Expanding and Refining Christian Interpretations of Rāmānuja

In the last century there has been a remarkable expansion of studies of Rāmānuja by scholars outside the Śrīvaiṣṇava community. This paper concentrates on the contributions of some Christian scholars. Many of the earlier studies focused on Rāmānuja’s opposition to Śaṇkara’s interpretation of the Vedanta, with Roman Catholic scholars tending to favor Śaṇkara and Protestant scholars Rāmānuja. The Belgian Jesuit Pierre Johanns argued for a Christian reinterpretation of the Vedanta that would merge the truths in the different Hindu schools, giving primary importance to Śaṇkara, but modifying the Hindu teaching through the distinctive Christian doctrine of “creation out of nothing.” Later his fellow Jesuit Richard De Smet reaffirmed the primary value of Śaṇkara’s own genuine teachings for Christian theology. Current studies represented in this issue affirm the positive value for Christian theology of Rāmānuja’s version of the Vedanta. Christian studies continue to expand their treatment of Rāmānuja, examining not just his great commentary on the Vedanta Sutras but also all the other writings that his community ascribes to him. In addition, some scholars are looking at the devotional traditions before and after him, especially the hymns of the Tamil poet-saints, composed before, and the commentaries on those hymns, written in the first centuries after him. Such expansion of Christian interpretation requires greater interpretation among scholars, both Christian and Hindu. Christian learning from another religious position begins with noticing something similar though not the same as that in their own religion. Thus far, in the case of Rāmānuja, there is no agreement as to which similarities are more significant and how they relate to some specific version of Christian theology. There may be instances of partial convergence where it is impossible for a Christian either to affirm or deny the truth of Rāmānuja’s teaching. Here it may be important to recognize what is often considered an aesthetic judgment: appreciation. One example is a later Śrīvaiṣṇava estimate of Rāmānuja himself, that he fulfilled the “prophecy” of the poet-saint Nammalvar, being the one who initiated the end of our age of darkness and the return of the golden age

Book Review: Hindu-Christian Dialogue: Perspectives and Encounters

A review of Dr. Harold Coward\u27s Hindu-Christian Dialogue: Perspectives and Encounters

The Dilemma of Diversity and the Boon of Understanding

I want us to reflect on our religious diversity, and on the increasing religious diversity in North America, which Professor Diana Eck and her team of research students are now documenting and interpreting in the Pluralism Project

Protestant Bible Translations in India: An Unrecognized Dialogue?

During my first visit to Kyoto in the spring of 1980, I was given the privilege of attending a meeting of the committee of scholars supervising one of the two series of translations of Shinran Shonin\u27s works now appearing in English. Except for Dr. Minor Rogers, an American scholar of Shin Buddhism, and myself, all the other participants were Shin Buddhists belonging to the Western Temple branch of Shinran\u27s followers. Dr. Dennis Hirota, who has contributed several of the draft translations, is Japanese American. The rest of the group were Japanese. The procedure used by committee to review a draft, line by line, and sometimes word by word, reminded me of many Christian projects of Bible translation and revision

Loving God as a Devoted Servant

These three papers explore important facets of a central topic in comparing Hindu and Christian traditions: human love of God, which is related to the even broader topic of divine love for human beings. I had hoped that each of the authors would make some connections with the other two papers and thereby contribute to one or more imaginary dialogues. Since they have not done so, I shall try to link the aspects of Western and Indian traditions on which they touch, giving particular attention to the one explicitly comparative paper, that by Martin Ganeri

Diel interactions between prey behaviour and feeding in an invasive fish, the round goby, in a North American river

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/72558/1/j.1365-2427.2006.01527.x.pd

Endothelial cells use dynamic actin to facilitate lymphocyte transendothelial migration and maintain the monolayer barrier

The vascular endothelium is a highly dynamic structure, and the integrity of its barrier function is tightly regulated. Normally impenetrable to cells, the endothelium actively assists lymphocytes to exit the bloodstream during inflammation. The actin cytoskeleton of the endothelial cell (EC) is known to facilitate transmigration, but the cellular and molecular mechanisms are not well understood. Here we report that actin assembly in the EC, induced by Arp2/3 complex under control of WAVE2, is important for several steps in the process of transmigration. To begin transmigration, ECs deploy actin-based membrane protrusions that create a cup-shaped docking structure for the lymphocyte. We found that docking structure formation involves the localization and activation of Arp2/3 complex by WAVE2. The next step in transmigration is creation of a migratory pore, and we found that endothelial WAVE2 is needed for lymphocytes to follow a transcellular route through an EC. Later, ECs use actin-based protrusions to close the gap behind the lymphocyte, which we discovered is also driven by WAVE2. Finally, we found that ECs in resting endothelial monolayers use lamellipodial protrusions dependent on WAVE2 to form and maintain contacts and junctions between cells

The nature and fate of natural resins in the geosphere. XII. Investigation of C-ring aromatic diterpenoids in Raritan amber by pyrolysis-GC-matrix isolation FTIR-MS

Upper Cretaceous amber from the Raritan Formation (Sayerville, New Jersey) has been investigated by Pyrolysis-GC-MS and Pyrolysis-GC-matrix isolation FTIR-MS. Results establish the existence of two distinct forms of amber in this deposit. Both forms are Class Ib ambers, but they are unambiguously differentiated on the basis of their (intact) diterpenoid composition. The presence of callitrisate in both forms, and cupraene in samples designated form 1, strongly suggest that both derive from related-but-distinct species within the Cupressaceae. In addition to callitrisate, dehydroabietate and analogous 17-nor-, 16,17-dinor- and 15,16,17-trinor- analogues of these compounds are also observed. The distributions of these products in multiple samples suggest that they are the result of biological emplacement, rather than diagenetic modification of the parent compounds. This indicates that the distributions of diterpenes observed in these samples are representative of the original bioterpenoids and, hence, are useful for chemotaxonomic analyses

O-GlcNAc regulates the mitochondrial integrated stress response by regulating ATF4

BackgroundAccumulation of mitochondrial dysfunctional is a hallmark of age-related neurodegeneration including Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Impairment of mitochondrial quality control mechanisms leading to the accumulation of damaged mitochondria and increasing neuronal stress. Therefore, investigating the basic mechanisms of how mitochondrial homeostasis is regulated is essential. Herein, we investigate the role of O-GlcNAcylation, a single sugar post-translational modification, in controlling mitochondrial stress-induced transcription factor Activating Transcription Factor 4 (ATF4). Mitochondrial dysfunction triggers the integrated stress response (ISRmt), in which the phosphorylation of eukaryotic translation initiation factor 2α results in the translation of ATF4.MethodsWe used patient-derived induced pluripotent stem cells, a transgenic mouse model of AD, SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma and HeLa cell-lines to examine the effect of sustained O-GlcNAcase inhibition by Thiamet-G (TMG) on ISRmt using biochemical analyses.ResultsWe show that TMG elevates ATF4 protein levels upon mitochondrial stress in SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma and HeLa cell-lines. An indirect downstream target of ATF4 mitochondrial chaperone glucose-regulated protein 75 (GRP75) is significantly elevated. Interestingly, knock-down of O-GlcNAc transferase (OGT), the enzyme that adds O-GlcNAc, in SH-SY5Y increases ATF4 protein and mRNA expression. Additionally, ATF4 target gene Activating Transcription Factor 5 (ATF5) is significantly elevated at both the protein and mRNA level. Brains isolated from TMG treated mice show elevated levels of ATF4 and GRP75. Importantly, ATF4 occupancy increases at the ATF5 promoter site in brains isolated from TMG treated mice suggesting that O-GlcNAc is regulating ATF4 targeted gene expression. Interestingly, ATF4 and GRP75 are not induced in TMG treated familial Alzheimer’s Disease mice model. The same results are seen in a human in vitro model of AD.ConclusionTogether, these results indicate that in healthy conditions, O-GlcNAc regulates the ISRmt through regulating ATF4, while manipulating O-GlcNAc in AD has no effect on ISRmt

At the coalface and the cutting edge: general practitioners’ accounts of the rewards of engaging with HIV medicine

The interviews we conducted with GPs suggest that an engagement with HIV medicine enables clinicians to develop strong and long-term relationships with and expertise about the care needs of people living with HIV ‘at the coalface’, while also feeling connected with a broader network of medical practitioners and other professionals concerned with and contributing to the ever-changing world of science: ‘the cutting edge’. The general practice HIV prescriber is being modelled here as the interface between these two worlds, offering a rewarding opportunity for general practitioners to feel intimately connected to both community needs and scientific change