God and Horrendous Suffering

The chapters in this book combine to show that it is exceedingly improbable to the point of refutation for the god of Orthodox Theism to exist. The main problem is an evidential one regarding horrendous suffering. A perfectly good god would be opposed to it, an all-powerful god would be capable of eliminating it, and an all-knowing god would know what to do about it. The existence of horrendous suffering in the world leads us to think that god is either not powerful enough to eliminate it, or does not care enough to eliminate it, or is just not smart enough to know what to do about it. The book also addresses issues relating to the lack of objective evidence for miracles, the absurdity of theistic myths, the relationship of horrendous suffering to differing theologies and religious faiths, the horrendous nature of the biblical god, the horrendous actions done because of religious faith, and how these considerations can lead reasonable people away from religion. The authors discuss these issues philosophically, theologically, apologetically, biblically, religiously, historically, and personally. It’s an excellent model for how philosophers, apologists, and theologians should’ve been discussing this problem decades ago.

Patterns of variations in dorsal colouration of the Italian wall lizard Podarcis siculus

ABSTRACT Research on animal colouration has grown exponentially in the last decade thanks to multidisciplinary approaches. Most studies are focused on trade-offs between communication and mimicry, which represent the two main constraints and drivers of the evolution of body colourations. Reptiles are excellent model species for investigating this field of study and lizards in particular show great variability of body colourations and their functions. We studied the lizard Podarcis siculus, analysing the variations of dorsal colour of three populations and obtained clear patterns of seasonal and ontogenetical variation of dorsal colour. According to baseline colour, males were greener and brighter than females, although no difference in saturation was recorded. According to seasonal variations, analyses showed that both sexes significantly vary in colour over the year: males reached higher peaks of hue and saturation later than females during spring, while females showed higher peaks of brightness and reached earlier similarly to hue and saturation. Ontogenetic variations were recorded only in males, which become greener, less bright and saturated with growing size. Therefore, our results suggest the occurrence of two opposing strategies in colour expression between sexes: males’ dorsal colouration plays a major role in communication, while females are more crypsis-oriented.

Adsorption Isotherm Study of Cd (II), Ni (II) and Cu (II) Removal in Ternary System Using Nano ϒ-Al2O3

The adsorption of Cd (II), Ni (II) and Cu (II) ions on nanoϒ-Al2O3 isotherms study indicate that (Langmuir, Freundlich and Elovich) be the most excellent model described removal of Cu (II) ion. Jovanovic and Harkins-Jura were found to be the most excellent one described removal of Ni (II) ions and the all models are less suitable for Cd (II) ions. All these were noted from the correlation coefficients values. The highest removal percentages obtained for ions were 92.045 % of Cd (II), 93.175 % of Ni (II) and 93.685% of Cu (II). FESEM was measured to find out the average particle size of nanoparticles and EDXA was used for measuring purity.

The Unicellular Red Alga Cyanidioschyzon merolae, an Excellent Model Organism for Elucidating Fundamental Molecular Mechanisms and Their Applications in Biofuel Production

Microalgae are considered one of the best resources for the production of biofuels and industrially important compounds. Various models have been developed to understand the fundamental mechanism underlying the accumulation of triacylglycerols (TAGs)/starch and to enhance its content in cells. Among various algae, the red alga Cyanidioschyzonmerolae has been considered an excellent model system to understand the fundamental mechanisms behind the accumulation of TAG/starch in the microalga, as it has a smaller genome size and various biotechnological methods are available for it. Furthermore, C. merolae can grow and survive under high temperature (40 °C) and low pH (2–3) conditions, where most other organisms would die, thus making it a choice alga for large-scale production. Investigations using this alga has revealed that the target of rapamycin (TOR) kinase is involved in the accumulation of carbon-reserved molecules, TAGs, and starch. Furthermore, detailed molecular mechanisms of the role of TOR in controlling the accumulation of TAGs and starch were uncovered via omics analyses. Based on these findings, genetic engineering of the key gene and proteins resulted in a drastic increment of the amount of TAGs and starch. In addition to these studies, other trials that attempted to achieve the TAG increment in C. merolae have been summarized in this article.

Plant–Microbe Interactions: From Genes to Ecosystems Using Populus as a Model System

Plant–microbe symbioses span a continuum from pathogenic to mutualistic, with functional consequences for both organisms in the symbiosis. In order to increase sustainable food and fuel production in the future, it is imperative that we harness these symbioses. The tree genus Populus is an excellent model system for studies examining plant–microbe interactions due to the wealth of genomic information available and the molecular tools that have been developed to manipulate Populus–microbe symbioses. In this review, we highlight how Populus can serve as a model system to explore plant–microbe interactions. Specifically, we highlight research linking Populus–microbe interactions from the gene to the ecosystem level. We explore why Populus is an excellent model for perennial plant systems, the molecular underpinnings of Populus–microbe interactions, how host genetics influence microbial community composition, and how microbial communities vary at fine spatial scales and between Populus spp. Furthermore, we explore how changes in the microbiome may affect ecosystem-level functions in managed and natural ecosystems. Understanding and manipulating these interactions in Populus has the potential to improve plant health and affect ecosystem sustainability and processes because Populus trees function as foundational species in many natural ecosystems and are also deployed in managed ecosystems for various agroforestry applications. [Formula: see text] Copyright © 2021 The Author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license .

Visible-Light Induced Singlet Nucleophilic Carbenes: Rapid and Mild Access to Fluorinated Tertiary Alcohol Derivatives

Singlet nucleophilic carbenes (SNCs) that contain only one heteroatom donor remain underexplored and underutilized in chemical synthesis. To discover new synthetic strategies that harness these SNCs as reactive intermediates, aromatic or aliphatic siloxy carbenes represent excellent model substrates as they can be readily generated photochemically from stable acyl silane precursors. We herein report the discovery that photochemically generated siloxy carbenes undergo 1,2-carbonyl addition to trifluoromethyl ketones, followed by a silyl transfer process to afford benzoin-type products. This new transformation is a rare example of the use of ketones as trapping reagents for SNC intermediates and delivers an efficient, user-friendly and scalable process to access fluorinated tertiary alcohol derivatives driven by only light, circumventing the use of catalysts or additives.

Visible-Light Induced Singlet Nucleophilic Carbenes: Rapid and Mild Access to Fluorinated Tertiary Alcohol Derivatives

Singlet nucleophilic carbenes (SNCs) that contain only one heteroatom donor remain underexplored and underutilized in chemical synthesis. To discover new synthetic strategies that harness these SNCs as reactive intermediates, aromatic or aliphatic siloxy carbenes represent excellent model substrates as they can be readily generated photochemically from stable acyl silane precursors. We herein report the discovery that photochemically generated siloxy carbenes undergo 1,2-carbonyl addition to trifluoromethyl ketones, followed by a silyl transfer process to afford benzoin-type products. This new transformation is a rare example of the use of ketones as trapping reagents for SNC intermediates and delivers an efficient, user-friendly and scalable process to access fluorinated tertiary alcohol derivatives driven by only light, circumventing the use of catalysts or additives.