The Easter texts of the New Testament: their tradition, redaction and theology - with particular reference to the synoptic Gospels and 1 Corinthians 15

In Section I: The Easter Texts and Historical Criticism, we discuss the methodological question of the place of historical criticism for our investigation. Clarifying the positive and negative relationship of historical criticism to theological understanding, we assume that historical criticism is to be used both to trace and observe the process of the traditions which precede the texts, and to investigate the texts themselves in order to understand the evangelists' intentions, rather than to make the abortive attempt simply to harmonize chronologically the accounts of the Easter texts which contradict one another on major points, e.g. the locality of the appearances. The question of the relation of historical criticism to theological understanding is resumed in the concluding chapter where we attempt again to explicate the problem more extensively in view of the logical structure of understanding'.Section II: A Study of Pauline Easter Texts, consists of two chapters. Here, we attempt first to obtain a clue to solving the question how the unusual experience which was vouchsafed to Paul, whose Sitz im Leben was different in many ways from those of the first disciples, could lead to the certainty that Jesus had been raised, and then secondly we examine the text of 1 Cor 15.3ff., using the methods of form-criticism and tradition history. Problems of the difference between the christology of Paul and of the Corinthians are also dealt with and an attempt is made to explicate that, so far as 1 Cor 15.3ff. is concerned, for Paul the Easter event meant an eschatological expectation, which, though it had already been fulfilled in Jesus' case, yet for the believer remains an expectation, in which one can participate by hope alone. At the end of this section, we also, to a limited extent, try to view Paul's contribution to the theology of resurrection, which in his epistles follows two lines, viz. the dogmatic and the empirical.In Section III, we turn our attention to the Easter texts in the synoptic gospels, and this section consists of three chapters:In chapter 4, on the Markan texts, our main concern focusses on two points, that is, the empty tomb tradition and the significance of the Easter texts especially in view of redaction history. We attempt to show the apologetic and the theological interests in the empty tomb stories in the synoptic gospels and also attempt to examine Mark's interpretation of the Easter tradition which is orientated towards and conditioned by the redactor's own theological assertion, viz. "the miraculous being of Jesus".Chapter 5 deals with the Matthean Easter texts. In this chapter, we try to examine the appearance story, especially in regard to the discrepancy between the appearance stories in 1 Corinthians and in the gospel narratives. Then, we investigate the texts, their tradition and redaction history and thereby we come to the understanding of how emphatically the mission motif is accentuated in the Matthean texts.Finally, the Lulcan Easter texts are dealt with in chapter 6. Together with form critical study, and adopting the same methodology as we used in the preceding chapters, viz. tradition and redaction history, we again attempt to clarify how the redactor's theological positions and ideas, e.g. the sacred history, iii are evidently effective in the evangelist's interpretation of the tradition. Our concern in this chapter is also directed towards the two ascension accounts, viz. Lk 24.50-53 aad Acts 1.9-11. In this connection, although this study is limited to the investigation of the Easter texts of the Synoptic Gospels and 1 Corinthians 15, we attempt to clarify the distinctive contribution of the fourth evangelist to the Easter tradition.We conclude our study of the Easter texts of the New Testament by the attempt to restate the main thread of our theme, summarising and analysing the results of our investigation and examining them from the hermeneutical point of view. Some suggestions for the task of translation of the Easter texts into contemporary idioms bring the thesis to a conclusion

Suzaku Observation of the Anomalous X-ray Pulsar 1E 1841-045

We report the results of a Suzaku observation of the anomalous X-ray pulsar (AXP) 1E 1841-045 at a center of the supernova remnant Kes 73. We confirmed that the energy-dependent spectral models obtained by the previous separate observations were also satisfied over a wide energy range from 0.4 to ~70 keV, simultaneously. Here, the models below ~10 keV were a combination of blackbody (BB) and power-law (PL) functions or of two BBs wit h different temperatures at 0.6 - 7.0 keV (Morii et al. 2003), and that above ~20 keV was a PL function (Kuiper Hermsen Mendez 2004). The combination BB + PL + PL was found to best represent the phase-averaged spectrum. Phase-resolved spectroscopy indicated the existence of two emission regions, one with a thermal and the other with a non-thermal nature. The combination BB + BB + PL was also found to represent the phase-averaged spectrum well. However, we found that this model is physically unacceptable due to an excessively large area of the emission region of the blackbody. Nonetheless, we found that the temperatures and radii of the two blackbody components showed moderate correlations in the phase-resolved spectra. The fact that the same correlations have been observed between the phase-averaged spectra of various magnetars (Nakagawa et al. 2009) suggests that a self-similar function can approximate the intrinsic energy spectra of magnetars below ~10 keV.Comment: Accepted for publication in the PAS

FEDSM2006-98306 NUMERICAL SIMULATION OF A CONTAMINATED DROPLET BY FRONT-TRACKING METHOD TAKING THE EFFECT OF SURFACTANT TRANSPORT ON THE INTERFACE

ABSTRACT In this study, a front-tracking (FT) method combined with a solver of interfacial transport of surfactant was proposed in order to resolve interfacial flows affected by contamination. In the FT method, because the interfaces are presented explicitly, advection-diffusion equation on the interface can be easily treated and can be solved highly accurately. In this study, a scheme which conserves the total amount of surfactant completely was constructed. Numerical simulations of a water drop sinking in silicone oil were performed taking the Marangoni effect into account. The effects of three parameters, a damping coefficient of interfacial tension, a diffusion coefficient and a total amount of surfactant, were evaluated. Calculated results were compared with PTV measurement results and were in very good agreement with them on the points of stagnant cap size, flow separation point, peak of shear stress and so on. So, we can expect that our simulations can estimate the conditions of surfactant on the interfaces, which is very difficult to be measured

Rapid Screening of Antigenically Reactive Fragments of asi-Casein Using HPLC and ELISA

Screening of antigenically reactive fragments of aSi-casein (asx-CN), the major casein in bovine milk, was done by using HPLC and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). BALB/c mice (6-week-old) were injected intraperitoneally with aSi-CN and complete Freund's adjuvant, and 14 days later, all the mice were boosted with as^CN and incomplete Freund's adjuvant. Twenty-one days after the 1st immunization, the mice were bled and antiserum was separated. Anti as^CN antibody fraction was obtained by precipitation from the antiserum with 50% saturated ammonium sulfate. aSi-CN was digested with trypsin and chymotrypsin, and 35 peptides were purified from the digests by reversed-phase HPLC with ODS (octadecylsilica) columns. Reactivity of peptides with the antibody were examined by ELISA. The solid phase in the wells of the polystyrene microtiter plate was coated with peptides, and the plate was successively incubated with anti aSj-CN antibody, conjugate of anti mouse immunoglobulin with alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and substrate of ALP. Two tryptic fragments (the residues 104-119 and 133-151) and three chymotryptic fragments (33-54, 105-121, and 174-199) were positive in an ELISA test. These five fragments would correspond to four antigenic sites. We could thus find antigenically reactive fragments of aSj-CN by the direct and simple detection of specific antigen-antibody interaction

Leiomyosarcoma of the vulva: a case report

Sarcomas represent only 1% to 3% of vulvar malignancies. Leiomyosarcoma is a rare malignant tumor of the vulva; it can be mistaken for a benign tumor, which can lead to misdiagnosis and incorrect or delayed treatment. We report the case of a 51-year-old woman with leiomyosarcoma of the vulva. The patient presented to her primary gynecologist with a vulvar mass that she had first noticed 20 years prior. The tumor was suspected to be aggressive angiomyxoma, and biopsy of the mass and treatment with gonadotrophin-releasing hormone agonist (GnRHa) therapy were recommended. The patient declined treatment and opted instead for observation; however, the tumor grew rapidly in the following year and the patient was referred to our hospital. She underwent tumor resection, and pathology revealed leiomyosarcoma. The patient declined adjuvant chemo- and radiotherapy but has had no recurrence for 32 months

Spectral evolution of GRB 060904A observed with Swift and Suzaku -- Possibility of Inefficient Electron Acceleration

We observed an X-ray afterglow of GRB 060904A with the Swift and Suzaku satellites. We found rapid spectral softening during both the prompt tail phase and the decline phase of an X-ray flare in the BAT and XRT data. The observed spectra were fit by power-law photon indices which rapidly changed from $\Gamma = 1.51^{+0.04}_{-0.03}$ to $\Gamma = 5.30^{+0.69}_{-0.59}$ within a few hundred seconds in the prompt tail. This is one of the steepest X-ray spectra ever observed, making it quite difficult to explain by simple electron acceleration and synchrotron radiation. Then, we applied an alternative spectral fitting using a broken power-law with exponential cutoff (BPEC) model. It is valid to consider the situation that the cutoff energy is equivalent to the synchrotron frequency of the maximum energy electrons in their energy distribution. Since the spectral cutoff appears in the soft X-ray band, we conclude the electron acceleration has been inefficient in the internal shocks of GRB 060904A. These cutoff spectra suddenly disappeared at the transition time from the prompt tail phase to the shallow decay one. After that, typical afterglow spectra with the photon indices of 2.0 are continuously and preciously monitored by both XRT and Suzaku/XIS up to 1 day since the burst trigger time. We could successfully trace the temporal history of two characteristic break energies (peak energy and cutoff energy) and they show the time dependence of $\propto t^{-3} \sim t^{-4}$ while the following afterglow spectra are quite stable. This fact indicates that the emitting material of prompt tail is due to completely different dynamics from the shallow decay component. Therefore we conclude the emission sites of two distinct phenomena obviously differ from each other.Comment: 19 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication in PASJ (Suzaku 2nd Special Issue

Reviewing E(sub peak) Relations with Swift and Suzaku Data

In recent years several authors have derived correlations between gamma-ray burst (GRB) spectral peak energy (E(sub peak)) and either isotropic-equivalent radiated energy (E(sub iso)) or peak luminosity (L(sub iso)). Since these relationships are controversial, but could provide redshift estimators, it is important to determine whether bursts detected by Swift exhibit the same correlations. Swift has greatly added to the number of GRBs for which redshifts are known and hence E(sub iso) and L(sub iso) could be calculated. However, for most bursts it is not possible to adequately constrain E(sub peak) with Swift data alone since most GRBs have E(sub peak) above the energy range (15-50 keV) of the Swift Burst Alert Telescope (BAT). Therefore we have analyzed the spectra of 78 bursts (31 with redshift) which were detected by both Swift/BAT and the Suzaku Wide-band All-sky Monitor (WAM), which covers the energy range 50-5000 keV. For most bursts in this sample we can precisely determine E(sub peak) and for bursts with known redshift we can compare how the E(sub peak) relations for the Swift/Suzaku sample compare to earlier published results. Keywords: gamma rays: burst

An Optically Dark GRB Observed by HETE-2: GRB 051022

GRB 051022 was detected at 13:07:58 on 22 October 2005 by HETE-2. The location of GRB 051022 was determined immediately by the flight localization system. This burst contains multiple pulses and has a rather long duration of about 190 seconds. The detections of candidate X-ray and radio afterglows were reported, whereas no optical afterglow was found. The optical spectroscopic observations of the host galaxy revealed the redshift z = 0.8. Using the data derived by HETE-2 observation of the prompt emission, we found the absorption N_H = 8.8 -2.9/+3.1 x 10^22 cm^-2 and the visual extinction A_V = 49 -16/+17 mag in the host galaxy. If this is the case, no detection of any optical transient would be quite reasonable. The absorption derived by the Swift XRT observations of the afterglow is fully consistent with those obtained from the early HETE-2 observation of the prompt emission. Our analysis implies an interpretation that the absorbing medium could be outside external shock at R ~ 10^16 cm, which may be a dusty molecular cloud.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures, accepted for publication in PASJ lette

Protein kinase C-δ signaling regulates glucagon secretion from pancreatic islets

Accumulating evidence supports the “glucagonocentric hypothesis”, in which antecedent α-cell failure and inhibition of glucagon secretion are responsible for diabetes progression. Protein kinase C (PKC) is involved in glucagon secretion from α-cells, although which PKC isozyme is involved and the mechanism underlying this PKC-regulated glucagon secretion remains unknown. Here, the involvement of PKCδ in the onset and progression of diabetes was elucidated. Immunofluorescence studies revealed that PKCδ was expressed and activated in α-cells of STZ-induced diabetic model mice. Phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) stimulation significantly augmented glucagon secretion from isolated islets. Pre-treatment with quercetin and rottlerin, PKCδ signaling inhibitors, significantly suppressed the PMA-induced elevation of glucagon secretion. While Go6976, a Ca2+ - dependent PKC selective inhibitor did not suppress glucagon secretion. Quercetin suppressed PMA-induced phosphorylation of Tyr311 of PKCδ in isolated islets. However, quercetin itself had no effect on either glucagon secretion or glucagon mRNA expression. Our data suggest that PKCδ signaling inhibitors suppressed glucagon secretion. Elucidation of detailed signaling pathways causing PKCδ activation in the onset and progression of diabetes followed by the augmentation of glucagon secretion could lead to the identification of novel therapeutic target molecules and the development of novel therapeutic drugs for diabetes