bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Living to Serve: The Cupbearer’s Dream (Gen 40)
Authors: Grossman Jonathan 
Published: July 2024

Abstract
At first glance, it seems that the cupbearer’s dream (Gen 40) does not require a special symbolic interpretation. Aside from the three branches symbolizing three days, Joseph interpreted the dream literally: the cupbearer will be restored to his esteemed position and serve wine to the king. Nonetheless, this article raises the possibility that there is a symbolic meaning in the vine’s blossoming (40:10), which Joseph interpreted with the words: “Pharaoh will lift up your head” (40:13). According to this suggestion, the cupbearer’s dream and the baker’s dream should be explained in similar ways: both dreams are symbolic dreams in which the official is represented by the produce he is responsible for.
Masoretic Forensics and Scribal Fingerprints
Authors: Phillips Kim 
Published: July 2024

Abstract
In recent years three bilingual Hebrew-Judaeo-Arabic Torah manuscript fragments have been tentatively identified as the work of the scribe Samuel b. Jacob (best-known for his production of the so-called Leningrad Codex): CUL T-S Ar.1a.2+; RNL EVR II A 640; Oxf. MS heb. f. 108/3. These identifications were made on the basis of script similarity alone. This study, premised on the work of the great Hebrew codicologist Malachi Beit-Arié, demonstrates that all three of these manuscripts have been mis-identified. Thereby, the study affirms Beit-Arié’s claim that, at least in the case of early Eastern Hebrew Bible codices, scribal identifications should not be made on the basis of script alone, but on a raft of textual and paratextual scribal features that remain demonstrably stable across a given scribe’s oeuvre.
Me, My Sin, and I
Authors: Kim World 
Published: July 2024

Abstract
This article seeks to situate Paul’s Sin in Rom 7 within the context of Second Temple exegetical practices concerning sources of evil. Drawing on the work of Carol Newsom and Ishay Rosen-Zvi, the author argues that Paul’s discourse on Sin in Rom 7 marks an instance of self-alienation in which the “I” distances itself from Sin which is objectified as an evil power within the self. While Sin is certainly distinguishable from the self, the author here contends that Sin is not ontologically distinct from the self. Accordingly, Sin is not an external, cosmic power but, rather, envisioned as an internal, evil entity that is inherent to and arises from the self.
Contrasting Human Speech in Hebrews 12–13
Authors: Stevens Daniel 
Published: July 2024

Abstract
This article will analyze an under-studied aspect of the Epistle to the Hebrews: human speech. In so doing, the author will show how the letter-writer creates an implicit comparison between the audience of the epistle and Moses, placing the audience in a position more privileged than Moses himself. The argument will proceed by justifying the scope of the material to be considered, Heb 12–13, then examining the few but significant instances of human discourse in the letter. The author will argue that the letter-writer’s use of explicitly human discourse serves the epistle’s overall argumentative purpose of encouraging the audience to continued adherence to Jesus through a comparison of the Mosaic and new covenants, particularly in reference to the events immediately after the exodus from Egypt. Then the author will conclude with reflections on the rhetorical use of human discourse and the potential implications for the structure and literary unity of Hebrews.
Exploring Oman’s International Tourism Determinants in a Gravity Modelling Framework
Authors: Gani Azmat , Al-Kharusi Sami 
Published: July 2024

Abstract
This research investigates Oman’s international tourism predictors within a coherent gravity modelling framework. International visitor arrival data for 2007 to 2015 involving Oman’s forty-eight main visitor origin countries are incorporated in the balanced panel estimation empirical phase that tests several gravity model specifications. The estimation procedure includes standard gravity variables and controls for several hypothesized influences. The findings provide strong evidence that the economic sizes of visitor recipient and origin countries, the distance between Oman and visitor origin countries, humidity, quality of accommodation, and common religion are statistically significant predictors. Surprisingly, while relevant, Oman’s cultural attractions (museums, forts, and castles) and the extent of human freedom are statistically insignificant. These findings are unique as they focus on the importance of factors determining Oman’s tourism within a cohesive and inclusive modelling framework. Policymakers can target the abovementioned variables to facilitate investments and propel tourism.
Estranged Kinship: Empathy and Animal Desire in Merleau-Ponty
Authors: Rogers Chandler D. 
Published: July 2024

Abstract
Merleau-Ponty suggests in his Nature lectures that myth provides the best way into thinking the relation of strange kinship between humanity and animality. He goes on to refigure Husserl’s paradigm of the two hands touching to extend beyond merely human-to-human relations, invoking in the process the myth of Narcissus. By carefully examining Merleau-Ponty’s late refiguration of that paradigm, alongside the revised conception of narcissism that it helps him to develop, we find that while human-animal empathy is made possible by a ground of intercorporeal kinship, human-animal estrangement makes possible the emergence of an ethical relation to other animals, contingent upon the sublimation of animal desire. Holding human-animal kinship and estrangement in tension reveals a nascent ideal present implicitly in the early stages of childhood development: a vision of the possibility of interspecies harmony, rooted in the bodily reciprocity that drives the process of self-maturation.
Critical Religion Takes a Punch: Notes on a Scholarly Skirmish
Authors: Goldenberg Naomi 
Published: July 2024

Abstract
In this reply to the article “Can Critical Religion Play by Its Own Rules? Why There Must Be More Ways to Be ‘Critical’ in the Study of Religion” by Galen Watts and Sharday Mosurinjohn (2022), I take exception to the authors’ criticisms. I call attention to Watts’ and Mosurinjohn’s implication that critical religion enables racism, their imaginary construction of a methodological ‘school’ with rigid ‘rules,’ and their simplistic dismissal of Foucault’s approach to discourse analysis. I then suggest that the suspension of reified categories in Religious Studies opens up promising avenues for theory and research.
In Search of Rules for a Critical Study of Religion
Authors: Sheedy Matt 
Published: July 2024

Abstract
This article builds on critical engagements with a 2022 essay that appeared in the Journal of the American Academy of Religion. At the centre of this essay was a concern with the influence of ‘Critical Religion’ (CR) on the academic study of religion, including the idea that CR is crypto-normative, inconsistent when applying its critiques, is overly deconstructive, and is unable to address ethical claims. Taking issue with some of the arguments in this essay, this article aims to push the conversation in a different direction by asking, are their rules for a critical study of religion? If so, then what do various ‘critical’ camps share in common? Where do they differ, and what kind of work is being done to move beyond some of these impasses today?
She Shores
Authors: Roy Meghna , Singh Jyoti 
Published: July 2024

Abstract
This study delves into the lives of women from the Koli fishing community in Mumbai, aiming to illuminate their unique life experiences and the daily struggles that often remain hidden beneath their prosperous facade. It endeavours to examine their agency and adaptive strategies employed to navigate these challenges. The research was conducted in Pachubandar, Vasai, located in the western suburbs of Mumbai, which stands as one of the prominent Koli settlements in the city. Employing a qualitative research approach coupled with an exploratory research design, the study engaged ten participants, comprising seven Koli women and three key informants from the community. Additionally, an observational analysis of four retail and wholesale fish markets in Mumbai was conducted to gain insight into the working conditions of Koli fisherwomen.
This study adopts a gender-focused perspective to scrutinise the contextual vulnerabilities that shape the lives of Koli women. It underscores the paradox wherein, despite playing a pivotal role in sustaining both their families and the traditional fishing occupation, their contributions often go unnoticed. The Koli women face severe deprivation due to their limited access to property and decision-making authority. They find themselves entangled within traditional norms and patriarchal structures, which impede their access to essential assets and diverse livelihood resources. Although they significantly contribute to the fishery sector, their struggles, needs, and aspirations are frequently disregarded due to their lack of representation and involvement in decision-making bodies. The majority of these women work under precarious conditions, devoid of proper infrastructure, resources, and security. Furthermore, the evolving dynamics within the fishery sector, driven by rapid urbanisation and modernisation, have a profound impact on the lives and traditional livelihoods of Koli women. They now confront issues such as dwindling fish catches due to environmental degradation, heightened market competition, reduced livelihood spaces brought about by shifting urban and coastal landscapes, altered labour relations, and technological advancements. Consequently, they find themselves caught between the conflicting forces of tradition and modernity. The research also sheds light on the strategies devised by Koli women to resist and adapt to the uncertainties and challenges they encounter, ultimately safeguarding their livelihoods through self-organisation. The study emphasises the imperative to acknowledge their contributions as ‘visible work’ and advocates for the incorporation of gender considerations when formulating policies and development strategies within the fisheries sector.
Listening the Echoes of Silence
Authors: Mohammed Awol Ali 
Published: July 2024

Abstract
This scholarly article examines the intricate layers of social, economic, and political marginalisation experienced by the ‘Negede Weyto’ minority and elucidates its impacts on their psychological well-being. Employing a qualitative research approach, the study synthesised primary and secondary data sources. Primary data collection methods included in-depth interviews, informant interviews, and focus group discussions, complemented by meticulous analysis of relevant documents. The findings reveal that socially, the ‘Negede Weyto’ face marginalisation and restrictions in societal interactions, local associations, and religious events due to stereotyped and prejudiced perceptions. Economically, the minority group encounters challenges such as land eviction, limited opportunities, and exclusion from the job market, exacerbated by perceived educational and competence deficiencies. Politically, the ‘Negede Weytos’ are marginalised from local governance, with limited participation in elections and decision-making processes. Consequently, the ‘Negede Weyto’ minority experiences detrimental effects on their psychological well-being due to the cumulative impact of enduring marginalisation.
Reparation and Reconciliation
Authors: Meijers Erica 
Published: July 2024

Abstract
After several decades of relative silence in the Netherlands on the topic of church and racism, the Black Lives Matter Movement and the public debate on reparations for colonial enslavement have brought the issue back on the agenda of church and theology. Fuelled by the Programme to Combat Racism (PCR), previous ecumenical discussions on this topic in the 1970s provide a good starting point for reflection today.
This paper first provides some basic background on the PCR and then describes three theological positions in relation to reconciliation that shaped the discussions around racism. Based on these historical insights, the article summarizes the experiences and insights of the PCR in three major points, and discusses their relevance for today’s conversation on church, diaconia, and racism. The paper argues that commitment, the transfer of power, and the value of discomfort provide important theological and practical insights for today’s debate.
Misunderstanding Equality, Power, and Vulnerability: Elevating the Individual over Cohesion in Hierarchy as a Value
Authors: Rauchholz Elizabeth 
Published: July 2024

Abstract
This article explores dominant ideas of value at play in a critical incident experienced by international mission candidates on a team placement, in an Anglican community of the United Kingdom. The ethnographic analysis will compare different perspectives on how misunderstanding cultural values and social relations as theological obligations can lead to suffering. Thus, the study shows how qualitative differences in cultural values and social relations determine contrary ways of understanding theological conceptualizations of equality as a Christian idea in contact zones of international mission communities. The analysis challenges two Christian assumptions: firstly, that extending equal value to people before God is universally understood in the same way, and secondly, that individual well-being is inherently superior to ensuring social cohesion, exemplified by Korean hierarchy. Although people realize hierarchy and individualism the world over, the nuances of meaning dominating their relations to other values determine why and how people experience suffering.
Seeing Wrongness
Authors: Toribio Josefa 
Published: July 2024

Abstract
This paper examines the plausibility of an attention-based version of moral perceptualism (amp). According to amp, our perception of moral properties is characterized by perceptual attentional patterns that reflect a sensitivity to morally salient features. First, I argue that the explanation for the empirical evidence offered to support amp primarily hinges on cognitive processes rather than perceptual ones. Second, while I acknowledge the critical importance of attention in recognizing moral properties, I contend that we must expand amp’s explanatory scope to address the question of what drives this attention. I propose an account of our (in)sensitivity to wrongness that builds on amp’s core statement. In this account, the notion of salience structure of information, defined by the varying accessibility of both perceptual and cognitive representations, plays a central explanatory role.
Nonviolent Knowledge(s) and Unarmed Civilian Protection
Authors: Ridden Louise 
Published: July 2024

Abstract
In its claim to take the human, and in particular the civilian, as the referent object of security, human security seeks to build not only physical but ontological security for those who live and work in conflict-affected communities; those who shape conflict and are shaped by it. Unarmed civilian protection (ucp), a method of civilian-to-civilian and civilian self-protection, is led by the civilians who make up conflict-affected communities. Rather than ‘including’ local actors in their protection or seeking to extract information about conflict from them, ucp is a practice in which local and international actors work together to co-create and build spaces of protection. This protection is based on conflict knowledge which enables nonviolent protection methods to be practiced effectively. This knowledge comes not from armed actors nor state delegates, but rather from and with conflict-affected communities. Embracing civilian experiential knowledge of armed and violent conflict, ucp instrumentalises civilians, their knowledge(s) of and relationships to armed conflict in the creation of protection networks. Taking ucp as a case study of nonviolent protection, and ucp practitioners as conflict knowledge producers, this article argues that civilian experiential knowledge of armed conflict is essential to the pursuit of civilian protection. Rather than being a prescriptive set of aims, the human security agenda must take seriously the experiences of civilians affected by conflict, centring their experiential knowledge(s) and agency in order to move beyond the unintentional yet harmful (re)production of binary security logics.
The University of Zimbabwe Department of English’s Dambudzo Marechera (2013–2018)
Authors: Fingson Kundai Watson 
Published: July 2024

Abstract
In this article, I discuss the personal (autobiographical), literary and political relationship between Dambudzo Marechera’s texts, the University of Zimbabwe’s then Department of English and my own development as an early career scholar. This relationship went beyond academia. Through a reflection on the various pedagogical approaches used by the department’s lecturing staff, I arrive at Marechera’s lasting literary legacy vis a vis the implications of ideological readings of literature in Zimbabwe. Marechera’s The House of Hunger, specifically, reveals the ideologies that are constantly employed in the reading of Zimbabwean Literature, which in turn, reveals the patriotism litmus test to which every aspect of Zimbabwean life is subject. The approaches impeded and facilitated critical readings to various degrees. I will argue that Marechera’s text’s stylistic and thematic concerns which traversed the literary, political, and autobiographical terrains complicated some of the readings and invited the microscopic scrutiny to which both the author and his work were subjected. Essentially, I discuss the identity and processes of identity making that revealed themselves in the reading of The House of Hunger and how all of these have impacted my own development as a young academic.
Meeting Dambudzo at Oxford
Authors: Chikafa-Chipiro Rosemary 
Published: July 2024

Abstract
This paper is a narrative of my personal (physical and spiritual) encounter with Dambudzo Marechera during my research visit at Oxford. Marechera was a prolific Zimbabwean writer, poet and playwright whose memory is entrenched in the Zimbabwean imagination because of his artistic prowess and personal-political exploits. He was expelled from the University of Oxford in 1976 and died in Zimbabwe on 18 August 1987. My encounter with Dambudzo is punctuated by my quest to understand what it was like for him as a black Zimbabwean in exile studying at the prestigious institution and having to maneuver his racial and cultural difference. The narrative weaves my personal experiences at Oxford, of British museums and meeting with his biographer into perceptions of Dambudzo Marechera’s archive at Oxford to bring a new understanding—including a psychological and/or clinical review—of Marechera’s memory from a black Zimbabwean perspective and hopefully perpetuate his archive.
Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus LRa05 alleviated liver injury in mice with alcoholic fatty liver disease by improving intestinal permeability and balancing gut microbiota
Authors: Gu J. , Chen Y. , Wang J. , Gao Y. , Gai Z. , Zhao Y. , Xu F. 
Published: July 2024

Abstract
This study investigated the effect of Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus LRa05 on alcoholic fatty liver disease (ALD) and its mechanism for liver protection. Mice were randomly divided into three groups: a control (CLT) group, an ALD group, and a LRa05 intervention group. The ALD mouse model was established by Lieber-DeCarli chronic alcohol feeding. Tissues staining, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was performed to detect changes in histopathology and inflammatory cytokines, respectively. Moreover, intestinal permeability was evaluated by the level of dextran-fluorescein isothiocyanate (Dx-FITC) in serum and tight junction protein in the colon. Changes in the composition of the gut microbiota were assessed by 16S rRNA sequencing. Alcohol consumption induced liver damage in mice with significantly increased levels of triglycerides (TG), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine transaminase (ALT), and inflammatory cytokines. Moreover, alcohol further induced the increase of intestinal permeability and disruption of gut microbiota in mice, with an increase in the relative abundance of potentially pathogenic bacteria Enterococcus, Parabacteroides, and Alistipes. LRa05 intervention significantly attenuated alcohol-induced liver injury by reducing the contents of TG, ALT, and AST, and suppressing the inflammatory responses. Meanwhile, by stimulating the expression of ZO-1, Occludin, and Claudin in the colon tissue, LRa05 additionally strengthened the intestine barrier function. Furthermore, gut microbiota analysis suggested that LRa05 partially ameliorated gut microbiota disorders in ALD mice and up-regulated the abundance of Desulfovibrio and Akkermansia, which were negatively correlated with the indicators of ALD progression. The reconstructive effects of LRa05 on the gut microbiota might be related to the efficacy of LRa05 in improving gut permeability and further protecting against ALD.
Beneficial effect of GABA-producing Lactiplantibacillus strain LPB145 isolated from cheese starters evaluated in anxiety- and depression-like behaviours in rats
Authors: Lozano J. , Fabius S. , Fernández-Ciganda S. , Urbanavicius J. , Piccini C. , Scorza C. , Zunino P. 
Published: July 2024

Abstract
In a previous study, we reported the in vitro potential probiotic and gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) production, of several strains from a collection of Lactiplantibacillus (Lpb) strains within the community of natural whey starters from the artisanal cheese industry. GABA is a non-protein amino acid widely distributed in nature and produced in animals, plants, and microorganisms. However, the best known role of GABA is its function as the major inhibitory neurotransmitter of the central nervous system. Preclinical and clinical evidence suggests that the GABAergic system has a relevant role in mental health disorders, such as anxiety and major depression. The modulation of the GABAergic system has been suggested as a potential strategy for treatment, one such mechanism of modulation is the influence of the microbiota-gut-brain axis through probiotic treatments. The present study was designed to investigate the in vivo probiotic potential of LPB145, a Lactiplantibacillus strain previously characterised as a GABA-producing potentially probiotic strain. Therefore, we evaluated the behavioural effects of chronic oral administration of LPB145 on rats’ anxiety- and depression-like behaviours, using the elevated plus maze, open field, and the forced swimming test. The impact of LPB145 strain treatment on the gut microbiota structure and diversity was assessed to discern a possible mechanism of action of the LPB145 treatment through the microbiota-gut-brain axis. Our results showed that LPB145 administration induced an antidepressive-like behaviour without changes in locomotor activity. In contrast, the treatment did not modify the experimental anxiety. The structure and diversity of the intestinal microbiota remained unaffected by the treatment when compared to the control. However, specific clades that could be implicated in the behavioural changes did show differences in their relative abundance. These findings provide evidence regarding the potential of probiotic strains isolated from alimentary sources, to modulate the microbiota-gut-brain axis and positively impact mental health.