ἌΦΕΣΙΣ in the New Testament and Its Suggested Links to the Biblical Jubilee

This study responds to the claims that the term ἄφεσις (usually translated “forgiveness”) should be understood in light of the biblical Jubilee. The study commences with a brief survey of the word's use in the Septuagint and Classical Greek literature, alongwith the related verb ἀφίημι. It then examines each use of ἄφεσις in the New Testament. Texts in Matthew, Mark, Luke-Acts, Paul's writings and Hebrews are examined, with a particular focus on Lucan texts (since these contain the majority of the occurrences of the word). The study concludes that the verb ἀφίημι was never explicitly connected to the Jubilee in the Septuagint, so there is no reason to view the word in this light in the New Testament. The study also concludes that even though the term ἄφεσις had Jubilee connotations at the time the Septuagint was written, there was significant semantic development such that by the time of the New Testament, the word had a distinct and unambiguous meaning, centred on the forgiveness of sins and unrelated to the Jubilee

Fungal inoculum properties : Extracellular enzyme expression and pentachlorophenol removal by New Zealand Trametes species in contaminated field soils

This study was conducted to improve the ability of indigenous New Zealand white-rot fungi to remove pentachlorophenol (PCP) from contaminated field soil. The effects of different bioaugmentation conditions on PCP removal and extracellular enzyme expression were measured in the laboratory. The conditions were fungal growth substrate and co-substrate composition, culture age, and Tween 80 addition to the contaminated soil. The fungi used were Trametes versicolor isolate HR131 and Trametes sp. isolate HR577. Maximum PCP removal was 70% after 7 wk from a 1043 mg kg⁻¹ PCP-contaminated soil inoculated with an 11-d-old fungal culture of T. versicolor isolate HR131. There was minimal production of undesirable pentachloroanisole by the fungi. Tween 80 addition had no affect on PCP removal. Poplar sawdust was more suitable as a fungal growth substrate and a co-substrate amendment for PCP removal and extracellular enzyme expression than the locally available pine and fir sawdust. Pentachlorophenol removal was not necessarily correlated with extracellular enzyme expression. The research results demonstrate that PCP biodegradation was affected by inoculum culture age, by the presence of a co-substrate amendment, and by growth substrate composition after white-rot fungal bioaugmentation into PCP-contaminated field soils