lnstructions to the Weak and the Strong According to Romans 14

Eternal vigilance is the price of Christian liberty which was restored to Christendom through the Lutheran Reformation. Legalism and license always have been and still are the implacable foes of Christian liberty and ultimately of the Gospel itself. Since the Apostolic days church history is replete with instances where entire church bodies fell victim to one or the other. And the pity is that only too frequently matters of indifference, so-called adiaphora, served as the starting point from which either legalism or license sabotaged the priceless boon of Christian liberty. The Lutheran Church must therefore guard with especial care its great heritage of the proper distinction between Law and Gospel if it would retain its liberty

Involvement of the G-protein-coupled dopamine/ecdysteroid receptor DopEcR in the behavioral response to sex pheromone in an insect

Most animals including insects rely on olfaction to find their mating partners. In moths, males are attracted by female-produced sex pheromones inducing stereotyped sexual behavior. The behaviorally relevant olfactory information is processed in the primary olfactory centre, the antennal lobe (AL). Evidence is now accumulating that modulation of sex-linked behavioral output occurs through neuronal plasticity via the action of hormones and/or catecholamines. A G-protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) binding to 20-hydroxyecdysone, the main insect steroid hormone, and dopamine, has been identified in Drosophila (DmDopEcR), and was suggested to modulate neuronal signaling. In the male moth Agrotis ipsilon, the behavioral and central nervous responses to pheromone are age-dependent. To further unveil the mechanisms of this olfactory plasticity, we searched for DopEcR and tested its potential role in the behavioral response to sex pheromone in A. ipsilon males. Our results show that A. ipsilon DopEcR (named AipsDopEcR) is predominantly expressed in the nervous system. The corresponding protein was detected immunohistochemically in the ALs and higher brain centers including the mushroom bodies. Moreover, AipsDopEcR expression increased with age. Using a strategy of RNA interference, we also show that silencing of AipsDopEcR inhibited the behavioral response to sex pheromone in wind tunnel experiments. Altogether our results indicate that this GPCR is involved in the expression of sexual behavior in the male moth, probably by modulating the central nervous processing of sex pheromone through the action of one or both of its ligands

A Network of microRNAs Acts to Promote Cell Cycle Exit and Differentiation of Human Pancreatic Endocrine Cells.

Pancreatic endocrine cell differentiation is orchestrated by the action of transcription factors that operate in a gene regulatory network to activate endocrine lineage genes and repress lineage-inappropriate genes. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are important modulators of gene expression, yet their role in endocrine cell differentiation has not been systematically explored. Here we characterize miRNA-regulatory networks active in human endocrine cell differentiation by combining small RNA sequencing, miRNA over-expression, and network modeling approaches. Our analysis identified Let-7g, Let-7a, miR-200a, miR-127, and miR-375 as endocrine-enriched miRNAs that drive endocrine cell differentiation-associated gene expression changes. These miRNAs are predicted to target different transcription factors, which converge on genes involved in cell cycle regulation. When expressed in human embryonic stem cell-derived pancreatic progenitors, these miRNAs induce cell cycle exit and promote endocrine cell differentiation. Our study delineates the role of miRNAs in human endocrine cell differentiation and identifies miRNAs that could facilitate endocrine cell reprogramming

Perceptions of the intergroup structure and anti-Asian prejudice amongst white Australians

Proof oSubjective intergroup beliefs and authoritarianism were assessed in a field study (N= 255) of White Australians’ anti-Asian stereotyping and prejudice. A social identity analysis of intergroup prejudice was adopted, such that perceptions of the intergroup structure (instability, permeability, legitimacy and higher ingroup status) were proposed as predictors of higher prejudice (blatant and covert) and less favorable stereotyping. Consistent with the social identity approach, both independent and interacting roles for sociostructural predictors of Anti-Asian bias were observed, even after demographic and personality variables were controlled. For example, perceived legitimacy was associated with higher prejudice when White Australians’ status position relative to Asian Australians was valued. Moreover, when participants evaluated Whites’ position as unstable and high status or legitimate, perceptions of permeable intergroup boundaries were associated with anti-Asian bias. The present findings demonstrate status protection responses in advantaged group members in a field setting, lending weight to the contention that perceptions of sociostructural threat interact to predict outgroup derogation. Implications for theories of intergroup relations are discussed

Ghosts of the past and dreams of the future: the impact of temporal focus on responses to contextual ingroup devaluation.

addresses: University of Exeter, Exeter, UK. [email protected]: Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov'tCopyright © 2012 SAGE Publications. Author's draft version; post-print. Final version published by Sage available on Sage Journals Online http://online.sagepub.com/The authors investigated the impact of temporal focus on group members' responses to contextual ingroup devaluation. Four experimental studies demonstrated that following an induction of negative ingroup evaluation, participants primed with a past temporal focus reported behavioral intentions more consistent with this negative appraisal than participants primed with a future temporal focus. This effect was apparent only when a negative (but not a positive) evaluation was induced, and only among highly identified group members. Importantly, the interplay between temporal focus and group identification on relevant intentions was mediated by individual self-esteem, suggesting that focus on the future may be conducive to separating negative ingroup appraisals from individual self-evaluations. Taken together, the findings suggest that high identifiers' responses to ingroup evaluations may be predicated on their temporal focus: A focus on the past may lock such individuals within their group's history, whereas a vision of the future may open up opportunities for change

Insights into the ceria-catalyzed ketonization reaction for biofuels applications

The ketonization of small organic acids is a valuable reaction for biorenewable applications. Ceria has long been used as a catalyst for this reaction; however, under both liquid and vapor phase conditions, it was found that given the right temperature regime of about 150-300 °C, cerium oxide, which was previously believed to be a stable catalyst for ketonization, can undergo bulk transformations. This result, along with other literature reports, suggest that the long held belief of two separate reaction pathways for either bulk or surface ketonization reactions are not required to explain the interaction of cerium oxide with organic acids. X-ray photon spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and temperature programmed decomposition results supported the formation of metal acetates and explained the occurrence of cerium reduction as well as the formation of cerium oxide/acetate whiskers. After thermogravimetry/mass spectrometry and FT-IR experiments, a single reaction sequence is proposed that can be applied to either surface or bulk reactions with ceria

“It's my language, my culture and it's personal!” Migrant mothers' experience of language use and identity change in their relationship with their children: an interpretative phenomenological analysis

The question of how migrants’ language use impacts their ethnic identity has received considerable attention in the literature. There is, however, little understanding of how this relationship manifests or is negotiated in interethnic families. This paper presents an in-depth exploration of Spanish mothers’ experiences of Spanish- and English-language interactions with their English-born children. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with Spanish mothers living in Britain in interethnic partnerships and transcripts were subjected to interpretative phenomenological analysis. Analysis reveals a process of identity change where participants’ shifting ethnic identifications with host and heritage culture is intimately related to their language use with their children. Pivotal to this process is the participants’ need to maintain their ‘Spanish mother’ identity, a desire that can only be fulfilled by transferring their heritage language to their children and speaking it with them. Findings reveal how this dynamic impacts perception of family roles, relationship quality and psychological well-being

Is the rapid post-mating inhibition of pheromone response triggered by ecdysteroids or other factors from the sex accessory glands in the male moth Agrotis ipsilon?

In many animals, male copulation is dependent on the detection and processing of female-produced sex pheromones, which is generally followed by a sexual refractory post-ejaculatory interval (PEI). In the male moth, Agrotis ipsilon, this PEI is characterized by a transient post-mating inhibition of behavioral and central nervous responses to sex pheromone, which prevents males from re-mating until they have refilled their reproductive tracts for a potential new ejaculate. However, the timing and possible factors inducing this rapid olfactory switch-off are still unknown. Here, we determined the initial time delay and duration of the PEI. Moreover, we tested the hypothesis that the brain, the testis and/or the sex accessory glands (SAGs) could produce a factor inducing the PEI. Lastly, we investigated the possible involvement of ecdysteroids, hormones essential for development and reproduction in insects, in this olfactory plasticity. Using brain and SAG cross-injections in virgin and newly-mated males, surgical treatments, wind tunnel behavioral experiments and EIA quantifications of ecdysteroids, we show that the PEI starts very shortly after the onset of copulation, and that SAGs contain a factor, which is produced/accumulated after copulation to induce the PEI. Moreover, SAGs were found to be the main source of ecdysteroids, whose concentration decreased after mating, whereas it increased in the haemolymph. 20-Hydroxyecdysone (20E) was identified as the major ecdysteroid in SAGs of A. ipsilon males. Finally, 20E injections did not reduce the behavioral pheromone response of virgin males. Altogether our data indicate that 20E is probably not involved in the PEI

When lack of control enhances closeness to others : the case of unemployment and economic threat

When personal control is threatened, people often turn to their own group and show negativity towards others. In three studies, we tested an alternative prediction that the salient lack of personal control (vs. control) experienced in the context of unemployment can lead to connectedness and more positive perception of similar others (e.g., members of groups affected by unemployment or the economic crisis). In two European countries, we found experimental (Study 1: Poland) and correlational (Study 2: Spain) evidence that a lowered sense of control of unemployed people was related to more favorable intergroup evaluations. Furthermore, when lack of control related to unemployment threat was experimentally induced, participants perceived a Greek outgroup more positively, and this effect was mediated by identification with and similarity to this group (Study 3). We discuss the role of the shared experience of collective uncontrollability in promoting positive intergroup relation