This study explores a novel approach to advancing dementia care by integrating socially assistive robotics, reinforcement learning (RL), large language models (LLMs), and clinical domain expertise within a simulated environment. This integration addresses the critical challenge of limited experimental data in socially assistive robotics for dementia care, providing a dynamic simulation environment that realistically models interactions between persons living with dementia (PLWDs) and robotic caregivers. The proposed framework introduces a probabilistic model to represent the cognitive and emotional states of PLWDs, combined with an LLM-based behavior simulation to emulate their responses. We further develop and train an adaptive RL system enabling humanoid robots, such as Pepper, to deliver context-aware and personalized interactions and assistance based on PLWDs' cognitive and emotional states. The framework also generalizes to computer-based agents, highlighting its versatility. Results demonstrate that the RL system, enhanced by LLMs, effectively interprets and responds to the complex needs of PLWDs, providing tailored caregiving strategies. This research contributes to human-computer and human-robot interaction by offering a customizable AI-driven caregiving platform, advancing understanding of dementia-related challenges, and fostering collaborative innovation in assistive technologies. The proposed approach has the potential to enhance the independence and quality of life for PLWDs while alleviating caregiver burden, underscoring the transformative role of interaction-focused AI systems in dementia care.
The metaphor of the Church as the “bride of Christ” holds profound theological significance, offering insights into the identity, purpose, and eschatological hope of the Christian community. Despite its richness, this metaphor has received limited scholarly engagement within African theological discourse, leading to a gap in its contextual application. This article addresses that gap by critically examining the implications of bridal ecclesiology for the African Church. Using conceptual analysis and a comprehensive review of existing literature, the study demonstrates that the bridal imagery not only illuminates the Church’s participatory role in Christ’s redemptive mission but also inspires a deeper communal spirituality, ethical commitment, and missional consciousness. The paper argues that integrating this metaphor into African ecclesiology can promote the church’s qualitative growth, enhance communal engagement, and invigorate its spiritual and missional vitality. In doing so, the article contributes to a more robust and contextually relevant African ecclesiological framework.
In the last three years, the field of Bible translation has seen a growing interest in oral Bible translation. While this has been seen as an advantage in bringing the Bible to cultures where orality is the norm, surprisingly, the oral nature of the biblical text in the Hebrew Bible has received less attention. Usually, indigenous translators have worked from Bible translations that have been produced for written language, making the text more difficult to translate into their languages in an oral way. In this article I advocate for a closer exploration of the Hebrew text, its characteristics, and its oral forms, as a means of facilitating the work of translators in oral Bible translations.
The author argues that intercultural relations of the Slavic world were largely stimulated by translations of the Bible into national literary languages. It was the translations of the Holy Scripture into vernacular languages that became the basis of the book languages of Europe. Despite the fact that commenting on the text of the Bible is one of the most ancient and traditional activities of philologists, many aspects of this complex problematic can still be considered underdeveloped. These include, in particular, questions about the specifics of the assimilation by languages of those elements that go back to the text of the Bible, the nature of their further development in each of these languages, etc. To some extent, the language of the Bible is a language “in itself”, a kind of spiritual code uniting the peoples of Christian cultures. All the more significant from the point of view of comparative study of literary languages are those differences that are observed precisely in the area of lexical and semantic phenomena. They largely determine the specifics of the national adaptation of biblical expressions and their phraseology. The legacy of the Bible deserves specialized analysis when comparing even closely related languages. Particular attention is paid to winged words and expressions of biblical origin, since they captured and preserved the figurative and ideological “divine inspiration” of the Holy Scripture. The Russian language, in which the Orthodox faith with its orientation toward Church Slavonic sacred texts harmoniously converged with pan-European culture and the influence of Polish, French, German and other languages, reveals its own specific features here. Thus, unlike other European languages, it adopted many borrowings from Greek through Church Slavonic translations, which acquired a marked style and semantics in literary and speech use and therefore acquired the status of biblicalisms. Many words-realia, marked by the era reflected in the Holy Scripture, passed into the Church Slavonic text of the Bible, and then into its synodal translation into Russian. These include, for example, the names of measures of weight, monetary units, animals, plants, etc. The report offers a comparative analysis of the most commonly used Slavic biblical expressions, reflecting both the intercultural commonality of such linguistic units and their rather noticeable differences.
There are cases in which Bible translation has involved the demonization of local terminology. This is the case with the translation of the Bible into the Kachin language of Myanmar (Burma). The pre-Christian religion of Kachins was Nat worship, which provided religious vocabulary items for the Kachin Bible translation. The local term Nat (meaning “spirit”) was used for several demonological terms in the Kachin Bible. This study argues that the local term Nat was demonized in the process of Bible translation, resulting in a lasting and damaging impact on the biblical and theological understanding of Kachin Christians.
The "density limit" is one of the fundamental bounds on tokamak operating space, and is commonly estimated via the empirical Greenwald scaling. This limit has garnered renewed interest in recent years as it has become clear that ITER and many tokamak pilot plant concepts must operate near or above the Greenwald limit to achieve their objectives. Evidence has also grown that the Greenwald scaling - in its remarkable simplicity - may not capture the full complexity of the density limit. In this study, we assemble a multi-machine database to quantify the effectiveness of the Greenwald limit as a predictor of the L-mode density limit and compare it with data-driven approaches. We find that a boundary in the plasma edge involving dimensionless collisionality and pressure, $ν_{*\rm, edge}^{\rm limit} = 3.5 β_{T,{\rm edge}}^{-0.40}$, achieves significantly higher accuracy (false positive rate of 2.3% at a true positive rate of 95%) of predicting density limit disruptions than the Greenwald limit (false positive rate of 13.4% at a true positive rate of 95%) across a multi-machine dataset including metal- and carbon-wall tokamaks (AUG, C-Mod, DIII-D, and TCV). This two-parameter boundary succeeds at predicting L-mode density limits by robustly identifying the radiative state preceding the terminal MHD instability. This boundary can be applied for density limit avoidance in current devices and in ITER, where it can be measured and responded to in real time.
This article is about oral Bible translation (OBT), its key features, and how it differs from both written Bible translation and oral Bible storying. The author draws on her own experience as a Translation Advisor on an OBT team, and also from interaction with other OBT teams around the world. The article proposes that internalisation is the key component or “ingredient” in OBT, and also discusses emotional exegesis and voice prosody as essential features of the oral translation process. Ideas are offered on how consultant checking of OBT differs from that of written Bible translation. The article ends by recommending intensive training on internalisation for all Bible translation teams, the development of notes on emotional exegesis and performance, and increased training for translation consultants on orality.
Karaim is a severely endangered language belonging to the Turkic language family and its only surviving dialect is Northwest Karaim with speakers in Lithuania and Poland. In the past few years numerous Karaim translations of the Bible have been discovered. Some of these are among the oldest texts written in this language. The authors present some of the oldest Karaim texts known today as well as recently discovered Karaim translations of the entire Tanakh. It is shown how these recent research results have broadened our knowledge regarding the Karaim written heritage. Furthermore, some preliminary conclusions are drawn on the relationships among the manuscripts and the biographies of the copyists and translators involved in their creation. Textual similarities between sources created separately in communities located far from one another in the regions of Crimea, Lithuania, Volhynia, and Galicia suggest that a common Karaim tradition of Bible translation must once have existed. Moreover, the textual complexity and the use of sophisticated translation techniques in the oldest known texts support the claim that they were based on older texts or on a well-established oral tradition of translation.
Hermine Grigoryan, Márcia Vieira, Paula Nabais
et al.
The illuminated manuscripts at the Gulbenkian Museum were produced in the 17th century, in scriptoria of the Armenian diaspora. In this work, we selected analytical methods that can be used in situ to study the colors of the illuminations. Scientific analysis based on fiber-optics reflectance spectroscopy in the visible and Raman spectroscopy has shown the use of a medieval palette based on inorganic pigments such as lapis lazuli, minium, vermilion, orpiment, indigo, two different greens (vergaut and malachite), lead white and carbon black. More importantly, in this context, it showed that the very important reds and pinks are possibly based on carminic acid. The painting technique is, however, different, as are the ways of painting the faces, hands, and vestments. The range of colors in the Bible and the three Gospel Books, enhanced by lapis lazuli blue and organic reds and pinks, demonstrates a desire to create exceptional illuminated manuscripts.
This study aims to reveal the interaction of local Javanese culture with an Islamic philosophical approach originating from the Cowongan tradition performed by shamans accompanied by dances with holy ladies and reciting mantras. This tradition is a prayer asking the gods to send down rain. This article emphasised that the Cowongan tradition places mystical power as the dominant element in life, which is embodied in symbols. The study of mysticism is closer to the study of Sufism which presents it as Islamic mysticism with the color of syncretism of religious teachings with local cultural practices embodied by mystical-occult practices as the Penginyongan culture.
Contribution: This research contributed to the fact that traditions that are good and acceptable to society can become the law as part of the Urf, which need to be maintained as long as they do not conflict with Sharia.
The centre of Christian liturgy is the revelation of God in Jesus of Nazareth. In the first section of this article, the understanding of this liturgical centre is unpacked within different denominational contexts (mystery celebration, proclamation event, sacred play, staging of the gospel, etc.). Concepts of time and spatiality within liturgy, which are not only functional but also theologically enriched, are presented. The second section deals with the liturgical assembly and its structures, and the significance of assembly for the liturgy is explained. The place of assembly is addressed before looking at roles and ministries in worship. The third section explores the Bible and liturgy. It examines the different ways in which the Old Testament and New Testament are received in liturgy (e.g. readings and pericope systems, biblical prayers, readings of the Psalms, and sermons). The function of the Bible and place of intertextuality in liturgy (anamnetic, catechetical, etc.) are discussed. The fourth section focuses on different rites and textual forms and the significance of bodies in liturgy. The importance of different media for worship is unpacked before discussing different text types (oration, acclamation, etc.). The fifth section is devoted to the dynamics and diversity of liturgy. It briefly turns to historical phenomena and then demonstrates the factors at work in the dynamics of liturgy (top-down, bottom-up). The sixth section centres on theology and liturgical scholarship, in which different concepts of theology of liturgy and liturgical theology are explained. It also shows how liturgy has been reflected differently at different times in church history. Finally, current questions of liturgical scholarship on worship are explored.
Esta pesquisa tem por objetivo fazer uma análise psicossocial das crianças vítimas de violência intrafamiliar, e a atuação que os lideres eclesiásticos exercem quando em seus nichos intra e extra religiosos se deparam com esses casos. Concernente ao aspecto metodológico priorizou-se pela pesquisa bibliográfica, haja vista conter uma extensa gama de material sobre a temática a ser analisada. Seguindo essa premissa a problematização desta pesquisa está pautada em conceituar a violência infantil, bem como identificar os possíveis fatores, e as consequências que influenciam para o aumento da violência intrafamiliar, e a funcionalidade terapêutica que esses líderes devem possuir. Dos resultados esperados pode-se verificar que esses líderes como terapeutas familiares não podem se atribuir do papel de julgar nem de punir, e sim, possuir o conhecimento necessário para que seja um facilitador de aprendizagens, crescimento e desenvolvimento para aqueles que os procuram.
Among (regular, normal) parabolic geometries of type $(G,P)$, there is a locally unique maximally symmetric structure and it has symmetry dimension $\dim(G)$. The symmetry gap problem concerns the determination of the next realizable (submaximal) symmetry dimension. When $G$ is a complex or split-real simple Lie group of rank at least three or when $(G,P) = (G_2,P_2)$, we establish a local uniqueness result for submaximally symmetric structures of type $(G,P)$.
The point of departure of this article is postmodern philosopher Michel Foucault’s ‘archaeological analysis’ of the history of sexuality, seen from the lens of the South African philosopher Johann Beukes. Foucault points out that since the circulation of the so-called handbooks on penance in the 6th century CE, same-gender sex was seen as a punishable sin. With regard to perspectives before this period, Foucault reflects specifically on the contribution of the Christian theologian Augustine (354–430 CE), and particularly Augustine’s interpretation of the Greek expression para phusin (παρὰ φύσιν) as ‘against nature’ as written in Paul’s letter to the Romans (1:26). He argues that this interpretation by Augustine represents a trend in contemporaneous thinking of non-Christian writers such as Plutarch and Themistios. The aim of this article is to demonstrate that a much more influential stimulus from another non-Christian thinker, namely Artemidorus of Daldis (2nd century CE), created a common context that influenced Augustine’s views and subsequently those on same-gender sex, sexual identity, and heterosexual marriage within the Christian tradition.
Contribution: The article shows how modern-day homophobia and aversion in same-gender sex do not have its primarily ground in Paul’s use of para phusin, but that Augustine and present-day homophobes in the Christian (including the Reformed) tradition do have their roots in a non-Christian conviction without realising its intercultural and non-Christian origins.
La conferencia de Medellín es el fruto maduro del Concilio Vaticano II en la iglesia de América Latina. Centrado en la confesión de fe en Jesucristo. Señor de la Historia, ha sido uno de los mejores análisis de la realidad latinoamericana a la luz de la fe, de la esperanza y con miras a la caridad operante. Quienes fueron protagonistas de esta asamblea no lo hicieron encerrados en su ego de líderes religiosos de la iglesia, sino que se dejaron permear de la acción de Espíritu al abrir sus ojos a la realidad de los pobres y a la voz de los laicos y personas que. También movidos por la fe, dieron sus aportes. Este artículo nos introduce en el significado de la Conferencia Episcopal de Medellín 1968, por uno de sus testigos históricos, dado que ella nos puso la cara a la necesidad de reafirmar los principios vinculados a la salvación histórica, confirmar valores, comprometernos con la dignidad del hombre, con la búsqueda del bien común, con la lucha contra la pobreza en el incondicional amor al prójimo que nos lleva a desechar la violencia porque “ni el oído ni la violencia son la fuerza de nuestra caridad” (Pablo VI) para que la paz reine y circule libremente la vida como señal de esperanza.
The note as a paratextual element has played an important role in Bible translation. This article collects the translational notes from the New Testament in the Chinese Protestant Union Version Bible (CUV) and the Chinese Catholic Sigao Bible (SBV) to uncover the ideological leanings of translators as well as the types and functions of translational notes in these versions. With a quantitative and qualitative analysis of eight selected notes, the article shows that: (1) CUV followed the “without note or comment” principle for unbiased comments and thus employed more linguistic notes, but SBV followed the Catholic tradition in writing exegetical comments; (2) the notes help readers understand the reasons for textual variations and the problem of selectivity in translating; and (3) CUV translators took account of the Chinese literati’s taste, whereas SBV aimed to reach the common people. Further research is needed for a more in-depth interpretation.
This article examines Psalm 137 in the light of reggae songs by two Ivorian Rastas. The main objective is to demonstrate that the Psalm participates in the construction of a subversive identity by insisting on the transformative power of lament and collective memory. The article is arranged into three main sections: (1) the socio-historical context of the birth of Psalm 137; (2) the literary and canonical context; and (3) socio-theological and comparative analysis. The comparative reading of the different texts makes it possible to highlight the subversive and protest character of Psalm 137. It also makes it possible to highlight the need for reflection on the past, the value of decision making in the present and the need to desire a future built on justice.
https://doi.org/10.17159/2312-3621/2020/v33n3a13
Inspired by Goffman and Mead Social Interactionism theory and Ghanaian traditional leadership model, this article interprets Mark 7:24–30 as text that re-imagines alternative leadership practice. The study suggest that social interactionism theory tenants of ritual making, people processing, characterisation, frame making and dramaturgy provide a alternative heuristic tools to understand Jesus’ view of leadership. Seemingly and for Jesus, leadership is a product of social interaction derived from the manner one interacts with various people. This study proposes that the Ghanaian Akan traditional notion of leadership based on social interaction provides analogical model that complements social interactionism theory in interpreting Jesus’ leadership practices. Therefore, the study explains social interactionism theory and then illustrated it through Akan leadership model analogue. The story of the Syrophoenician woman in Mark 7:24–30 gives the social interaction, people processing, characterisation, frame making and dramaturgy that informs Jesus’ leadership model to be modelled by the Church.