Monday's Molecule #168

This molecule is present in most (all?) species. Your mission for today, should you choose to accept it,¹ is to: (a) name this molecule, (b) identify the most important enzyme that uses it as a substrate, and (c) name an important competitive inhibitor of this enzyme.

Post your answer in the comments. I'll hold off releasing any comments for 24 hours. The first one with the correct answers wins. I will only post mostly correct answers to avoid embarrassment. The winner will be treated to a free lunch.

There could be two winners. If the first correct answer isn't from an undergraduate student then I'll select a second winner from those undergraduates who post the correct answer. You will need to identify yourself as an undergraduate in order to win. (Put "undergraduate" at the bottom of your comment.)

Some past winners are from distant lands so their chances of taking up my offer of a free lunch are slim. (That's why I can afford to do this!)

In order to win you must post your correct name. Anonymous and pseudoanonymous commenters can't win the free lunch.

Winners will have to contact me by email to arrange a lunch date.

Comments are invisible for 24 hours. Comments are now open.

UPDATE: The molecule is HMG-CoA or 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl Coenzyme A. The enzyme is HMG-CoA reductase, a key enzyme in the pathway leading to synthesis of cholesterol. Competitive inhibitors of this enzyme are used to reduce blood cholesterol levels by blocking synthesis of endogenous cholesterol. The most common inhibitors are the statins such as atorvastin (Lipitor) and lovastatin (Mevacor). The winner is undergraduate Sean Ridout.

Winners
Nov. 2009: Jason Oakley, Alex Ling
Oct. 17: Bill Chaney, Roger Fan
Oct. 24: DK
Oct. 31: Joseph C. Somody
Nov. 7: Jason Oakley
Nov. 15: Thomas Ferraro, Vipulan Vigneswaran
Nov. 21: Vipulan Vigneswaran (honorary mention to Raul A. Félix de Sousa)
Nov. 28: Philip Rodger
Dec. 5: 凌嘉誠 (Alex Ling)
Dec. 12: Bill Chaney
Dec. 19: Joseph C. Somody
Jan. 9: Dima Klenchin
Jan. 23: David Schuller
Jan. 30: Peter Monaghan
Feb. 7: Thomas Ferraro, Charles Motraghi
Feb. 13: Joseph C. Somody
March 5: Albi Celaj
March 12: Bill Chaney, Raul A. Félix de Sousa
March 19: no winner
March 26: John Runnels, Raul A. Félix de Sousa
April 2: Sean Ridout
April 9: no winner
April 16: Raul A. Félix de Sousa
April 23: Dima Klenchin, Deena Allan
April 30: Sean Ridout

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1. I watched Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol on a recent flight from San Diego to Toronto. You should only do this when you've exhausted all other options.

CFI Canada Sues a Major Drug Store Chain for Selling Homeopathic Product

This video explains it all.

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L. Popko, N. Quenouille, M. Rücker, Von Sklaven, Pächtern und Politikern. Beiträge zum Alltag in Ägypten, Griechenland und Rom. Doulika Erga zu Ehren von Reinhold Scholl

Von Sklaven, Pächtern und Politikern
Beiträge zum Alltag in Ägypten, Griechenland und Rom. Doulika Erga zu Ehren von Reinhold Scholl
 [Of Slaves, Tenants, and Politicians. Studies on Daily Life in Ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome]

Ed. by Popko, Lutz / Quenouille, Nadine / Rücker, Michaela

Series: Archiv für Papyrusforschung und verwandte Gebiete - Beihefte 33

hrsg. v. J.-L. Fournet / B. Kramer / W. Luppe / H. Maehler / B. McGing / G. Poethke / F. Reiter / T. S. Richter), Berlin u.a. 2012.

DE GRUYTER

Publication Date: April 2012

ISBN: 978-3-11-028071-5

Rudersdorf, Manfred,  „Über die Notwendigkeit, die Studien der Jugend neu zu gestalten“ : Leipziger Exzellenz im Zeichen der humanistischen Bildungsreform. Zur Antikerezeption in der Frühen Neuzeit

Colomo, Daniela / Gerhardt, Marius, Bemerkungen zu dem vermeintlichen hapax legomenon ἐντύλιμα (P.Münch. III 142 und Hesych κ 2543)

Huttner, Ulrich,  Der Fluch des Apostels: Magie in den Philippusakten

Kaplony-Heckel, Ursula, Totendienst und Tempeldienst im Alten Ägypten

Kath, Roxana, Politiker als Schauspieler – Schauspieler als Politiker? Zur Gefahr theatralischer Elemente in der Römischen Republik

Kramer, Johannes, Griechische Namen für die Treverer und für Trier

Pfeil, Patrick, Der Tod des Julian Apostata – ein oft besprochenes Rätsel

Popko, Lutz, Das historische Vorbild des Menechpare Siamun: Die Diskreditierung kuschitischer Pharaonen in der spätzeitlichen Literatur

Schubert, Charlott, Die Ordnung des politischen Raums. Bemerkungen zur kleisthenischen Phylenreform

Trojahn, Silke, Die öffentliche Wahrnehmung der Papyrologie als Wissenschaft. Ein Streifzug durch deutsche Konversationslexika

II. PAPYRUSEDITIONEN (P.Scholl)

1.–2. Two 4th-Century Bilingual (Greek-Latin) Papyri (AST, Rodney)

3. Frammento di tabella aritmetica dalla collezione di Vienna (AZZARELLO, Giuseppina)

4. Περὶ χρυσέων κοσμημάτων. Ein Titulus aus dem lateinisch-griechischen Celtis-Glossar (KRAFT, Ulrich)

5. Eine testamentarische Sklavenfreilassung aus dem Oxyrhynchites: P.Hamb. Inv. 549* (KRAMER, Bärbel / HAGEDORN, Dieter)

6. Weiterleitung eines an den Königlichen Schreiber gerichteten Kaufangebots für Salz(?) an einen ἐργοσκόπος (KRUSE, Thomas)

7. Weizen für den Tempel Die Syntaxis-Quittung O.Lips. ÄMUL dem. 1418: „Ostrakon Ebers“ (NAETHER, Franziska)

8. Der Notar Pinution in einem Pachtvertrag aus Hermupolis (POETHKE, Günter)

9. Sklaven, Kinder, Kindersklaven? Abrechnung für Arbeiten auf einem Landgut: O.Lips. Inv. 763+949 (QUENOUILLE, Nadine)

10. P.Giss. Univ. 11: Eine unerkannte Kopfsteuerquittung aus Berenikis Thesmophoru (REITER, Fabian)

11.–12. Zwei koptische Schutzbriefe aus der Heidelberger Papyrussammlung (SCHMELZ, Georg)

13.–15. Drei medizinische Rezepte: P.Lips. Inv. 390a–e (WERNER, Cindy)

INDIZES

DECIMO SEMINARIO PAPIROLOGICO FIORENTINO

Istituto Papirologico “G. Vitelli”

Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana

Accademia Fiorentina di Papirologia e di Studi sul Mondo Antico

 

DECIMO SEMINARIO PAPIROLOGICO FIORENTINO

 

Papiri inediti delle collezioni fiorentine

 

Il seminario si terrà a Firenze dal 17 al 25 settembre 2012, presso l’Istituto Papirologico “G. Vitelli” (Borgo degli Albizi 12). Il lavoro dei partecipanti si svolgerà su testi inediti delle collezioni fiorentine.

I partecipanti saranno impegnati nel restauro dei papiri e saranno loro fornite le necessarie istruzioni tecniche per operare sul materiale. Inoltre, i partecipanti affronteranno lo studio di papiri sugli originali: saranno fornite le nozioni fondamentali sulla metodologia della trascrizione e sulle varie tipologie dei testi che si recuperano dai papiri stessi, nonché nozioni di inquadramento storico generale.

Il seminario è riservato a giovani in possesso di Laurea in Lettere o Storia, con percorsi di studio di indirizzo classico, filologico o storico-antico. Sono ammessi anche studenti stranieri, con analoghi requisiti. Costituirà titolo preferenziale per l’ammissione al seminario l’avere svolto una tesi in Papirologia; non verranno prese in considerazione le domande di coloro che abbiano precedentemente partecipato a più di un’altra iniziativa analoga.

Al termine del seminario, sarà rilasciato un attestato di frequenza a coloro che abbiano seguito tutte le fasi dei lavori.

 

Il numero dei partecipanti è limitato a 12.

 

La quota di iscrizione è fissata in 250 euro.

 

Le domande di iscrizione devono pervenire entro il 23 giugno 2011 e devono essere indirizzate al prof. Guido Bastianini presso l’Istituto Papirologico “G. Vitelli”, Borgo degli Albizi 12, I-50122 Firenze. Si prega di indicare sulla busta: “Decimo Seminario Papirologico Fiorentino”. Alla domanda, in carta semplice, devono essere acclusi il curriculum vitae e una lettera di presentazione rilasciata da un docente universitario, che non sia uno dei coordinatori del seminario. La quota di iscrizione dovrà essere versata secondo le modalità che saranno indicate nella lettera con cui sarà comunicato che la domanda di iscrizione è stata accettata.

I richiedenti saranno informati sull’esito della loro domanda entro il 13 luglio 2011.

 

I coordinatori del Seminario:

Guido Bastianini, Gabriella Messeri, Rosario Pintaudi

Guido Bastianini

Istituto Papirologico "G. Vitelli"

Università degli Studi di Firenze

Borgo degli Albizi 12

I-50122 Firenze

San Diego Bay

Here's some photos of the area along the bay beside the convention center where Experimental Biology 2012 was held. The convention center is between the two large hotels (Marriot and Hilton) in the first picture. You can see that some people own some very large and expensive boats.

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1

Communicating Science

Most of you won't be interested in the sessions I've been attending at Experimenatl Biology 2012. They're mostly about science education.

However, there was one session yesterday that attracted some attention and generated a lot of discussion afterward, and in the evening over a few beers. The contributions from the two science journalists were quite predicable. Basically they want scientists to help them do their jobs. They want us to feed them good stories but only if they can be spun as ways of helping their readers. Apparently they only way we can communicate science is to convince the general public that there's something in it for them.

Cara Santa Maria writes for the Huffington Post. Many of her stories involve videos and she wants science stories to be more personal. She says that scientists should not be reluctant to talk about themselves because that what the public wants to hear. That prompted a comment from Paul Berg who says that self-promotion is not dignified and he is opposed to Cara's objective.

Berg also criticized NPR for misquoting all the scientist they interviewed on a recent show about H1N1. Apparently, Berg was interviewed at some length but the bits that were included in the radio broadcast were not representative of his view. Joe Palca of NPR defended science journalism in the standard way. (We're sorry. We're very busy doing multiple stories on short deadlines. And no, we won't let you review our work before it's published.)

I'm a bit tired of going to these meetings and being lectured by science journalists on how to effectively communicate science. It would be one thing if their profession was doing an outstanding job—in that case their advice would be meaningful. But science journalists are not remarkably good at communicating science correctly. So why should we listen to them?

I was reminded of this this morning when I picked up my copy of USA Today from the floor outside my hotel room door. There on the front page was a story about telomeres: Violence ages children's DNA, shortens their chromosomes. I doubt very much whether this study will ever be reproduced. It's almost certainly wrong, in my opinion, or, at the very least, highly misleading. There wasn't even a hint of skepticism in the article. The work was presented as fact.

I will start to be impressed with science journalist when they recognize that this is bad science writing and when they start to do something to police their own profession. When they show me that they (i.e the profession) can distinguish between good science communication and bad science communication then, and only then, can they lecture me on how to effectively communicate my science.

We had a good time debating these issues in the evening. I got to meet scicurious who blogs at Scicurious/Neurotic Physiology. She is, to put it mildly, a force of nature. One of those people who always seems too busy to have a serious conversation. While I was talking to her, she was constantly looking around to see whether she was missing something more exciting elsewhere. Scicurious claims to be the "Official Blogger" of Experimental Biology 2012 because the organizers give her permission to blog about the meeting. (I did not ask for permission, in case anyone is interested.)

I also met Brian Switek of LAELAPS for the very first time. He is actually smarter and even more knowledgeable than his blog suggests. It was delightful talking to him.

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Monday's Molecule #167

I'm in a hotel room in San Diego overlooking the Pacific ocean. I see several small frigates and an aircraft carrier—not a large fleet carrier, unfortunately. The Pacific ocean makes me think of this molecule. What is it and why is it important?

Post your answer in the comments. I'll hold off releasing any comments for 24 hours. The first one with the correct answers wins. I will only post correct answers to avoid embarrassment. The winner will be treated to a free lunch.

There could be two winners. If the first correct answer isn't from an undergraduate student then I'll select a second winner from those undergraduates who post the correct answer. You will need to identify yourself as an undergraduate in order to win. (Put "undergraduate" at the bottom of your comment.)

Some past winners are from distant lands so their chances of taking up my offer of a free lunch are slim. (That's why I can afford to do this!)

In order to win you must post your correct name. Anonymous and pseudoanonymous commenters can't win the free lunch.

Winners will have to contact me by email to arrange a lunch date.

Comments are invisible for 24 hours. Comments are now open.

UPDATE: The molecule is tetrodotoxin, the main toxin in pufferfish (Fugu, named after one of the many species). This week's winners are Dima Klenchin and Deena Allan. Deena needs to get in touch. Dima has won more contests than any other person. (Bill Chaney is a very close second.) I'm glad he doesn't live in Toronto. Unfortunately, I'm going to be in Madison Wisconsin (his home) in a few weeks and he might demand that I pay up. I've decided not to tell him I'm coming.

Winners
Nov. 2009: Jason Oakley, Alex Ling
Oct. 17: Bill Chaney, Roger Fan
Oct. 24: DK
Oct. 31: Joseph C. Somody
Nov. 7: Jason Oakley
Nov. 15: Thomas Ferraro, Vipulan Vigneswaran
Nov. 21: Vipulan Vigneswaran (honorary mention to Raul A. Félix de Sousa)
Nov. 28: Philip Rodger
Dec. 5: 凌嘉誠 (Alex Ling)
Dec. 12: Bill Chaney
Dec. 19: Joseph C. Somody
Jan. 9: Dima Klenchin
Jan. 23: David Schuller
Jan. 30: Peter Monaghan
Feb. 7: Thomas Ferraro, Charles Motraghi
Feb. 13: Joseph C. Somody
March 5: Albi Celaj
March 12: Bill Chaney, Raul A. Félix de Sousa
March 19: no winner
March 26: John Runnels, Raul A. Félix de Sousa
April 2: Sean Ridout
April 9: no winner
April 16: Raul A. Félix de Sousa
April 23: Dima Klenchin, Deena Allan

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APF 57.1 (2011)

Archiv für Papyrusforschung und verwandte Gebiete

Ed. by Fournet, Jean-Luc / Kramer, Bärbel / Luppe, Wolfgang / Maehler, Herwig / McGing, Brian / Poethke, Günter / Reiter, Fabian / Richter, Tonio Sebastian

Issue 1 (August 2011), pp. 1 - 151

Deux inédits homériques de la Bibliothèque Municipale de Rouen
Chaufray, Marie-Pierre (Paris)
Publication of two Homeric papyrus fragments of Iliad 10.26–30 and Odyssey 22. 340–345


P.Köln III 127 and P.Oxy. XXX 2512: Two fragments, one manuscript, of a Homeric cento
Gonis, Nikolaos (London)
P.Oxy. XXX 2512, published as ‘Early Hexameters’, and P.Köln III 127, a Homeric cento, are fragments of one and the same manuscript.


Sappho fr. 58,23–26 und fr. 59 Voigt
Luppe, Wolfgang  (Halle/Saale)
After the end of Sappho's poem on age (fr. 58, 11-22 Voigt), P. Oxy. XV 1787 fr.1 preserves the end of four lines of another poem in the same metre (fr. 58, 23-26 Voigt). P. Oxy. XV 1787 fr. 2 (fr. 59, 2-4 Voight) seems to provide the beginning of lines 4-7 of this second poem. Line 4 can be restored from Athenaeus XV 687b, the meaning of which is discussed.


Zum Dictys-Cretensis-Papyrus P.Tebt. II 268
Luppe, Wolfgang (Halle/Saale)
In this article the text of two long columns of a heavily damaged papyrus is discussed; it forms part of a history of the Trojan war. Some of the better preserved lines are reconstructed on the basis of the known Latin translation. One theme is the murder of Achilles resulting from intrigue, another the deficient grief of the Greek soldiers about it.


BKT IX 64: Ein Bruchstück der Acta Alexandrinorum
Sarischouli, Panagiota (Komotini)
Re-edition of a badly damaged fragment with remains of two columns from the Acta Alexandrinorum. The fragment appears to tell the story of an Alexandrian Greek embassy facing the emperor Claudius in the aftermath of the Alexandrian riots in 41 CE


An early Ptolemaic bank register from the Arsinoite nome revised
Clarysse, Willy / Thompson, Dorothy J. / Capron, Laurent
New readings and a rearrangement of the fragments have led to this reedition of an Arsinoite bank register, first published two years ago (APF 55/2 [2009] 230–250). The register covers one month in year 12 (of Ptolemy III). A wide variety of taxes is recorded, paid by both civilian and military sectors at different local banks; details are here collected in a central register most probably from the nome capital. The surviving text records the final 5–6% of inpayments for the current year, followed by arrears going back year-by-year. Different agios are charged on different taxes. The large sums on the back are probably annual payments relating to the whole nome.


Considerazioni su PGM II 1–12
Monte, Anna (Berlino)
This article presents a reexamination of PGM II 1–12. A new high-definition scan of the papyrus shows an incorrect placing of two fragments, and enables improvements to the reading of the text.


Zur Wortgeschichte von Gummi
Kramer, Johannes (Trier)
One of the few Egyptian words occuring in most modern languages is ḳmj.t, Coptic ком(м)є or ком(м)ι, Greek κóμ(μ)ι. It is normally indeclinable, but in the papyri it has passed mostly to the consonantic declination (gen. κóμμεως). Latin evidence proves that the vulgar variant gumma (instead of gummi or cummi) is the etymon of Romance forms like Fr. gomme, which passed to other languages (English gum, German Gummi).


Das Orakel des Heiligen Severus
Schenke, Gesa (Leiden/Oxford)
This new Cologne papyrus attests a hitherto unknown practice of posing oracle questions to Saint Severus. The edition of the small papyrus scrap reveals an oracle inquiry into marriage matters.


Frange and Moses to Matthaios (O.Col. inv. 100): Another Piece of the Frange Dossier
Blouin, Katherine (Toronto)
This article presents an edition of O.Col. inv. 100, a letter addressed by Frange and Moses to Matthaios, asking him to leave everything behind and to come quickly northward to them. The ostracon, which belongs to the collection of Columbia University, offers a new and dramatic addition to the already rich Frange dossier.


Les ostraca grecs et coptes d'Edfou. À propos d'une publication récente
Delattre, Alain / Fournet, Jean-Luc
orrections and reeditions of Greek, Coptic and Graeco-Coptic ostraca from Edfu (Egypt) recently published by S. Bacot, Ostraca grecs et coptes de Tell Edfou, Le Caire, 2009 (O.Edfou Copte)


A propos de la «pauvreté» à Damas à l'époque ayyoubide: deux documents inédits
Mouton, Jean-Michel  / Sourdel, Dominique / Sourdel-Thomine, Janine (Paris)
Publication of two unpublished documents from the Ayyubid period where the term faqīr (pl. fuqarā') is used, describing religious men respected for their asceticism and practicing voluntary poverty, which seems to be their main characteristic. The first archival piece, dated 612/1215, is an official testimony of this quality of profound poverty. It was required to back the claim of being “poor among the Muslim poor”. The second is a request addressed to a master by a member of the pious community of fuqarā' who claims a remuneration in the form of alms (ṣadaqāt).


Darstellungen und Hilfsmittel


Urkundenreferat 2009 (1. Teil)
Kruse, Thomas (Wien)

ZPE 181 (2012)

Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik 
INHALT
Aberson, M. – Wiblé, F., «Revigorer l’[âme?] épuisée»: fragments inédits d’une inscription métrique latine provenant de Martigny (Forum Claudii Vallensium) ... 48
Arrington, N. T., The Form(s) and Date(s) of a Classical War Monument: Re-evaluating IG I3 1163 and the Case for Delion ... 61
Bakker, N., A New Solution for the ‘Lille Stesichorus’ vv. 235–52 ... 4
Bartels, J., Augustus in Amathus (Zypern) ... 91
Beltrán Lloris, F., Hospitium municipal y ciuitas honoraria. Una relectura de la tésera de hospitalidad de Herrera de Pisuerga ... 245
Bertolazzi, R., Iter precarium in una iscrizione inedita da Verona ... 215
Colomo, D. – Perale, M., On P.Oxy. LXXVI 5094 fr. 1 ...1
Costanza, S., Melampo in Bacchilide, Pae. 4 Sn.–M. (= P. Oxy. III 426), 50–53 ... 8
Dana, D. – Ivanov, R., Deux épitaphes latines inédites d’Abritus (Mésie Inférieure). Considérations sur le peuplement d’Abritus 235 Duplouy, A., Un nouveau fragment de décret hellénistique de Colophon-sur-Mer ... 76
Eck, W. – Pangerl, A., Eine Konstitution für die Truppen von Dacia superior aus dem Jahr 142 mit der Sonderformel für Kinder von Auxiliaren ... 173
Eck, W. – Pangerl, A., Ein M. Ulpius Marcellus als praefectus classis Ravennatis in einem Diplom des Jahres 119 n. Chr. ... 202
Feig Vishnia,, A Case of “Bad Press”? Gaius Flaminius in Ancient Historiography ... 27
Flinterman, J.-J., Pannucome Revisited. Lines 11–13 of the Laodice Inscription Again ... 79
Gómez-Pantoja, J. L., Missing the Point: Una pequeña enmienda a CIL XIII 6858 ... 263 
Gonis, N., An ‘Our Father’ with Problems ... 46
Hartmann, B., Inschriften auf römischen Holzfässern aus dem vicus Tasgetium (Eschenz, CH) ... 269
Heinrichs, J., Münzen als Krisensymptome? Zur makedonischen Silberprägung unter Amyntas III. und Perdikkas III. (ca. 393–359) ...17
Ingrosso, P., Menandro, Aspis 140–148 J. e PSI 126 Ir ... 23
Isager, S. – Pedersen, P., Hadrian, Sabina and Halikarnassos – Some Epigraphic Evidence ... 95
Kreiler, B., Die Straßenbauinschrift des Prokonsuls L. Cassius Longinus im Tempetal ... 230
Kritzas, Ch. B., A Greek Inscription from Tarraco (CIL II2/14,2 G16) ... 88
Lerouxel, F., Des prêts sans intérêt? Le taux d’intérêt dans le nome oxyrhynchite avant 9 après J.C. ... 161
Luciani, F., CIL V 2041: un’iscrizione di Bellunum riveduta e corretta ...218
Méa, C., Le salariarius: un contractuel de l’armée romaine ... 207
Moed, F., A Remarkable Roman Tile-Stamp of the Cohort XV voluntariorum from Köln (Cologne, Germany) ... 214
Moore, D. W., A Note on CIL VI.1585a–b and the Role of Adrastus, procurator of the Column
of Marcus Aurelius ... 221
Pleket, H. W., An Agonistic Inscription from Sardis ... 102 
Salmenkivi, E., Abusir el-Meleq in den griechischen Urkunden ... 156
Sánchez Natalías, C., Fistus difloiscat languat ... Re-Reading of defixio Bologna 2 ... 140
Simón Cornago, I., La primera inscripción ibérica sobre una gema (La Guardia de Alcorisa, Teruel España) ... 303
Stylow, A. U., Stumm wie ein Frosch ohne Zunge! Eine neue Fluchtafel aus Celti (Peñaflor, Prov. Sevilla) ... 149
Valente, S., A Greek–Latin Fragment of the ‘erweiterte Synagoge’ in ms. Arund. 9 F. 55r ... 54
Veksina, M., Zur Datierung der neuen Weihinschrift aus dem Oxos-Tempel ... 108
Velaza, J., Dos nuevas aras votivas procedentes de Muzqui (Navarra) ... 260
Ward, W. D., ‘In the Province Recently Called Palestine Salutaris’: Provincial Changes in Palestine and Arabia in the Late Third and Fourth Centuries C.E. ... 289
Weiß, P., Auxiliardiplome für die dakischen Provinzen, Pannonia superior und eine provincia inermis ... 183

PN Search Updates

Digital Papyrology 

 Dear Colleagues: We write with recent updates to the PN.

 (1) Search facets now feature auto-complete combo-boxes instead of simple drop-down menus. So, let’s say you search for #οικονομ (strings that start with οικονομ); 913 hits. You are really just interested in the Hermopolite and so you click into the ‘Nome’ facet. As you start to type ‘he’ you see your options shrinking...1 Heliopolite, 1 Heptakomias, 80 Herakleopolite, and 24 Hermopolite. Select Hermopolite and see your 24 hits. The same sort of thing should work with the other facets as well.

 (2) APIS Collection and Publication Series facets now play nicely together. Let’s say you remember that a Berkeley papyrus was published in P.Coll.Youtie, but you cannot remember which and you do not have the book to hand. Select Berkeley from the ‘Collection’ facet; 4316 hits. Select ‘DDBDP: p.coll.youtie (2)’ from the facet box, or else start to type, p.coll; 2 hits. Find P.Coll.Youtie 12.

 (3) Improved indexing of regularizations. Let’s say you are interested in documents whose first word after the greeting χαίρειν is βούλομαι vel sim. You search for "χαιρειν# #βουλ" (with the quotes; a string equal to or ending in χαιρειν followed immediately by a new-word string starting βουλ); 11 hits. But you will miss Chrest.Wilck. 323, since lin.7-8 read χέρειν(*). βουλό|μεθα. Why? Because χαίρειν is in this case not, strictly speaking, adjacent to βουλ; χερειν is. This is an important fact to master. In this particular case, it means that, knowing that χαίρειν is often rendered as χέρειν, you must search carefully. You can either (a) enter search query "χαιρειν# #βουλ", then click OR and in the new search box enter "χερειν# #βουλ"; 12 hits or (b) search for REGEX χ(αι|ε)ρειν\sβουλ; 12 hits. The regular expression for ‘αι or ε’ is (αι|ε) and the regular expression for space is \s. Note that under both of these searches PN *finds* Chrest.Wilck. 323 but does not properly *highlight* the query for that text. This is a known bug; we are working on it.

 (4) We now support abbreviation-aware searching. Say you are looking for abbreviations beginning πρ. Search for #πρ° (enter πρ and then click the abbr button; ° indicates opening parenthesis); 862 hits. NOTE: this new feature has some known bugs: (a) highlighting: if you search for #πρ° in your first hit you will see highlighting on both Πρ(ώτων), which you expect, and on Πρώτων, which you do not. We are working on it. (b) highlighting: if you search for τιθ° you will see that in your 6th hit (BGU 9.1891) none of the highlighted hits is τιθ( , which is what you expect to see. But if you click to view the text, you will see (lin.169, 194, 220 etc.) Τιθ(οείους), which is what you expect to see. This isn’t very helpful; you want the right hit on the search results page. We are working on it. (c) false positives: if you search for αρ° you will find in your second hit (BGU 1.4) that none of the highlighted hits includes αρ( , which is what you expect to find. And (ἑκατοντάρ)χ(ῃ) and χ(ιλιά)ρ(χῃ) (both in lin.1) even seem misleading: in neither case is αρ on the papyrus at all. We are working on it; this particular fix may even be live by Monday, and in any case quite soon. (d) XML error bug: if you search for °ετους, expecting many many many hits, you find only ten! There is a bug in the search, whose fix will be in soon (along with (c) above); but there are also odd bugs in the XML, which we’ll fix.

 As always, if you have questions, please feel free to contact us. Generally best to write to ast@uni-heidelberg.de, hugh.cayless@nyu.edu, james.cowey@urz.uni-heidelberg.de, and joshua.sosin@duke.edu. Or just write the papy-list. All best, josh sosin

27th International Congress of Papyrology,Warsaw: 2nd Circular

Second Circular

Dear Colleagues,

This is the Second Circular of the 27th International Congress of Papyrology, to be held at the University of Warsaw, Poland, between 29 July and 3 August 2013. The First Circular has met with a great interest of the papyrological community and we have received numerous queries concerning the organisational details. This Second Circular aims to answer at least some of them.


Registration and Fee
Please be informed that the online registration has already begun. The registration
form is available at the Congress website (www.papyrocongress2013.wpia.uw.edu.pl/ registration.htm).
We would like to bring to your attention that thanks to the subvention of the
Ministry of Higher Education of the Republic of Poland the regular Congress fee has
been reduced from 230 to 200 euro. The other fees remain as announced in the First Circular.
We highly recommend that you pay the Congress fee before 29 July 2013, as
payments will be possible only exceptionally during the Congress itself. Please note
that all transactions must be made either with a credit card through the Dotpay service (the link to the payment form is generated automatically during the registration and sent in a separate e-mail), or via a bank transfer.
Details of the bank account are as follows:
Owner of the account: Fundacja im. Rafala Taubenschlaga
Account number: PL 37 1090 1883 0000 0001 0772 6939 S.W.I.F.T.: WBKPPLPP Description of the money transfer: Name of the Participant, Congress Fee
The bank fee must be borne by the sender.
No cash transactions are possible.


The Programme
As we have already stated in the First Circular, six general sessions have been
planned for all days of the Congress (one will have two sessions). Each day will start with a general meeting, which will aim at popularisation of the most interesting recent research problems in each of the specialised fields of our discipline. The key speakers will address the public with their personal view on the most important developments in the studies they represent.


 The following scholars have generously accepted our invitation:

• Willy Clarysse, Sandra Lippert, Dorothy Thompson: Ptolemaic Egypt
  
• Dominic Rathbone, Andrea Jördens: Roman Egypt
  
• Jean-Luc Fournet, Bernhard Palme, Ewa Wipszycka: Late-Antique/Byzantine Egypt
  
• Federico Morelli, Petra Sijpesteijn, Jacques van der Vliet: Coptic and Arab Egypt
  
• José Luis Alonso, Józef Mélèze Modrzejewski, Tonio Sebastian Richter: Juristic Papyrology
  
• Guiliermo Cavallo, Dirk Obbink, Jerzy Danielewicz, Peter van Minnen: Literary Papyri
  
  
• Accommodation
  The organizers have booked rooms and negotiated special rates for Congress participants in several hotels, ranging from exclusive to tourist class, in the vicinity of the University of Warsaw. Information, links and registration forms are available on the Congress website. The participants are encouraged to book early in order to be sure of getting the accommodation of their choice as the number of pre-booked rooms is limited.
  
  
• Social Events
  One of the social events we plan to organise will be an exhibition of photographs
  illustrating the history of the papyrological community and its Congresses. We would be more than grateful if you could send us copies of any photographs that may be relevant. The annotated images should be sent to the Congress Secretary, Dr Maria Nowak.
  
  
• Excursions
  We have envisaged two post-Congress excursions. Both will start on Saturday, 3 August, afternoon, after the general assembly:
  

• Cracow and vicinity. The guests will be brought back to Warsaw in the evening of 4.08.2012. Approximate cost: 150 euro.
  
• Toruń – Gdańsk/Danzig and vicinity. The guests will be brought back to Warsaw in the evening of 5.08.2012. Approximate cost: 200 euro.
  The detailed program of the excursions will be published on the Congress website in September 2012. 
  

The Journal of Juristic Papyrology 40 (2010) Dedicated to Józef Mélèze Modrzejewski

CONTENTS: From the Editors – 7 


José Luis Alonso
, The Bibliotheke Enkteseon and the Alienation of Real Securities in RomanEgypt – 11 


Serena Ammirati, 
Per una storia del libro latino antico. Osservazioni paleografiche,
bibliologiche e codicologiche sui manoscritti latini di argomento legale
dalle origini alla tarda antichità – 55 


Pierangelo Buongiorno, 
Das „verleumderische“ Negotium. Geschichte einer Ergänzung
von BGU ii 611 – 111 


Andrea Jördens,
 Ein Neurömer aus Alexandria – 135 


Adam Łajtar
, From Egypt to Palestine: Two Notes on Published Texts –145 


Andrzej Mirończuk, 
P. Oslo inv . 1487: a Herodotean Papyrus Re-edited – 153 


Maria Nowak
,Titius Heres Esto. The Role of the Legal Practice in the Law-Creation
in Late Antiquity – 161 


Tonio Sebastian Richter & Georg Schmelz, Der spätkoptische Arbeitsvertrag. P . Heid. inv . kopt . 541 – 185 


Chris Rodriguez, Pour une relecture du SB xxii 15203 – 205 


Jakub Urbanik, 
P. Cairo Masp. i 67120 recto and the Liability for Latent Defects
in the Late Antique Slave Sales. Or Back to Epaphe – 219


 Ewa Wipszycka, 
Books, Literacy and Christian Communities, or How to Make
Papyrological Data Legible? On Two Recent Books by Roger S. Bagnall – 249 


Uri Yiftach-Firanko, 
P. Col. Inv. 131 Recto: a Loan Contract with Paramone Provision
from Mid-first-century ce Theadelphia – 267

Happy "Day of Dialogue"

I didn't know about this until I read about it on Friendly Atheist but today is the "Day of Dialogue." Here's how it's described on Day of Dialogue.

As a high school or college student, do you wish your classmates could hear more of the story—like the truth about God’s deep love for us and what the Bible really says about His redemptive design for marriage and sexuality? Wouldn’t it be nice if a deeper and freer conversation could happen when controversial sexual topics are brought up in your school?

The good news is, it can—and that’s where Day of Dialogue® comes in.

In contrast to the whole idea of silence, this is a day that encourages open dialogue.

Because Focus on the Family firmly believes that the truth will rise to the surface when honest conversations are allowed to happen. And that’s why we’re so excited to announce that we’ve become the sponsor for this event.

The Day of Dialogue gives you, as a student, the opportunity to express the true model presented by Jesus Christ in the Bible—who didn’t back away from speaking truth, but neither held back in pouring out His incredible, compassionate love for hurting and vulnerable people. His example calls us to stand up for those being harmed or bullied while offering the light of what God’s Word says.

And the event gives you a chance to express this balanced perspective in a loving and peaceful way. So be sure to mark your calendars for the 2012 Day of Dialogue—Thursday, April 19, 2012—and make plans to participate in your school or college. Register today! And then join us on our Facebook page for updates & info

The Bible shows us that God honored humans by making us in his own image, male and female. God designed men and women to be different and to complement one another. Our masculinity and femininity reflects things about God’s character. Justice and mercy. Strength and beauty. Nurture and Protection. So being male or female isn’t just about biology or cultural stereotypes. Masculine and feminine characteristics reflect something much deeper—attributes of God that resonate in the core being of our souls and personalities.

Some groups have even made out cards they can give to gays and lesbians inviting them to have a conversation about Jesus and their sexuality. That promoted this cartoon on Friendly Atheist [A Response to the Day of Dialogue].

Looking forward to seeing how this plays out on my campus. I'm afraid the Christians might be in for a bit of bullying for being such idiots.

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Going to San Diego

I'll be in San Diego from Saturday, April 21, 'till Wednesday, April 25, attending Experimental Biology 2012.

This is the most important meeting for biochemistry teachers and, in addition, I'm looking forward to meeting with the other members of the editorial board of BAMBED (Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Education). Judy Voet has planned a wild party for Tuesday night!

Let me know if you're going to be there. Maybe I can get you a free copy of my book! (Or at least a signed copy of one that you buy.)

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The Problem of Evolution in America

Once again, Jerry Coyne gets it right.¹ He is about to publish an article in the journal Evolution on Science, Religion, and Society: The Problem of Evolution in America. There's a link from his blog [My paper on religious and social factors affecting American acceptance of evolution] where he notes that the manuscript isn't quite ready for publication and most of you can't see it because it's behind a paywall.

Here's the abstract ...

American resistance to accepting evolution is uniquely high among First World countries. This is due largely to the extreme religiosity of the U.S., which is much higher than that of comparably advanced nations, and to the resistance of many religious people to the facts and implications of evolution. The prevalence of religious belief in the U.S. suggests that outreach by scientists alone will not have a huge effect in increasing the acceptance of evolution, nor will the strategy of trying to convince the faithful that evolution is compatible with their religion. Since creationism is a symptom of religion, another strategy to promote evolution involves loosening the grip of faith on America. This is easier said than done, for recent sociological surveys show that religion is highly correlated with the dysfunctionality of a society, and various measures of societal health show that the U.S. is one of the most socially dysfunctional First World countries. Widespread acceptance of evolution in America, then, may have to await profound social change.

Sandwalk readers will be familiar with Coyne's attack on accommodationism because he's absolutely correct. You will also understand that the problem is not evolution vs creationism but science vs religion. You can't ever solve the problem of creationism without dealing directly with the false doctrines of religion.

But Coyne goes one step further. How do you make America into a more secular society like those in other Western industrialized nations? Coyne argues that the popularity of religion in America is due to the fact that America is a dysfunctional society and religion may represent the only hope most people have in such a society. Therefore ...

Creationism in America, then, may be a symptom of religion, but religion in the modern world may itself be a symptom of unhealthy societies. Ultimately, the best strategy to make Americans more receptive to evolution might require loosening the grip of religion on our country. This may sound not only invidious but untenable, yet data from other countries suggest that such secularism is possible and, indeed, is occurring in the United States right now. But weakening religion may itself require other, more profound changes: creating a society that is more just, more caring, more egalitarian. Regardless of how you feel about religion, that is surely a goal most of us can endorse.

I think he's right about this. You can remove the need for religion by creating a more just society. But I don't think it will be easy. Looking at it from the outside, it appears to me that there are millions of Americans who don't accept the just society² as a desirable goal. They call themselves "Republicans" and they vote for people like Rick Santorum.

I think it's also going to be very difficult to convince most Americans that their society is less than perfect. In other words, most of the rest of American society accepts the concept of a just society but firmly believes that America is the only country that has achieved it.

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1. That doesn't mean that he's right all the time. It just means that his batting average is way above average for an evolution defender.

2. Canadians will be familiar with the term since the just society was the goal of Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau who named his son, and political heir, "Justin."

Dysfunctional Science

Carl Zimmer, one of the top science writers in the world, has written an article for the New York Times with the following provocative title: A Sharp Rise in Retractions Prompts Calls for Reform. It's partly about the rise in the rate of retractions¹ in scientific journals. This is a serious problem and it's hard to figure out the underlying cause, in spite of the fact that many of the people who comment think they know the answer.

But there's much more to this story as Carl explains on his blog [Dysfunctional science: My story in tomorrow’s New York Times].

In tomorrow’s New York Times, I’ve got a long story about a growing sense among scientists that science itself is getting dysfunctional. For them, the clearest sign of this dysfunction is the growing rate of retractions of scientific papers, either due to errors or due to misconduct. But retractions represent just the most obvious symptom of deep institutional problems with how science is done these days–how projects get funded, how scientists find jobs, and how they keep labs up and running.

As usual, Carl's got it right. There's something wrong with science, or perhaps I should say there's something wrong with the biological sciences since Sean Carroll doesn't see the same problem in physics [Is Physics Among the Dysfunctional Sciences?].

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1. The rate is about 0.04%. Compare this to the rate of fraudulent creationist publications, which is close to 100%.

Monday's Molecule #166

This is another one of those molecules where you have to pay close attention to the structure. There are many similar molecules and you won't win unless you are very specific. You don't need the full IUPAC name. You do need to identify the function of this molecule.

Post your answer in the comments. I'll hold off releasing any comments for 24 hours. The first one with the correct answers wins. I will only post correct answers to avoid embarrassment. The winner will be treated to a free lunch.

There could be two winners. If the first correct answer isn't from an undergraduate student then I'll select a second winner from those undergraduates who post the correct answer. You will need to identify yourself as an undergraduate in order to win. (Put "undergraduate" at the bottom of your comment.)

Some past winners are from distant lands so their chances of taking up my offer of a free lunch are slim. (That's why I can afford to do this!)

In order to win you must post your correct name. Anonymous and pseudoanonymous commenters can't win the free lunch.

Winners will have to contact me by email to arrange a lunch date.

Comments are invisible for 24 hours. Comments are now open.

UPDATE: The molecule is heme a, a component of cytochrome a and cytochrome a3. The cytochromes are cofactors in oxidation-reduction reactions where the heme group serves as an electron donor or acceptor. Today's winner is Raul A. Félix de Sousa. Several anonymous/pseudoanonymous respondants were also correct.

Winners
Nov. 2009: Jason Oakley, Alex Ling
Oct. 17: Bill Chaney, Roger Fan
Oct. 24: DK
Oct. 31: Joseph C. Somody
Nov. 7: Jason Oakley
Nov. 15: Thomas Ferraro, Vipulan Vigneswaran
Nov. 21: Vipulan Vigneswaran (honorary mention to Raul A. Félix de Sousa)
Nov. 28: Philip Rodger
Dec. 5: 凌嘉誠 (Alex Ling)
Dec. 12: Bill Chaney
Dec. 19: Joseph C. Somody
Jan. 9: Dima Klenchin
Jan. 23: David Schuller
Jan. 30: Peter Monaghan
Feb. 7: Thomas Ferraro, Charles Motraghi
Feb. 13: Joseph C. Somody
March 5: Albi Celaj
March 12: Bill Chaney, Raul A. Félix de Sousa
March 19: no winner
March 26: John Runnels, Raul A. Félix de Sousa
April 2: Sean Ridout
April 9: no winner
April 16: Raul A. Félix de Sousa

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The Myth of "Living Fossils"

The general public has been told time and time again that there exist among us certain species that have not evolved for millions of years. These so-called "living fossils" have somehow managed to avoid any changes in the frequencies of alleles in their evolving populations. This is, of course, impossible by any reasonable definition of evolution, a conclusion that was promoted on talk.origins two decades ago [Claim CB930:].

Yet the myth persists. It persists for three reasons:

1. It plays into the popular misconception that natural selection is synonymous with evolution. If a species isn't adapting by obvious changes over time then it isn't evolving. Another way of saying this is that some species can be so perfectly adapted to their environment that all changes are selected against and negative selection prevents evolution.
2. External morphological changes are the only evidence of evolution.
3. The so-called "living fossils" show no evidence of morphological change over millions of years when, in fact, all of the popular examples show plenty of evidence of such change. In other words, the facts are misrepresented.

The last time I blogged about this was just a few months ago when I commented on the first episode of a BBC television documentary called "Survivors." The main topic of the first episode was "Horseshoe crabs are one of nature’s great survivors" and the scientist behind the series is Richard Fortey, a paleontologists at the Natural History Museum in London (UK). I pointed out that some of his statements were misleading and I also explained why horseshoe crabs have evolved according to the scientific evidence [Evolution of Horseshoe crabs].

Why is this important? Because it's wrong to promote incorrect versions of evolutionary theory.

Today's New York Times Book Review has a review of a new book by Richard Fortey called "Horseshoe Crabs and Velvet Worms." The review [Some Things Should Be Dead] praises the writing style and readability of the book but, like most science journalism, does not get into details about the accuracy of the text.¹

While preparing this post, I discovered that Jerry Coyne had also read the review [Two New Biology Books]. Coyne has met Fortey and thinks him a "lovable bear of a man, infectiously excited about biology." However, Coyne wonders what explanation Fortey will offer to support his claim of fossil species.

Fortey has a new book, and it’s about “living fossils,” those plants and animals that have persisted for millions of years without much change in their morphology (think ginkgo tree, coelocanth, and horseshoe crab). To evolutionists, these species are a mystery: why have they remained unchanged so long? One explanation—that they simply lack genetic variation that fuels evolution—is probably wrong: work ages ago by Bob Selander and Dick Lewontin showed that horseshoe crabs are just as genetically variable in their DNA as more malleable species. Another classic explanation is that these species simply live in unchanging environments, so that they arrived at their optimal morphology eons ago and there’s nothing new to adapt to. That’s an appealing but largely untestable explanation, especially because some creatures that live in similar habitats (like the shallow marine habitats of the horseshoe crab) have undergone substantial evolutionary change.

At any rate, Fortey’s new book is "Horseshoe Crabs and Velvet Worms: The Story of the Animals and Plants that Time has Left Behind," and it was reviewed in Thursday’s NYT. Reviewer Dwight Garner gives it two thumbs up, and I’ll be reading it for sure, if for no other reason to see Fortey’s explanation for unchanging species.

I'm not going to buy the book 'cause the only explanation I could accept would be that there's no such thing as a living fossil. I might be interested in a lengthy discussion about the different between natural selection and random genetic drift and/or a discussion about the kinds of morphological changes that have been observed recently among the four living species of horseshoe crabs but I doubt that would be in Fortey's book. Maybe Jerry Coyne will read it and prove me wrong.

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1. This is a pet peeve of mine. The top three most important criteria of good science writing are: accuracy, accuracy, and accuracy. If a review doesn't tell me about the quality of science in a book then the review is completely useless. I don't care if the book wins a Pulitzer Prize (given out by non-scientists) for being an enjoyable read that sounds convincing to most readers. I don't judge science writing by style as the first criterion, nor do I judge it by the personality of the writer.

Teaching Evolution in Tennessee

The state of Tennessee is about to have a new law that impacts the teaching of science in their public schools. Here's how the National Center for Science Education (NCSE) describes the law.

Nicknamed the "monkey bill," HB 368 would, if enacted, encourage teachers to present the "scientific strengths and scientific weaknesses" of topics that arouse "debate and disputation" such as "biological evolution, the chemical origins of life, global warming, and human cloning."

It doesn't take a mental giant to see where the Tennessee legislators are coming from. They want to support teachers who challenge evolution in the classroom. Most of those teachers will, of course, be creationists of one form or another.

But here's the problem. Those ignorant legislators have been very clever to avoid mentioning religion or creationism. On the surface, the new law looks perfectly reasonable.After all, who wouldn't want students to learn both the scientific strengths and weaknesses of current theories of biological evolution?

Read more »

Winners

Here are three winners having lunch. On the left is David Schuller (Monday's Molecule #156) and that's Joseph Somody (Monday's Molecule #159) on the right.

(Thank-you David for the photo.)

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Monday's Molecule #`165

Name this molecule. You don't need the full IUPAC name but you do need to be specific since there are several different molecules with very similar structures. You also have to tell us why this molecule is important in biochemistry.

Post your answer in the comments. I'll hold off releasing any comments for 24 hours. The first one with the correct answers wins. I will only post correct answers to avoid embarrassment. The winner will be treated to a free lunch.

There could be two winners. If the first correct answer isn't from an undergraduate student then I'll select a second winner from those undergraduates who post the correct answer. You will need to identify yourself as an undergraduate in order to win. (Put "undergraduate" at the bottom of your comment.)

Some past winners are from distant lands so their chances of taking up my offer of a free lunch are slim. (That's why I can afford to do this!)

In order to win you must post your correct name. Anonymous and pseudoanonymous commenters can't win the free lunch.

Winners will have to contact me by email to arrange a lunch date.

Comments are invisible for 24 hours. Comments are now open.

UPDATE: The Molecule is kanamycin C (not A or B). It binds to the small subunit of the prokaryotic ribosome and inhibits translation. It is/was widely used in cloning experiments since there are several plasmids with kanamycin resistance alleles. I posted all three of the responses that recognized kanamycin but only one named this variant as kanamycin C. That person didn't mention that this was a translation inhibitor so there are no winners this week.

Winners
Nov. 2009: Jason Oakley, Alex Ling
Oct. 17: Bill Chaney, Roger Fan
Oct. 24: DK
Oct. 31: Joseph C. Somody
Nov. 7: Jason Oakley
Nov. 15: Thomas Ferraro, Vipulan Vigneswaran
Nov. 21: Vipulan Vigneswaran (honorary mention to Raul A. Félix de Sousa)
Nov. 28: Philip Rodger
Dec. 5: 凌嘉誠 (Alex Ling)
Dec. 12: Bill Chaney
Dec. 19: Joseph C. Somody
Jan. 9: Dima Klenchin
Jan. 23: David Schuller
Jan. 30: Peter Monaghan
Feb. 7: Thomas Ferraro, Charles Motraghi
Feb. 13: Joseph C. Somody
March 5: Albi Celaj
March 12: Bill Chaney, Raul A. Félix de Sousa
March 19: no winner
March 26: John Runnels, Raul A. Félix de Sousa
April 2: Sean Ridout
April 10: no winner

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