4,707 research outputs found
Cut Off From(One\u27s) People_Punitive Expulsion In The Torah
Hobson, G. Thomas. “‘Cut Off From (One’s) People’: Punitive Expulsion in the Torah.” Ph.D. diss., Concordia Seminary, 2010. 245 pp.
This dissertation argues that the Torah’s penalty “cut off from (one’s) people” (kareth) is normally a form of expulsion from the community of Israel, in contrast to the view that this penalty is a threatened divine extermination curse, a view reflected in the LXX and rabbinic traditions. The author traces a punitive expulsion interpretation from the fifth century B.C.E. Jewish community, to Maccabean-era practice as described by Josephus, to expulsion at Qumran. The use of the verb כדת is examined, including evidence from synonyms and from the Jewish and Samaritan Targumim. Evidence for punitive expulsion elsewhere in the ancient Near East is also assembled. The closest parallels to the biblical kareth penalty are found to be the expulsion of the unclean uzug in early Mesopotamia, and expulsion for the crime of hurkel practiced by the Hittites. Biblical kareth is found to be a merciful alternative to the death penalty, which also removes a source of contamination that endangers the community
Dust heating by the interstellar radiation field in models of turbulent molecular clouds
We have calculated the radiation field, dust grain temperatures, and far
infrared emissivity of numerical models of turbulent molecular clouds. When
compared to a uniform cloud of the same mean optical depth, most of the volume
inside the turbulent cloud is brighter, but most of the mass is darker. There
is little mean attenuation from center to edge, and clumping causes the
radiation field to be somewhat bluer. There is also a large dispersion,
typically by a few orders of magnitude, of all quantities relative to their
means. However, despite the scatter, the 850 micron emission maps are well
correlated with surface density. The fraction of mass as a function of
intensity can be reproduced by a simple hierarchical model of density
structure.Comment: 32 pages, 14 figures, submitted to Ap
Organizing the Carotid Revascularization Endarterectomy versus Stenting Trial (CREST): National Institutes of Health, Health Care Financing Administration, and industry funding
The Carotid Revascularization Endarterectomy versus Stenting Trial (CREST) is a prospective, randomized, multicenter clinical trial of carotid endarterectomy (CEA) versus carotid artery stenting (CAS) as prevention for stroke in patients with symptomatic stenosis greater than or equal to 50%. CREST is sponsored by the US National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) of the US National Institutes of Health (NIH), with additional support by a device manufacturer, and will provide data to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for evaluation of a stent device. Because of budget constraints for CREST, Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) reimbursement for hospital costs incurred by CREST patients will be essential. The involvement of academic scientists, industry, and three separate government agencies (NIH, FDA, HCFA) has presented many challenges in conducting the trial. A review of the pathways followed to meet these challenges may be helpful to others seeking to facilitate sharing of the costs and burdens of conducting innovative clinical research
Inflammation and premature ageing in chronic kidney disease
Persistent low-grade inflammation and premature ageing are hallmarks of the uremic phenotype and contribute to impaired health status, reduced quality of life, and premature mortality in chronic kidney disease (CKD). Because there is a huge global burden of disease due to CKD, treatment strategies targeting inflammation and premature ageing in CKD are of particular interest. Several distinct features of the uremic phenotype may represent potential treatment options to attenuate the risk of progression and poor outcome in CKD. The nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (NRF2)−kelch-like erythroid cell-derived protein with CNC homology [ECH]-associated protein 1 (KEAP1) signaling pathway, the endocrine phosphate-fibroblast growth factor-23−klotho axis, increased cellular senescence, and impaired mitochondrial biogenesis are currently the most promising candidates, and different pharmaceutical compounds are already under evaluation. If studies in humans show beneficial effects, carefully phenotyped patients with CKD can benefit from them
Microwave observations of spinning dust emission in NGC6946
We report new cm-wave measurements at five frequencies between 15 and 18GHz
of the continuum emission from the reportedly anomalous "region 4" of the
nearby galaxy NGC6946. We find that the emission in this frequency range is
significantly in excess of that measured at 8.5GHz, but has a spectrum from
15-18GHz consistent with optically thin free-free emission from a compact HII
region. In combination with previously published data we fit four emission
models containing different continuum components using the Bayesian spectrum
analysis package radiospec. These fits show that, in combination with data at
other frequencies, a model with a spinning dust component is slightly preferred
to those that possess better-established emission mechanisms.Comment: submitted MNRA
Radio continuum observations of Class I protostellar disks in Taurus: constraining the greybody tail at centimetre wavelengths
We present deep 1.8 cm (16 GHz) radio continuum imaging of seven young
stellar objects in the Taurus molecular cloud. These objects have previously
been extensively studied in the sub-mm to NIR range and their SEDs modelled to
provide reliable physical and geometrical parametres.We use this new data to
constrain the properties of the long-wavelength tail of the greybody spectrum,
which is expected to be dominated by emission from large dust grains in the
protostellar disk. We find spectra consistent with the opacity indices expected
for such a population, with an average opacity index of beta = 0.26+/-0.22
indicating grain growth within the disks. We use spectra fitted jointly to
radio and sub-mm data to separate the contributions from thermal dust and radio
emission at 1.8 cm and derive disk masses directly from the cm-wave dust
contribution. We find that disk masses derived from these flux densities under
assumptions consistent with the literature are systematically higher than those
calculated from sub-mm data, and meet the criteria for giant planet formation
in a number of cases.Comment: submitted MNRA
High resolution AMI Large Array imaging of spinning dust sources: spatially correlated 8 micron emission and evidence of a stellar wind in L675
We present 25 arcsecond resolution radio images of five Lynds Dark Nebulae
(L675, L944, L1103, L1111 & L1246) at 16 GHz made with the Arcminute
Microkelvin Imager (AMI) Large Array. These objects were previously observed
with the AMI Small Array to have an excess of emission at microwave frequencies
relative to lower frequency radio data. In L675 we find a flat spectrum compact
radio counterpart to the 850 micron emission seen with SCUBA and suggest that
it is cm-wave emission from a previously unknown deeply embedded young
protostar. In the case of L1246 the cm-wave emission is spatially correlated
with 8 micron emission seen with Spitzer. Since the MIR emission is present
only in Spitzer band 4 we suggest that it arises from a population of PAH
molecules, which also give rise to the cm-wave emission through spinning dust
emission.Comment: accepted MNRA
AMI observations of unmatched Planck ERCSC LFI sources at 15.75 GHz
The Planck Early Release Compact Source Catalogue includes 26 sources with no
obvious matches in other radio catalogues (of primarily extragalactic sources).
Here we present observations made with the Arcminute Microkelvin Imager Small
Array (AMI SA) at 15.75 GHz of the eight of the unmatched sources at
declination > +10 degrees. Of the eight, four are detected and are associated
with known objects. The other four are not detected with the AMI SA, and are
thought to be spurious.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures, 4 table
Follow-up observations at 16 and 33 GHz of extragalactic sources from WMAP 3-year data: I - Spectral properties
We present follow-up observations of 97 point sources from the Wilkinson
Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) 3-year data, contained within the New
Extragalactic WMAP Point Source (NEWPS) catalogue between declinations of -4
and +60 degrees; the sources form a flux-density-limited sample complete to 1.1
Jy (approximately 5 sigma) at 33 GHz. Our observations were made at 16 GHz
using the Arcminute Microkelvin Imager (AMI) and at 33 GHz with the Very Small
Array (VSA). 94 of the sources have reliable, simultaneous -- typically a few
minutes apart -- observations with both telescopes. The spectra between 13.9
and 33.75 GHz are very different from those of bright sources at low frequency:
44 per cent have rising spectra (alpha < 0.0), where flux density is
proportional to frequency^-alpha, and 93 per cent have spectra with alpha <
0.5; the median spectral index is 0.04. For the brighter sources, the agreement
between VSA and WMAP 33-GHz flux densities averaged over sources is very good.
However, for the fainter sources, the VSA tends to measure lower values for the
flux densities than WMAP. We suggest that the main cause of this effect is
Eddington bias arising from variability.Comment: 12 pages, 13 figures, submitted to MNRA
Parameterization Effects in the analysis of AMI Sunyaev-Zel'dovich Observations
Most Sunyaev--Zel'dovich (SZ) and X-ray analyses of galaxy clusters try to
constrain the cluster total mass and/or gas mass using parameterised models and
assumptions of spherical symmetry and hydrostatic equilibrium. By numerically
exploring the probability distributions of the cluster parameters given the
simulated interferometric SZ data in the context of Bayesian methods, and
assuming a beta-model for the electron number density we investigate the
capability of this model and analysis to return the simulated cluster input
quantities via three rameterisations. In parameterisation I we assume that the
T is an input parameter. We find that parameterisation I can hardly constrain
the cluster parameters. We then investigate parameterisations II and III in
which fg(r200) replaces temperature as a main variable. In parameterisation II
we relate M_T(r200) and T assuming hydrostatic equilibrium. We find that
parameterisation II can constrain the cluster physical parameters but the
temperature estimate is biased low. In parameterisation III, the virial theorem
replaces the hydrostatic equilibrium assumption. We find that parameterisation
III results in unbiased estimates of the cluster properties. We generate a
second simulated cluster using a generalised NFW (GNFW) pressure profile and
analyse it with an entropy based model to take into account the temperature
gradient in our analysis and improve the cluster gas density distribution. This
model also constrains the cluster physical parameters and the results show a
radial decline in the gas temperature as expected. The mean cluster total mass
estimates are also within 1 sigma from the simulated cluster true values.
However, we find that for at least interferometric SZ analysis in practice at
the present time, there is no differences in the AMI visibilities between the
two models. This may of course change as the instruments improve.Comment: 19 pages, 13 tables, 24 figure
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