Samuel’s Life of Barsauma, a little-studied, late fifth-century Syriac text, commemorates the ascetic career of a nasty saint. One of the most noticeable features of this monastic hagiography is the high degree and diversity of violence: Barsauma is frequently portrayed as the victim of violence by his adversaries and the perpetrator of violence against his adversaries. Yet, the Life of Barsauma stands out from other late ancient monastic hagiographies because of its enthusiastic depiction of the saint’s lethality. According to Samuel, Barsauma uses his curse to kill an array of individuals, and the mere presence of him and his disciples leads to the mass deaths of Jews gathered in Jerusalem. For most late ancient hagiographers, a saint’s performance of violence was something to be downplayed or specifically rationalized, and rarely if ever would a saint’s performance of holy violence lead to the death of one person, let alone many people. The Life of Barsauma’s deviation from contemporary hagiographical convention compels this article’s investigation into the meaning that Samuel hoped to communicate through his thorough depiction of a lethally violent saint. I argue that Samuel’s Life constitutes the literary amplification of a memory about the historical Barsauma, and an exhortation for the monks of Barsauma’s monastery to imitate him with similarly violent actions. In the end, Samuel’s defies the conventions of monastic hagiography in order to authorize readers to perform their own acts of violence as they construct and police the monastic community’s sectarian boundaries.

The World Health Organization recommends countries adopt policies that encourage the creation of healthier food retail. In Australia, some organisations have created enforceable regulation for healthier food retail in settings under their contractual control. While progressive for public health, little evidence exists on the characteristics of individuals and organisations influencing sustainment of such initiatives. We explored the perspectives of those involved in a sustained (six year) real-world healthy vending initiative in a university setting in Melbourne, Australia. Qualitative interviews were undertaken with seven of the eight individuals involved in the initiative and informed by the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research and the regulatory concept of social licence. Reflexive thematic analysis was used to generate themes on individual and organisational factors associated with sustainment. Two individual-level themes included participants enjoyment and skills for ‘getting the job done’ and working on innovative projects. Individual self-efficacy and enjoyment from working on innovative projects, combined with interviewees’ perception that their organisation had a role in leading social change, contributed to the initiative’s sustainment. Two organisation-level themes included the University leading innovation and having a responsibility to serve the needs of its community within the constraints of the need for ‘financial viability’ and the provision of ‘consumer choice’. This study brings to the fore evidence on the individual and organisational characteristics that contribute to the sustainment of a healthy food vending initiative from the perspective of those involved in implementation. Exploration of the importance of these characteristics to other food retail settings is required.

Nonfat set yogurts are very popular in Japan because of their health properties, but have the disadvantage of being hard and having large curd particles compared to fat-containing yogurts. We investigated the effect of lactose hydrolysis on nonfat set yogurt to determine whether this technique can improve the sensory evaluation and the texture of a nonfat set yogurt. We prepared nonfat yogurt mixes with 0, 50, 75, and 100% lactose hydrolysis and fermented them. The sensory properties, physical properties, fermentation characteristics, extracellular polysaccharide (EPS) concentration and lactic acid bacteria count were then assessed. The results demonstrated that the lactose hydrolysis rate had no effect on the fermentation time. The 75% lactose hydrolysis increased the EPS concentration and inhibited post-acidification. The 100% lactose hydrolysis increased the number of Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus (L. bulgaricus) and further increased the EPS concentration, and despite the increase in the number of L. bulgaricus, the 100% lactose hydrolysis suppressed post-acidification. The results of a sensory evaluation showed that the 100% lactose hydrolysis increased the yogurt's viscosity and overall acceptability and suppressed its acidity. The physical-properties evaluation revealed that when the lactose hydrolysis rate was ≥75%, the curd hardness decreased, and the curd particles became smaller. We inferred that these sensory and physical changes originated from an increase in the EPS concentration, and we thus speculate that a 100% lactose hydrolysis rate before fermentation would be a useful means of solving the hardness and large curd particles of nonfat set yogurt.

South Asians are among the fastest-growing immigrant population group in the United States (U.S.) with a unique disease risk profile. Due in part to immigration and acculturation factors, South Asians engage differently with behavioural risk factors (e.g. smoking, alcohol intake, physical activity, sedentary behaviour, and diet) for hypertension, which may be modified for the primary prevention of cardiovascular disease. Using data from the Mediators of Atherosclerosis in South Asians Living in America cohort, we conducted a cross-sectional analysis to evaluate the association between behavioural risk factors for cardiovascular disease and diet. We created a behavioural risk factor score based on smoking status, alcohol consumption, physical activity, and TV watching. We also calculated a Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) dietary score based on inclusion of relevant dietary components. We used both scores to examine the association between engaging with risk factors for hypertension and the DASH diet among a cohort of South Asian adults. We found that participants with 3–4 behavioural risk factors had a DASH diet score that was 3 units lower than those with no behavioural risk factors (aβ: –3.25; 95% CI: –4.28, –2.21) and were 86% less likely to have a DASH diet score in the highest category compared to the lowest DASH diet score category (aOR: 0.14; 95% CI: 0.05, 0.37) in the fully adjusted models. These findings highlight the relationship between behavioural risk factors for hypertension among South Asians in the U.S.

Anaplasmosis is a significant tick-borne disease (TBDs) caused by Anaplasma that affecting ruminant health and production worldwide. This study aimed to identify Anaplasma spp. infection using molecular as a fast diagnostic tool, perform a phylogenetic analysis and evaluate associated risk factors for combating Anaplasma spp. infection in small-scale livestock farms in Thailand. Total 963 blood samples from ruminants were collected from 125 farms across 4 regions of Thailand. Molecular diagnosis of Anaplasma spp. targeted the msp4 gene using conventional polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was performed and reported to the farmers within 14 days. Positive PCR products were purified, sequenced, and analysed the phylogenetic. Associated risk factor evaluations were conducted using R software. The overall prevalence of Anaplasma spp. infection in ruminants was 26.90%. The highest prevalence was observed in bullfighting cattle (47.06%), followed by beef cattle (35.75%), dairy cattle (21.73%), and goats (6.67%), with no infection in buffalo. Regionally, the Northern region had the highest prevalence (49.01%), followed by the Southern (25.88%), Central (22.01%), and Northeastern (13.81%) regions. Anaplasma spp. was commonly detected in Phrae, Chiang Rai, and Tak provinces. Sequencing confirmed A. marginale 99.64% to 99.76% identity to sequences in GenBank. Risk factors associated with A. marginale infection were history of TBDs on farm, animal illnesses, responsible person for treatment, and improper faeces removal practices. This study revealed a moderate to high Anaplasma infection across four regions. These findings underscore the need for enhanced tick control measures on farms, should be strictly implemented and promoted to reduce disease prevalence.

We propose a framework for institutional change in the ‘rules-in-equilibrium’ tradition and introduce the term institutional incompleteness. Institutions are incomplete when their constituent rules fail to induce behavioural beliefs about the strategies of others and hence fail to achieve an equilibrium. Even with deliberate preparation ex-ante, there will always be unanticipated situations not covered by the rules that can only be settled ex-post, especially in a complex and changing environment. At this crux, people creatively invoke focal point generating ideas. Ideas act as guides for coordination where rules cannot. If no focal points can form, further institutional collapse occurs. To understand which ideas guide better, economists will have to investigate an idea’s content. Our theory offers a way to look at institutional change due to incompleteness while also allowing the requisite room for ideas in explaining the patterned yet indeterminate trajectory of humanity.

This research focuses on pteropods of the family Cavoliniidae, which remains an under-studied taxa in Indian waters. Sediment samples collected by the FORV Sagar Sampada from the Andaman Islands, India, yielded eight species of the family Cavoliniidae, representing the genera Cavolinia and Diacavolinia of the subfamily Cavoliniinae, and the genus Diacria of the subfamily Diacriniinae. Notably, four species – Diacavolinia aspina, D. bandaensis, D. deblainvillei and Diacria erythra represent new distributional records for India. Furthermore, Cavolinia uncinata, Diacavolinia angulata, D. bicornis and D. flexipes are recorded for the first time in the Andaman Sea. This study is significant in expanding the understanding of pteropod diversity in the Indian Ocean, contributing to a better understanding of their ecosystem and geographical range.

Corn (Zea mays L.) is an important crop that contributes to global food security, but understanding how farm management practices and soil health affect corn grain nutrient analysis and therefore human health is lacking. Leveraging Rodale Institute's Farming Systems Trial—a long-term field experiment established in 1981 in Kutztown, PA, USA—this study was conducted to assess the impact of different agricultural management systems on corn grain nutrient profiles in a long-term trial that has resulted in differences in soil health indicators between treatments as a result of long-term management. The main plot factor was two tillage practices (intensive and reduced) and the subplot factor was four cropping systems (non-diversified conventional [nCNV], diversified conventional [dCNV], legume-based organic [ORG-LEG], and manure-based organic [ORG-MNR]). Generally, the levels of amino acids, vitamins, and protein in corn grain were greatest in the ORG-MNR system, followed by the ORG-LEG and dCNV systems, and finally the nCNV system. It is important to consider that the observed difference between the organic and conventionally grown grain could be due to variations in corn hybrids that were used in those systems. However, nutrient composition of corn differed within cropping systems but between management practices (diversified crop rotation and cover cropping) which also contributed to differences in soil health indicators (soil compaction, soil protein, and organic C levels) that may also influence grain nutrient concentrations. With the exception of methionine, nutrient concentration in corn grain was not affected by different tillage regimes. These findings provide novel information on corn grain nutritional quality of organic and conventional cropping systems after long-term management and give insights into how system-specific components affect nutrient composition of corn grain.

This study investigates how phonological competition affects real-time spoken word recognition in deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) preschoolers compared to peers with hearing in the normal range (NH). Three-to-six-year olds (27 with NH, 18 DHH, including uni- and bilateral hearing losses) were instructed to look at pictures that corresponded to words alongside a phonological competitor (e.g., /bin-pin/) vs. an unrelated distractor (e.g., /toy-bed/). Phonological competitors contrasted in either voicing or place of articulation (PoA), in the onset or coda of the word. Relative to peers with NH, DHH preschoolers showed reduced looks to target in reaction to the spoken words specifically when competition was present. DHH preschoolers may thus, as a group, experience increased phonological competition during word recognition. There was no evidence that phonological properties (voicing vs. PoA, or onset vs. coda) differentially impacted word recognition.

This paper focuses on dynamics of systems of particles that allow interactions beyond binary, and their behavior as the number of particles goes to infinity. More precisely, the paper provides the first rigorous derivation of a binary-ternary Boltzmann equation describing the kinetic properties of a gas consisting of hard spheres, where particles undergo either binary or ternary instantaneous interactions, while preserving momentum and energy. An important challenge we overcome in deriving this equation is related to providing a mathematical framework that allows us to detect both binary and ternary interactions. Furthermore, this paper introduces new algebraic and geometric techniques in order to eventually decouple binary and ternary interactions and understand the way they could succeed one another in time. We expect that this paper can serve as a guideline for deriving a generalized Boltzmann equation that incorporates higher-order interactions among particles.