Faith in the Anthropocene: Contested Theologies of Nature and Political Attitudes on Environmental Stewardship

This dissertation improves upon past understanding of politics, religion, and nature through a close exploration of the role Christian theology plays in opinion formation. It does so by probing the varieties of religiously motivated environmental stewardship and religious attitudes towards anthropogenic changes of nature. The dissertation also develops new methodological tools to better understand the role of faith during the Anthropocene. The study employs a mixed-method approach which compares analysis of denominational proclamations about global warming with in-person clergy interviews and survey data collected from two American heartland states. The survey data primarily focuses on climate change, with genetically modified organisms as an additional example of humans altering the natural order. Unique to this dissertation are new measurements of Christian theologies about the human relationship with the created order, which clarify an enduring debate over religion and the environment. In particular, theology encouraging dominion over nature has almost vanished from religious consciousness. Instead, the key theological distinction is between stewardship as resource management and stewardship as preservation. These theological distinctions help explain acceptance or resistance to anthropogenic changes to nature and they illuminate important differences in policy preferences around climate change, global warming, and other science-driven policy area

Dynamic responses of B acteroides thetaiotaomicron during growth on glycan mixtures

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/98163/1/mmi12228-sup-0001-si.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/98163/2/mmi12228.pd

Some discussions of D. Fearnhead and D. Prangle's Read Paper "Constructing summary statistics for approximate Bayesian computation: semi-automatic approximate Bayesian computation"

This report is a collection of comments on the Read Paper of Fearnhead and Prangle (2011), to appear in the Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series B, along with a reply from the authors

Адаптивное кратковременное прогнозирование выбранных финансовых процессов

Запропоновано комп’ютерну систему адаптивного моделювання і прогнозування фінансово-економічних процесів із застосуванням принципів системного аналізу. При цьому враховувалася ієрархічність процесу прийняття рішень при оцінюванні прогнозів, а також застосовувались методи опису і врахування невизначеностей структурного, параметричного і статистичного характеру. Використання взаємодоповнювальних методів оцінювання структури і параметрів математичних моделей, а також оптимального оцінювання станів динамічних систем дає можливість врахувати деякі типи статистичних невизначеностей. Методи імовірнісного моделювання забезпечують урахування невизначеностей імовірнісного типу. Розглянуто задачу короткострокового прогнозування ціни на золото з використанням множини регресійних моделей і фільтра Калмана для отримання оптимальних оцінок стану процесу формування цін. Кращі результати прогнозування отримано з використанням оптимального фільтра за моделями, які враховують авторегресійні складові і тренди процесу. Побудовано моделі умовної дисперсії, які забезпечують прийнятні за якістю оцінки прогнозів дисперсії (волатильності), придатні для прийняття рішень при виконанні торгових операцій на біржі.A computer based system is proposed for adaptive modeling and forecasting of financial and economic processes, that is constructed with application of system analysis principles. A hierarchical structure of decision making process during forecasts estimation was taken into consideration and the methods were used for describing uncertainties of structural, parametric and statistical nature. To estimate model structure and parameters several mutually supporting estimation techniques were used as well as optimal state estimation procedure for dynamic systems that allowed take into consideration some types of structural and statistical uncertainties. Probabilistic modeling methods make it possible to consider uncertainties of probabilistic type. The problem of short term forecasting for gold price is considered as an example using a set of constructed regression models and Kalman filter for generating optimal estimates of states. The best forecasting results were achieved with optimal filter and autoregression models with trends. Also the models were constructed for conditional variance that provided acceptable quality forecasts for variance (volatility) that could be used for constructing decision making rules in trading operations.Предложена компьютерная система для адаптивного моделирования и прогнозирования финансово-экономических процессов, построенная с использованием принципов системного анализа. При этом учитывалась иерархическая структура процесса принятия решений при оценивании прогнозов, а также использовались методы описания неопределенностей структурного, параметрического и статистического характера. Использование взаимодополняющих методов оценивания структуры и параметров математических моделей, а также оптимального оценивания состояний динамических систем позволяет учитывать некоторые типы структурных и статистических неопределенностей. Методы вероятностного моделирования дают возможность учитывать неопределенности вероятностного типа. Рассмотрена задача краткосрочного прогнозирования цены на золото с помощью множества построенных регрессионных моделей и фильтра Калмана. Лучшие оценки прогнозов получены с помощью оптимального фильтра и авторегрессионных моделей с трендами. Построены модели для условной дисперсии, обеспечивающие приемлемые по качеству оценки прогнозов дисперсии (волатильности), которые можно использовать для построения правил принятия решений при выполнении торговых операций на бирже

Cinnamides Target Leishmania amazonensis Arginase Selectively

Caffeic acid and related natural compounds were previously described as Leishmania amazonensis arginase (L-ARG) inhibitors, and against the whole parasite in vitro. In this study, we tested cinnamides that were previously synthesized to target human arginase. The compound caffeic acid phenethyl amide (CAPA), a weak inhibitor of human arginase (IC50 = 60.3 ± 7.8 μM) was found to have 9-fold more potency against L-ARG (IC50 = 6.9 ± 0.7 μM). The other compounds that did not inhibit human arginase were characterized as L-ARG, showing an IC50 between 1.3-17.8 μM, and where the most active was compound 15 (IC50 = 1.3 ± 0.1 μM). All compounds were also tested against L. amazonensis promastigotes, and only the compound CAPA showed an inhibitory activity (IC50 = 80 μM). In addition, in an attempt to gain an insight into the mechanism of competitive L-ARG inhibitors, and their selectivity over mammalian enzymes, we performed an extensive computational investigation, to provide the basis for the selective inhibition of L-ARG for this series of compounds. In conclusion, our results indicated that the compounds based on cinnamoyl or 3,4-hydroxy cinnamoyl moiety could be a promising starting point for the design of potential antileishmanial drugs based on selective L-ARG inhibitors

Structural and mechanistic insights into a Bacteroides vulgatus retaining N-acetyl-β-galactosaminidase that uses neighbouring group participation

Bacteroides vulgatus is a member of the human microbiota whose abundance is increased in patients with Crohn's disease. We show that a B. vulgatus glycoside hydrolase from the carbohydrate active enzyme family GH123, BvGH123, is an N-acetyl-β-galactosaminidase that acts with retention of stereochemistry, and, through a 3-D structure in complex with Gal-thiazoline, provide evidence in support of a neighbouring group participation mechanism

A Dietary Fiber-Deprived Gut Microbiota Degrades the Colonic Mucus Barrier and Enhances Pathogen Susceptibility.

Despite the accepted health benefits of consuming dietary fiber, little is known about the mechanisms by which fiber deprivation impacts the gut microbiota and alters disease risk. Using a gnotobiotic mouse model, in which animals were colonized with a synthetic human gut microbiota composed of fully sequenced commensal bacteria, we elucidated the functional interactions between dietary fiber, the gut microbiota, and the colonic mucus barrier, which serves as a primary defense against enteric pathogens. We show that during chronic or intermittent dietary fiber deficiency, the gut microbiota resorts to host-secreted mucus glycoproteins as a nutrient source, leading to erosion of the colonic mucus barrier. Dietary fiber deprivation, together with a fiber-deprived, mucus-eroding microbiota, promotes greater epithelial access and lethal colitis by the mucosal pathogen, Citrobacter rodentium. Our work reveals intricate pathways linking diet, the gut microbiome, and intestinal barrier dysfunction, which could be exploited to improve health using dietary therapeutics

Colonization history of the western corn rootworm (Diabrotica virgifera virgifera) in North America: insights from random forest ABC using microsatellite data

First described from western Kansas, USA, the western corn rootworm, Diabrotica virgifera virgifera, is one of the worst pests of maize. The species is generally thought to be of Mexican origin and to have incidentally followed the expansion of maize cultivation into North America thousands of years ago. However, this hypothesis has never been investigated formally. In this study, the genetic variability of samples collected throughout North America was analysed at 13 microsatellite marker loci to explore precisely the population genetic structure and colonization history of D. v. virgifera. In particular, we used up-to-date approximate Bayesian computation methods based on random forest algorithms to test a Mexican versus a central-USA origin of the species, and to compare various possible timings of colonization. This analysis provided strong evidence that the origin of D. v. virgifera was southern (Mexico, or even further south). Surprisingly, we also found that the expansion of the species north of its origin was recent—probably not before 1100 years ago—thus indicating it was not directly associated with the early history of maize expansion out of Mexico, a far more ancient event

Recognition and Degradation of Plant Cell Wall Polysaccharides by Two Human Gut Symbionts

Competition for nutrients contained in diverse types of plant cell wall-associated polysaccharides may explain the evolution of substrate-specific catabolic gene modules in common bacterial members of the human gut microbiota

Mineralogical and geochemical analysis of Fe-phases in drill-cores from the Triassic Stuttgart Formation at Ketzin CO₂ storage site before CO₂ arrival

Reactive iron (Fe) oxides and sheet silicate-bound Fe in reservoir rocks may affect the subsurface storage of CO2 through several processes by changing the capacity to buffer the acidification by CO2 and the permeability of the reservoir rock: (1) the reduction of three-valent Fe in anoxic environments can lead to an increase in pH, (2) under sulphidic conditions, Fe may drive sulphur cycling and lead to the formation of pyrite, and (3) the leaching of Fe from sheet silicates may affect silicate diagenesis. In order to evaluate the importance of Fe-reduction on the CO2 reservoir, we analysed the Fe geochemistry in drill-cores from the Triassic Stuttgart Formation (Schilfsandstein) recovered from the monitoring well at the CO2 test injection site near Ketzin, Germany. The reservoir rock is a porous, poorly to moderately cohesive fluvial sandstone containing up to 2–4 wt% reactive Fe. Based on a sequential extraction, most Fe falls into the dithionite-extractable Fe-fraction and Fe bound to sheet silicates, whereby some Fe in the dithionite-extractable Fe-fraction may have been leached from illite and smectite. Illite and smectite were detected in core samples by X-ray diffraction and confirmed as the main Fe-containing mineral phases by X-ray absorption spectroscopy. Chlorite is also present, but likely does not contribute much to the high amount of Fe in the silicate-bound fraction. The organic carbon content of the reservoir rock is extremely low (<0.3 wt%), thus likely limiting microbial Fe-reduction or sulphate reduction despite relatively high concentrations of reactive Fe-mineral phases in the reservoir rock and sulphate in the reservoir fluid. Both processes could, however, be fuelled by organic matter that is mobilized by the flow of supercritical CO2 or introduced with the drilling fluid. Over long time periods, a potential way of liberating additional reactive Fe could occur through weathering of silicates due to acidification by CO2