‘Stories, senses and the charismatic relation’: a reflexive exploration of Christian experience

This thesis considers the world of Christian faith, as expressed by a particular social group of which I have been a part since 1998, as an alternative knowledge system. Focusing upon the lives of a number of key agents, including myself, I argue that at the heart of this knowledge system is a charismatic relationship, in the Weberian sense, with a divine Other. This relationship is freely entered into, is conceived as involving movement into or towards an embodied experiential and relational knowledge of God, and is often expressed by participants through such metaphors as a ‘journey’, ‘adventure’ or ‘quest’. My original contribution to knowledge is in taking a sociological concept, Weber’s notion of the charismatic relation, and innovatively applying this framework to the relation between humans and a transcendent or disembodied ‘Other’. My work responds to a) recent ‘ontological’ challenges within anthropology to ‘take seriously’ other worlds, b) invitations to those with strong religious convictions to practise anthropology without feeling that they need to lose those convictions, and c) recent debates within the anthropology of Christianity concerning how to deal with the agential characteristics of non-human/spiritual beings within ethnographic work. Through a reflexive exploration of experience, I examine how certain Christian people constitute their lives, observing how charismatic devotion to a divine Other implies both a sensorium that extends beyond the corporeal senses, as well as the ‘planting’ of various conceptual seeds that, by providing concrete metaphors of what life is, shape the lives of those willing to ‘receive’ them. As social actors seek to maintain ‘openness’ to this divine Other, a transformational journey results, in which human perception and conception are continually open to renewal. As a reflexive ethnographic account from within such an alternative knowledge system, this thesis makes an original contribution to phenomenological and sensory studies, as well as contributing to anthropological work on Christianity

Evolution of primordial planets in relation to the cosmological origin of life

We explore the conditions prevailing in primordial planets in the framework of the HGD cosmologies as discussed by Gibson and Schild. The initial stages of condensation of planet-mass H-4He gas clouds in trillion-planet clumps is set at 300,000 yr (0.3My) following the onset of plasma instabilities when ambient temperatures were >1000K. Eventual collapse of the planet-cloud into a solid structure takes place against the background of an expanding universe with declining ambient temperatures. Stars form from planet mergers within the clumps and die by supernovae on overeating of planets. For planets produced by stars, isothermal free fall collapse occurs initially via quasi equilibrium polytropes until opacity sets in due to molecule and dust formation. The contracting cooling cloud is a venue for molecule formation and the sequential condensation of solid particles, starting from mineral grains at high temperatures to ice particles at lower temperatures, water-ice becomes thermodynamically stable between 7 and 15 My after the initial onset of collapse, and contraction to form a solid icy core begins shortly thereafter. Primordial-clump-planets are separated by ~ 1000 AU, reflecting the high density of the universe at 30,000 yr. Exchanges of materials, organic molecules and evolving templates readily occur, providing optimal conditions for an initial origin of life in hot primordial gas planet water cores when adequately fertilized by stardust. The condensation of solid molecular hydrogen as an extended outer crust takes place much later in the collapse history of the protoplanet. When the object has shrunk to several times the radius of Jupiter, the hydrogen partial pressure exceeds the saturation vapour pressure of solid hydrogen at the ambient temperature and condensation occurs.Comment: 14 pages 7 figures SPIE Conference 7819 Instruments, Methods, and Missions for Astrobiology XIII Proceedings, Aug 3-5, 2010, San Diego, Ed. Richard B. Hoove

The Polonnaruwa meteorite: oxygen isotope, crystalline and biological composition

Results of X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) analysis, Triple Oxygen Isotope analysis and Scanning Electron Microscopic (SEM) studies are presented for stone fragments recovered from the North Central Province of Sri Lanka following a witnessed fireball event on 29 December 2012. The existence of numerous nitrogen depleted highly carbonaceous fossilized biological structures fused into the rock matrix is inconsistent with recent terrestrial contamination. Oxygen isotope results compare well with those of CI and CI-like chondrites but are inconsistent with the fulgurite hypothesis.Comment: 7 pages, 7 figures, 4 table

Navigational efficiency in a biased and correlated random walk model of individual animal movement

Understanding how an individual animal is able to navigate through its environment is a key question in movement ecology that can give insight into observed movement patterns and the mechanisms behind them. Efficiency of navigation is important for behavioral processes at a range of different spatio-temporal scales, including foraging and migration. Random walk models provide a standard framework for modeling individual animal movement and navigation. Here we consider a vector-weighted biased and correlated random walk (BCRW) model for directed movement (taxis), where external navigation cues are balanced with forward persistence. We derive a mathematical approximation of the expected navigational efficiency for any BCRW of this form and confirm the model predictions using simulations. We demonstrate how the navigational efficiency is related to the weighting given to forward persistence and external navigation cues, and highlight the counter-intuitive result that for low (but realistic) levels of error on forward persistence, a higher navigational efficiency is achieved by giving more weighting to this indirect navigation cue rather than direct navigational cues. We discuss and interpret the relevance of these results for understanding animal movement and navigation strategies

Evidence of panspermia: from astronomy to meteorites

The theory of cometary panspermia is tested in the wake of two reported falls in Tissint, Morocco on July 18, 2011 and in the central province of Polonnaruwa, Sri Lanka on December 29, 2012. Samples of the Tissint and Polonnaruwa stones were studied using a variety of laboratory procedures and equipment including ICP-OES, GC-MS, SEM, EDAX, CHN, FTIR, Raman Spectroscopy, XRD and Optical Spectroscopy. Results of Tissint show the presence of several 5-50μm pyrite grains rimmed by a layer of reduced organic carbon with graphitisation levels consistent with other Martian meteorites. A complex precursor carbon inventory is demonstrated with peak temperatures ~ 250 OC and elemental ratios typical of high volatility bituminous coals. A theoretical model of the ecology of arsenic on early Mars is then developed and discussed involving microbial reduction of Fe-oxides. This hypothesis is shown to be supported by SEM observations of spherical chains of pits, with morphologies distinct from abiotic alteration features but closely comparable to biologically mediated microstructures created by Fe- and S-oxidising microbes. The contribution of core-mantle grains to mid-IR emission features is then modelled using extinction and scattering efficiencies for composite spheres based on the Guttler extension of the Mie formulae. Results show that kerogen-pyrite grains closely adhere to observed 9-13μm emission characteristics observed in the Trapezium nebula. Results of studies on Polonnaruwa show a highly porous Si-K-rich, Al-depleted, amorphous melt enclosing trace (commonly <1μm) anorthoclase, albite, anorthite and quartz. Bound H2O < 0.03wt% indicates origin from hypervelocity impact. SEM analysis revealed several fossil microorganisms similar to acritarchs, hystrichospheres and diatoms. Geologic age of the stones is determined by N/C atomic ratio depletion that indicate the presence of embedded fossil remains that date back to at least ~300 Ma. Triple oxygen isotope analysis provide values of Δ17O = - 0.335 with δ17O = 8.978 ± 0.050 and δ18O = 17.816 ± 0.100 that is shown to be consistent with non-terrestrial sources. Results are seen to substantially support the theory of cometary panspermia

The crystal structure of Pneumolysin at 2.0 Å resolution reveals the molecular packing of the pre-pore complex

Pneumolysin is a cholesterol-dependent cytolysin (CDC) and virulence factor of Streptococcus pneumoniae. It kills cells by forming pores assembled from oligomeric rings in cholesterol-containing membranes. Cryo-EM has revealed the structures of the membrane-surface bound pre-pore and inserted-pore oligomers, however the molecular contacts that mediate these oligomers are unknown because high-resolution information is not available. Here we have determined the crystal structure of full-length pneumolysin at 1.98 Å resolution. In the structure, crystal contacts demonstrate the likely interactions that enable polymerisation on the cell membrane and the molecular packing of the pre-pore complex. The hemolytic activity is abrogated in mutants that disrupt these intermolecular contacts, highlighting their importance during pore formation. An additional crystal structure of the membrane-binding domain alone suggests that changes in the conformation of a tryptophan rich-loop at the base of the toxin promote monomer-monomer interactions upon membrane binding by creating new contacts. Notably, residues at the interface are conserved in other members of the CDC family, suggesting a common mechanism for pore and pre-pore assembly

Molecular basis of sugar recognition by collectin-K1 and the effects of mutations associated with 3MC syndrome

Background Collectin-K1 (CL-K1, or CL-11) is a multifunctional Ca2+-dependent lectin with roles in innate immunity, apoptosis and embryogenesis. It binds to carbohydrates on pathogens to activate the lectin pathway of complement and together with its associated serine protease MASP-3 serves as a guidance cue for neural crest development. High serum levels are associated with disseminated intravascular coagulation, where spontaneous clotting can lead to multiple organ failure. Autosomal mutations in the CL-K1 or MASP-3 genes cause a developmental disorder called 3MC (Carnevale, Mingarelli, Malpuech and Michels) syndrome, characterised by facial, genital, renal and limb abnormalities. One of these mutations (Gly204Ser in the CL-K1 gene) is associated with undetectable levels of protein in the serum of affected individuals. Results In this study, we show that CL-K1 primarily targets a subset of high-mannose oligosaccharides present on both self- and non-self structures, and provide the structural basis for its ligand specificity. We also demonstrate that three disease-associated mutations prevent secretion of CL-K1 from mammalian cells, accounting for the protein deficiency observed in patients. Interestingly, none of the mutations prevent folding nor oligomerization of recombinant fragments containing the mutations in vitro. Instead, they prevent Ca2+ binding by the carbohydrate-recognition domains of CL-K1. We propose that failure to bind Ca2+ during biosynthesis leads to structural defects that prevent secretion of CL-K1, thus providing a molecular explanation of the genetic disorder. Conclusions We have established the sugar specificity of CL-K1 and demonstrated that it targets high-mannose oligosaccharides on self- and non-self structures via an extended binding site which recognises the terminal two mannose residues of the carbohydrate ligand. We have also shown that mutations associated with a rare developmental disorder called 3MC syndrome prevent the secretion of CL-K1, probably as a result of structural defects caused by disruption of Ca2+ binding during biosynthesis

Reply to commentary by R Duggleby (2019)

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