The first 'heretic' to be condemned to death at the end of IV century, Priscillian, sometime bishop of Avila, has generated much scholarly interest in early Christian studies since the rediscovery of his works in the nineteenth century. Early scholarly attention focussed on the question of Priscillian's heterodoxy. Was he really an orthodox thinker victimised by ecclesiastical politics or were the accusations of heresy fully grounded in his teachings? Recent scholarship has moved away from rigid categorisation of the individual and focussed on the social-political movement of Priscillianism, with a tendency to neglect the literary corpus. Marco Conti draws attention back to the writings and the theological reflections there contained.
Published for the first time in one volume with facing page translation and systematic commentaries, The Complete Works provide invaluable material for better understanding the complex nature of this fascinating figure and the movement he inspired, a crucial example of early opposition to Ecclesiastical power. With an extensive introduction providing biographical and textual background information.

Online Social Networks: Human Cognitive Constraints in Facebook and Twitter provides new insights into the structural properties of personal online social networks and the mechanisms underpinning human online social behavior. As the availability of digital communication data generated by social media is revolutionizing the field of social networks analysis, the text discusses the use of large- scale datasets to study the structural properties of online ego networks, to compare them with the properties of general human social networks, and to highlight additional properties. Users will find the data collected and conclusions drawn useful during design or research service initiatives that involve online and mobile social network environments.

Cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterases (PDEs) are promising targets for pharmacological intervention. Multiple PDE genes, isoform diversity, selective expression and compartmentation of the isoforms, and an array of conformations of PDE proteins are properties that challenge development of drugs that selectively target this class of enzymes. Novel characteristics of PDEs are viewed as unique opportunities to increase specificity and selectivity when designing novel compounds for certain therapeutic indications. This chapter provides a summary of the major concepts related to the design and use of PDE inhibitors.

Thisbookcontainstherefereedproceedingsofthe1stIFIP-TC6WorkingCon- rence on Wireless-On-Demand Network Systems, WONS 2004. It was sponsored by the IFIP Working Groups 6.3 (Performance of Computer and Commu- cation Networks)and6.8(Mobile and Wireless Communications), and aimed at becoming a premier international forum for discussions between researchers and practitioners interested in the evolution of Wireless Internet Access toward on-demand networking. Ad hoc, routing, localization, resource management, - curity, applications, performance and analytical models were topics covered in depth by technical papers in this book. Theconferencereceived77submissionsfrom22countries, showingthewor- wide interest. With so many papers to choose from, the Technical Program Committee s job, providing a conference program with the highest quality, was challenging and time consuming. We ?nally selected 25 full papers for presen- tion in the conference technical sessions. To give researchers the opportunity to present the novel ideas they are starting to explore, we included in the technical program a poster session devoted to presenting preliminary research results: 7 short papers were selected for presentation in this session. Accepted papers and posters came from 15 di?erent countries. The technical program also included a keynote speech Ad Hoc Wireless Networks: Protocols and Applications by Prof. Mario Gerla, and a panel s- sion devoted to the discussion of the conference topics between academics and industry representatives. This event would not have been possible without the enthusiasm and hard work of a number of colleagues. A special thanks to the TPC members, and all the referees, for their invaluable help in reviewing the papers for WONS 2004."

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the IFIP-TC6 Eighth - ternational Conference on Personal Wireless Communications, PWC 2003. PWC 2003 is the ?agship conference of the IFIP Working Group 6.8, Mobile and Wireless Communications, and is the premier international forum for discussions between researchers, practitioners, and students interested in the symbiosis of mobile computing and wireless networks. It is a great pleasure to present the PWC 2003 technical program. This year the conference received 115 submissions from 27 countries indicating that PWC is a reference conference for worldwide researchers from the wireless and mobile community. With so many papers to choose from, the Technical Program Committee s job, to provide a conference program of the highest technical quality, was challenging and time consuming. From the 115 submissions, we ?nally selected 34 full papers and 15 short papers for presentation in the conference technical sessions. The conference technical program was split into three days, and included, in addition to the 49 refereed contributions, 4 invited papers from top-level researchers from the mobile and wireless community. To give researchers the opportunity to present ongoing work, and the novel ideas they are starting to explore, we included in the technical program two work-in-progress sessions and two novel-ideas sessions. The technical program also included a poster session devoted to presenting ongoing research projects on wireless and mobile communications."

The Life of Saint Helia, a late ancient Latin hagiography of uncertain provenance, is a remarkable and virtually unknown text, of which a critical edition and English translation appear here for the first time, accompanied by an introduction and commentary. Written predominately in dialogue format, the Life records a lengthy and highly polemical debate between a young girl Helia and her mother regarding the relative merits of virginity and marriage, followed by a dialogue between Helia and a bishop and a debate between Helia and a judge. The arguments both for and against virginity are biblically based, and the text is notable for its citational density and exegetical creativity. The dramatic narrative that frames the dialogue appears to have been influenced by the apocryphal Acts of Paul and Thecla, while the speeches suggest familiarity with the virginity apologetics of Ambrose and Jerome; because the Life has is preserved in only two medieval manuscripts, both from northern Spain, a Priscillianist context of composition is possible. This lively work will be of great interest to students of hagiography, asceticism, women's history, and biblical exegesis.

The Life of Saint Helia, a late ancient Latin hagiography of uncertain provenance, is a remarkable and virtually unknown text, of which a critical edition and English translation appear here for the first time, accompanied by an introduction and commentary. Written predominately in dialogue format, the Life records a lengthy and highly polemical debate between a young girl Helia and her mother regarding the relative merits of virginity and marriage, followed by a dialogue between Helia and a bishop and a debate between Helia and a judge. The arguments both for and against virginity are biblically based, and the text is notable for its citational density and exegetical creativity. The dramatic narrative that frames the dialogue appears to have been influenced by the apocryphal Acts of Paul and Thecla, while the speeches suggest familiarity with the virginity apologetics of Ambrose and Jerome; because the Life has is preserved in only two medieval manuscripts, both from northern Spain, a Priscillianist context of composition is possible. This lively work will be of great interest to students of hagiography, asceticism, women's history, and biblical exegesis.

Constantina, daughter of the fourth-century emperor Constantine who so famously converted to Christianity, deserves a place of her own in the history of Christianity. As both poet and church-builder, she was an early patron of the Roman cult of the virgin martyr Agnes and was buried ad sanctam in a sumptuously mosaicked mausoleum that still stands. What has been very nearly forgotten is that the twice-married Constantina also came to be viewed as a virgin saint in her own right, said to have been converted and healed of leprosy by Saint Agnes. This volume publishes for the first time critical editions and English translations of three Latin hagiographies dedicated to the empress, offering an introduction and commentaries to contextualize these virtually unknown works. The earliest and longest of them is the anonymous Life of Saint Constantina likely dating to the mid or late sixth century, reflecting a female monastic setting and featuring both a story of pope Silvester's instruction of Constantina and a striking dialogue between Constantina and twelve virgins who offer speeches in praise of virginity as the summum bonum. A second, slightly later work, On the Feast of Saint Constantia (the misnaming of the saint reflecting common confusion), is a more streamlined account apparently tailored for liturgical use in early seventh-century Rome; this text is reworked and expanded by the twelfth-century Roman scholar Nicolaus Maniacoria in his Life of the Blessed Constantia, including a question-and-answer dialogue between Constantina and her two virginal charges Attica and Artemia. These works will be of great interest to students of late ancient and medieval saints' cults, hagiography, monasticism, and women's history.

The church fathers, as they did in earlier books dealing with Israel's history from the time of Joshua to the united monarchy, found ample material for typological and moral interpretation in 1-2 Kings, 1-2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah and Esther. It will be immediately clear to readers of this volume that they gave much more attention to 1-2 Kings than to others; whether this was due to a certain repetitiveness in the story line or other reasons is unclear. But the narratives of wise King Solomon, the construction of the temple, the prophets Elijah and Elisha, and the fates of various faithful and unfaithful kings and other powerful people were well suited to their purposes. Among Greek commentators in this Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture volume, readers will find Justin Martyr, Clement of Alexandria, Origen, Methodius, Eusebius of Caesarea, Athanasius, Cyril of Jerusalem, Basil the Great, Gregory of Nazianzus, John Chrysostom, Cyril of Alexandria, Theodoret of Cyr, Procopius of Gaza and John the Monk. Among Latin commentators are Tertullian, Cyprian, Novatian, Lactantius, Ambrose, Jerome, Prudentius, Augustine, Paulinus of Nola, John Cassian, Peter Chrysologus, Maximus of Turin, Salvian the Presbyter, Fulgentius of Ruspe, Caesarius of Arles, Gregory the Great, Bede and Rabanus Maurus. Syriac commentators include Aphrahat, Ephrem, Sahdona, Isaac of Nineveh and Isho'dad of Merv. Together they set before readers a table of delights and theological insights, some of which are here available to English readers for the first time.

The book of Job presents its readers with a profound drama concerning innocent suffering. Such honest, forthright wrestling with evil and the silence of God has intrigued a wide range of readers, both religious and nonreligious. Surprisingly, the earliest fathers showed little interest in the book of Job. Not until Origen in the early third century is there much evidence of any systematic treatment of the book, and most of Origen's treatment is known to us only from the catenae. More intense interest came at the end of the fourth century and the beginning of the fifth. The excerpts in this collection focus on systematic treatment. Among Greek texts are those from Origen, Didymus the Blind, Julian the Arian, John Chrysostom, Hesychius of Jerusalem and Olympiodorus. Among Latin sources we find Julian of Eclanum, Philip the Priest and Gregory the Great. Among Syriac sources we find Ephrem the Syrian and Isho?dad of Merv, some of whose work is made available here for the first time in English. In store for readers of this volume is once again a great feast of wisdom from the ancient resources of the church.

Theodore of Mopsuestia, born in Antioch (c. 350) and a disciple of Diodore of Tarsus, serves as one of the most important exemplars of Antiochene exegesis of his generation. Committed to literal, linguistic, grammatical and historical interpretation, he eschewed allegorical explanations that could not be supported from the text, though he was not averse to typological interpretations of Old Testament texts that were supported by the New. Regrettably, Theodore was dragged posthumously into the Nestorian controversy, and his works were condemned by the Three Chapters and the Council of Constantinople in 553. As a result many of his theological and exegetical works were lost or destroyed. The original Greek version of his Commentary on the Gospel of John remains only in fragments. This new English translation is based on an early complete Syriac translation dated A.D. 460-465, within forty years of Theodore?s death in 428. While charges of heterodoxy against Theodore may not be entirely justified, there remains an apparent dualism in his Christology that should be critically viewed in light of the later Chalcedonian formula. With this caution, there still remains much that is valuable for contemporary readers, whether preachers, students or lay people interested in the early church's understanding of the Gospel of John. Here for the first time is a complete English translation of this valuable work, ably translated by Marco Conti and edited by Joel C. Elowsky. Ancient Christian Texts is a series of new translations, most of which are here presented in English for the first time. The series provides contemporary readers with the resources they need to study for themselves the key writings of the early church. The texts represented in the series are full-length commentaries or sermon series based on biblical books or extended scriptural passages. Ancient Christian Texts are new English translations of full-length commentaries or sermon series from ancient Christian authors that allow you to study key writings of the early church fathers in a fresh way.

The church fathers, as they did in earlier books dealing with Israel's history from the time of Joshua to the united monarchy, found ample material for typological and moral interpretation in 1-2 Kings, 1-2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah and Esther. It will be immediately clear to readers of this volume that they gave much more attention to 1-2 Kings than to others; whether this was due to a certain repetitiveness in the story line or other reasons is unclear. But the narratives of wise King Solomon, the construction of the temple, the prophets Elijah and Elisha, and the fates of various faithful and unfaithful kings and other powerful people were well suited to their purposes. Among Greek commentators in this Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture volume, readers will find Justin Martyr, Clement of Alexandria, Origen, Methodius, Eusebius of Caesarea, Athanasius, Cyril of Jerusalem, Basil the Great, Gregory of Nazianzus, John Chrysostom, Cyril of Alexandria, Theodoret of Cyr, Procopius of Gaza and John the Monk. Among Latin commentators are Tertullian, Cyprian, Novatian, Lactantius, Ambrose, Jerome, Prudentius, Augustine, Paulinus of Nola, John Cassian, Peter Chrysologus, Maximus of Turin, Salvian the Presbyter, Fulgentius of Ruspe, Caesarius of Arles, Gregory the Great, Bede and Rabanus Maurus. Syriac commentators include Aphrahat, Ephrem, Sahdona, Isaac of Nineveh and Isho'dad of Merv. Together they set before readers a table of delights and theological insights, some of which are here available to English readers for the first time.

The book of Job presents its readers with a profound drama concerning innocent suffering. Such honest, forthright wrestling with the problem of evil and the silence of God has intrigued a wide gamut of readers both religious and nonreligious. Surprisingly, the earliest church fathers showed little interest in the book of Job. Not until Origen in the early third century is there much evidence of any systematic treatment of the book, and most of Origen's treatment is known to us only from the catenae. More intense interest came at the end of the fourth century and the beginning of the fifth. The excerpts in this Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture volume focus on systematic treatment. Among Greek texts are those from Origen, Didymus the Blind, Julian the Arian, John Chrysostom, Hesychius of Jerusalem, and Olympiodorus. Among Latin sources we find Julian of Eclanum, Philip the Priest, and Gregory the Great. Among Syriac sources we find Ephrem the Syrian and Isho'dad of Merv, some of whose work is made available here for the first time in English. In store for readers of this volume is a great feast of wisdom from the ancient resources of the church with fresh relevance for today.

Contents: 1. Introduction. - 2. Mobileman Architecture. - 3. Wireless Technologies. - 4. Networking. - 5. Cooperation Models and Mechanisms. - 6. Middelware. - 7. Applications. - 8. Economic Models. - 9. Mesh Networks.