Conceptualising religion in the 21st century: Examining the proposal of Mark C. Taylor in After God

This article summarises and evaluates Mark C. Taylor’s theory of religion as presented in After God. Taylor redescribes religion as an emergent, complex, adaptive network – a term he adopts from the biosciences and physics. Such networks operate as non-totalising wholes. They are co-dependent and co-evolve. It follows that everything is related and there are no absolutes. Taylorpoints to the co-determination of religion and secularity as well as theology and theory in the West. Such networks are also self-organising and self-maintaining. As open systems, they thrive at the edge of chaos. Hence, Taylor rejects any closed, rigid system of neo-foundationalism as found in our postmodern, globalised world. For Taylor, there are no solid grounds; there is only creative emergence, from which reality is figured and disfigured in an oscillating interplay. The article closes by pointing out some inconsistencies in Taylor’s own application of religion as complex adaptive system. Due to these inconsistencies, Taylor falls shortof offering a constructive role for contemporary religious traditions and communities

Highly hydrolytic reuteransucrase from probiotic Lactobacillus reuteri strain ATCC 55730

Lactobacillus reuteri strain ATCC 55730 (LB BIO) was isolated as a pure culture from a Reuteri tablet purchased from the BioGaia company. This probiotic strain produces a soluble glucan (reuteran), in which the majority of the linkages are of the α-(1→4) glucosidic type (∼70%). This reuteran also contains α-(1→6)- linked glucosyl units and 4,6-disubstituted α-glucosyl units at the branching points. The LB BIO glucansucrase gene (gtfO) was cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli, and the GTFO enzyme was purified. The recombinant GTFO enzyme and the LB BIO culture supernatants synthesized identical glucan polymers with respect to linkage type and size distribution. GTFO thus is a reuteransucrase, responsible for synthesis of this reuteran polymer in LB BIO. The preference of GTFO for synthesizing α-(1→4) linkages is also evident from the oligosaccharides produced from sucrose with different acceptor substrates, e.g., isopanose from isomaltose. GTFO has a relatively high hydrolysis/transferase activity ratio. Complete conversion of 100 mM sucrose by GTFO nevertheless yielded large amounts of reuteran, although more than 50% of sucrose was converted into glucose. This is only the second example of the isolation and characterization of a reuteransucrase and its reuteran product, both found in different L. reuteri strains. GTFO synthesizes a reuteran with the highest amount of α-(1→4) linkages reported to date

CQG algebras: a direct algebraic approach to compact quantum groups

The purely algebraic notion of CQG algebra (algebra of functions on a compact quantum group) is defined. In a straightforward algebraic manner, the Peter-Weyl theorem for CQG algebras and the existence of a unique positive definite Haar functional on any CQG algebra are established. It is shown that a CQG algebra can be naturally completed to a $C^\ast$-algebra. The relations between our approach and several other approaches to compact quantum groups are discussed.Comment: 14 pp., Plain TeX, accepted by Lett. Math. Phy

Gluco-oligomers initially formed by the reuteransucrase enzyme of Lactobacillus reuteri 121 incubated with sucrose and malto-oligosaccharides

<p>The probiotic bacterium Lactobacillus reuteri 121 produces a complex, branched (1 -> 4, 1 -> 6)-alpha-d-glucan as extracellular polysaccharide (reuteran) from sucrose (Suc), using a single glucansucrase/glucosyltransferase (GTFA) enzyme (reuteransucrase). To gain insight into the reaction/product specificity of the GTFA enzyme and the mechanism of reuteran formation, incubations with Suc and/or a series of malto-oligosaccharides (MOSs) (degree of polymerization (DP2-DP6)) were followed in time. The structures of the initially formed products, isolated via high-performance anion-exchange chromatography, were analyzed by matrix-assisted laser-desorption ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry and 1D/2D H-1/C-13 NMR spectroscopy. Incubations with Suc only, acting as both donor and acceptor, resulted in elongation of Suc with glucose (Glc) units via alternating (alpha 1 -> 4) and (alpha 1 -> 6) linkages, yielding linear gluco-oligosaccharides up to at least DP similar to 12. Simultaneously with the ensemble of oligosaccharides, polymeric material was formed early on, suggesting that alternan fragments longer than DP similar to 12 have higher affinity with the GTFA enzyme and are quickly extended, yielding high-molecular-mass branched reuteran (4 x 10(7) Da). MOSs (DP2-DP6) in the absence of Suc turned out to be poor substrates. Incubations of GTFA with Suc plus MOSs as substrates resulted in preferential elongation of MOSs (acceptors) with Glc units from Suc (donor). This apparently reflects the higher affinity of GTFA for MOSs compared with Suc. In accordance with the GTFA specificity, most prominent products were oligosaccharides with an (alpha 1 -> 4)/(alpha 1 -> 6) alternating structure.</p>

Residue Leu(940) Has a Crucial Role in the Linkage and Reaction Specificity of the Glucansucrase GTF180 of the Probiotic Bacterium Lactobacillus reuteri 180

Highly conserved GH70 family glucansucrases are able to catalyze the synthesis of α-glucans with different structure from sucrose. The structural determinants of glucansucrase specificity have remained unclear. Residue L940 in domain B of GTF180, the glucansucrase of the probiotic bacterium Lactobacillus reuteri 180, was shown to vary in different glucansucrases and is close to the +1 glucosyl unit in the crystal structure of GTF180-ΔN in complex with maltose. Herein, we show that mutations in L940 of wild-type GTF180-ΔN all caused an increased percentage of (α1→6) linkages and a decreased percentage of (α1→3) linkages in the products. α-Glucans with potential different physico-chemical properties [containing 67% to 100% of (α1→6) linkages] were produced by GTF180 and its L940 mutants. Mutant L940W was unable to form (α1→3) linkages and synthesized a smaller and linear glucan polysaccharide with only (α1→6) linkages. Docking studies revealed that the introduction of the large aromatic amino acid residue tryptophan at position 940 partially blocked the binding groove, preventing the isomalto-oligosaccharide acceptor to bind in an favorable orientation for the formation of (α1→3) linkages. Our data showed that the reaction specificity of GTF180 mutant was shifted either to increased polysaccharide synthesis (L940A, L940S, L940E and L940F) or increased oligosaccharide synthesis (L940W). The L940W mutant is capable of producing a large amount of isomalto-oligosaccharides using released glucose from sucrose as acceptors. Thus, residue L940 in domain B is crucial for linkage and reaction specificity of GTF180. This study provides clear and novel insights into the structure-function relationships of glucansucrase enzymes.</p

La start-up innovativa e l'incubatore certificato all'indomani del Decreto Investment Compact. Lo studio della prima operazione di successo di equity crowdfunding in Italia.

Il presente lavoro di tesi è focalizzato sull’attuale crescente realtà imprenditoriale della start-up innovativa, nonché sul contributo che essa può offrire in termini di crescita e di una maggiore competitività dell’economia italiana. Attraverso un excursus teorico, è stata analizzata la disciplina e il quadro normativo ad essa riferita a seguito dell’emanazione del Decreto Investment Compact, le deroghe al diritto societario e fallimentare, oltre che le speciali disposizioni previste in materia fiscale, quali misure per sostenere lo sviluppo della start-up, l’occupazione e la crescita dell’economia italiana. Ѐ stato inoltre affrontato il problema della difficoltà degli startuppers nel reperire le risorse attraverso le quali finanziare i propri progetti innovativi. Sono state studiate e comparate le diverse figure degli investitori nel capitale di rischio di tali società, diversi da quelli istituzionali dei soci, e rappresentati dagli incubatori d’impresa, dal Business Angel e dal Venture Capital, i quali costituiscono una valida alternativa alle tradizionali forme di finanziamento bancario. Ampio spazio è stato dedicato all’analisi del fenomeno del finanziamento dal basso “crowdfunding”, e in particolare all’equity crowdfunding, in cui i partecipanti dell’iniziativa, sottoscrivendo partecipazioni di società, vengono remunerati attraverso l’acquisizione della qualifica di socio. In conclusione della trattazione, si presenta lo studio della prima operazione di successo di equity crowdfunding. Si è provveduto a descrivere le caratteristiche, le peculiarità della campagna di raccolta, i protagonisti dell’operazione, gli obiettivi che la start-up X S.r.l. ha inteso perseguire tramite il capitale raccolto, e infine l’analisi di bilancio della società in questione, per comprendere le peculiarità del genius start-up. L’ecosistema italiano è ancora poco ospitale e dunque immaturo verso questa nuova forma di imprenditoria, ma occorre continuare ad agire in un ottica semplificatrice per superare l’impasse in cui si trova da anni il nostro Paese