Buddha, Bhakti, and Brahman: Sebastian Kappen S.J.’s Dialogue with Indian Religions

This article analyzes how Sebastian Kappen S.J. (1924-1993), a social thinker and one of the most radical Indian liberation theologians, related to Indian religions. It argues that Kappen, in spite of his criticism of the caste system, also found inspiration in Hinduism. He especially appreciated the ontic and cosmic understandings of transcendence and immanence, the inclusive interpretation of the divine, and the religious approach to nature. In addition, Kappen also valued other Asian religious traditions, such as Buddhism and the Bhakti movement. Being an anti-institutional and anti-hierarchical progressive theologian, Kappen used Indian religions as a challenge to his own Christian faith

Oral β-glucans modulate systemic antigen responses in dogs and pigs

The cell wall glucans of yeasts and fungi consist of a linear backbone of -1,3-linked glucosylunits with -1,6-linked side chains (1, 2). Although a lot is already known about the mechanism of action of -1,3/1,6-glucans on the innate immune system (3, 4), there is still a lot to be learned about their effects on the adaptive immune system in mammals. We aimed to determine if oral supplementation could modulate a systemic immune response. The latter was examined in pigs using a model antigen, but also in dogs analyzing the response against a parenteral vaccine. In three experiments using newly weaned pigs, Macrogard, a β-1,3/1,6-glucan from Saccharomyces cerevisiae, was administered in the feed during three different time periods (one, two and three weeks) and the adjuvant effect of this β-glucan was determined on a systemic immunisation with thyroglobulin. A first immunisation occurred during β-glucan supplementation, while the second one occurred after ceasing the administration. Macrogard exerted significantly higher thyroglobulin-specific primary immunoglobulin (Ig) M and secondary IgA antibody responses in serum. However, Macrogard suppressed the thyroglobulin-specific proliferation of peripheral blood mononuclear cells. A higher dose of Macrogard significantly increased thyroglobulin-specific IgM but not IgA responses, and the animals itself showed hyperaemia. Suppression of the T-lymphocyte proliferation might account for the absence of the switch from IgM to IgA. Weight gain and feed conversion were also determined, without significant differences between groups. In another study, also dogs were orally given Macrogard in tablets, daily for four weeks. At the end of this period, the total serum IgA level decreased significantly in the group treated with the glucan compared to that in the control group as well as compared to the concentrations before supplementation. In contrast, the total serum IgM level rose significantly, whereas no effect on the IgG level occurred. Similar changes were seen in Bordetella-specific IgA and IgM titres following vaccination during the supplementation period. The IgA concentration also became significantly lower in the saliva and tears of the glucan group than in the placebo group. The effects disappeared one week after the cessation of the supplementation. There seems to be a temporary decrease in the switch from IgM to IgA due to oral Macrogard supplementation in dogs probably by its suppression of T-lymphocyte proliferation as seen in pigs. In conclusion, oral β-glucans are able to modulate the humoral as well as the cellular immunity against a systemically administered antigen

Oral β-1,3/1,6-glucans as immunmodulators in pigs

The cell wall glucans of yeasts and fungi consist of a linear backbone of -1,3-linked glucosylunits with -1,6-linked side chains (1). Although a lot is already known about the mechanism of action of -1,3/1,6-glucans on the innate immune system (2), there is still a lot to be learned about their effects on the adaptive immune system in mammals. We aimed to determine if oral supplementation could modulate a systemic immune response. The latter was examined in pigs using a model antigen. In three experiments using newly weaned pigs, Macrogard, a β-1,3/1,6-glucan from Saccharomyces cerevisiae, was administered in the feed during three different time periods (one, two and three weeks) and the adjuvant effect of this β-glucan was determined on a systemic immunisation with thyroglobulin. A first immunisation occurred during β-glucan supplementation, while the second one occurred after ceasing the administration. Macrogard exerted significantly higher thyroglobulin-specific primary immunoglobulin (Ig) M and secondary IgA antibody responses in serum. However, Macrogard suppressed the thyroglobulin-specific proliferation of peripheral blood mononuclear cells. A higher dose of Macrogard significantly increased thyroglobulin-specific IgM but not IgA responses, and the animals itself showed hyperaemia. Suppression of the T-lymphocyte proliferation might account for the absence of the switch from IgM to IgA. Weight gain and feed conversion were also determined, without significant differences between groups. In conclusion, oral β-glucans are able to modulate the humoral as well as the cellular immunity against a systemically administered antigen

Vaccination against ETEC in pigs

Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) that bear F4 fimbriae on their surface (F4+ ETEC) are a major cause of postweaning diarrhoea (PWD) in pigs. The F4 fimbriae enable the bacteria to colonize the small intestine and subsequently, to produce enterotoxins causing diarrhoea. Consequently, an F4-specific secretory IgA response at the intestinal mucosa that neutralizes the fimbriae is desired for protection against postweaning diarrhoea

Passive immunization against Histomonas meleagridis does not protect turkeys from an experimental infection

Histomonosis or blackhead is a disease of gallinaceous birds, caused by the protozoan Histomonas meleagridis. As recent regulatory action has removed almost all drugs against this disease from the European market, the development of new prophylactics has become crucial. Identification of the protective immune mechanism would facilitate the choice and development of a vaccination strategy to prevent histomonosis. In this study, turkeys were either actively or passively immunized and were then challenged to assess the role of antibody-mediated immunity in the protection form this disease. Active immunization was performed either by experimental infection and treatment or by intramuscular injection with lysed H. meleagridis. Passive immunization was attempted by intraperitoneal administration of pooled, concentrated, neutralizing antisera from immunized donor animals to naive turkeys. A significantly higher IgG response was observed after infection and treatment than after intramuscular injection, which in turn was higher than the responses of placebo and control birds. While active immunization of turkeys by intramuscular injection of dead H. meleagridis antigens appeared not to be protective against histomonosis, immunization by infection and treatment did induce protection. However, no significant level of protection could be observed in the passively immunized birds. These results suggest that serum antibodies to H. meleagridis may not be a key component in the protection against this parasite. It is, however, possible that the concentration of antibodies at the mucosal site is insufficient. Therefore, further investigation on mucosal immune responses is necessary

Unexplained Gaps and Oaxaca-Blinder Decompositions

We analyze four methods to measure unexplained gaps in mean outcomes: three decompositions based on the seminal work of Oaxaca (1973) and Blinder (1973) and an approach involving a seemingly naïve regression that includes a group indicator variable. Our analysis yields two principal findings. We show that the coefficient on a group indicator variable from an OLS regression is an attractive approach for obtaining a single measure of the unexplained gap. We also show that a commonly-used pooling decomposition systematically overstates the contribution of observable characteristics to mean outcome differences when compared to OLS regression, therefore understating unexplained differences. We then provide three empirical examples that explore the practical importance of our analytic results.discrimination, decompositions