Emotions, Music, and Logos

The article introduces a cognitive and componential view of religious emotions. General emotions are claimed to consist of at least two compounds, the cognitive compound and the affective compound. Religious emotions are typically general emotions which are characterized by three specific conditions: they involve a thought of God or godlike, they are significant for a person feeling them and their meaning is derived from religious practices. The article discusses the notion of spiritual emotions in Ancient theology and compares the idea of it with emotions in music. By referring to the notion of mental language, it is argued that some religious emotions are like emotions in music and as such they can be interpreted as tones of Logos

Distinctive effects of SGLT2 inhibitors on angiogenesis in zebrafish embryos

Sodium glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitor canagliflozin has been found to increase the risk for lowerlimb amputations in type 2 diabetics about two-fold. Conversely, empagliflozin and dapagliflozin do not display a similar effect. A question arises whether the increased risk for minor amputations is associated only with canagliflozin or whether it is a class effect of SGLT2 inhibitors. Defective angiogenesis has a role in amputations. We compared the effects of empagliflozin, dapagliflozin and canagliflozin on angiogenesis in vivo using zebrafish model, and in vitro using human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). The effects of SGLT2 inhibitors on the formation of intersegmental blood vessels (ISVs) of the zebrafish embryos were clarified. Additionally, transcriptome analysis was performed to explore whether putative angiogenesis-associated genes are differentially regulated by SGLT2 inhibitors. The effects of SGLT2 inhibitors on the viability of HUVECs were examined. We noticed that especially empagliflozin and also dapagliflozin significantly accelerated the formation of ISVs of zebrafish embryos. In contrast, canagliflozin was not able to stimulate ISV formation, and at high concentration, it was lethal to the embryos. Transcriptome analysis demonstrated that in empagliflozin-treated embryos compared to canagliflozin-treated embryos seven genes previously shown to contribute to angiogenesis were upregulated, and four downregulated. Canagliflozin at high concentrations, but not empagliflozin or dapagliflozin, decreased the viability of HUVECs and disrupted their capability to sprout. SGLT2 inhibitors differed in their effects on angiogenic processes in zebrafish embryos and on the viability of HUVECs suggesting that the risk of SGLT2 inhibitors for peripheral amputations likely differs

Humanismin maailmanvalloitus

Kirjallisuusarvostel

Nopanheittokielto uskonnonfilosofisena kysymyksenä

Artikkelissa tarkastellaan alun perin kanonista kieltoa pelata noppapelejä. Käsittelen ensin kanonien ja ajankohtaisen rahapelejä koskevan keskustelun välistä suhdetta ja siirryn sitten analysoimaan teologisia vedonlyöntiin ja todennäköisyyteen liittyvän päättelyn teemoja Blaise Pascalin klassisessa vedonlyöjäargumentissa sekä Richard Swinburnen pobabilistisessa jumalatodistuksessa. Pascalin ”sydämen teologialla” on yhteys ortodoksisessa perinteessä esitettyihin teemoihin ja Swinburne on ortodoksiseen kirkkoon liittynyt filosofi, joka pitää ortodoksista perinnettä alkuperäisen kristinuskon parhaiten säilyttäneenä traditiona. Tämän jälkeen vertaan Pascalin ja Swinburnen malleja patristisessa perinteessä esiintyviin näkemyksiin, erityisesti Athanasioksen Inkarnaatiostateoksessaan esittämiin teemoihin sekä hesykastiseen perinteeseen. Tässä hyödynnän niin sanotun originistisen perinteen ja Evagrios Pontoslaisen rukouksen teologian korjaukseksi katsotun Pseudo-Makarioksen Homilioiden tarjoamia näkökulmia. Pyrin osoittamaan, että noppapelin kielto on paitsi ajankohtainen myös tulkinnallisesti laaja-alainen siten, että se valaisee uskonnonfilosofisesta näkökulmasta ortodoksisen teologian ja hengellisyyden luonnetta ensisilmäystä syvällisemmällä tavalla. Artikkelini tarjoaa esimerkin siitä, millaisin tulkinnallisin huomioin ja näkökulmin monet muutkin kanonit voivat osoittautua ajankohtaisiksi ja nykyaikaisia kysymyksiä palveleviksi