The Greek Word Porneia in the Matthean Exception Clauses

Matthew 5:32 and 19:9 present an interesting exegetical discussion concerning the acceptability and permissibility of divorce. These verses provoke interest because of their inclusion of an exception clause seemingly allowing for a permissible divorce. The verses state the unlawfulness of divorce “except in the case of porneia.” Porneia is the word around which this discussion revolves and its meaning differs vastly depending upon the interpreter. The word is interpreted specifically as adultery during the betrothal period and also as sexual promiscuity and immorality on the other. This thesis explains both views and then seeks to offer all relevant evidence by exploring context, background, lexical meaning, tradition, and the various uses of the word in the New Testament and Septuagint

Prevalence of inclusion body disease and associated comorbidity in captive collections of boid and pythonid snakes in Belgium

Inclusion body disease (IBD) is caused by reptarenaviruses and constitutes one of the most notorious viral diseases in snakes. Although central nervous system disease and various other clinical signs have been attributed to IBD in boid and pythonid snakes, studies that unambiguously reveal the clinical course of natural IBD and reptarenavirus infection are scarce. In the present study, the prevalence of IBD and reptarenaviruses in captive snake collections and the correlation of IBD and reptarenavirus infection with the clinical status of the sampled snakes were investigated. In three IBD positive collections, long-term follow-up during a three- to seven-year period was performed. A total of 292 snakes (178 boas and 114 pythons) from 40 collections in Belgium were sampled. In each snake, blood and buffy coat smears were evaluated for the presence of IBD inclusion bodies (IB) and whole blood was tested for reptarenavirus RNA by RT-PCR. Of all tested snakes, 16.5% (48/292) were positive for IBD of which all were boa constrictors (34.0%; 48/141) and 17.1% (50/292) were reptarenavirus RT-PCR positive. The presence of IB could not be demonstrated in any of the tested pythons, while 5.3% (6/114) were reptarenavirus positive. In contrast to pythons, the presence of IB in peripheral blood cells in boa constrictors is strongly correlated with reptarenavirus detection by RT-PCR (P<0.0001). Although boa constrictors often show persistent subclinical infection, long-term follow-up indicated that a considerable number (22.2%; 6/27) of IBD/reptarenavirus positive boas eventually develop IBD associated comorbidities

Media Worlds As A Pedagogical Challenge

Rezension zu: Friederike von Gross, Dorothee M. Meister und Uwe Sander, Hrsg. Medienpädagogik – ein Überblick. Weinheim und Basel: Beltz Juventa, 201

Assured bacterial detection towards paper-based microfluidic chip for resource-limited areas

There is a significant and urgent need for affordable, fast, and accurate pathogen detection methods in resource-limited settings. Currently, accurate pathogen detection methods are dependent upon special equipment or reagents, specialized training to operate such equipment, electricity or cold storage, or sterile environments not feasible outside of the laboratory. Here we present a functionalized cellulose paper device towards an autonomous 3- dimensional microfluidics chip to detect bacterial pathogens. The microfluidic device utilizes a nucleic acid sandwich assay that detects the presence of bacterial RNA through complementary strand binding. An oligonucleotide “capture strand” immobilizes the targeted RNA sequence to the device, while a “detection strand” produces a visible colorimetric change due to gold nanoparticle conglomeration. A smart phone application and camera quantifies the concentration of the bacterial RNA present in the sample. This detection method can determine concentrations in the lower limits of the femtomolar range. The microfluidic device was fabricated using wax printing on cellulose filter paper, which was then folded into a final 3-D configuration. The simplicity and specificity of this paper-based assay was verified by the detection of E. Coli target oligonucleotide

Adhesion tunes speed and persistence by coordinating protrusions and extracellular matrix remodeling.

Cell migration through 3D environments is essential to development, disease, and regeneration processes. Conceptual models of migration have been developed primarily on the basis of 2D cell behaviors, but a general understanding of 3D cell migration is still lacking due to the added complexity of the extracellular matrix. Here, using a multiplexed biophysical imaging approach for single-cell analysis of human cell lines, we show how the subprocesses of adhesion, contractility, actin cytoskeletal dynamics, and matrix remodeling integrate to produce heterogeneous migration behaviors. This single-cell analysis identifies three modes of cell speed and persistence coupling, driven by distinct modes of coordination between matrix remodeling and protrusive activity. The framework that emerges establishes a predictive model linking cell trajectories to distinct subprocess coordination states

Iron single crystal growth from a lithium-rich melt

\alpha-Fe single crystals of rhombic dodecahedral habit were grown from a melt of Li$_{84}$N$_{12}$Fe$_{\sim 3}$. Crystals of several millimeter along a side form at temperatures around $T \approx 800^\circ$C. Upon further cooling the growth competes with the formation of Fe-doped Li$_3$N. The b.c.c. structure and good sample quality of \alpha-Fe single crystals were confirmed by X-ray and electron diffraction as well as magnetization measurements and chemical analysis. A nitrogen concentration of 90\,ppm was detected by means of carrier gas hot extraction. Scanning electron microscopy did not reveal any sign of iron nitride precipitates.Comment: 13 pages, 4 figure

Interaction of N with White-solidified Cast Iron Model Alloys: The Effect of Mn and Cu on the Formation of Fe and Si Nitrides

Surface remelting and subsequent nitriding improves the surface properties of cast irons. Upon remelting, a white-solidified surface layer forms, which contains coarse Si-free eutectic cementite (θ) and Si-enriched ferrite, pearlite or martensite in the intercarbidic regions between the eutectic θ. Nitriding produces a compound layer at the surface, which is composed of ε and γ’-iron (carbo)nitrides and enhances the corrosion resistance. Nitriding of white-solidified Fe-C-Si alloys, being model materials for remelted low-alloy ferritic cast irons, has shown that Si dissolved in α-Fe notably affects the formation of ε and γ’ in intercarbidic regions while Si simultaneously precipitates as amorphous nitride, X. Under process conditions only allowing for the formation of γ’ in pure Fe, Si dissolved in α-Fe promotes the formation of ε over the formation γ’, whereas Si-free eutectic θ transforms into nitride following the sequence θ → ε → γ’. The present work studies the nitriding of white-solidified Fe-3.5wt.%C-3wt.%-M alloys with additions of M = 1 wt.% Mn, 1 wt.% Cu or 1 wt.% Mn + 1 wt.% Cu, serving as model materials for remelted pearlitic cast irons. The presence of Mn and/or Cu causes notable deviations from the nitriding behavior known from Fe-C-Si alloys. Mn accelerates the precipitation of X in intercarbidic regions and obstructs the transformation of ε formed from Si-free θ into γ’. Cu promotes the formation of γ’ in Si-rich intercarbidic regions, surpassing the ε-promoting effect of Si

Heavy-Quark Form Factors and Threshold Cross Section at O(\alpha_S^2)

During the last year, analytic expressions for the two-loop QCD corrections to the form factors for the vector, axial-vector, scalar and pseudo-scalar vertices involving a pair of heavy quarks, $Q \bar{Q}$, were calculated. The results are valid for arbitrary momentum transfer and mass of the heavy quarks. These form factors have a number of applications, including anomalous couplings, the $e^{+}e^{-} \to Q \bar Q$ cross section, and the forward-backward asymmetry of heavy quarks. Here the $Q {\bar Q}$ threshold cross section is presented with some new second order axial vector contributions.Comment: 5 pages. Presented at the International Europhysics Conference on High Energy Physics (HEP2005), July 21-27 2005, Lisboa, Portuga