Graduate Theological Union

Plain Language SummaryThis study aimed to explore the role of the cold shock protein RNA-binding motif 3 (RBM3) in therapeutic hypothermia (TH)-induced neuroprotection following hypoxia-ischemia (HI) using Hyperpolarized 13C MRI. The findings demonstrated that RBM3 may be one of the key factors associated with TH-induced neuroprotection by reducing the anaerobic glycolysis process in HI mice, suggesting that RBM3 upregulation may enhance the efficacy of TH for hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy.

Abstract The Yoga of Love explores the Rāsa Līlā, a divine love story from the Bhāgavata Purāṇa that centers on the spiritual union of Krishna and the Gopīs, or cowherd maidens, in a cosmic dance of devotion. Through sixteen chapters, it addresses key theological and philosophical dimensions of bhakti, or devotional love, within Vaishnavism. The work begins by contextualizing the Rāsa Līlā within Hindu literature and tradition, emphasizing its unparalleled role in revealing divine intimacy. It then discusses the symbolic, ethical, and transformative nature of the Gopīs’ love for Krishna, illustrating how this relationship surpasses social norms and transcends mortality. The narrative details Krishna’s divine manifestations and the significance of his roles as lover, friend, and supreme deity, which shape the devotee’s path to salvation. This synthesis of devotion, theology, and symbolism positions the Rāsa Līlā as a timeless archetype of divine love and provides a great model of religious pluralism.

Abstract This essay examines the intersection of authenticity, autonomy, and diversity in Islamic feminist scholarship, challenging Western‐centric paradigms in the study of Islam. It critiques secularist assumptions of critique and objectivity, revealing how they marginalize indigenous Muslim scholarly traditions and narratives, especially those of women. By integrating classical Islamic methodologies with critical feminist perspectives, the essay argues for the rich contributions of premodern Muslim women in theology and ethics. It emphasizes the need to center minoritized and indigenous voices and methodologies within Islamic studies, advocating for an inclusive approach that recognizes the vibrant diversity of Muslim traditions while addressing contemporary issues of gender, race, and justice.

This paper examines how Chinese people affiliated with different religions and ideologies of the Song period (960–1279 CE) used artistic, literary and visual representations to merge mountains and the natural world with the human body. This fusion of natural and human worlds in representation appears in a variety of contexts, including paintings of famous Song landscape artists, writings of literati thinkers, architectural developments of Neo-Confucian scholars, body charts recorded in the Daoist Canon, and artwork connected to Chinese Buddhism. The paper asserts that Song Chinese people used art and other material objects not only for the purpose of representing the world in which they lived but also as a means of expressing, developing and empowering their religions and ideologies. So powerful were these material representations, in fact, that in certain cases, they may have acted as a primary conduit through which the religion or ideology was experienced. As the paper shows, the interaction between the non-material activity of visualization (how people create images in their minds) and representation (how people create material objects to reify the images in their minds) is often pivotal, as opposed to accessory, to some of the later ideological developments of the Chinese people.

Abstract In this paper we provide a descriptive account of the interacting morphological, phonological, and lexical factors determining how diminutives are marked in Tiania [etianíá], an understudied variant of the Central Kenya Bantu language Kimeru. As in other languages, diminutivization in Tiania can indicate a decrease in size or quantity or express positive endearment or negative scorn, depending on the noun and the context. We will show that diminutivization is effected by transferring nouns into singular noun class 12 and plural class 13, as in other Bantu languages, but with two interesting variations: First, depending on the lexical class of the input noun, the diminutive prefixes will either replace or precede the noun’s prefix. In the latter case, the diminutive plural prefix may be added to either the singular or plural form of the base noun, again depending on the latter’s noun class. The second interesting variation is that the majority of nouns which have an /r/ in their stem or prefix replace such /r/’s by [l], something we refer to as “expressive lateralization”, e.g. e-rinyá ‘pit, cave (class 5)’ → ka-linyá ‘a small pit (class 12)’, ri-étwa˚ ‘name (class 5)’ → ka-li-étwa˚ ‘a sweet name’. To study the first variation, we systematically survey the diminutivization of nouns from all noun classes, singular and plural. To study the second variation, we track every one of 330 nouns with /r/ with respect to lateralization. In attempting to explain why such lateralization should occur, we consider augmentative and depreciative noun to noun derivations which also undergo /r/ → [l] as well as other derived word classes, e.g. adjectives, which sometimes undergo expressive lateralization, depending on whether they are denominal or deverbal (verbs never show such effects). Being that this is the only reported case we know of expressive lateralization, Tiania is both of typological interest as well as a mystery within Bantu and beyond.

Background: Metastatic differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC) represents a molecularly heterogeneous group of cancers with varying radioactive iodine (RAI) and [18F]-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) uptake patterns potentially correlated with the degree of de-differentiation through the so-called "flip-flop" phenomenon. However, it is unknown if RAI and FDG uptake patterns correlate with molecular status or metastatic site. Materials and Methods: A retrospective analysis of metastatic DTC patients (n = 46) with radioactive 131-iodine whole body scan (WBS) and FDG-PET imaging between 2008 and 2022 was performed. The inclusion criteria included accessible FDG-PET and WBS studies within 1 year of each other. Studies were interpreted by two blinded radiologists for iodine or FDG uptake in extrathyroidal sites including lungs, lymph nodes, and bone. Cases were stratified by BRAF V600E mutation status, histology, and a combination of tumor genotype and histology. The data were analyzed by McNemar's Chi-square test. Results: Lung metastasis FDG uptake was significantly more common than iodine uptake (WBS: 52%, FDG: 84%, p = 0.04), but no significant differences were found for lymph or bone metastases. Lung metastasis FDG uptake was significantly more prevalent in the papillary pattern sub-cohort (WBS: 37%, FDG: 89%, p = 0.02) than the follicular pattern sub-cohort (WBS: 75%, FDG: 75%, p = 1.00). Similarly, BRAF V600E+ tumors with lung metastases also demonstrated a preponderance of FDG uptake (WBS: 29%, FDG: 93%, p = 0.02) than BRAF V600E- tumors (WBS: 83%, FDG: 83%, p = 1.00) with lung metastases. Papillary histology featured higher FDG uptake in lung metastasis (WBS: 39%, FDG: 89%, p = 0.03) compared with follicular histology (WBS: 69%, FDG: 77%, p = 1.00). Patients with papillary pattern disease, BRAF V600E+ mutation, or papillary histology had reduced agreement between both modalities in uptake at all metastatic sites compared with those with follicular pattern disease, BRAF V600E- mutation, or follicular histology. Low agreement in lymph node uptake was observed in all patients irrespective of molecular status or histology. Conclusions: The pattern of FDG-PET and radioiodine uptake is dependent on molecular status and metastatic site, with those with papillary histology or BRAF V600E+ mutation featuring increased FDG uptake in distant metastasis. Further study with an expanded cohort may identify which patients may benefit from specific imaging modalities to recognize and surveil metastases.

Dr. Erbudak's essay offers an attempt to use statistics regarding the use of symmetry to distinguish among different cultural traditions in Iran and neighboring regions "with regard to the invading hordes up to the beginning of the 16th century, after which, due to the mobility of peoples, there is an intense mixing of artistic practice" (Introduction). The author's stated goal is to "examine the symmetry used in the ornamentation of various medieval civilizations and interpret it as a characteristic feature of each cultural group," and the cultural groups he enumerates in the abstract are Persians, Seljuks, Arabs, Greco-Roman (including Armenian, Eastern Roman Empire, and Kingdom of Andalusia). These categories span a very broad geographic area from Spain to Central Asia, with cultural categories reflecting different time periods (Seljuk and Arab being after the Arab conquests and the advent of Islam). The last category, Greco-Roman, is a jumble of geography and times from antiquity to the late 15th century. From my disciplinary perspective (history of art), which itself is interdisciplinary, relying upon history, cultural anthropology, and philosophy to a certain extent, this article is lacking in several respects. The first sentence mentions nomadism, but by the author's definition, colonial expansion is included without any consideration of various disciplinary approaches to the study of nomadism; for example, recently, D. T. Potts, Nomadism in Iran: From Antiquity to the Modern Era (2014). For a broader anthropological consideration, see T. J. Barfield, The Nomadic Alternative (1993). Since this is not germane to the author's intent, I would either omit the term "nomadism" at the start as too problematic, or dramatically expand the author's intent with the exposition of a theoretical foundation regarding nomadism and the movement of peoples (a subject, indeed, very pertinent to the topic of Iran, including Persian art, but likely not relevant to this article). I suggest beginning this paragraph, "Persia is located in the middle of the Silk Road…" and omitting the sentences above that. To conclude that Persian art neither "exerted nor received influence" (Conclusion, first para) runs counter to what we know of Persian art. For the Achaemenid period alone, see C. Nylander, Ionians in Pasargadae (1970), M. C. Root, The

This article reads the parable of the unjust steward (Luke 16:1–8a) using a social-scientific method, particularly the anthropology of agrarian patron-client relations. Here I delineate a model of the erosion of patron-client bonds, based on the work of James C. Scott and others, and the emergence of horizontal solidarity and mutual aid (“balanced reciprocity”). I relate this model to the peasant’s burden of debt, particularly in Jesus’ world. As commercialization develops in an agrarian society patron-client bonds begin to erode, and peasants begin to understand these bonds as relations of exploitation. Consequently, subversive ideology develops, evident in peasant folktales directed against the wealthy and powerful. Accordingly, I argue that the parable of the unjust steward is a satire aimed at landlord-patrons who perpetuate the burden of debt.