Josephus' Views on the Medium of Endor Zucker, David J.
Scandinavian journal of the Old Testament : SJOT,
10/2023, Letnik:
37, Številka:
2
Journal Article
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Josephus presents a very sympathetic view of the Medium of Endor (1 Samuel 28). This contrasts with the consensus of scholarly thought that suggests Josephus borders on misogynism in his ...presentations of women in the Bible. Josephus' treatment of the medium is contrasted with his remarks about the Wise Woman of Tekoa (2 Samuel 14). This is followed by an analysis of why Josephus favors the medium.
Without doubt Aaron is intimately involved in the creation of the molten/golden calf. Does he act with good faith seeking to delay action until Moses descends from Mt Sinai, or because he fears for ...his life if he refuses to act? (He did the best he could under the circumstances.) Idolizing Aaron could mean “Defending Aaron.” Or Idolizing Aaron could mean Aaron-as-idol-maker, “Disparaging Aaron.” The preponderance of post-biblical writings exonerates Aaron, a minority view is that he is a blasphemer.
The GALAH+ survey: Third data release Buder, Sven; Sharma, Sanjib; Kos, Janez ...
Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society,
2021, Letnik:
506, Številka:
1
Journal Article
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ABSTRACT
The ensemble of chemical element abundance measurements for stars, along with precision distances and orbit properties, provides high-dimensional data to study the evolution of the Milky ...Way. With this third data release of the Galactic Archaeology with HERMES (GALAH) survey, we publish 678 423 spectra for 588 571 mostly nearby stars (81.2 per cent of stars are within <2 kpc), observed with the HERMES spectrograph at the Anglo-Australian Telescope. This release (hereafter GALAH+ DR3) includes all observations from GALAH Phase 1 (bright, main, and faint survey, 70 per cent), K2-HERMES (17 per cent), TESS-HERMES (5 per cent), and a subset of ancillary observations (8 per cent) including the bulge and >75 stellar clusters. We derive stellar parameters Teff, log g, Fe/H, vmic, vbroad, and vrad using our modified version of the spectrum synthesis code Spectroscopy Made Easy (sme) and 1D marcs model atmospheres. We break spectroscopic degeneracies in our spectrum analysis with astrometry from Gaia DR2 and photometry from 2MASS. We report abundance ratios X/Fe for 30 different elements (11 of which are based on non-LTE computations) covering five nucleosynthetic pathways. We describe validations for accuracy and precision, flagging of peculiar stars/measurements and recommendations for using our results. Our catalogue comprises 65 per cent dwarfs, 34 per cent giants, and 1 per cent other/unclassified stars. Based on unflagged chemical composition and age, we find 62 per cent young low-$\alpha$, 9 per cent young high-$\alpha$, 27 per cent old high-$\alpha$, and 2 per cent stars with Fe/H ≤ −1. Based on kinematics, 4 per cent are halo stars. Several Value-Added-Catalogues, including stellar ages and dynamics, updated after Gaia eDR3, accompany this release and allow chrono-chemodynamic analyses, as we showcase.
Fragile X syndrome (FXS) is a leading genetic cause of intellectual disability and autism. FXS results from the loss of function of fragile X mental retardation protein (FMRP), which represses ...translation of target transcripts. Most of the well-characterized target transcripts of FMRP are synaptic proteins, yet targeting these proteins has not provided effective treatments. We examined a group of FMRP targets that encode transcriptional regulators, particularly chromatin-associated proteins. Loss of FMRP in mice results in widespread changes in chromatin regulation and aberrant gene expression. To determine if targeting epigenetic factors could reverse phenotypes associated with the disorder, we focused on Brd4, a BET protein and chromatin reader targeted by FMRP. Inhibition of Brd4 function alleviated many of the phenotypes associated with FXS. We conclude that loss of FMRP results in significant epigenetic misregulation and that targeting transcription via epigenetic regulators like Brd4 may provide new treatments for FXS.
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•FMRP regulates chromatin-associated proteins in addition to synaptic proteins•Misregulation of chromatin contributes to Fragile X syndrome•Inhibition of Brd4 can alleviate transcriptional dysfunction and phenotypes of FXS
Loss of FMRP results in widespread epigenetic misregulation, and targeting transcription can correct deficits in a mouse model of Fragile X syndrome.
Remote loading of liposomes by transmembrane gradients is one of the best approaches for achieving the high enough drug level per liposome required for the liposomal drug to be therapeutically ...efficacious. This breakthrough, which enabled the approval and clinical use of nanoliposomal drugs such as Doxil
TM, has not been paralleled by an in-depth understanding that allows predicting loading efficiency of drugs. Here we describe how applying data-mining algorithms on a data bank based on Barenholz’s laboratory's 15 years of liposome research experience on remote loading of 9 different drugs enabled us to build a model that relates drug physicochemical properties and loading conditions to loading efficiency. This model enables choosing candidate molecules for remote loading and optimizing loading conditions according to logical considerations. The model should also help in designing pro-drugs suitable for remote loading. Our approach is expected to improve and accelerate development of liposomal formulations for clinical applications.
Remote loading of amphipathic weak base into liposomes using an ammonium sulfate gradient (A) or amphipathic weak acid using a calcium acetate gradient (B).
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SARS-CoV-2 infections have surged across the globe in recent months, concomitant with considerable viral evolution
. Extensive mutations in the spike protein may threaten the efficacy of vaccines and ...therapeutic monoclonal antibodies
. Two signature spike mutations of concern are E484K, which has a crucial role in the loss of neutralizing activity of antibodies, and N501Y, a driver of rapid worldwide transmission of the B.1.1.7 lineage. Here we report the emergence of the variant lineage B.1.526 (also known as the Iota variant
), which contains E484K, and its rise to dominance in New York City in early 2021. This variant is partially or completely resistant to two therapeutic monoclonal antibodies that are in clinical use and is less susceptible to neutralization by plasma from individuals who had recovered from SARS-CoV-2 infection or serum from vaccinated individuals, posing a modest antigenic challenge. The presence of the B.1.526 lineage has now been reported in all 50 states in the United States and in many other countries. B.1.526 rapidly replaced earlier lineages in New York, with an estimated transmission advantage of 35%. These transmission dynamics, together with the relative antibody resistance of its E484K sub-lineage, are likely to have contributed to the sharp rise and rapid spread of B.1.526. Although SARS-CoV-2 B.1.526 initially outpaced B.1.1.7 in the region, its growth subsequently slowed concurrently with the rise of B.1.1.7 and ensuing variants.
We present an AAOmega spectroscopic study of red giants in the ultra-faint dwarf galaxy Bootes I (MV ~ --6) and the Segue 1 system (MV ~ --1.5), either an extremely low luminosity dwarf galaxy or an ...unusually extended globular cluster. Both Bootes I and Segue 1 have significant abundance dispersions in iron and carbon. Bootes I has a mean abundance of Fe/H = --2.55 ? 0.11 with an Fe/H dispersion of Delta *s = 0.37 ? 0.08, and abundance spreads of Delta *DFe/H = 1.7 and Delta *DC/H = 1.5. Segue 1 has a mean of Fe/H = --2.7 ? 0.4 with Fe/H dispersion of Delta *s = 0.7 ? 0.3, and abundances spreads of Delta *DFe/H = 1.6 and Delta *DC/H = 1.2. Moreover, Segue 1 has a radial-velocity member at four half-light radii that is extremely metal-poor and carbon-rich, with Fe/H = --3.5, and C/Fe = +2.3. Modulo an unlikely non-member contamination, the Fe/H abundance dispersion confirms Segue 1 as the least-luminous ultra-faint dwarf galaxy known.
The GALAH Survey: second data release Buder, Sven; Asplund, Martin; Duong, Ly ...
Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society,
08/2018, Letnik:
478, Številka:
4
Journal Article
Recenzirano
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ABSTRACT
The Galactic Archaeology with HERMES (GALAH) survey is a large-scale stellar spectroscopic survey of the Milky Way, designed to deliver complementary chemical information to a large number ...of stars covered by the Gaia mission. We present the GALAH second public data release (GALAH DR2) containing 342 682 stars. For these stars, the GALAH collaboration provides stellar parameters and abundances for up to 23 elements to the community. Here we present the target selection, observation, data reduction, and detailed explanation of how the spectra were analysed to estimate stellar parameters and element abundances. For the stellar analysis, we have used a multistep approach. We use the physics-driven spectrum synthesis of Spectroscopy Made Easy (SME) to derive stellar labels (Teff, log g, Fe/H, X/Fe, vmic, vsin i, $A_{K_S}$) for a representative training set of stars. This information is then propagated to the whole sample with the data-driven method of The Cannon. Special care has been exercised in the spectral synthesis to only consider spectral lines that have reliable atomic input data and are little affected by blending lines. Departures from local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE) are considered for several key elements, including Li, O, Na, Mg, Al, Si, and Fe, using 1D marcs stellar atmosphere models. Validation tests including repeat observations, Gaia benchmark stars, open and globular clusters, and K2 asteroseismic targets lend confidence to our methods and results. Combining the GALAH DR2 catalogue with the kinematic information from Gaia will enable a wide range of Galactic Archaeology studies, with unprecedented detail, dimensionality, and scope.
The population-based case-control study design has been widely used for studying the etiology of chronic diseases. It is well established that the Cox proportional hazards model can be adapted to the ...case-control study and hazard ratios can be estimated by (conditional) logistic regression model with time as either a matched set or a covariate. However, the baseline hazard function, a critical component in absolute risk assessment, is unidentifiable, because the ratio of cases and controls is controlled by the investigators and does not reflect the true disease incidence rate in the population. In this article, we propose a simple and innovative approach, which makes use of routinely collected family history information, to estimate the baseline hazard function for any logistic regression model that is fit to the risk factor data collected on cases and controls. We establish that the proposed baseline hazard function estimator is consistent and asymptotically normal and show via simulation that it performs well in finite samples. We illustrate the proposed method by a population-based case-control study of prostate cancer where the association of various risk factors is assessed and the family history information is used to estimate the baseline hazard function. Supplementary materials for this article are available online.
"With an ethnographer's acumen, Zucker shows us how the members of a community in post-conflict Cambodia have sought to rebuild their lives, a process involving complicated issues of trust, social ...memory, and moral order.Forest of Struggleis a must-read for anyone who wants a deeper understanding of social suffering and the remaking of social worlds after prolonged conflict and genocide." -Alexander Hinton, Rutgers University"This book raises far-reaching questions of larger interest to the study of Cambodia and to anthropology in general. It is a very timely book, full of ideas and relevant to any society in the aftermath of profound upheaval." -John Marston, El Colegio de MexicoIn a village community in the highlands of Cambodia's Southwest, people struggle to rebuild their lives after nearly thirty years of war and genocide. Recovery is a tenuous process as villagers attempt to shape a future while contending with the terrible rupture of the Pol Pot era.Forest of Struggletracks the fragile progress of restoring the bonds of community in O'Thmaa and its environs, the site of a Khmer Rouge base and battlefield for nearly three decades between 1970 and 1998.Anthropologist Eve Zucker's ethnographic fieldwork (2001-2003, 2010) uncovers the experiences of the people of O'Thmaa in the early days of the revolution, when some villagers turned on each other with lethal results. She examines memories of violence and considers the means by which relatedness and moral order are re-established, comparing O'Thmaa with villages in a neighboring commune that suffered similar but not identical trauma. Zucker argues that those differing experiences shape present ways of healing and making the future. Events had a devastating effect on the social and moral order at the time and continue to impair the remaking of sociality and civil society today, impacting villagers' responses to changes in recent years.More positively, Zucker persuasively illustrates how Cambodians employ indigenous means to reconcile their painful memories of loss and devastation. This point is noteworthy given current debates on recovery surrounding the Khmer Rouge Tribunal.Forest of Struggleoffers a compelling case study that is relevant to anyone interested in post-conflict recovery, social memory, the anthropology of morality and violence, and Cambodia studies.Eve Zuckeris a Visiting Fellow at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE).
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