276 research outputs found
Pentecostal intimacies: women and intimate citizenship in the ministry of repentance and holiness in Kenya
This article explores the intersections of gender, sexuality and citizenship in the context of one prominent neo-Pentecostal movement in Kenya, the Ministry of Repentance and Holiness (MRH) led by the charismatic Prophet David Owuor. Employing the concept of intimate citizenship, the article analyses, first, how MRH engages in a contestation of intimate citizenship in the contemporary Kenyan public sphere, especially in relation to womenâs bodies. Second, it examines how MRH simultaneously configures, through a range of highly intimate beliefs, practices and techniques, an alternative form of intimate citizenship defined by moral purity and concerned with a political project of moral regeneration. Coining the notion of âPentecostal intimaciesâ, the article provides insight into the reasons why so many people, especially women, are attracted to MRH, and hence it interrogates the liberal frame in which intimate citizenship is usually conceptualised
Hepatic triglyceride content is intricately associated with numerous metabolites and biochemical pathways
Background and Aims Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is characterized by the pathological accumulation of triglycerides in hepatocytes and is associated with insulin resistance, atherogenic dyslipidaemia and cardiometabolic diseases. Thus far, the extent of metabolic dysregulation associated with hepatic triglyceride accumulation has not been fully addressed. In this study, we aimed to identify metabolites associated with hepatic triglyceride content (HTGC) and map these associations using network analysis. Methods: To gain insight in the spectrum of metabolites associated with hepatic triglyceride accumulation, we performed a comprehensive plasma metabolomics screening of 1363 metabolites in apparently healthy middle aged (age 45-65) individuals (N = 496) in whom HTGC was measured by proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy. An atlas of metabolite-HTGC associations, based on univariate results, was created using correlation-based Gaussian graphical model (GGM) and genome scale metabolic model network analyses. Pathways associated with the clinical prognosis marker fibrosis 4 (FIB-4) index were tested using a closed global test. Results: Our analyses revealed that 118 metabolites were univariately associated with HTGC (p-value Metabolic health: pathophysiological trajectories and therap
Taking up the cudgels against gay rights? Trends and trajectories in African Christian theologies on homosexuality
Against the background of the HIV epidemic and the intense public controversy on homosexuality in African societies, this article investigates the discourses of academic African Christian theologians on homosexuality. Distinguishing some major strands in African theology, that is, inculturation, liberation, womenâs and reconstruction theology, the article examines how the central concepts of culture, liberation, justice, and human rights function in these discourses. On the basis of a qualitative analysis of a large number of publications, the article shows that stances of African theologians are varying from silence and rejection to acceptance. Although many African theologians have taken up the cudgels against gay rights, some âdissident voicesâ break the taboo and develop more inclusive concepts of African identity and African Christianity
Threonine utilization is high in the intestine of piglets
The whole-body threonine requirement in parenterally fed piglets is
substantially lower than that in enterally fed piglets, indicating that
enteral nutrition induces intestinal processes in demand of threonine. We
hypothesized that the percentage of threonine utilization for oxidation
and intestinal protein synthesis by the portal-drained viscera (PDV)
increases when dietary protein intake is reduced. Piglets (n = 18)
received isocaloric normal or protein-restricted diets. After 7 h of
enteral feeding, total threonine utilization, incorporation into
intestinal tissue, and oxidation by the PDV, were determined with stable
isotope methodology [U-(13)C threonine infusion]. Although the absolute
amount of systemic and dietary threonine utilized by the PDV was reduced
in protein-restricted piglets, the percentage of dietary threonine intake
utilized by the PDV did not differ between groups (normal protein 91% vs.
low protein 85%). The incorporation of dietary threonine into the proximal
jejunum was significantly different compared with the other intestinal
segments. Dietary, rather than systemic threonine was preferentially
utilized for protein synthesis in the small intestinal mucosa in piglets
that consumed the normal protein diet (P < 0.05). Threonine oxidation by
the PDV was limited during normal protein feeding. In protein-restricted
pigs, half of the total whole-body oxidation occurred in the PDV. We
conclude that, in vivo, the PDV have a high obligatory visceral
requirement for threonine. The high rate of intestinal threonine
utilization is due mainly to incorporation into mucosal protein
The effect of mirabegron on energy expenditure and brown adipose tissue in healthy lean South Asian and Europid men
Aim: To compare the effects of cold exposure and the ÎČ3-adrenergic receptor agonist
mirabegron on plasma lipids, energy expenditure and brown adipose tissue (BAT)
activity in South Asians versus Europids.
Materials and Methods: Ten lean Dutch South Asian (aged 18-30 years; body mass
index [BMI] 18-25 kg/m2
) and 10 age- and BMI-matched Europid men participated in
a randomized, double-blinded, cross-over study consisting of three interventions:
short-term (~ 2 hours) cold exposure, mirabegron (200 mg one dose p.o.) and placebo. Before and after each intervention, we performed lipidomic analysis in serum,
assessed resting energy expenditure (REE) and skin temperature, and measured BAT
fat fraction by magnetic resonance imaging.
Results: In both ethnicities, cold exposure increased the levels of several serum lipid
species, whereas mirabegron only increased free fatty acids. Cold exposure increased
lipid oxidation in both ethnicities, while mirabegron increased lipid oxidation in
Europids only. Cold exposure and mirabegron enhanced supraclavicular skin temperature in both ethnicities. Cold exposure decreased BAT fat fraction in both
ethnicities. After the combination of data from both ethnicities, mirabegron
decreased BAT fat fraction compared with placebo.
Conclusions: In South Asians and Europids, cold exposure and mirabegron induced
beneficial metabolic effects. When combining both ethnicities, cold exposure and
mirabegron increased REE and lipid oxidation, coinciding with a higher supraclavicular
skin temperature and lower BAT fat fraction.Diabetes Research Foundation Fellowship
2015.81.1808Netherlands CardioVascular Research Initiative: 'the Dutch Heart Foundation, Dutch Federation of University Medical Centers, the Netherlands Organisation for Health Research and Development and the Royal Netherlands Academy of Sciences'
CVON2014-02 ENERGISE
CVON2017-20 GENIUS-IIEuropean Union (EU)
602485European Research Council (NOMA-MRI) PCNR is an Established Investigator of the Netherlands Heart Foundation
2009T03
Animal keeping in Chalcolithic North-Central Anatolia:What can stable isotope analysis add?
Stable isotope analysis is an essential investigative technique, complementary to more traditional zooarchaeological approaches to elucidating animal keeping practices. Carbon (ÎŽ13C) and nitrogen (ÎŽ15N) stable isotope values of 132 domesticates (cattle, caprines and pigs) were evaluated to investigate one aspect of animal keeping, animal forage, at the Late Chalcolithic (mid-fourth millennium BC) site of Ăamlıbel Tarlası, which is located in north-central Anatolia. The analyses indicated that all of the domesticates had diets based predominantly on C3 plants. Pig and caprine ÎŽ13C and ÎŽ15N values were found to be statistically indistinguishable. However, cattle exhibited distinctive stable isotope values and, therefore, differences in diet from both pigs and caprines at Ăamlıbel Tarlası. This difference may relate to the distinct patterns of foraging behaviour exhibited by the domesticates. Alternatively, this diversity may result from the use of different grazing areas or from the foddering practices of the Ăamlıbel Tarlası inhabitants
The nation and the family: the impact of national identification and perceived importance of family values on homophobic attitudes in Lithuania and Scotland
The meanings attached to the nation can be consequential for group membersâ attitudes and beliefs. We examined how national identity definition can influence the extent of individualsâ homophobia with 159 Lithuanian and 176 Scottish university students who completed a questionnaire which measured their national identification, homophobia, and the extent to which they felt traditional family values were central to their nationâs identity. Consistent with nation-wide differences in the significance given to the family, Lithuanian participants perceived family values to be more important for their national identity and expressed higher levels of homophobia than did Scottish participants. Moreover, the relationship between level of national identification and homophobia was stronger in Lithuania than in Scotland. Analyses revealed that the perceived importance of family values helped explain the difference between homophobia levels in Lithuania and Scotland. In both sites we found an indirect effect of national identification on homophobia via the perceived importance of family values, but this effect was significantly stronger for Lithuanian participants. These findings illustrate the ways in which identification with the nation is relevant to attitudes concerning sexuality, and how this varies according to national context. Our work indicates that LGBT rights campaigns should be informed by the knowledge that homophobia may be perpetuated by national valorisation of the family
A new theatre-state in Bali? Aristrocracies, the media and cultural revival in the 2005 local elections
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