• Title/Summary/Keyword: plague

Search Result 77, Processing Time 0.027 seconds

Studying the Transmission of Epidemics via the Maritime Silk Road in the Novel Nights of Plague

  • Nan-A LEE
    • Acta Via Serica
    • /
    • v.8 no.2
    • /
    • pp.79-94
    • /
    • 2023
  • The purpose of this study is to examine the descriptions of the transmission of plague along the Silk Road in Orhan Pamuk's 2022 novel Nights of Plague. Pamuk won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2006, the first prize for Turkish literature. Pamuk's vast knowledge of epidemiological history, which has long fascinated him, comes to life in this novel as he describes the characters' battles against the plague in the East and West and how the plague was brought to the islands and spread along the Maritime Silk Road. One of the most important trade routes in human history, the Silk Road was not only a link between East and West trade and cultures but also a route for the transmission of bubonic plague during the medieval period onwards. It was this epidemic that contributed to the decline of the Silk Road. In the novel, a plague originating in China strikes the Ottoman coastal cities of Smyrna and Mingheria on its way to Europe via India. The epidemic is contained in Smyrna but the death toll spirals out of control when the plague reaches the island of Mingheria by sea. The spatial setting of the novel is an island, which means that it communicates with the outside world by sea. The only way the plague could have spread to an isolated island was by ship. Rats from different ports and ships would have traveled to other parts of the world or even countries to spread the plague. In Nights of Plague, the fact that the plague reached Mingheria via the maritime Silk Road is also proven by the route of the ships and various narratives. The novel confirms what many scholars have argued, that the Silk Road brought various goods from the East to the Roman Empire, along with deadly diseases, and that the sea routes were an important way for the plague to travel and spread.

A Study on the Type of Kwa-Dae in the Ere of the Three Kingdoms - Mainly classifying the type of the belt plague - (삼국시대 과대의 양식에 대한 연구 -과의 형식분류를 중심으로-)

  • 김은주
    • Journal of the Korean Home Economics Association
    • /
    • v.36 no.6
    • /
    • pp.41-56
    • /
    • 1998
  • The Yo-Dae(belt) was made of cloths and leather orginally. Then, it was decorated with metal decoration to become more developed luxury one. The Kwa-Dae of the Three Kingdom period is called as final shape among those ancient mode. Dae-Gu(The origin of belt buckle) was the metallic decoration of the leather belt that the northern nomadic tribe used to wear it. It was considered that the Dae-Gu was more decorated and changed to Kwa-Dae with Yo-Pae. The first stage Dae-Gu didn't have the hook, but a short hook only could move the belt itself was created, and then a movable short hook(China-Jin period Kwa-Dae, etc) to be inside of belt was showed, after that an axis was necessary when it became to long one, It was completed as a belt buckle. The stick shape hook was main stream in China an dthe other northern countries. Meanwhile, Korea has mostly "T" shape hook, and it shows that we developed our own unique style. Classifying the type of the belt plague, there are five types due to the scarved shapes on the Kwa-Dae and the changes. Mainly based on the excavated tomb articles of the three kingdoms and referred to Chinese and Japanese ones. It showed that the belt plague was lightly influenced by the times and area, but was slowly changed and developed to different types through those each ages generally.

  • PDF

A review on the Pathogens and Diseases Associated with Biological weapons (생물무기로 사용된 병원균과 질병에 대한 고찰)

  • Choi Chul-soon
    • Journal of the korean veterinary medical association
    • /
    • v.38 no.9
    • /
    • pp.781-800
    • /
    • 2002
  • Recently, biological weapons (BWs) prepared with pathogenic microorganisms, toxins and biological vectors have been used maliciously for biological warfare, bioterrorism and/or agroterrorism by hostile countries and terrorists. In this review, historical background of disease and malicious use of BWs pathogenicity of microorganisms, advanced methodology involved in laboratory diagnosis, and prevention and control of anthrax (Bacillus anthracis), plague (Yersinia pseudotuberculosis subs. pestis), glanders (Burkholderia mallei), and smallpox (Variola virus) which have been abused for biological warfare or bioterrorism were discussed. In addition, the pathogenicity of microorganisms and the methodology needed to diagnose and control 6 diseases identified by WHO/CDC, ie., smallpox, inhalation anthrax, pneumonic plague, botulism, tularemia, and hemorrhagic fevers that would wreak havoc if terrorists successfully disseminated the germs by air were described.

  • PDF

Inhibition of T-cell-Dependent Antibody Production by Quercetin in Mice

  • Kim, Hyun-Pyo
    • Biomolecules & Therapeutics
    • /
    • v.17 no.1
    • /
    • pp.43-46
    • /
    • 2009
  • The immunosuppressive properties of flavonoids were examined for the first time by testing their effects on T-cell-mediated antibody production, using a classical plague-forming cell (PFC) assay in mice. Among the tested flavonoids including naringenin, chrysin, flavonol, galangin, quercetin, morin, myricetin and biochanin A, only quercetin, orally administered at 25 mg/kg, significantly inhibited the number of IgMproducing PFCs induced by sheep red blood cells (SRBC). Interestingly, biochanin A (isoflavone) increased the number of PFCs, suggesting an immunostimulatory effect. The other flavonoids tested did not inhibit or enhance PFC response significantly. Quercetin was also found to show thymus atrophy dose-dependently at 5-500 mg/kg. All these results indicate that quercetin inhibits in vivo antibody production probably by inhibiting T-cell function.

Effects of Job's Tear(Yul-Moo) Extracts on Mouse Immune Cell Activation (율무 추출물이 마우스 면역세포 활성에 미치는 영향)

  • Ryu, Hye-Suk;Kim, Hyeon-Suk
    • Journal of the Korean Dietetic Association
    • /
    • v.11 no.1
    • /
    • pp.44-50
    • /
    • 2005
  • Natural products are increasingly appreciated as a lead for drug discovery and development. A number of investigators have studied various activities of natural products and have found that they have not only nutritional effects but also beneficial properties to cure various diseases and to maintain good health. Job's Tear(Yul-Moo) is a grass crop that have long been used in traditional medicine and a nourishing food. Job's Tear has been reported to exhibit anti-inflammatory, stomachic, antiallergic activity, and antispastic effects and has been used in China for the treatment of warts, rheumatism, and neuralgia although its mechanism remains unclear. Previous results in our laboratory demonstrated that the ethanol extract and water extract of Job's Tear exerted an immune regulatory function on mice cells in vitro. The present study was performed to investigate the ex vivo effect of Job's Tear on immune function. Seven to eight weeks old mices(Balb/c) were fed ad libitum on chow diet and water extract of Job's Tear were orally administrated every other day for two or four weeks at two different concentrations (50 and 500mg/kg B.W.). Proliferation of mice spenocytes and antibody production to sheep red blood cells(SRBC) using hemolytic plague forming cell assay were used to indicate the immune activity. Splenocytes proliferation of Job's Tear with mitogen stimulation such as Con A and LPS was enhanced at 50 mg/kg B.W. concentrations compared to those of control group. In case of antibody production to sheep red blood cells, the number of antibody- secreting cells was increased by administration of 50mg/kg B.W. concentration in mice immunized as a T-dependent antigen. From the present study, Job's Tear water extracts may be suggested to stimulate the mice immune response by enhancing the splenocytes proliferation and the number of plague forming cells.

  • PDF

Face to Face with the Past: Memorizing the Plague of Athens through the Exhibition (과거와의 대면 : ${\ll}$미르티스${\gg}$ 전시를 통해 기억된 아테네 대 역병)

  • Cho, Eun-Jung
    • The Journal of Art Theory & Practice
    • /
    • no.14
    • /
    • pp.7-32
    • /
    • 2012
  • The exhibition was started in 2010 in the New Acropolis Museum of Athens and embarked a journey since 2011 as a travelling exhibition inside Greece and abroad. The main purpose of the exhibition was to draw attention of the general public to the value of the 'rescue excavation' and of cultural heritage of Greece, by presenting the reconstruction bust of a girl whose skull was found in Kerameikos cemetery of ancient Athens. The new Kerameikos excavation was initiated by the construction of Metropolitan Railway lines in the center of Athens between 1992 to 1998. It revealed a pit of a mass burial where about 150 people were inhumed in a very hasty way without proper funeral rites or offerings. These bodies are identified as the victims of the infamous plague of Athens in the first years of the Peloponnesian War(430-426 BC). The epidemic disease killed almost one third of the city population including Pericles, and brought extreme fear and panic to the Athens society. The traditional funerary rites were totally disrupted, and the social decorum and the morality among the citizens became enfeebled. The plague and the civil war were the decisive factors to end the Golden Age of Democratic Athens. However, the exhibition organizers did not focus on the tragic aspect of this disaster and its casualties. Their main concern was to simplify the scholarly works of archaeological excavation and microchemistry analysis so that the exhibition viewers will easily understand and empathize the living value of the scholarly works of ancient Greek civilization. The centripetal element of the exhibition was the vivid face of an 11 years old ancient girl 'Myrtis', which was carefully reconstructed based on both the scientific data and artistic imagination. Also the set up of the exhibition was structured in order to stimuli cognitive and emotional experience of the visitors who witnessed the rebirth of a vibrant human being from an ancient debris. The museologists' continuous efforts to promote projects of contemporary artists, publications, and school programs related to the exhibition indicate that the ulterior motive of this exhibition is the cultural education of the present and future generation through the intimate experiences of ancient Greek life. Also this is the reason why the various museums that held the travelling exhibition try to make the presentation as a gesture of memorial service for an anonymous Athenian girl who deceased circa 2400 years ago. The pragmatic efforts of Greek scholars and museologists through exhibition show us a way to find a solution to the continuous threat of cultural resources by massive construction projects and land development, and to overcome public indifference to the history and cultural heritage.

  • PDF