Intentional Emotions and Knowledge about God

Some recent theories of emotion propose that emotions are perceptions of value laden situations and thus provide us with epistemic access to values. In this paper I take up Mark Wynn’s application of this theory to religious experience and try to argue that his McDowell-inspired account of intentional emotions leads to limitations for the justificatory force of religious experiences and to difficult questions about the metaphysical status of the object of religious experiences: if emotions and religious experiences are largely similar, then, just as emotions, religious experiences cannot justify beliefs about the existence of objects, but merely beliefs about certain qualities they might have. Also, if emotions and religious experiences are largely similar, then, just as the objects of emotions, the object of religious experience turns out to be essentially mind-dependent

Green Bonds as a Tool of Green Financing

Green bonds are a new instrument to finance decarbonization and environmental sustainability projects. Despite significant growth in green bond issuance, there is little evidence on why companies issue them and whether this financing tool bolsters sustainability initiatives. We provide an overview of the academic literature on green bonds issued by for-profit companies. We focus our discussion on the determinants of a company's decision to issue a green bond and how green bonds impact environmental and financial outcomes. We conclude by providing suggestions for further research on green bonds

Estudo sobre as propriedades das barras: uma abordagem multibanda

Com base em estudos de galáxias locais, sabemos que ~2/3 das galáxias espirais possuem barras. Com o advento dos telescópios de alta resolução, estudos sobre barras estão sendo estendidos para galáxias distantes. O Hubble Space Telescope é uma boa fonte de imagens em alta resolução nas bandas óticas que permite estudar em detalhes galáxias mais distantes. No entanto, estudos do Universo distante estão invariavelmente sujeitos aos efeitos de mudança de banda ("band-shifting"): a luz emitida por uma galáxia em um certo comprimento de onda, ao viajar até o observador, sofre um avermelhamento devido à expansão do Universo (i.e., seu comprimento de onda aumenta). Este efeito se torna importante ao estudar o Universo distante utilizando uma banda fixa: ao observarmos galáxias cada vez mais distantes utilizando uma banda fixa, observamos diferentes partes do espectro destas. Por isso, antes de poder estabelecer se as características das barras evoluem com a idade do Universo, precisamos determinar como estas variam ao longo do espectro eletromagnético. Este projeto busca caracterizar barras em galáxias próximas e estabelecer uma base local para calibrar os efeitos do band-shifting. Para isso, foram analisadas 16 galáxias nos comprimentos de onda do infravermelho (IV) ao ultravioleta (UV), que foram extraídas dos levantamentos: S4G no IV, SINGS no óptico e GALEX no UV. Para cada barra, determinamos o comprimento e a força - caracterizada pela elipticidade - desta em cada banda. Nossas conclusões foram: 1. Cerca de 50% das barras não foram detectadas no ultravioleta. A interpretação disso é que a barra, por ser uma estrutura dominada por estrelas velhas (portanto vermelhas), pode desaparecer nas bandas mais azuis. Esse resultado deve ser levado em consideração principalmente em estudos sobre a fração de galáxias barradas no Universo distante, onde uma queda desta fração pode estar relacionada aos efeitos de band-shifting. 2. Os resultados obtidos apontam que o comprimento da barra é em geral maior em bandas mais azuis. Atribuímos este comportamento ao fato de que os nódulos de formação estelar presentes no fim de muitas barras são mais brilhantes em bandas mais azuis, resultando no alongamento artificial da barra. Isso poderia introduzir um viés importante na caracterização dos tamanhos das barras no Universo distante. 3. A elipticidade aumenta em bandas mais azuis, o que indica que as barras aparentam ser mais fortes nos comprimentos de onda menores. Entendemos que isso é devido a que em bandas mais azuis o bojo é menos proeminente por ser composto primariamente por estrelas velhas e vermelhas: em bandas mais azuis o bojo é relativamente menor e permite que elipses mais fi nas sejam ajustadas. Estudos das barras no Universo distante precisam incorporar estes resultados para determinar a evolução intrínseca das propriedades das barras livre de efeitos de mudança de banda

The cytotoxicity of fatty acid/α-lactalbumin complexes depends on the amount and type of fatty acid

peer-reviewedComplexes of the milk protein, α-lactalbumin, and the fatty acid, oleic acid, have previously been shown to be cytotoxic. Complexes of α-lactalbumin and five different fatty acids (vaccenic, linoleic, palmitoleic, stearic, and elaidic acid) were prepared and compared to those formed with oleic acid. All complexes were cytotoxic to human promyelocytic leukemia-derived (HL-60) cells but to different degrees depending on the fatty acid. The amount of fatty acid per α-lactalbumin molecule was found to correlate with the cytotoxicity; the higher the number of fatty acids per protein, the more cytotoxic the complex. Importantly, all the tested fatty acids were also found to be cytotoxic on their own in a concentration dependent manner. The cytotoxic effect of complexes between α-lactalbumin and linoleic acid, vaccenic acid, or oleic acid was further investigated using flow cytometry and found to induce cell death resembling apoptosis on Jurkat cells. Practical applications: Cytotoxic complexes of α-lactalbumin and several different fatty acids could be produced. The cytotoxicity of all the variants is similar to that previously determined for α-lactalbumin/oleic acid complexes.This work was supported by the Food Institutional Research Measure (FIRM, project no. 08RDTMFRC650) of the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Food, Ireland

Bar properties as a function of wavelength: a local baseline with S4G for high-redshift studies

The redshift evolution of bars is an important signpost of the dynamic maturity of disc galaxies. To characterize the intrinsic evolution safe from band-shifting effects, it is necessary to gauge how bar properties vary locally as a function of wavelength. We investigate bar properties in 16 nearby galaxies from the Spitzer Survey of Stellar Structure in Galaxies (S4G) at ultraviolet, optical, and mid-infrared wavebands. Based on the ellipticity and position angle profiles from fitting elliptical isophotes to the two-dimensional light distribution, we find that both bar length and ellipticity – the latter often used as a proxy for bar strength – increase at bluer wavebands. Bars are 9 per cent longer in the B band than at 3.6 μm. Their ellipticity increases typically by 8 per cent in the B band, with a significant fraction (>40 per cent) displaying an increase up to 35 per cent. We attribute the increase in bar length to the presence of star-forming knots at the end of bars: these regions are brighter in bluer bands, stretching the bar signature further out. The increase in bar ellipticity could be driven by the apparent bulge size: the bulge is less prominent at bluer bands, allowing for thinner ellipses within the bar region. Alternatively, it could be due to younger stellar populations associated with the bar. The resulting effect is that bars appear longer and thinner at bluer wavebands. This indicates that band-shifting effects are significant and need to be corrected for high-redshift studies to reliably gauge any intrinsic evolution of the bar properties with redshift

Nuclear mechanisms in cell death induced by HAMLET (human alpha-lactalbumin made lethal to tumour cells)

HAMLET (human alpha-lactalbumin made lethal to tumour cells), a protein-lipid complex originally isolated from human milk, induces programmed cell death selectively in tumour cells. It consists of partially unfolded alpha-lactalbumin in complex with oleic acid. It was previously not known if the unfolding of alpha-lactalbumin alone accounts for the activity of HAMLET or if the lipid adds biological activity. This was investigated using alpha-lactalbumin mutants that are present in the unfolded state at physiological conditions. These proteins were not active in cell death assays but could be converted to biologically active complexes with oleic acid, showing that unfolding of alpha-lactalbumin is not sufficient and that lipid structures are required for the cell death-inducing activity of HAMLET. HAMLET targets and accumulates in nuclei of sensitive cells but does not reach the nuclei of resistant cells, suggesting that a nuclear effect may be important for the cell death induction. We identified histones as nuclear targets for HAMLET, and HAMLET interacted with both denatured and native histones, as well as with histones in nucleosomes. In vivo, in tumour cell nuclei, HAMLET colocalised with histones and perturbed the global chromatin structure. The interaction with histones required partial unfolding of alpha-lactalbumin, achieved either by removal of calcium from the protein or conversion to HAMLET-like complexes with lipids. The lipid stabilised a histone-binding conformation of alpha-lactalbumin, but did not contribute to the binding specificity. Although there was a species variation in the ability of alpha-lactalbumin to bind histones, all but one of the biologically active HAMLET-like complexes tested were able to interact with histones. The HAMLET-histone interaction may induce damage to the chromatin, and cell death resulting from nuclear damage is often signalled through the p53 system. However, using cells with defined p53 status, we found no correlation between p53 and sensitivity of cells to HAMLET. We propose that the interaction of HAMLET with histones in the nuclei of tumour cells may lead to cell death in a p53-independent manner by disrupting the structure and function of chromatin

“Yeah but we are doing ok, but it is not enough” : A study on how actors from civil society in Namibia regard the implementation of gender equality

The purpose of the study is to do research on how selected individuals from civil society in Namibia, working with human rights or democracy, see gender equality in a Namibian context and how they regard their own role in the implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. Interviews have been carried out and grounded theory has been used to analyse the data. Theoretical concepts such as gender equality, civil society and globalization have been used to support the analysis along with theories regarding implementation. Three categories are being presented in the analysis, Theory equality, Distribution of responsibilities, and Male-streaming. The conclusion of the thesis is that the work that is carried out to implement gender equality is not enough.

Oratio de re chronologica : habita in illustri Athenaeo Bernensi, die 14. aprilis

a Melchiore Düringer

Prospect zu Höng, Cant. Zürich : Vuë de Höngg, dans le Canton de Zurich

[Daniel Düringer] =Bildlegende am unteren BlattrandZuschreibung gemäss Spiess-SchaadGemäss Spiess-Schaad handelt es sich um das Blatt IX aus: "Eine besondere Sammlung von Schweizer Prospecte" von 1770, vgl. Spiess-Schaad, S. 87f

Coffee Break

The purpose of the study is to do research on how selected individuals from civil society in Namibia, working with human rights or democracy, see gender equality in a Namibian context and how they regard their own role in the implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. Interviews have been carried out and grounded theory has been used to analyse the data. Theoretical concepts such as gender equality, civil society and globalization have been used to support the analysis along with theories regarding implementation. Three categories are being presented in the analysis, Theory equality, Distribution of responsibilities, and Male-streaming. The conclusion of the thesis is that the work that is carried out to implement gender equality is not enough.