Transformation of war language in the worship of all the earth in Psalm 100

Though often read as a discrete poem, Psalm 100 is read within the context of Psalms 93-100 in this article. Such a reading helps expose how language, which had been rooted in warfare, has been transformed into the language of worship. The background in warfare is explored through intertextual links within this collection and then against the background provided by the book of Joshua as a sample text. As the conclusion to this collection within the Psalter, Psalm 100 transforms this language, so that Yahweh’s kingship over all the earth is expressed not in the violence of conquest, but rather in the joyful submission of freelygiven worship

Context and violence in individual prayers for protection

The individual prayers for protection within the Psalter are marked by a consistency in terms of the context supposed and the nature of violence experienced by the psalmists. Consistently, these psalms also assert that the right to retributive violence against the enemies belongs to Yahweh alone. Such a consistent pattern indicates that those responsible for assembling the Book of Psalms intended to model this as the appropriate response for the faithful.Continued 2001 as 'Verbum et Ecclesia'Spine cut of Journal binding and pages scanned on flatbed EPSON Expression 10000 XL; 400dpi; text/lineart - black and white - stored to Tiff Derivation: Abbyy Fine Reader v.9 work with PNG-format (black and white); Photoshop CS3; Adobe Acrobat v.9 Web display format PDFhttp://explore.up.ac.za/record=b102527

Transfer origins in the conjugative Enterococcus faecalis plasmids pAD1 and pAM373: identification of the pAD1 nic site, a specific relaxase and a possible TraG-like protein

The Enterococcus faecalis conjugative plasmids pAD1 and pAM373 encode a mating response to the peptide sex pheromones cAD1 and cAM373 respectively. Sequence determination of both plasmids has recently been completed with strong similarity evident over many of the structural genes related to conjugation. pAD1 has two origins of transfer, with oriT1 being located within the repA determinant, whereas the more efficiently utilized oriT2 is located between orf53 and orf57 , two genes found in the present study to be essential for conjugation. We have found a similarly located oriT to be present in pAM373. oriT2 corresponds to about 285 bp based on its ability to facilitate mobilization by pAD1 when ligated to the shuttle vector pAM401; however, it was not mobilized by pAM373. In contrast, a similarly ligated fragment containing the oriT of pAM373 did not facilitate mobilization by pAD1 but was efficiently mobilized by pAM373. The oriT sites of the two plasmids each contained a homologous large inverted repeat (spanning about 140 bp) adjacent to a series of non-homologous short (6 bp) direct repeats. A hybrid construction containing the inverted repeat of pAM373 and direct repeats of pAD1 was mobilized efficiently by pAD1 but not by pAM373, indicating a significantly greater degree of specificity is associated with the direct repeats. Mutational (deletion) analyses of the pAD1 oriT2 inverted repeat structure suggested its importance in facilitating transfer or perhaps ligation of the ends of the newly transferred DNA strand. Analyses showed that Orf57 (to be called TraX) is the relaxase, which was found to induce a specific nick in the large inverted repeat inside oriT ; the protein also facilitated site-specific recombination between two oriT2 sites. Orf53 (to be called TraW) exhibits certain structural similarities to TraG-like proteins, although there is little overall homology.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/72536/1/j.1365-2958.2002.03007.x.pd

Altered subgenomic RNA abundance provides unique insight into SARS-CoV-2 B.1.1.7/Alpha variant infections

B.1.1.7 lineage SARS-CoV-2 is more transmissible, leads to greater clinical severity, and results in modest reductions in antibody neutralization. Subgenomic RNA (sgRNA) is produced by discontinuous transcription of the SARS-CoV-2 genome. Applying our tool (periscope) to ARTIC Network Oxford Nanopore Technologies genomic sequencing data from 4400 SARS-CoV-2 positive clinical samples, we show that normalised sgRNA is significantly increased in B.1.1.7 (alpha) infections (n = 879). This increase is seen over the previous dominant lineage in the UK, B.1.177 (n = 943), which is independent of genomic reads, E cycle threshold and days since symptom onset at sampling. A noncanonical sgRNA which could represent ORF9b is found in 98.4% of B.1.1.7 SARS-CoV-2 infections compared with only 13.8% of other lineages, with a 16-fold increase in median sgRNA abundance. We demonstrate that ORF9b protein levels are increased 6-fold in B.1.1.7 compared to a B lineage virus in vitro. We hypothesise that increased ORF9b in B.1.1.7 is a direct consequence of a triple nucleotide mutation in nucleocapsid (28280:GAT > CAT, D3L) creating a transcription regulatory-like sequence complementary to a region 3’ of the genomic leader. These findings provide a unique insight into the biology of B.1.1.7 and support monitoring of sgRNA profiles to evaluate emerging potential variants of concern

The impact of inversions across 33,924 families with rare disease from a national genome sequencing project

Detection of structural variants (SVs) is currently biased toward those that alter copy number. The relative contribution of inversions toward genetic disease is unclear. In this study, we analyzed genome sequencing data for 33,924 families with rare disease from the 100,000 Genomes Project. From a database hosting >500 million SVs, we focused on 351 genes where haploinsufficiency is a confirmed disease mechanism and identified 47 ultra-rare rearrangements that included an inversion (24 bp to 36.4 Mb, 20/47 de novo). Validation utilized a number of orthogonal approaches, including retrospective exome analysis. RNA-seq data supported the respective diagnoses for six participants. Phenotypic blending was apparent in four probands. Diagnostic odysseys were a common theme (>50 years for one individual), and targeted analysis for the specific gene had already been performed for 30% of these individuals but with no findings. We provide formal confirmation of a European founder origin for an intragenic MSH2 inversion. For two individuals with complex SVs involving the MECP2 mutational hotspot, ambiguous SV structures were resolved using long-read sequencing, influencing clinical interpretation. A de novo inversion of HOXD11-13 was uncovered in a family with Kantaputra-type mesomelic dysplasia. Lastly, a complex translocation disrupting APC and involving nine rearranged segments confirmed a clinical diagnosis for three family members and resolved a conundrum for a sibling with a single polyp. Overall, inversions play a small but notable role in rare disease, likely explaining the etiology in around 1/750 families across heterogeneous clinical cohorts

Responses to violence in some lament Psalms of the individual

Responses to violence in some lament Psalms of� the individual Lament psalms� of� the� individual� that� reflect a motif of violence� are� here examined so as� to determine whether or not the editors of� the Psalter had a pattern� of instruction� that� they� wished� to� inculcate� with� respect� to� the experience� of violence.� An� examination� of prayers� of the� accused� and prayers of� sickness as sub-groups within� the Gattung� indicates the presence of� such a pattern,� and suggests� that the� editors wished to model a pattern that rejects� the� right of� human� retribution.� This pattern� needs� to� be� tested further� through� an� examination� of a� third� sub-group,� the� prayers� for protection

David and Uriah (with an occasional appearance by Uriah’s wife) : reading and re-reading 2 Samuel 11

The interpretation of 2 Samuel 11 has been built around three points: 1. The primacy of the relationship between David and Bathsheba; 2. Uriah dies in a cover-up; 3. The narrative is full of ambiguity. This paper explores the narrative from the perspective of the ambiguities employed, showing that the third point undermines the first two. This is achieved by drawing on Genette’s theory of anachrony which emerges as an important historiographical feature in Samuel. The text is meant to be read and then re-read as each anachrony is encountered, thus coming to a clearer understanding of what is meant by the narrator’s closing comment

Responses to violence in some lament Psalms of the individual

Lament psalms of the individual that reflect a motif of violence are here examined so as to determine whether or not the editors of the Psalter had a pattern of instruction that they wished to inculcate with respect to the experience of violence. An examination of prayers of the accused and prayers of sickness as sub-groups within the Gattung indicates the presence of such a pattern, and suggests that the editors wished to model a pattern that rejects the right of human retribution. This pattern needs to be tested further through an examination of a third sub-group, the prayers for protection.Continued 2001 as 'Verbum et Ecclesia'http://explore.up.ac.za/record=b102527

Narrative voice and chronology in the books of Samuel

Although the importance of chronology as a device employed within the Old Testament is widely recognised, its analysis has not employed some of the tools made available by literary theorists. This article adopts Genette's fourfold model of the relation between narrative voice and chronology to the books of Samuel, arguing that they employ all four types (subsequent, prior, simultaneous and interpolated) in a sophisticated interplay between narrative voice and chronology, with the different modes used to indicate the relative knowledge of the characters in comparison with the extradiegetic narrator. Exegesis of Samuel therefore needs to consider the rhetorical goals made evident through such analysis