7,806 research outputs found

    The sense of a beginning : Bakhtinian dialogic criticism on 'the gospel' in Mark.

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    Contemporary literary approaches have caused paradigm shifts in Biblical Studies in the last two decades as it appears in a great deal of Markan studies using narrative, reader-response, deconstructive, feminist, and new historicist approaches. However, literary studies on the Gospel of Mark have not taken into account theoretical questions underlying those approaches. As a result biblical critics are driven by new trends without ever having a chance to examine the critical baggage of the approaches. Consequently, there is a gap of communication between the old and the new one. Therefore this thesis is an attempt to meet the need of enhancing the quality of critical endeavour in biblical studies. In the light of most recent competing critical theories of literature, the first contribution of this thesis is the methodological finding that Bakhtinian dialogic criticism contains the most profound philosophical and practical foundations for solving some crucial theoretical problems in contemporary literary theories. It is a critique to a Saussurian linguistic system of language which becomes the very foundation of modern and postmodern literary criticism. Bakhtinian literary theory shifts the foundation of literary criticism on linguistic signs into the creative activity of the socio-cultural production of human communication. The shift into socio-cultural reality of language communication makes the notion of 'genre' very important to unlock the problem of text and context in literary studies. Since the Gospel of Mark has fascinated most literary critics in Biblical Studies, the problem of 'genre' of this gospel is chosen as the focus of this study. Secondly, as no agreement is reached as to what 'genre' the Gospel of Mark belongs, this thesis makes its contribution to the discussion by locating the problem of 'genre' of Mark in the context of genre theories and argues that the Bakhtinian suggestion to find genre in the socio-cultural sphere by analysing artistic intercourse between narrative agents in Mark has freed the competing analysis from the unresolved problem between the kerygmatic (content oriented) approach and the analogical (form oriented) approach. To achieve finding 'genre' in the socio-cultural sphere, this thesis focuses on Bakhtinian analysis of the process of artistic intercourse between narrative agents. The narrative communicative interrelationships between narrative agents is constructed in this thesis as a 'stereophonic' Bakhtinian model of dialogic communication. This model is an original contribution of this thesis for revising the traditional two dimensional model of narrative communication. Based on this dialogical model of communication, a special role is given to the Bakhtinian 'author-creator' in the realization process of genre through the interaction of polyphonic voices. Through the interaction of voices of the author-artist and the hero we are led to discover a relatively stable type of portraying and controlling reality in Mark, known as the genre of Roman 'satire'. The closest literary affinity is Satyrica by Petronius. This narrative strategy of 'satire' in Mark has its root in the prophetic discourse of the Old Testament which is saturating the speech of the narrator, John the Immerser, the centurion, the people, and even Jesus. Finally, the whole search for Markan 'genre' culminates in the analysis of the realization of genre through the analysis of Bakhtinian chronotope. The reality of the genre of Mark is its social reality that is in its role as dpxrj/ 'beginning'. As the Gospel of Mark proclaims itself as 'a beginning', it defines its claim of socio-cultural 'authority' in early Christianity. It is this 'sense of beginning' which enables the narrating and the narrated world of Mark to interact dialogically

    Seed source and region effects on growth rate and survival of blue spruce (Picea pungens) Christmas trees in New Jersey

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    Seedlings from five different seed sources of blue spruce Christmas trees were planted at five sites throughout New Jersey. Two sites in northern New Jersey and one in central New Jersey had significantly higher survival rates than the two in southern New Jersey. Additionally, the two sites in northern New Jersey had significantly faster growth rates than those in southern and central New Jersey. There were no significant differences in survival rates between seed sources. In terms of growth rates, however, seedlings from seeds obtained in Santa Fe National Forest, New Mexico grew significantly faster than seedlings from the other seed sources tested. This forther growth rate is predicted to shorten the time needed to reach marketability size by one to five years

    Letter from Mark S. Tsunokai to Mr. Shoji Nagumo, September 14, 1944

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    Correspondence from Mark S. Tsunokai to Shoji Nagumo regarding work for the Northern Pacific Railway Company. Covers availability of work for Nagumo, nature of the job, wages, and other details.The Japanese American Archival Collection documents the people, places, and daily life of Japanese Americans, primarily those who lived in the once thriving community of pre-war Florin in the Sacramento region, as well as the conditions in American incarceration camps during World War II. The approximately 7,000 original items include personal and official letters, photographs, diaries, arts and crafts, newsletters, textiles, camps artifacts, yearbooks and other publications

    Well-known trade mark protection: confusion in EU and Japan

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    In this thesis concerning the protection of well-known trade marks against confusion in the European Community Trade Mark (CTM) and Japanese trademark systems, the author critically considers the difficulties in comprehensively defining ‘well-known trade mark’ in the relevant international trade mark instruments. After critical analysis of various definitions of both ‘trade mark’ and ‘well-known trade mark’, she undertakes a comparison of the definitions of the parallel concepts of ‘trade mark of repute’ and ‘syuchi-syohyo’, and also undertakes an assessment as to the extent to which these trade marks are protected against confusion and kondo in the CTM and Japanese systems, respectively. It is concluded that the protection of well- known trade marks against confusion in the CTM and Japan cannot be said to be completely clear, and the author identifies some areas for legal refor

    The Gospel on the Margins: The Ideological Function of the Patristic Tradition on the Evangelist Mark

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    In spite of the virtually unanimous patristic opinion that the evangelist Mark was the interpreter of Peter, one of the most prestigious apostolic founding figures in Christian memory, the Gospel of Mark was mostly neglected in the patristic period. Not only is the text of Mark the least well represented of the canonical Gospels in terms of the number of patristic citations, commentaries and manuscripts, the explicit comments about the evangelist Mark reveal some ambivalence about its literary or theological value. In my survey of the reception of Mark from Papias of Hierapolis until Clement of Alexandria, I will argue that the reason why the patristic writers were hesitant to embrace the Gospel of Mark was that they perceived the text to be amenable to the Christological beliefs and social praxis of rival Christian factions. The patristic tradition about Mark may have little historical basis, but it had an important ideological function in appropriating the text in the name of an apostolic authority from the margins or periphery

    Spectrum-sliced wavelength division multiplexed systems with optical preamplifiers

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    The effect of dispersion on a spectrum-sliced wavelength division multi-plexed system with an optical preamplifier receiver is investigated using a theoretical model based on the statistics to improve understanding of spectrum slicing in a realistic situation, where dispersion significantly impacts the signal in transmission. The results show that the optically preamplified receiver delivers increased transmission capacity and a substantially improved power budget compared to a pin receiver. The results are obtained using the saddlepoint approximation and compared to the customary Gaussian approximation, which is formed to be reasonably accurate in predicting the optimum bandwidth but conservative in sensitivity predictions

    Optical wireless for intravehicle communications : a channel viability analysis

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    This paper provides an initial analysis into the viability of implementing an optical wireless system for intravehicle communications. Based on the use of a simple linearly scalable infrared light-emitting-diode transmitter, the results for received power, bandwidth, and root-mean-square (RMS) delay spread are shown at more than 3000 locations within a sports utility vehicle. Several of these locations, including the rear passenger seats, backs of the driver and front passenger seats, and the dashboard, are highlighted as having advantageous channel characteristics for the deployment of mobile communications equipment, audio-visual (AV) displays, computer consoles, or human-vehicle interface devices such as air conditioning or window controllers. Within the vehicle, received powers of up to 49 ?W with associated bandwidths ? 300 MHz and negligible RMS delay spread can be achieved at several locations. The analysis presented, as the first of its type, will provide the foundations for a larger investigation into intravehicular communications, including the optimization of transmitter-receiver configurations and the advancements of upper layer protocols that can exploit specific channel characteristics for high-end-user quality of service

    Forward error correction for molecular communications

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    Communication between nanoscale devices is an area of considerable importance as it is essential that future devices be able to form nanonetworks and realise their full potential. Molecular communication is a method based on diffusion, inspired by biological systems and useful over transmission distances in the nm to μm range. The propagation of messenger molecules via diffusion implies that there is thus a probability that they can either arrive outside of their required time slot or ultimately, not arrive at all. Therefore, in this paper, the use of a error correcting codes is considered as a method of enhancing the performance of future nanonetworks. Using a simple block code, it is shown that it is possible to deliver a coding gain of ∼1.7 dB at transmission distances of . Nevertheless, energy is required for the coding and decoding and as such this paper also considers the code in this context. It is shown that these simple error correction codes can deliver a benefit in terms of energy usage for transmission distances of upwards of for receivers of a radius

    The Taylor rule and the transformation of monetary policy

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    This paper examines the intellectual history of the Taylor Rule and its considerable influence on macroeconomic research and monetary policy. The paper traces the historical antecedents to the Taylor rule, emphasizing the contributions of three prominent advocates of rules--Henry Simons, A.W. H. Phillips, and Milton Friedman. The paper then examines the evolution of John Taylor's thinking as an academic and policy advisor leading up to his formulation of the Taylor rule. Finally, the paper documents the influence of the Taylor rule on macroeconomic research and the Federal Reserve's conduct of monetary policy.Taylor's rule ; Taylor, John B. ; Simons, Henry ; Phillips, A.W.H. ; Friedman, Milton ; Monetary policy

    Should i publish in an open access journal?

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    An “author pays” publishing model is the only fair way to make biomedical research findings accessible to all, say Matthew Kurien and David S Sanders, but James J Ashton and R Mark Beattie worry that it can lead to bias in the evidence base towards commercially driven results
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