The Innovative Use of Biblical Traditions for Ritual Power: The Crucifixion of Jesus on a Coptic Exorcistic Spell (Brit. Lib. Or. 6796[4], 6796) as a Test Case

In this paper, I explore the creative use of biblical traditions in so-called "magical" texts through a detailed analysis of the crucifixion tradition on Brit. Lib. Or. 6796(4), 6796, a seventh-century CE spell for exorcism. I examine three overlapping ways in which the practitioner interacts with the crucifixion story: selection and arrangement of pre-existing traditions; invention of new elements of the story; and the juxtaposition of word and image. I then reflect on the implications of the crucifixion tradition in this spell for analyzing the relationship between biblical traditions and metonymy in "magical" texts, more generally

Wrapped up in the Bible: The Multifaceted Ritual on a Late Antique Amulet (P. Oxy. VIII 1077)

d This essay offers the first sustained interpretation of the poetics of P. Oxy. VIII 1077-a sixth- or seventh-century c.E. healing amulet in which the presumably Christian practitioner constructs efficacy through scriptural citation, visual features, material peculiarities, and performative action. Drawing on literary and material evidence and utilizing insights from diverse disciplines, this paper argues that the practitioner attempted to heal the client by ritually wrapping him or her (through the amulet's drawing) in the power of Jesus's healing ministry, his crucifixion, and his resurrection. The paper also highlights how "magical" objects might contribute to the history of the book

A New Testament Text on a Syriac Incantation Bowl: Eph. 6:10-17 on ibc 3

This article demonstrates the use of Eph. 6:10-17 on a Syriac incantation bowl (ibc 3), thereby challenging the commonly held opinion that there are no direct uses of the New Testament among the Syriac bowls. We then situate the use of this biblical passage on ibc 3 within the context of biblical citation and reference in Mediterranean magic more generally. Finally, we briefly reflect on the significance of the usage of the Bible on ibc 3 for the study of Syriac incantation bowls and for the value of categories of religious identification, such as "Christian," "Jewish," and "Pagan," as it pertains to the study of late antique apotropaia

The impact of the Great Recession on mental health and its inequalities: the case of a Southern European region, 1997–2013

Background: Numerous studies have shown that macroeconomic changes have a great influence on health, prompting different concerns in recent literature about the effects of the current recession. The objetive of the study was to assess the changes in the mental health of the working-age population in the Basque Country (Spain) and its social inequalities following the onset of the 2008 recession, with special focus on the role of unemployment. Methods: Repeated cross-sectional study on the population aged 16-64, using four Basque Health Surveys (1997-2013). Age-adjusted prevalences of poor mental health and incremental prevalence ratios (working status and social class adjusted) between years were calculated. Absolute/relative measures of social inequalities were also calculated. Results: From 2008, there was a clear deterioration in the mental health, especially among men. Neither changes in employment status nor social class accounted for these changes. In men, the deterioration affected all working status categories, except the retired but significant changes occurred only among the employed. In women, poor mental health significantly increased among the unemployed. Students were also especially affected. Relative inequalities increased only in men. Conclusions: The Great Recession is being accompanied by adverse effects on mental health, which cannot be fully explained by the increase of unemployment. Public healtThis work was partially supported by the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (State Programme for Promotion of Scientific and Technical Research Challenges (CSO2013-44886-R))

Advantages of a Mechanistic Codon Substitution Model for Evolutionary Analysis of Protein-Coding Sequences

A mechanistic codon substitution model, in which each codon substitution rate is proportional to the product of a codon mutation rate and the average fixation probability depending on the type of amino acid replacement, has advantages over nucleotide, amino acid, and empirical codon substitution models in evolutionary analysis of protein-coding sequences. It can approximate a wide range of codon substitution processes. If no selection pressure on amino acids is taken into account, it will become equivalent to a nucleotide substitution model. If mutation rates are assumed not to depend on the codon type, then it will become essentially equivalent to an amino acid substitution model. Mutation at the nucleotide level and selection at the amino acid level can be separately evaluated.The present scheme for single nucleotide mutations is equivalent to the general time-reversible model, but multiple nucleotide changes in infinitesimal time are allowed. Selective constraints on the respective types of amino acid replacements are tailored to each gene in a linear function of a given estimate of selective constraints. Their good estimates are those calculated by maximizing the respective likelihoods of empirical amino acid or codon substitution frequency matrices. Akaike and Bayesian information criteria indicate that the present model performs far better than the other substitution models for all five phylogenetic trees of highly-divergent to highly-homologous sequences of chloroplast, mitochondrial, and nuclear genes. It is also shown that multiple nucleotide changes in infinitesimal time are significant in long branches, although they may be caused by compensatory substitutions or other mechanisms. The variation of selective constraint over sites fits the datasets significantly better than variable mutation rates, except for 10 slow-evolving nuclear genes of 10 mammals. An critical finding for phylogenetic analysis is that assuming variable mutation rates over sites lead to the overestimation of branch lengths

Collaborating for Innovation: the socialised management of knowledge

Although the importance of diverse knowledge is widely recognised for open innovation, there may be a gap in our understanding of the social processes that shape how collaborators engage in knowledge exchange. This social gap may be significant because of the powerful, but largely unexplained, role attributed to trust as a social artefact. Moreover, we see trust as a process and that different types of trust are involved in the collaborative process. Thus, this paper uses a qualitative methodology to capture the experiences of innovation collaborators. As explanation of the dynamic interplays of knowledge and trust, we offer a description of phases in the process. Our analysis finds that the relationship moves from transactional to social. The early phases are characterised by technical knowledge, but the later and mature phases are identified with knowledge of the person and by personal trust. The success of innovation is a result of relationships with augmented trust. We found that a fabric of trust is woven from the weft of professional knowledge and the warp of personal knowledge to support innovation. We propose that this developing of relationships might be conceived as becoming more open in the sense of sharing with one another. If so, we seem to have described and offered a social dimension of open innovation

The text and function of P. Berol. 11710 revisited

This article revisits questions about the text and function of P. Berol. 11710, a sixth-century CE (or later) papyrus artefact. Specifically, it responds to the lines of scholarship initiated by Hans Lietzmann, whose original edition of P. Berol. 11710 in 1923 claimed that this papyrus artefact was an amulet that preserved an apocryphal gospel. While most scholars have agreed with Lietzmann's assessment of P. Berol. 11710, more recent scholarship has called both of his claims into question. In this essay we contend that while the extant evidence does not allow us to confirm an amuletic designation in particular, P. Berol. 11710 was most likely designed to play a role in an apotropaic or curative ritual - whether as an applied amulet or as a formulary (i.e. a non-applied exemplar for making an amulet). With this general apotropaic/curative identification in mind, we challenge the claim that it preserves an apocryphal gospel and modify prior reconstructions of P. Berol. 11710