Neuroscience, Spiritual Formation, and Bodily Souls: A Critique of Christian Physicalism

The link between human nature and human flourishing is undeniable. "A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit" (Matt. 7:18). The ontology of the human person will, therefore, ground the nature of human flourishing and thereby sanctification. Spiritual formation is the area of Christian theology that studies sanctification, the Spirit-guided process whereby disciples of Jesus are formed into the image of Jesus (Rom. 8:28-29; 2 Cor. 3:18; 2 Peter 3:18). Until the nineteenth century, there was an overwhelming consensus among Christian thinkers that some form of mind-body (or soul-body) dualism is true of human beings. Recently, that consensus has eroded, and with it the availability of a shared body of knowledge about spiritual formation. Some Christian physicalists argue that dualism is incompatible with central elements of spiritual formation. Neuroscientist Warren Brown and psychologist Brad Strawn offer the only substantive account of spiritual formation from the view of Christian physicalism and its accompanying objections to dualism. It is on their arguments that this chapter focuses. We argue that Brown and Strawn fail to support their incompatibility thesis. Additionally, we argue that Christian physicalism stands in tension with important philosophical and theological foundations of Christian spiritual formation. In doing so we offer a specific form of dualism, the bodily soul view, and explain how this view illuminates the importance of embodiment, our neurological and social development, and hence the important physical aspects of Christian spiritual formation

An Evaluation of the use of the Notebook in the Teaching of College General Inorganic Chemistry Laboratory

The use of the notebook as an instrument for laboratory instruction in general inorganic chemistry is almost universal. The students of Omaha University\u27s general chemistry laboratory were timed, and we discovered they spent fully one-third of their time writing up the experiments in standard form. A great deal of this writing was copying what was already in their laboratory manual and some of what was in other students\u27 notebooks

High-Throughput Drug Screening Identifies a Potent Wnt Inhibitor that Promotes Airway Basal Stem Cell Homeostasis.

Mechanisms underpinning airway epithelial homeostatic maintenance and ways to prevent its dysregulation remain elusive. Herein, we identify that β-catenin phosphorylated at Y489 (p-β-cateninY489) emerges during human squamous lung cancer progression. This led us to develop a model of airway basal stem cell (ABSC) hyperproliferation by driving Wnt/β-catenin signaling, resulting in a morphology that resembles premalignant lesions and loss of ciliated cell differentiation. To identify small molecules that could reverse this process, we performed a high-throughput drug screen for inhibitors of Wnt/β-catenin signaling. Our studies unveil Wnt inhibitor compound 1 (WIC1), which suppresses T-cell factor/lymphoid enhancer-binding factor (TCF/LEF) activity, reduces ABSC proliferation, induces ciliated cell differentiation, and decreases nuclear p-β-cateninY489. Collectively, our work elucidates a dysregulated Wnt/p-β-cateninY489 axis in lung premalignancy that can be modeled in vitro and identifies a Wnt/β-catenin inhibitor that promotes airway homeostasis. WIC1 may therefore serve as a tool compound in regenerative medicine studies with implications for restoring normal airway homeostasis after injury

Modeling Progressive Fibrosis with Pluripotent Stem Cells Identifies an Anti-fibrotic Small Molecule.

Progressive organ fibrosis accounts for one-third of all deaths worldwide, yet preclinical models that mimic the complex, progressive nature of the disease are lacking, and hence, there are no curative therapies. Progressive fibrosis across organs shares common cellular and molecular pathways involving chronic injury, inflammation, and aberrant repair resulting in deposition of extracellular matrix, organ remodeling, and ultimately organ failure. We describe the generation and characterization of an in vitro progressive fibrosis model that uses cell types derived from induced pluripotent stem cells. Our model produces endogenous activated transforming growth factor β (TGF-β) and contains activated fibroblastic aggregates that progressively increase in size and stiffness with activation of known fibrotic molecular and cellular changes. We used this model as a phenotypic drug discovery platform for modulators of fibrosis. We validated this platform by identifying a compound that promotes resolution of fibrosis in in vivo and ex vivo models of ocular and lung fibrosis

Eternal Life as Knowledge of God: An Epistemology of Knowledge by Acquaintance and Spiritual Formation

Spiritual formation currently lacks a robust epistemology. Christian theology and philosophy often spend more time devoted to an epistemology of propositions rather than an epistemology of knowing persons. This paper is an attempt to move toward a more robust account of knowing persons in general and God in particular. After working through various aspects of the nature of this type of knowledge this theory is applied to specific issues germane to spiritual formation, such as the justification of understanding spiritual growth on an integrative and holistic (heart and mind) model, the reality of hearing God’s voice, and knowing his activity, as well as how such a theory should change the shape of sermons, evangelism, and apologetics

Consciousness and Fundamental Fine-Tuning

The state of fine-tuning debates has overlooked non-theistic personal explanations. Some underexplored accounts appeal to resources in the philosophy of mind, such as a consciousness-first ontology, like panpsychism. Philip Goff defends such a hypothesis (agentive cosmopsychism): anthropic fine-­ uning is best explained by a conscious universe capable of fine-­ tuning itself. Drawing from Franz Brentano’s neglected teleological argument, I argue that agentive cosmopsychism, although helpful in moving the fine-tuning debates forward, fails insofar as it cannot explain what I call fundamental fine-tuning: the precise ontological features necessary for the act of fine-tuning. In conclusion, I explain how fundamental fine-tuning impacts teleological arguments in general by positively altering the prior probability of teleology on theism

Influence of a cultural immersion experience on healthcare students\u27 spirituality

Spirituality has been identified as a significant theme during cultural immersion experiences that merited further exploration (Rickabaugh, Hartman, Allison-Jones & Clark, 2009). The purpose of this naturalistic study was to identify the influence of a cultural immersion experience on studuents\u27 spiritual well being and spirituality. A convenience sample of five healthcare students participated in this study which utilized mixed methodologies. Nursing and health psychology students completed reflective journals and participated in debriefing sessions regarding sacred moments. Sacred moments were defined as a connection or support from a higher power, connection with others, a sense of purpose and a sense of gratefulness, compassion or inner peace (Underwood, 1999). Journals were analyzed using content analysis and theme identification. To compliment the qualitative portion of the study, participants completed the Spiritual Well Being Scale (SWBS) prior to and upon return from the cultural immersion experience. Connections with others was identified as the most frequently journal theme. Each student team member related strong connections with other team members and the native population. Another major theme was the connection with the entire experience, such as the country and the beauty of nature, which provided a purpose, sense of peace, and gratitude for life. Although scores on the SWBS increased at the conclusion of the trip when compared with the scores prior to the immersion experience, the differences were not significant. Limitations include a small, convenience sample and perspectives were limited to those researchers who also participated in the cultural immersion experience. Results from this study contribute to the limited body of knowledge which exists about student nurses\u27 spiritual development during their baccalaureate education. Cultural immersion and other transformative learning experiences can provide opportunities for students to enhance their own spirituality

Hagfish Protein Threads as Three Dimensional In Vitro Scaffolds for Skeletal Muscular Tissue

Native and transgenic silkworm silk have been shown to be capable of supporting skeletal muscle cell growth with the use of a three-dimensional acrylic cell-culture chassis. Additionally, this silk has been shown to be preferable to the standard two-dimensional polystyrene cell culture surface in its ability to simulate native tissue 1. The protein threads produced from hagfish slime have also been shown to have potential applications in three-dimensional cell culture 2. To compare the capacity for three-dimensional cell growth and simulation of native tissue to native and transgenic silkworm silk, hagfish protein threads were synthesized and woven around an acrylic chassis and seeded with C2C12 myoblasts. The ability of the protein threads to support three-dimensional cell growth, uni-directional myofiber growth, and independent fiber anchorage was evaluated with brightfield imaging, as well as fluorescent and immunocytochemical staining. Compared to silkworm silk, hagfish protein thread has improved myofiber alignment, increased cell growth, and greater cell anchorage when used in cell culture. Presentation Time: Thursday, 12-1 p.m

Finding the Unique Balance: Local Government Representation on the Boards of Regional Intergovernmental Organizations (RIGOs)

Regional Intergovernmental Organizations (RIGOs) are coalitions consisting primarily of municipal and county governments who develop a broad array of regional plans and policies; they also allocate federal and state funding to projects including transportation, community development, and economic development. Decisions about these policies and allocations are made by the RIGO board. This dissertation demonstrates the variety of different governance structures in place in RIGOs across the United States and introduces methods to quantify local government representational rights on RIGO boards. While much of the literature has previously described these boards as being overwhelmingly “one member, one vote”, coding and analyzing the original governance documents shows that most RIGO collective choice arrangements balance institutional membership and population proportionality in complicated and thoughtful ways. The dissertation develops a typology of membership that reflects the various ways in which counties and municipalities can be members, including through multijurisdictional membership processes. Two formulas that reflect the institutional membership and population proportionality are introduced to quantify the extent to which each board is “one member, one vote” and “one person, one vote.” The balances agreed to by local governments often more closely resemble how international organizations agree upon representational rights than they do the US House or the US Senate. These formulas are further applied to two RIGOs to show their use comparing governance proposals and to show changes in collective choice arrangements over time

Longitudinal evaluation of regulatory T-cell dynamics on HIV-infected individuals during the first 2 years of therapy

Objectives: A sizeable percentage of individuals infected by HIV and on antiretroviral therapy (ART) fail to increase their CD4+ T-cells to satisfactory levels. The percentage of regulatory T-cells (Tregs) has been suggested to contribute to this impairment. This study aimed to address this question and to expand the analysis of Tregs subpopulations during ART. Design: Longitudinal follow-up of 81 HIV-infected individuals during the first 24 months on ART. Methods: CD4+ T-cell counts, Tregs percentages, and specific Tregs subpopulations were evaluated at ART onset, 2, 6, 9, 12, 16, 20, and 24 months of ART (five individuals had no Tregs information at baseline). Results: The slope of CD4+ T-cell recovery was similar for individuals with moderate and with severe lymphopenia at ART onset. No evidence was found for a contribution of the baseline Tregs percentages on the CD4+ T-cell counts recovery throughout ART. In comparison to uninfected individuals, Tregs percentages were higher at ART onset only for patients with less than 200?cells/µl at baseline and decreased afterwards reaching normal values. Within Tregs, the percentage of naive cells remained low in these patients. Reduced thymic export and increased proliferation of Tregs vs. conventional CD4+ T cells might explain these persistent alterations. Conclusion: No effect of Tregs percentages at baseline was detected on CD4+ T-cell recovery. However, profound alterations on Tregs subpopulations were consistently observed throughout ART for patients with severe lymphopenia at ART onset.The work was funded by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT; PIC/IC/83313/2007) and cofinanced by the Programa Operacional Novo Norte (ON.2 – O Novo Norte) under the Quadro de Referencia Estratégica Nacional (QREN) through the Fundo Europeu de Desenvolvimento Regional (FEDER). A FCT fellowship, under the Programa Operacional Potencial Humano (POPH) through the Fundo Social Europeu (FSE), was given to C.N. (SFRH/BPD/65380/2009) and to R.Rb-S. (PD/BD/106047/2015; fellowship in the context of the Inter-University Doctoral Programme in Ageing and Chronic Disease, a FCT PhD Program