In other words: towards a poetic theology of the spoken Word of God

In this paper, Jacob Rollison considers poetry in its various relations. Poetry raises questions regarding the relation of the world to a ‘beyond’, and the relation of representation to presence. The question poetry poses to theology is: if Jesus Christ is the Word, is this to be understood prosaically or poetically? as representation or presence? To probe this question Rollison draws on the work of the French theologian, sociologist and poet Jacques Ellul. For Ellul, poetry manifests the inseparability of form and content in communication, resisting Kierkegaard’s ironic stance by viewing the word as inseparable from the life of the one who speaks it. This points, in turn, to an inseparability of form and content in theology and the presence of God in his revelation. In contrast to the post-structuralist view, the world is not a text. For Ellul, the central medium is God’s speech, temporal and non-spatial in its essence. His poetics of speech is in turn based on the poetics of the Word of God. The form, then, of the Apocalypse in Revelation ‘allows the comprehension of its content’: theology is a poetic listening and responding to the Word, architecture in movement. The concerns of theology as poetry are not simply with poetic ideas but with the richer world of poetic existence.Publisher PD

Development of a Disaster Response Plan for the North Carolina National Estuarine Research Reserve

The North Carolina National Estuarine Research Reserve (NCNERR) is a network of four protected coastal sites, covering over 10,500 acres, which was established for long‐term research, education, and stewardship. Following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, five Gulf of Mexico NERRs created comprehensive disaster response plans (DRP) and were the first reserves in the nationwide system to initiate disaster planning. NCNERR deemed that its own DRP was needed to guide emergency management efforts, build better partnerships between NCNERR managers and emergency managers, and position NCNERR as a partner to support area response efforts. Site‐specific hazards were identified and ranked in collaboration with NCNERR managers. Facilitated stakeholder workshops brought together all relevant local, state, and federal emergency response personnel and garnered input on potential hazards, impacts, and preparation needs of each NCNERR site. The input from site managers and stakeholders informed the creation of the DRP, which will be included in NCNERR’s 2016‐2021 Management Plan

Cancer Informatics for Cancer Centers (CI4CC): Building a Community Focused on Sharing Ideas and Best Practices to Improve Cancer Care and Patient Outcomes.

Cancer Informatics for Cancer Centers (CI4CC) is a grassroots, nonprofit 501c3 organization intended to provide a focused national forum for engagement of senior cancer informatics leaders, primarily aimed at academic cancer centers anywhere in the world but with a special emphasis on the 70 National Cancer Institute-funded cancer centers. Although each of the participating cancer centers is structured differently, and leaders' titles vary, we know firsthand there are similarities in both the issues we face and the solutions we achieve. As a consortium, we have initiated a dedicated listserv, an open-initiatives program, and targeted biannual face-to-face meetings. These meetings are a place to review our priorities and initiatives, providing a forum for discussion of the strategic and pragmatic issues we, as informatics leaders, individually face at our respective institutions and cancer centers. Here we provide a brief history of the CI4CC organization and meeting highlights from the latest CI4CC meeting that took place in Napa, California from October 14-16, 2019. The focus of this meeting was "intersections between informatics, data science, and population science." We conclude with a discussion on "hot topics" on the horizon for cancer informatics

Keratinocyte Carcinomas:Current concepts and future research priorities

Cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (cSCC) and basal cell carcinoma (BCC) are keratinocyte carcinomas (KC), the most frequently diagnosed cancers in fair-skinned populations. Ultraviolet radiation (UVR) is the main driving carcinogen for these tumors but immunosuppression, pigmentary factors, and aging are also risk factors. Scientific discoveries have improved the understanding of the role of human papillomaviruses (HPV) in cSCC as well as the skin microbiome and a compromised immune system in the development of both cSCC and BCC. Genomic analyses have uncovered genetic risk variants, high-risk susceptibility genes, and somatic events that underlie common pathways important in KC tumorigenesis and tumor characteristics which have enabled development of prediction models for early identification of high-risk individuals. Advances in chemoprevention in high-risk individuals and progress in targeted and immune-based treatment approaches have the potential to decrease the morbidity and mortality associated with these tumors. As the incidence and prevalence of KC continue to increase, strategies for prevention, including effective sun protective behavior, educational interventions and reduction of tanning bed access and usage are essential. Gaps in our knowledge requiring additional research in order to reduce the high morbidity and costs associated with KC include better understanding of factors leading to more aggressive tumors, the roles of microbiome and HPV infection, prediction of response to therapies including immune checkpoint blockade, and how to tailor both prevention and treatment to individual risk factors and needs.</p