Ontstaan en eerste periode van die Hervormde teologiese opleiding aan die Universiteit van Pretoria

Establishment and first period of th e Hervormde theological training at the University of PretoriaIn this study the establishment of the Hervormde theological training at the University of Pretoria is researched with the purpose of identifying the ecclesiastical,religious and theological factors that influenced the emergence and development of a typical Hervormde type of theology in South Africa. It is argued that theresistance of the Transvaal Afrikaners to religious encroachment of their independence in the Boer Republic of the nineteenth century caused distrust of the church and theology associated with Stellenbosch in the British Cape Colony, and that opposition to trends from there determined the association of the Transvaal Hervormers with certain Dutch circles. From the joining of these two forces - what the Transvaal Hervormers required and what the contemporary Dutch theologies could offer - sprang the roots of what Hervormde theology came to be

David and the matriarch in the Book of Ruth

In this paper it is argued that the motif of the matriarch is not only present in the Book of Ruth, but that it also fulfils an important role. Several motifs and clusters of motifs established in the patriarchal narratives, especially that of the protection of the matriarch, are shown to be used in such a way that Ruth is portrayed as a typical matriarch. Since a matriarch is a matriarch by virtue of the importance of her offspring, the David motif in 4:17 is by no means secondary, but an inherent part of the narrative itself. This in turn has implications for the theological basis of the Davidic dynasty: Since the motif of the matriarch in this way becomes part of the royal theme, its meaning is determined by the overarching theme of solidarity and love, viz. that the royal house is founded not on 'pure' descent, but on solidarity and love

Top Quark Physics at the Tevatron

We review the field of top-quark physics with an emphasis on experimental techniques. The role of the top quark in the Standard Model of particle physics is summarized and the basic phenomenology of top-quark production and decay is introduced. We discuss how contributions from physics beyond the Standard Model could affect top-quark properties or event samples. The many measurements made at the Fermilab Tevatron, which test the Standard Model predictions or probe for direct evidence of new physics using the top-quark event samples, are reviewed here.Comment: 50 pages, 17 figures, 2 tables; version accepted by Review of Modern Physic

Questioning the Influence of Sunspots on Amazon Hydrology: Even a Broken Clock Tells the Right Time Twice a Day

It was suggested in a recent article that sunspots drive decadal variation in Amazon River flow. This conclusion was based on a novel time series decomposition method used to extract a decadal signal from the Amazon River record. We have extended this analysis back in time, using a new hydrological proxy record of tree ring oxygen isotopes (δ¹⁸OTR). Consistent with the findings of Antico and Torres, we find a positive correlation between sunspots and the decadal δ¹⁸OTR cycle from 1903 to 2012 (r = 0.60, p < 0.001). However, the relationship does not persist into the preceding century and even becomes weakly negative (r = −0.30, p = 0.11, 1799–1902). This result casts considerable doubt over the mechanism by which sunspots are purported to influence Amazon hydrology

Mixtures of nonparametric autoregressions

We consider data generating mechanisms which can be represented as mixtures of finitely many regression or autoregression models.We propose nonparametric estimators for the functions characterising the various mixture components based on a local quasi maximum likelihood approach and prove their consistency. We present an EM algorithm for calculating the estimates numerically which is mainly based on iteratively applying common local smoothers and discuss its convergence properties. © American Statistical Association and Taylor & Francis 2011.postprin

Climatic controls on the survival and loss of ancient types of barley on North Atlantic Islands

This study was partly funded by a Scottish Government Rural and Environment Science and Analytical Service award (PM, JW and TSG). The Scottish Northern Cairngorms reconstruction was finalised through the project NERC project ‘SCOT2K: Reconstructing 2000 years of Scottish climate from tree rings (NE/ K003097/1)’ while the new central and northwest Scottish data were developed as part of a NERC Iapetus PhD project.For ancient types of barley at sites in the Scottish Isles, Faroes, and Iceland, we calculated minimum temperature requirements for grain production (grain production threshold, GPT) as accumulated degree days over the cropping season. Site suitability for barley from AD 1200 to 2000 was investigated by comparing these thresholds with reconstructions of annual cropping season degree days (CSDD) using temperature and tree-ring data. In Iceland, between AD 1200 and 1500, reconstructed CSDD were more favorable in the southwest (Reykjavik), with fewer years below the GPT, than in the North, East and West, but there were two periods (1340–1389 and 1426–1475) with low average CSDD and several years below the GPT which possibly influenced the abandonment of barley cultivation around this time. Reconstructed CSDD for the Faroes (Tórshavn) had only one year below the GPT, but 15 periods of four or more consecutive years with low CSDD which would have challenged barley cultivation, especially in the thirteenth century. Reconstructed CSDD were highest for the Scottish Isles, allowing a more prominent role of barley in the farming system and economy. Nevertheless, years with poor harvests or famines were common and about half were associated with low CSDD, resulting in a significant temperature link but also demonstrating the important contribution of other factors. Despite frequent unfavorable years in both the Faroes and Scottish Isles, resilient production systems, well-adapted barley strains and socio-economic factors allowed barley cultivation to continue, and some ancient types to survive to the present day.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

CD70 (TNFSF7) is expressed at high prevalence in renal cell carcinomas and is rapidly internalised on antibody binding

In order to identify potential markers of renal cancer, the plasma membrane protein content of renal cell carcinoma (RCC)-derived cell lines was annotated using a proteomics process. One unusual protein identified at high levels in A498 and 786-O cells was CD70 (TNFSF7), a type II transmembrane receptor normally expressed on a subset of B, T and NK cells, where it plays a costimulatory role in immune cell activation. Immunohistochemical analysis of CD70 expression in multiple carcinoma types demonstrated strong CD70 staining in RCC tissues. Metastatic tissues from eight of 11 patients with clear cell RCC were positive for CD70 expression. Immunocytochemical analysis demonstrated that binding of an anti-CD70 antibody to CD70 endogenously expressed on the surface of A498 and 786-O cell lines resulted in the rapid internalisation of the antibody–receptor complex. Coincubation of the internalising anti-CD70 antibody with a saporin-conjugated secondary antibody before addition to A498 cells resulted in 50% cell killing. These data indicate that CD70 represents a potential target antigen for toxin-conjugated therapeutic antibody treatment of RCC

The structure of Chariklo's rings from stellar occultations

Two narrow and dense rings (called C1R and C2R) were discovered around the Centaur object (10199) Chariklo during a stellar occultation observed on 2013 June 3. Following this discovery, we planned observations of several occultations by Chariklo's system in order to better characterize the physical properties of the ring and main body. Here, we use 12 successful occulations by Chariklo observed between 2014 and 2016. They provide ring profiles (physical width, opacity, edge structure) and constraints on the radii and pole position. Our new observations are currently consistent with the circular ring solution and pole position, to within the $\pm 3.3$ km formal uncertainty for the ring radii derived by Braga-Ribas et al. The six resolved C1R profiles reveal significant width variations from $\sim 5$ to 7.5 km. The width of the fainter ring C2R is less constrained, and may vary between 0.1 and 1 km. The inner and outer edges of C1R are consistent with infinitely sharp boundaries, with typical upper limits of one kilometer for the transition zone between the ring and empty space. No constraint on the sharpness of C2R's edges is available. A 1$\sigma$ upper limit of $\sim 20$ m is derived for the equivalent width of narrow (physical width <4 km) rings up to distances of 12,000 km, counted in the ring plane

Late-Holocene climate dynamics recorded in the peat bogs of Tierra del Fuego, South America

The ombrotrophic peat bogs of Tierra del Fuego are located within the southern westerly wind belt (SWWB), which dominates climate variability in this region. We have reconstructed late-Holocene water-table depths from three peat bogs and aimed to relate these records to shifts in regional climate. Water-table depths were quantified by the analysis of testate amoeba assemblages, and a regional transfer function was used to infer past water-table depths. During the last 2000 years, testate amoeba assemblages have been relatively stable, with a dominance of Difflugia pulex and Difflugia pristis type, and an increase in Assulina muscorum and other Euglyphida at the top of each section. Multivariate analyses show that water-table depth remained the main environmental variable explaining assemblages along the TiA12 core, but reconstructions were not significant for the two other cores. In line with the low variability in assemblages, water tables were relatively stable during the last 2000 years. Slightly wetter conditions were found between ~1400 and 900 cal. BP and a pronounced recent dry shift was reconstructed in all of the three peat profiles. Considering the regional climatic context, this recent shift may have been forced by a decrease in precipitation and warmer conditions linked to an increase in the importance of the SWWB. Nevertheless, we cannot exclude the influence of higher UV-B radiation resulting from the local degradation of the ozone layer since the late 1970s, which may have had an additional effect on the relative presence of A. muscorum in the southern Patagonian region