Akhenaton, Moses og den moderne monoteismedebat

Artiklen er en grundlæggende præsentation af Jan Assmanns teori om sammenhængen mellem monoteisme og vold med særlig fokus på spørgsmålet om de religionshistoriske forudsætninger for monoteismens fremkomst. I bidraget drøftes Assmanns påpegning af en forbindelse mellem den ægyptiske religiøse revolution under Akhenaton og den senere jødiske monoteisme. Det fremhæves imidlertid også, hvordan de to adskiller sig fra hinanden. Endelig pointeres, hvordan relationen mellem Atonreligionen og en senere jødisk monoteisme først og fremmest skal ses i lyset af et stykke erindringshistorie, der etablerer forbindelsen mellem de to

Identification of OSSO as a near-UV absorber in the Venusian atmosphere

The planet Venus exhibits atmospheric absorption in the 320–400 nm wavelength range produced by unknown chemistry. We investigate electronic transitions in molecules that may exist in the atmosphere of Venus. We identify two different S_2O_2 isomers, cis-OSSO and trans-OSSO, which are formed in significant amounts and are removed predominantly by near-UV photolysis. We estimate the rate of photolysis of cis- and trans-OSSO in the Venusian atmosphere and find that they are good candidates to explain the enigmatic 320–400 nm near-UV absorption. Between 58 and 70 km, the calculated OSSO concentrations are similar to those of sulfur monoxide (SO), generally thought to be the second most abundant sulfur oxide on Venus

Taboo – bwt?

The term ‘taboo’ is widely used in many European languages, with the meaning of ‘prohibition’ or ‘ban’. This generalized use is accompanied by the tendency to consider the phenomenon it represents as both widespread and universal, with the assumption that a prohibition in one culture is likely to be similarly regarded in another. However, the casual use of the term taboo in modern languages presents an obstacle to understanding cultural phenomena that, when properly contextualized, may be otherwise explained. This observation provided the impetus for an inquiry into the study of taboo in religion and society, with a focus on the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century. The current paper surveys the views of some of the more influential scholars on the topic.El término ‘tabú’ se usa en numerosas lenguas de origen europeo con el significado de ‘prohibición’ o ‘veto’. Este uso generalizado se acompaña de la tendencia a considerar que el fenómeno que enuncia es amplio y universal, con la asunción de que la prohibición en una cultura es probable que sea observada de forma similar en otra. Sin embargo, el uso informal del término tabú en lenguas modernas presenta un obstáculo para comprender fenómenos culturales que, apropiadamente contextualizados, pueden ser explicados de otro modo. Esta observación motivó al autor para una investigación sobre el estudio del tabú en la religión y la sociedad, con un especial foco en el fin del siglo XIX y el comienzo del XX. El presente artículo estudia las opiniones de algunos de los investigadores más influyentes sobre el tema

Perspektiv på det perspektivløse. Om ægyptisk og ægyptisk kunst

Denne artikel handler helt konkret om nogle trak ved den made, hvorpa oldtidens agyptere klassificerede deres omverden. Jeg vil bla. diskutere forskellige sammenhange mellem den visuelle og sproglige klassifikation af verden, og det er derfor af stor vigtighed at fa pavist, at nar f.eks. den agyptiske todimensionale kunst (dvs. relieffer, malerier, tegninger, o.lign.) ser ud som den gor, sa er arsagen hverken at kunsten er et produkt af teknisk uformaen eller det modsatte, men derimod at den har et helt andet Sitz im Leben end det, vi normalt forbinder med kunst. Der er gjort mange forsog pa at forklare, hvad der kunne vare arsagen til det karakteristiske ved denne kunst - forst og fremmest den manglende brug af perspektiv. Sarligt to radikalt forskellige synsvinkler star over for hinanden. Den ene ser kunsten som et rationelt resultat af rationelle overvejelser om, hvordan man bedst gengiver en observerbar, tredimensional ‘virkelighed’ i tre og navnlig i to dimensioner. Danskeren Erik Iversen havder saledes, at agypterne havde udviklet en teori og deraf afledt metode til at lave tekniske, todimensionale projektioner af tredimensionale prototypen Amerikaneren W.Davis har i flere varker argumenteret for at opretholde en gammel opfattelse, der ser et agyptisk billede som et billede af et tvarsnit og ikke som et billede af en flade begranset af et omrids. Jeg tror ikke at disse tilgange er holdbare, og jeg er derfor nodt til at give laseren en ret sa omfattende indforing i emnet for bla. at vinde tillid til den modsatte synsvinkel, der gor det muligt at sammentanke sprog og kunst, nemlig, at et agyptisk billede er skabt pa grundlag af et ‘mentalt billede’, dvs. en forestilling om den kategori som objektet tilhorer i den agyptiske klassifikation af verden. &nbsp

Difference in membrane repair capacity between cancer cell lines and a normal cell line

Electroporation-based treatments and other therapies that permeabilize the plasma membrane have been shown to be more devastating to malignant cells than to normal cells. In this study, we asked if a difference in repair capacity could explain this observed difference in sensitivity. Membrane repair was investigated by disrupting the plasma membrane using laser followed by monitoring fluorescent dye entry over time in seven cancer cell lines, an immortalized cell line, and a normal primary cell line. The kinetics of repair in living cells can be directly recorded using this technique, providing a sensitive index of repair capacity. The normal primary cell line of all tested cell lines exhibited the slowest rate of dye entry after laser disruption and lowest level of dye uptake. Significantly, more rapid dye uptake and a higher total level of dye uptake occurred in six of the seven tested cancer cell lines (p < 0.05) as well as the immortalized cell line (p < 0.001). This difference in sensitivity was also observed when a viability assay was performed one day after plasma membrane permeabilization by electroporation. Viability in the primary normal cell line (98 % viable cells) was higher than in the three tested cancer cell lines (81–88 % viable cells). These data suggest more effective membrane repair in normal, primary cells and supplement previous explanations why electroporation-based therapies and other therapies permeabilizing the plasma membrane are more effective on malignant cells compared to normal cells in cancer treatment

Solar-like oscillations in the G2 subgiant beta Hydri from dual-site observations

We have observed oscillations in the nearby G2 subgiant star beta Hyi using high-precision velocity observations obtained over more than a week with the HARPS and UCLES spectrographs. The oscillation frequencies show a regular comb structure, as expected for solar-like oscillations, but with several l=1 modes being strongly affected by avoided crossings. The data, combined with those we obtained five years earlier, allow us to identify 28 oscillation modes. By scaling the large frequency separation from the Sun, we measure the mean density of beta Hyi to an accuracy of 0.6%. The amplitudes of the oscillations are about 2.5 times solar and the mode lifetime is 2.3 d. A detailed comparison of the mixed l=1 modes with theoretical models should allow a precise estimate of the age of the star.Comment: 13 pages, 14 figures, accepted by ApJ. Fixed minor typo (ref to Fig 14

Identification of OSSO as a near-UV absorber in the Venusian atmosphere

The planet Venus exhibits atmospheric absorption in the 320–400 nm wavelength range produced by unknown chemistry. We investigate electronic transitions in molecules that may exist in the atmosphere of Venus. We identify two different S_2O_2 isomers, cis-OSSO and trans-OSSO, which are formed in significant amounts and are removed predominantly by near-UV photolysis. We estimate the rate of photolysis of cis- and trans-OSSO in the Venusian atmosphere and find that they are good candidates to explain the enigmatic 320–400 nm near-UV absorption. Between 58 and 70 km, the calculated OSSO concentrations are similar to those of sulfur monoxide (SO), generally thought to be the second most abundant sulfur oxide on Venus

Applications of deep convolutional neural networks to digitized natural history collections

Natural history collections contain data that are critical for many scientific endeavors. Recent efforts in mass digitization are generating large datasets from these collections that can provide unprecedented insight. Here, we present examples of how deep convolutional neural networks can be applied in analyses of imaged herbarium specimens. We first demonstrate that a convolutional neural network can detect mercury-stained specimens across a collection with 90% accuracy. We then show that such a network can correctly distinguish two morphologically similar plant families 96% of the time. Discarding the most challenging specimen images increases accuracy to 94% and 99%, respectively. These results highlight the importance of mass digitization and deep learning approaches and reveal how they can together deliver powerful new investigative tools

Fast-, Light-Cured Scintillating Plastic for 3D-Printing Applications

Additive manufacturing techniques enable a wide range of possibilities for novel radiation detectors spanning simple to highly complex geometries, multi-material composites, and metamaterials that are either impossible or cost prohibitive to produce using conventional methods. The present work identifies a set of promising formulations of photocurable scintillator resins capable of neutron-gamma pulse shape discrimination (PSD) to support the additive manufacturing of fast neutron detectors. The development of these resins utilizes a step-by-step, trial-and-error approach to identify different monomer and cross-linker combinations that meet the requirements for 3D printing followed by a 2-level factorial parameter study to optimize the radiation detection performance, including light yield, PSD, optical clarity, and hardness. The formulations resulted in hard, clear, PSD-capable plastic scintillators that were cured solid within 10 s using 405 nm light. The best-performing scintillator produced a light yield 83% of EJ-276 and a PSD figure of merit equaling 1.28 at 450–550 keVee