Aquesta tesi estudia el relat, el culte i la iconografia de sant Antoni Abat a la Catalunya dels segles XIV i XV, tot i que aquestes limitacions geogràfico-temporals es traspassen quan la investigació ho requereix. Si bé en altres indrets aquest tema ha estat estudiat, no era així a Catalunya, de manera que la tesi pretén omplir aquest buit historiogràfic, tot i que amb un enfocament diferent als treballs d’abast més ampli o que se centren a Itàlia i a una part de França, posant l’èmfasi en les imatges del sant i en la seva iconografia però també al relat i al culte. Tot i tractar-se d’una tesi realitzada des de la història de l’art, aquesta interdisciplinarietat era inevitable: l’estudi de la iconografia –el propòsit inicial del treball- requeria també l’anàlisi del llegendari, al qual la historiografia havia prestat menys atenció de la que es mereix. Això ha permès poder arribar a conclusions de caire més general, però també a altres centrades en aspectes més concrets, siguin referents als textos, a la devoció o a la iconografia. Després d’un capítol dedicat a l’eremitisme, a la seva presència en la literatura medieval i al culte als sants eremites, que ens serveix per contextualitzar sant Antoni i el seu culte, la tesi aborda els tres aspectes citats: el relat, el culte i la iconografia del sant. Seguidament s’inclou el catàleg de les obres amb escenes narratives i les conclusions. L’estudi del relat antonià arrenca amb els textos escrits poc després del traspàs de l’eremita i la seva difusió a Catalunya. Això ha implicat analitzar alguns compendis hagiogràfics, entre els quals els diferents exemplars de la Llegenda àuria, que m’ha dut a replantejar algunes hipòtesis i afirmacions que havia fet la historiografia. Seguidament, es tracten els textos antonians escrits durant els segles medievals, que van enriquint el llegendari, així com la seva difusió en àmbit català. A més a més, es mencionen algunes notícies hagiogràfiques, incloses en textos de diversa índole. Amb tot plegat, queda palesa la vivacitat del relat. Quant al culte al sant, s’aborda el transcendent paper que va jugar l’orde dels antonians i la seva expansió en la potenciació del culte. Igualment, es tracta com n’ha estat de determinant per aquest culte la protecció que el sant ofereix als animals, que ve donada tant pel llegendari, com per la transcendència del porc per l’orde i per la situació de la festivitat del sant en ple cicle hivernal. Seguidament es posa en entredit una especialització que la historiografia havia donat al sant, la de protector de vaixells en alta mar, i s’analitza l’amplitud de la devoció i com aquesta es tradueix visualment. El següent capítol analitza la iconografia de sant Antoni així com les diferents escenes narratives que trobem a la plàstica catalana, des de les més recurrents fins a aquelles més minoritàries. A diferència del què passa en altres indrets, les dificultats que trobem a Catalunya per estudiar-la són destacables. D’entrada, perquè s’han perdut molts cicles dedicats al sant, entre els quals alguns d’especialment remarcables, i perquè desconeixem molta de la informació relativa a les peces. Aquesta, en cas que es conegui, es trobarà a les fitxes del catàleg raonat, on també s’inclouen imatges i la transcripció dels documents més destacats. Finalment, les conclusions recullen les aportacions del treball, constatant, d’una banda, com s’han resolt alguns aspectes i, de l’altra, com altres queden encara oberts, sense deixar d’apuntar possibles futures vies de recerca. / This dissertation studies Saint Anthony’s text, cult and iconography in Catalonia in the XIVth and XVth, although these geographical and chronological limitations are broken when necessary. This subject has been studied more in general or giving attention to other countries, but not to Catalonia. This is what this dissertation pretends to do, but with a different approach from what other studies did, focusing on images and their iconography but on text and devotion as well. Even if this is an Art History dissertation, the interdisciplanary approach was needed: studying the iconography implied analyzing the texts as well, in which historiography had paid less attention than the one it deserves. This allowed us to reach to general conclusions but also to other related to more concrete aspects, wheter about text, cult or iconography. After the first chapter dedicated to the heremitism, its presence in medieval literatura and the cult to hermitic saints –which contextualizes the saint and his cult- this dissertation studies saint’s text, devotion and iconography. Then, a catalogue compiles all the information related to the pieces and, at the end, we find the conclusions. The study of the texts starts with the ones written soon after saint’s death and their spreading in Catalonia. This lead me to analize some hagiographical compendiums, among them different Catalan Golden Legend manuscripts, which made me think about some hypothesis and statements historiography had defended. Then, we focus on the other text written during Middle Ages, which made saint Anthony’s hagiography richer, and on how they were well-known in Catalonia. Besides, some hagiographical news gathered in other codices are included. With all, the vivacy of the saint’s hagiography is clear. As far as the cult to the saint is concerned, the role that the order of Saint Anthony played in promoting it is studied here. Furthermore, the importance of the saint’s protection on the animals for the devotion is analized as well. This protection is justified by the text, the importance of the pig for the order and for the situation of the saint’s festivity during the Winter season. Then, I wonder about the saint’s speciallity of saving ships about to shipwreck. Finally, the wideness of the cult and its visual traduction is shown. The following chapter is dedicated to study saint Anthony’s iconography as well as the episodes represented in Catalan art, from those that are more famous to the ones that only appear few times. In Catalonia, studying these images is so difficult because of the lost of many relevant information, which does not happen in other countries. Besides, some of the greatest cycles are lost, too. Anyway, the known information about the different pieces is compilled in the catalogue, which also includes some images and copied documents, in case they are important. At the end, the conclusions gather the contributions of this dissertation, showing, on the one hand, how some aspects have been solved and, on the other hand, how others are still open. Some possible ways of future research have been indicated as well.

La present tesi doctoral és un estudi sobre l’escultura monumental del segle XIII de la Seu Vella de Lleida (l’antiga catedral romànica que presideix aquesta ciutat), que constitueix un dels conjunts escultòrics més rics del panorama artístic del segle XIII català. La principal finalitat de la investigació és contextualitzar i comprendre les raons de la seva presència en relació amb el moment en què fou creat. L’aportació que es realitza rau en proposar una mirada inèdita, global i completa sobre aquest conjunt d’imatges fonamentada en materials de diferent caràcter: documentació, bibliografia, dades arqueològiques i les pròpies escultures com a fonts materials. Davant la insistència en determinats temes bíblics es planteja, com a punt de partida, la hipòtesi que una de les línies que va marcar el disseny general del conjunt de temes fos un ideari eclesiàstic de lluita contra de les heretgies, principalment l’Islam i el catarisme, que es va traduir en una notable presència de representacions relacionades amb l’Encarnació de Crist, que era negada per aquestes doctrines. / La presente tesis doctoral es un estudio sobre la escultura monumental del siglo XIII de la Seu Vella de Lleida (la antigua catedral románica que preside esta ciudad), que constituye uno de los conjuntos escultóricos más ricos del panorama artístico del siglo XIII catalán. La principal finalidad de la investigación es contextualizar y comprender las razones de su presencia en relación con el momento en que fue creado. La aportación que se realiza radica en proponer una mirada inédita, global y completa sobre este conjunto de imágenes fundamentada en materiales de diferente carácter: documentación, bibliografía, datos arqueológicos y las propias esculturas como fuentes materiales. Ante la insistencia en determinados temas bíblicos se plantea, como punto de partida, la hipótesis que una de las líneas que marcó el diseño general del conjunto de temas fue un ideario eclesiástico de lucha contra de las herejías, principalmente el Islam y el catarismo, que se tradujo en una notable presencia de representaciones relacionadas con la Encarnación de Cristo, que era negada por estas doctrinas. / This doctoral thesis is a study of the 13th Century monumental sculpture in the Seu Vella in Lleida (the old romanesque cathedral that presides over this town), which constitutes one of the richest sculptural bodies in the 13th Century Catalan artistic panorama. The main goal of the investigation is to contextualise and understand the reasons behind its presence in relation to the moment in which it was created. The contribution being made lies in offering an unprecedented, global vision of this body of images, based on various types of materials: documents, bibliography, archaeological data and the sculptures themselves as source material. Faced with the persistence of biblical themes, the starting point chosen will be the hypothesis that one of the approaches that influenced the general design themes was an ecclesiastic ideology of the fight against heresy, mainly Islam and Catharism, which resulted in the presence of representations of the incarnation of Christ, which was denied by those doctrines.

Immune reconstitution following T-cell depletion consists of expansion of circulating T-cells or de novo synthesis of T-cells from the thymus. The IL-7/IL-7 receptor signalling pathway is critical for the maturation and differentiation of thymocytes before they leave the thymus as mature T-cells. Viral infections including HIV have been shown to decrease IL-7Ralpha (CD127) expression on circulating CD4+ and CD8+ T-cells. However little is known about the effects of HIV infection on CD127 expression and activity in thymocytes despite existing evidence of HIV infection of the thymus. Thymic function is altered in HIV infection leading to a dysregulation of the thymic epithelial network and reduced thymic output which may contribute, in part, to impaired immune reconstitution in progressive HIV disease. In vitro studies demonstrate that HIV infection interrupts thymopoiesis resulting in a developmental block in thymopoiesis similar to that seen in models of IL-7/IL-7R deficiencies suggesting a role for altered IL-7 signalling in HIV associated thymic dysfunction. Therefore we hypothesize that thymic dysfunction which occurs in HIV infection is due to reduced IL-7R and/or altered IL-7 signalling in thymocytes resulting in impaired de novo T-cell synthesis. In order to address this hypothesis an in vitro system for the functional study of human thymocytes has been optimized. The research conducted as part of this thesis assessed if in vitro HIV infection or if cytokines that are upregulated in the course of HIV infection altered CD127 expression on maturing thymocytes. It also evaluated if in vitro HIV infection disrupts thymocyte function at different stages of maturation and whether this disruption in function is due to impaired IL-7/IL-7R signalling. The host factors IL-7, TNF- and IL-4, which are upregulated in HIV infection, are found to downregulate CD127 expression on thymocytes. IL-4 pre-treatment of thymocytes reduced the ability of IL-7 to induce STAT-5 phosphorylation. Furthermore following in vitro HIV infection of thymocytes, CD127 expression of single positive CD8 thymocytes was decreased. In vitro HIV infection altered IL-7 activity as demonstrated by lower levels of Bcl-2 and phospho-STAT-5 expression in thymocytes following IL-7 stimulation. These accumulated results suggests that HIV may play a role in impaired thymic function by altering IL-7 responsiveness. Understanding the mechanisms of thymic dysfunction in HIV infection may provide some insight into therapies leading to immune reconstitution through increased thymic output.

Ensayos sobre la experiencia de ver arte en museos: un análisis desde la sociología cultural se estructura entorno a dos trabajos de investigación sobre las dimensiones emocional y social de la experiencia de visitantes de museos de arte. Las investigaciones se centran en el estudio de experiencias individuales antes, durante y después de la visita al museo para poder obtener una visión holística de la experiencia. El estudio aplica el uso de métodos cualitativos con el objeto de interpretar las narrativas de las experiencias reportadas por nuestros informantes y poder ofrecer una explicación de la experiencia museística vivida por los visitantes de museos de arte. El primer artículo — titulado The unforgettable aesthetic experience: the relationship between the originality of artworks and local culture — se enmarca en el área de la sociología cultural y examina el rol de la cultura en la dimensión estética de la experiencia museística. Concretamente, describimos la experiencia de ver obras de arte en los museos y ofrecemos una explicación de la que hemos denominado una “experiencia estética inolvidable”, la cuál se caracteriza por su elevada intensidad emocional y duración en el tiempo. Reconocer e interpretar el valor social atribuido a las obras originales (y no a las copias) dependerá de las habilidades del visitante. Esta teoría tiene implicaciones teóricas y metodológicas para la investigación. En el primer caso, porque la idea de que el componente emocional de la experiencia inolvidable está unido al valor de culto asociado con la obra original da soporte a la proposición de que el capital cultural es contextual y/o local. En el segundo, porque estudiar experiencias de gran intensidad emocional implica el análisis de experiencias pasadas y no sólo las ocurridas en el interior del museo, por lo que las investigaciones deben basarse en diseños que permitan producir teorías fundamentadas en los datos y no sólo en estudios de carácter etnográfico. El segundo artículo — titulado Art museum visitors: interaction strategies for sharing experiences — explora la dimensión social de la experiencia museística desde el marco teórico del interaccionismo simbólico. Más específicamente, estudiamos la dimensión social de las experiencias con museos de arte desde una perspectiva temporal holística que cubre los períodos referentes al antes, durante y después de la visita. Los resultados sugieren que la dimensión social se distribuye a lo largo de los tres períodos de la experiencia museística, con independencia de si el individuo asiste solo o acompañado. Teóricamente esto implica que ir solo o acompañado al museo debe tratarse como una estrategia temporal de visita y no como una categoría universal. La estrategia del visitante dependerá de la facilidad o dificultad para encontrar un acompañante adecuado. Metodológicamente significa que estudiar lo únicamente ocurrido en el museo puede llevar a interpretaciones sesgadas y, por tanto, es necesario estudiar la experiencia de forma holística, atendiendo también al antes y después de la visita. / Essays on the Art Museum Experience: a Cultural Sociology Perspective is structured around two research works regarding the emotional and social dimensions of the art museum visitor’s experience. The research focus is the study of individual experiences before, during and after the museum visit so as to ultimately provide a holistic view of the experience. The study applies the use of qualitative methods in order to interpret the narratives of the experiences reported by our informants and offer an explanation of the museum experience lived by art museums visitors. The first article — titled The unforgettable aesthetic experience: the relationship between the originality of artworks and local culture — is framed in the cultural sociology field and examines the role of culture in the aesthetic dimension of the art museum experience. More specifically, we describe the experience of viewing artworks in museums, explaining, in particular, what we term the “unforgettable aesthetic experience”, an experience characterized by its high emotional intensity and duration in time. It will depend on the visitor’s ability to recognize and interpret the social value attributed to the original works (and not copies). This theory has theoretical and methodological implications for research. In the first case, because the idea that the emotional component of the unforgettable experience is linked to the cult value associated with the original work supports the proposition that cultural capital is contextual and/or local. In the second, because studying intense emotional experiences involves analyzing past experiences and not just those occurring inside the museum, so research should be based on designs that can produce theories grounded on narratives of past-­‐lived experiences; ethnographic designs are not enough. The second article — titled Art museum visitors: interaction strategies for sharing experiences — explores the social dimension of the museum experience from the theoretical framework of symbolic interactionism. More specifically, we study the social dimension of art museum experiences from a holistic temporal perspective that covers the periods before, during and after the visit. The results suggest that the social dimension is distributed over the three periods of the museum experience, regardless of whether the individual attends alone or accompanied. Theoretically this means that visiting accompanied or unaccompanied should be treated as a temporal visiting strategy, not as a universal category. The visitor’s strategy depends on whether it is easy or difficult to find a suitable companion. Methodologically it implies that just studying what happens in the museum can lead to biased interpretations and, therefore, it is necessary to study the experience holistically, also considering the before and after the visit experience.

La conformación de los pueblos y ciudades estarían entrelazados entre varios sistemas de existencia permanentes; imaginarios y tangibles coinciden en un solo escenario que conjuga múltiples vidas.Niklas Luhmann menciona que la sociedad en sí no estaría formada por los individuos, sino por los vínculos de comunicación que de ellos emergen, estos lazos serían canales con abundante información y forjarían el entretejido social, de un individuos a otro. Así los sistemas de objetos serían el constante reflejo emergente de estos vínculos comunicativos e informativos, dando carácter a la organización de formas que rodean a un individuo y reafirmando la información que los genero. Las personas estaríamos permanente condicionados a moldear un mundo colectivo inherente a la identidad y la conformación de la misma. El configurar está colectividad estaría ligada inmutablemente a la decisión de rodear situaciones por medio de objetos determinantes del discurso identitario asignado a la misma. Asimismo la vida transcurre a través de los objetos que nos rodean y precipitan están situaciones, generando y reafirmando comunicación, identidad e información.Las ciudades se convertirían así en los grandes contenedores de situaciones enlazadas entre objetos, identidades e individuos, reafirmando y construyendo intangibles de comunicación e identidad. Los objetos que forman lo que conocemos como una ciudad o un entorno estarían referidos a estos elementos no físicos antes que a los medios matericos, reafirmando discursos imaginarios antes que esquemas propios de una función o la propiedad material.Así en esta investigación planteamos el supuesto de descubrir la condición de información y comunicación, inclusive en los objetos de arte y diseño que han determinado a través de los años a la ciudad de Monterrey, México, determinando el estudio del particular caso de hibridación que se daría entre los naturales de la región geográfica y sus objetos, a la par de la llegada de familias españolas de diversos orígenes. El desconocimiento de los imaginarios que entrechocan dentro de la mezcla suscitada de culturas nos lleva a plantearnos los términos de incertidumbre y silencio. También sería la metáfora prescrita por la diferencia de plataformas de idioma, desconocimiento de los otros, tanto culturalmente, como en su proceder permanente para autoconstruir un entornos significativo y de permanencia ante determinada geografía. / The conformation of the towns and cities would be intertwined between various systems of permanent existence, imaginary and tangible agree on one stage that combines multiple lives.Niklas Luhmann mentions that society itself would not be made by individuals, but by the communication links of them emerge, these bonds would be information-rich channels and forge the social fabric of an individual to another. So would object systems the constant reflection of these links emerging communicative and informative, giving character to the organization of forms which surround an individual and reaffirming that the gender information.People would permanently shape a world conditioned to inherent collective identity and shaping it. The set is community would immutably linked to the decision to surround situations by determining the identity discourse objects assigned to it. Life goes also through the objects around us are rushing situations, and reaffirming generating communication, identity and information.The cities would thus become large containers of situations linked between objects, identities and individuals, reaffirming and building communication and identity intangibles. The objects that make up what is known as a city or an environment would be related to these physical elements rather than materia media, reaffirming imaginary speeches before a characteristically function or material property.So in this investigation raised the event to discover the condition of information and communication, including objects of art and design that have determined over the years to the city of Monterrey, Mexico, private study determining the hybridization event is give between natural geography and its objects, on par with the arrival of Spanish families from diverse backgrounds.Ignorance of the imaginary clashing raised within the mixture of cultures leads us to consider the terms of uncertainty and silence. Metaphor also be prescribed by the difference in language platforms, ignorance of the other, both culturally and in its permanent proceed to self-construct one significant environments and permanence to certain geography.

Universiẗat, Diss., 2005--Würzburg.

Immune reconstitution following T-cell depletion consists of expansion of circulating T-cells or de novo synthesis of T-cells from the thymus. The IL-7/IL-7 receptor signalling pathway is critical for the maturation and differentiation of thymocytes before they leave the thymus as mature T-cells. Viral infections including HIV have been shown to decrease IL-7Ralpha (CD127) expression on circulating CD4+ and CD8+ T-cells. However little is known about the effects of HIV infection on CD127 expression and activity in thymocytes despite existing evidence of HIV infection of the thymus. Thymic function is altered in HIV infection leading to a dysregulation of the thymic epithelial network and reduced thymic output which may contribute, in part, to impaired immune reconstitution in progressive HIV disease. In vitro studies demonstrate that HIV infection interrupts thymopoiesis resulting in a developmental block in thymopoiesis similar to that seen in models of IL-7/IL-7R deficiencies suggesting a role for altered IL-7 signalling in HIV associated thymic dysfunction. Therefore we hypothesize that thymic dysfunction which occurs in HIV infection is due to reduced IL-7R and/or altered IL-7 signalling in thymocytes resulting in impaired de novo T-cell synthesis. In order to address this hypothesis an in vitro system for the functional study of human thymocytes has been optimized. The research conducted as part of this thesis assessed if in vitro HIV infection or if cytokines that are upregulated in the course of HIV infection altered CD127 expression on maturing thymocytes. It also evaluated if in vitro HIV infection disrupts thymocyte function at different stages of maturation and whether this disruption in function is due to impaired IL-7/IL-7R signalling. The host factors IL-7, TNF- and IL-4, which are upregulated in HIV infection, are found to downregulate CD127 expression on thymocytes. IL-4 pre-treatment of thymocytes reduced the ability of IL-7 to induce STAT-5 phosphorylation. Furthermore following in vitro HIV infection of thymocytes, CD127 expression of single positive CD8 thymocytes was decreased. In vitro HIV infection altered IL-7 activity as demonstrated by lower levels of Bcl-2 and phospho-STAT-5 expression in thymocytes following IL-7 stimulation. These accumulated results suggests that HIV may play a role in impaired thymic function by altering IL-7 responsiveness. Understanding the mechanisms of thymic dysfunction in HIV infection may provide some insight into therapies leading to immune reconstitution through increased thymic output.

<p> The addition reaction between bicyclo[2.2.1]hept-2-en-7-one and several organolithium reagents was investigated. Saturated alkyllithium reagents, like most Grignard reagents, were shown to add preferentially to the syn-face of the ketone, while unsaturated alkyllithium reagents add preferentially to the anti-face. These results have been rationalized in terms of bimolecular attack by the former reagents and unimolecular attack by the latter reagents.</p> <p> The 7-t-butylbicyclo[2.2.1]hept-2-en-7-cation was shown to rearrange in mildly acidic media to a cation which lost a proton to yield syn-7-methyl-7-(2'-propenyl)bicyclo[2.2.1] hept-2-ene. The formation of this product can be explained by a Wagner-Meerwein migration which proceeds with retention of configuration about the C-7 cation centre.</p> <p> A series of 7-R-bicyclo[2.2.1]hept-2-en-7-radicals were allowed to abstract hydrogen from tri-n-butylstannane. When R = CH3, i-C3H7, n-C4H9, neopentyl, no stereochemical preference for syn- or anti- abstraction was observed. When R = t-C4H9, a large preference was shown for abstraction to occur on the anti-face, while when R = C6H5, syn-abstraction predominated. These observations, in the light of observations of abstraction by the bicyclo[2.2.1]hept-2-en-7-radical, are consistent with homoallylic participation of the double bond at the radical centre of the latter species. </p> / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

The production of 7-tetradecene was examined. Properties for this compound were estimated using group contribution methods and compared to experimental data. Process simulation was used as a tool to identify competitive processing strategies. For reactive distillation, three different models were compared to determine the model complexity needed to describe the process: Model A, with the assumption of physical and chemical equilibrium; Model B, with kinetics described by a second order reaction and physical equilibrium; and Model C, a non-equilibrium stage model that accounts for mass transfer. A conceptual design was obtained with Model B and was checked with Model C, which described the process more accurately but was more difficult to converge. Since, Model A was easier to converge, it was used to predict process conversions at different pressures. Predictions favor working at 1 bar, due to the lower heat duty and the minimum stages required.

This thesis describes the simulation of the IBM SYSTEM/7. The research leading to this thesis involved the development of a PL/I computer program that runs on an IBM 360/50 computer and simulates the IBM SYSTEM/7. Various methods of simulation are examined and guidelines for computer simulation of another computer are established. The SYSTEM/7 simulator (SIM/7) is the heart of this thesis. SIM/7 simulates the IBM SYSTEM/7 entirely with software as opposed to an emulator which involves the combined use of hardware and software to perform the simulation process. This thesis contains a general introduction to computer simulation, reason for simulation, a user's guide for SIM/7 and a definition of the SYSTEM/7 processor using the Vienna Definition Language.