The Year of Jubilee and Old Testament Ethics: A Test Case in Methodology

This thesis argues that the “ethical triangle” model of C. J. H. Wright’s OT ethics, slightly adjusted, offers a convincing account of the Jubilee, which is here analysed from the perspective of each of the triangle’s vertices: theological, social, and economic. The meaning and paradigmatic value of the Jubilee is assessed before its correlation to the NT is sought. Wright’s model requires three adjustments. First, an OT topic’s essential thematic components need to be analysed by extremely close readings guided by the priority of the theological angle. Second, the relevant topic and its components must be traced through the OT to demonstrate how changing contexts affect the said topic’s inclusion into larger biblical-theological themes. Finally, each topic must come into conversation with Jesus’ claim of fulfilment, therefore, the last question to ask is how the new covenant, as the ultimate context change, affects the topic. This methodology was explored with the Year of Jubilee as a test case. A close “triangle” reading determined that the legislation was highly theological with economic expression—the opposite of the stereotype current in modern scholarship. The Jubilee was applicable only to the Israelites in the covenant community who were to provide mutual care for their “brothers.” Correlating the Jubilee to the restorative events of the entry into the land and to the Exodus highlights the Edenic motifs within the legislation and show it to be a cyclical re-creation of the original state, arrived at by the power of a redemptive covenant. These themes, and others, are traced through the OT and into the NT, predominantly focusing upon the Lucan corpus

Ein Generator mit Anfragesystem für strukturierte Wörterbücher zur Unterstützung von Texterkennung und Textanalyse

Die vorliegende Arbeit befaßt sich mit der Konzeption eines strukturierten Lexikons, welches den Zugriff auf Wörter und deren Information auf zwei grundsätzlich verschiedene Weisen erlaubt. Zum einen erfolgt der Zugriff über ein 3-faches Hashing, das in Abhängigkeit vom Grad der Erkennung der einzelnen Zeichen automatisch eine der drei verfügbaren Hashfunktionen wählt. Dabei kann der Benutzer zusätzliches Wissen in Form sogenannter Sichten zur Beschleunigung der Anfrage bzw. zur Einschränkung der zurückgelieferten Wortmenge einfließen lassen. Zum anderen ist die Benennung einer Sicht möglich. Diese Art des Zugriffs liefert alle Einträge zurück, die unter dem entsprechenden Sichtnamen zusammengefaßt worden sind. Die Realisierung solcher Sichten ist ein wesentlicher Bestandteil des Systems, da das somit implizierte Wissen von den Benutzern auf vielfältige Art genutzt werden kann: einerseits kann die Mitgliedschaft eines Eintrages zu einer Sicht in Erfahrung gebracht werden, andererseits hat man die Möglichkeit, Sichten und deren logische Verknüpfung zur direkten Abfrage bzw. zur Einschränkung des Suchraumes zu verwenden. Zum Aufbau der dafür benötigten komplexen Struktur des virtuell partitionierten Lexikons wird eine aufwendige Generierungsphase notwendig. Die vorliegende Arbeit beschreibt das zugrundegelegte Konzept und seine Vorteile gegenüber anderen Lösungsansätzen sowie den benötigten Generator und ein Laufzeitsystem, das umfangreiche Zugriffe auf dem virtuell partitionierten Lexikon erlaubt

Morphogenesis at criticality

Spatial patterns in the early fruit fly embryo emerge from a network of interactions among transcription factors, the gap genes, driven by maternal inputs. Such networks can exhibit many qualitatively different behaviors, separated by critical surfaces. At criticality, we should observe strong correlations in the fluctuations of different genes around their mean expression levels, a slowing of the dynamics along some but not all directions in the space of possible expression levels, correlations of expression fluctuations over long distances in the embryo, and departures from a Gaussian distribution of these fluctuations. Analysis of recent experiments on the gap gene network shows that all these signatures are observed, and that the different signatures are related in ways predicted by theory. Although there might be other explanations for these individual phenomena, the confluence of evidence suggests that this genetic network is tuned to criticality

An interprofessional nurse-led mental health promotion intervention for older home care clients with depressive symptoms.

BackgroundDepressive symptoms in older home care clients are common but poorly recognized and treated, resulting in adverse health outcomes, premature institutionalization, and costly use of health services. The objectives of this study were to examine the feasibility and acceptability of a new six-month interprofessional (IP) nurse-led mental health promotion intervention, and to explore its effects on reducing depressive symptoms in older home care clients (≥ 70 years) using personal support services.MethodsA prospective one-group pre-test/post-test study design was used. The intervention was a six-month evidence-based depression care management strategy led by a registered nurse that used an IP approach. Of 142 eligible consenting participants, 98 (69%) completed the six-month and 87 (61%) completed the one-year follow-up. Outcomes included depressive symptoms, anxiety, health-related quality of life (HRQoL), and the costs of use of all types of health services at baseline and six-month and one-year follow-up. An interpretive descriptive design was used to explore clients', nurses', and personal support workers' perceptions about the intervention's appropriateness, benefits, and barriers and facilitators to implementation.ResultsOf the 142 participants, 56% had clinically significant depressive symptoms, with 38% having moderate to severe symptoms. The intervention was feasible and acceptable to older home care clients with depressive symptoms. It was effective in reducing depressive symptoms and improving HRQoL at six-month follow-up, with small additional improvements six months after the intervention. The intervention also reduced anxiety at one year follow-up. Significant reductions were observed in the use of hospitalization, ambulance services, and emergency room visits over the study period.ConclusionsOur findings provide initial evidence for the feasibility, acceptability, and sustained effects of the nurse-led mental health promotion intervention in improving client outcomes, reducing use of expensive health services, and improving clinical practice behaviours of home care providers. Future research should evaluate its efficacy using a randomized clinical trial design, in different settings, with an adequate sample of older home care recipients with depressive symptoms.Trial registrationClinicaltrials.gov identifier: NCT01407926

Twitching motility among pathogenic Xylella fastidiosa isolates and the influence of bovine serum albumin on twitching-dependent colony fringe morphology

Fourteen Xylella fastidiosa isolates from grapevines exhibiting Pierce's disease symptoms in California, Texas, and South Carolina were examined for type IV pilus-mediated twitching motility, a phenotype previously observed in a Temecula isolate from California. All isolates except one from South Carolina (SC 19A97) exhibited colonies with a peripheral fringe on PW agar, a feature indicative of twitching motility; however, when individual cells of SC 19A97 were examined at higher magnifications twitching motility was observed. The presence and width of colony peripheral fringes were related to the amount of bovine serum albumin (BSA) present in the medium; no or low levels of BSA (0-1.8 g L−1) permitted development of the widest fringe, whereas higher levels (3.5-6.0 g L−1) severely limited, and in many instances prevented, peripheral fringe development. The growth rate of the wild-type Temecula isolate in PW broth with different concentrations of BSA was similar for all tested concentrations of BSA; however, growth was significantly reduced in medium without BS

How can diagnostic assessment programs be implemented to enhance inter-professional collaborative care for cancer?

BackgroundInter-professional collaborative care (ICC) for cancer leads to multiple system, organizational, professional, and patient benefits, but is limited by numerous challenges. Empirical research on interventions that promote or enable ICC is sparse so guidance on how to achieve ICC is lacking. Research shows that ICC for diagnosis could be improved. Diagnostic assessment programs (DAPs) appear to be a promising model for enabling ICC. The purpose of this study was to explore how DAP structure and function enable ICC, and whether that may be associated with organizational and clinical outcomes.MethodsA case study approach will be used to explore ICC among eight DAPs that vary by type of cancer (lung, breast), academic status, and geographic region. To describe DAP function and outcomes, and gather information that will enable costing, recommendations expressed in DAP standards and clinical guidelines will be assessed through retrospective observational study. Data will be acquired from databases maintained by participating DAPs and the provincial cancer agency, and confirmed by and supplemented with review of medical records. We will conduct a pilot study to explore the feasibility of estimating the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio using person-level data from medical records and other sources. Interviews will be conducted with health professionals, staff, and referring physicians from each DAP to learn about barriers and facilitators of ICC. Qualitative methods based on a grounded approach will be used to guide sampling, data collection and analysis.DiscussionFindings may reveal opportunities for unique structures, interventions or tools that enable ICC that could be developed, implemented, and evaluated through future research. This information will serve as a formative needs assessment to identify the nature of ongoing or required improvements, which can be directly used by our decision maker collaborators, and as a framework by policy makers, cancer system managers, and DAP managers elsewhere to strategically plan for and implement diagnostic cancer services

Grapevine xylem sap enhances biofilm development by Xylella fastidiosa

Xylella fastidiosa is able to form biofilms within xylem vessels of many economically important crops. Vessel blockage is believed to be a major contributor to disease development caused by this bacterium. This report shows that Vitis riparia xylem sap increases growth rate and induces a characteristic biofilm architecture as compared with biofilms formed in PD2 and PW media. In addition, stable cultures could be maintained, frozen and reestablished in xylem sap. These findings are important as xylem sap provides a natural medium that facilitates the identification of virulence determinants of Pierce's diseas

Hyper-Velocity Impact Performance of Foldcore Sandwich Composites

A foldcore is a novel core made from a flat sheet of any material folded into a desired pattern. A foldcore sandwich composite (FSC) provides highly tailorable structural performance over conventional sandwich composites made with honeycomb or synthetic polymer foam cores. Foldcore design can be optimized to accommodate complex shapes and unit cell geometries suitable for protective shielding structures This work aims to characterize hypervelocity impact (\u3e 2000 m/s, HVI) response and corresponding damage morphologies of carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) FSCs. A series of normal (0° impact angle) and oblique (45° impact angle) HVI (~3km/s nominal projectile velocity) impact tests were performed on CFRP FSC targets to understand the effects of projectile impact on redirected debris formation, and variable debris cloud expansion. HVI damage in FSC targets were assessed using visual inspection and high-speed imaging analysis. The results from the present study indicate that debris cloud propagation and expansion are strongly influenced by foldcore impact location/angle and open-channel direction. This work serves as a baseline study to understand HVI response of FSC targets and to identify critical FSC design parameters to optimize HVI mitigation performance