Perspectives on the Missiological Legacy of Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation

Upon the occasion of the 500th anniversary Martin Luther’s publication of his 95 theses, this composite article brings together five perspectives on the missiological legacy of the reformer and the subsequent Protestant Reformation. The blend of voices makes clear that Luther and the subsequent Protestant Reformation do not have a simple missiological legacy but rather various legacies: theological, ecclesiological, political, and practical; some of which co-exist, and even collide, in the same ecclesiastical community. The scandalous legacy of a splintered and splintering church remains. Yet, demonstrations of mutual recognition, reciprocal respect, and genuine fellowship can be found in certain missiological circles

Visualization of positive and negative sense viral RNA for probing the mechanism of direct-acting antivirals against hepatitis C virus

RNA viruses are highly successful pathogens and are the causative agents for many important diseases. To fully understand the replication of these viruses it is necessary to address the roles of both positive-strand RNA ((+)RNA) and negative-strand RNA ((-)RNA), and their interplay with viral and host proteins. Here we used branched DNA (bDNA) fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) to stain both the abundant (+)RNA and the far less abundant (-)RNA in both hepatitis C virus (HCV)- and Zika virus-infected cells, and combined these analyses with visualization of viral proteins through confocal imaging. We were able to phenotypically examine HCV-infected cells in the presence of uninfected cells and revealed the effect of direct-acting antivirals on HCV (+)RNA, (-)RNA, and protein, within hours of commencing treatment. Herein, we demonstrate that bDNA FISH is a powerful tool for the study of RNA viruses that can provide insights into drug efficacy and mechanism of action

Landauer vs. Nernst: What is the True Cost of Cooling a Quantum System?

Thermodynamics connects our knowledge of the world to our capability to manipulate and thus to control it. This crucial role of control is exemplified by the third law of thermodynamics, Nernst's unattainability principle, stating that infinite resources are required to cool a system to absolute zero temperature. But what are these resources and how should they be utilised? And how does this relate to Landauer's principle that famously connects information and thermodynamics? We answer these questions by providing a framework for identifying the resources that enable the creation of pure quantum states. We show that perfect cooling is possible with Landauer energy cost given infinite time or control complexity. However, such optimal protocols require complex unitaries generated by an external work source. Restricting to unitaries that can be run solely via a heat engine, we derive a novel Carnot-Landauer limit, along with protocols for its saturation. This generalises Landauer's principle to a fully thermodynamic setting, leading to a unification with the third law and emphasising the importance of control in quantum thermodynamics.Comment: 15 pages, 4 figures, 46 pages of appendice

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journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/palae

Bridging Alone: Religious Conservatism, Marital Homogamy, and Voluntary Association Membership

This study characterizes social insularity of religiously conservative American married couples by examining patterns of voluntary associationmembership. Constructing a dataset of 3938 marital dyads from the second wave of the National Survey of Families and Households, the author investigates whether conservative religious homogamy encourages membership in religious voluntary groups and discourages membership in secular voluntary groups. Results indicate that couples’ shared affiliation with conservative denominations, paired with beliefs in biblical authority and inerrancy, increases the likelihood of religious group membership for husbands and wives and reduces the likelihood of secular group membership for wives, but not for husbands. The social insularity of conservative religious groups appears to be reinforced by homogamy—particularly by wives who share faith with husbands

Identification and molecular mechanisms of the rapid tonicity-induced relocalization of the aquaporin 4 channel

The aquaporin family of integral membrane proteins is comprised of channels that mediate cellular water flow. Aquaporin 4 (AQP4) is highly expressed in the glial cells of the central nervous system and facilitates the osmotically-driven pathological brain swelling associated with stroke and traumatic brain injury. Here we show that AQP4 cell surface expression can be rapidly and reversibly regulated in response to changes of tonicity in primary cortical rat astrocytes and in transfected HEK293 cells. The translocation mechanism involves protein kinase A (PKA) activation, influx of extracellular calcium and activation of calmodulin. We identify five putative PKA phosphorylation sites and use site-directed mutagenesis to show that only phosphorylation at one of these sites, serine- 276, is necessary for the translocation response. We discuss our findings in the context of the identification of new therapeutic approaches to treating brain oedema

Masses, radii, and orbits of small Kepler planets : The transition from gaseous to rocky planets

We report on the masses, sizes, and orbits of the planets orbiting 22 Kepler stars. There are 49 planet candidates around these stars, including 42 detected through transits and 7 revealed by precise Doppler measurements of the host stars. Based on an analysis of the Kepler brightness measurements, along with high-resolution imaging and spectroscopy, Doppler spectroscopy, and (for 11 stars) asteroseismology, we establish low false-positive probabilities (FPPs) for all of the transiting planets (41 of 42 have an FPP under 1%), and we constrain their sizes and masses. Most of the transiting planets are smaller than three times the size of Earth. For 16 planets, the Doppler signal was securely detected, providing a direct measurement of the planet's mass. For the other 26 planets we provide either marginal mass measurements or upper limits to their masses and densities; in many cases we can rule out a rocky composition. We identify six planets with densities above 5 g cm-3, suggesting a mostly rocky interior for them. Indeed, the only planets that are compatible with a purely rocky composition are smaller than 2 R ⊕. Larger planets evidently contain a larger fraction of low-density material (H, He, and H2O).Peer reviewedFinal Accepted Versio