The Pericope of the Adulteress (John 7:53–8:11)

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The Biblical Odes and the Text of the Christian Bible : A Reconsideration of the Impact of Liturgical Singing on the Transmission of the Gospel of Luke

Sung in Christian liturgies from the earliest period, biblical Odes—a set of songs excerpted from the biblical and apocryphal books—were central to emerging Christian practices and texts, yet their significance as textual witnesses has rarely been studied. Overlooked by text critics and editors, the Odes have largely been omitted from contemporary critical editions of the biblical books, including the very recent twenty-eighth edition of the Nestle-Aland Novum Testamentum Graece. This analysis suggests, however, that the liturgical setting of the Odes had a double impact: whereas some of the readings probably do reflect liturgical adaptation, public performance could also set limits on how much these texts could change. Comparison of the biblical Odes as they appear in the great fifth-century majuscule Codex Alexandrinus, both in their place among the Odes and within their appropriate biblical book, demonstates that these songs are in fact a valuable textual resource, a conclusion that is further confirmed by an examination of the textual and paratextual features of early Odes manuscripts. A more focused study of the Song of Mary offers additional support to the hypothesis: this song remained remarkably fixed even as Odes traditions and collections remained unsettled. As this study shows, interactions between oral and written forms of transmission are complex and thus no textual witness can be dismissed solely on the basis of its liturgical setting

Response of benthic communities to trawling cessation in the German Bight (North Sea, 2003-2004)

Makrozoobenthos of soft-bottom benthic communiy was collected by van-Veen grabs and beam trawls to sample the infauna and epifauna. Samples were collected between 2003 and 2004 in spring, summer and autumn each year. Benthic data were collected in the North Sea, German Bight off the East Frisian Coast. Benthic community was evaluated for potential changes after cessation of bottom trawling. In July 2003, the research platform FINO 1 was built as a pilot project for future offshore wind farms. The platform is located at 28 m water depth in the German Bight, 45 km off the Island Borkum. The surroundings of the platform (500 m radius) are closed for all shipping activities (except scientific activities) and are thus protected from trawling activities. Two zones beyond the 500 m radius, 9 km apart from the protected area in north-western and eastern direction were chosen as reference sites. Sampling follwed a BACI-design (before-after-control-impact), i.e. comparing the protected area to the further trawled areas. In both areas, protected and trawled area, sampling of the benthic community was carried out with “RV Heincke” during 2 periods. The first sampling period, defined as “pre-closure”, includes two sampling campaigns: one campaign 3 months before and one campaign 2 weeks after fishery closure of protected area (March/April and July/August 2003). “Post-closure” sampling was also carried out in two campaigns: one campaign in July/August and one campaign in September/October 2004, i.e. 12-14 months after fishery closure of protected area. Data for each campaign comprise different stations in the area, sampled by grab samples (infauna) and beam trawl samples (epifauna). Biodiversity data of species include abundance (count data) and biomass (wet mass, g) per sample, as well as sediment grain sizes, organic carbon, total carbon, nitrogen and sulfur content as accompanying environmental data

Prevalence of CCHF Virus in Ticks and People and Public Awareness in Zhambyl Region, Kazakhstan

ObjectiveAs part of CDC’s Global Disease Detection work, in conjunction with Zhambyl Region Department of Health, we conducted a tick survey and human seroprevalence Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices (KAP) survey of livestock-owning households in Zhambyl to assess CCHF seroprevalence and risk factors.IntroductionCrimean Congo Hemorrhagic Fever (CCHF) virus is a tick-borne pathogen that causes severe disease in people, with a distribution that extends from central Asia to southern Africa. In addition to tick bites, contact with bodily fluids from viremic livestock or from symptomatic humans are risk factors for infection. From 2000 to 2013, 73 cases of CCHF were reported in Zhambyl Region, Kazakhstan. CCHF virus is categorized as an “especially dangerous pathogen” in Kazakhstan and CCHF is prioritized for surveillance and treatment. Little is known about the seroprevalence of infection by CCHF virus in Zhambyl in ticks or people, and knowledge of risk factors for transmission of CCHF virus among at-risk populations is believed to be low.MethodsRural villages were classified as “endemic” or “non-endemic”, where endemic areas reported ≥1 CCHF case or a CCHF virus-positive tick in the past 5 years. In each group, 15 villages were chosen by population proportional to livestock population size. Livestock-owning households (n=969) were selected randomly from veterinary registries. One adult was randomly selected per house and ticks were collected from one randomly selected sheep or cow over 1 year of age per house. Data were weighted accounting for design and analyzed in R.ResultsKAP surveys were completed for 950 people (98%); of those, 923 (97%) submitted blood for ELISA testing using Vector-Best Kits. Median age of human respondents was 46 years (range: 19 – 90); 54% were male. Three individuals were anti-CCHF IgM positive, 12 anti-CCHF IgG positive and two positive for both. Weighted seroprevalence of CCHF in Zhambyl was 1.6% (95% CI: 0.9, 3.0). In endemic villages, seroprevalence was 1.8% (95% CI: 1.0, 3.0), compared to 1.2% (95% CI: 0.4, 4.0) in non-endemic villages. Of the 17 seropositive for CCHF, median age was 54 years; 58% were male. None reported previous CCHF diagnosis or illness with fever and hemorrhaging in the past five years. None reported high-risk tick exposure in the past four months. Controlling for age and sex, milking animals, an activity in which 40.3% of the population had engaged, was associated with infection in Poisson regression (OR: 2.53, 95% CI: 1.27, 4.81). Of respondents who had heard of CCHF (n=791), 99.8% knew transmission was caused by a tick bite; few identified contact with animal blood (8.2%) or tick crushing (20.8%) as potential causes. Of the five seropositive by IgM, four participated in at least one of the following activities in the last four months: milking (n=3), birthing (n=2), shearing and slaughtering (n=1). One reported experiencing an illness with joint pain within the past four months. Three were from non-endemic villages.Entomologists inspected 465 cows and 528 sheep for ticks. Ticks were found on 61.5% (95% CI: 48.1, 73.2) of cows (n=254) and 46.3% (95% CI: 24.3, 69.8) of sheep (n=264). Ticks were grouped into pools by animal source and species. Over ninety-seven percent of the tick pools were from the family Ixoidadae, with the remaining from family Argasidae. The genus Hyalomma accounted for 65.8% of tick pools, Rhipicephalus for 31.8%, Ornithodoros for 2.4%, and Argas for 0.5%. Pools contained an average of 4.5 ticks (range: 1 – 26). Ticks were stored live at 4°C for up to 24 hours before being crushed and extracts tested for CCHF virus by PCR and Antigen testing. Of the 155 pools tested, seven (2.4%, 95% CI: 1.1, 5.0) were positive for CCHF virus by either PCR (n=5) and/or antigen testing (n=4). A CCHF virus-positive tick was found on 1.4% (95% CI: 0.4, 4.8) of all sheep and 4.8% (95% CI: 2.3, 10.0) of all cows. All CCHF virus-positive ticks were hard ticks of family Ixodidae, belonging to either genus Hyalomma (n=5) or Rhipicephalus (n=2). Two pools were from non-endemic villages.ConclusionsPresence of CCHF virus-positive ticks and CCHF-seropositive humans in non-endemic areas may suggest a wider range of virus circulation. These findings will be used to inform and target public health messaging

Vaccine Preventable Zoonotic Diseases: Challenges and Opportunities for Public Health Progress

Zoonotic diseases represent a heavy global burden, causing important economic losses, impacting animal health and production, and costing millions of human lives. The vaccination of animals and humans to prevent inter-species zoonotic disease transmission is an important intervention. However, efforts to develop and implement vaccine interventions to reduce zoonotic disease impacts are often limited to the veterinary and agricultural sectors and do not reflect the shared burden of disease. Multisectoral collaboration, including co-development opportunities for human and animal vaccines, expanding vaccine use to include animal reservoirs such as wildlife, and strategically using vaccines to interrupt complex transmission cycles is needed. Addressing zoonoses requires a multi-faceted One Health approach, wherein vaccinating people and animals plays a critical role

Trophic look at soft-bottom communities — Short-term effects of trawling cessation on benthos

The trophic structure of the German Bight soft-bottom benthic community was evaluated for potential changes after cessation of bottom trawling. Species were collected with van-Veen grabs and beam trawls. Trophic position (i.e. nitrogen stable isotope ratios, δ15N) and energy flow (i.e. species metabolism approximated by body mass scaled abundance) of dominant species were compared in trawled areas and an area protected from fisheries for 14 months in order to detect trawling cessation effects by trophic characteristics. At the community level, energy flow was lower in the protected area, but we were unable to detect significant changes in trophic position. At the species level energy flow in the protected area was lower for predating/scavenging species but higher for interface feeders. Species trophic positions of small predators/scavengers were lower and of deposit feeders higher in the protected area. Major reasons for trophic changes after trawling cessation may be the absence of artificial and additional food sources from trawling likely to attract predators and scavengers, and the absence of physical sediment disturbance impacting settlement/survival of less mobile species and causing a gradual shift in food availability and quality. Our results provide evidence that species or community energy flow is a good indicator to detect trawling induced energy-flow alterations in the benthic system, and that in particular species trophic properties are suitable to capture subtle and short-term changes in the benthos following trawling cessation