Evolutie-perspectief

Meer dan ooit staat voor de Iiuidige mens de toekomst in het centrum van de belangstelling. De snel-voortsclirijdende politieke, economische, sociale en technische ontwikkeling die wij meemaken plaatst ons voor de dikwijls beangstigende vraag welk een mensenmaatschappij uit al deze veranderingen en omwentelingen geboren zal worden

Schepping en Evolutie*

De lieide woorclen die in de titel van deze voordracht naast elkander staan liehben voor de Christen relaties tot twee verscliillende sferen van liet mens-zijn. Het woord „schepping” belioort tot de sfeer van het relifiieuze geloven, daar het ons in beslag neemt vanuit de Goddelijke openbaring in de Bijbel. Het wooTd „evolutie” daarentegen, komt uit de sfeer van de menselijke ervaring via het wetenschappelijk onderzoek, dat het worden van de wereld waarvan wij deal uitmaken zo veel mogelijk tracht te kennen en te l)egrijpen. Het bijeenvoegen van deze twee woorden in de titel wijst er dus reeds op dat, hoewel in deze voordracht een meer toegespitst vraagstuk behandeld wordt, dit slechts kan geschieden tegen de aclitergrond van de algemene vraagstukken van „Bijbel en wetenschap’’, en „geloof en wetenschap”. Wij rullen in het navolgende geleidelijk deze problematiek benaderen

Theta-modulated place-by-direction cells in the hippocampal formation in the rat

We report the spatial and temporal properties of a class of cells termed theta-modulated place-by-direction (TPD) cells recorded from the presubicular and parasubicular cortices of the rat. The firing characteristics of TPD cells in open-field enclosures were compared with those of the following two other well characterized cell classes in the hippocampal formation: place and head-direction cells. Unlike place cells, which code only for the animal's location, or head-direction cells, which code only for the animal's directional heading, TPD cells code for both the location and the head direction of the animal. Their firing is also strongly theta modulated, firing primarily at the negative-to-positive phase of the locally recorded theta wave. TPD theta modulation is significantly stronger than that of place cells. In contrast, the firing of head-direction cells is not modulated by theta at all. In repeated exposures to the same environment, the locational and directional signals of TPD cells are stable. When recorded in different environments, TPD locational and directional fields can uncouple, with the locational field shifting unpredictably ("remapping"), whereas the directional preference remains similar across environments

Design of Ge/SiGe quantum-confined Stark effect electroabsorption heterostructures for CMOS compatible photonics

We describe a combined 6×6 k.p and one-band effective mass modelling tool to calculate absorption spectra in Ge–SiGe multiple quantum well (MQW) heterostructures. We find good agreement with experimentally measured absorption spectra of Ge–SiGe MQW structures described previously in the literature, proving its predictive capability, and the simulation tool is used for the analysis and design of electroabsorption modulators. We employ strain-engineering in Ge–SiGe MQW systems to design structures for modulation at 1310 nm and 1550 nm

Tacrolimus analysis: A comparison of different methods and matrices

We determined the trough blood and plasma concentrations of tacrolimus from the day of transplantation through 30 days posttransplantation in four liver and four kidney transplant patients by three different methods. The first method involved a solid phase extraction of the blood or plasma using Sep-Pak columns (SPs) followed by quantitation of tacrolimus using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA); the second method involved a liquid-liquid extraction using methylene chloride (MC) followed by quantitation of tacrolimus using the ELISA, and the third method involved a high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) fractionation of the extract obtained from the solid-phase extraction and quantitation of tacrolimus in the fractions by ELISA. The trough plasma tacrolimus concentrations ranged from 0.1 to 5.2 ng/ml. While the trough plasma concentrations of tacrolimus were similar and independent of the method of analysis in kidney transplant patients and in liver transplant patients with normal biochemical profile, in patients with liver dysfunction, tacrolimus plasma concentrations were higher when measured by SP-ELISA and MC-ELISA methods as compared to the HPLC-ELISA method. In plasma samples obtained from liver transplant patients with liver dysfunction, the presence of some metabolites that cross-reacted with the antibody used in the ELISA could be documented in the HPLC fraction corresponding to the metabolites. This indicates that while tacrolimus metabolites that cross-react significantly with the antibody used in the ELISA do not accumulate in kidney transplant patients, they can appear in the plasma of patients with liver dysfunction. The trough blood tacrolimus concentrations in patients were significantly higher than the corresponding plasma concentrations and ranged from 1.4 to 107 ng/ml. The trough blood tacrolimus concentrations were similar and independent of the method of analysis in kidney and liver transplant patients, suggesting unchanged tacrolimus to be the major component in the blood. The HPLC fractions corresponding to the metabolites of tacrolimus did not contain any components that cross-reacted with the antibody used. This study documents that the methods used in this study for the analysis of blood concentrations of tacrolimus appear to be specific for the parent tacrolimus and can be used in future pharmacokinetic and clinical studies. © 1995 Raven Press, Ltd., New York

Blockade of chemokine-induced signalling inhibits CCR5-dependent HIV infection in vitro without blocking gp120/CCR5 interaction.

BACKGROUND: Cellular infection with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) both in vitro and in vivo requires a member of the chemokine receptor family to act as a co-receptor for viral entry. However, it is presently unclear to what extent the interaction of HIV proteins with chemokine receptors generates intracellular signals that are important for productive infection. RESULTS: In this study we have used a recently described family of chemokine inhibitors, termed BSCIs, which specifically block chemokine-induced chemotaxis without affecting chemokine ligands binding to their receptors. The BSCI termed Peptide 3 strongly inhibited CCR5 mediated HIV infection of THP-1 cells (83 +/- 7% inhibition assayed by immunofluoresence staining), but had no effect on gp120 binding to CCR5. Peptide 3 did not affect CXCR4-dependent infection of Jurkat T cells. CONCLUSION: These observations suggest that, in some cases, intracellular signals generated by the chemokine coreceptor may be required for a productive HIV infection

Experimental Heat Transfer Supporting Simulated Water Well Performance on Mars

Favorable indications of massive quantities of water on Mars have initiated studies of potential changes to human Mars missions. Using a technique known as a Rodriguez Well to melt the ice, store the resulting water in a subsurface ice cavity until needed, and then pump water to the surface for use is one potential means to effect these changes. A computer simulation of the Rodriguez Well in a terrestrial environment is one of the engineering tools being used to characterize the performance of this type of well on Mars. An experiment at the NASA Johnson Space Center is gathering data for convective heat transfer and evaporation rates at Mars surface conditions so that this computer simulation can be properly modified to predict performance on Mars. While quantitative results await processing, tests have indicated that a pool of water can be maintained at 1C to 2 C while at Mars surface temperatures and pressures