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Religious traditions with their universal intent on human salvation or well-being have de-territorialized themselves or migrated from the place of their origin along trade routes in the company of merchants, invaders, and colonizers. Taking for granted Intercultural theology as the bedrock of faith education in an multicultural context, the author seeks to enumerate the specific competencies that can render the process of intercultural faith education possible, significant, and feasible. Henning Wrogemann's article that introduces "Intercultural Theology as In-Between Theology" takes up the profile of intercultural theology against the background of world Christianity and the anthropology of Christianity and defines it as an in-between theology with respect to factors such as audience, media, power, methodology, plurality, and connectivity. From a catechetical or faith education point of view, this article analyses the three perspectives of faith that intercultural theology should promote, namely, the dialogic personalization of faith, the prophetic challenging of faith, and the cohesive exchange of faith - corresponding, respectively, to personal and interpersonal dimensions, communitarian and social dimensions and expressive and missionary dimensions of faith. [Extracted from the article]

The current synodal process (2021–2024) engaging the worldwide Catholic Church at the micro, meso and macro levels involves bringing Christians from across cultures, ethnic communities, linguistic groups and nationalities to interact and shape their journey as people of God. Without wanting to reproduce the intense debate that is in progress, we limit ourselves to examining the crucial issue—to a great extent ignored—of the intercultural lived ecclesiology associated with the inter gentes synodal praxis of communion, participation and mission. Although the synodal journey appears to be promising, the endogenous and exogenous ecclesial and societal differences implied in the inter gentes discernment can render it a complex transformative endeavor, entailing reciprocal enrichment and mutual critique. Taking up ideas that emerged in the various episcopal conferences in Asia in dialogue with some key themes in one of the European, namely, the German Episcopal Conference, we trace the intercultural challenges and prospects of communio, partecipatio et missio inter gentes, with a view to transforming the Church's way of being and functioning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the past six decades, there has been an ever-growing awareness of the global ecological crisis threatening human survival. Concern for the future of human life has led to the necessity of upholding environmental rights and sustainable development. As in the case of other human rights, obligations of the state that derive from these need to be complemented by civic engagements, and sustained by shared values in the societal sphere. The question that we raise is if religions can play a significant role in favouring environmental rights, civil engagements and environmental care, given that in varied ways religious traditions appeal to the interdependence of divine-human-cosmic realities. The empirical research that we undertook in the multi-religious context of Tamil Nadu, India, seeks to verify if the religious identity of the senior secondary school students and college students has some influence on their attitude towards environmental obligations, engagements and care. The results show that senior school students are highly sensitive to state's obligations and civil engagements, but their religious affiliation does not seem to influence it. Instead, college students manifest strong agreement to environmental care, with Hindus displaying higher sensitivity. Besides, variables such as transformative function of religion, religious pluralism, human dignity, and empathy have favourable association with environmental care for Christians, Muslims and Hindus. We conclude with a discussion on the implications of the predictors for eco-education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Autosomal recessive spastic ataxia of Charlevoix-Saguenay is a fatal brain disorder featuring cerebellar neurodegeneration leading to spasticity and ataxia. This disease is caused by mutations in the SACS gene that encodes sacsin, a massive 4579-amino acid protein with multiple modular domains. However, molecular details of the function of sacsin are not clear. Here, using live cell imaging and biochemistry, we demonstrate that sacsin binds to microtubules and regulates microtubule dynamics. Loss of sacsin function in various cell types, including knockdown and KO primary neurons and patient fibroblasts, leads to alterations in lysosomal transport, positioning, function, and reformation following autophagy. Each of these phenotypic changes is consistent with altered microtubule dynamics. We further show the effects of sacsin are mediated at least in part through interactions with JIP3, an adapter for microtubule motors. These data reveal a new function for sacsin that explains its previously reported roles and phenotypes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information that cell-based GEF assay reveals new substrates for DENN domains and a role for DENND2B in primary ciliogenesis. It mentions that primary cilia are sensory antennae crucial for cell and organism development, and defects in their biogenesis cause ciliopathies. It discusses that ciliogenesis involves membrane trafficking mediated by small guanosine triphosphatases including Rabs, molecular switches activated by guanine nucleotide exchange factors.

The surfacing of the glucose transporter GLUT4 driven by insulin receptor activation provides the prototypic example of a homeostasis response dependent on mobilization of an intracellular storage compartment. Here, we generalize this concept to a G protein–coupled receptor, somatostatin receptor subtype 2 (SSTR2), in pituitary cells. Following internalization in corticotropes, SSTR2 moves to a juxtanuclear syntaxin-6–positive compartment, where it remains until the corticotropes are stimulated with corticotropin releasing factor (CRF), whereupon SSTR2 exits the compartment on syntaxin-6–positive vesicular/tubular carriers that depend on Rab10 for their fusion with the plasma membrane. As SSTR2 activation antagonizes CRF-mediated hormone release, this storage/resurfacing mechanism may allow for a physiological homeostatic feedback system. In fact, we find that SSTR2 moves from an intracellular compartment to the cell surface in pituitary gland somatotropes, concomitant with increasing levels of serum growth hormone (GH) during natural GH cycles. Our data thus provide a mechanism by which signaling-mediated plasma membrane resurfacing of SSTR2 can fine-tune pituitary hormone release. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Journal of Empirical Theology published an editorial titled "Religion, Ecology and Human Flourishing: Institutional and Personal Dimensions of Religiosity and Current Societal Challenges." The editorial explores the relationship between religious traditions and their influence on attitudes towards societal challenges such as the ecological crisis, poverty, socio-economic inequality, and ethno-cultural conflicts. The Conference of International Society for Empirical Research in Theology (ISERT) held a conference on this theme, with around fifty professors and research scholars participating and presenting over forty papers. The present Special Issue of JET includes seven of these papers, which delve into the reciprocal impact between institutional and personal dimensions of religion and the current challenges in ecology, solidarity, and human flourishing. [Extracted from the article]

Human rights are fragile institutions, in order to be respected and defended they not only need to be penned in declarations and constitutions, but also to be imbedded in people's mind and fostered by each generation. In this study we investigate the role of religion in this process of public appraisal of human rights. Through a survey among a group of Italian students (N= 1087) we ask to which extent religion can impact a human rights' culture among young people. Empirical results follow an historical, sociological and theological framework of the relation between Catholic Church and human rights, more specifically civil rights. Research questions are answered through the empirical exploration among the relation between background characteristics of the students (personal, religious, psychological and socio-political ones), their religious attitudes (personal and contextual) and their views about civil rights (freedom of religion, women's rights, freedom of assembly, etc.). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human phospholipid scramblase 1 (hPLSCR1) is a proapoptotic protein whose expression is deregulated in a variety of cancers cells. However till date the transcription regulation of hPLSCR1 is unknown. Transcriptional regulation of hPLSCR1 was studied by cloning the 5'-flanking region of hPLSCR1. Luciferase assays revealed that -1525 to -1244 region of hPLSCR1 was found to regulate its promoter activity. A putative Snail transcription factor (TF) binding site was found within the regulatory region of the promoter. Snail binding was found to down regulate the expression of hPLSCR1 both at the transcriptional and translational levels. Snail knock down using Snail-shRNA confirmed that down regulation of hPLSCR1 by Snail was specific. Point mutation studies confirm that the predicted Snail TF binds to -1123 to -1117 site. ChIP assay further confirms the physical interaction of Snail with hPLSCR1 promoter. This is the first report showing the transcriptional regulation of hPLSCR1 expression by Snail TF and its possible implications in cancer progression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human phospholipid scramblase 1 (hPLSCR1), a type II integral class membrane protein, is known to mediate bidirectional scrambling of phospholipids in a Ca2+-dependent manner. hPLSCR2, a homolog of hPLSCR1 that lacks N-terminal pro-line-rich domain (PRD), did not show scramblase activity. We attribute this absence of scramblase activity of hPLSCR2 to the lack of N-terminal PRD. Hence to investigate the above hypothesis, we added the PRD of hPLSCR1 to hPLSCR2 (PRD-hPLSCR2) and checked whether scramblase activity was restored. Functional assays showed that the addition of PRD to hPLSCR2 restored scrambling activity, and deletion of PRD in hPLSCR1 (ΔPRD-hPLSCRl) resulted in a lack of activity. These results suggest that PRD is crucial for the function of the protein. The effects of the PRD deletion in hPLSCR1 and the addition of PRD to hPLSCR2 were characterized using various spectroscopic techniques. Our results clearly showed that hPLSCR1 and PRD-hPLSCR2 showed Ca2+-dependent aggregation and scrambling activity, whereas hPLSCR2 and ΔPRD-hPLSCRl did not show aggregation and activity. Thus we conclude that scramblases exhibit Ca2+-dependent scrambling activity by aggregation of protein. Our results provide a possible mechanism for phospholipid scrambling mediated by PLSCRs and the importance of PRD in its function and cellular localization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human phospholipid scramblase 1 ( hPLSCR1) belongs to the ATP-independent class of phospholipid translocators which possess a single EF-hand-like Ca2+-binding motif and also a C-terminal helix (CTH). The CTH domain of hPLSCR1 was believed to be a putative single transmembrane helix at the C-terminus. Recent homology modeling studies by Bateman et al. predicted that the hydrophobic nature of this helix is due to its packing in the core of the protein domain and proposed that this is not a true transmembrane helix [Bateman A, Finn RD, Sims PJ, Wiedmer T, Biegert A & Johannes S. Bioinformatics 2008, 25, 159]. To determine the exact function of the CTH of hPLSCR1, we deleted the CTH domain and determined: (a) whether CTH plays any role beyond membrane anchorage, (b) the functional consequences of CTH deletion, and (c) any conformational changes associated with CTH in a lipid environment. In vitro reconstitution studies confirm that the predicted CTH is required for membrane insertion and scrambling activity. CTH deletion caused a 50% decrease in binding affinity of Ca2+ for ∆CTH- hPLSCR1 ( Ka = 115 μ m) compared with hPLSCR1 ( Ka = 249 μ m). Far UV-CD studies revealed that the CTH peptide adopts α-helicity only in the presence of SDS micelles and negatively charged vesicles, indicating that electrostatic interactions are required for insertion of the peptide. CTH peptide-quenching studies confirm that the predicted CTH inserts into the membrane and its ability to interact with the membrane depends on the presence of charge interactions. TOXCAT assay revealed that CTH of hPLSCR1 does not oligomerize in the membrane. We conclude that CTH is required for membrane insertion and Ca2+ coordination and also plays an important role in the functional conformation of hPLSCR1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human phospholipid scramblase 4 (hPLSCR4), an isoform of the scramblase family, is a type II single-pass transmembrane protein whose function remains unknown. To understand its role, recombinant hPLSCR4 was obtained by cloning the ORF into a pET28 a(+) vector and overexpressed in Escherichia coli. Functional assay showed that Ca2+, Mg2+, and Zn2+ activate hPLSCR4 and mediate scrambling activity independent of the phospholipid head group. Far-UV-CD and fluorescence spectroscopy revealed that Ca2+ and Mg2+ binding induces conformation change in hPLSCR4, exposing hydrophobic patches of the protein, and Ca2+ has more affinity than Mg2+ and Zn2+. Stains-all studies further confirm that hPLSCR4 is a Ca2+-binding protein. Point mutation (Asp290→Ala) in hPLSCR4 decreased the Ca2+-binding affinity as well as Tb3+ luminescence, suggesting residues of the predicted Ca2+-binding motif are involved in Ca2+ binding. Functional reconstitution with (Asp290→Ala) mutant led to ∼50% and ∼40% decrease in scramblase activity in the presence of Ca2+ and Mg2+, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human phospholipid scramblase (hPLSCR1) is a transmembrane protein involved in rapid bidirectional scrambling of phospholipids across the plasma membrane in response to elevated intracellular calcium (Ca) levels. Overexpression of recombinant hPLSCR1 in Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3) leads to its deposition in inclusion bodies (IBs). N-lauroyl sarcosine was used to solubilize IBs and to recover functionally active hPLSCR1 from them . Protein was purified to homogeneity by nickel-nitrilotriacetic acid (Ni-NTA) affinity chromatography and was >98% pure. Functional activity of the purified protein was validated by in vitro reconstitution studies, ~18% of 7-nitrobenz-2-oxa-1, 3-diazol-4-yl-phosphatidylcholine (NBD-PC) phospholipids was translocated across the lipid bilayer in the presence of Ca ions. Far ultraviolet circular dichroism (UV-CD) studies reveal that the secondary structure of protein is predominantly an α-helix, and under nondenaturing conditions, the protein exists as a monomer. Here we describe a method to purify recombinant membrane protein with higher yield than previously described methods involving renaturation techniques. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hood developed a Mysticism Scale based on the theoretical work of Stace. The scale was tested by Hood and others in a comparative perspective. Using an abridged version of Hood's Mysticism Scale, we join the debate with a study of a much larger number of Christian, Muslim, and Hindu respondents (1,920 college students) living in Tamil Nadu, India. Our empirical analysis yields a moderately reliable model of mystical experience that permits comparison between the three religious traditions. We argue for the usefulness of a comparative model of vertical mysticism that combines with the complementary common characteristics of noetic quality and ineffability. Vertical mysticism has a revelatory, ineffable character and is comparable in the experience of adherents of the Christian, Islamic, and Hindu traditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents a theoretical framework for religiocentrism that is suited to cross-religious comparisons between Christians, Muslims and Hindus. Religiocentrism is defined as the combination of positive attitudes toward the religious ingroup and negative attitudes toward religious outgroup(s). Empirical research proves the relevance of the construct 'religiocentrism' among Christian, Muslim and Hindu college students in Tamil Nadu. Full score comparability is possible for positive ingroup attitudes but is hampered in the case of negative outgroup attitudes because of the specificity of outgroup prejudice to each religious group. Cross-religious differences between levels of positive ingroup attitudes can be explained in terms of the differential effects of socio-cultural, socio-economic and socio-religious characteristics. This topic calls for further reflection, taking into account contextual factors such as majority versus minority position and specific religious convictions for each religious tradition, more particularly within the context of Tamil Nadu. The article ends with a discussion of the findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article seeks, first, to offer a comprehensive theoretical framework of religious practice — based particularly on the works of Stark and Glock — that may be used in comparative research among adherents of different religious traditions. Secondly we clarify the role of the agents of religious socialization and their function as "reference others", taking into account the contributions of Bajzek, Milanesi and Schlenker. The empirical analysis of the data based on these theoretical considerations brings to light a model of institutional religious practice whereby Christian, Islamic and Hindu traditions may be compared. The results also underscore the association between the religious community and involvement in institutional religious practices in the case of the three religious groups and the differentiated impact of the other agents of religious socialization in the case of each religion. A further finding is that gender affects particularly the Christians in their institutional religious practices. The paper ends with a discussion of these findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How do Christians, Muslims and Hindus interpret religions other than their own? The theoretical framework of the research is models of religious pluralism developed by scholars in the field of theology of religions, especially Knitter. The authors pay special attention to pluralistic models, which have so far remained rather unclear. Special attention is paid to gender as a factor influencing levels of agreement with models of religious pluralism. Empirical research undertaken among Christian, Muslim and Hindu college students in Tamil Nadu in 2003 reveals three common models of religious pluralism that can be found among the adherents of these traditions: monism, commonality pluralism, and differential pluralism. Christian and Muslim students have much the same approach to religious pluralism, measured according to these three models; Hindu students differ from both Christian and Muslim students. Especially among Muslim students gender influences the level of agreement with the monism and commonality models. The article concludes with a discussion of the fruitfulness of comparative research (among members of different religious traditions) based on models derived from Christian theology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article we focus our attention on one of the goals of religiously affiliated schools, namely, that of nurturing inculturation. Religiously affiliated schools, as educational restitutions concerned with the critical transmission of culture on the one hand, and as institutions belonging to a particular religious tradition on the other, offer a natural environment for promoting a meaningful and reciprocally enriching encounter between religion and culture. In other words, they serve as an excellent "laboratory" for initiating the young in the ongoing and lifelong process of inculturation. These schools can promote the integration of religion and culture if their entire curriculum is geared to it This however would be conditioned by the cultural stand of the religion to which the school is affiliated and by the cultural context in which the school is located. Evidently, the role of teachers in such a process would depend on their ability to correlate religion and culture while dealing with the curriculum content and on the use of an appropriate instructional method in promoting the same among students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is no gainsaying that in a globalized world, economic and technological development greatly determine human wellbeing. In the Indian context, the dialectics between socialist and capitalist economy, while giving way to the latter since 1991, has progressively led to the enlargement of the middle class, yet widened the gap between the rich and the poor. Such a situation points to the importance of socioeconomic rights for guaranteeing human flourishing. The question that we pose is whether religions can play a significant role in favoring these human rights, given their own specific vision of human life and of its socioeconomic facets, such as work, wealth, leisure, health, and education. In other words, can personal and contextual religious attitudes and religious socialization contribute to socioeconomic wellbeing? The empirical research undertaken in the pluralistic and democratic context of Tamil Nadu, India, seeks to verify among 1215 Christian, Muslim, and Hindu students, the impact of religion on their attitude towards socioeconomic rights. The emerging results reveal that some aspects of religious attitudes and socialization have a significant impact on students' agreement with socioeconomic rights, particularly in the case of Christians and Muslims. We conclude with a discussion on the salient findings and their implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Compassion is the heart of nursing care. The concept of compassionate care is used frequently in the health care setting and in the nursing practice. It has been advocated as a fundamental element in nursing practice and it may be nursing's most precious strong point. However, defining, perceptions and translating compassion into caring practice by nurses vary and it remains remarkably absent from nursing scholarship and the practicalities related to contemporary care delivery models. Purpose: The aim of the study is to clarify approach for a compassionate care. The concepts of compassion (or compassionate care) remain remarkably absent from nursing scholarship and the practicalities. Provision of compassionate care is more than a professional mandate or a hallmark of a model expressed in theoretical terms; it is the consequence of a genuine connection between a nurse and a patient. Methods: The method use is a case analysis. This is explored concepts and framework in integrity The eight steps of this method are: 1) Selecting a concept; 2) Determining the aims or purposes of analysis; 3) Identifying all uses of the concept; 4) Determining the defining attributes of the concept; 5) Constructing a model case; 6) Constructing borderline, contrary, invented, and illegitimate cases; 7) Identifying antecedents and consequences; and 8) Defining empirical referent Result: Compassion is the fundamental characteristic in the quality of nursing care. It is considered as an essential principle of patient-centered care (Nolan, 2013) Compassion is how care is given through relationships based on empathy, respect and dignity. It can also be described as intelligent kindness and is central to how people perceive their care Conclusion: The concept of compassion inherent in the nursing profession is a significant value. It motivates nurses to act ethically and in a sensitive way while providing care. Compassion is an essential element of good nursing care. Thus, compassionate care is not only a significant part of modern patient care but also a vital function of professional nursing. As with the concept of compassion, there are difficulties with the exact definition of compassionate care, what compassionate care behaviors include, and how provision of compassionate care can be proven or measured. "As a human being, many a nurse will say that it was compassion for others that inspired her to become a nurse" (Schantz, 2007 [32]). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARSCoV-2) is the causative agent of COVID-19, so understanding its biology and infection mechanisms is critical to facing this major medical challenge. SARS-CoV-2 is known to use its spike glycoprotein to interact with the cell surface as a first step in the infection process. As for other coronaviruses, it is likely that SARS-CoV-2 next undergoes endocytosis, but whether or not this is required for infectivity and the precise endocytic mechanism used are unknown. Using purified spike glycoprotein and lentivirus pseudotyped with spike glycoprotein, a common model of SARS-CoV-2 infectivity, we now demonstrate that after engagement with the plasma membrane, SARS-CoV-2 undergoes rapid, clathrin-mediated endocytosis. This suggests that transfer of viral RNA to the cell cytosol occurs from the lumen of the endosomal system. Importantly, we further demonstrate that knockdown of clathrin heavy chain, which blocks clathrin-mediated endocytosis, reduces viral infectivity. These discoveries reveal that SARS-CoV-2 uses clathrin-mediated endocytosis to gain access into cells and suggests that this process is a key aspect of virus infectivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]