Tertullian’s Adversus Judaeos: a Tale of Two Treatises

Tertullian’s Adversus Judaeos is a controversial text of disputed origins. Until recently, it was not given much scholarly attention, because it was unclear whether or not Tertullian wrote it as an integral, finished work, intended for publication. Two aspects of the text are especially problematic. Sections of chapters 9-14 appear to be taken whole cloth from Tertullian’s Adversus Mariconem, suggesting that Adversus Judaeos, as preserved, may be a composite of two works. Also, the work is disjointed, digressive, and repetitious, unlike Tertullian’s usual standards of authorship. Nonetheless, the most recent scholarly assessment of Adversus Judaeos, based on a comprehensive rhetorical analysis, argues strongly for the work’s authenticity and integrality. My thesis, a rebuttal of this most recent position, is that Adversus Judaeos is indeed a poorly collated composite of two of Tertullian’s works: 1/ an original, rhetorically-complete, two-book Christian apology, and 2/ passages ripped (later) from Book III of Adversus Marcionem. I argue further that the original apology is grounded in issues which arose in Carthage when Septimius Severus assumed power as undisputed Emperor of Rome in 197 c.e. A comprehensive analysis of Adversus Judaeos is presented to demonstrate: 1/ that Parts I and II were written for different (although related) purposes; 2/ that the argument of Part I is not dependent upon the argument of Part II and vice versa; 3/ that a recent proposal for the rhetorical structure of Adversus Judaeos – advanced in defense of the work’s unity – omits many observable rhetorical elements; 4/ that Parts I and II have independent rhetorical structures; and 5/ that Parts of Adversus Marcionem, Book III were redacted to form a significant part of Adversus Judaeos, Part II, and not vice versa. As a whole, the results of analysis make a strong case for the composite nature of the treatise as preserved, and facilitate a proposed reconstruction of the work as originally written, most likely as part of Tertullian’s apologetic program. The original text addresses the “charge” of Christian novelty by grounding the Church securely in ancient Jewish tradition. The unfortunate redaction came later, when someone – not Tertullian – collated the original treatise with sections of Adversus Marcionem, Book III. The result adds little in the way of argument to the original treatise, and therefore the purpose of the composite, as preserved, remains a mystery

Evaluation of a Mechanical System for Reconstructing Soil on Surface Mined Land

The existence of excessive soil compaction has hindered the surface mining industry from returning land to pre−mining productivity after reclamation, especially on prime farmland soils. Heavy earthmoving equipment used during reclamation tends to generate root−limiting bulk densities that adversely affect plant growth thereby decreasing yields. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to evaluate a mechanism, called the ‘Soil Regenerator,’ which reconstructs soil media at minimum bulk density during surface mine reclamation. The prototype soil forming mechanism was mounted on the front of a conventional bulldozer. Soil was placed in long narrow windrows by a scraper or bulldozer. As the bulldozer pushed into the windrow, soil rose up the blade and was agitated, transported, and deposited by a helicoid auger in a 0.9−m deep berm adjacent to the bulldozer. The capacity of the prototype ranged from 490 to 804 m3/h while producing bulk densities ≤ 1.0 Mg/m3 and penetrometer measurements below 0.7 MPa. These measurements demonstrated the capability of the ‘Soil Regenerator’ to eliminate soil compaction on reclaimed surface mined land and to reconstruct soil more suitable for crop growth

Hands-On Precision Agriculture Data Management Workshops for Producers and Industry Professionals: Development and Assessment

Three Precision Agriculture Data Management workshops regarding yield monitor data were conducted in 2014, reaching 62 participants. Post-workshop surveys (n=58) indicated 73% of respondents experienced a moderate to significant increase in knowledge related to yield monitor data usage. Another 72% reported that they planned to utilize best management practices presented or would expand their current practices based on knowledge gained. One-year post-workshop survey (n=14) results indicated that far less (36%) were able to implement some of the techniques presented. However, comments indicated that accessible follow-up material would be beneficial in successfully integrating learning topics into data management systems

Rhode Island’s Health Equity Zones: Addressing Local Problems with Local Solutions

The Rhode Island Department of Health (RIDOH) describes the strategies and infrastructure it has developed to fund its placed-based initiatives to address the social determinants of health to eliminate health disparities. Using a data driven and community-led approach, RIDOH funded 10 local collaboratives, each with its own, geographically-defined “Health Equity Zone,” or “HEZ,” and, to support the collaboratives, created a new “Health Equity Institute,” a “HEZ Team” of 9 seasoned project managers, and direct lines of communications between these assets and the Office of the Director of Health

Generating ‘As-Applied’ Pesticide Distribution Maps from a Self-Propelled Agricultural Sprayer Based on Nozzle Pressure Data

The application of pre-emergence, post-emergence, and burn-down herbicides (i.e., glyphosate) continues to increase as producers attempt to reduce both negative environmental impacts from tillage and input costs from labor, machinery and materials. The use of precision agriculture technologies such as automatic boom section control allows producers to reduce off-target application when applying herbicides. While automatic boom section control provides benefits, pressure differences across the spray boom resulting from boom section actuation can lead to off-rate application errors. Off-rate errors may also result from spray rate controller compensation for ground speed changes and velocity variation across the spray boom during turning movements. This project focuses on quantifying accumulated pesticide application for three fields located in Central Kentucky. GPS coordinates were collected along with nozzle pressure data (at 13 nozzle locations) at one second intervals as the sprayer traversed the study fields. The method previously developed by Luck et al. (2009) was used to calculate coverage areas for the control sections along the spray boom in MS Excel. Nozzle discharge flow rates were estimated from the nozzle pressure data (based on manufacturer calibration information) which was then incorporated into MS Excel to determine the rate of pesticide applied to the fields. Results indicate the majority of each field received application rates at or below the target rate. Only 34.2%, 33.9%, and 22.9% of Fields 1, 2, and 4, respectively, received application rates at the target rate +/- 10% during these postemergence treatments. The goal of this project was develop distribution maps to better understand the effects of boom section control and turning movements on herbicide accumulation

Generating ‘As-Applied’ Pesticide Distribution Maps from a Self-Propelled Agricultural Sprayer Based on Nozzle Pressure Data

The application of pre-emergence, post-emergence, and burn-down herbicides (i.e., glyphosate) continues to increase as producers attempt to reduce both negative environmental impacts from tillage and input costs from labor, machinery and materials. The use of precision agriculture technologies such as automatic boom section control allows producers to reduce offtarget application when applying herbicides. While automatic boom section control provides benefits, pressure differences across the spray boom resulting from boom section actuation can lead to offrate application errors. Off-rate errors may also result from spray rate controller compensation for ground speed changes and velocity variation across the spray boom during turning movements. This project focuses on quantifying accumulated pesticide application for three fields located in Central Kentucky. GPS coordinates were collected along with nozzle pressure data (at 13 nozzle locations) at one second intervals as the sprayer traversed the study fields. The method previously developed by Luck et al. (2009) was used to calculate coverage areas for the control sections along the spray boom in MS Excel. Nozzle discharge flow rates were estimated from the nozzle pressure data (based on manufacturer calibration information) which was then incorporated into MS Excel to determine the rate of pesticide applied to the fields. Results indicate the majority of each field received application rates at or below the target rate. Only 34.2%, 33.9%, and 22.9% of Fields 1, 2, and 4, respectively, received application rates at the target rate +/- 10% during these postemergence treatments. The goal of this project was develop distribution maps to better understand the effects of boom section control and turning movements on herbicide accumulation

Rotating flux-focusing eddy current probe for flaw detection

A flux-focusing electromagnetic sensor which uses a ferromagnetic flux-focusing lens simplifies inspections and increases detectability of fatigue cracks about circular fasteners and other circular inhomogeneities in high conductivity material. The unique feature of the device is the ferrous shield isolating a high-turn pick-up coil from an excitation coil, The use of the magnetic shield is shown to produce a null voltage output across the receiving coil in the presence of an unflawed sample. A redistribution of the current flow in the sample caused by the presence of flaws, however, eliminates the shielding condition and a large output voltage is produced, yielding a clear unambiguous flaw signal. By rotating the probe in a path around a circular fastener such as a rivet while maintaining a constant distance between the probe and the center of a rivet, the signal due to current flow about the rivet can be held constant. Any further changes in the current distribution, such as due to a fatigue crack at the rivet joint, can be detected as an increase in the output voltage above that due to the flow about the rivet head

Comparison of 2-way versus metered 3-way boom shut-off valves for automatic section control on agricultural sprayers

Modern spray rate controllers along with technologies such as automatic section control (ASC) provide benefits such as overlap reduction on agricultural sprayers. However, product (liquid) dynamics within the boom plumbing affect off-rate errors and application uniformity during rate changes and ASC actuation. Therefore, this study was conducted to compare nozzle flow stability and uniformity across the boom when using two different boom shut-off valves (2-way and metered 3-way) on an 18.3-m sprayer boom. Pressure transducers were mounted at 1) the boom manifold, 2) randomly at 12 nozzle bodies across the spray boom, and 3) upstream and downstream of the flow regulating valve. Effective system flow rate was measured using two flow meter(s), one located upstream of the boom control valves (2-way or metered 3-way) and another mounted to measure the tank return flow for the metered 3-way boom valve. Measured nozzle pressure was converted to nozzle flow using the manufacturer’s pressure-flow data. Results indicated that the 2-way boom versus metered 3-way valve response was significantly different. Significant differences in damping ratios were found when exiting (under-damped) and reentering (over-damped) of spray zones. For the metered 3-way boom valve configuration, nozzle flow settled faster (0.1 to 4.2 s) virtually eliminating off-rate errors whereas the 2-way boom valve configuration took up to 34.3 s to settle with off-rate errors ranging from 3.3% to 11.5%. The delayed nozzle flow settling times were associated with pressure settling (0.7 to 31.4 s) downstream of the regulating valve for the 2-way configuration. Ground speed and point row angle impacted nozzle flow settling times and off-rate errors. The increase in ground speed and point row angle increased nozzle flow settling time for the 2-way valve setup, except that acceleration decreased settling times when exiting spray zones. The delayed response contributed to off-rate time which decreased as the sprayer accelerated and point row angle decreased for both the 2-way (1.7 to 19.3 s) and metered 3-way (2.1 to 4.4 s) boom shut-off valve setups