The epektasis [ἐπέκτασις] and the exploits of the soul (ἡψυχή) in Gregory of Nyssa's De anima et resurrectione

The paper refers to a notion central to Gregory of Nyssa's theology -that of epektasis(ἐπέkτασις), i.e. progression of the soul (ἡψυχή) towards its Creator, as presented in the dialogue De anima et resurrectione/On the Soul and the Resurrection. The conversation between Nyssen and his sister Macrina, employing concepts peculiar to the most advanced science of their time, emphasizes that in the afterlife the soul does not leave the body (and neither does human memory). The interesting consequences of this state of affairs for both the resurrection of people and that of Jesus Christ are also discussed.El artículo se refiere a una noción central de la teología de Gregorio de Nisa: la de epektasis(ἐπέkτασις), es decir, la progresión del alma (ἡψυχή) hacia su Creador, como se presenta en el diálogo De anima et resurrectione/Sobre el alma y la resurrección. La conversación entre Nissa ysu hermana Macrina, empleando conceptos propios de la ciencia más avanzada de su tiempo, enfatiza que en el más allá el alma no abandona el cuerpo (tampoco la memoria humana). También se discuten las interesantes consecuencias de este estado de cosas tanto para la resurrección de las personas como para la de Jesús Cristo

The church of San Marco in the eleventh century

In 1084 the most important of the few consecrations of St Mark's church in Venice - that which solemnized the completion of its largest altar - took place. It is assumed that Doge Dominico Selvo (1071-1084) assigned Byzantine mosaicists to finish the decorative programme in time for the respective event. In part because of the beauty and the remarkable quality of the works they created, the eleventh century saw the prestige of this Venetian shrine increase. Also what in the popular imagination was the miraculous appearance of the relics of its patron saint from a pillar (either in 1084 or 1094, depending on the source employed) further augmented it. The article attempts to prove that the eleventh century was the most important period in the existence of the medieval Venetian church which much later became the cathedral San Marco. It will venture a description of this shrine not only on the basis of its similarities, claimed by most scholars, with the Apostoleion church in Constantinople, but also using information from extant documents as well as results of new scientific and archaeological discoveries, especially those published in the catalogue of the exhibition organised by its Procuratoria between July and November 2011, in Ken Dark and Ferudun Özgümüş's works, in the reports concerning the research undertaken by the British Museum, and in other sources.En 1084 tuvo lugar la más importante de las pocas consagraciones de la iglesia de San Marcos en Venecia, la que solemnizó la finalización de su altar mayor. Se supone que el dogo Dominico Selvo (1071-1084) encargó mosaicos bizantinos para terminar el programa decorativo a tiempo para el evento respectivo. En parte debido a la belleza y la notable calidad de las obras que crearon, el siglo XI vio aumentar el prestigio de este santuario veneciano. También lo que en el imaginario popular fue la aparición milagrosa de las reliquias de su santo patrón en un pilar (ya sea en 1084 o en 1094, según la fuente empleada) lo aumentó aún más. El artículo intenta demostrar que el siglo XI fue el período más importante en la existencia de la iglesia medieval veneciana, que mucho más tarde se convirtió en la catedral de San Marco. Se venturará una descripción de este santuario no solo sobre la base de sus similitudes, afirmadas por la mayoría de los eruditos, con la iglesia Apostoleion en Constantinopla, sino también utilizando información de documentos existentes, así como los resultados de nuevos descubrimientos científicos y arqueológicos, especialmente los publicados. en el catálogo de la exposición organizada por su Procuratoria entre julio y noviembre de 2011, en las obras de Ken Dark y Ferudun Özgümüş, en los informes sobre la investigación realizada por el Museo Británico, y en otras fuentes

Modelling Enzymatic Reduction of 2-keto-D-glucose by Suspended Aldose Reductase

Batch experiments have been systematically carried out at 25 °C, pH = 7, over 24- 76 h reaction time in order to evaluate the activity of a commercial (recombinant human) aldose reductase (ALR) used to catalyze the reduction of 2-keto-D-glucose (kDG) to fructose using NADPH as cofactor, by employing various enzyme/reactants initial ratios. A kinetic model was proposed by extending the ‘core’ reaction mechanism proposed in literature for the reduction of several saccharides and keto-derivates (glucose, galactose, xylose, glyceraldehydes) by the human or animal ALR (wild or modified), or by similar aldo-keto reductases (e.g. sorbitol dehydrogenase, xylose reductase) in the presence of NAD(P)H. The reaction pathway assumes a very quick reversible formation of a stable ALR•NADPH complex, from which a small fraction is binding the substrate thus determining a succession of Bi-Bi reversible reactions leading to the final product (fructose). Model parameters have been estimated based on the recorded data sets of four observable key-species, being in concordance with the reported values in literature for similar processes. The results confirm the conformational change of E•NADP+ complex allowing the release of NADP+ as being the rate-limiting step of the overall process. The results also underline the necessity to stabilize the fast deactivating enzyme by immobilization, as well as the requirement of a continuous in-situ regeneration of the cofactor

Finite Density QCD in the Chiral Limit

We present the first results of an exact simulation of full QCD at finite density in the chiral limit. We have used a MFA (Microcanonical Fermionic Average) inspired approach for the reconstruction of the Grand Canonical Partition Function of the theory; using the fugacity expansion of the fermionic determinant we are able to move continuously in the ($\beta -\mu$) plane with $m=0$.Comment: 3 pages, LaTeX, 3 figures, uses espcrc2.sty, psfig. Talk presented by A. Galante at Lattice 97. Correction of some reference

Resource Use Efficiency of Cassava farmers in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria

This study examined the resource use efficiency of cassava farmers in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. Data collated from 100 farmers selected using a multi stage random sampling technique were subjected to statistical and economic analyses to unveil the pattern of resource use efficiency in cassava enterprise. Result from the ordinary least square multiple regression informed that 92 percent of the variation in cassava output was explained by farm size, fertilizer use, cuttings and labour inputs, with only farm size and cuttings being significant at five percent level. Data on resource use efficiency reveal that the farmers were operating in the second stage of production as regards the use of land (farm size), cuttings and labour, thus, implying decreasing returns to scale, whereas for fertilizer use, they operated within the third stage of the production process as Marginal Physical Product (MPP) was below zero. Based on these findings, the study recommends policies to raise the level of resource use especially through the provision and maintenance of an efficient input delivery system. Keywords: Cassava Farmers, Resource Use Efficiency, Returns to Scale, Marginal Physical Produc

Lessons from the Congested Clique Applied to MapReduce

The main results of this paper are (I) a simulation algorithm which, under quite general constraints, transforms algorithms running on the Congested Clique into algorithms running in the MapReduce model, and (II) a distributed $O(\Delta)$-coloring algorithm running on the Congested Clique which has an expected running time of (i) $O(1)$ rounds, if $\Delta \geq \Theta(\log^4 n)$; and (ii) $O(\log \log n)$ rounds otherwise. Applying the simulation theorem to the Congested-Clique $O(\Delta)$-coloring algorithm yields an $O(1)$-round $O(\Delta)$-coloring algorithm in the MapReduce model. Our simulation algorithm illustrates a natural correspondence between per-node bandwidth in the Congested Clique model and memory per machine in the MapReduce model. In the Congested Clique (and more generally, any network in the $\mathcal{CONGEST}$ model), the major impediment to constructing fast algorithms is the $O(\log n)$ restriction on message sizes. Similarly, in the MapReduce model, the combined restrictions on memory per machine and total system memory have a dominant effect on algorithm design. In showing a fairly general simulation algorithm, we highlight the similarities and differences between these models.Comment: 15 page