Biotransformation of explosives by the old yellow enzyme family of flavoproteins

Several independent studies of bacterial degradation of nitrate ester explosives have demonstrated the involvement of flavin-dependent oxidoreductases related to the old yellow enzyme (OYE) of yeast. Some of these enzymes also transform the nitroaromatic explosive 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT). In this work, catalytic capabilities of five members of the OYE family were compared, with a view to correlating structure and function. The activity profiles of the five enzymes differed substantially; no one compound proved to be a good substrate for all five enzymes. TNT is reduced, albeit slowly, by all five enzymes. The nature of the transformation products differed, with three of the five enzymes yielding products indicative of reduction of the aromatic ring. Our findings suggest two distinct pathways of TNT transformation, with the initial reduction of TNT being the key point of difference between the enzymes. Characterization of an active site mutant of one of the enzymes suggests a structural basis for this difference

Can jinn be a tonic? The therapeutic value of spirit-related beliefs, practices and experiences

Religion and spirituality are increasingly associated with mental health, yet spirit-related practices, beliefs and experiences (SPBEs) are regarded with more suspicion. This suspicion is misplaced, and worryingly so, since, I argue, it shuts down a potentially therapeutic avenue in relation to anomalous experiences such as hearing voices and sensing the presence of the dead. A presupposition of this argument is that anomalous experiences are not inherently pathological but can become so as a result of the way they are interpreted and reacted to. While this claim is not new in itself, I will provide a philosophical foundation for it by defending a ‘contextualist’ view of pathology in the context of anomalous experiences against ‘inherentist’ alternatives, according to which some or all instances of anomalous experiences are inherently pathological

Two Christian Theologies of Depression.

Some recent considerations of religion and psychiatry have drawn a distinction between pathological and spiritual/mystical experiences of mental phenomena typically regarded as within the realm of psychiatry (e.g. depression, hearing voices, seeing visions/hallucinations). Such a distinction has clinical implications, particularly in relation to whether some religious people who suffer from depression, hear voices, or see visions should be biomedically treated. Approaching this question from a theological and philosophical perspective, I draw a distinction between (what I call) ‘spiritual health’ (SH) and ‘potentially transformative’ (PT) theologies, arguing that a PT model is therapeutically and philosophically more sound than a SH one. I then apply this to the clinical debate in critical dialogue with Dein and Durà-Vilà’s 2009 article, ‘The Dark Night of the Soul: spiritual distress and psychiatric implications’. My primary focus is on depression, though the discussion is also relevant to debates about psychosis and schizophrenia

Crustal fault reactivation facilitating lithospheric folding/buckling in the central Indian Ocean

High-quality, normal-incidence seismic reflection data confirm that tectonic deformation in the central Indian Ocean occurs at two spatial scales: whole lithosphere folding with wavelengths varying between 100 and 300 km, and compressional reactivation of crustal faults with a characteristic spacing of c. 5 km. Faults penetrate through the crust and probably into the upper mantle. Both types of deformation are driven by regional large intraplate stresses originating from the Indo-Eurasian collision. Numerical modelling of the spatial and temporal relationships between these two modes of deformations shows that, in agreement with geophysical observations, crustal faults are reactivated first with stick-slip behaviour. Subsequent lithospheric folding does not start until horizontal loading has significantly reduced the mechanical strength of the lithosphere, as predicted by elasto-plastic buckling theory. Modelling suggests that lithospheric folding does not develop in the absence of fault reactivation. Crustal fault reactivation, therefore, appears to be a key facilitating mechanism for oceanic lithospheric buckling in the central Indian Ocean

An exploratory study of patient distress and participation in treatment decision-making for cancer

Background: There is a growing expectation that medical patients should be more involved in decisions about their health and treatment. However, often decisions about treatments are required at times of stress, such as foll owing a diagnosis of cancer.Objectives: The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between distress, emotion regulation and patient participation in treatment decision-ma king for cancer, and whether patient participation affects psychosocial outcomesMethod: The study was an observational, longitudinal design. Participants were 26 patients with cancer, recruited at their initial oncology appointment, who completed a questionnaire at the time of the ir consultation, a second questionnaire following their consultation and a third at three months follow up. Univariate analyses were used for confirmatory data analysis.Results: Participants who took a passive or active role in treatment decision-making had significantly higher levels of distress, compared to those who reported shared decision-making. Higher levels of distress and greater difficulties with emotion regulation were also significantly associated with participants not attaining their preferred role. No significant relationship was found between participation in treatment decision-making and psycho logical adjustment or satisfaction with the decision made.Conclusions: Greater awareness of patients' emotional well-being, at key points in their care pathway, would be valuable, to ensure patients' psychological needs a re met and to avoid detrimental consequences for their health care

Transforming revelation: towards a revelatory model of salvation

This dissertation questions the modern and contemporary promotion of objective and Crucifixion-centred models of the Atonement at the expense of the apparently 'subjective' and 'moral'. I suggest that the idea of revelation as salvific is more fundamental to many of the 'exemplarist' models of salvation than the idea of Jesus as a moral example, and that the criticisms fired at example-based soteriology are inapplicable to soteriology rooted in revelation. I argue that the grounds for its exclusion from the status of first-order model should be re-evaluated, and defend it against five primary criticisms. First, I argue against the accusation that a revelatory model has no foundation in Scripture or Christian tradition, and in so doing I explore the relationship between salvation and revelation m The Gospel of John, and in the works of Origen, Abailard, GWH Lampe, and Dumitru Staniloae. Second, I dispute the assertion that a revelatory model is subjective and entails a Pelagian attitude towards divine grace, suggesting that the objective/subjective distinction is a false dichotomy, and, taken to extremes, is damaging to soteriology. Third, I contest the perennial criticism that a revelatory model would render Christ's death superfluous, suggesting rather that such a soteriology might unite history and theology in biblically and theologically responsible way. Fourth, I question the claim that a revelatory model necessarily excludes the non-Christian from salvation in Christ. Finally, I argue against the idea that a revelatory model would have a weak and naive view of sin, suggesting a view of sin connected to a revelatory model rooted in (but not identical with) that of Augustine of Hippo. While much of the dissertation is therefore apologetic, there is also a constructive element to the work. In the final chapter I sketch a possible revelatory model, connecting ideas such as the identification of God as love, sin as privation and apatheia, and the equation of inspiration and infusion. In addition, I point to many of the insights inherent in a revelatory model from which, I suggest, soteriology as a whole would benefit. The aim of the dissertation, therefore, is to propose a re-evaluation of revelatory soteriology as a first-order model, questioning many of the preconceptions that currently obstruct it, and indicating reasons for its theological value