The Sense of Church History in Representative Missouri Synod Theology

Based on representative Missouri Synod writings from the late 19th century, the author describes and documents an antihistorical bias that has provided impediments to an appropriate appreciation of church history in Missouri Synod theology

A Critique: “Two Levels of History.

It is scarcely possible to read a theological treatise today without at some point meeting the current distinction between two levels of history, between Historie, and Geschichte, (following the Bultmannians), or between outer and inner history ( H. Richard Niebuhr), or between the objective- historical and the existential-historical (John Macquarrie). This distinction has primarily been occasioned by the rise of the historical-critical method in the 19th century, by the failure of the so-called quest for the historical Jesus, and by the church\u27s apologetic needs in the scientific ( positivistic ) era. The primary aim of this paper is critically to examine this distinction, to point out certain difficulties that beset it, and to suggest a number of limitations that must be placed on the distinction if it is to retain its significance. In the process of criticism the paper will seek to reflect some of the concerns manifested in the contemporary philosophical analysis of religious discourse and, for that matter, in the overarching critique of the whole theological enterprise per se

Quantified HI Morphology V: HI Disks in the Virgo Cluster

We explore the quantified morphology of atomic hydrogen (HI) disks in the Virgo cluster. These galaxies display a wealth of phenomena in their Hi morphology, e.g., tails, truncation and warps. These morphological disturbances are related to the ram-pressure stripping and tidal interaction that galaxies undergo in this dense cluster environment. To quantify the morphological transformation of the HI disks, we compute the morphological parameters of CAS, Gini, and M20 and our own GM for 51 galaxies in 48 HI column density maps from the VIVA project. Some morphological phenomena can be identified in this space of relatively low resolution HI data. Truncation of the HI disk can be cleanly identified via the Concentration parameter (C<1) and Concentration can also be used to identify HI deficient disks (1<C<5). Tidal interaction is typically identified using combinations of these morphological parameters, applied to (optical) images of galaxies. We find that some selection criteria (Gini-M20, Asymmetry, and a modified Concentration-M20) are still applicable for the coarse (~15" FWHM) VIVA HI data. The phenomena of tidal tails can be reasonably well identified using the Gini-M20 criterion (60% of galaxies with tails identified but with as many contaminants). Ram-pressure does move HI disks into and out of most of our interaction criteria: the ram-pressure sequence identified by Vollmer et al. (2009) tracks into and out of some of these criteria (Asymmetry based and the Gini-M20 selections, but not the Concentration-M20 or the GM based ones). Therefore, future searches for interaction using HI morphologies should take ram-pressure into account as a mechanism to disturb HI disks enough to make them appear as gravitationally interacting. One mechanism would be to remove all the HI deficient (C<5) disks from the sample, as these have undergone more than one HI removal mechanism.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figures, accepted by MNRAS, appendixes not include

The Globular Cluster Luminosity Function and Specific Frequency in Dwarf Elliptical Galaxies

The globular cluster luminosity function, specific globular cluster frequency, S_N, specific globular cluster mass, T_MP, and globular cluster mass fraction in dwarf elliptical galaxies are explored using the full 69 galaxy sample of the HST WFPC2 Dwarf Elliptical Galaxy Snapshot Survey. The GCLFs of the dEs are well-represented with a t_5 function with a peak at M_{V,Z}^0(dE,HST) = -7.3 +/- 0.1. This is ~0.3 magnitudes fainter than the GCLF peaks in giant spiral and elliptical galaxies, but the results are consistent within the uncertainties. The bright-end slope of the luminosity distribution has a power-law form with slope alpha = -1.9 +/- 0.1. The trend of increasing S_N or T_MP with decreasing host galaxy luminosity is confirmed. The mean value for T_MP in dE,N galaxies is about a factor of two higher than the mean value for non-nucleated galaxies and the distributions of T_MP in dE,N and dE,noN galaxies are statistically different. These data are combined with results from the literature for a wide range of galaxy types and environments. At low host galaxy masses the distribution of T_MP for dE,noN and dI galaxies are similar. This supports the idea that one pathway for forming dE,noN galaxies is by the stripping of dIs. The formation of nuclei and the larger values of T_MP in dE,N galaxies may be due to higher star formation rates and star cluster formation efficiencies due to interactions in galaxy cluster environments.Comment: 53 pages, 13 figures, 12 tables, accepted by the Astrophysical Journa

Edge smoothing for real-time simulation of a polygon face object system as viewed by a moving observer

The visual system within an aircraft flight simulation system receives flight data and terrain data which is formated into a buffer memory. The image data is forwarded to an image processor which translates the image data into face vertex vectors Vf, defining the position relationship between the vertices of each terrain object and the aircraft. The image processor then rotates, clips, and projects the image data into two-dimensional display vectors (Vd). A display generator receives the Vd faces, and other image data to provide analog inputs to CRT devices which provide the window displays for the simulated aircraft. The video signal to the CRT devices passes through an edge smoothing device which prolongs the rise time (and fall time) of the video data inversely as the slope of the edge being smoothed. An operational amplifier within the edge smoothing device has a plurality of independently selectable feedback capacitors each having a different value. The values of the capacitors form a series which doubles as a power of two. Each feedback capacitor has a fast switch responsive to the corresponding bit of a digital binary control word for selecting (1) or not selecting (0) that capacitor. The control word is determined by the slope of each edge. The resulting actual feedback capacitance for each edge is the sum of all the selected capacitors and is directly proportional to the value of the binary control word. The output rise time (or fall time) is a function of the feedback capacitance, and is controlled by the slope through the binary control word

ELAV links paused Pol II to alternative polyadenylation in the Drosophila nervious system

Alternative polyadenylation (APA) has been implicated in a variety of developmental and disease processes. A particularly dramatic form of APA occurs in the developing nervous system of flies and mammals, whereby various developmental genes undergo coordinate 3' UTR extension. In Drosophila, the RNA-binding protein ELAV inhibits RNA processing at proximal polyadenylation sites, thereby fostering the formation of exceptionally long 3' UTRs. Here, we present evidence that paused Pol II promotes recruitment of ELAV to extended genes. Replacing promoters of extended genes with heterologous promoters blocks normal 3' extension in the nervous system, while extension-associated promoters can induce 3' extension in ectopic tissues expressing ELAV. Computational analyses suggest that promoter regions of extended genes tend to contain paused Pol II and associated cis-regulatory elements such as GAGA. ChIP-seq assays identify ELAV in the promoter regions of extended genes. Our study provides evidence for a regulatory link between promoter-proximal pausing and APA