What does globalization do to religion?

Both of these dynamisms pose profound challenges to contemporary religious communities. The challenges of homogenization are well recognized. The erosion of local cultures impoverishes individuals and communities, reducing them to consumers bereft of traditional wisdom. Heterogenization, on the other hand, involves the increasing purification and differentiation of communities. Rather than syncretism, it threatens sectarianism; that the intimacy brought about by globalization will bring not communion, but polarization and strife. This can undermine the desire of many religions to be sources of social harmony. The heterogenizing effects of globalization foster a cultural ecology where communities close in on themselves, becoming ever-purer enclaves of the similar and thus less able to deal with difference, making religion more likely to function as a source of polarization and division both in global geopolitics and in local communitie

A Cathedral Not Made by Hands

In Laudato si’, Pope Francis offers a vision of moral responsibility rooted in awareness of the world around us. He points to St. Francis, who “looked with love” on all creatures, as a model. He writes of an “attitude of the heart, one which approaches life with serene attentiveness, which is capable of being fully present” to everyone and everything. And he also calls for an “intense dialogue” between religion and science, which has its own “gaze.” The H.J. Andrews Experimental Forest in Oregon, one of the world’s most studied ecosystems, offers an especially rich opportunity for such dialogue. Here scientists have cultivated their own gaze of “serene attentiveness.” What can theology learn by looking with scientists at such a complex ecosystem

Tears & Ashes: Three Ways of Looking at the Recent Wildfires in the West

As life in the Anthropocene unfolds ever more rapidly, what were once called “biblical” disasters — fires, floods, locusts, and whirlwinds — have become a daily reality. We watch anxiously as catastrophes occur, at least as much as our screens allow, but still go about our business: reading the next story in our newsfeed or wading into half-flooded subways to avoid being late for work. The problem we face is more difficult than mere inattentiveness: we need to cultivate a way of seeing adequate to the changed world being revealed in these catastrophes

Levels of developmental assets and educational outcomes in young people in transitional living in Canada

"Developmental assets may be defined as significant relationships, skills, opportunities or values that protect young people in the presence of risk and promote their resilience. The purpose of this study was to discover whether high, medium, and low levels of developmental assets among transition-age young people in care were related to selected educational outcomes. If so, child welfare staff could potentially use their knowledge of a youth's level of assets to plan an appropriate level of educational assistance that would enable the youth to be more successful in his or her transition. The sample was composed of 567 young people (322 females and 245 males), aged 18-20 years, who were residing in a transitional living program in Ontario, Canada. The three levels of developmental assets were found to have statistically significant relationships with the seven educational outcomes examined that ranged between small-to-medium and strong in size. The educational outcomes consisted of the educational level in which the youth was currently enrolled, the highest educational level attained, average marks in school, participation in volunteering, employment, education or training, development of skills useful for employment, and adequacy of planning for the youth's education. The implications of the findings for rendering educational assistance to youths in particular need were discussed." (author's abstract)"Entwicklungsressourcen können als signifikante Beziehungen, Fähigkeiten, Chancen und Werte bestimmt werden, die Jugendliche in Risikolagen schützen und ihre Belastbarkeit fördern. Im Mittelpunkt der vorliegenden Studie stand die Frage, ob hohe, mittlere und niedrige Entwicklungsressourcenniveaus betreuter Jugendlicher in der Übergangsphase mit ausgewählten Bildungserfolgen in Zusammenhang stehen. Ist dies der Fall, könnten Fachkräfte ihr Wissen um die Entwicklungsressourcen von Jugendlichen nutzen, um eine angemessene pädagogische Begleitung zu planen, die Jugendlichen hilft, den Übergang erfolgreicher zu gestalten. Die Stichprobe der Studie setzte sich aus 567 jungen Menschen (322 Mädchen und 245 Jungen) im Alter von 18-20 Jahren zusammen, die ein Übergangsprogramm in Ontario (Kanada) durchliefen. Die Ergebnisse der Untersuchung zeigen, dass die drei Niveaus in unterschiedlicher Stärke statistisch signifikant mit Erfolgen in den sieben untersuchten Bildungsbereichen korrelieren. Diese umfassten den momentan angestrebten Bildungsabschluss, den höchsten bereits erreichten Bildungsabschluss, den Notendurchschnitt in der Schule, Partizipation in freiwilligen Engagements, Arbeit/ Beschäftigung, Bildung oder Training, die Entwicklung beschäftigungsrelevanter Fähigkeiten, sowie zukunftsorientierte Bildungspläne. Abschließend werden Folgerungen für die Begleitung von Jugendlichen mit spezifischen Bedürfnissen diskutiert." (Autorenreferat

Ocean model-based covariates improve a marine fish stock assessment when observations are limited

The productivity of many fish populations is influenced by the environment, but developing environment-linked stock assessments remain challenging and current management of most commercial species assumes that stock productivity is time-invariant. In the Northeast United States, previous studies suggest that the recruitment of Southern New England-Mid Atlantic yellowtail flounder is closely related to the strength of the Cold Pool, a seasonally formed cold water mass on the continental shelf. Here, we developed three new indices that enhance the characterization of Cold Pool interannual variations using bottom temperature from a regional hindcast ocean model and a global ocean data assimilated hindcast. We associated these new indices to yellowtail flounder recruitment in a state–space, age-structured stock assessment framework using the Woods Hole Assessment Model. We demonstrate that incorporating Cold Pool effects on yellowtail flounder recruitment reduces the retrospective patterns and may improve the predictive skill of recruitment and, to a lesser extent, spawning stock biomass. We also show that the performance of the assessment models that incorporated ocean model-based indices is improved compared to the model using only the observation-based index. Instead of relying on limited subsurface observations, using validated ocean model products as environmental covariates in stock assessments may both improve predictions and facilitate operationalization.publishedVersio

The Mixmaster Spacetime, Geroch's Transformation and Constants of Motion

We show that for $U(1)$-symmetric spacetimes on $S^3 \times R$ a constant of motion associated with the well known Geroch transformation, a functional $K[h_{ij},\pi^{ij}]$, quadratic in gravitational momenta, is strictly positive in an open subset of the set of all $U(1)$-symmetric initial data, and therefore not weakly zero. The Mixmaster initial data appear to be on the boundary of that set. We calculate the constant of motion perturbatively for the Mixmaster spacetime and find it to be proportional to the minisuperspace Hamiltonian to the first order in the Misner anisotropy variables, i.e. weakly zero. Assuming that $K$ is exactly zero for the Mixmaster spacetime, we show that Geroch's transformation, when applied to the Mixmaster spacetime, gives a new \mbox{$U(1)$-symmetric} solution of the vacuum Einstein equations, globally defined on \mbox{$S^2 \times S^1 \times R$},which is non-homogeneous and presumably exhibits Mixmaster-like complicated dynamical behavior.Comment: 25 pages, preprint YCTP-20-93, Revte

Low-frequency variability in the Gulf of Alaska from coarse and eddy-permitting ocean models

[1] An eddy-permitting ocean model of the northeast Pacific is used to examine the ocean adjustment to changing wind forcing in the Gulf of Alaska (GOA) at interannual-to-decadal timescales. It is found that the adjustment of the ocean model in the presence of mesoscale eddies is similar to that obtained with coarse-resolution models. Local Ekman pumping plays a key role in forcing pycnocline depth variability and, to a lesser degree, sea surface height (SSH) variability in the center of the Alaska gyre and in some areas of the eastern and northern GOA. Westward Rossby wave propagation is evident in the SSH field along some latitudes but is less noticeable in the pycnocline depth field. Differences between SSH and pycnocline depth are also found when considering their relationship with the local forcing and leading modes of climate variability in the northeast Pacific. In the central GOA pycnocline depth variations are more clearly related to changes in the local Ekman pumping than SSH. While SSH is marginally correlated with both Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) and North Pacific Gyre Oscillation (NPGO) indices, the pycnocline depth evolution is primarily related to NPGO variability. The intensity of the mesoscale eddy field increases with increasing circulation strength. The eddy field is generally more energetic after the 1976–1977 climate regime shift, when the gyre circulation intensified. In the western basin, where eddies primarily originate from intrinsic instabilities of the flow, variations in eddy kinetic energy are statistically significant correlated with the PDO index, indicating that eddy statistics may be inferred, to some degree, from the characteristics of the large-scale flow

CCL2 and CCR2 regulate pain-related behaviour and early gene expression in post-traumatic murine osteoarthritis but contribute little to chondropathy

SummaryObjectiveThe role of inflammation in structural and symptomatic osteoarthritis (OA) remains unclear. One key mediator of inflammation is the chemokine CCL2, primarily responsible for attracting monocytes to sites of injury. We investigated the role of CCL2 and its receptor CCR2 in experimental OA.DesignOA was induced in 10 weeks old male wild type (WT), Ccl2−/− and Ccr2−/− mice, by destabilisation of the medial meniscus (DMM). RNA was extracted from whole joints at 6 h and 7 days post-surgery and examined by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Gene expression changes between naïve and DMM-operated mice were compared. Chondropathy scores, from mice at 8, 12, 16 and 20 weeks post DMM were calculated using modified Osteoarthritis Research Society International (OARSI) grading systems. Changes in hind paw weight distribution, as a measure of pain, were assessed by Linton incapacitance.ResultsAbsence of CCL2 strongly suppressed (>90%) selective inflammatory response genes in the joint 6 h post DMM, including arginase 1, prostaglandin synthase 2, nitric oxide synthase 2 and inhibin A. IL6, MMP3 and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase 1 were also significantly suppressed. Similar trends were also observed in the absence of CCR2. A lower average chondropathy score was observed in both Ccl2−/− and Ccr2−/− mice at 12, 16 and 20 weeks post DMM compared with WT mice, but this was only statistically significant at 20 weeks in Ccr2−/− mice. Pain-related behaviour in Ccl2−/− and Ccr2−/− mice post DMM was delayed in onset.ConclusionThe CCL2/CCR2 axis plays an important role in the development of pain in murine OA, but contributes little to cartilage damage

A common founding clone with TP53 and PTEN mutations gives rise to a concurrent germ cell tumor and acute megakaryoblastic leukemia

We report the findings from a patient who presented with a concurrent mediastinal germ cell tumor (GCT) and acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Bone marrow pathology was consistent with a diagnosis of acute megakaryoblastic leukemia (AML M7), and biopsy of an anterior mediastinal mass was consistent with a nonseminomatous GCT. Prior studies have described associations between hematological malignancies, including AML M7 and nonseminomatous GCTs, and it was recently suggested that a common founding clone initiated both cancers. We performed enhanced exome sequencing on the GCT and the AML M7 from our patient to define the clonal relationship between the two cancers. We found that both samples contained somatic mutations in PTEN (C136R missense) and TP53 (R213 frameshift). The mutations in PTEN and TP53 were present at ∼100% variant allele frequency (VAF) in both tumors. In addition, we detected and validated five other shared somatic mutations. The copy-number analysis of the AML exome data revealed an amplification of Chromosome 12p. We also identified a heterozygous germline variant in FANCA (S858R), which is known to be associated with Fanconi anemia but is of uncertain significance here. In summary, our data not only support a common founding clone for these cancers but also suggest that a specific set of distinct genomic alterations (in PTEN and TP53) underlies the rare association between GCT and AML. This association is likely linked to the treatment resistance and extremely poor outcome of these patients. We cannot resolve the clonal evolution of these tumors given limitations of our data