Thesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2002 / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: During the history of Israel the concept of "purity" had developed as a way in which God's people could honour his holiness and draw nearer to him, as a sanctified nation. By the time of Jesus, in Second Temple Judaism, the purity system had become restrictive. This had been influenced by political and social developments, including an increased desire to withdraw from Hellenistic and other factors which were seen as contaminating the integrity of Judaism. There were diverse perceptions regarding the achievement of the purity of Israel, including militaristic confrontation and expulsion of alien occupation forces, stricter adherence to the Law and, in some cases, total withdrawal from general society (such as at Qumran). It was, however, particularly the Pharisaic imposition of the supplementary oral tradition, supposed to clarify the written Law, which imposed hardship on those who, through illiteracy or inferior social status, were unable to meet all the minute provisions which would ensure ritual purity. The expansion of the Law of Moses by the commentary of the rabbis, which over time became the entrenched oral "tradition of the fathers", was originally intended to promote access to God by clarifying obscure points of the Law, in the pursuit of purity. However, this oral tradition had, in fact, become an instrument of alienation and separation of the ordinary people not only from the Pharisees, who considered themselves as the religious elite, but also from God. The common people, that is, a large section of the population, felt rejected and on the outside of both religious and social acceptance. On the material level they also suffered under a heavy tax burden, from both Temple and State, which aggravated their poverty. It was this situation which Jesus confronted in his mission to change the ideological climate and to reveal the Kingdom of God as being accessible to all who accepted the true Fatherhood of God, in penitence and humility. He denounced the hypocrisy which professed piety but which ignored the plight of those who were suffering. Hark 7 : 1-23 symbolizes the difference between the teaching and practice of Jesus and that of the Pharisees, and provides metaphorically a pattern of Christian engagement which is relevant in the South African situation today. The Christian challenge is to remove those barriers, both ideological and economic, which impede spiritual and material well-being within society. By active engagement, rather than by retreating to the purely ritualistic and individualistic practice of religion, the realization of the Kingdom of Heaven, as inaugurated by Jesus, will be advanced. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Gedurende die geskiedenis van Israel het die konsep van reinheid ontwikkel as 'n wyse waarin die die volk van God Sy heiligheid kan eer en tot Hom kan nader, as 'n geheiligde volk. Teen die tyd van Jesus, tydens Tweede Tempel Judaïsme, het die reinheid sisteem beperkend geword. Dit is beïnvloed deur politieke en sosiale ontwikkelinge, insluitende 'n toenemende drang om te onttrek van Hellenistiese en ander faktore, wat beskou is as 'n besoedeling van die integriteit van Judaïsme. Daar was diverse persepsies aangaande die uitvoering van die reinheid van Israel, insluitende militaristiese konfrontasie en die uitwerping van vreemde besettingsmagte, strenger onderhouding van die Wet en in sekere gevalle, totale onttreking van die algemene samelewing (soos by Qumran). Tog was dit in besonder die Fariseërs se oplegging van bykomende mondelinge tradisie, veronderstelom die geskrewe Wet te verhelder, wat ontbering veroorsaak het vir die wat as gevolg van ongeletterdheid of minderwaardige sosiale status nie in staat was om aan elke haarfyn bepaling, wat rituele reinheid sou verseker, te voldoen nie. Die uitbreiding van die wet van Moses deur die kommentaar van die rabbies, wat met verloop van tyd die ingegrawe mondelinge "tradisie van die vaders" geword het, was oorsproklik bedoel om toegang tot God te verseker, deur die verheldering van onduidelike aspekte van die wet, in die nastreef van reinheid. Hierdie mondelinge tradisie het egter 'n instrument van vervreemding geword en skeiding gebring tussen gewone mense en die Fariseers, sowel as die wat hulleself beskou het as die religieuse elite. Dit het egter ook skeiding gebring tussen mense en God. Die gewone mense, dit is die meerderheid van die bevolking, het verwerp gevoel en aan die buitekring van beide religieuse en sosiale aanvaarding. Op materiële vlak het hulle ook gelyonder die juk van swaar belasting, van beide die Tempel en die Staat, wat hulle toestand van armoede vererger het. Dit was hierdie situasie wat Jesus gekonfronteer het in sy strewe om die ideologiese klimaat te verander en om die Koninkryk van God te openbaar as toeganklik vir almal wat die ware Vaderskap van God aanvaar, in berou en in nederigheid. Hy het die skynheiligheid verwerp wat aanspraak maak op vroomheid, maar die toestand van die lydendes ignoreer. Markus 7:1-23 simboliseer die verskil tussen die onderrig en die praktyk van Jesus en dié van die Fariseërs en voorsien metafories 'n patroon van Christelike verbintenis, wat relevant is binne die eietydse Suid-Afrikaanse konteks. Die uitdaging aan die Christendom is om die skeidslyne te verwyder, beide ideologies en ekonomies, wat geestelike en materieële welsyn binne die gemeenskap belemmer. Deur aktiewe betrokkenheid, eerder as om bloot te onttrek tot die suiwer ritualistiese en individualistiese beoefening van religie, sal die realisering van die Koninkryk van die Hemel soos ingehuldig deur Jesus, bevorder word.

Thesis (DLitt (Ancient Studies))--University of Stellenbosch, 2006. / This study accounts for the forms and functions of the similes in the Book of Hosea. It proposes new tools for textual criticism, biblical interpretation, and understanding Biblical Hebrew (BH) worldview. Chapter One presents the task we have chosen for ourselves, its nature, some obstacles from other areas of scholarship, and the foundational notions of embodiment and Prototype Theory. Chapter Two presents principles drawn from Cognitive Semantics and Cognitive Syntax. A weakened version of the Lakoff-Johnson conceptual metaphor theory is adopted, and the key notions of embodiment and judgments of prototypicality are presented. Elements of Conceptual Blending are presented and adapted for simile analysis. Finally, text-based differences between metaphors and similes are discussed. Chapter Three presents cognitive cultural constructs of Strauss and Quinn: cultural schemas, cultural exemplars, cultural models, and cultural themes. Strauss and Quinn’s conclusions about metaphors’ use in everyday speech are shown to agree with our postulation of speaker assessment of the hearer’s ability to process utterances before they are produced. This postulation allows us to erect one part of a theory of simile. Chapter Three then integrates metaphor with the Strauss-Quinn cultural meaning model, and then with Boroditsky’s Weak Structuring view of metaphor. The effect is to provide a reasonable basis, amenable to empirical investigation, for the investigation of both metaphor and simile. Finally, the notions of embodiment and prototypicality are applied to the Strauss-Quinn model. Chapter Four presents various assumptions and conclusions that are later used to analyze Hosea’s similes. These include: (1) elements of Floor’s (2004a) model of Information Structure for BH narrative, with modifications and additions for poetry; (2) three cognitive types of similes in Hosea, posited for working purposes; (3) an adaptation of the conceptual blending apparatus to similes; (4) hypotheses to account for the distribution of similes versus that of metaphors in BH poetry, and to account for patterned differences in how various kinds of concepts are combined and manipulated; (5) an integration of these patterns with the three simile types; and (6) correlation of the cultural constructs of cultural schema, cultural theme, and cultural model with Hosea’s similes and metaphors. Chapter Five presents a number of scholarly views of the Book of Hosea, and characterizes the principal authorities cited in the next chapter. Chapter Six deductively applies all the foregoing theory to an examination of Hosea’s similes. Other observations are made inductively: (1) kinaesthetic image schemas’ role in Hosea’s poetry; (2) systematic difference in the use of similes versus metaphors in image elaboration; and (3) Information Structure’s role in simile analysis. Chapter Seven summarizes this study’s research and conclusions concerning, e.g., (1) the criteria for accounting for the embodiment and judgments of prototypicality characterizing Hosea’s similes; (2) the dependence of Hosea and his audience upon knowledge of themselves and their environment for their view of YHWH; and (3) the aid brought by a cognitive theory of similes in the task of textual criticism. Chapter Eight discusses prospects for further research and possible implications for translating Hosea’s similes and metaphors.

No description available.

The evolution of extra-group paternity (EGP) is a contentious issue in evolutionary biology. This thesis examines the factors and adaptive benefits driving EGP in a high-density, group-living population of European badgers (Meles meles). To improve power to assign parentage, I isolated and characterised 21 new polymorphic microsatellite markers. I genotyped 83% of 1410 badger trapped 1987‒2010 using 35 autosomal microsatellite markers. Maternity and paternity were assigned at 80% confidence ca. 82% of individuals. 48% of paternities were extra-group, where 85% were attributable to neighbouring-group males and EGP was detected in 47% of litters; thus badger social group do not correspond with a breeding unit. I tested whether indirect genetic benefits explain these high EGP rates. (1) ‘Good-gene-as-heterozygosity Hypothesis’: Paternal heterozygosity, but not maternal or an individual’s own heterozygosity, associated positively with first-year survival probability. Under benign environmental conditions, cubs fathered by more heterozygous males had a higher first year survival probability. Despite this correlation, the EGP rate per litter correlated with neither average nor maximum within-group heterozygosity of candidate fathers. (2) Fitness benefit Hypothesis: Extra-group offspring (EGO) had lower first-year survival probability and lived 1.3 years less than within-group offspring (WGO). Female WGO produced more litters and offspring over their lifetime than female EGO, whereas male EGO produced more offspring than male WGO. (3) Inbreeding avoidance hypothesis: The EGP rate within a litter increased with greater average pair-wise relatedness between mothers and within-group candidate fathers. No inbreeding depression on first-year survival probability was detected, but small sample sizes limited statistical power. Socio-ecologically, at the litter level, EGP correlated negatively with the number of within-group candidate fathers, and positively with neighbouring-group candidate fathers. In conclusion, EGP in badgers may reduce inbreeding and be maintained in the population through a sex-specific antagonistic selection and indirect genetic benefits may occur when the total fitness benefits of producing extra-group sons outweigh the costs of producing extra-group daughters. These indirect genetic benefits only partially explain the evolution of promiscuity in European badgers, highlighting that evolutionary factors underlying promiscuity remain unclear.

Les produits du terroir occupent une place privilégiée dans le goût des consommateurs qui, aujourd’hui, s’intéressent davantage à connaître la provenance et les qualités des produits qu’ils consomment. Le Mexique a une grande variété de produits du terroir, appris et transmis aux producteurs de génération en génération, mais certains manquent de protection ou la protection est inefficace. Les producteurs du Mexique vivent souvent dans des conditions marginales, et l'imitation de leurs produits résulte en une réduction de leurs ventes. Ils sont souvent contraints à changer de métier. Cette situation met en péril le patrimoine national en raison de l’abandon des connaissances traditionnelles, lesquelles représentent l'identité et la diversité culturelle de la nation mexicaine. La « Ley de la Propiedad Industrial » (LPI) prévoit l'appellation d’origine et la marque collective en tant que mécanismes de protection; cependant, ils ne sont pas toujours adéquats pour assurer une protection efficace des produits du terroir. Notre objectif est d'analyser si l'inclusion de l’indication géographique à la LPI peut favoriser l’enregistrement des produits du terroir qui sont à risque de disparaître. Cette étude fait donc ressortir la nécessité de modifier la LPI afin qu’elle réponde mieux aux besoins et aux réalités du Mexique. / Local products occupy a privileged place in the preferences of consumers who are more and more interested in knowing the origin and the quality of the products they consume. Mexico has a great variety of “terroir products”, learned and passed on to producers from generation to generation, but some of them lack protection or their protection is ineffective. Mexican producers oftentimes live in marginal conditions, and the imitation of their products results in a reduction in sales. They are often forced to change their trade. This situation puts the national patrimony in jeopardy due to the abandonment of traditional knowledge, which represents the identity and cultural diversity of the Mexican nation. The « Ley de la Propiedad Industrial » (LPI) provides for the appellation of origin and the collective mark as mechanisms of protection; however, they are not always adequate to ensure an effective protection of “terroir products”. Our goal is to analyze whether the inclusion of the geographical indication in the LPI will strengthen the registration of “terroir products” that are at risk of disappearing. This study thus highlights the need to revise the LPI to better reflect the needs and realities of Mexico.

I offer a cloud of observations about language and art. I will prioritize my questions about how language operates in art, the way it functions within my own studio practice, and locate aesthetic interstices throughout. There will be insights gleaned from the various orderers of order (Lacan, Saussure) and orderers of disorder (Derrida, Agamben), walks in terra-incognita, and even some poetry on my part. I will take this chance to orient myself among different structures and deconstructions that have piledup around language, aesthetics and art.

New analytical and technological tools have the potential to yield unprecedented insights into the life histories of migratory species. I used Bayesian population models and Global Positioning System-acceleration tracking devices to understand the demographic mechanism and likely drivers underpinning the Greenland White-fronted Goose (Anser albifrons flavirostris) population decline. I used a 27-year capture-mark-recapture dataset from the main wintering site for these birds (Wexford, Ireland) to construct multistate models that estimated age- and sex-specific survival and movement probabilities and found no sex-bias in emigration or ‘remigration’ rates (chapter 2). These formed the foundation for an integrated population model, which included population size and productivity data to assess source-sink dynamics through estimation of age-, site-, and year-specific survival and movement probabilities, the results of which suggest that Wexford is a large sink and that a reduction in productivity (measured as recruitment rate) is the proximate demographic mechanism behind the population decline (chapter 3). Low productivity may be due to environmental conditions on breeding areas in west Greenland, whereby birds bred at youngest ages when conditions were favourable during adulthood and the breeding year (chapter 4), and possibly mediated by links with the social system, as birds remained with parents into adulthood, forfeiting immediate reproductive success, although a cost-benefit model showed the ‘leave’ strategy was marginally favoured over the ‘stay’ strategy at all ages (chapter 5). Foraging during spring does not appear to limit breeding, as breeding and non-breeding birds did not differ in their proportion of time feeding or energy expenditure (chapter 6). Two successful breeding birds were the only tagged individuals (of 15) to even attempt to nest, suggesting low breeding propensity has contributed to low productivity. Although birds wintering in Ireland migrated further to breeding areas than those wintering in Scotland, there were no differences in feeding between groups during spring migration (chapter 7). These findings suggest that Greenland White-fronted Geese are not limited until arrival on breeding areas and the increasingly poor environmental conditions there (chapter 8). More broadly, these findings demonstrate the application of novel tools to diagnose the cause of population decline.

Chez les espèces longévives, une relation inverse entre la variabilité des paramètres démographiques et leur élasticité (i.e. la contribution relative du paramètre au taux de croissance de la population) semble exister. La théorie de la canalisation environnementale permet d'expliquer une telle relation. Les paramètres ayant la plus haute élasticité auraient évolué de façon à être moins variable face aux variations environnementales afin d'optimiser la fitness individuelle et ainsi maximiser la croissance de la population. Afin de tester l'existence d'une telle hypothèse chez une espèce, il est nécessaire d'estimer les paramètres démographiques ainsi que leur contribution relative au taux de croissance. À l'aide des modèles les plus récents de capture-marquage-recapture, nous avons donc estimé les paramètres de survie juvénile et de reproduction chez la grande oie des neiges pour les comparer au taux de survie adulte, paramètre le plus élastique.Notre étude a montré que les paramètres de survie juvéniles et de probabilité de nicher étaient très variables, tel qu'attendu. Le taux de survie juvénile dépend des conditions environnementales, avec notamment un fort effet du parasitisme. En vermifugeant des individus, nous avons trouvé un effet négatif des parasites intestinaux sur la survie des oies juvéniles femelles mais pas sur celle des mâles, ce qui s'explique probablement par une différence d'investissement dans le système immunitaire en fonction du sexe chez les individus en croissance. La probabilité de nicher est également dépendante des conditions environnementales mais notre étude a également révélé l'existence de coûts associés à la reproduction. En effet, la probabilité de nicher l'année suivante était fortement réduite suite à une reproduction avec succès comparé aux individus qui avaient eu un échec. Par contre, parmi les individus qui nichent, ceux qui avaient du succès l'année précédente avaient plus de chance d'avoir à nouveau du succès l'année suivante que ceux qui avaient eu un échec, ce qui suggère une hétérogénéité dans la qualité des individus. En parallèle de ces estimations, nous avons montré que le taux de survie adulte était constant au cours du temps et indépendante du statut reproducteur l'année précédente. Finalement, nous avons également trouvé que la survie adulte ne différait pas entre 2 colonies situés à 800 km de distance dans l'Arctique canadien, ce qui suggère une absence de variabilité spatiale pour ce paramètre démographique. Notre étude a donc démontré la faible variabilité temporelle et spatiale du paramètre démographique le plus important pour le taux de croissance de la population, contrairement aux autres paramètres qui montrent une forte variabilité chez la grande oie des neiges. Notre étude permet donc d'appuyer la théorie de la canalisation environnementale des paramètres démographiques chez les espèces longévives. / In long-lived species, an inverse relationship apparently occurs between variability of demographic parameters and their elasticity (i.e. the relative contribution of a given parameter to the population growth rate). The environmental canalization theory has been proposed to explain such a relationship. Demographic parameters with the highest elasticity should have evolved in a way reducing their variability in presence of environmental variations in order to optimize individual fitness and hence to maximize the population growth rate.To test this hypothesis in a given species, demographic parameters and their elasticity need to be accurately estimated. Using advanced capture-mark-recapture models, we estimated juvenile survival and breeding probabilities in the greater snow goose and we compared their variability to adult survival, the parameter with the highest elasticity.Our study showed that both juvenile survival rate and breeding propensity were highly variable, as expected. The juvenile survival probability varied upon environmental conditions, with a strong impact of parasitism. An anthelmintic drug treatment applied to juveniles revealed a negative effect of intestinal parasites on survival of juvenile females but not males, which could be explained by a sex-differential investment in the immune system in growing individuals. We found that the breeding propensity also varied with environmental conditions but we also found some evidence for costs of reproduction. Breeding propensity in the following year was greatly reduced after a successful reproduction compared to birds that had a failed attempt. However, among birds that bred, those that had a success the year before were more likely to be successful again the following year than those that had failed, which suggests heterogeneity in individual quality. In those studies, we showed that adult survival was constant over time and independent of the breeding status the year before. Finally, we also found that adult survival did not differ between 2 breeding colonies distant of 800 km in the Canadian Arctic, which suggests an absence of spatial variability for this demographic parameter.We thus demonstrated a low temporal and spatial variability in the most important demographic parameter for population growth, which contrasts with the high variability of other parameters in the greater snow goose. Our study supports the environmental canalization theory as applied to demographic parameters in long-lived species.

This dissertation develops a God-centered understanding of forgiveness based on the context of God's redemptive history and derived from His two great commandments. Chapter 1 surveys the forgiveness literature, points out the divergent views of twelve aspects of forgiveness, and builds a case for the need of an explicitly theocentric model of forgiveness. Chapter 2 begins with an overview of redemptive history and its implications for understanding forgiveness, and then provides a biblical and theological understanding of divine love. The intimate connection between love and forgiveness is demonstrated from Scripture and explained as a precursor to developing a theocentric definition of forgiveness. Chapter 3 starts with an overview of the major theological omissions of the prevailing clinical models of forgiveness---the centrality of God, doctrine of sin, and primacy of Jesus Christ. Then, the theocentric definition of forgiveness is used to address and develop the twelve aspects of forgiveness, looking also at the communal aspects of each issue. Chapter 4 develops a Christian psychology of unforgiveness and forgiveness by examining the dynamics within the soul. A model for moving from unforgiveness to forgiveness is offered, which focuses on developing a heart of love, and entails a growing intimacy with, identity in, and imitation of Christ. Chapter 5 offers concluding thoughts and reflections and recaps the theme that runs through the dissertation---the process of moving from unforgiveness to forgiveness is a primary process of sanctification. Implications of a theocentric understanding are briefly discussed for the areas of clinical research, Christian counseling, the body of Christ, and the life of the believer. Finally, significant areas for further research are highlighted. / This item is only available to students and faculty of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. If you are not associated with SBTS, this dissertation may be purchased from <a href="http://disexpress.umi.com/dxweb">http://disexpress.umi.com/dxweb</a> or downloaded through ProQuest's Dissertation and Theses database if your institution subscribes to that service.

The thesis in its theoretical part deals with problem of a domain name and alternative dispute resolution definitions. The view on the domain name definition is described both in Czech legal order and the international context. Rules of registration and using domain names are defined not only by the state law but also and above all by private rules formed by generic and country code top level domain administrators. Analyses of these legal sources and theirs comparison is necessary presumption for legal discretion of further development. Missing legal definition causes many problems which are shown in the context of concrete court and administrative decisions in the Czech Republic. Especially important are relations between domain names and trade marks, trade names, right to protection of person and the law of unfair competition. For definition of an alternative dispute resolution a special method of Aristoteles' logical square was used and applied on conditions of disputes resolution. The object of interest in the second practical part of the thesis is a legal regulation of .eu domain names. After necessary definition of legal sources, especially on secondary law level of the European Community, follows in practical part analysis of decisions concerning .eu domain name disputes issued by alternative procedure provided by the Czech Arbitration Court attached to the Economic Chamber of the Czech Republic and Agricultural Chamber of the Czech Republic, in the year of 2007. Essential part of this analysis is formation of domain name "case law".