Considérations sur une technique du Rasāyana āyurvédique

Summary Rejuvenation techniques, inspired by a common classical tradition, are described in Caraka (Cikits I, 1–4) and in Suruta (Cikits XXVII–XXX), followed up by the Nvantaka (Bower Ms., sl.188–200) and by the Astngahrdayasamhit (Uttara XXXIX). Valuable mediaeval tk comment on the details of these techniques and indeed interesting modern examples of a treatment closely following the ancient medical texts are known.[Contrary to the cure taking place in the open air and in the sun (vttapika), the practice of rejuvenation characterized by the ku is applied indoors in premises called kut or gra, built according to definite rules (site, architecture, etc.). The patient enters at a time astrologically auspicious, after performing certain rites and preparing his mind for a treatment which is as perilous as it is laborious.The rites of the operation and the unusual type of abode, difficult to interpret, permit, however, an examination of the textual data in a different light from that of the scholiasts themselves, who remain very guarded, and even obscure, on important points of detail. Here one must presume an initiation ceremony whose method was used for the legendary sages as well as patients of today. The technique which is called retreat in a hut implies the idea of regressus ad uterum. Rejuvenation which constitutes, from the biological point of view, a regeneration of the body (kyakalpa) must be considered on the symbolical plane as a new birth: the patient is assimilated to the embryo, and to the uterus correspond both the hut described in the classical yurvedic treatises and the dark enclosed premises recommended by the modern kavirj.

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Texte intégral dont fut tirée la communication présentée au séminaire Médecine et pharmacopée en Asie, organisé dans le cadre du XXIX^e Congrès international des orientalistes, qui a eu lieu à Paris, du 16 au 22 juillet 1973. Voir le texte abrégé dans XXIX ^e Congrès international des orientalistes. Résumés des communications [IV]: Section 11, Colloques, Séminaires, [Nogent s/Marne 1973 ], pp. 46–47.     

Evidence of contact between New and Old World: paleoparasitological and food remains study in the Tagus river population of Sarilhos Grandes (Montijo,Portugal)

The period of European maritime expansion that started in the fifteenth century had a great impact on trading, on human migrations and consequently in the dispersion of infectious diseases. Portugal was at the core of this expansion; however, studies about parasitic infections, especially helminths, are lacking. This study aims to help reduce this gap presenting the results of microscopic analysis of soil sediments collected from the São Jorge churchyard of Sarilhos Grandes (Montijo). Consecrated in the fourteenth century AD, it remained as a burial ground until the nineteenth century. Soil samples collected from the pelvic girdle of five adult individuals and samples taken as control were analysed under the microscope after current conventional methodological procedures were undertaken. Eggs from Ascaris lumbricoides were identified. Also eggs of trichostrongyle type species were identified in two individuals and may represent the first report in archaeological European samples. Food remains include potato and rice starches, muscle fibres, bivalves, pollen grains and fungi spores. The stratigraphy interpretation together with potato findings put the oldest skeletons to a chronology around the sixteenth century AD. These results are consistent with historical sources that documented the prominence of Tagus river nearby villages in maritime expansion.     

Efficiency and Cost-Benefit Analysis of Seismic Strengthening Techniques for Old Residential Buildings in Lisbon

This paper presents a study on the techno-economic efficiency of seismic strengthening techniques for old residential buildings, with application to construction typologies in Lisbon (stone masonry and “Placa” buildings). A comprehensive review on strengthening techniques and implications for the seismic behavior is made. Different strengthening schemes are implicitly simulated within equivalent frame models of the representative buildings. Then, pushover analysis is applied in order to compare the seismic performance of the buildings, before and after strengthening. A cost-benefit analysis of the strengthening solutions is finally performed, comparing the economic benefit gained by reducing the seismic damage, against the intervention cost.     

Of peasants and settlers: ideals of Portugueseness,imperial nationalism and European settlement in Africa,c.1930–c.1945

This article examines policies and ideas of European settlement in Africa through the lens of imperial rhetoric and nationalist imaginations in Portugal during the first decades of Salazar’s dictatorship. Even though European settlement in Africa was under discussion since Brazil’s independence, the debate was invigorated in the 1930s. This article will place the renewed interest within the wider context of transnational migration, world economic crisis and inter-European competition for colonial dominance before the Second World War. Although European settlement was perceived as necessary both in terms of domestic social regulation and international competition at the time, state-sponsored settlements in Portuguese Africa were not a reality until the worldwide process of decolonization had started. On the contrary, not only did Portuguese political elites not invest in settlement schemes, but they actually adopted measures to curb migration to the colonies up until 1945, contradicting their imperialist rhetoric at home. The author argues that the contradiction between rhetoric and practice needs to be analysed in light of the growing desire to intensify control over space and people in European settlements in Africa. Barriers to block undesirable migrants from the metropole were only one part of the process of forcing an idealized vision of Portugal and Portugueseness into reality in both the colonies and the metropole. This article concludes that policies and ideas of European Settlement cannot be dissociated from the anti-urban rhetoric and anti-modernizing agenda of Estado Novo.     

The Use of a Large-Scale Seismic Vulnerability Assessment Approach for Masonry Façade Walls as an Effective Tool for Evaluating,Managing and Mitigating Seismic Risk in Historical Centers

ABSTRACT

The vulnerability assessment of the building stock in a given territorial area, such as a city or an entire country, is a key prerequisite for evaluating risk, not only because of the potential physical consequences resulting from the occurrence of an event, but also because it is one of the few aspects in which engineering research can intervene. In fact, the rigorous vulnerability assessment of existing buildings followed by the implementation of appropriate retrofitting solutions can help to substantially reduce the levels of physical damage and economic impact of future events. Particularly regarding the seismic vulnerability assessment of historical centers, the amount of knowledge that has been accumulated over the past decades, together with the broad damage data obtained from post-earthquake damage surveys, provides a singular opportunity to develop and calibrate innovative large-scale seismic vulnerability assessment approaches, which can be used to outline and support risk mitigation and management strategies. This article addresses this issue by discussing the use of a large-scale seismic vulnerability assessment methodology for masonry façade walls as a tool for evaluating the potential benefit resulting from the application of different seismic retrofitting strategies, both considering their contribution to reduce post-event urban losses and accessibility.