127 research outputs found
Legalism and apocalypticism in early Judaism
Thesis (M.A.) -- University of Stellenbosch, 1999.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Early Judaism, between approximately 200 BCE and
70 CE, had developed two significant strains of belief
which affected the religious and social conduct of the
various sections of the population: legalism and
apocalypticism. They had evolved over a long historical
period, influenced by political developments and social
insecurity within Palestine, and by the destabilizing
effects of Hellenization on the traditional values of
Judaism. The literature of the period indicates separate
groups within the diversified culture of Judaism, in which
allegiance was to either Temple-based adherence to the Law
or to the dissident apocalyptic tradition, with different
eschatological expectations.
In contrast, the Qumranic, socially-integrated,
sectarians combined within their thought-processes and
praxis both an extremely strict legalism and also
significant elements of apocalyptic belief. They were
able to accommodate both aspects because of a realized
eschatology which considered the group to be the sole
chosen remnant of Israel, already in the company of the
holy angels and predestined for salvation.
Within the greater Jewish milieu, legalism and
apocalypticism were oppositional forces : within Qumran
they were complementary. Rigid legalism, to maintain
ritual purity, would hasten the imminent eschaton, with
apocalyptic annihilation of evil by God and his angels.AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Gedurende die vroee Judaisme, tussen ongeveer 200 v.C. en 70 n.C., het twee
betekenisvolle religieuse verskynsels ontwikkel wat die godsdienstige en sosiale optrede van
verskeie seksies van die bevolking beinvloed het, naamlik die legalisme en apokaliptisisme.
Hierdie verskynsels het oor 'n lang historiese periode ontwikkel en is beinvloed deur
politieke verwikkelinge en sosiale onsekerhede binne Palestina, sowel as deur die
destabiliserende effek van die Hellenisme op die tradisionele waardes van die Judaisme. Die
literatuur van hierdie tydvak dui op afsonderlike groepe binne die uiteenlopende kulture van
die Judaisme, waarin daar getrou gebly is aan 'n tempel-gebaseerde vaskleef aan die Wet, aan
die een kant, of aan die afwykende apokaliptiese tradisie, met uiteenlopende eskatologiese
verwagtinge, aan die ander kant.
In kontrashiermee, het die sosiaal geintegreerde Qumran sekte binne hulle denke en
praktyk beide 'n ekstreme streng legalisme, asook betekenisvolle elemente van apokaliptiese
geloofsperspektiewe gekombineer. Hulle was in staat om beide aspekte te akkommodeer as
gevolg van 'n gerealiseerde eskatologie wat die groep beskou het as die uitsluitlike uitverkore
oorblyfsel van Israel, wat alreeds in die teenwoordigheid van heilige engele was en
voorbeskik was vir redding.
Binne die groter Joodse milieu was legalisme en apokaliptisisme kontrasterende
kragte; in Qumran daarenteen funksioneer hulle komplementerend. Strenge legalisme, om,
onder andere, die rituele reinheid te handhaaf, sou die ophande eschaton, met die
gepaardgaande uitwissing van die bose deur God en sy engele, verhaas.Maste
Convergent Use of RhoGAP Toxins by Eukaryotic Parasites and Bacterial Pathogens
Inactivation of host Rho GTPases is a widespread strategy employed by bacterial pathogens to manipulate mammalian cellular functions and avoid immune defenses. Some bacterial toxins mimic eukaryotic Rho GTPase-activating proteins (GAPs) to inactivate mammalian GTPases, probably as a result of evolutionary convergence. An intriguing question remains whether eukaryotic pathogens or parasites may use endogenous GAPs as immune-suppressive toxins to target the same key genes as bacterial pathogens. Interestingly, a RhoGAP domain–containing protein, LbGAP, was recently characterized from the parasitoid wasp Leptopilina boulardi, and shown to protect parasitoid eggs from the immune response of Drosophila host larvae. We demonstrate here that LbGAP has structural characteristics of eukaryotic RhoGAPs but that it acts similarly to bacterial RhoGAP toxins in mammals. First, we show by immunocytochemistry that LbGAP enters Drosophila immune cells, plasmatocytes and lamellocytes, and that morphological changes in lamellocytes are correlated with the quantity of LbGAP they contain. Demonstration that LbGAP displays a GAP activity and specifically interacts with the active, GTP-bound form of the two Drosophila Rho GTPases Rac1 and Rac2, both required for successful encapsulation of Leptopilina eggs, was then achieved using biochemical tests, yeast two-hybrid analysis, and GST pull-down assays. In addition, we show that the overall structure of LbGAP is similar to that of eukaryotic RhoGAP domains, and we identify distinct residues involved in its interaction with Rac GTPases. Altogether, these results show that eukaryotic parasites can use endogenous RhoGAPs as virulence factors and that despite their differences in sequence and structure, eukaryotic and bacterial RhoGAP toxins are similarly used to target the same immune pathways in insects and mammals
PPAR Action in Human Placental Development and Pregnancy and Its Complications
During pregnancy crucial anatomic, physiologic, and metabolic changes challenge the mother and the fetus.
The placenta is a remarkable organ that allows the mother and the fetus to adapt to the new metabolic, immunologic,
and angiogenic environment imposed by gestation. One of the physiologic systems that appears to have evolved to
sustain this metabolic regulation is mediated by peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs).
In clinical pregnancy-specific disorders, including preeclampsia, gestational diabetes, and intrauterine growth restriction, aberrant regulation of components of the PPAR system parallels dysregulation of metabolism, inflammation and angiogenesis. This review summarizes current knowledge on the role of PPARs in regulating human trophoblast invasion, early placental development, and also in the physiology of clinical pregnancy and its complications. As increasingly indicated in the literature, pregnancy disorders, such as preeclampsia and gestational diabetes, represent potential targets for treatment with PPAR ligands. With the advent of more specific PPAR agonists that exhibit efficacy in ameliorating metabolic, inflammatory, and angiogenic disturbances, further studies of their application in pregnancy-related diseases are warranted
Molluscan mega-hemocyanin: an ancient oxygen carrier tuned by a ~550 kDa polypeptide
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The allosteric respiratory protein hemocyanin occurs in gastropods as tubular di-, tri- and multimers of a 35 × 18 nm, ring-like decamer with a collar complex at one opening. The decamer comprises five subunit dimers. The subunit, a 400 kDa polypeptide, is a concatenation of eight paralogous functional units. Their exact topology within the quaternary structure has recently been solved by 3D electron microscopy, providing a molecular model of an entire didecamer (two conjoined decamers). Here we study keyhole limpet hemocyanin (KLH2) tridecamers to unravel the exact association mode of the third decamer. Moreover, we introduce and describe a more complex type of hemocyanin tridecamer discovered in fresh/brackish-water cerithioid snails (<it>Leptoxis</it>, <it>Melanoides</it>, <it>Terebralia</it>).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The "typical" KLH2 tridecamer is partially hollow, whereas the cerithioid tridecamer is almost completely filled with material; it was therefore termed "mega-hemocyanin". In both types, the staggering angle between adjoining decamers is 36°. The cerithioid tridecamer comprises two typical decamers based on the canonical 400 kDa subunit, flanking a central "mega-decamer" composed of ten unique ~550 kDa subunits. The additional ~150 kDa per subunit substantially enlarge the internal collar complex. Preliminary oxygen binding measurements indicate a moderate hemocyanin oxygen affinity in <it>Leptoxis </it>(p50 ~9 mmHg), and a very high affinity in <it>Melanoides </it>(~3 mmHg) and <it>Terebralia </it>(~2 mmHg). Species-specific and individual variation in the proportions of the two subunit types was also observed, leading to differences in the oligomeric states found in the hemolymph.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>In cerithioid hemocyanin tridecamers ("mega-hemocyanin") the collar complex of the central decamer is substantially enlarged and modified. The preliminary O<sub>2 </sub>binding curves indicate that there are species-specific functional differences in the cerithioid mega-hemocyanins which might reflect different physiological tolerances of these gill-breathing animals. The observed differential expression of the two subunit types of mega-hemocyanin might allow individual respiratory acclimatization. We hypothesize that mega-hemocyanin is a key character supporting the adaptive radiation and invasive capacity of cerithioid snails.</p
Malaria and obesity: obese mice are resistant to cerebral malaria
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licens
Green marketing and distributors’ purchasing behaviors : a cross-cultural study
Marketing et écoute des marchésThèses et écrits académique
Purity : blessing or burden?
Thesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2002.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: During the history of Israel the concept of "purity"
had developed as a way in which God's people could honour
his holiness and draw nearer to him, as a sanctified
nation. By the time of Jesus, in Second Temple Judaism,
the purity system had become restrictive. This had been
influenced by political and social developments, including
an increased desire to withdraw from Hellenistic and other
factors which were seen as contaminating the integrity of
Judaism.
There were diverse perceptions regarding the
achievement of the purity of Israel, including
militaristic confrontation and expulsion of alien
occupation forces, stricter adherence to the Law and, in
some cases, total withdrawal from general society (such as
at Qumran). It was, however, particularly the Pharisaic
imposition of the supplementary oral tradition, supposed
to clarify the written Law, which imposed hardship on
those who, through illiteracy or inferior social status,
were unable to meet all the minute provisions which would
ensure ritual purity. The expansion of the Law of Moses
by the commentary of the rabbis, which over time became
the entrenched oral "tradition of the fathers", was
originally intended to promote access to God by clarifying
obscure points of the Law, in the pursuit of purity.
However, this oral tradition had, in fact, become an
instrument of alienation and separation of the ordinary people not only from the Pharisees, who considered
themselves as the religious elite, but also from God.
The common people, that is, a large section of the
population, felt rejected and on the outside of both
religious and social acceptance. On the material level
they also suffered under a heavy tax burden, from both
Temple and State, which aggravated their poverty.
It was this situation which Jesus confronted in his
mission to change the ideological climate and to reveal
the Kingdom of God as being accessible to all who accepted
the true Fatherhood of God, in penitence and humility.
He denounced the hypocrisy which professed piety but which
ignored the plight of those who were suffering.
Hark 7 : 1-23 symbolizes the difference between the
teaching and practice of Jesus and that of the Pharisees,
and provides metaphorically a pattern of Christian
engagement which is relevant in the South African
situation today.
The Christian challenge is to remove those barriers,
both ideological and economic, which impede spiritual and
material well-being within society. By active engagement,
rather than by retreating to the purely ritualistic and
individualistic practice of religion, the realization of
the Kingdom of Heaven, as inaugurated by Jesus, will be
advanced.AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Gedurende die geskiedenis van Israel het die konsep van reinheid ontwikkel as 'n
wyse waarin die die volk van God Sy heiligheid kan eer en tot Hom kan nader, as 'n
geheiligde volk. Teen die tyd van Jesus, tydens Tweede Tempel Judaïsme, het die
reinheid sisteem beperkend geword. Dit is beïnvloed deur politieke en sosiale
ontwikkelinge, insluitende 'n toenemende drang om te onttrek van Hellenistiese en
ander faktore, wat beskou is as 'n besoedeling van die integriteit van Judaïsme.
Daar was diverse persepsies aangaande die uitvoering van die reinheid van Israel,
insluitende militaristiese konfrontasie en die uitwerping van vreemde
besettingsmagte, strenger onderhouding van die Wet en in sekere gevalle, totale
onttreking van die algemene samelewing (soos by Qumran). Tog was dit in besonder
die Fariseërs se oplegging van bykomende mondelinge tradisie, veronderstelom die
geskrewe Wet te verhelder, wat ontbering veroorsaak het vir die wat as gevolg van
ongeletterdheid of minderwaardige sosiale status nie in staat was om aan elke haarfyn
bepaling, wat rituele reinheid sou verseker, te voldoen nie. Die uitbreiding van die wet
van Moses deur die kommentaar van die rabbies, wat met verloop van tyd die
ingegrawe mondelinge "tradisie van die vaders" geword het, was oorsproklik bedoel
om toegang tot God te verseker, deur die verheldering van onduidelike aspekte van
die wet, in die nastreef van reinheid.
Hierdie mondelinge tradisie het egter 'n instrument van vervreemding geword en
skeiding gebring tussen gewone mense en die Fariseers, sowel as die wat hulleself
beskou het as die religieuse elite. Dit het egter ook skeiding gebring tussen mense en
God.
Die gewone mense, dit is die meerderheid van die bevolking, het verwerp gevoel en
aan die buitekring van beide religieuse en sosiale aanvaarding. Op materiële vlak het
hulle ook gelyonder die juk van swaar belasting, van beide die Tempel en die Staat,
wat hulle toestand van armoede vererger het.
Dit was hierdie situasie wat Jesus gekonfronteer het in sy strewe om die ideologiese
klimaat te verander en om die Koninkryk van God te openbaar as toeganklik vir almal wat die ware Vaderskap van God aanvaar, in berou en in nederigheid. Hy het die
skynheiligheid verwerp wat aanspraak maak op vroomheid, maar die toestand van die
lydendes ignoreer.
Markus 7:1-23 simboliseer die verskil tussen die onderrig en die praktyk van Jesus en
dié van die Fariseërs en voorsien metafories 'n patroon van Christelike verbintenis,
wat relevant is binne die eietydse Suid-Afrikaanse konteks.
Die uitdaging aan die Christendom is om die skeidslyne te verwyder, beide ideologies
en ekonomies, wat geestelike en materieële welsyn binne die gemeenskap belemmer.
Deur aktiewe betrokkenheid, eerder as om bloot te onttrek tot die suiwer ritualistiese
en individualistiese beoefening van religie, sal die realisering van die Koninkryk van
die Hemel soos ingehuldig deur Jesus, bevorder word
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