The regulation of phosphoinositide 3-OH kinase and its role in 3-phosphorylated inositol lipid metabolism in U937 cells

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The use of pastor pastorum in the pastoral care of ministers of the Dutch Reformed Church

As a result of a defective system of pastoral care for the ministers' corps of the Dutch Reformed Church (DRC) by the denomination, ministers are often left to their own resources and consequently experience isolation. Because of developments in society and the church, they exist and function more and more on the periphery of the lives of people and of society. With some ministers, this results in an alienation from their vocation and uncertainty about how this vocation should be realised in specific circumstances and contexts. From this, the following research hypothesis was formulated : When the DRC appoints pastors pastorum as an essential component of a comprehensive and holistic approach to the pastoral care of the minister, ministers will fulfil their vocation with renewed self-confidence, improved competence and greater authority. The DRC functions according to the presbyterial synodical system of church government. Weaknesses in the system have a negative effect especially on pastors who have attained an exceptionally important position in the system. The system of corporate episcopes is inadequate in current circumstances. It is essential to supplement the system of corporative episcope with a system of personal episcope. The term "pastor" is preferred to that of "minister" or "reverend". The profile of the pastor is described in terms of the triangle : person, office and profession. The vocation of the pastor is considered to be fundamental to this triangle. The pastoral care of pastors comprises the totality of activities provided by the entire church in order to, by means of a personal episcope (thus officially), communicate the gospel to the pastor in all facets of his humanity and, by utilising all possible aids, to enable the pastor to fulfill his vocation with renewed self-confidence, authority and competence. The ministry of the pastor pastorum should be founded upon the metaphor of the Shepherd

The pastor as model for peaceful existence

Many people are disillusioned in the democratic South Africa. That is because they went out from the assumption that with the dawn of democracy, violence would disappear. Unfortunately this did not happen. As with most things in life it is not an either … or, but a both … and scenario. In fact, violence is part of the democratic system. Real peace between men and powers can only be the peace of God, the peace which alone heals all disorder. The peace of the world is at best peaceful coexistence, not peace. In South Africa we have a negotiated agreement to peaceful coexistence, and sometimes, for example, after the miracle of the 1994 election and the euphoria of the World Cups of 1995, 2007 and 2010, we may even think we have achieved real peace. It is indeed in these times of euphoria that the people of South Africa may be tempted to lower our aim and settle for second best thinking that we have arrived. Model is used not in the sense of the pastor being an example of a peaceful existence to be followed. It is rather used in the sense that a pastor in his or her professional capacity has the knowledge of the meaning of the term ‘peaceful existence’ and also the hermeneutic competency to apply that knowledge in concrete situations. This opens the exiting possibility that pastors can become travel companions on the road to real peace. The different aspects of being a pastor, office bearer, professional and person, each contribute to the pastor being a model for peace. It must be emphasised that the different aspects always work together as a unity and the strength of the pastor as a model for a peaceful existence is in the simultaneous application of these aspects in the context in which the pastor lives.http://www.ve.org.zanf201

The selection of candidates for theological training : necessity and application

The selection of candidates for theological training is a sensitive issue, as many see it as a verdict on the authenticity of the prospective student’s claim of having been called to ministry by God. This article argues that, in addition to a sense of calling, the profile of a candidate should include abilities in terms of office (power), profession (capability) and person (adequacy). The process of selection should involve all these aspects. The guidelines of the Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa in this regard in its publication, A–Z Handleiding aangaande predikante van die Nederduitse Gereformeerde Kerk, are discussed. The selection process should not be seen as a test of the authenticity of candidates’s sense of calling, but rather as a way in which candidates can be guided to discern their calling and place within the body of Christ. A positive outcome in the areas of office, capability and adequacy could confirm the claim of having been called by God. The article concludes that the selection of candidates for theological training is not a single event, but a process that starts when the prospective candidate reports to the church council, and is completed with the pastor’s ordination by the church.Die keuring van kandidate vir teologiese opleiding is ‘n uiters sensitiewe saak. Die grootste rede hiervoor is dat die predikant as ‘n persoon met ‘n ‘roeping van God’ beskou word, en dat keuring sou impliseer dat mense hulle oor die geldigheid van ‘n ander se baie intieme en persoonlike ervaring met God uitspreek. Hierdie artikel toon dat die profiel van die predikant, benewens sy of haar roeping, ook uit die amp (bevoegdheid), beroep (bekwaamheid) en persoon (geskiktheid) bestaan. Keuring met die oog op teologiese opleiding handel oor al hierdie aspekte, en die rol en verlangde uitkomste van elke aspek sal bespreek word. Laastens sal die rol van die riglyne van die Nederduitse Gereformeerde Kerk (NG Kerk) in dié verband, vervat in die publikasie A–Z Handleiding aangaande predikante van die Nederduitse Gereformeerde Kerk (2007), aan die orde kom. Voordat die tema egter verder uitgebou word, is dit eers nodig om twee belangrike terme, naamlik ‘predikant’ en ‘keuring’, te verduidelik

Characterization of a phosphatidylinositol-specific phosphoinositide 3-kinase from mammalian cells.

BACKGROUND: As phosphoinositides can serve as signalling molecules within cells, the enzymes responsible for their synthesis and cleavage are likely to be involved in the transduction of signals from the cell surface through the cytoplasm. The precise role of the phosphoinositide 3-kinase that has been cloned from mammalian cells is not known, but it has been implicated in receptor-stimulated mitogenesis, glucose uptake and membrane ruffling. The enzyme can use phosphatidylinositol (PtdIns), PtdIns 4-phosphate and PtdIns (4,5)-bisphosphate as substrates in vitro, but it seems to phosphorylate PtdIns (4,5)-bisphosphate preferentially in vivo. The VPS34 gene product of yeast, by contrast, is a phosphoinositide 3-kinase homologue implicated in vacuolar protein sorting that apparently utilizes only PtdIns as a substrate. The significance of this difference in lipid-substrate preference and its relationship to the functions of the two phosphoinositide kinases is unknown. RESULTS: We have characterized a distinct PtdIns-specific phosphoinositide 3-kinase activity in mammalian cells. Unlike the previously identified, broad-specificity mammalian phosphoinositide kinase, this enzyme is resistant to the drug wortmannin and uses only PtdIns as a substrate in vitro; it therefore has the capacity to generate PtdIns 3-phosphate specifically. The newly characterized enzyme, which was purified by chromatography from cytosol, has biochemical and pharmacological characteristics distinct from those of the broad-specificity enzyme. CONCLUSIONS: The enzyme we have characterized may serve to generate PtdIns 3-phosphate for fundamentally different roles in the cell from those of PtdIns (3,4)-bisphosphate and/or PtdIns (3,4,5)-trisphosphate. Furthermore, the functions of the VSP34 gene product, which may not be relevant to the broad-specificity mammalian phosphoinositide 3-kinase, may be related to those of the enzyme we describe