Until the late 19th century, the sources of the Hebrew Bible as well as the writings of classical Greco-Roman authors, provided the only information about the history of ancient Mesopotamia, Canaan, and other civilizations of the ancient Near East. It is difficult to determine how much Hebrew ophthalmology depends on the ophthalmology of other nations. It can only be said that the Babylonians and Egyptians had the greatest influence on it. The Jewish ancestor Abraham immigrated from Mesopotamia to Canaan, and Babylonia already had a high culture in the fourth millennium BC, also in relation to medicine in general, and ophthalmology in particular.
The present study intends to highlight the hitherto underused sources concerning the history of medicine. These are archival materials of various kinds, but also artefacts of a funerary nature known as sepulchral monuments. In his research activities aimed at the study, analysis and translation of medieval and early modern Latin texts, the author of this paper has also examined a wide variety of writings containing references to the causes of death of individuals from the ranks of the nobility as well as the common bourgeoisie. The narrative quality of these historical sources has varied. Only extensive archival research will make it possible to draw conclusions about the greater or lesser usefulness of medieval and early post-medieval archival material for the history of medicine, specifically in uncovering the causes of death of individuals in our territory during this period. For the purposes of the present study, we proceeded to a selective choice of those written sources in which the presumption of new discoveries was most probable. From the territorial point of view, we focused on the region of present-day eastern Slovakia due to the preservation of numerous relevant archival and other documentary sources.
Following the recent Covid-19 pandemic, there has been a renewed interest in the study of historical epidemics within the field of historical science. Beyond well-known facts, this renewed research aims to deepen our understanding of the course, spread, and combat of past epidemics, utilizing new archival sources and reassessing older interpretations. The goal of this study is to examine the first cholera epidemic in Hungary, specifically in the area of present-day eastern Slovakia, focusing on Zemplín County, one of the first regions affected by this disease. The study will primarily focus on the presentation and analysis of the measures and anti-cholera procedures implemented by the state, county leadership and other stakeholders. The research will specifically draw from archival materials housed in the Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplín County Archives in Sátoraljaújhely, where documents related to the cholera epidemic of 1831 are preserved in a special collection (1). In addition to archival sources, the paper paper will incorporate works from both older and more recent Slovak and Hungarian historiography on the subject. Among the older works, Daniel Rapant’s three-volume work The Peasant Uprising in Eastern Slovakia while not directly about cholera, is notable, as well as syntheses on the history of medicine and healthcare in Slovakia by Mária Bokesová-Uherová and Ján Junas (2, 3). Among the more recent scholars focused on cholera epidemics, Anton Liška stands out for his work on cholera and its death toll in the Prešov Eparchy (4, 5, 6, 7, 8). Additionally, studies by Peter Kónya (9) and Jana Dziaková (10, 11, 12) will be considered. Beyond merely presenting the anticholera measures, this study will aim to assess their dissemination among the population, the level of compliance, and their overall effectiveness. The performance of the anti-cholera commission within Zemplín County will also be evaluated.
MicroRNAs are short, single-stranded RNA molecules that typically consist of a 22-nucleotide sequence. Despite their small size, these molecules play an essential role in every type of human cell – regulation of gene expression on post-transcriptional level. Without this regulation, physiological functioning of cells, and thus also of complex organisms, would not be possible. Although microRNAs are extremely important, the mechanism of their function was explored and described relatively recently, in 1993, in Caenorhabditis elegans, a nematode approximately 1 millimeter in length. However, it took another seven years for miRNAs to be found and characterized in higher organisms, including humans. This discovery has increased scientific interest that continues nowadays, particularly due to the recognition that modulation of miRNA activity holds great promise as a therapeutic approach.
Germany is quite restrictive regarding the importation and utilization of embryonic stem cells. To control stem cell research in Germany the Federal Government established in 2002 a Central Ethics Commission on Stem Cell Research. Stem cells are interesting for research since they are biological prototypes which can be multiplied in definitely in vitro, and which grow into many different specialized types of cells. One hopes that from embryonic stem cells, one can grow tissue which can replace diseased or destroyed tissue. There are also adult stem cells in human beings. But they do not multiply very easily, and their reprogramming is extremely difficult. Then different opinions regarding the permission of embryonic stem cell research are discussed.
