Saul's Conversion (Acts 9-22-26) and the Multiplication of Narrative in Acts

(Résumé de l'ouvrage) The essays in this collection come from a research symposium involving the universities of Manchester and Lausanne. The essays cover a wide range of mutually-enriching approaches to the study of the Lukan writings. Aspects considered include Luke's use of the term 'Son of Man', his use of scripture, his literary achievements, and the issue of 'godfearers' in Acts.

"Il corpo de'pensieri" : la versificazione dei "Canti" leopardiani

L'objet de la thèse est l'étude de l'endecasillabo dans l'oeuvre poétique de Giacomo Leopardi. D'un point de vue méthodologique, ce travail s'appuie sur la recherche de Marco Praloran et Arnaldo Soldani dédiée à l'endecasillabo de Pétrarque. L'auteur a comparé les Canti de Leopardi avec la production des plus grands écrivains de la fin du XIXème siècle et du début du XXème siècle Melchiorre Cesarotti (Poesie di Ossian), Giuseppe Parini (Il Mattino), Vittorio Alfieri (Le Rime e il Saul), Vincenzo Monti (l'ouvre poétique), Ugo Foscolo (Le Rime) et Alessandro Manzoni (l'oeuvre poétique). Nous avons là un répertoire de plusieurs milliers de vers qui ont été scandés non pas par l'intermédiaire d'un ordinateur, mais un à un en fonction de leur intonation. La première partie de la thèse est dédiée à l'analyse du rythme des différents auteurs, à des statistiques générales qui permettent de comparer ces données entre elles et avec les anciens auteurs italiens tels Dante, Pétrarque, Arioste, etc. De cette façon, nous pouvons avoir une vision globale de la prosodie italienne des origines jusqu'au XIXème siècle -vision qui permet de focaliser de manière exhaustive la technique de Leopardi. Dans la deuxième partie, l'auteur propose texte après texte la scansion de toute l'oeuvre poétique de Leopardi. Nous avons donc une lecture interprétative du rythíne de tous les poèmes qui tient compte de l'année de composition et les différentes typologies métriques des textes : par exemple, les canzoni, les idilli, les canti pisano-recanatesi. Dans cette deuxième partie, il faut souligner l'effort de lier la partition du rythme au contenu des différents textes.

A functional microsatellite of the macrophage migration inhibitory factor gene associated with meningococcal disease.

Macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) is an abundantly expressed proinflammatory cytokine playing a critical role in innate immunity and sepsis and other inflammatory diseases. We examined whether functional MIF gene polymorphisms (-794 CATT(5-8) microsatellite and -173 G/C SNP) were associated with the occurrence and outcome of meningococcal disease in children. The CATT(5) allele was associated with the probability of death predicted by the Pediatric Index of Mortality 2 (P=0.001), which increased in correlation with the CATT(5) copy number (P=0.04). The CATT(5) allele, but not the -173 G/C alleles, was also associated with the actual mortality from meningoccal sepsis [OR 2.72 (1.2-6.4), P=0.02]. A family-based association test (i.e., transmission disequilibrium test) performed in 240 trios with 1 afflicted offspring indicated that CATT(5) was a protective allele (P=0.02) for the occurrence of meningococcal disease. At baseline and after stimulation with Neisseria meningitidis in THP-1 monocytic cells or in a whole-blood assay, CATT(5) was found to be a low-expression MIF allele (P=0.005 and P=0.04 for transcriptional activity; P=0.09 and P=0.09 for MIF production). Taken together, these data suggest that polymorphisms of the MIF gene affecting MIF expression are associated with the occurrence, severity, and outcome of meningococcal disease in children.

Elaborated Literary Violence: Genre and Ideology of the Two Stories I Sam 22,6-23 and II Sam 21,1-14

The present article focuses on two stories dealing with acts of big blood shed. I Sam 22,6-23 relates the massacre of the priests of Nob; II Sam 21,1-14 is about the execution of seven descendents of Saul, as atonement for Saul's attempt to exterminate the Gibeonites. Most researchers consider both stories or at least certain parts of them old.1 For both stories few verses are regarded as secondary. In this paper I try to reassess the analysis of these stories and will point to indices favoring a late date of origin for both of them. They concern the language in use, intertextual connections and particular motifs. A further indication consists in the fact that the reported events of the stories lack significant resonance in the corpus of the Hebrew Bible. There are only two texts, I Sam 2,33 and Ps 52,2, which allude or refer to I Sam 22,6-23.With regard to the importance of the related events and acts this silence in the Biblical context is astonishing. Interestingly, also in the Book of Chronicles one does not find any allusions to these stories. This raises the question whether the latter were composed after the formation of the book of Chronicles.