In/Voluntary Surrogacy in Genesis

This article re-examines the issue of surrogacy in Genesis. It proposes some different factors, and questions some previous conclusions raised by other scholars, and especially examining feminist scholars approaches to the issue in the cases of Hagar/Abraham (and Sarah), and Bilhah-Zilpah/Jacob (and Rachel, Leah). The author examines these cases in the light of scriptural evidence and the original Hebrew to seek to understand the nature of the relationship of these complex characters. How much say did the surrogates have with regard to the relationship? What was their status within the situation of the text, and how should we reflect on their situation from our modern context

2 Kings 5: A Chiastic Quintet

2 Kings 5 recounts the healing of the Aramean general Naaman through his encounter with Elisha the prophet of YHWH, and what then ensues with Elisha’s attendant Gehazi. As structured the chapter reflects five sets of chiasms. This article breaks down those chiasms as it seeks to examine the story’s focus in scripture

Chronicles as Revisionist Religious History

Chronicles takes history and reconstructs it to make it more acceptable in terms of its time and place. The Chronicler writes a form of revisionist religious history, to revitalize, reinvigorate, and renew Judaism for the returning exiles from Babylon and their descendants. Chronicles is selective history. The Chronicler understands that Moses created the nation of Israel from a group of slaves, and that David created a dynastic monarchic system of government. By the time Chronicles is written, that system was gone and what replaces it is a religion based on the Temple, the cultus and the attendant Levitical personnel

Corticosteroid Weaning in Stable Heart Transplant Patients: Guidance by Serum Cortisol Level

Background: Despite earlier studies describing the feasibility of steroid weaning in heart transplant patients, the majority of patients are maintained on steroid therapy for life. We examined a strategy based on a single morning serum cortisol measurement. Methods: We assigned stable posttransplant patients, who were maintained on tacrolimus, mycophenolate mofetil, and corticosteroids, into one of two groups based on a screening morning cortisol level. Patients with a cortisol \u3c 8 micrograms/deciliter were assigned to a maintenance group and the others were assigned to the weaning group and steroids were tapered off over 4-6 weeks. Patients were monitored on subsequent office visits for adrenal insufficiency and allograft rejection. Results: Thirty-one patients were enrolled (6 patients in the maintenance group and 25 in the steroid-weaning group). Mean follow-up was 10.2 ± 4 years for the weaning group and 9.0 ± 4.9 years in the maintenance group (p = 0.6). No cases of rejection were noted, nor did any patient resume steroid treatment following discontinuation. Conclusion: Steroids can be safely discontinued in stable heart transplant patients with an AM serum cortisol ≥ 8 micrograms/deciliter with appropriate outpatient follow-up. In this study, no patient suffered late rejection or clinically noted adrenal insufficiency

GHOSTS I: A New Faint very Isolated Dwarf Galaxy at D = 12 +/- 2 Mpc

We report the discovery of a new faint dwarf galaxy, GHOSTS I, using HST/ACS data from one of our GHOSTS (Galaxy Halos, Outer disks, Substructure, Thick disk, and Star clusters) fields. Its detected individual stars populate an approximately one magnitude range of its luminosity function (LF). Using synthetic color-magnitude diagrams (CMDs) to compare with the galaxy's CMD, we find that the colors and magnitudes of GHOSTS I's individual stars are most consistent with being young helium-burning and asymptotic giant branch stars at a distance of 12 +/- 2 Mpc. Morphologically, GHOSTS I appears to be actively forming stars, so we tentatively classify it as a dwarf irregular (dIrr) galaxy, although future HST observations deep enough to resolve a larger magnitude range in its LF are required to make a more secure classification. GHOSTS I's absolute magnitude is $M_V = -9.85^{+ 0.40}_{- 0.33}$, making it one of the least luminous dIrr galaxies known, and its metallicity is lower than [Fe/H] =-1.5 dex. The half-light radius of GHOSTS I is 226 +/- 38 pc and its ellipticity is 0.47 +/- 0.07, similar to Milky Way and M31 dwarf satellites at comparable luminosity. There are no luminous massive galaxies or galaxy clusters within ~ 4 Mpc from GHOSTS I that could be considered as its host, making it a very isolated dwarf galaxy in the Local Universe.Comment: 8 pages, 7 figures. Accepted for publication in Ap

Studies of multiple stellar systems - IV. The triple-lined spectroscopic system Gliese 644

We present a radial-velocity study of the triple-lined system Gliese 644 and derive spectroscopic elements for the inner and outer orbits with periods of 2.9655 and 627 days. We also utilize old visual data, as well as modern speckle and adaptive optics observations, to derive a new astrometric solution for the outer orbit. These two orbits together allow us to derive masses for each of the three components in the system: M_A = 0.410 +/- 0.028 (6.9%), M_Ba = 0.336 +/- 0.016 (4.7%), and $M_Bb = 0.304 +/- 0.014 (4.7%) M_solar. We suggest that the relative inclination of the two orbits is very small. Our individual masses and spectroscopic light ratios for the three M stars in the Gliese 644 system provide three points for the mass-luminosity relation near the bottom of the Main Sequence, where the relation is poorly determined. These three points agree well with theoretical models for solar metallicity and an age of 5 Gyr. Our radial velocities for Gliese 643 and vB 8, two common-proper-motion companions of Gliese 644, support the interpretation that all five M stars are moving together in a physically bound group. We discuss possible scenarios for the formation and evolution of this configuration, such as the formation of all five stars in a sequence of fragmentation events leading directly to the hierarchical configuration now observed, versus formation in a small N cluster with subsequent dynamical evolution into the present hierarchical configuration.Comment: 17 pages, 9 figures, Accepted for publication in MNRA

A Comparison of U. S. and European University-Industry Relations in the Life Sciences

We draw on diverse data sets to compare the institutional organization of upstream life science research across the United States and Europe. Understanding cross-national differences in the organization of innovative labor in the life sciences requires attention to the structure and evolution of biomedical networks involving public research organizations (universities, government laboratories, nonprofit research institutes, and research hospitals), science-based biotechnology firms, and multinational pharmaceutical corporations. We use network visualization methods and correspondence analyses to demonstrate that innovative research in biomedicine has its origins in regional clusters in the United States and in European nations. But the scientific and organizational composition of these regions varies in consequential ways. In the United States, public research organizations and small firms conduct R&D across multiple therapeutic areas and stages of the development process. Ties within and across these regions link small firms and diverse public institutions, contributing to the development of a robust national network. In contrast, the European story is one of regional specialization with a less diverse group of public research organizations working in a smaller number of therapeutic areas. European institutes develop local connections to small firms working on similar scientific problems, while cross-national linkages of European regional clusters typically involve large pharmaceutical corporations. We show that the roles of large and small firms differ in the United States and Europe, arguing that the greater heterogeneity of the U. S. system is based on much closer integration of basic science and clinical development