The Implantation and Transmission of Plague Culture by the Five Plague Gods in Shuilu Murals

The Five Plague Gods(五瘟神) in the Shuilu(水陆) murals from the Ming and Qing dynasties exemplify a distinctive manifestation of plague gods image developed under the pedigree of Taoist gods.As a significant system for expelling disasters in Shuilu,the depiction of the Five Plague Gods prominently merges human beings and livestock.This shape form to a large extent,draws on the image of Nuo(傩),a figure reflecting an imagination of the host of plague pathogens.In terms of the numbers of gods,it aligns with the conceptual framework of Wu Xing(五行 the five elements),a foundational principle in traditional Chinese medicine.The internal cultural connection highlights the means of plague prevention and control in China,as well as the external reflection of plague culture.Through multi-dimensional interpretations with the double proof method,this article dissects the formation,core elements,and cultural characteristics of the beliefs in the Five Plague Gods reflected in the Shuilu murals,and transcends mere visual semantics,offering a deeper understanding of these complex cultural symbols.

A Comparative Study on the Bathing Cultures and the Spread of Plague Between China and the West-Taking the Spread of the Black Death in China and Europe in the 14th Century as an Example

An unprecedented catastrophe shrouded over the Chinese Empire ruled by the Yuan Dynasty and Medieval Europe-the Black Death during the 14th century with rapid spread,widespread impact,serious damage to property,and substantial deaths and injuries.In the aftermath of the Black Death,lifestyle changes were made and more sensible bathing habits evolved.In feudal China,Bathing Culture had variously adapted to each dynasty;while its existence in the West was heavily influenced by religion and other factors.In the post-pandemic era,this paper is dedicated to exploring the possible relevance of Bathing Cultures to the Black Death,and to conducting a comparative study of the plague spread in Yuan and Europe and its impact on ethnic Bathing Cultures,reckoning to present informative information to regular prevention and control of the following pandemics.

Culture of Life and Culture of Death. Theological Reflection on Suicide and Euthanasia on Films

Movies have great power to shape the system of values in contemporary culture. In this paper, we deal with theological reflection of suicide and euthanasia and their presentation as free decisions of individuals shown in the movies Seven Pounds and The Sea Inside. Also, we shall present theological reflection on culture of life and culture of death aimed to find common ground for dialogue between two opposed points of view. In the first, introductory part, we will present two views of human freedom, and we will point out that just a theological speech about freedom includes the category of responsibility. On the other hand, what happens often is neglecting categories of resposibility and absolutisation or marginalization of free will. Then we will, as an introduction to the interpretation of films, present global statistics that justify global concerns when it comes to suicide and euthanasia. Next, we will show in central part the concept of quality of life, and we will interpret it through the two mentioned films. In the last section, We conclude, despite opposition between culture of life and death, to offer category of altruism as a starting point for dialogue between the two cultures.

Protective effect of insulin and glucose at different concentrations on penicillin-induced astrocyte death on the primer astroglial cell line

Astrocytes perform many functions in the brain and spinal cord.Glucose metabolism is important for astroglial cells and astrocytes are the only cells with insulin receptors in the brain.The common antibiotic penicillin is also a chemical agent that causes degenerative effect on neuronal cell.The aim of this study is to show the effect of insulin and glucose at different concentrations on the astrocyte death induced by penicillin on primer astroglial cell line.It is well known that intracranial penicillin treatment causes neuronal cell death and it is used for experimental epilepsy model commonly.Previous studies showed that insulin and glucose might protect neuronal cell in case of proper concentrations.But,the present study is about the effect of insulin and glucose against astrocyte death induced by penicillin.For this purpose,newborn rat brain was extracted and then mechanically dissociated to astroglial cell suspension and finally grown in culture medium.Clutters were maintained for 2 weeks prior to being used in these experiments.Different concentrations of insulin（0,1,3 nM）and glucose（0,3,30 mM）were used in media without penicillin and with 2 500μM penicillin.Penicillin decreased the viability of astroglial cell seriously.The highest cell viability appeared in medium with 3 nM insulin and 3 mM glucose but without penicillin.However,in medium with penicillin,the best cell survival was in medium with 1 nM insulin but without glucose. We concluded that insulin and glucose show protective effects on the damage induced by penicillin to primer astroglial cell line.Interestingly,cell survival depends on concentrations of insulin and glucose strongly.The results of this study will help to explain cerebrovascular pathologies parallel to insulin and glucose conditions of patient after intracranial injuries.

The Tree of Death and Eternal Life

The ＂Tree of Death＂ is a metaphor I use to unlock my Christian assumptions on how the dead attain eternal existence in the afterlife state. The tree＇s unconcealedness, in this life and presumably the next, along with the moral habits an agent develops in this life explain the obstinacy of the dead, that is, how the agent＇s irrevocable decision to side with the God of Abraham, or not, is possible. For that to be the case, the existential relationships that generate personal identity in this life must accompany （individuate） the subject in the next life. In Christian philosophy, the person-making process mirrors the relationships of the Blessed Trinity. While Martin Heidegger is not a Christian philosopher, his view on truth and being＇s unconcealedness provides a useful piece of the argument to continue the Thomistic case for personal immortality. Heidegger is not a catholic philosopher, but the focus he places on being＇s unconcealedness is consonant with the focus Thomas Aquinas puts on the intelligibility of being. While Heidegger＇s discussion of being is rooted in Dasein＇s finitude, the Thomistic interpretation of being situates unconcealedness within the perspective of God＇s creative act. His vision resets the possibility of applying Heidegger＇s fundamental ontology beyond temporality. The paper develops through a discussion of the Tree＇s ＂branches, trunk, and roots＂ to conclude that the Christian perspective transforms Heidegger＇s view of death into ＂the ultimate possibility of possibility.＂

New antioxidant SkQ1 is an effective protector of rat eye retinal pigment epithelium and choroid under conditions of long-term organotypic cultivation

Cells have intrinsic mechanisms for cleaning harmful oxidants represented mainly by reactive oxygen species (ROS). Despite the antioxidant defense, ROS can cause serious damage to the retina that with age leads to various eye diseases and even blindness. Among numerous cell sites of ROS generation, mitochondrial electron transport is of crucial importance. Recently, for the purpose of cleaning ROS in the mitochondrial matrix, powerful mitochondria- targeted antioxidant “SkQ1” has been invented. We studied SkQ1 effects upon tissues of rat posterior eye cup that consisted: retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) ? choroidal coat ? scleral coat. The eye cups were isolated from the eyes of adult albino rats and cultivated in rotary tissue culture system in the presence of 20 nM SkQ1 or without this compound. After 7 days - 1 month in vitro eye cup samples were studied by immunohistochemistry, routine histology, morphometry, and digital image analysis. We have found that under chosen, “in vitro like in vivo” conditions 20 nM SkQ1 effectively reduced cell death in RPE and choroid, protected RPE from disintegration caused by cell phenotypic transformation and withdrawal from the layer, suppressed transmigration of choroidal coat cells. In the ex vivo model we used degenerative processes were more pronounced in the eye cup center where SkQ1 effect was most vivid. All this give us hopes for effectiveness of SkQ1 treatment of retinal central part that is very susceptible to light-induced over-oxidation injury and mostly suffering in many age-related diseases, AMD, in particular.

Anti-Confucianism:The Formation Process and the Ideology Essence of the Cultural Policy of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom

The“anti-Confucianism”constituted the main feature of the cultural policy of the Taiping Rebellion.However,the anti-Confucianism movement of the Taiping Rebellion was mainly in form rather than in content,and mainly in action rather than in thought,which manifested itself in a policy of banning and destroying the physical forms of Confucian memorial tablets,Confucian temples,and Confucian classics.The core elements of Confucianism were all inherited and retained by Hong Xiuquan,who was committed to subverting Confucius’position as the cultural authority of Chinese society,so Confucianism,together with Christian thought and folk religious thought,constituted the main source of the ideology of the Taiping Rebellion.It was the influence of Confucianism and folk religious thought on Hong Xiuquan that gave the idea of worshipping God a localized character and made a new type of religion that combined Chinese and Western elements.The“anti-Confucianism”was mostly based on an irrational political movement,and the Taiping Rebellion never criticized the doctrine of Confucius and Mencius from a theoretical point of view.Thus the political submission of civil society to the Taiping Rebellion hardly rose to the level of political identification.Cultural antipathy,to some extent,led to the eventual defeat of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.

Silencing Huwe1 reduces apoptosis of cortical neurons exposed to oxygen-glucose deprivation and reperfusion

HECT, UBA and WWE domain-containing 1(Huwe1), an E3 ubiquitin ligase involved in the ubiquitin-proteasome system, is widely expressed in brain tissue. Huwe1 is involved in the turnover of numerous substrates, including p53, Mcl-1, Cdc6 and N-myc, thereby playing a critical role in apoptosis and neurogenesis. However, the role of Huwe1 in brain ischemia and reperfusion injury remains unclear. Therefore, in this study, we investigated the role of Huwe1 in an in vitro model of ischemia and reperfusion injury. At 3 days in vitro, primary cortical neurons were transduced with a control or shRNA-Huwe1 lentiviral vector to silence expression of Huwe1. At 7 days in vitro, the cells were exposed to oxygen-glucose deprivation for 3 hours and reperfusion for 24 hours. To examine the role of the c-Jun N-terminal kinase(JNK)/p38 pathway, cortical neurons were pretreated with a JNK inhibitor(SP600125) or a p38 MAPK inhibitor(SB203508) for 30 minutes at 7 days in vitro, followed by ischemia and reperfusion. Neuronal apoptosis was assessed by TUNEL assay. Protein expression levels of JNK and p38 MAPK and of apoptosis-related proteins(p53, Gadd45 a, cleaved caspase-3, Bax and Bcl-2) were measured by western blot assay. Immunofluorescence labeling for cleaved caspase-3 was performed. We observed a significant increase in neuronal apoptosis and Huwe1 expression after ischemia and reperfusion. Treatment with the shRNA-Huwe1 lentiviral vector markedly decreased Huwe1 levels, and significantly decreased the number of TUNEL-positive cells after ischemia and reperfusion. The silencing vector also downregulated the pro-apoptotic proteins Bax and cleaved caspase-3, and upregulated the anti-apoptotic proteins Gadd45 a and Bcl-2. Silencing Huwe1 also significantly reduced p-JNK levels and increased p-p38 levels. Our findings show that downregulating Huwe1 affects the JNK and p38 MAPK signaling pathways as well as the expression of apoptosis-related genes to provide neuroprotection during ischemia and reperfusion. All animal experiments and procedures were approved by the Animal Ethics Committee of Sichuan University, China in January 2018(approval No. 2018013).

Ethanol exposed maturing rat cerebellar granule cells show impaired energy metabolism and increased cell death after oxygen-glucose deprivation

Alcohol, a widely abused drug, has deleterious effects on the immature nervous system. This study investigates the effect of chronic in vitro ethanol exposure on the metabolism of immature rat cerebellar granular cells(CGCs) and on their response to oxygen-glucose deprivation(OGD). Primary CGC cultures were exposed to ethanol(100 mM in culture medium) or to control ethanol-free medium starting day one in vitro(DIV1). At DIV8, the expression of ATP synthase gene ATP5 g3 was quantified using real-time PCR, then cultures were exposed to 3 hours of OGD or normoxic conditions. Subsequently, cellular metabolism was assessed by a resazurin assay and by ATP level measurement. ATP5 g3 expression was reduced by 12-fold(P = 0.03) and resazurin metabolism and ATP level were decreased to 74.4 ± 4.6% and 55.5 ± 6.9%, respectively after chronic ethanol treatment compared to control values(P < 0.01). Additionally, after OGD exposure of ethanol-treated cultures, resazurin metabolism and ATP level were decreased to 12.7 ± 1.0% and 9.0 ± 2.0% from control values(P < 0.01). These results suggest that chronic ethanol exposure reduces the cellular ATP level, possibly through a gene expression down-regulation mechanism, and increases the vulnerability to oxygen-glucose deprivation. Thus, interventions which improve metabolic function and sustain ATP-levels could attenuate ethanol-induced neuronal dysfunction and should be addressed in future studies.

Mortality and motivations: Clinicians’ integrity engaging death within complex cultural context

This broad ranging discussion examines the clinical encounter and deconstructs psychological and cultural context and implications, finally honoring the comprehensive awareness that the clinician requires for best practice in encountering mortality. Clinicians engage client disease and dying presentions, and ultimate mortality. Communicating mortality openly or subliminally is not always conscious. Mortality awareness can produce stress and untoward behaviors. Psychological mortality avoidance, citing Kierke-gaard’s existential paradox, and the death (in both senses) of Joseph Campbell’s cultural hero illumine socio-cultural elements including the elusive “good death”, sequestration of death from society, and the concept of managing death in volume. Cultural diversity awareness and the concept of transcendence clarify outlier and hybrid cultural client presentations demanding maximal clinician flexibility. Mortality Salience Theory predicts contracted world view when confronted with mortality, demanding sensitivity to a variety of responses. A hospice approach may not be best for some, despite a lack of new alternative to that paradigm. Managing mortality awareness and dying stresses the clinician by the weight and loneliness of perhaps unpopular decisions, by responsibility to community in managing death, and by the take-home exposure of the clinician’s family to the concept of death and mortality. Aptitude for managing death depends on clinician self awareness and a good match with practice venue. Clinician integrity and consciousness of motives and responses allows engagement or deferral as necessary without threat to identity.

Teriflunomide provides protective properties after oxygen-glucose-deprivation in hippocampal and cerebellar slice cultures

One of the major challenges in emergency medicine is out-of-hospital cardiac arrest(OHCA).Every year,about 53–62/100000 people worldwide suffer an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest with serious consequences,whereas persistent brain injury is a major cause of morbidity and mortality of those surviving a cardiac arrest.Today,only few and insufficient strategies are known to limit neurological damage of ischemia and reperfusion injury.The aim of the present study was to investigate whether teriflunomide,an approved drug for treatment of relapsing-remitting-multiple-sclerosis,exerts a protective effect on brain cells in an in vitro model of ischemia.Therefore,organotypic slice cultures from rat hippocampus and cerebellum were exposed to oxygen-glucose-deprivation and subsequently treated with teriflunomide.The administration of teriflunomide in the reperfusion time on both hippocampal and cerebellar slice cultures significantly decreased the amount of detectable propidium iodide signal compared with an untreated culture,indicating that more cells survive after oxygen-glucosedeprivation.However,hippocampal slice cultures showed a higher vulnerability to ischemic conditions and a more sensitive response to teriflunomide compared with cerebellar slice cultures.Our study suggests that teriflunomide,applied as a post-treatment after an oxygenglucose-deprivation,has a protective effect on hippocampal and cerebellar cells in organotypic slice cultures of rats.All procedures were conducted under established standards of the German federal state of North Rhine Westphalia,in accordance with the European Communities Council Directive 2010/63/EU on the protection of animals used for scientific purposes.

Tolerance of Ambiguity in Culture Acquisition ——Based on Differences in Cultural Perception

This paper probes into a psychological construct named Tolerance of Ambiguity （TOA） to find out how well Chinese college students psychologically tolerate cultural differences between China and Britain. Term papers written by 71 students expressing their opinions on BBC＇s behavior （rehearsing announcement of the queen＇s death while she is alive） were used as data to identify them either as tolerant learners of culture or intolerant learners of culture according to their psychological state concerning perception of death and attitude to cultural differences. Opinions gathered from the data show great differences between two cultures in terms of the concept of death and also great differences between two types of learners in terms of their degree of tolerance. This paper is a qualitative analysis of the data about the students＇ cultural opinions and psychological tolerance. The analysis of the data sheds light on the existence of TOA ＆ ITOA （Intolerance of Ambiguity） in the process of culture acquisition and shows that a certain degree of TOA is needed for better adaptation to an unfamiliar culture in case the students go abroad for further study in the future. It is concluded that fostering higher degree of TOA should be taken into consideration not only by language teachers but also by teachers of culture courses because TOA is crucial for acculturation in this era of globalization. A few strategies are suggested at the end of the paper for teachers to raise intercultural awareness and boost tolerance of differences among students who take culture courses.

The Religious Elements of Emily Dickinson's Poetry

Emily Dickinson,one of America's great poets and a precursor of the Imagist movement in American literature,who was born on December 10,1830 and died unmarried in 1886 in Amherst,lived her life in complete shadow,abnormally shy and even not leaved her house.Confining herself exclusively to poetry.In her life, she was nobody (only several poems got published), but after her death she gained the recognition of the world and so became somebody.Emily Dickinson's poetry had been controversially discussed because of the unique style.As three aspects which are related to religion affected her poetic personality,there are profound characteristics of religious culture in her poem.she finally establishes her own unique religious outlook.

晋南后稷文化建构研究

晋南后稷文化遗存丰富,在历史延续中通过口头叙事、地方风物、庙宇、庙会与地方社会产生深远的联系,后稷因此成为兼具农神、祖先神双重神格的形象。从历史发展看,官方与民间社会对后稷形象的建构都偏重后稷的“自然属性”,即农业神的符号特征。后稷文化的建构,是对民众形成的社会知识、身份认同和集体记忆的反映,同时也揭示了我国农耕文化最深刻最真实以及最独特的部分。深入探讨晋南后稷文化的建构,对于实现乡村文化振兴、构筑中华民族共有精神家园和铸牢中华民族共同体意识具有重要作用。

唐宋时期五台山文殊道场中的龙神信仰——兼论唐宋中印文化交流

唐宋时期,作为文殊道场的五台山,龙神信仰十分兴盛。山中有大量有关龙的灵迹,龙的形象较为丰满,职能也较为强大。五台山文殊菩萨与龙神的关系既表现为镇压与被镇压之对抗性,又表现为代表与被代表之可调和性。二者之间的关系集中反映了唐宋时期印度文化与中国文化之间的交融与互动。异质文化间的双向交流,最终形成独具特色的五台山区域文化。

基于中国传统文化的IP形象设计与应用研究——以花神文化为例

IP是新媒体时代一种原创价值影响力的体现,文化IP是文化内涵的新型表现形式,基于中国传统文化的IP形象设计是将传统文化与现代审美相结合,创造具有中国文化特色及内涵的IP形象。本文以中国传统花神文化为对象,以文化指向性、艺术表现性、形象延展性为出发点,探索传统文化IP形象的设计方法,完成原创十二花神IP系列作品,归纳出受众群体定位、拟定形象选择、颜色要素提取、传统装饰应用等IP形象设计思路,进而打造出多元化、多维度的IP形象应用场景,助力花神文化的活态传播,并为我国传统文化的保护和传承形式提供参考。

论托妮·莫里森小说中的死亡书写

莫里森作品中对待死亡的态度反映了其对黑人群体精神上和生活上需求的关注,显示了作者的人文主义关怀和生死观。结合作者的成长经历和社会环境,尝试就莫里森的几部代表性小说中频繁出现的死亡类型和意象进行分析,探究黑人如何完成对个人价值和生命意义的探索,从而更清楚地解悟莫里森如何借死亡的书写来再现黑人不堪回首的悲惨历史,重构黑人民族记忆,明晓莫里森主张多元文化融合的思想以及赋予死亡的意义和情感指向,以期为研究与莫里森有相似政治际遇和生活经历的其他美国少数族裔小说家的作品提供一个新的视角。

从《圣经》中的God到中国的“上帝”和“神”──兼论跨文化语境中的形象变异

考察《圣经》中的 God与中国的“上帝”和“神”各自所负载的文化内涵后发现 ,God在宗教形象和文化内涵上都不等同于中国的上帝或神 ;God进入中国文化语境后产生了形象变异 :他不再是原始意义上的 God,而是西方的

安宁疗护视域下中华传统文化特色优逝概念分析

聚焦安宁疗护领域,采用Rodgers演化概念分析法对中华文化背景下优逝相关文献进行分析,阐述优逝概念的发展史和应用、定义与特征、影响因素及其带来的影响、测量指标和工具,并进行进一步讨论。优逝是指在个人足够长寿的前提下,个体无主观痛苦体验、无牵挂、平静地走向死亡,同时在死亡过程中得到了家人尤其是子女和孙辈的照料和陪伴,实现道德的圆满和超越。中华传统文化背景下优逝的特征包括非直接表达的身心痛苦被“读懂”和妥善处理、基于德性而非自主性的临终尊严建构、对孝道和家庭情感性连结的重视、进行后事安排并实现代际传承、注重离世时刻生命的完整性实现,具有鲜明的中华传统文化特色,未来需进一步剖析优逝概念的内涵和外延,助力本土化优逝理论和实践体系的发展。

汉藏文化的交融与认同:河湟“财宝神”

历史上的“河湟民族走廊”是多民族文化的集聚地,各民族在河湟地区互相往来、涵融混杂、骨肉相连、唇齿相依,形成了星罗棋布的多元格局,正是在这样一个独特的地域空间和文化土壤中孕育出了瑰丽多姿、丰富多彩的财宝神说唱艺术。河湟财宝神传说以历史人物苏武和昭君为载体,将真实的历史和浪漫的传说结合在一起,传达了精英知识分子和普通民众的不同情感诉求,并交织了历史人物和国家话语、道德秩序、民族情感等诸多要素。其文化渊源颇为复杂,它不仅生动地展现了游牧民族独特的生活面貌和审美特点,而且蕴藏着许多游牧民族远古生活的历史之谜。尽管河湟财宝神和藏族财神宝是在两种不同的文化背景下独立产生的,但财宝神在形成过程中借鉴和吸纳了藏族财神的名称,并受藏族五色财神以及佛教说唱形式的影响,使得它们在信仰层面上具有共同性,另外在财富的追求方面也非常一致。从这一实践层面而言,财宝神是汉藏两种文化杂糅的复合体,是多民族文化交汇融合的最佳例证,对我们进一步理解民族之间的互动交流以及文化认同具有重要意义。