‘Deo Magno Mercurio Adoravit…’ – The Latin Language and Its Use in Sacred Spaces and Contexts in Roman Egypt

The use of Latin in the multilingual society of Roman Egypt was never more than marginal. Yet, as a language of the ruling power, the Roman Empire, Latin enjoyed to some extent a privileged status. It was generally more widely applied in the army, as well as on some official occasions, and in the field of law. Less expectably, various Latin inscriptions on stone had religious contents or were found in sacred spaces and contexts. Such texts included honorary and votive inscriptions, visitors’ graffiti, and funerary inscriptions. All three groups are surveyed and evaluated focusing especially on their actual relation to the religious sphere and social background, noting both continuity and changes of existing practices and traditions. Such analysis of the inscriptions allows to draw conclusions not only regarding the use of Latin in religious matters in Egypt but also reveal some aspects of the use of Latin in Egypt in general and the role of Roman culture in the Egyptian society.

Whether Economic Freedom Is Significantly Related to Death of COVID-19

COVID-19 has caused a huge mayhem globally. Different economic freedom leads to different performances of a country’s reaction to the pandemic. We study 164 countries and apply mathematical and statistical approaches to tackle the problem: whether economic freedom has a significant impact on the death of COVID-19. We devise a metric, some norms, and some orderings to construct an absolute reference and the actual relation via binary sequences. Then, we use the theoretical binary sequences to construct a probability distribution which linearises the strength of relation between economic freedom and death of COVID-19. Then, the actual relation from the data analysis provides an evidence to the hypothetical testing. Our analysis and model show that there is no significant relation between economic freedom and death of COVID-19.

A Sustainable Development Concept in the Light of the Kingdom of God

In searching for answers about the actual relation between two apparently incompatible concepts: the Kingdom of God and the Sustainable Development (SD), we will try to put them side by side and use respective comparative findings, in order to see if they can work together and possibly benefit from each other. The aim is to better understand future perspectives that are opening for the church within the contemporary context. The two concepts considered in this research, the Kingdom of God and SD, are never supposed to be separated. Although coming from different sources, using different languages, and springing out from different socio-political contexts, they tackle the same set of universal issues; both are eagerly anticipated, their fulfilment is of utmost importance, they both call for profound personal and communal transformation, both are powerfully creative and innovative, and both have the capacity to mobilize communities, peoples, and resources. The intersections between the SD and the Kingdom of God create opportunities for the church to practice shalom and to nurture hesed in the world by encouraging inclusiveness, lobbing for social justice, carrying for the poor and marginalized, and extending love and compassion onto the whole of creation, without losing its genuine identity. Within the SD framework, the role of the church is to make sure that nobody is left behind. The church might be the best part of the SD practice by persistently insisting on the same universal set of Kingdom values no matter how circumstances are changing.

Debt, Democracy and the Pharmacology of Money

Few observers of the sovereign debt crisis in Europe have noted that the power relations it laid bare between debtor countries and their creditors stemmed from the very nature of money itself. This chapter considers money’s status as a social institution from the point of view of the democratic values of liberty and equality. Building on Karl Marx’s and Georg Simmel’s critiques of money’s alleged neutrality as a simple appendage of market exchange, the chapter establishes that money constitutes a fundamentally ambivalent phenomenon. Money’s myth of origin in barter, and its actual relation to debt, warrant a comparison with the gift, this primitive form of exchange whose potential toxicity was pointedly noted by Marcel Mauss and Jacques Derrida. Following the latter’s analysis of the “pharmakon,” the chapter concludes by sketching out how monetary reform could foster collective autonomy.

Lack of association in acne and salivary testosterone

The pathogenesis of acne vulgaris has only been partially elucidated. Various hormones, especially androgens, are likely to play a role, but results of studies are still inconclusive. The objective of the current study was to investigate whether day to day variation in salivary testosterone correlates with acne in males. Saliva samples were collected for 120 consecutive days from each of the 40 males. Salivary testosterone concentrations were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Facial acne lesions were assessed on a daily basis by photography by the participating males. Potential confounders’ (sexual intercourse, masturbation, physical exercise and disease) were also registered every day by the participants. A significant but weak association between salivary testosterone and acne was found (n = 4602, r = 0.031, P = 0.034). Elevated testosterone concentrations were associated with an increase in acne, but when testosterone concentrations were above twice the individual average, acne lesions paradoxically decreased. The current results indicate that daily fluctuations in salivary testosterone levels in males are associated with acne patterns, but the weak correlation suggests that the effect is too small to be of clinical significance. The analysis in the current study was complicated by a large number of days on which the participants had no acne, as well as the seemingly non-monotonic relation between testosterone and acne. This may indicate that the actual relation is stronger than concluded here.

God met ons! Die aanspraak op Goddelike steun in ’n konfliksituasie volgens die Ou Testament

God with us! The claim of divine support in a situation of conflict, seen from an Old Testament perspective Political discussions referring to Old Testament texts in order to claim divine support for one’s views, and disqualify opposing opinions as being in conflict with the God of the Bible, are hermeneutically based on analogies between a revealed God, His representatives or laws, and ethical or political principles. A synchronic investigation of relevant Old Testament passages fully denies and opposes this hermeneutic approach, which is based on an isolation of principles or norms - with no reg ard to the only relevant actual relation to God himself. Any political identification with God or associated function must therefore be rejected as blasphemous from an Old Tes-tament perspective.

Polymer Chain Deformation in Stretched and Swollen Elastomers

In the early theories of rubber elasticity, the retractive force and change in free energy of a stretched specimen were calculated from the deformation of the polymer chains of which the rubber network was formed. The mean chain deformation was presumed to be the same as that of the macroscopic specimen, an assumption which seemed reasonable, but could not be confirmed experimentally. Small angle neutron scattering (SANS) made measurement of chain dimensions possible, and it was soon discovered [1], [2] that the actual relation between dimensional changes of the polymer chain and deformation of the specimen was not at all what had been assumed.SANS studies of carefully prepared elastomeric networks provide the most direct experimental information required for a molecular theory of rubber elasticity, and have stimulated many new developments.

The Influence of Avitaminosis on the Course of Trypanosome Infection

Recent research has shown that the term “anti-infective” applied to vitamin A is misleading and inaccurate. Harris (1933) has discussed the evidence which shows that vitamin A cannot be regarded as a general antiinfective agent: the actual relation of the vitamin to infection has been well defined by Cramer, who states (1930) that “an adequate supply of vitamin A is a powerful prophylactic against infections entering by mucous membranes, but there is no evidence that it can prevent or cure those infections which enter by the blood stream or by subcutaneous tissues.”

Cytological changes in the lachrymal gland following the administration of certain drugs

During the course of an experimental investigation into the secretory mechanism of the lachrymal gland we were impressed by the varying responses of the gland to different drugs. Lome of these substances produced an activity which lasted for a considerable period while others gave rise to a very transitory secretion. In addition we noted the fact that the response of the gland to pilocrapine injections was by no means identical with that produced by stimulation of the lachrymal nerves. we were compelled therefore to study the locus of action of each particular drug which had been used. The presence of "secretory" granules in the lachrymal gland has been recorded by many observers (see Sundwall, 1926, for review of literature), but apparently little critical work has been carried out on the actual relation of these cytoplasmic inclusions to lachrymal secretion. In his monograph on “The Mitochondrial Constituents of protoplasm,” Cowdry (1918) discussed all the methods which had been used for the study of mitochondrial and cytoplasmic granules. He came to the conclusion that the fuchsin-methyl green method as modified by Bensley (1911) presented the fewest objections, and in consequence we adopted this method for our fixed material. We were influenced in this decision by Goetsch's work (1916) on the thyroid gland in which he was able to find a specific relationship between glandular activity and the mitochondrial content.

A critical study of spectral series. Part III.—The atomic weight term and its import in the constitution of spectra

The wave numbers of the lines in a spectrum which form any of the recognised series can be calculated, as is well known, from an expression of the form n = N/D 1 2 — N/D m 2 , where N = 109675 and D m = m + fraction, the fraction being in general a function of the integer m . The constant doublet or triplet separations of S and D series are formed by the deduction of a quantity Δ, or Δ 1 , Δ 2 , in the case of triplets, from D 1 , and it has long been known that these quantities are very roughly proportional to the squares of the atomic weights when elements in the same group are compared. The present communication deals with the actual relation between Δ and the atomic weight, and with the part it plays in the general constitution of spectra. It is shown that there is a definite quantity in connection with each element which is of fundamental importance in the building up of its spectrum. It is proportional to the square of the atomic weight: in fact, if w denote the atomic weight divided by 100 its value is (90·4725 ± 0·013) w 3 . This quantity is of such universal application that it is useful to have a special name for it, and it has been called the oun ( wv ). Its value is denoted by δ 1 , but δ is used for the multiple 4δ 1 , as it is of very frequent occurrence. The evidence for its existence is based on the arc spectra of He, the elements of the Groups I and II, the Al sub-group and Sc of III and the O, S, Se of VI of the Periodic Table—in other words, all those elements in which the series lines have been allocated. It is found:— (1) That the Δ which give the doublet and triplet separations are all multiples of their respective ouns.