Christ as the Covenant: Justin Martyr's Interpretation of the New Covenant in Jeremiah 31.31-32

This thesis attempts to reveal a neglected facet of Justin Martyr’s idea of the new covenant (NC), with a focus on Justin’s identification of the new covenant with Christ. It is an effort to seek its Jewish origins. Justin’s interpretation of the NC in Jeremiah 31(38).31-32 is indebted to an early liturgical tradition preserved in Luke 22 and 1 Corinthians 11. This interpretation of the NC as the Sacrament is linked with his identification of the NC with Christ, since Justin views the Eucharist as the embodiment of the divine Logos, which Justin considers to be equal to Christ. Justin’s NC does not only refer to the Eucharist, but baptism as well. Although Justin’s identification might have been partly influenced by the Kerygma Petri, which identifies the Law with the Lord, it is rather significantly influenced by the Jewish traditions. This element in Justin’s use of the NC is shaped by the textual/exegetical traditions of the OT/Hebrew Bible such as LXX, a Jewish recension (a καίγε type/‘Theodotion’, or Aquila), and the PT tradition in its oral stage. Particularly, Justin detects the theme of the ‘coming/going out of תורה/תודה’ in Isaiah 2.3/51.4 and the Book of the Covenant—the context of the NC text of Jeremiah (30-31 [37-38])—with his knowledge of a Hebraizing reading of Jeremiah 30.19 attested in the version of Aquila; Justin’s juxtaposition of these verses in Dialogue 11 and 24 indicates that he views תורה in Isaiah 2.3 and 51.4 as identical with תודה/εὐχαριστία in Jeremiah 30.19. Moreover, Justin learned the Midrashic tradition on the water of Marah, which involves Jewish metaphors of ‘tree (of life)’ and ‘water’ as the Torah, orally from the early PT tradition. Justin’s knowledge of this Midrashic tradition, together with his recognition of LXX Jeremiah 11.19 which associates ‘tree’ with ‘bread’, and LXX Exodus 23.25 which juxtaposes ‘bread, water, and wine’, has facilitated his identification of Christ with the new Law/covenant, namely the Sacraments. The identification of the messianic symbol of ‘ruler’s staff’ with the ‘covenant of kingship’ in 4Q252 strengthens our view that Justin’s identification of the NC with Christ is rooted in Jewish traditions, since in Dialogue 86, Justin also associates ‘sceptre/rod’ with the ‘tree of life’, which is the new Law/covenant and Christ. The findings of this thesis have an implication on the scholarly view of Justin’s use of the testimony sources. This study confirms the fact that Justin’s OT texts are often quoted from secondary sources. As far as his use of Jeremiah 31.31-32 and his OT citations in Dialogue 86 are concerned, however, his combinations and alterations of the biblical texts are related to his theological view of the NC, so that they may indicate Justin’s reworking of the OT/source material; the influence of contemporary Jewish traditions can be traced even in the upper layer of Justin’s source material

Soft-Fermion-Pole Mechanism to Single Spin Asymmetry in Hadronic Pion Production

Single spin asymmetry (SSA) is a twist-3 observable in the collinear factorization approach. We present a twist-3 single-spin-dependent cross section formula for the pion production in pp-collision, p^\uparrow p\to\pi X, relevant to RHIC experiment. In particular, we calculate the soft-fermion-pole (SFP) contribution to the cross section from the quark-gluon correlation functions. We show that its effect can be as large as the soft-gluon-pole (SGP) contribution owing to the large SFP partonic hard cross section, even though the derivative of the SFP function does not participate in the cross section.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure; to appear in the proceedings of the 18th International Symposium on Spin Physics (SPIN2008), October 6 - 11, 2008, Charlottesville, Virginia, US

Importance of Fatty Acid Compositions in Patients with Peripheral Arterial Disease

Objective: Importance of fatty acid components and imbalances has emerged in coronary heart disease. In this study, we analyzed fatty acids and ankle-brachial index (ABI) in a Japanese cohort. Methods: Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) was diagnosed in 101 patients by ABI <= 0.90 and/or by angiography. Traditional cardiovascular risk factors and components of serum fatty acids were examined in all patients (mean age 73.2 +/- 0.9 years; 81 males), and compared with those in 373 age- and sex-matched control subjects with no evidence of PAD. Results: The presence of PAD (mean ABI: 0.71 +/- 0.02) was independently associated with low levels of gamma-linolenic acid (GLA) (OR: 0.90; 95% CI: 0.85-0.96; P = 0.002), eicosapentaenoic acid: arachidonic acid (EPA: AA) ratio (OR: 0.38; 95% CI: 0.17-0.86; P = 0.021), and estimated glomerular filtration rate (OR: 0.97; 95% CI: 0.96-0.98; P<0.0001), and with a high hemoglobin A1c level (OR: 1.34; 95% CI: 1.06-1.69; P = 0.013). Individuals with lower levels of GLA (<= 7.95 mu g/mL) and a lower EPA: AA ratio (<= 0.55) had the lowest ABI (0.96 +/- 0.02, N = 90), while the highest ABI (1.12 +/- 0.01, N = 78) was observed in individuals with higher values of both GLA and EPA: AA ratio (P<0.0001). Conclusion: A low level of GLA and a low EPA: AA ratio are independently associated with the presence of PAD. Specific fatty acid abnormalities and imbalances could lead to new strategies for risk stratification and prevention in PAD patients.ArticlePLOS ONE. 9(9):e107003 (2014)journal articl

Development of a pedestrian navigation system that presents the optimum route information for mobility constraint people.

We developed a pedestrian navigation system that presents the optimum route information according to the degree of disablement for handicapped or aged people. The system displays information for town walking with ptimum route on the Google Map or by the direction indication on the AR camera window. Based on the system, we developed a mobile application system, named the\u27SAKAI old town map\u27, for sightseeing and walking around the historical area in Sakai·shi, Osaka. As an evaluation experiment, subjects with wheelchairs moved around the area using the system and we analyzed their behavior and introspection. The results showed that our pedestrian navigation system would be effective to support the daily life of move constraint people.平成26年度関西大学研究拠点形成支援経費：研究課題「利用者別最適経路を選択可能なナビゲ ーションシステムの研究開発と実装地域における社会的変化の研究

Comprehensive Dipeptide Analysis Revealed Cancer-Specific Profile in the Liver of Patients with Hepatocellular Carcinoma and Hepatitis

As the physical properties and functionality of dipeptides differ from those of amino acids, they have attracted attention in metabolomics; however, their functions in vivo have not been clarified in detail. Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common type of primary liver cancer, and its major cause is chronic hepatitis. This study was conducted to explore tumor-specific dipeptide characteristics by performing comprehensive dipeptide analysis in the tumor and surrounding nontumor tissue of patients with HCC. Dipeptides were analyzed by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry and capillary electrophoresis tandem mass spectrometry. Principal component analysis using 236 detected dipeptides showed differences in the dipeptide profiles between nontumor and tumor tissues; however, no clear difference was observed in etiological comparison. In addition, the N- and C-terminal amino acid compositions of the detected dipeptides significantly differed, suggesting the substrate specificity of enzyme proteins, such as peptidase. Furthermore, hepatitis-derived HCC may show a characteristic dipeptide profile even before tumor formation. These results provide insight into HCC pathogenesis and may help identify novel biomarkers for diagnosis