thermales, gestion de l’eau, phases de réfection, états d’abandon). Une vision plus générale d’une géoarchéologie des travertins anthropiques propose une nouvelle approche des problématiques liées à l’eau, en insistant sur la gestion plus ou moins complexe d’une source carbonatée, chaude ou froide, et en précisant le degré d’impact humain sur le développement des travertins
Travertine, known as lapis tiburtinus during Roman times, are continental limestones precipitated in calcareous environments from thermal waters of hot springs (travertine) or cool waters of karstic springs (calcareous tufa). This phenomenon is well-known during Classical Antiquity and had been described by several ancient authors (Strabo, Pliny the Elder, Vitruvius) who depicted a stone that forms extremely rapidly, a stone that outlines the landscape and which is largely used for construction (e.g. The Colosseum in Roma, the Greek temple at Segesta in Sicily). These deposits are widespread on Earth’s surface showing various morphologies and are great sedimentary records of climatic and hydrologic conditions. Thus they represent valuable proxies for palaeoenvironmental studies. The notion of anthropogenic travertine takes into consideration human impact on these deposits and on travertine-depositing waters. It is documented by the study of the roman site of Jebel Oust, Tunisia, where the exploitation of a hot spring is attested from the first century A.D. to the end of Late Antiquity. The site is characterized by a temple settled around the spring’s vent associated with Roman baths located downstream and supplied with hot water via an aqueduct. Our geoarchaeological approach brings to light the anthropization of the regional geosystem expressed by an entire control over the hot spring and its associated deposits. Furthermore the study of travertines preserved in the archaeological structures reveals precious and original information about water cult and bathing practices during Antiquity (thermal rooms function, water management, repair phases, states of neglect and decay). Moreover, geoarchaeology of anthropogenic travertine intends to offer a new approach of research‘s problematic dealing with water managements and integrating human impact on travertine’s development

Les médecins hippocratiques se trouvent au plus près du corps des femmes, ils le décrivent comme aucun autre homme de la période classique n’a su ou pu le faire. En s’intéressant à l’anatomie, à la physiologie ou aux pathologies, ils nous permettent de le côtoyer avec une proximité inégalée. Les médecins hippocratiques illustrent un choix intellectuel fondamental : celui de la rationalité dans la perspective de la compréhension des processus organiques. Cependant leur observation du biologique, se heurte à la barrière du corps, à la frontière de la peau. Ils vont imaginer une anatomie féminine, et cela, de façon consensuelle. Le corps féminin est plus fragile, plus sujet aux déséquilibres, sa physiologie est non seulement inférieure, mais elle peine même à réaliser les nécessaires conditions de son économie. L’infériorité conceptuelle attachée par la culture grecque au corps des femmes en fait un lieu de passage, une ouverture, qui peut s’inverser en certains moments. Passage du sang qui doit fluer tous les mois, passage de l’enfant qui le consacrera dans son identité. L’essentiel du discours médical, est alors occupé par les seuls moments où le corps féminin témoigne de ses particularités physiologiques. Les maladies de femme sont alors celles de leur sexe, parce que c’est le sexe qui détermine le corps. Le discours du médecin va alors affermir et confirmer ceux de l’oikos et celui de la cité : les femmes sont malades lorsqu’elles ne correspondent plus à ce que la société leur impose comme impératif normatif : elles sont malades de ne pas enfanter. Les remèdes, les thérapies, sont porteurs des valeurs culturelles associées à la représentation des ingrédients qui les constituent. La composition des médicaments est un langage destiné au corps, où s’entremêlent présupposés et empirisme. La pharmacopée gynécologique constitue l’expression matérielle de la représentation mentale qu’ont les Hippocratiques du corps féminin. Elle renseigne également sur des réalités thérapeutiques. Cette médecine n’est pas faite que de représentations ou de symboles, c’est aussi une médecine active qui modèle physiquement le corps tout autant qu’elle le conceptualise
Hippocratic doctors are close to the woman's body, they describe it like no other man from the classical period has been able to do. Their interest in anatomy, physiology or in various pathologies are a key to reaching unequalled closeness to it. They even sometimes let us hear women's voices throughout the manifestation of the sicknesses, the worries and the practices, which are a testimony to the persistence in their writings of traditional procedures. Hippocratic doctors incarnate a fundamental intellectual path : the one of rational perspective in the comprehension of organic processes. Their biological observations, however, stop where the body and the skin begin. They imagine women's anatomy in a consensual way. The unwavering belief in the constitutive inferiority of everything female has distorted their theories. A woman's body is frailer, more unbalanced, its flesh is softer, looser, less resistant, moist. Their physiology is not only inferior but is even barely capable of sustaining itself. The conceptual inferiority which Greek culture links to the woman's body classifies it as a passage which direction sometimes changes : the passage taken by blood each month, the passage taken by the child which establishes its identity. It is a tool : malleable, easily influenced, hypersensitive, a condenser at the doctor's disposal. The major part of medical dissertation is taken up by testimonies to physical particularities. The sicknesses of the woman are then those of her sex, since it is the sex which defines the body. The medical line strengthens and asserts the oikos and the city's way of thinking : women are sick when they do not meet the expectations of their husbands and their community any more, when they wander from the normative path society imposes on them : they are sick of not bearing children. Remedies and therapies carry the cultural values associated with the representation of the ingredients they are based upon. The composition of medicine is a language intended for the woman's body where presuppositions and empiricism mingle. Gynaecological pharmacopoeia is the material expression of the mental representation Hippocratic doctors have of the woman's body. It also informs on actual therapeutic facts. Hippocratic medicine is not only made of representations and symbols but is also an active medicine which shapes the body as well as it conceptualises it

L'étude des sites archéologiques de la fin du Pliocène et du Pléistocène inférieur en Asie de l'Est peut aider à comprendre quand a eu lieu la première sortie d'Afrique des hominidés et de savoir comment s’est effectué le peuplement de l’Asie. Certaines preuves de la présence des premiers hominiens en Chine ne sont pas toujours reconnues, principalement à cause d'une incertitude chronologique, ces sites étant au-delà de la limite d’applicabilité de la méthode U-Th et ne présentant pas de matériaux volcaniques permettant d’utiliser les méthodes K-Ar ou Ar-Ar. La méthode de datation ESR/U-Th combinée peut aider à résoudre ce problème, parce que son application sur les dents fossiles permet potentiellement de dater des sites de plus de 1 Ma, si la précision de la reconstruction de l'histoire de l’absorption de l'uranium dans l’échantillon le permet. Un paramètre p de diffusion de l'uranium doit être défini pour chaque tissu dentaire et l'âge obtenu par le modèle ESR-US est moins incertaine que ceux déterminés par les modèles ESR conventionnels EU (absorption précoce) et LU (absorption linéaire). Dans ce travail, la méthode de datation combinant ESR et U-Th a été appliquée à la datation de dents fossiles de deux sites pléistocène inférieur de Chine, Longgupo et Donggutuo. Cette étude montre que cette méthode peut être utilisée pour dater des sites archéologiques anciens, mais certains challenges demeurent. Un des principaux problèmes pour les deux sites est la détermination de la paleodose. Une analyse comparative montre que l’utilisation d’une fonction de saturation à double exponentielle permet d’obtenir systématiquement un meilleur ajustement aux points expérimentaux qu’une fonction de saturation conventionnelle à simple exponentielle. Par ailleurs, une autre difficulté de la datation du site de Longgupo se trouve dans la reconstruction du débit de dose gamma externe, qui contribue fortement (plus de 50%) à la dose totale. En raison du caractère hétérogène des dépôts sur le site de Longgupo, la dose de rayonnement gamma joue un rôle clé sur les résultats finaux, et cela nous conduira dans le futur à revisiter le site afin de déterminer ce paramètre plus précisément. Enfin, l'étude du site de Donggutuo montre la grande difficulté de la datation des sites anciens de plein air, les échantillons de dents ayant pu subir des lessivages d'uranium qui ne peuvent pas être déterminés par le paramètre de diffusion du modèle ESR-US et rendent le calcul de l'âge impossible avec ce modèle. Bien que ces défis demeurent pour la datation des échantillons anciens fossiles par la méthode combinée ESR / U-Th, cette étude démontre la faisabilité de son application sur la datation des sites chinois du début du Pléistocène. Les résultats de cette étude placent chronologiquement le site de Longgupo entre 1,3 et 1,7 Ma, faisant de ce dernier la plus ancienne preuve de présence humaine dans le sud de la Chine
The study of late Pliocene and Early Pleistocene archaeological sites in East Asia can help to solve the question of when hominins first left Africa and how they might have settled in Asia. Some earliest hominin evidences in China were not generally accepted mainly due to chronological uncertainty, since most of them are beyond the classic radioisotopic dating range and lack of volcanic materials for K-Ar and Ar-Ar dating. Combined ESR/U-series dating could solve this problem, as its application on fossil tooth has a potential to date the sites older than 1 Ma, depending however on the accuracy of reconstructing uranium uptake history. An U-diffusion parameter p should be defined for each dental tissue and the obtained US-ESR model age is less uncertain than the conventional EU (early uptake) and LU (linear uptake) ESR model ages. In this work, combined ESR and U-series dating method of fossil tooth has been attempted to date two Early Pleistocene sites of China, Longgupo and Donggutuo. This study shows that this combined method provides the availability of dating the old archaeological sites, but some challenges also bring forward. One of the main problems for both sites is the paleodose determination. Comparison analysis shows that double saturation exponential fitting has systematically less deviation with the experimental dose points than the conventional single saturation exponential fitting. Besides, another difficulty of dating Longgupo site lies on the reconstruction of external gamma dose rate, which takes a great contribution (more than 50%) to the total dose rate. Since the inhomogeneous character of the deposition on Longgupo site, the in situ gamma dose rate plays a key role on the final results, and this lead us to revisit the site in order to make a more precise and detailed measurement. Lastly, the study of Donggutuo site shows the most challenge of dating the ancient open sites: uranium leaching of the tooth sample, which cannot be solved by one diffusion parameter US-ESR model and makes the age calculation impossible with this model. Although the challenges of dating the old fossil samples with combined ESR/U-series methods, this study presents a probability of its application on dating Chinese early Pleistocene sites and the result of this study places the age of Longgupo site between 1. 3 and 1. 7 Ma. With respect to the techniques development of the stone artifacts unearthed from the site, Longgupo is still the earliest evidence of human settlement in southern China

En mesoamerique, vers 1200 av. J. C. , des haches et des ornements en roche verte polie apparaissent avec l'emergence des olmeques. Puis, leurs utilisations fonctionnelles et rituelles se perpetuent jusqu'a la conquete, en 1521 ap. J. C. , cette recherche se propose donc d'en preciser la place dans le contexte culturel mesoamericain. Des chroniques du xvie siecle a ete extraite la vision mesoamericaine des materiaux lithiques verts et constatee que des pendentifs en jaspe sanguin sont utilises bien apres la conquete. Une etude typologique et technique des haches mexicaines conservees au musee de l'homme a ete menee selon la methodologie et les types definis a l'ecole d'anthropologie de mexico. Les resultats ont permis d'affiner les repartitions geochronologiques des varietes d'outils. La caracterisation des representations de haches mesoamericaines emmanchees a permis de definir la monture "a crosse", tandis que les rituels dans lesquels elles figurent evoquent des pratiques sacrificielles. La hache a crosse apparait comme un instrument du sacrifice humain mesoamericain. Une dualite des roches vertes en decoule, la matiere est fertile car verte tandis qu'en forme de hache elle prend la vie. La dimension symbolique de la hache polie a donc ete recherchee depuis les offrandes massives de haches des olmeques, jusqu'aux depots de figurines mezcala du grand teocalli des azteques et une liaison avec les divinites aquatiques a pu etre constatee. Une hache etant un echantillon d'une formation geologique, des analyses petrographiques ont permis d'identifier quelques varietes de roches vertes employees par les peuples precolombiens. Lors d'une campagne, un galet de jadeitite a ete collecte dans un rio du sud-est du guatemala ou cette roche n'avait pas encore ete signalee. Son analyse a revele un nouveau type de jadeitite pour ce pays et pour le continent americain, il est aussi une nouvelle provenance possible du jade-jadeite mesoamericain
In mesoamerica, about 1200 b. C. , axes and ornaments in polished green rock appear with olmecs emergence. Then, theirs functional and ritual uses are perpetuating as far as the spanish conquest, in 1521 a. C. , this research purpose to specify their place in the mesoamerican cultural context. Of the 16e century chronicles has been extract the mesoamerican vision of the greens lithics materials and noticed than blood-green jasper pendants are used a long time after the conquest. Typological and a technical studies of mexicans axes stored away in the musee de l'homme had been carried out in accordance with the methodology and the types defined at the anthropological school of mexico. The results had permit to refine the geochronological distributions of tools varieties. The characterisation of the representations, fixed on mesoamerican axes, permit to define the "scroll-head mounting", while the rituals where they are represent minding sacrificial practices. The scroll-head axe appears like a mesoamerican human sacrificial instrument. A duality of the greens rocks it ensues, the matter is fertile because it's green, while in axe form, it keeps the life. The symbolic dimension of the polished axe had been searched since the massive axes offerings of the olmecs to the deposits of mezcala figurines of the great teocalli of the aztecs and an connection with aquatics divinities had been noticed. An axe is a sample of a geological formation, petrographical analysis had permit to identify some varieties of greens rocks used by precolombians peoples. At the time of an campaign, jadeitite pebble had been collected on a rio of the south-east of guatemala where this kind of rock had never been indicated. Its analysis had revelled a new type of jadeitite for this nation and for the american continent, so this is an new possible origin for the mesoamerican jadeite-jade

Cette thèse traite de l'homme moderne en Asie extrême-orientale, depuis le pléistocène supérieur récent, à partir de 65 000 ans. Nous proposons ici un modèle de peuplement humain de la région à partir de l'étude de fossiles, dont certains sont inédits. En effet, des pièces mises au jour notamment au Cambodge, au Laos et au Viet-Nam au début du siècle et dans les années 30 par des chercheurs français, avaient été oubliées par la communauté scientifique. Certains fossiles d'Asie extrême-orientale, conservés au laboratoire d'anthropologie biologique du museum national d'histoire naturelle à Paris, nous ont amené à en inaugurer l'étude et à lancer un programme de datation 14c. Les résultats de ces datations montrent que des pièces qui avaient été attribuées aux époques modernes par leurs découvreurs appartiennent en fait au pléistocène supérieur et au début de l'holocène. En outre, lorsque les données bibliographiques sont suffisantes, nous avons pu faire l'inventaire de l'industrie lithique associée aux fossiles humains. Pour mener à bien ce travail, nous avons poursuivi deux objectifs. Le premier objectif s'attache à définir la façon dont ce peuplement humain s'est produit, c'est-à-dire qu'il précise s'il a été continu ou non, à partir d'un ou de plusieurs centres regionaux. Pour ce faire, nous prenons pour référence une série de 100 hommes modernes d'Asie extrême-orientale, conservés au laboratoire d'anthropologie biologique du musée de l'homme à Paris, et relevons 118 variables du calvarium. Ensuite, après avoir relevé les mêmes variables sur la série d'hommes fossiles, composée de 86 individus, nous mettons en évidence leurs caractéristiques morphologiques et biométriques par l'analyse multivariée du calvarium de 45 sujets au moyen de la classification hiérarchique ascendante (CHA). Par ailleurs, l'analyse qualitative des fossiles permet de conclure à l'existence, chez certains sujets du site deTtarn Hang au Laos, d'une avulsion des incisives supérieures latérales. Les cinq fossiles concernés attestent que cette pratique, probablement culturelle, que l'on ne retrouve, seulement vers 7 000 ans, que chez certaines populations d'Asie extreme-orientale et d'Océanie, existait déjà il y a au moins 15 000 ans au Laos. Le second objectif de ce travail consiste à analyser les conditions environnementales particulières que l'homme a rencontrées, dans cette region.

L'étude vise d'abord à déterminer les ouvrages principaux qui traitent de la philosophie de la Nature chez Galien, ainsi que ceux qui comportent le plus souvent le mot physis. Sont étudiés dans la première partie les constituants fondamentaux de la Nature physique, de l'élément (le plus petit) aux divers homéomères (parties semblables) puis, dans la seconde, la nature animale et l'organisme entier créé à partir de ses fonctions. Les rapports complexes de l'âme et du corps sont analysés à travers la notion archai͏̈que de physiognomonie. Dans la dernière partie, il ressort qu'on ne peut confondre la physiologia de Galien avec la physiologie moderne, question centrale pour l'épistémologie. A travers l'étude des expérimentations de Galien se dégagent quelques émergences vers la modernité. Enfin, le poids du Stoi͏̈cisme apparaît massif, dans le caractère artiste de la Nature par exemple. La physiologie est-elle distincte de la physique? la question de la réduction possible de l'une à l'autre reste posée
First, the study deals with main writings on the philosophy of Nature in Galen's ones and with these most using the word physis. In first part, the fundamental constituents of physic nature are studied from the element (the most small) to different "homeomeries" (similar parts), then in second part, the animal nature and the complete organism created from these functions. The difficult question of relations between soul and body is treated through the archaic notion of physiognomy. In last part, we conclude that it is not possible to confuse Galen's physiologia with modern physiology, a central question for the epistemology. Through the study of his experimentations, we see distance between Galen and modernity. In conclusion, the strength of Stoi͏̈c philosophy seems to be preponderant, for instance in the notion of artistic Nature. The possibility to reduce physiology to Physics is asked

Vaste plateau de grès découpé d'innombrables vallées sèches au sein du Sahara oriental, le Gilf el-Kebir a servi de zone refuge pendant l'optimum holocène, d'environ 8000 à 4000 avant notre ère. Les données archéologiques permettent de restituer les pratiques quotidiennes et les stratégies de moyen ou long terme des groupes ayant fréquenté la région pendant cet intervalle. L'habitat et la mobilité, la gestion des ressources et approvisionnements et l'organisation des activités sont autant de témoins de la relation de l'homme à son environnement, et de la façon dont il l'exploite pour ses besoins. Au Gilf el-Kebir, l'appropriation de la nature se traduit en termes matériels et idéels. Au VIe millénaire avant notre ère, l'adoption du pastoralisme implique des changements sur le plan de l'économie domestique, de l'organisation sociale et des symboles. Sur les parois des abris du nord-ouest, l'art rupestre traduit en images la façon dont l'homme conceptualise sa place et son rôle au sein de son environnement. Les figurations atypiques de bêtes mi-homme mi-animal participent à notre compréhension des procès de socialisation de la nature
With its foothills carved by numerous dry valleys, the sandstone plateau of the Gilf el-Kebir has been used as a refuge area in the Eastern Sahara during the Holocene optimum, from around 8000 to 4000 Be. Archaeological data allow understanding the daily practices and also the medium- and long-term strategies of the groups who settled in the region. Housing and mobility, management of resources and procurement and organization of the activities are ail witnesses of the relationship of man to his environment, and how he uses it for his needs. In the Gilf el-Kebir, the appropriation of nature is reflected in the material and conceptual fields. During the VIth millennium BC, the adoption of cattle pastoralism involves changes both in domestic economies and in social and symbolic life. In the northwestern shelters, rock art translates into images the conception that the painters and the engravers had of their own place and role among their environment. The atypical representations of half-human half-animal beasts take part in our understanding of the process for socializing nature

Il existe une continuité dans l’« idée » russe de l’Etat qu’une analogie dans la continuité des systèmes ne reflète pas. De la Russie impériale à la Russie soviétique, l’Etat (Gosudarstvo) n’est pas conçu comme une entité abstraite et autonome. A la dimension césariste du pouvoir correspond la non-émergence, et du concept et de la réalité d’un Etat. Jusqu’en 1917, la conception russe du pouvoir est conditionnée par le discours idéologique – religieux. Après 1917, sa principale caractéristique est d’être subordonnée à l’idéologie, en tant qu’expression de la volonté du Parti communiste. L’Etat soviétique s’impose donc comme un Etat « de fait » et non comme un Etat « de droit ». La prédominance du discours idéologique entrave, à la fois, la constitution d’une culture de l’Etat, qui reste une culture du pouvoir, et la formation d’une culture de l’antériorité et de la supériorité du droit sur l’Etat. Après la désintégration de l’Union soviétique, la référence à la démocratie libérale et à l’Etat de droit devient un outil de la création d’une nouvelle légitimité pour l’Etat postcommuniste. L’entrée de la Russie dans la modernité politique nécessite une rupture avec les postulats idéologiques du passé. Or, la déconstruction du socialisme est un processus beaucoup plus complexe que la construction de la démocratie. Bien qu’ayant subi, sur plusieurs siècles, plusieurs types de transitions – de l’absolutisme de droit divin au socialisme, puis au postcommunisme -, l’Etat russe a donc conservé certains caractères constants et typiques qui en font, encore aujourd’hui, un modèle hybride, en tension entre autoritarisme et démocratie
There is a continuity as concerns the « idea » of the state that an analogy with the different systems does not reflect. From imperial to Soviet Russia, the state (Gosudarstvo) is not thought of as an abstract and autonomous entity. Until 1917, the Russian conception of power is conditioned by the religious ideological discourse. After 1917, her main feature is one of submission to ideology, in other words the expression of the will of the Communist Party. The Soviet state stands out by its « de facto » nature, rather than a « de jure » state. The supremacy of the ideological discourse hampers both the constitution of a new state culture, which remains focused on power, and the formation of the precedence and the superiority of law over the state. After the disintegration of the Soviet Union, reference to liberal democracy and the rule of law becomes a tool in creating renewed legitimacy for the postcommunist state. Russia’s entry into political modernity demands a rupture with the ideological postulates of the past. The dismantlement of socialism is a much more complex process than the construction of democracy. Despite having been subjected, over centuries, to many types of transition – absolutism founded on divine right to socialism, then postcommunism -, the Russian state has always preserved certain features (be they constant or specific) that make it, and still today, a hybrid model pulling towards both authoritarianism and democracy

Le tragique et la tragédie ont souvent été considérés, à la suite de la condamnation platonicienne, comme l’expression de l’émotion et de l’irrationnel. Le concept de rationalité tragique vise à approcher le tragique comme une forme de pensée pleinement rationnelle, quoique relevant d’une autre raison que la raison philosophique. Elle englobe des conceptions « littéraires », éthiques, politiques, théologiques voire ontologiques diverses mais relevant d’un même cadre de pensée, moins englobant que la mentalité et moins rigide que la doctrine, auquel se rapportent différents penseurs. L’enquête s’oriente à travers la critique de la tragédie et du tragique par Platon pour tenter de déterminer les caractères essentiels de cette forme de pensée à partir de l’opposition de Platon. Trois principes caractéristiques se dégagent : la Guerre, le Flux, et le Multiple. Dès lors la carte des présocratiques peut être redessinée. Non seulement on identifie une nouvelle tradition, celle de la pensée tragique, dont Héraclite est un représentant majeur, mais dont on trouve des traits aussi chez Empédocle ou Protagoras, mais cette tradition ne se limite pas aux penseurs qu’on classe comme philosophes. En plus des poètes tragiques, on peut y faire figurer un écrivain comme Thucydide. L’étude détaillée de la rationalité tragique dans son œuvre nous permet à la fois d’identifier comme des produits tragiques ses grandes réalisations que constituent sa forme littéraire originale, sa conception de la nature humaine et son réalisme politique, mais aussi de vérifier sur un exemple non tributaire de Platon la pertinence des concepts qui définissent le tragique comme rationalité
Tragic and tragedy has often been regarded, as a result of Plato's condemnation, as being the expression of emotion and irrationality. The concept of tragic rationality aims to approach tragic as a fully rational form of thought, although belonging to another type of reason than the philosophical one. It includes various «literary», ethical, political, theological or even ontological conceptions belonging to the same frame of thought that many thinkers relate to, less encompassing than mentality and less inflexible than doctrine.The inquiry makes its way through Plato's criticism of tragic and tragedy in order to determine this form of thought's essential characteristics, drawing from Plato's opposition. Three characteristic principles emerge : the War, the Flow, the Multiple.From then on, a new presocratic map can be drawn. Not only do we identify a new tradition, that of tragic thought, of which Heraclitus is a major representative and which is featured in Empedocles and Protagoras' works, but we discover that this tradition spreads beyond the group of thinkers classified as philosophers. Besides tragic poets, we can also include a writer like Thucydides. A detailled study of tragic rationality in his work enables us both to identify as tragic products the great achievements that are his original literary form, his conception of human nature and his political realism, and to verify the relevance of the concepts defining tragic as a form of rationality, using an example independant from Plato

Malgré son caractère d’animal exotique et venu d’ailleurs, le singe a fait l’objet d’une attention toute particulière de la part de la culture grecque et gréco-romaine. L’animal, que l’imaginaire contemporain considère comme le plus proche de l’homme en vertu de ses caractères morphotypiques et éthologiques, était au contraire conçu par les Anciens comme l’être vivant le plus aberrant de l’humanité, justement en raison d’une pareille similarité considérée comme échouée. L’imaginaire grec concernant le singe se nourrit de pratiques relationnelles en grande partie différentes de celles qui peuvent concerner l’observateur moderne : en effet, les Grecs ne connaissaient pas de grands singes, et le représentant prototypique des primates non-humains était pour eux le magot. En analysant le portrait-robot que les sources zoologiques et médicales nous délivrent concernant la forme du singe, son éthologie et sa façon de se déplacer, il est possible de comprendre d’autres aspects apparemment plus obscurs faisant partie des représentations culturelles conçues par les Grecs pour cet animal. Le singe s’intègre en particulier dans les mêmes configurations symboliques que d’autres caractères de l’imaginaire grec, avec une spécificité propre lorsqu’il est associé à des figures imparfaitement viriles ou masculines telles que les enfants ou les eunuques, ainsi que les homosexuels efféminés. Son association à de milieux sociaux d’élite très souvent liés à une vie considérée comme débauchée, sa condition marquée par l’imperfection physique ainsi qu’une soumission au maître toujours jugée comme précaire, font en sorte que le singe soit considéré comme le véritable geloion mimēma de l’être humain et de son modèle de perfection, à savoir le mâle adulte de condition libre
Despite being an exotic animal and coming from elsewhere, monkeys have been the subject of special attention from Greek and Greco-Roman culture. The animal that the contemporary imagination considers the closest to man by virtue of its morphotypical and ethological characters was, on the contrary, conceived by the ancients as the most aberrant living being when compared to man precisely because of such a failed similarity. Ancient Greek imaginary about monkeys feeds on relational practices largely different from those that may concern human beings nowadays: ancient Greeks indeed did not know any great apes and the prototypical representative of the non-human primates was the Barbary ape. By analysing the information that zoological and medical sources give us concerning both the anatomy and the ethology of monkeys, it is possible to understand other seemingly more obscure aspects that are part of the cultural representations conceived by the Greeks for this animal.In particular, monkeys enter into the same symbolic configurations as other figures in ancient Greek imagery especially when associated with imperfectly virile or masculine figures such as children or eunuchs as well as effeminate homosexuals. The association with elite social circles very often linked to a life considered debauched and their condition marked by physical imperfection in addition to a submission to the master always considered as precarious, make the monkey be considered a real geloion mimēma, a laughable counterfeit of the human being and of his perfect prototype, namely the adult male of free condition

Cette étude s’attache à l’observation et l’analyse des représentations de la peau humaine dans les textes latins des débuts de la littérature romaine (IIème s. av. J.-C.) à l’apogée de l’Empire romain (IIème s. apr. J.-C.). A la suite d’une recherche lexicale et sémantique approfondie sur le vocabulaire explicite de la peau, le thème de la peau est étudié à travers plusieurs champs disciplinaires permettant d’aborder les évocations implicites de la peau, son vocabulaire, ses images et ses significations. L’étude de la physiologie de la peau, appuyée sur l’héritage grec, permet d’en poser une définition chez les Romains, par sa nature, ses fonctions, ses transformations. Peu représentée à l’état normal et sain, la peau est soumise à de multiples violences et maux. L’analyse de la traumatologie de la peau, à travers les poèmes épiques, et de ses pathologies, évoquées dans le Traité de la médecine de Celse, donnent à voir une peau maltraitée, aux blessures fatales, mais d’une importance capitale dans le diagnostic clinique, permettant de jauger la santé – et surtout la maladie – du corps dans son ensemble. Les soins de la peau, thérapeutiques – pour la guérir, chez Celse –, cosmétiques ou commotiques – pour l’entretenir ou la masquer, chez Pline l’Ancien –, s’imposent à la peau, la malmènent eux aussi bien souvent. À côté de cette peau dégradée, coexiste la peau idéale de la poésie amoureuse, à voir et à toucher, entre esthétique et érotique. Enfin, la peau apparaît comme une interface qui transmet à la société romaine des signes selon des critères géographique, sociaux, biographiques, moraux et psychologiques. Elle signale l’appartenance de l’individu à un groupe et définit son identité dans ce groupe
The aim of this thesis is to observe and analyse representations of human skin in Latin literature from the 2nd century B.C. to the 2nd century A.D. Starting with a detailed lexical and semantic study of the vocabulary pertaining to the skin, the notion of skin is examined in various fields, allowing us to address implicit allusions to skin along with the associated vocabulary, images and meanings. A physiological approach, based on anatomical knowledge inherited from Greek philosophers, brings us to a definition of normal skin in terms of its nature, functions and changes. Rarely represented in its normal, healthy state, skin is subject to assaults and ill health in various ways. Analysing skin trauma in epic poems and skin pathology, which is referred to in Celsus’ De Medicina, reveals a prevailing representation of damaged and even fatally wounded skin, this being of utmost importance in clinical diagnosis, a means of measuring the health - and particularly illness - of the body as a whole. Therapeutics and cosmetics, in Celsus’ texts, aim to heal whereas in Pliny’s Naturalis Historia, the aim is to care for and mask imperfections. These often cause as much harm to the skin as good. This damaged skin coexists with ideal skin, mainly in elegiac poetry, a skin meant to be seen and touched, from an aesthetical and erotic perspective. Finally, human skin in Roman society acts as an interface, indicating to which social group anindividual may belong as much as one’s identity within that group, according to ethnical, social, biographical, moral and psychological criteria

Un objet ancien dont on ne se sert plus aujourd’hui continue cependant de vivre dans notre vie contemporaine. Il se présente à nous avec un autre fonctionnement et souvent avec une autre définition : ce n’est plus l’objet utile ni l’outil pratique qu’il a été. Dans cette thèse, la valeur de l’objet ancien est étudiée dans sa dimension immatérielle et spirituelle. Ainsi nous renouvellerons sa définition en réfléchissant sur son essence et sa forme d’un point du vue contemporain. La première partie de cette thèse présente les concepts de la valeur de l’objet ancien de nos jours sous un angle sociologique. Ensuite, nous proposons une approche du concept de l’objet ancien comme une chose mi-humaine mi-objet. Puisqu’un objet ancien d’une autre époque possède toujours en lui cette vie de l’époque révolue, est-ce que cet objet peut vivre comme s’il était une chose animée ? Dans la seconde partie, nous avons recherché quelles caractéristiques pouvaient donner à l’objet ancien cette sensation de vie humaine ? Peut-être tout d’abord les traces des gens qui se sont accumulées sur lui visiblement et invisiblement ? La notion coréenne de « sonté » nous a permis de traduire et d’exprimer ces traces visibles et invisibles sur l’objet ancien. Dans la dernière partie, l’objet ancien est étudié dans le domaine de l’art contemporain. Les artistes contemporains voient l’objet ancien comme un nouvel objet et lui donne une autre forme et une autre essence qui, bien souvent, est une allégorie de la destinée humaine
An ancient object that is no longer in use today continues however to survive in our contemporary life. It is presented to us with another function and often with another definition: it is no longer the useful object nor the practical tool that it used to be. In this dissertation, the value of the ancient object is studied in its immaterial and spiritual dimensions. We will thus renew its definition by reflecting on its essence and form from a contemporary viewpoint. The first part of the dissertation presents the concepts around the value of the ancient object in our time from a sociological angle. Next, we propose an approach to the concept of the ancient object as half-human and half-object. Since an ancient object from another era always keeps within itself its life in the period gone by, could this object exist as if it were an animated entity? In the second part, we have sought what characteristics could offer the ancient object this sensation of human life. Perhaps, first of all, the traces of people that it has accumulated visibly and invisibly? The Korean notion of “sonté” allows us to translate and express these visible and invisible traces on the ancient object. In the last part, the ancient object is studied in the field of contemporary art. Contemporary artists see the ancient object as a new object and give it another form and another essence which often is an allegory of human destiny

This dissertation offers an archaeologically and art historically grounded inquiry into the actuality, form, and meaning of human sacrifice from the Bronze Age through the Hellenistic period. It opens with a critical, up-to-date review of the corpus of proposed archaeological evidence for human sacrifice in the Minoan, Mycenaean, and Greek civilizations, wherein it is argued that rituals of this kind were rare but nevertheless a historical reality, performed in special or extraordinary circumstances at least until the Late Archaic period. The rarity of human sacrifice in the archaeological record is a direct expression of its exceptional nature; the unmatched potency of sacrificing a human being was necessitated only in the most unusual or extreme situations: to quell the unyielding wrath of the gods or to honor a deceased person who was imagined as possessing superhuman stature. The evidence of individual cases of human sacrifice indicates that the ritual could take a variety of forms, some involving heightened degrees of violence. After arguing for the historicity of human sacrifice, the dissertation shifts to a comprehensive analysis of artistic representations of human sacrifice, with a particular interest in their ritual aspect. These images, it is argued, should be interpreted in several, mutually inclusive ways – not only as metaphors or conceptual foils to sacrificial norms, but also as ritually plausible representations of a phenomenon that seems to have existed at least into the later sixth century BCE. Apart from a small group of Bronze Age seals decorated with motifs possibly associated with human sacrifice, the first secure evidence of human sacrificial representations date to the seventh century BCE and continue through to the end of the Hellenistic period. Like the archaeological cases, the visual sources form a comparatively small corpus. The subject matter is exclusively mythical and almost entirely drawn from myths of Polyxena and Iphigeneia; only rarely do artists explicitly represent the bloody violence of sacrifice. Images of the death blow are almost exclusively produced in the Archaic era – a time during which there is contemporary archaeological evidence for human sacrifices in funereal contexts – and involve only Polyxena. Interestingly, the cessation of material evidence is contemporaneous with a shift in the iconography toward the emotionally pregnant moments leading up to the sacrifice. The roughly 100-year overlap between the archaeological and visual evidence presents the possibility that artists drew upon elements of known instances of human sacrifice, or at the very least the two forms of evidence are indirectly related, in that both are inspired by myth. While human sacrifice does not seem to have persisted into the Classical period and beyond, artists continued, as they had in the Archaic period, to construct ritually plausible images with compositional analogues in other, highly codified iconographies, most notably those of animal sacrifice and the wedding. In this way, even as artists began to explore ever more the conceptual and symbolic dimensions of these sacrificial myths, they continued to invest them with a reality and an immediacy that far outlived the ritual’s practical existence.

TITLE: The Ancient Ideal in the Concept of Miroslav Tyrš AUTHOR: Filip Novotný DEPARTMENT: Department of Physical Education, Faculty of Education, Charles University SUPERVISOR: PhDr. PaedDr. Ladislav Kašpar. Ph.D. ABSTRACT: The aim of the thesis is to describe the ancient ideal, which can be understood as a historical fact, when this ideal originates. Furthermore, this work describes how this ideal is manifested in art and how this ideal can be understood philosophically. The main aim of this work is to describe the ancient ideal in the concept of Miroslav Tyrš, who was inspired by the ancient world and modern philosophical directions. Sokol, who founded it as a physical education unity, was not a goal in itself, but a means of applying this ideal in Bohemia in the 19th century, which helped to shape democratic education in Bohemia, which helped to establish independent Czechoslovakia, when the falcons were numerous legion members. The methods used to elaborate this work are especially literary searches where both primary sources and secondary sources were used. Deduction methods, quantitative method, chronological method, probe method, qualitative method. The conclusion of this diploma thesis is that the falcon was not only a physical education organization, but it was an environment that prompted...

Chan, King Lun Michel.
Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2007.
Includes bibliographical references (leaves 111-121).
Abstracts in English and Chinese.
THESIS ASSESSMENT COMMITTEE --- p.i
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS --- p.ii
摘要 --- p.iv
ABSTRACT --- p.v
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS --- p.xi
Chapter CHAPTER 1 --- INTRODUCTION
Chapter 1.1 --- Aldehyde Dehydrogenase Superfamily
Chapter 1.1.1 --- Classification and Substrate Specificities of Aldehyde Dehydrogenases --- p.1
Chapter 1.1.2 --- Multiple Functions of Aldehyde Dehydrogenases and their Roles in Metabolism --- p.4
Chapter 1.1.3 --- Structural Organization of Aldehyde Dehydrogenases in view of their Catalytic Mechanism --- p.7
Chapter 1.2 --- Antiquitin
Chapter 1.2.1 --- Discovery and Plant Antiquitins --- p.15
Chapter 1.2.2 --- Animal Antiquitins --- p.17
Chapter 1.2.3 --- Human Antiquitin Gene Mutations and Pyridoxine-dependent Seizures --- p.19
Chapter 1.2.4 --- Previous Findings on Seabream Antiquitin --- p.20
Chapter 1.3 --- Aims of Study --- p.22
Chapter CHAPTER 2 --- MATERIALS AND METHODS
Chapter 2.1 --- Materials
Chapter 2.1.1 --- "Subcloning, Expression and Purification of Human Antiquitin" --- p.24
Chapter 2.1.2 --- Characterization of Human Antiquitin --- p.25
Chapter 2.1.3 --- "Crystallization of Human Antiquitin, Diffraction Data Collection and Structure Determination" --- p.26
Chapter 2.1.4 --- Mutational Studies of Human Antiquitin --- p.26
Chapter 2.2 --- Methods
Chapter 2.2.1 --- "Subcloning, Expression and Purification of Human Antiquitin"
Chapter 2.2.1.1 --- Subcloning of the Full-length Human Antiquitin cDNA --- p.27
Chapter 2.2.1.2 --- Bacterial Expression of Recombinant Human Antiquitin --- p.29
Chapter 2.2.1.3 --- Purification of Human Antiquitin --- p.30
Chapter 2.2.2 --- Characterization of Human Antiquitin
Chapter 2.2.2.1 --- Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate Polyacrylamide Gel Electrophoresis --- p.31
Chapter 2.2.2.2 --- Size-exclusion Chromatography - Multi-angle Light Scattering --- p.32
Chapter 2.2.2.3 --- Isoelectric Focusing --- p.33
Chapter 2.2.2.4 --- pH-rate Profile --- p.33
Chapter 2.2.2.5 --- Stability Studies --- p.34
Chapter 2.2.2.6 --- Substrate Specificity Study --- p.35
Chapter 2.2.3 --- "Crystallization of Human Antiquitin, Diffraction Data Collection and Structure Determination"
Chapter 2.2.3.1 --- Crystallization of Human Antiquitin --- p.36
Chapter 2.2.3.2 --- Diffraction Data Collection and Model Building --- p.37
Chapter 2.2.4 --- Mutational Studies of Human Antiquitin
Chapter 2.2.4.1 --- Preparation of Mutant Plasmids --- p.39
Chapter 2.2.4.2 --- "Expression, Purification and Kinetics Studies of Mutants" --- p.39
Chapter CHAPTER 3 --- RESULTS
Chapter 3.1 --- "Subcloning, Expression and Purification of Human Antiquitin" --- p.43
Chapter 3.2 --- Characterization of Human Antiquitin --- p.49
Chapter 3.3 --- "Crystallization of Human Antiquitin, Diffraction Data Collection and Structure Determination"
Chapter 3.3.1 --- "Crystallization, Data Collection and Refinement" --- p.59
Chapter 3.3.2 --- Human Antiquitin Structure --- p.63
Chapter 3.4 --- Mutational Studies of Human Antiquitin --- p.75
Chapter CHAPTER 4 --- DISCUSSION
Chapter 4.1 --- Characterization and Substrate Specificity of Recombinant Human Antiquitin --- p.83
Chapter 4.2 --- Crystallization and Crystal Structure of Human Antiquitin
Chapter 4.2.1 --- Crystallization --- p.86
Chapter 4.2.2 --- Overall structure --- p.86
Chapter 4.2.3 --- Cofactor binding --- p.88
Chapter 4.2.4 --- Substrate Binding and Catalysis --- p.91
Chapter 4.3 --- Mutations in Human Antiquitin Gene and their Relationship with Pyridoxine-dependent Seizures --- p.95
Chapter 4.4 --- Comparison of Antiquitin Gene and Other Aldehyde Dehydrogenases --- p.104
Chapter CHAPTER 5 --- FUTURE PROSPECTS --- p.106
LIST OF REFERENCES --- p.111
APPENDIX --- p.122

Chan, Chi Lung.
Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2011.
Includes bibliographical references (leaves 103-127).
Abstracts in English and Chinese.
Thesis Assessment Committee --- p.i
Declaration --- p.ii
Acknowledgements --- p.iii
摘要 --- p.iv
Abstract --- p.vi
List of Abbreviations --- p.viii
List of Figures --- p.xi
List of Tables --- p.xiii
Table of Content --- p.xiv
Chapter Chapter 1 --- General Introduction
Chapter 1.1 --- Classification of the aldehyde dehydrogenase superfamily --- p.1
Chapter 1.2 --- Structures and catalytic mechanism of ALDH --- p.4
Chapter 1.3 --- Multiple functions of ALDH --- p.8
Chapter 1.4 --- Antiquitin - background and recent discoveries --- p.12
Chapter 1.5 --- Aim of study --- p.19
Chapter Chapter 2 --- Mitochondrial and Cytosolic Localizations of ALDH7A1
Chapter 2.1 --- Introduction --- p.21
Chapter 2.2 --- Materials and Methods --- p.26
Chapter 2.2.1 --- Cell culture --- p.26
Chapter 2.2.2 --- Subcellular fractionation --- p.26
Chapter 2.2.3 --- Western blot analysis --- p.27
Chapter 2.2.4 --- Flow cytometric analysis of mitochondria in WRL68 cells --- p.28
Chapter 2.2.5 --- Transient transfection of various EGFP constructs --- p.29
Chapter 2.2.6 --- Immunofluorescence staining --- p.31
Chapter 2.3 --- Results --- p.33
Chapter 2.3.1 --- Presence of ALDH7A1 in cytosol and mitochondria in WRL68 cells --- p.33
Chapter 2.3.2 --- Mitochondrial-targeting N-terminal sequence in ALDH7A1 --- p.34
Chapter 2.4 --- Discussion --- p.40
Chapter 2.4.1 --- In silico and in vitro subcellular localization studies on ALDH7A1 --- p.40
Chapter 2.4.2 --- Significance of mitochondrial and cytosolic localizations of ALDH7A1 --- p.45
Chapter 2.4.3 --- Comparison of animal ALDH7A and plant ALDH7B enzymes --- p.48
Chapter Chapter 3 --- "ALDH7A1: A Potential Regulator for Cell Growth, Cell Cycle and a Potential Biomarker for Cancer (Stem) Cells"
Chapter 3.1 --- Introduction --- p.51
Chapter 3.2 --- Materials and Methods --- p.55
Chapter 3.2.1 --- Cell synchronization --- p.55
Chapter 3.2.2 --- Semi-quantitative determination of DNA amount in synchronized cells --- p.55
Chapter 3.2.3 --- Total protein extraction --- p.55
Chapter 3.2.4 --- Western blot analysis --- p.57
Chapter 3.2.5 --- Immunofluorescence staining --- p.57
Chapter 3.2.6 --- Expression and purification of ALDH7A1 and its mutant --- p.57
Chapter 3.2.7 --- Kinetic analysis of ALDH7A1 and its mutant --- p.58
Chapter 3.2.8 --- Generation of native ALDH7 A1 and mutant for transfection --- p.58
Chapter 3.2.9 --- Generation of stable cell line transfectants --- p.59
Chapter 3.2.10 --- 2D cell culture and ultra-low attachment cell culture --- p.59
Chapter 3.2.11 --- Collection of total cell lysates --- p.60
Chapter 3.2.12 --- Western blot analysis --- p.60
Chapter 3.2.13 --- Growth analysis --- p.61
Chapter 3.2.14 --- Aldefluor assay --- p.61
Chapter 3.3 --- Results --- p.62
Chapter 3.3.1 --- Expression level of ALDH7A1 at different phases of the cell cycle --- p.62
Chapter 3.3.2 --- Subcellular distribution of ALDH7A1 in synchronized cells --- p.64
Chapter 3.3.3 --- Changes in the expression level of key cell cycle regulators and the growth rate after ALDH7A1 knockdown --- p.68
Chapter 3.3.4 --- Absence of catalytic activity in the purified ALDH7A1 mutant C302S --- p.68
Chapter 3.3.5 --- Over-expression of ALDH7A1 variants in HEK293 cells --- p.73
Chapter 3.3.6 --- Growth rates of cells overexpressing different ALDH7A1 variants --- p.73
Chapter 3.3.7 --- Expression level of ALDH7A1 in various 2D cell types and stem-like cells --- p.76
Chapter 3.3.8 --- Aldefluor assay on cells over-expressing different ALDH7A1 variants --- p.79
Chapter 3.4 --- Discussion --- p.82
Chapter 3.4.1 --- Nuclear localization of ALDH7A1 --- p.82
Chapter 3.4.2 --- Potential role of ALDH7A1 in cell cycle --- p.86
Chapter 3.4.3 --- Non-catalytic role of ALDH in cell growth and development --- p.86
Chapter 3.4.4 --- Relationship between ultra-low attachment culture and stem-like cells --- p.89
Chapter 3.4.5 --- Up-regulation of ALDHs in cancer and CSCs and the evaluation of applicability of Aldefluor assay in CSC isolation --- p.93
Chapter 3.4.6 --- Comparison on ALDH7A1 expression level in primary and stem-like cells --- p.98
Chapter Chapter 4 --- Future Prospects
References --- p.103

Wong, Chun Pong.
Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2009.
Includes bibliographical references (leaves 130-146).
Abstract also in Chinese.
Thesis Assessment Committee --- p.i
Declaration --- p.ii
Acknowledgements --- p.iii
摘要 --- p.iv
Abstract --- p.vi
List of Abbreviations --- p.viii
List of Figures --- p.xii
List of Tables --- p.xiv
Content --- p.xv
Chapter Chapter 1 --- General Introduction --- p.1
Chapter 1.1 --- Classification of aldehyde dehydrogenase --- p.1
Chapter 1.2 --- Structure and catalytic mechanism of aldehyde dehydrogenase --- p.4
Chapter 1.3 --- Multiple functions of aldehyde dehydrogenase --- p.11
Chapter 1.4 --- Background of antiquitin --- p.13
Chapter 1.5 --- Aim of study --- p.24
Chapter Chapter 2 --- Structural Analysis of Human Antiquitin --- p.26
Chapter 2.1 --- Introduction --- p.26
Chapter 2.2 --- Materials and Methods --- p.30
Chapter 2.2.1 --- Subcloning and expression of human antiquitin and its mutants --- p.30
Chapter 2.2.2 --- Purification of human antiquitin and its mutants --- p.31
Chapter 2.2.3 --- Kinetic properties of human antiquitin and its mutants --- p.32
Chapter 2.2.4 --- Inhibitor studies of human antiquitin --- p.33
Chapter 2.2.5 --- X-ray crystallography of human antiquitin ternary complex --- p.34
Chapter 2.3 --- Results --- p.36
Chapter 2.3.1 --- "Subcloning, expression and purification of human antiquitin and its mutants" --- p.36
Chapter 2.3.2 --- Kinetic properties of human antiquitin and its mutants --- p.41
Chapter 2.3.3 --- Inhibitor studies of human antiquitin --- p.44
Chapter 2.3.4 --- X-ray crystallography of human antiquitin ternary complex --- p.47
Chapter 2.4 --- Discussion --- p.56
Chapter 2.4.1 --- Substrate specificity of recombinant human antiquitin --- p.56
Chapter 2.4.2 --- Pyridoxine-dependent seizures and mutations in human antiquitin gene --- p.63
Chapter 2.4.3 --- X-ray crystallography of human antiquitin ternary complex --- p.76
Chapter Chapter 3 --- Functional Analysis of Human Antiquitin --- p.79
Chapter 3.1 --- Introduction --- p.79
Chapter 3.2 --- Materials and Methods --- p.83
Chapter 3.2.1 --- Cell culture --- p.83
Chapter 3.2.2 --- Transfection of HEK293 cells with siRNA --- p.83
Chapter 3.2.3 --- Total protein extraction --- p.84
Chapter 3.2.4 --- Total RNA extraction --- p.85
Chapter 3.2.5 --- Real-time PCR assay --- p.86
Chapter 3.2.6 --- Stress responsiveness of transfected HEK293 cells --- p.87
Chapter 3.2.7 --- Cell growth analysis of transfected HEK293 cells --- p.87
Chapter 3.2.8 --- Cell cycle profile analysis of transfected HEK293 cells --- p.88
Chapter 3.2.9 --- Programmed cell death analysis of transfected HEK293 cells --- p.89
Chapter 3.2.10 --- Confocal immunofluorescence microscopic analysis of transfected HEK293 cells --- p.89
Chapter 3.2.11 --- Subcellular fractionation of transfected HEK293 cells --- p.90
Chapter 3.2.12 --- Western blot analysis of transfected HEK293 cells --- p.90
Chapter 3.3 --- Results --- p.93
Chapter 3.3.1 --- Condition optimization for siRNA transfection in HEK293 cells --- p.93
Chapter 3.3.2 --- Knock down of human antiquitin at protein and mRNA levels in HEK293 cells --- p.93
Chapter 3.3.3 --- Stress responsiveness of transfected HEK293 cells --- p.99
Chapter 3.3.4 --- Cell growth in transfected HEK293 cells --- p.102
Chapter 3.3.5 --- Cell cycle profile analysis of transfected HEK293 cells --- p.107
Chapter 3.3.6 --- Western blot analysis of cell cycle regulatory proteins of transfected HEK293 cells --- p.107
Chapter 3.3.7 --- Programmed cell death analysis of transfected HEK293 cells --- p.111
Chapter 3.3.8 --- Confocal immunofluorescence microscopic analysis of transfected HEK293 cells --- p.113
Chapter 3.3.9 --- Subcellular fractionation of transfected HEK293 cells --- p.116
Chapter 3.4 --- Discussion --- p.118
Chapter 3.4.1 --- Lack of response of human antiquitin towards hyperosmotic stress --- p.118
Chapter 3.4.2 --- Involvement of human antiquitin in cell growth --- p.119
Chapter 3.4.3 --- Subcellular localization of human antiquitin --- p.124
Chapter 3.4.4 --- Study of physiological function of human antiquitin using siRNA technique --- p.125
Chapter Chapter 4 --- Future Prospects --- p.128
References --- p.130

This thesis addresses the controversy of Nazism as a political ideology in an ethical context, with emphasis on the role of man. The descriptive section looks at the origins and history of Nazism, its formation as a political party (NSDAP) and its main attributes. The topics of the prescriptive section are disputations the question of how Nazism stands in the context of various historical periods from antiquity to the peak period of Nazism. This section also deals with the problems of neo-Nazism. Two controversial publications of the major neo-Nazism promoters are subjected to examination and criticism. These publications and their promoters are ?My Awakening? by David Duke from the context of the world, and ?Taboos in the Social Sciences? by Petr Bakalář from the context of the Czech Republic.