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Researching phenomena associated with religion or spirituality faces a triple conundrum not easily resolved: What counts as religion or spirituality, are they independent or derivative phenomena, and can they be empirically determined at all? Appropriately, therefore, a recent special issue of the journal Psychology of Religion and Spirituality asks: What is its object of study? We argue that this cannot be resolved merely by considering diverse religious or spiritual phenomena. It requires a turn instead to what grounds religious and spiritual experience. Illustrating this claim from field research on “spiritual capacities and religious assets for health” in the face of interpersonal violence in two local communities, we argue that a set of supersensible, non-material, and therefore “spiritual” but nonetheless real human capacities that we must assume human beings possess, ground the sensible, empirical phenomena or “appearances” we call religion or spirituality. The notion of supersensible spiritual capacities, by definition incapable of empirical proof or disproof, places strict limits on phenomenal claims about religion or spirituality, particularly ontological ones. Although studying the phenomena or appearances remains important, paying attention to spiritual capacities enables us better to grasp the contingent nature of such phenomena while grounding them in that innate and general disposition of the human being—which we tentatively define as the C-factor.

‘We have depended,’ says Teresa Okure, ‘either on expatriates … or on African men to speak for us theologically and otherwise. Has the time now come to speak for ourselves? Okure’s question is asked as an African woman, but in South Africa at least, it can also be asked for marginalized and oppressed black groups as a whole. The concern of this essay is to reflect on the speaking of a small base Christian community in a large informal peri-urban settlement, similar to the favellas of Latin America, outside the Durban metropolitan area. The first step is ‘listening to’ what they have to say.

Christian theology, whether African or not, for most of its history and even in its most introspective moments, has either explicitly or implicitly always had something to do with the political or the public. Public or political theology is implicit when it happily coexists with the dominant political order but its impact is indirect, a side effect of what theology says to its primary addressee, the Christian community itself. Africa is not short of public or political theologies that express either resistance to, or strong criticism of, a dominant social order, laying bare its contradictions and/or the harm it may do. They include theologies of inculturation or Africanization, black theology and Kairos theology in South Africa, African women’s theology, theologies concerned with issues of sexual orientation, and postcolonial theology. African Christian theology lives alongside Islamic theologies and African indigenous thought.

Metabolic reprogramming toward aerobic glycolysis unavoidably favours methylglyoxal (MG) and advanced glycation end products (AGEs) formation in cancer cells. MG was initially considered a highly cytotoxic molecule with potential anti-cancer value. However, we have recently demonstrated that MG enhanced tumour growth and metastasis. In an attempt to understand this dual role, we explored MG-mediated dicarbonyl stress status in four breast and glioblastoma cancer cell lines in relation with their glycolytic phenotype and MG detoxifying capacity. In glycolytic cancer cells cultured in high glucose, we observed a significant increase of the conversion of MG to D-lactate through the glyoxalase system. Moreover, upon exogenous MG challenge, glycolytic cells showed elevated amounts of intracellular MG and induced de novo GLO1 detoxifying enzyme and Nrf2 expression. Thus, supporting the adaptive nature of glycolytic cancer cells to MG dicarbonyl stress when compared to non-glycolytic ones. Finally and consistent with the pro-tumoural role of MG, we showed that low doses of MG induced AGEs formation and tumour growth in vivo, both of which can be reversed using a MG scavenger. Our study represents the first demonstration of a hormetic effect of MG defined by a low-dose stimulation and a high-dose inhibition of tumour growth.

This study examines how South African religious leaders mobilised spiritual capacity and religious assets to resist and fight against state and structural violence during the 1970s and 1980s. Docum...

After World War II religion was effectively rejected or sidelined in development policy and practice. Newly emerging international agencies—like the United Nations (UN), the World Health Organizati...

The structures of the naturally occurring antimicrobial lipodepsipeptides circulocin γ and circulocin δ have been reported to comprise a common cyclic depsipeptide core attached to 3-hydroxy,ω-guanidino fatty acid chains differing in length by two methylene units, but analysis of the reported data suggested that the originally reported structures had incorrect side chain lengths. The total synthesis of both side chain epimers of the originally reported structure of circulocin γ bearing a 19-guanidino-3-hydroxynonadecanoyl (GHND) side chain has been accomplished using a modular approach involving synthesis of the cyclic depsipeptide and side chain fragments followed by a late stage coupling reaction. This revealed that the originally reported structure for circulocin γ bearing the GHND side chain is incorrect and that this structure is actually that of circulocin δ. It has also enabled the absolute configuration of the side chain hydroxy group of the natural product to be assigned as (R). Subsequent synthesis of the analogue bearing a 17-guanidino-3-(R)-hydroxyheptadecanoyl (GHHD) side chain provided confirmation that this revised structure is that of circulocin γ.

International audience; A class of hemicryptophane cages that adopt imploded conformations in solution and in the solid state has been described and studied by NMR spectroscopy and X-ray crystallography. It is reported that the degree of collapse of the molecular cavity can be controlled by changing the stereochemistry of the chiral elements of the hemicryptophanes, leading to a modulation of their physical and chemical properties. Upon the binding of an oxidovanadium unit, the collapsed molecular cavity can inflate to give an expanded conformation. Removal of the vanadium core by an ancillary complexing ligand restores the initial folded structure. Thus, coordination/de-coordination of the metal ion controls the dynamic motions of the cage, leading to a reversible nanomechanical process. This controlled motion between a collapsed and expanded cavity can be seen as that of a breathable molecular cage. There is an increased interest in the synthesis and development of systems able to perform a defined function at the molecular level. [1] For instance, molecular machines can produce quasi-mechanical movements (output) in response to specific stimuli (input). Currently, synthetic systems mimicking the ability of brakes, [2a]

The aim of this article was to report and critically reflect on community asset mapping processes used to develop a contextually valid interpersonal violence prevention programme in South Africa to...

The identification and mobilisation of factors that promote peace is central to peace promotion. Through a community-based participatory research project, SCRATCHMAPS (Spiritual Capacity and Religious Assets for Transforming Community Health through mobilising Males for Peace and Safety), a grounded-theoretical study in a low-income community in South Africa, including both quantitative and qualitative methods and forms of analysis, was conducted to explore community members’ perceptions of factors that promote peace. The findings presented in this chapter reveal a major emphasis on ‘intangible’ factors, many of them linked to a new concept of ‘spiritual capacity’, that the community believe play a central role in promoting peace. In line with initiatives that combine research and action in efforts to promote peace, the authors briefly describe how these findings were used to direct a community intervention aimed at mobilising religious assets and enabling spiritual capacity to promote peace. Structural factors such as employment and economic security are centrally important in any attempts to promote peace, but the authors argue that more attention should be focused on understanding and mobilising factors such as compassion, respect, and hope, at different levels of the social system. This raises a number of challenges to those involved in peace psychology.

Metabolic reprogramming toward aerobic glycolysis unavoidably induces methylglyoxal (MG) formation in cancer cells. MG mediates the glycation of proteins to form advanced glycation end products (AGEs). We have recently demonstrated that MG-induced AGEs are a common feature of breast cancer. Little is known regarding the impact of MG-mediated carbonyl stress on tumor progression. Breast tumors with MG stress presented with high nuclear YAP, a key transcriptional co-activator regulating tumor growth and invasion. Elevated MG levels resulted in sustained YAP nuclear localization/activity that could be reverted using Carnosine, a scavenger for MG. MG treatment affected Hsp90 chaperone activity and decreased its binding to LATS1, a key kinase of the Hippo pathway. Cancer cells with high MG stress showed enhanced growth and metastatic potential in vivo. These findings reinforce the cumulative evidence pointing to hyperglycemia as a risk factor for cancer incidence and bring renewed interest in MG scavengers for cancer treatment. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.19375.001

The synthesis of eight enantiopure molecular cages (four diastereomeric pairs of enantiomers) comprising a helically chiral cyclotriveratrylene (CTV) unit, three axially chiral binaphthol linkages, and three centrally asymmetric carbon atoms of a trialkanolamine core, is described. These new cages constitute a novel family of hemicryptophanes, which combine three classes of chirality. Their absolute configuration was successfully assigned by a chemical correlation method to overcome the signals overlap in the ECD spectra of the binaphtol and CTV units. Stereoselective recognition of glucose and mannose derivatives was investigated with these new chiral cages. Excellent enantio-and diastereoselectivity were reached, since in some cases, both exclusive enantio-and diastereo-discrimination have been observed. In addition, compared with the most relevant hemicryptophanes, these new cages also exhibit improved binding affinities.

International audience; The synthesis of eight enantiopure molecular cages (four diastereomeric pairs of enantiomers) comprising a helically chiral cyclotriveratrylene (CTV) unit, three axially chiral binaphthol linkages, and three centrally asymmetric carbon atoms of a trialkanolamine core, is described. These new cages constitute a novel family of hemicryptophanes, which combine three classes of chirality. Their absolute configuration was successfully assigned by a chemical correlation method to overcome the signals overlap in the ECD spectra of the binaphtol and CTV units. Stereoselective recognition of glucose and mannose derivatives was investigated with these new chiral cages. Excellent enantio-and diastereoselectivity were reached, since in some cases, both exclusive enantio-and diastereo-discrimination have been observed. In addition, compared with the most relevant hemicryptophanes, these new cages also exhibit improved binding affinities.

Based on ongoing research and analysis by a transdisciplinary, international collaboration of non-formal health services in the context of health challenges such as HIV and AIDS, congestive heart failure, diabetes, palliative care, and interpersonal violence, this paper addresses the question of evaluation criteria for medicine in the twenty-first century. It offers no detailed discussion of specific legal frameworks, medical choices, or standard financial challenges. Rather, it suggests that crucial to their resolution may be a different way of looking at them. This is expressed via four interrelated but discrete notions: health assets, healthworlds, causes of life, and deep accountability. To contextualize these notions, two themes that are central to questions of prioritization in medicine and health care are first considered: the lure and allure of science and aspects of rational choice theory and the question of the common good. Health assets are then explained and their relevance illustrated with reference to research conducted in Zambia and Lesotho for the World Health Organization. From this research arises the idea of healthworlds, which articulates the crucial agency of the health seeker in most, if not all, medical or health interventions. Healthworlds reflect ways of understanding health and healing that exceed clinical perspectives but that nonetheless have clinical relevance. The significance of these concepts is illustrated with reference to an innovative, community-based partnership established by a major health system in Memphis, Tennessee, that has attracted national interest and that offers insights into the question of criteria for evaluating medicine in formal health systems. Finally, this leads to the suggestion that we would be well served to grasp the crucial health and health care in terms of what we might call “leading causes of life.” This conceptual framework emphasizes that which is generative of health; it seeks to balance the overwhelming stress on pathology which is taken as normative but which might be precisely where we are failing. The paper ends by calling for a “deep accountability” that surpasses, without setting aside, financial and operational accountability, placing the question of prioritization in medicine within a larger framework of criteria for evaluating medicine in the twenty-first century.

The structures of the naturally occurring antimicrobial lipodepsipeptides circulocin γ and circulocin δ have been reported to comprise a common cyclic depsipeptide core attached to 3-hydroxy,ω-guanidino fatty acid chains differing in length by two methylene units, but analysis of the reported data suggested that the originally reported structures had incorrect side chain lengths. The total synthesis of both side chain epimers of the originally reported structure of circulocin γ bearing a 19-guanidino-3-hydroxynonadecanoyl (GHND) side chain has been accomplished using a modular approach involving synthesis of the cyclic depsipeptide and side chain fragments followed by a late stage coupling reaction. This revealed that the originally reported structure for circulocin γ bearing the GHND side chain is incorrect and that this structure is actually that of circulocin δ. It has also enabled the absolute configuration of the side chain hydroxy group of the natural product to be assigned as (R). Subsequent synthe...

N-Protected amino acids (I) undergo an interesting Ag2CO3-promoted coupling with amino ester thioamides to yield N-acetylated dipeptides (III) without epimerization.