Orations which has never been the subject of systematic investigation. This paper provides a starting point by focusing exclusively on medical imagery, one of the most pervasive and instrumental types of imagery in Maximus’ work that has gone entirely unnoticed in the literature to date. This paper shows that Maximus uses medicine , the physician , the body (its physiology and workings) and notions of health and disease with considerable diversity and creativity, in ways that make his examples stand out in relation to earlier (Platonic) or contemporary applications of the medical parallel. It argues that the use of the medical imagery in the pedagogical context in which Maximus’ Orations were performed facilitated not just clarity but also concept formation and the shaping of a moral outlook as well as the familiarisation with the proper literary references and verbal and conceptual topoi for admission into the group of the educated elite. Another main thesis is that medical imagery valorises Maximus’ philosophical status and his claims to Imperial-period acculturation, thus functioning as a trademark for the rhetorical philosophy he wished to promote.Imagery is an overarching feature of Maximus of Tyre’s  Orations  are an important yet little-studied source for the cultural ambience of late second-century Rome.Orations offer a fascinating window into the dynamics of philosophical rhetoric as a pedagogical practice in this age. They also cast light on Maximus’ role as a philosophising orator and especially on his moral-didactic approach, given that the professed aim of his Orations is to ‘rouse young men’s souls and guide their ambitions’,The forty-one lectures that make up Maximus of Tyre’s Halbphilosoph)stricto sensu medical writers or medical experts. Thus, it tackles the wider role of ancient medicine beyond the more usual territories explored by the majority of modern scholars. Medicine in the Roman Imperial period (roughly the first three centuries AD) was not just a technical field, but also a vibrant area of study and intellectual engagement, which attracted the attention not just of medical authors and practising physicians but also of other educated elite men, such as sophists and philosophers. This study stresses precisely this less-explored area in the dynamics of ancient medicine as an intellectual field. What is extremely interesting in Maximus’ case is that medicine seems to have interested him a lot as an educational tool, a vehicle for his self-promotion and an innovative means of advertising his public role as a professional orator. This is an aspect of ancient medicine that deserves further exploration, attesting, as it does, to the social role of medicine in Graeco-Roman antiquity.A powerful tool that Maximus deploys to that end is imagery in the broadest of senses: namely, not just the more familiar figures of speech, such as metaphors or similes, but also looser mechanisms of comparison, such as allegories, prosopopoeiae (personifications) and even fables.Orations, almost in a formulaic fashion, that his use of imagery specifically serves the purpose of clarification and illumination,Before embarking on the main part of the analysis, it seems relevant to mention that Maximus stresses many times throughout the dei, ‘need’] in almost all cases), and hence an essential factor for his performative and communicative success when addressing young upper-class listeners who sought to be acculturated as much as entertained by his rhetorical skill.eikon) is always connected either with the effectiveness of Maximus’ educative discourse or with the specific cognitive abilities that it is expected to foster in them, notably that of imagination  and comparison .paideia . In that sense, imagery may be seen as an authority-conferring move on Maximus’ part, especially considering that his notion of the function of the εἰκών as argued above is a modification of the way it is used in his favourite philosopher Plato,Taken together, these examples point to the overarching features of Maximus’ image-making in general. First, they show that the employment of imagery is a necessary precondition for driving home any given point Maximus is making in his argument (note the use of the verb δεῖ [nosemata tes psyches), and hence the symbolic representation of philosophy as psychic therapy  targeted at the extirpation of false beliefs and the control of violent emotions through the mediation of philosophical arguments and training.logos) is the only steady aspect in human life:Set over life, however, is Reason (ὁ λόγος), which constantly adapts itself to the circumstances of the moment, like a skilled doctor whose duty is to regulate the indigence and satiety of a body that is not stable, but surges back and forth, in the turmoil of evacuation and repletion . This is precisely what the rational teaching of philosophers can do for human life, adapting its tone to suit the emotions of the moment, so as both to offer consolation in sad times and to enhance the celebrations in times of joy .The point Maximus wishes to get across here is that philosophy shares with medicine two positive elements: a) its adaptability to individual circumstances, picking up on the preceding mention of καιρός nosos) as per the conventional analogy but instead stresses the lack of equilibrium in an unstable body (σώματι οὐχ ἑστῶτι)symmetria), or internal economy, which he considers the ultimate goal of philosophy.oikonomia (οἰκονομία) rather than of therapeia (θεραπεία), so as to advertise the more reassuring aspects of philosophy, that is a provision for maintaining internal balance at all times and not simply restoring it when things go wrong.A ubiquitous theme in the ethical writings of the Hellenistic and Roman periods is the theorisation of moral passions as diseases of the soul , when it comes to the philosophical component of the analogy at the end of the quoted section, he gives a more balanced presentation of the conditions liable to affect his pupils in real life by referring to both sadness and happiness. This is no concession, however, because the typical analogy would have dwelt to a greater extent (if not exclusively) on the former (see the examples in note 35). So it is clear that Maximus strives to mitigate the negativity of the stereotypical therapeutic imagery. This is attuned to the kind of philosophy that is on offer here: this is no ‘hardcore’, that is doctrinal or scholastic, philosophy of the sort pursued by Plutarch, Numenius (mid 2nd century AD) or Alcinous (2nd century AD), but a ‘soft’,enkyklios paideia) and wider cultural background.Oration 27.3, which provides a definition of physical health as the state in which the blendings of the body’s constituents are harmonised to produce the proportions conducive to health (τὸ δὲ σῶμα ἁρμονίαις καὶ κράσεσιν εἰς ὑγιείας μέτρον).eukrasia), a state of good mixture predicated on balancing the four elementary qualities of hot, cold, dry and wet.poiotetai), which are indeed never mentioned as such in the Orations (of which more below), even though the author seems aware of them.Oration 27.3, too, the use of the medical analogy is straightforward and positive through an emphasis on the bodily and psychic symmetry that Maximus’ philosophy can achieve for his audience.The popularising character of Maximus’ philosophyTimaeus 81e–82a)Should we call it ‘learning’ (μάθησιν), or should we adopt Plato’s terminology and call it ‘recollection’ (ἀνάμνησιν)? Or should we use both names, ‘learning’ and ‘recollection’, of the one phenomenon? Whatever the answer, the phenomenon itself resembles what can happen to the eye (τὸ δέ ἐστιν τοιοῦτον οἷον τὸ περὶ τὸν ὀφθαλμὸν πάθος). The eye never ceases to possess the faculty of sight, but from time to time some mischance allows a mist to cover and embrace the organ and so block off its contact with the outside world (ἤδη δέ που ὑπὸ συμφορᾶς ἐπιχυθεῖσα ἀχλὺς καὶ ἀμφιέσασα τὸ ὄργανον διετείχισεν αὐτοῦ τὴν πρὸς τὰ ὁρώμενα ὁμιλίαν). When medical science comes to the rescue, its task is not to implant sight in the eye, but rather to remove the blockage so as to uncover it and restore its outward passage . You must understand that the soul too has a kind of sight, the natural function of which is to discern and understand reality. The misfortune of physical embodiment covers it over with a thick mist (ὑποκεχύσθαι αὐτῇ πολλὴν ἀχλύν), which confounds its powers of vision, removes its precise discernment, and quenches its native brightness. Reason, coming to the soul like a doctor, does not bring and implant understanding (λόγον ὥσπερ ἰατρὸν οὐ προστιθέναι αὐτῇ φέροντα ἐπιστήμην), like something the soul did not already possess; instead, it reawakens the understanding it does possess, but which is dim and constrained and torpid.That Maximus had taken his inspiration from Plato’s Republic 518d for the imagery relating to the eye could scarcely have been missed by his audience, who were well versed in the Platonic tradition. Plato’s point is merely that there is an art (philosophy) which effectively reawakens the soul so as to enable it to ‘see’ , but it does not produce sight in the eye as if the capacity for vision was not inherent in it already. Maximus’ reworking of the eye imagery is both clearer and more developed: a) it overtly introduces medicine (absent from Plato) as a parallel system to philosophy, b) it elaborates on the blocking of vision through ‘mist’ , eliciting an imaginative involvement on the part of the audience, as this would have been an uncomfortable eye condition that they would have experienced either in themselves or vicariouslyRepublic 518d, as seen above, with another medically related imagery, that of the art of midwifery derived from Theaetetus 149a–151d (cf. Phaedrus 276b–277a) which is instrumental in showing that ‘reason plays midwife to the pregnant soul’ (Oration 10.4),Another issue meriting attention in this connection is that, in talking about elements in the body, Maximus seems to be drawing specifically on Plato ; nor are potters or leatherworkers, or the practitioners of still more lowly pursuits than these, answerable to any other judge of their activities than their own craft. But Socrates, whom not even Apollo–he who knows the numbers of the sands and can divine the measures of the sea–could convict of ignorance, has not ceased to this very day to be the object of accusation and investigation.The superior wisdom and expertise of the physician as well as that of the steersman and of other professionals  are enough to shield them from the criticism of laymen and ensure them general approbation. So why is it not counterintuitive when Socrates, whose proficiency was not some manual skill, but something more elevated involving the symmetry of life (ἀλλὰ τὸν αὑτοῦ βίον συμμέτρως), is not appreciated? This is the question that Maximus problematises for his audience and which he accentuates through the additional emphasis on Socrates’ virtues, notably his simple lifestyle (εὐτελείᾳ), perseverance (καρτερίᾳ) and self-control (σωφροσύνῃ), encouraging his listeners to be inspired by Socrates’ moral grandeur.Indeed, Maximus is very keen on employing medical imagery when he wants to reinforce Socrates’ (circa 470–399 BC) philosophical authority and thereby capitalise on the principles from Socratic/Platonic philosophy that he expects his auditors to assimilate. For example, in Oration 8.3), and the use of medical analogies for didactic purposes becomes even more intriguing. The following case study shows that, in order to highlight Socrates’ powers of persuasion, Maximus includes examples from other authorities who have, in fact, been eclipsed by Socrates’ persuasive talents:What doctor ever persuaded his feverish patients that going without food and drink was a good thing?  Who ever persuaded a hedonist that his aims were worthless? Who ever persuaded the money-grubber that his object is not a good? To be sure, Socrates would have had no trouble at all in persuading the Athenians that the pursuit of Virtue is not the same thing as corrupting the young, and that knowledge of the divine is not the same thing as irregularity in religious observance.Unlike the image of the hedonist and the money-grubber, the one with the doctor involves an audience to whom the latter directs his persuasive competence, making it a better match to Socrates’ relationship with his accusers. The image of the unpersuasive doctor (like that of the money-grubber) originates in the Gorgias. However, in Maximus’ hands, it is transformed on two levels. First, Maximus is inspired by the famous section 456b ff., where Gorgias explains how he, as an orator, was able to persuade the patients of his brother, the physician Herodicus, to accept drugs, surgical operations or cauterisation in instances where the latter was unable to do so. Maximus supplements the element of persuasion that dominates this section from the Gorgias with references to food and drink that occur in another famous passage from this dialogue,Oration 25.5. This suggests that this was a set image, easily retrieved in an oral delivery; while focusing specifically on ‘feverish’ patients could spark some recognition in his audience (just like the mist obscuring the eye cited above) and thereby help Maximus cement the image’s impact on them, making its message even more perceptible.Examples such as this could be multiplied , Maximus mentions that ‘it is the benevolent doctor who causes the greatest pain, and the most scrupulous general, and the most reliable helmsman’.No: Plato’s foundation and his republic are established in purely theoretical terms; he aims for the greatest possible perfection rather than for what might be most practicable–just like those sculptors who bring together beautiful elements from all over, using their art to combine details from many different bodies into one single representation, so as to produce a single, sound, well-constructed, and harmoniously beautiful artefact. You wouldn’t be able to find a real body that exactly resembled such a statue, because art aims at what is most beautiful, while the things we encounter and use in everyday life fall short of what art can produce. I suppose that if human beings had the power to sculpt bodies of flesh and blood, then our craftsmen would be able to mix together, in the right proportions, the quantities of earth and fire (τὰς δυνάμεις ξυμμέτρως γῆς καὶ πυρός) and everything else that when harmonized and co-ordinated with them constitute our bodily nature, and so presumably produce a body that had no need of drugs and quack remedies and the regimens of doctors (ὡς τὸ εἰκὸς ἂν σῶμα ἀδεὲς φαρμάκου καὶ μαγγανευμάτων καὶ διαιτημάτων ἰατρικῶν). Suppose then that someone heard one of those craftsmen legislating for his theoretical creations and saying that they had no need even of a Hippocrates to heal them (δεήσονται οὐδὲ Ἱπποκράτους ἰωμένου σφᾶς), but that they ought to crown the man with wool and anoint him with myrrh and send him somewhere else, to win his reputation where sickness made his arts necessary (εὐδοκιμήσοντα ἐκεῖ ὅπου τὴν τέχνην παρακαλεῖ ἡ νόσος); and suppose that our hearer grew angry with the craftsman for dishonouring the art of Asclepius and the Asclepiadae (ὡς ἀτιμάζοντα τὴν Ἀσκληπιοῦ καὶ τὴν Ἀσκληπιάδων τέχνην). Wouldn’t he be making a laughing-stock of himself by bringing an accusation against someone who was not rejecting medicine because he scorned it, but because he neither needed it for practical purposes nor welcomed it as a source of pleasure ?The functional adjustment of philosophyRepublic, both in terms of quotation and allusion,…just like fever patients who gorge themselves on food and drink against doctor’s orders . Comparing one evil (disease) (νόσῳ) with another (exertion) (πόνους), they prefer to be sick and enjoy themselves (αἱροῦνται ἡδόμενοι νοσεῖν), sooner than to exert themselves and be cured (μᾶλλον ἢ πονοῦντες ὑγιασθῆναι). Many a resourceful doctor has before now tempered the bitterness of his cure with a small admixture of something sweeter; but neither Asclepius nor the Asclepiadae are indiscriminate purveyors of pleasure–that is the work of caterers .Even though this section is heavily informed by Plato’s technai) and ‘knacks’ : crafts, based on accurate knowledge of a subject, benefit the soul or body, like medicine which cares for the body in a genuine sense. Knacks, by contrast, based on mere imitation of crafts, seek to flatter the audience regardless of their well-being. The knack that imitates medicine is cookery, targeted at pleasing the body, thereby engendering its destruction. Maximus seems well acquainted with these and other related insights.Men were exposed to the flattery of a bogus form of medicine, when they abandoned the healing techniques of Asclepius and the Asclepiadae and reduced science to something indistinguishable from gourmet cookery, a substandard flatterer to substandard physiques . The informer imitates the orator, setting argument against argument, fortifying injustice against Justice and the base against the noble. The sophist imitates the philosopher. He is the most scrupulous imitator of them all.The juxtaposition of medicine and cookery in Plato is a motif which Maximus frequently deploys to develop with more clarity the archetypal distinction between crafts , then the supervision of reason will have to be added to this emotion in order to make of it a virtue rather than a sickness. Just as in the case of our bodily constitution, health is a certain non-rational condition of the forces of wetness, dryness, cold, and heat, neatly blended by human artifice and artfully harmonized by Nature–and if you remove anything of the contribution made by Nature or by artifice, you will have upset this non-rational state and driven health away –so it is in the case of Love: even if it enjoys the control of reason it remains an emotional state, and if you remove reason, you will have disturbed its equilibrium and converted it wholesale into sickness .Turning now in more detail to the image of the body and its diseases, it could be said that Maximus makes use of it chiefly in order to clarify the meaning of abstract and complex philosophical notions. To better explain that pleasure has its basis in the enjoyment of the experiencing subject, not in its own nature, he compares it with the nourishment of the body, which works exactly the other way around.Republic 444c–d. Nevertheless, nowhere in this passage does Plato advance the definition of somatic health as a non-rational condition  of the forces  of hot, cold, dry and wet, blended by means of the medical art and harmonised by nature; Plato simply speaks of bodily balance in a general sense. What is more, even though Maximus refers here to hot, cold, dry and wet, he does not label them as ‘qualities’ but simply as ‘forces’, a concept that would have made perfect sense to his recipients. By the same token, in other cases, nouns referring to the constitution of the body remain unqualified by Maximus, notably through his use of substantive adjectives accompanied by the definite article: for example, τἀναντία for ‘opposing elements’.krasis) in Maximus never denotes ‘mixture of elements’ but rather points more generally to the body’s constitution, attesting to an intuitive appreciation of the body’s organic unity on the audience’s part, just like δύναμις (dynamis) above could hardly have been construed in its specialised meaning of ‘capacity’, but rather as referring more generally to ‘power’, as noted. Maximus could simply not afford to be obscure in oral performance, and hence any jargon had to be strictly avoided.The comparison between bodily health and love that Maximus proposes here is most probably influenced by the connection between bodily health and justice in the soul from daimon), responsible for healing the sick,Orations is the knowledge Maximus claims to possess about the invention and history of medicine. As far as its invention goes, Maximus gives a description of how medicine first became a science by means of the accumulated records of the sufferings of patients and the ensuing therapeutic measures that proved effective for the majority of them.Cutting out arrows, and smearing on soothing drugs (Iliad 11.515). But as time went on the human body slipped out of the control of this archaic form of medicine, fell prey to a more sophisticated style of living, and developed flaws in its constitution (ὑπολισθαινόντων αὐτῇ τῶν σωμάτων εἰς δίαιταν ποικιλωτέραν καὶ κρᾶσιν πονηράν), with the results that we now see: medical science has itself had to become more sophisticated (ἐξεποικίλθη καὶ αὐτή), and to exchange its former simplicity for something more complex.’ Come now, following Asclepius’ example, let the poet and the philosopher together defend their pursuits to us.What is philosophy, if not a younger form of poetry, less formal in composition and more lucid in expression? If then these two differ from each other only in age and in superficial form, how ought one to understand the difference in what the two kinds of composer-poet and philosopher-say about the gods? Could we perhaps say that this present enquiry of ours is like someone comparing medicine in its original form with the modern form that treats the patients of today (οἷον εἴ τις καὶ ἰατρικὴν ἐνθυμηθεὶς τὴν πρώτην ἐκείνην πρὸς τὴν νέαν δὴ καὶ τοῖς νῦν σώμασιν ἐπιτεταγμένην), and examining the weak and strong points of each? Asclepius would inform this enquirer that other arts and sciences remain unaffected by the passage of time: where the need remains constant, the response does not vary either. The science of medicine, however, is constrained to adapt to the physical constitutions of its patients, which do not constitute a stable and clearly defined factor, but are modified and changed by the diets that go with different styles of life ; different treatments and therapeutic regimes, adapted to the dietary habits of the moment, must be devised for different eras . ‘So do not think’, Asclepius would continue, ‘that my famous sons, Machaon and Podalirius, were any less skilled in the art of healing than those who have set their hands to it subsequently, and thought up their various clever cures. At the time my sons were working, the bodies that their arts had to treat were not degenerate and oversophisticated and completely enervated; as a result they found them easy to cure, and their function was a simple one: The reference to Asclepius mentioned above requires further discussion because the figure of Asclepius is a potent one in Maximus’ rhetorical apparatus. Beyond the fact that Maximus portrays Asclepius as the god of health , the optimum balance in the embodied soul.Oration 39.2 he expresses dissatisfaction with what he perceives as specialised areas of medicine arising from attempts to treat imbalance qua disease.Two topics merit consideration here. First, Maximus mentions that, owing to the degeneracy of the human body, medicine became more diversified so as to be able to respond to the treatment of different bodily malfunctions. The refinement of medicine is a negative thing, according to Maximus  because it militates against its authentic form as a single, unified science.Secondly, the decline of medicine is a recognisable trope in Imperial-period literature, reflecting the cultural anxieties of this era, particularly the nostalgia for the great Greek past and the aspirations of Second Sophistic authors to invoke and emulate their superior Classical predecessors. Yet, Maximus (again) does not seem to have taken the theme from his contemporary intellectual trends, which, in fact, tackled the issue rather differently: Galen, for instance, also talked about the decadence of medicine in his day but presented it in terms of the failure of medical practice and the moral bankruptcy of medics.Do you want God to care for creation as a whole? Then do not importune him; he will not listen to you if what you ask militates against the preservation of the whole. What would happen if the limbs of the body gained voices, and if when one of them grew tired of being operated on by the doctor in the interests of the body as a whole, they prayed to Medicine not to be destroyed ? Would not Asclepius reply to them like this: ‘Miserable creatures, it is not for the whole body to be ruined to serve your interests; it is for you to perish in order that it should be saved’ . Precisely the same is true of creation as a whole. The Athenians suffer from the Plague, the Spartans suffer earthquakes, Thessaly is flooded by tidal waves, and Aetna erupts. You may call such breakings-up ‘destruction’, but the true doctor knows their cause (ὁ δὲ ἰατρὸς οἶδεν τὴν αἰτίαν); he disregards the prayers of the parts and preserves the whole , for his concern is for creation at large (φροντίζει γὰρ τοῦ ὅλου). Although God’s Providence does in fact extend to particulars as well. But prayer is out of place there too, being like a patient asking his doctor for food or medicine on his own initiative (ὅμοιον ὡς εἰ καὶ ἰατρὸν ᾔτει ὁ κάμνων φάρμακον ἢ σιτίον): if it is efficacious, the doctor will give it unasked ; if it is dangerous, he will withhold it even when asked . To sum up: nothing that falls under the heading of Providence is to be requested or prayed for.The same technique features in another instance, where this time, Maximus presents God as caring for the creation as a whole and not for particular aspects, like a sensitive doctor, whose aim is similarly to preserve the entire organism and not its individual parts. The personified Asclepius, this time, castigates the limbs for acting selfishly and disregarding the organism’s status as an integral whole:qua doctor.Oration 15.4–5 presents close similarities with Oration 5.4 cited above in that it likens the function of political society to the function of the bodily parts and in that it frames this comparison as a fictional dialogue between the body members and a Phrygian storyteller, who plays a similar role to that of Asclepius in the passage cited above.The idea of individual body parts that should operate in the best interests of the whole organism appears in other authors of this period.Orations, the use of the medical imagery facilitates not just clarity but also concept formation and the shaping of a moral outlook as well as the familiarisation with the ‘right’ literary references and  clichés for admission into the club of the cultivated and the philosophically woke. We have shown that Maximus works with the typical analogy of philosophy as therapy of the soul but adjusts it to the demands of his philosophical teaching, particularly the need to be accessible as well as appealing so as not to discourage the members of the social elite who have just embarked upon their engagement with philosophy at an advanced level. We have also argued that Maximus accentuates various aspects of the medical encounter between doctor and patients , the workings of the human body and the decline of the art of medicine to enable his young listeners to make sense of his argument and be persuaded by his admonitions. Moreover, we have remarked that Maximus uses the physician as an image for God and that he often connects medicine with Asclepius to stress its ideals of balance and stability but also to bestow authority on his own practice. As has been noted, Maximus’ medical imagery makes no use of medical technicalities and does not show any sharp contemporary social detail. What does emerge, however, is an important rhetorical point about what medicine as a given source domain makes available to the teacher/orator and how the skilled teacher/orator makes use of it. Medicine does not provide a fixed set of one-to-one readymade correspondences but rather a field of possibilities that is highly flexible in its application. According to need, different details from the domain can be focused on , and the same detail can be applied to a range of different targets. In that sense, a lot of Maximus’ skill as an orator/teacher lies in the perceptiveness with which he sees how the resources of the field can be turned to advantage differently in each new moment of need.All in all, this contribution has attempted to explore the multifarious ways in which Maximus of Tyre adjusts the medical imagery in his rhetorical speeches designed to familiarise his young pupils with the characteristic aspects of philosophy, especially moral philosophy. We have seen that in the pedagogical context of Maximus’ That Maximus’ work is full of medical references and associations reflects contemporary trends, given that health talk was part of mainstream elite culture in Maximus’ day, as can be seen from relevant discussions in Plutarch, Gellius (circa 125–after 180 AD), Aurelius’ correspondence with Fronto (circa 100–late 160s AD), and of course Aelius Aristides (117–181 AD). However, it also highlights Maximus’ own knowledge of Greek culture, and more especially, his distinctive ways of translating and appropriating that tradition. Medical imagery, therefore, valorises Maximus’ philosophical status and his claims to Second Sophistic cultural capital, functioning as a trademark for the rhetorical philosophy he wished to parade, which was, to his mind, still respectable, proper philosophy in this period, just as he was himself a major player in the contemporary philosophical tradition .Orations and is thus seen through the lens of medical anthropology which places health and disease at the forefront of human society, never at its periphery as a distant or irrelevant science. As we have seen, the medical metaphor in Maximus draws significantly on the role of medicine as experienced in the world around him and his audience, regardless of its Platonic precedents and invocations which, as we have noted, are meaningfully adjusted to Imperial-period reality. While passively reflecting what the speaker wished to say, medical images in Maximus actively affected the way his listeners thought and behaved, acting at the same time as both mirror and agent.Above all, the foregoing analysis has brought out the fact that medical imagery in Maximus does not simply reflect reality so as to make the speaker’s thought and material easier for his audience to digest, but rather it actively shapes and orients the audience’s moral decision-making and associated behaviour. The most important ethical behaviour Maximus sought to encourage in them through the analogy with the medical discipline is the cultivation of moderation, self-control and conscious deliberation. In that sense, the employment of medical imagery in Maximus can be correlated with the function of modern Concept Formation theory, which postulates that metaphor, including imagery, is not a decorative literary device in human culture but a conceptual tool to think and act with.


We thank Augello and Wu  for theiThe directions specified in our first contrast codes appear to have caused parameter estimation issues, though both sets of contrasts below produce the same model-fitted values, and other model estimates appear to remain unchanged.OriginalCorrectedContrast #1—M+C+ to M+C−Contrast #1—M+C− to M+C+Contrast #2—M+C+ to M−C−Contrast #2—M+C+ to M−C−Contrast #3—M−C+ to M−C−Contrast #3—M−C− to M−C+Models were re-specified using a contrast code set that was constructed using backward difference coding .Level 1 vs. Level 2Level 2 vs. Level 3Level 3 vs. Level 4M/C GroupsM+C− to M+C+M+C+ to M−C−M−C− to M−C+M+C−−(k − 1)/k−(k − 2)/k−(k − 3)/kM+C+1/k−(k − 2)/k−(k − 3)/kM−C−1/k2/k−(k − 3)/kM−C+1/k2/k3/kModels examining associations between cannabis and methamphetamine characteristics’ associations with neurocognitive performance and impairment were not impacted by the contrast coding error, as only the two groups with a lifetime for cannabis or methamphetamine were compared in each set.Models examining interactions between the substance use group and HIV status/characteristics were not impacted by the contrast codes operationalization error, as contrasts were comparison coded vs. M−C− in these models to aid in the interpretation of model interactions. However, the main effects model without interactions presented in Supplementary Table S3 of the original manuscript needed to be re-estimated, and these changes are reflected in the Correction submitted by the authors. Changes to model estimates did not impact inferences discussed in the manuscript and, like in other models, the same fitted values were produced as previously described.


Prunus avium L.) is an economic fruit tree of the Prunus genus in the Roaceae family  has been found in Shandong, Gansu and Beijing (Wang et al. 1 population of ‘Rainier × 21–21’ was used. The maternal parent ‘Rainier’ is a variety developed jointly by the Washington State Agricultural Experiment Station and the United States Department of Agriculture. Its parents are ‘Bing’ and ‘Van’. The paternal parent ‘21–21’ is a sweet cherry superiors cultivated by the Cherry Research Group of Beijing Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences, which is self-crossed from ‘Stella’. No symptoms of CCL were found on ‘Rainier’ and ‘21–21’. This family had 257 individuals including 77 with CCL. CCL seedlings showed irregular leaf edge, uneven color, deep crack or rough surface, most with dwarfing symptoms (Fig. In order to develop molecular marker of CCL, the FPrc123 amplified two bands in sweet cherry genome, named Prc123-A and Prc123-B respectively. There were three combinations of Prc123-A and Prc123-B, namely AA, AB and BB (Fig. In addition, 25 cultivars of sweet cherry were surveyed for genotype of Prc123, and 24 cultivars had clear amplification results. Among them, 11 cultivars were Prc123-AA, including ‘Mingzhu’, ‘Космическая’, ‘Дилемма’, ‘Van’, ‘Tieton’, ‘Caihong’, ‘PyσИНОВаЯРаННЯЯ’, ‘Zaodan’, ‘Summit’, ‘Wanhongzhu’ and ‘Sunburst’, which hadn’t been reported CCL in field. 13 cultivars were Prc123-AB type, including ‘Juhong’, ‘Rainier’, ‘Lapins’, ‘Caixia’, ‘Hongdeng’, ‘Hedelfinger’, ‘Valerij Cskalov’, ‘Burlat’, ‘Hongyan’, ‘Zaolu’, ‘Hongmi’, ‘Крупноплодная’ and ‘21–21’, in which 5 cultivars was detected CCL in field, including ‘Hedelfinger’, ‘Hongdeng’, ‘Valerij Cskalov’, ‘Hongyan’ and ‘Hongmi’. The proportion of CCL actually occurring was consistent with the proportion predicted by Prc123-AB.To sum up, this study obtained a molecular marker of CCL, Prc123 and identified genotypes of Prc123 in 24 sweet cherry main cultivars, which can be used in preventing the CCL from spreading and molecular assisted breeding for non-CCL cultivars.


Nature Plants 10.1038/s41477-022-01305-9. Published online 23 December 2022.Correction to: 2 sequestered by sinking seaweed in the ambient nutrient scenario were incorrect due to typographical errors. As a result, in the sentence beginning “In the optimistic case”, “0.85%” is now “0.110%”, “310,000 km2” is now “400,000 km2”, and “Poland” now reads as “Zimbabwe”. In the sentence following, “is slightly higher: 0.036% and 0.099%” now reads as “is 0.035% and 0.100%” and “$40” is now “$30”. Furthermore, in the penultimate sentence of this paragraph, “ocean areas of 0.09–0.10% and 0.28–0.37%” now reads as “ocean areas of 0.085–0.100% and 0.285–0.410%” and “roughly 320,000–360,000 km2 and 1,010,000–1,330,000 km2” is now “roughly 310,000–360,000 km2 and 1,030,000–1,480,000 km2”. Calculated values in this subsection have been revised to reflect these corrections: in the sentence beginning “Average costs at the median of Monte Carlo”, “$1,110–$2,100” is now “$1,120–$2,090”; and in the paragraph beginning “Despite being a small percentage”, “17%” is now “18%” and “61%” is now “64%”. Corresponding values in the Methods subsection “Comparison of gigaton-scale sequestration area to previous estimates” and in Supplementary Figures 10 and 11 have been updated accordingly. The errors have been corrected in the HTML and PDF versions of the article.In the version of this article initially published, in the Results subsection “Costs and benefits of large-scale seaweed farming”, the percentages of ocean area farmed to reach 1 Gt and 3 Gt of CO


Scientific Reportshttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-26919-z, published online 14 January 2023Correction to: The original version of this Article contained errors in the names of authors Filip Tulis, Michal Ševčík, Radoslava Jánošíková, Ivan Baláž, Michal Ambros, Lucia Zvaríková and Gyözö Horváth, which were incorrectly given as Tulis Filip, Ševčík Michal, Jánošíková Radoslava, Baláž Ivan, Ambros Michal, Zvaríková Lucia and Horváth Gyözö.The original Article has been corrected.


Scientific Reports 10.1038/s41598-022-21122-6, published online 24 October 2022Correction to: The original version of this Article contained a repeated error, where the pressure unit was incorrectly given as ‘mbar’ instead of ‘mmHg’.In the Results and discussion section, under the subheading ‘Intra-catheter pressure’,2O. When the abdominal pressure was adjusted to 50 cmH2O, the average pressure for Brand A was − 383 ± 50 mbar, − 323 ± 47 mbar for Brand B and − 330 ± 93 mbar for Brand C.”“The average pressure variation for Brand A was − 364 ± 42 mbar, − 248 ± 81 mbar for Brand B and − 272 ± 59 mbar for Brand C at 20 cmHnow reads:2O. When the abdominal pressure was adjusted to 50 cmH2O, the average pressure for Brand A was − 383 ± 50 mmHg, − 323 ± 47 mmHg for Brand B and − 330 ± 93 mmHg for Brand C.”“The average pressure variation for Brand A was − 364 ± 42 mmHg, − 248 ± 81 mmHg for Brand B and − 272 ± 59 mmHg for Brand C at 20 cmHAdditionally,2O was equal to − 296 ± 56 mbar  for the tests where mucosal suction was perceived by the operator. Conversely, the intra-catheter pressure variation that could be measured at the first flow-stop for Brand B at 20 cmH2O when mucosal suction was not detected by the operator was equal to − 180 ± 64 mbar . A similar scenario was seen for Brand C at 50 cmH2O, where the measured intra-catheter pressure variation was equal to − 373 ± 62 mbar  when mucosal suction was perceived by the operator, and to − 212 ± 45 mbar  when mucosal suction was not perceived by the operator.”“The measured intra-catheter pressure variation for Brand B at 20 cmHnow reads:2O was equal to − 296 ± 56 mmHg  for the tests where mucosal suction was perceived by the operator. Conversely, the intra-catheter pressure variation that could be measured at the first flow-stop for Brand B at 20 cmH2O when mucosal suction was not detected by the operator was equal to − 180 ± 64 mmHg . A similar scenario was seen for Brand C at 50 cmH2O, where the measured intra-catheter pressure variation was equal to − 373 ± 62 mmHg  when mucosal suction was perceived by the operator, and to − 212 ± 45 mmHg  when mucosal suction was not perceived by the operator.”“The measured intra-catheter pressure variation for Brand B at 20 cmHFurthermore,“What remains to be understood is whether a pressure variation of, for example − 250 mbar, is sufficient to cause discomfort to the IC users, or even cause microtraumas to the bladder mucosa, and if the speed at which the peak is generated has any relevance.”now reads:“What remains to be understood is whether a pressure variation of, for example − 250 mmHg, is sufficient to cause discomfort to the IC users, or even cause microtraumas to the bladder mucosa, and if the speed at which the peak is generated has any relevance.”Under the subheading ‘In-vivo animal studies’ of the same section,“During bladder emptying, the pressure difference at first flowstop was equal to − 96 mbar .”now reads:“During bladder emptying, the pressure difference at first flowstop was equal to − 96 mmHg .”Finally, the error was also present in Table 1 and in Figures 10, 11, 12, 13 and 15.The correct and incorrect values of Table 1 appear below.Table 1Incorrect:Correct:The original Figures The original Article has been corrected.


Communications Biology 10.1038/s42003-023-05183-5, published online 03 August 2023Correction to: In the original version of the article (in the Aerosolization section on page 3 and in the sentence beginning ‘The emission fluxes…’ the power sign of +4 is displayed incorrectly as –4 at 5 places.4 m–2.s–1 which replaces the previous incorrect version: 0.8–7.9 × 10−4 m−2.s−1.The correct version of the number is 0.8–7.9 × 104 m−2.s−1 ± 1.3 × 104) which replaces the previous incorrect version: (2.4 × 10−4 m−2.s−1 ± 1.3 × 10−4).In the same line, the correct version of equation is (2.4 × 104 m−2.s−1 ± 2.4 × 104) which replaces the previous incorrect version: (4.8 × 10−4 m−2.s−1 ± 2.4 × 10−4).Further down the same line, the correct version of equation is (4.8 × 10This has been corrected in the PDF version.


Correction to: Environmental Microbiome (2023) 18:18 10.1186/s40793-023-00469-xFollowing publication of the original article , it was In Fig. B, the same text elements had been lost in the left part of the figure, in which green indicated “no stress” and orange “stress”. Moreover, the headers above the columns were missing. From left to right: “Function KEGG C”, “# normalized reads—all taxa”, “most abundant in—Ac BGP AP–Ac BGP AP”, “overrepresented—Ac BGP AP” and “Function KEGG B”. In C, the pathway labels were missing. From left to right and top to bottom: “Trehalose, biosynthesis”, “Shikimate”, “Reductive PPP”, “Leucine degradation”, “Heme biosynthesis”, “ABC-transporter”, “C10–C20 & C5 Isoprenoid biosynthesis” and “Multidrug efflux”.In Fig. B, the headers above the columns were missing. From left to right: “# normalized reads—all taxa”, “most abundant in—Ac BGP AP–Ac BGP AP” and “overrepresented—Ac BGP AP”. In, C the headers “Desirée” and “Stirling” and pathway labels were missing. Below the turquois box, the labels were: “ABC-Transporter”, “branched-chain amino acid”, “Urea”, “Glucose oligomer / Maltoologosaccharide”, “Chitobiose”, “D-Xylose”, “Oligopeptide”, “Raffinose/Stachyose/ Melibiose”, “Ribose/D-Xylose”, “Multiple sugar”, “Purin degrad. Xanthine- urea”, “Two component”, “C4-Dicarboxylate”, “Tetrathionate respiration”, “Geosmin”. Below the ocher box: “ABC-Transporter”, “Lipoprotein”, “Phospholipid”, “Heme”, “Na+”, “PTS”, “Raetz pathway”. Within the boxes of each pathway, some abbreviations for genes had been lost.In Fig. B, the y-axis label “relative reads” and the headers “plasmids” and “phages” were missing. In C, the y-axis label “Shannon index” and the header “plasmids ARG” were missing. In D, the x-axis label “Bacteria—FoldChange” and the y-axis label “Plasmid—FoldChange” were likewise missing. Moreover, “up in no stress” had been written in the green boxes and “up in stress” in the orange ones. In E, the x-axis label “Bacteria—FoldChange” and the y-axis label “Plasmid—FoldChange” were missing. Finally, “Desirée” had been written in the turquoise boxes and “Stirling” in the ocher boxes.In Fig. The error has since been corrected in the original article.The authors apologize for any inconvenience caused.


Coinfection of hepatitis B virus (HBV) and COVID-19 is a common public health problem throughout some nations in the world. In this study, a mathematical model for hepatitis B virus (HBV) and COVID-19 coinfection is constructed to investigate the effect of protection and treatment mechanisms on its spread in the community. Necessary conditions of the proposed model nonnegativity and boundedness of solutions are analyzed. We calculated the model reproduction numbers and carried out the local stabilities of disease-free equilibrium points whenever the associated reproduction number is less than unity. Using the well-known Castillo-Chavez criteria, the disease-free equilibrium points are shown to be globally asymptotically stable whenever the associated reproduction number is less than unity. Sensitivity analysis proved that the most influential parameters are transmission rates. Moreover, we carried out numerical simulation and shown results: some parameters have high spreading effect on the disease transmission, single infections have great impact on the coinfection transmission, and using protections and treatments simultaneously is the most effective strategy to minimize and also to eradicate the HBV and COVID-19 coinfection spreading in the community. It is concluded that to control the transmission of both diseases in a population, efforts must be geared towards preventing incident infection with either or both diseases. Illnesses caused by tiny microorganisms like viruses, bacteria, fungi, and parasites are known as infectious diseases; for instance, COVID-19 and hepatitis B diseases are infectious diseases caused by viruses . HepatitAn infectious disease known as COVID-19 is a highly contagious respiratory infection caused by SARS-CoV-2 virus, and for the first time, its outbreak was investigated in China at the end of December 2019 –19. On MLiteratures of some scholars mentioned in references , 28–32 iFor a better understanding of the spreading of communicable diseases, the concept of mathematical modelling has a fundamental impact . DiffereSome epidemiological and medical studies proved that hepatitis B virus and COVID-19 coinfection is a common public health issue. The main aim of this study is to discover the most effective control strategy from intervention strategies applied in the proposed HBV and COVID-19 coinfection model. Literatures  investedN(t) as a total human population in the study under consideration and divided it into eight distinct groups of individuals with their infection status as individuals who are susceptible to either of HBV or COVID-19 given by  S(t), who are protected form COVID-19 given by  CP(t), protected from HBV given by  HP(t), infected with COVID-19 given by  CI(t), infected with HBV given by HI(t), coinfected with HBV and COVID-19 given by C(t), recovered from COVID-19 given by CR(t), and treated from HBV infection given by HT(t) so that N(t) = S(t) + CP (t) + HP(t) + HI(t) + CI(t) + CR(t) + C(t) + HT(t).In this study, we need to construct a deterministic model on the coinfection of HBV and COVID-19. Consider ρ1 < ∞ is the rate at which HBV infectivity increases and σ1 is the HBV spreading rate.Individuals who are susceptible will acquire HBV at the force of infectionω < ∞ is the rate at which COVID-19 infectivity increases and σ2 is the COVID-19 spreading rate.Individuals who are susceptible will acquire COVID-19 at the force of infectionγ1, γ2 and (1 − γ1 − γ2) are portions of the human recruitment rate Γ that enters in the compartment S, CP and HP, respectively. Population is homogeneously mixing, population is not constant, HBV-treated individuals do not transmit HBV, HBV is not vertically transmitted, and HBV and COVID-19 do not transmit simultaneous dually.To construct the coinfection of HBV and COVID-19 model, let us assume the following: The parameters Using Based on Adding all differential equations given in  gives,  CP(t), HP(t), HI(t), CI(t),  C(t), CR(t), and HT(t) of the dynamical system  > 0, CP(0) > 0, HP(0) > 0, HI(0) > 0,  CI(0) > 0,  C(0) > 0,  CR(0) > 0, and HT(0) > 0; then for each t > 0, we need to show that S (t) > 0,  CP(t) > 0, HP(t) > 0,  HI(t) > 0, CI(t) > 0,  C(t) > 0,  CR(t) > 0,  and HT(t) > 0.Let  τ=sup{t > 0 : S (t) > 0, CP(t) > 0, HP(t) > 0, HI(t) > 0, CI(t) > 0, C(t) > 0,CR(t) > 0 and HT(t) > 0}.Define: S(t), CP(t), HP(t), HI(t), CI(t), C(t), CR(t), and HI(t) are continuous so that we assured that  τ > 0. If τ = ∞, then the nonnegativity holds. But, if 0 < τ < ∞,  S(τ) = 0 or CP(τ) = 0 or HP(τ) = 0 or HI(τ) = 0 or CI(τ) = 0 or C(τ) = or  CR(τ) = 0 or HI(0) = 0.The functions  S(τ) = M1S(0) + M1∫0τexpλH + λC + μ))dt∫(((1 − γ1 − γ2)Γ + δ1CP(t) + δ2HP(t) + ηCR(t))dt > 0, where M1 = expμτ + ∫0τ(λH(w) + λC(w))− > 0, CP(t) > 0, HP(t) > 0, CR(t) > 0, and by the definition of  τ, the solution  S(τ) > 0; hence, S(τ) ≠ 0.From the first equation of the system  we haveM1 = expδ1τ + μτ + ∫0τ(δλH(w))− > 0, and from the definition of  τ , we proved that CP(τ) > 0; hence, CP(τ) ≠ 0.Similarly from the second equation of system  we have HP(τ) > 0; hence,  HP(τ) ≠ 0; HI(τ) > 0; hence, HI(τ) ≠ 0; CI(τ) > 0; hence, CI(τ) ≠ 0; C(τ) > 0; hence, C(τ) ≠ 0; CR(τ) > 0; hence, CR(τ) ≠ 0; and HI(τ) > 0; hence, HI(τ) ≠ 0.In the same manner, we have all the following results: τ = ∞, and using definition of the constant τ, all the model ) ≤ ∫dt and the result −(1/μ)ln(Δ − μN) ≤ t + k, where k is an arbitrary constant. After a number of steps of computations, we have determined that the final result 0 ≤ N (t) ≤ Δ/μ means the dynamical system  = S(t) + HP(t) + HI(t) + HT(t), with infection rate  λH = (σ1/N1)HI and initial data  S(0) > 0,  HP(0) ≥ 0,  HI(0) ≥ 0, and  HT(0) ≥ 0. In Ω1 is both positive invariant and global attractor of each nonnegative solution of the HBV infection system )/(α2 + μ)), Δπ2/(α2 + μ), 0, 0).The disease-free equilibrium (DFE) point of the HBV infection submodel  is calcuUsing the van den Driessche and Warmouth well-known method illustrated in  we can cFV−1 represented byFinally, using the method in  and afteℛH is defined as the average number of secondary infections caused by a single infected person during his life infectious period in a susceptible group, the submodel has a local stable DFE,  EH0 = (Γ/μ((δ2 + μ(1 − γ2))/(δ2 + μ)), Γγ2/(δ2 + μ), 0, 0) whenever ℛH < 1 and unstable whenever ℛH > 1.Because the calculated reproduction number of HBV submodel given by Making the submodel  equationm1 = δ2 + μ and m2 = μ + μ1 + γ and substitute HI∗ in the incidence rate of HBV and calculated asLet us put From equation  we computhat is,ℛH > 1.only if λH∗ > 0 obtained above, we can conclude that the submodel  represents the DFE of the sum-model  = I,  Y0 has a global asymptotic stabilityFor  ∈ Ω1, where H = DUJ is an M-matrix, i.e., the off diagonal elements of H are nonnegative and Ω1 is the region in which the system makes epidemiological sense. The DFE of the submodel  has a global asymptotic stability provided that ℛH < 1submodel  given byLet us assume the following:EH0 = (Γ/μ((δ2 + μ(1 − γ2))/(δ2 + μ)), Γγ2/(δ2 + μ), 0, 0) of the HBV dynamical system  = (((1 − γ2)Γ(δ2 + μ) + δ2γ2Γ)/μ(δ2 + μ), γ2Γ/(δ2 + μ)) has a global stability and satisfies criteria (i) of Theorem 4 andUsing We computed the result given byS ≤ N1, we can prove that S/N1 ≤ 1 and EH0 = (Γ/μ((δ2 + μ(1 − γ2))/(δ2 + μ)), Γγ2/(δ2 + μ), 0, 0) has a global asymptotic stability whenever  ℛH < 1.Here, because ℛH < 1 in this case the total number of population is going up.Epidemiologically, it means that the HBV single infection will die out in the community provided that  HP = HI = C = HT = 0 for the dynamical system (S(0) > 0, CP(0) ≥ 0, CI(0) ≥ 0, CR(0) ≥ 0 and total number of individuals given by  N2(t) = S(t) + CP(t) + CI(t) + CR(t).By making  l system  the COVIΩ2 is both positive invariant and global attractor of each nonnegative solution of the subdynamical system  = (Γ/μ((δ1 + μ(1 − γ1))/(δ1 + μ)), Γγ1/(δ1 + μ), 0, 0).The COVID-19 subdynamical system  disease-l system  is givenℛC = (σ2(μ(1 − γ1) + δ1))/((μ + μ2 + κ)(μ + δ1)).The COVID-19 subdynamical system  effectivEC0 =  = (Γ/μ((δ1 + μ(1 − γ1))/(δ1 + μ)), Γγ1/(δ1 + μ), 0, 0) has a local asymptotic stablty whenever ℛC < 1 and unstable whenever ℛC > 1.Based on the next generation matrix, the DFE point of the COVID-19 subdynamical system given by  n1 = δ1 + μ,  n2 = κ + μ + μ2, and n3 = μ + η.The COVID-19 subdynamical system  endemic CI∗ stated in (N2∗λC∗ = σ2CI∗ and gives asWe can substitute tated in  in 24)  CI∗ statBy arranging equation  we deterℛC > 1.whenever Using  we derivℛC > 1.only whenever ℛC > 1.Hence, subdynamical system  has a unℛC > 1.The COVID-19 subdynamical system  has a poEC0 = (((1 − γ1)Γ(δ1 + μ) + δ1γ1Γ)/(μ(δ1 + μ)), γ1Γ/(δ1 + μ), 0, 0) has a global asymptotic stability whenever  ℛC < 1, and the two sufficient criteria stated in The DFE point of the COVID-19 subdynamical system  given byU ∈ ℝ2 to be the noninfected components, V ∈ ℝ2 to be the infected components including the COVID-19 recovery group. Now we derived the matrices given byNow using the criteria in After a number of some steps of computations, we derived the following:S ≤ S0 and CP < CP0 , we can show that (S0/(S0 + CP0)S0 + CP0) ≥ (S/N2) and EC0 = (((1 − γ1)Γ(δ1 + μ) + δ1γ1Γ)/(μ(δ1 + μ)), γ1Γ/(δ1 + μ), 0, 0) of the COVID-19 subdynamical system  + δ2))/((γ + μ + μ1)(μ + δ2)), (σ2(μ(1 − γ1) + δ1))/((μ + μ2 + κ)(μ + δ1))}, where ℛHC0 = max{ℛH, ℛC}, ℛH to be the HBV submodel   exists if  ℛH > 1 and ℛC > 1, i.e., ℛHC0 > 1. We have discussed the complete model endemic equilibrium in the numerical analysis section.The dynamical system  is highlS = z1, CP = z2, HP = z3,  HI = z4,  CI = z5,  C = z6,  CR = z7, and  HI = z8 such that N = z1 + z2 + z3 + z4 + z5 + z6 + z7 + z8.Assume  Z = T, the dynamical system (dZ/dt = F(Z) with F = T, asλH = σ1/N[z4 + ρ1z6] , 1 ≤ ρ1 < ∞,  λC = σ2/N[z5 + ωz6], and  1 ≤ ω < ∞. Then, the Jacobian matrix of the complete dynamical system , is derived asF1 = −(σ1/N0)z10,  F2 = −σ2z10, F3 = −(σ1/N0)ρ1z10 − σ2ωz10,  F4 = −(σ1/N0)z20, F5 = −(σ1/N0)ρ1z20, F6 = −σ2z30, F7 = −σ2ωz30,  F8 = (σ1/N0)z10 + (σ1/N0)z20 − (μ + μ1 + γ), F9 = (σ1/N0)ρ1z10 + (σ1/N0)ρ1z20, F10 = σ2z10 + σ2z30 − (κ + μ + μ2), and F11 = σ2ωz10 + σ2ωz30.Moreover, the vector representation  l system  at  EHC0ℛC > ℛH and ℛHC0 = 1, so that ℛC = 1. Moreover, assume σ2 = σ∗ and taken as a bifurcation parameter. Calculating the expression for σ2 using ℛC = 1, i.e., ℛC = (σ2(μ(1 − γ1) + δ1))/((μ + μ2 + κ)(μ + δ1)) = 1, we computed the value σ∗ = σ2 = ((μ + μ2 + κ)(μ + δ1))/((μ(1 − γ1) + δ1)).Let us consider the case at J(EHC0) of the dynamical system  of the system . Applying the Castillo-Chavez and Song criteria stated in [ℛC = 1. In the right and left eigenvectors of Jβ∗, at the case whenever ℛC = 1, the right eigenvector of the Jacobian of the dynamical system (σ2 = σ∗ (represented by Jβ∗) corresponding to a simple zero eigenvalue is represented by u = TTherefore, every eigenvalue is negative if e system  at DFE, tated in  can be ul system  at σ2 = σ2 = σ2∗ qualifying the product  y.w = 1, given as w = , are w1 = w2 = w3 = w4 = w6 = w7 = w8 = 0 and w5 = w5 > 0.Left eigenvectors corresponding to the simple zero eigenvalue at  a and b given byUsing many steps of calculations, we have derived the bifurcation coefficients Then,ℛHC0 = ℛC = 1. Hence, only the disease-free equilibrium point given byℛHC0 < 1.Therefore, applying the Castillo-Chavez and Song criteria stated in  we have iven by4EHC0=S0,CℛHC0 = max{ℛH, ℛC} < 1.Note: in the subsections represented To verify the mathematical analysis results shown in the previous sections and subsections, we have carried out various sensitivity and numerical analyses. For the sensitivity and numerical analysis computations, we used parameter values adopting from different scholar studies and given the collection in y normalized forward sensitivity index which depends on a differentiable parameter ξ is defined by SI(ϑ) = (∂y/∂ϑ)∗(ϑ/y) [Definition: the variable ϑ)∗(ϑ/y) , 41, 55.ℛH and ℛC since ℛHC0 = max{ℛH, ℛC}.The sensitivity analysis is used to examine the most influential parameters in the spreading of the coinfection of HBV and COVID-19. From results of sensitivity analysis among others, the one which has a larger sensitivity index in magnitude is known as the most sensitive parameter. For this study, the sensitivity indices can be computed using the model effective reproduction numbers given by Applying ℛH = 1.82 which implies that HBV infection spreads throughout the population. Also, σ1 has major effect on the HBV effective reproduction number denoted by ℛH.Using ℛC = 3.23  which implies that the COVID-19 single infection is persistent throughout the population. Also, the sensitivity analysis given in σ2 is the most sensitive model parameter which has great impact on the COVID-19 transmission. Comparing sensitivity indices given in Tables σ1 and COVID-19 spreading rate  σ2 are the most influential model parameters in the disease transmission, and stakeholders shall concentrate to control the values of these parameters by considering the suitable intervention strategies.In a similar manner, applying values of the model parameters stated in σ1 and σ2 are highly sensitive with respect to the HBV infection and COVID-19 infection submodel effective reproduction numbers, respectively. Also, one can conclude that portions of protections γ1 and  γ2 and COVID-19 treatment rate κ are more sensitive parameters and important to control the disease transmission in the community.Simulation represented in In this subsection, we carried out numerical analysis of the dynamical system . For simℛHC0max{ℛH, ℛC} = max{0.14, 0.26 } = 0.26 < 1, and the simulation result is illustrated in In this subsection, we performed the complete coinfection model numerical simulation by considering the value of the model effective reproduction number as ℛHC0 = 3.23. The simulation result illustrated in ℛHC0 = 3.23 > 1.In this subsection, we performed numerical simulation of the full dynamical system  using moσ1 on the number of HBV and COVID-19 coepidemic individuals C. From σ1 from 0.00001 to 0.8 leads to a highly increase of HBV and COVID-19 coepidemic number of individuals C.Simulation illustrated in σ2 on the number of HBV and COVID-19 coepidemic people C. From σ2 increases, then the number of HBV and COVID-19 coinfectious individuals C is going up. Thus, increasing COVID-19 spreading rate σ2 from 0.00001 to 0.8 makes the HBV and COVID-19 coinfection C highly increases.Numerical simulation given in HI throughout the community. From the result, we can conclude that when the value of treatment rate γ is going up, then the number of HBV infectious individuals HI is going down. For the stakeholders, we recommend that they take their maximum effort to increase the value of HBV treatment rate to minimize the HBV transmission rate.Numerical simulation shown in C. From the result, we can conclude that whenever we increase the value of treatment rate θ, the number of coinfectious population is going down. Thus, whenever we increase the value of θ from 0.2 to 0.8, then the number of HBV and COVID-19 coinfectious individuals decreases through time.In this subsection, numerical simulation represented in σ1 highest direct impact on the HBV single infection model effective reproduction number ℛH. From the numerical result, we observed that increasing the HBV spreading rate σ1 has a direct impact on its effective reproduction number  ℛH. Thus, introducing protective and controlling strategies against HBV spreading is fundamental to minimized σ1 value less than 0.801.γ2 has the highest indirect impact on the HBV submodel effective reproduction number ℛH. The simulation result from γ2 increases then the HBV spreading rate decreases. Thus, applying the portion γ2 of the human recruitment rate Γ  to be more than 0.597 makes the value of ℛH less than one.Simulation illustrated in γ has influential indirect impact on ℛH. We observed the result whenever we increase the treatment rate; then, the HBV transmission decreases in the community. Thus, applying the treatment rate γ to more than 0.898 made the value of the HBV infection effective reproduction number ℛH less than one.σ2 on the COVID-19 subdynamical system  on the COVID-19 effective reproduction number given by ℛC. The result proved that whenever the COVID-19 treatment rate (κ) increases, then the value of ℛC is going down. As a result, giving the value of κ more than 0.758, then the value of ℛC is below one, and we recommend for the stakeholders to maximize the value of κ.Numerical simulation represented in S), the HBV protection group (HP), and the COVID-19 protection group (CP), and this made the model highly nonlinear and challenging for the qualitative analysis of the coinfection model. The model has been mathematically analyzed both for the submodels associating the cases that each disease type is isolated and in the case when there is HBV and COVID-19 coinfection. The proposed model includes the intervention strategies, protective as well as treatment, and numerical simulation of the deterministic model is presented. In the analysis, it has been indicated that the effect of protection as well as treating the infected ones with the available treatment mechanisms affects significantly the infection control strategy and its outcome. From the simulation results, it can be concluded that applying both protective and treatment control mechanisms simultaneously at the population level yields the most effective outcomes both economically and epidemiologically. Therefore, we strongly recommended to the stakeholders regarding economic as well as health issues to give more attention and the overall effort to implement both the protective and treatment control strategies simultaneously to minimize the HBV and COVID-19 single infections as well as the HBV and COVID-19 coinfection disease transmission in the community.In this paper, we have constructed and investigated a continuous time dynamical model for the transmission of HBV and COVID-19 coinfection with protection and treatment strategies. The model incorporates three noninfectious groups, the susceptible group (Any interested scholar can modify this study by considering the limitations of this study such as formulate a model which incorporate either of stochastic method, fractional order method, optimal control theory, age structure, or environmental effects, collect real data, and validate the formulated model.


Nature Communications 10.1038/s41467-021-25301-3, published online 16 August 2021Correction to: 2 atm A−1’ were incorrectly written as ‘cm2 atm mA−1’. In figure 6a, the y-axis ‘Specific activity at 0.9 V (mA cm−2)’ was incorrectly written as ‘Specific activity at 0.9 V (A cm−2)’. The legend for Fig. 4a inadvertently reported the wrong temperature. ‘333 K’ was incorrectly written as ‘353 K’. The original article has been corrected.In this article the units on the y-axis of Figures 4a and 6a contained an error. In figure 4a, the y-axis units ‘cm−1·rad−2’ was in incorrectly written as ‘kJ·mol−1·rad−2’. The HTML has been updated to include a corrected version of the The units in the Supplementary Table Updated Supplementary Information


Bufo bufo) has been the subject of many folk tales and superstitions in Western Europe, and as a result, it is characterised by numerous common names (zoonyms). However, the zoonyms of the toad and its associated traditions have remained unexplored in the Balkans, one of Europe’s linguistic hotspots. In the present study, it was attempted to fill this knowledge gap by focusing on Greece, where more than 7.700 individuals were interviewed both in the field and through online platforms, in order to document toad zoonyms from all varieties and dialects of Greek, as well as local non-Greek languages such as Arvanitika, South Slavic dialects, and Vlach. It was found that the academically unattested zoonyms of the toad provide an unmatched and previously unexplored linguistic and ethnographic tool, as they reflect the linguistic, demographic, and historical processes that shaped modern Greece. This is particularly pertinent in the 21st century, when a majority of the country’s dialects and languages are in danger of imminent extinction–and some have already gone silent. Overall, the present study shows the significance of recording zoonyms of indigenous and threatened languages as excellent linguistic and ethnographic tools that safeguard our planet’s ethnolinguistic diversity and enhance our understanding on how pre-industrial communities interacted with their local fauna. Furthermore, in contrast to all other European countries, which only possess one or only a few zoonyms for the toad, the Greek world boasts an unmatched 37 zoonyms, which attest to its role as a linguistic hotspot.The common toad ( Data collected online are based on more than 4.700 informants who volunteered to participate in this study through social media groups (Facebook). Together with the field data, the total observations for this research exceed 7.700 informants, rendering this work as one of the most comprehensive zoonymic studies in Greece. Written and verbal consent was obtained from all participants  in classical and Roman antiquity, apart from a literature search, online catalogues of ancient inscriptions and names  can be found throughout the modern Hellenic world , 78Discuot found . The Sla century , 77, 78.ζάμπα in the country reflects the areas which received intense Slavic settlement (e.g. large parts of Macedonia and Thrace), the areas which retain a significant Slavophone population to this day     .Macedonia: Smixi and Perivoli.Discussion. Term of unknown etymology. In Messolonghi, the female flathead grey mullet  is also called μπάφα.Thessaly: in the Vlach villages of Malakasi .Discussion. A zoonym of unknown etymology, used only to describe unusually large toads, while the term μπροάτικου is used exclusively for frogs and small-sized toads. Potentially from Greek μπάκακας/μπάμπακας , or kaplumbağa [covered frog or toad: kaplı (cover) + bağa] [Schildkröte [shielded toad: Schild (= shield) + Kröte (= toad)], while in Romanian it is called broască-țestoasă [frog with shell: broască (= frog) + țestoasă (= shell)] [+ bağa] . In Germ shell)] . Taking bruásca refers to the tortoise or the toad. This is also due to the fact that differences in naming are often accompanied by particular beliefs. For example, in Zagori, according to a local belief among Greek-speakers (probably influenced by Vlachs), the toad originally had a shell, like other tortoises, but because it fell into Communion, God cursed it, causing the toad to lose its shell and roam naked for eternity.These conceptual differences have caused particular confusion among speakers of Vlach, with different villages ardently arguing over whether bruásca in its Hellenised form μπράσκα refers exclusively to the toad, it has been shown here that in many Vlach populations it denotes the tortoise (broscus (= frog), which in turn may derive from the ancient Greek βροτάχος , due to its superficial similarity to the amphibian . The same process has taken place for the toadfish (family Batrachoididae), which has been named after the amphibian in English, Catalan (gripau), and Spanish (pez sapo).It is also interesting to note that in the city of Volos and in many other places, the toad zoonym Bufotes viridis), which lacks any zoonym that is specifically dedicated to this species in any region of the country. Across its distribution in Greece, the zoonyms of the frog are assigned to the green toad. The following indicative examples are provided: αφορδακός/μπαρδακός (Crete), βόθρακος/βόδρακος/βορτακούδιν (Cyprus), βαθρακλάς (Mani), φαρδακλός (Rhodes), φουρδακλάς/φορδακλάς/φορτακλός (Leukada), φαρδακάς (Tsakonia), μπάκακας , μπάμπακας (Kolindros in Pieria).The second member of the family Bufonidae in Greece is the green toad  , mainly in Constantinople, but also in areas of linguistic contact [φουρνός, φουρνόν, φουρνία, φουρνιά) and late antiquity , to the Migration Period  and the contraction of the Roman Empire, the late Middle Ages , the huge expansion of transhumant pastoralism in the 17th century (μπράσκα), and developments of more recent times .Indeed, the findings presented here provide additional evidence for processes that shaped the evolution of the Greek language itself. Although the country’s standard linguistic literature  consider contact , 102–104st century Western perspective. In a European context, this is particularly pertinent to Greece, as it is the continent’s only country that lacks a dialectal atlas. To this end, the authors of this study have begun recording all of the country’s reptile and amphibian zoonyms, where both field research and online interviews are crucial . By showcasing the utility of the toad’s zoonyms in anthropological, ethnozoological, historical, and linguistic studies, it is hoped that researchers in these fields will further explore the potential of zoonyms as substrate terms in their group(s) of study.Overall, this research stresses the fundamental importance of exploring and preserving linguistic diversity on a global scale, as it represents an exceptional tool for understanding humanity’s shared history, to investigate the similarities and differences on how people interacted with their surroundings, and to preserve different ways of meaning that do not conform to the 21S1 Text(DOCX)Click here for additional data file.S1 Table(CSV)Click here for additional data file.


The corrected In the published article, there was an error in 120 the HC value was “39.1 ± 15.4” but should have been “37.4 ± 16.2.” For PPI200 the HC value was “50.1 ± 16.5” but should have been “49.8 ± 17.0.” For PPI300 the HC value was “41.8 ± 18.7” but should have been “40.5 ± 19.8.” The corrected In the published article, there were also errors in The authors apologize for these errors and state that this does not change the scientific conclusions of the article in any way. The original article has been updated.


In the recent article by Pérez‐Sánchez et al. , the authttps://orcid.org/0000‐0002‐1686‐8811Anett Schibalski: https://orcid.org/0000‐0002‐8577‐7980Boris Schröder: https://orcid.org/0000‐0002‐2544‐640XSebastian Klimek: https://orcid.org/0000‐0002‐3420‐0380Jens Dauber:


Deinagkistrodon acutus, also known as Sharp-nosed Pit Viper, one hundred-pacer viper or five-pacer viper, is a venomous snake with significant economic, medicinal and scientific importance. Widely distributed in southeastern China and South-East Asia, D. acutus has been primarily studied for its venom. Here, we employed next-generation sequencing to assemble and annotate a highly continuous genome of D. acutus. The genome size is 1.46 Gb; its scaffold N50 length is 6.21 Mb, the repeat content is 42.81%, and 24,402 functional genes were annotated. This study helps to further understand and utilize D. acutus and its venom at the genetic level.The study of the currently known >3,000 species of snakes can provide valuable insights into the evolution of their genomes.  对目前已知 3,000 余种蛇类的研究可为它们的基因组进化提供有价值的见解。尖吻蝮，也被称为尖鼻蝮、百步蛇或五步蛇，是一种具有重要经济、医学和科学价值的毒蛇。其广泛分布于中国东南部和东南亚，主要用于蛇毒研究。本文采用二代测序技术，组装和注释了一个高度连续的尖吻蝮基因组。基因组大小为 1.46 Gb; 其 scaffold N50 长度为 6.21 Mb，重复序列含量为 42.81%，共注释出 24,402 个功能基因。本研究有助于在遗传水平上进一步认识和利用尖吻蝮及其毒液。 Deinagkistrodon acutus is a species of venomous pit viper, a member of the suborder Ophiopodes and the Viperidae family. It is commonly known as the Sharp-nosed Pit Viper, as well as hundred-pacer viper, five-pacer viper, Chinese moccasin, and Long-nosed Agkistrodon  weighing 781 g was obtained from Huangshan City, in Anhui (China), for genome assembly and annotation. The liver, stomach, kidney and muscle tissues were collected for RNA extraction. Additionally, two other muscle tissues were taken for DNA extraction before Whole Genome Sequencing (WGS) and single-tube long fragment read (stLFR) sequencing. We extracted the D. acutus DNA, constructed the library and performed paired-end sequencing according to the protocol described by Liu et al. .A specimen of . Figure  [10]. SaD. acutus genome. Kmerfreq from GCE  was used for k-mer frequency statistics. The output showed that 32,372,553,516 k-mer fragments (k = 19) were obtained. Next, these results were input into GCE with the heterozygous mode (k-mer depth peak of 21) to evaluate genome size, heterozygosity and other parameters.We used the 25× WGS sequencing data to estimate the size of our assembled SCR_016756). To make the assembled sequences more complete, we used GapCloser  and the WGS sequencing data to fill gaps. Also, to remove redundant sequences from the genome, we used redundans (v0.14a) . The final genome was obtained using the method described in Figure de novo prediction and homology-based approaches to identify the repetitive regions in the genome assembly. The homology-based prediction was performed using Blastall (v2.2.26) . Specifically, we mapped the protein sequences from the UniProt database (release-2020_05) of Pseudonaja textilis, Crotalus tigris, Thamnophis elegans and Notechis scutatus to the D. acutus genome assembly. Annotation and assessment were performed according to the protocol described by Liu et al. .The stLFR data were used to generate the genome assembly using Supernova   to search for single-copy orthologs among the protein sequences of Rana temporaria (GCA_905171775.1), Gopherus evgoodei (GCA_007399415.1), Podarcis muralis (GCA_004329235.1), Thamnophis elegans (GCA_009769535.1) and Pseudonaja textilis (GCA_900518735.1).To construct a phylogenetic tree, we used OrthoFinder  and 185 (5.5%) genes were BUSCO fragments and deletions, respectively.We used the 164.75 Gb main result file generated by stLFR sequencing to assemble a 1.46 Gb D. acutus genome, the total length of repetitive sequences is 642 Mb, accounting for 42.81% of the genome  (443 Mb), followed by long terminal repeats (LTRs) (180 Mb), DNAs (26.43 Mb) and then short interspersed nuclear elements (SINEs) (0.94 Mb). The LINEs and LTRs contents were 29.53% and 11.99%, respectively (Table In our me Table . Based oLINEs) 44 Mb, follD. acutus  是属于蛇亚目、蝰科的一种有毒蛇，常被称为百步蛇、五步蛇、长鼻蝮等（如图, 2。其毒液主要具有血液毒性，可导致凝血功能异常并促进组织损伤、水肿、急性肾衰竭等反应发生，主要作用于肺部 。尖吻蝮在中国东南部、老挝和越南北部广泛分布，因其较大的身体以及毒液而具有重要的商用及药用价值 , 5。目前尖吻蝮的研究主要集中在其毒液的毒性成分、被咬伤患者的症状分析等方面，以及对蛇毒的利用进行了研究，如体外抑菌、毒液中特定蛋白具有抗血栓、抗凝血活性等 –9。高质量的基因组有助于蛇毒相关基因的发现，进而可以帮助研究人员更好地了解及利用蛇毒。尖吻蝮 YesIs the language of sufficient quality?YesPlease add additional comments on language quality to clarify if needed
Are all data available and do they match the descriptions in the paper? YesAdditional CommentsAre the data and metadata consistent with relevant minimum information or reporting standards? See GigaDB checklists for examples http://gigadb.org/site/guideNoAdditional CommentsI could not find the archive SRR24201538 referring to transcriptomic data in INSDC Sequence Read Archive (SRA).Is the data acquisition clear, complete and methodologically sound?YesAdditional CommentsIs there sufficient detail in the methods and data-processing steps to allow reproduction?NoAdditional CommentsA very essential methodology for a genome sequencing article is the assembly process. The authors mention: "We used stlFR data for genome assembly, to make the assembled sequences more complete" and provide a protocols.io https://dx.doi.org/10.17504/protocols.io.5jyl8j6e9g2w/v2 as the primary methodology reference. However, this protocol does not describe the assembly process step . It just reports the initial steps  and the final bioinformatic step (gene annotation). Please clarify in the main text how the stlFR reads were processed until reaching a draft genome and provide the detailed protocol as a supplementary file or link.Is there sufficient data validation and statistical analyses of data quality? Not my area of expertiseAdditional CommentsIs the validation suitable for this type of data?YesAdditional CommentsIs there sufficient information for others to reuse this dataset or integrate it with other data?YesAdditional CommentsAny Additional Overall Comments to the AuthorRecommendationMinor Revision Reviewer name and names of any other individual's who aided in reviewer Jia-Tang LiDo you understand and agree to our policy of having open and named reviews, and having your review included with the published papers. YesIs the language of sufficient quality?YesPlease add additional comments on language quality to clarify if needed
Are all data available and do they match the descriptions in the paper? YesAdditional CommentsAre the data and metadata consistent with relevant minimum information or reporting standards? See GigaDB checklists for examples http://gigadb.org/site/guideYesAdditional CommentsIs the data acquisition clear, complete and methodologically sound?YesAdditional CommentsIs there sufficient detail in the methods and data-processing steps to allow reproduction?YesAdditional CommentsIs there sufficient data validation and statistical analyses of data quality? YesAdditional CommentsIs the validation suitable for this type of data?YesAdditional CommentsIs there sufficient information for others to reuse this dataset or integrate it with other data?YesAdditional CommentsAny Additional Overall Comments to the AuthorIn this manuscript, the authors have sequenced and assembled the genome of an important venomous snake. This provides significant data to support future studies on snake evolution. While the content of the manuscript is insightful, there are certain areas where the language could be improved. For example, the title of Figure 2 appears to be incorrectly expressed. I suggest that the author perform a thorough check of the entire paper and make necessary corrections. Furthermore, in Figure 5, the authors need to explain the meaning of the numbers and dots on the phylogenetic tree. The formatting of references, including Latin names, also needs to be checked and corrected, where necessary, to ensure that they are properly italicized. Besides, it is worth noting that the first genome of the sharp-nosed pit viper has already been published . Therefore, I recommend that the authors include a comparison with older versions of the genome in this manuscript.RecommendationMinor Revision Editor’s AssessmentThe sharp-nosed pit viper, Deinagkistrodon acutus is a highly venomous snake distributed across South East and Eastern Asia. To help better understand the evolution of D. acutus, and also provides a molecular basis for the understanding venom production a 1.46Gb in size reference genome was sequenced and described here. This data can be combined with already published and new venomous snake genome data to construct the evolutionary history of venomous snakes and other reptiles. After submission,feedback and improvement to the language, it is now useful to share this data to the community.