Rejection Realized: Saul, the Evil Spirit and the Loss of Kingship

In conversation with tragic readings of Saul’s career, the present article attempts to outline a parallel between the presentation and role of the spirit of YHWH and the evil spirit which afflicts Saul in 1 Samuel. By highlighting the parallel between the two spirits, the following argument suggests that they fulfil similar roles in confirming election and rejection respectively and either empowering or debilitating their recipients. The suggestion is that this analogy offers an appropriate way to understand the wider presentation of the evil spirit which afflicts Saul and has important implications for how we think about Saul’s rejection and his presentation more broadly

Troubling contexts: toward a generative theory of rurality as education research

The author suggests that rurality as a signifier is transformative, capable of changing behaviour and affecting the motivation of teachers, community workers, and learners. Research from the Rural Teacher Education Project in South Africa, which informs our argument in this article, demonstrates that the very generative and transformative nature of rurality serves both to inform but also to delimit the effectiveness of intervention programs designed, often with the best of intentions in mind, for education, health care, job creation, and poverty alleviation. This article asserts that a theory of rurality needs to take account of contemporary theories of globalization and society, drawing from the sociological as well as the postcolonial accounts of identity and environment. What emerges in this article is what we have termed a 'generative theory of rurality,' in which the dynamic interaction between variables allows for both a descriptive and an analytical framework for data emanating from, and located within, research in rural areas.

Blended learning, and Open and Distance Learning: implications for the best practice in higher education

The provision of higher education in South Africa and in many parts of the world is challenged by the enrolment of large numbers of students, many of whom cannot attend classes or afford conventional face-to-face tuition. This has forced institutions of higher education to resort to various forms of non-traditional teaching and learning, among others, open distance learning and blended learning. In South Africa, as elsewhere, official government policy provides for approaches that make extensive use of teaching technologies. This article highlights two problems in connection with blended learning as such and attempts to address both. The first is the fact that, in view of the dynamic and fluid nature of the field, ‘blended learning’ cannot be defined conclusively, and the other is that ‘best practice’ has not been examined in connection with blended learning. After offering a working definition of blended learning, the authors unpack what they think has to be discovered in an effort to describe best practice in blended learning. The discussion forms the background for the findings regarding best practice in open distance learning and blended learning proffered in the ten research articles in this journal. In the process, authors outline certain implications of distance learning and blended learning for the practice of higher education

Herpes Zoster oftálmico e posterior acidente vascular cerebral: relato de caso

Um caso de acidente vascular cerebral (AVC) 14 semanas após a instalação de herpes zoster oftálmico (HZO) é apresentado. A tomografia computadorizada craniana documentou comprometimento em território de artéria cerebral média ipsilateral ao HZO. O diagnóstico de probabilidade é o de arterite por herpes zoster com posterior trombose. Os autores reviram a literatura e enfatizam o longo intervalo entre o HZO e a instalação da hemiplegia. Citam as novas drogas antivirais que tornam esta causa de AVC potencialmente passível de ser prevenida

Re-thinking the transformation of organics: the role of the UK Government in shaping British organic food and farming

The focus of international scholarship on the contemporary transformation of organic food and farming has been a rather narrow preoccupation with the ‘conventionalisation thesis’ that describes a process whereby the structure and ideology of the expanding organic sector is seen increasingly to resemble that of the conventional food and farming sector that it has traditionally opposed. This study seeks to contribute to this literature by examining the role of the UK government in shaping the British organic sector since 1980, when it first began to engage seriously with organic farming. It draws on the analysis of a wide range of government and organic movement publications for the period 1980–2006, as well as a programme of semi-structured interviews with key organic policy actors during this time frame. By analysing the way in which the UK government has discursively constructed three separate story-lines about organics, this study argues that the effects of government action on British organic food and farming are best described as a process of containment. Further, it posits the need to move on from the rather reductionist focus offered by the conventionalisation thesis to more nuanced approaches to the transformation of contemporary food and farming that account for different geographical contexts, and the particular roles of different actors actively constructing what ‘organics’ is

Herpes zoster and its neurological complications.

Ninety-three Chinese patients with cutaneous herpes zoster were seen during a 4-year period. Thoracic zoster occurred most commonly, followed by ophthalmic, cervical and lumbosacral zoster. Neurological complications were present in eleven patients (11.8%), the commonest being Ramsay-Hunt syndrome and segmental limb paresis. The clinical picture, pathogenesis, treatment and outcome of segmental limb paresis, myelitis and delayed contralateral hemiparesis following zoster ophthalmicus are discussed. Nine immunocompromised patients received intravenous adenine arabinoside (vidarabine) or acycloguanosine (acyclovir), and no cutaneous or visceral spread occurred in these patients