Kind en religie

’n Tematisering oor die godsdiens is net so oud soos die mens seii. As oopdekking van die verhouding mens tot God, vorm dit die tema van die gesprek tussen God en Adam na die sondeval. Sederldien was dit nog nooit afwesig in elke vorm van nalatenskap wat ons by die mens aantref nie, omdat die iioeke na sinvolheid en betekenis nog altyd ’n strewe openbaar om die harmonieuse verhouding met God te herstel, al ontken die mens dit ook en al soek hy die kxag van die herstel in homself. Ook die hedendaagse lewensgang is nie anders nie. Voordat die tweede dekade van hierdie eeu afgeloop was, het die groot Switserse pedagoog Foerster reeds gekla dat hoewel ons trots daarop is dat ons meer as ooit die buitewêreld aan ons wil onderwerp het, ons opgehou het om te besef dat in werklikheid die buitewêreld meer as ooit mag gekry het oor die innerlike mens. Sy formulering was miskien minder aan- grypend as die klag van Léon Bloy, wat reeds met die wente- ling van die eeu uitgespreek is: God is afwesig! God is af­ wesig in die stede, in die velde, in die berge en op die vlakte. Hy is afwesig in die wet en in die wetenskap, in die politiek, in die opvoeding en in die sedes. Hy is selfs afwesig in die lewens van gelowiges, want hulle wat nog as sy vriende bekend wil staan, het geen behoefte aan sy aanwesigheid nie. God is afwesig soos nog nooit te vore nie. Afwesigheid het een van die eienskappe van God geword

Lluitar contra els virus a les granges seguint la seva evolució filogenètica

La irrupció de l'anàlisi genètica com a mètode de diagnosi de malalties ha suposat un avenç important del que la indústria ramadera s'està beneficiant. L'estudi de les seqüències de nucleòtids dels virus permet fer reconstruccions filogenètiques que permetran deduir característiques d'aquests agents patògens, podent seguir l'evolució del virus i traçar l'origen d'un brot. Aquests tipus d'estudis permetran, en un futur, controlar amb èxit les malalties a les granjes.La irrupción del análisis genético como método de diagnóstico de enfermedades ha supuesto un avance importante, algo de lo que la industria ganadera se está beneficiando. El estudio de las secuencias de nucleótidos de los virus permite hacer reconstrucciones filogenéticas que permitirán deducir características de estos agentes patógenos, pudiendo seguir la evolución del virus y trazar el origen de un brote. Este tipo de estudio permitirán, en un futuro, controlar exitosamente las enfermedades a las granjas

Дуга нестабильности в украинской геополитике

Статья посвящена проблеме формирования геополитического вектора современной Украины. В статье показаны негативные, фактически кризисные явления и процессы в государственном строительстве Украины. Украина - рубежная страна между современным Западом и Востоком. Усиливающееся противостояние Запада и России может привести к расколу украинского общества и государства в целом. Устремленность политиков страны в сторону Запада несет восточнославянским народам огромный вред. Происходит подмена решения жизненноважных экономических проблем политическими акциями, направленными на раскол восточнославянских народов. Украина по воле ее руководителей становится организатором антироссийской политики в современных условиях. Попытки продвинуть идеи "оранжевой революции" при поддержке США на Восток не увенчались успехом, но наносят огромный экономический и иной вред государству и всему украинскому народу.Стаття присвячена проблемі формування геополітичного вектора Сучасної України. В статті показані негативні, фактично кризові явища і процеси в державному будівництві України. Україна - країна рубежу між сучасним Заходом і Сходом. Протистояння Заходу і Росії, що посилюється, може привести до розколу українського суспільства і держави в цілому. Спрямованість політиків країни у бік Заходу несе східно-слов'янським народам величезну шкоду. Відбувається підміна рішення життєважливих економічних проблем політичними акціями, направленими на розкол східнослов'янських народів. України по волі її керівників стає організатором антиросійської політики в сучасних умовах. Спроби просунути ідеї "оранжевої революції" при підтримці США на схід не увінчалися успіхом, але наносять величезний економічний і інша шкода державі та всьому українському народу.The article is devoted to the problem of forming of geopolitical vector of Modern Ukraine. The negative, actually crisis phenomena and processes in state building of Ukraine are shown in the article. Ukraine is a border country between modern the West and the East. Increasing opposition of the West and Russia can result in the dissidence of Ukrainian society and state on the whole. The tendency of politicians of country toward the West carries enormous harm to the east Slavonic people. There is substitution of decision economic problems by the political actions directed on the dissidence of eastslavonic people. Ukraine on will of its leaders becomes the organizer of anti-russian policy in modern terms. Attempts to move forward the ideas of "orange revolution" at support of the USA east were not crowned by success, but inflict enormous economic and other harm to the state to all Ukrainian people

Childbearing and labour force participation in South Africa: sibling composition as an identification strategy?

This paper uses same sex sibling composition as a strategy to identify the exogenous effects of childbearing on female labour force participation in South Africa. International studies typically find that sibling sex composition is strong instrument for childbearing, satisfying the two properties of an instrumental variable. First, it is positively correlated with childbearing because couples have a preference for a mixed or balanced sibling sex composition. Second, sex sibling composition is a random occurrence and therefore exogenous with respect to female labour force participation. In contrast to international studies, this paper provides evidence that same sex sibling composition is a poor instrument for childbearing among Africans in South Africa. Two-stage least squares estimation of the effects of childbearing on female labour force participation reveals the weak explanatory power of sibling sex composition in first-stage estimations. The result is that very large standard errors are generated on instrumental variable estimates which cannot be interpreted with any level of confidence

Treosulfan pharmacokinetics and dynamics in pediatric allogeneic stem cell transplantation

Treosulfan-based conditioning has gained popularity in pediatric allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) because of its presumed favourable efficacy and toxicity profile. Treosulfan is used in standardized dosing regimens based on body surface area. The relationship between systemic treosulfan exposure, early and long term clinical outcome in pediatric patients undergoing allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) for non-malignant diseases is unresolved. In this thesis we aimed to answer these questions. We found a relationship between the level of exposure to treosulfan and acute toxicity, but we found no relationship with the risk of rejection, survival and long-term endocrine complications. A personalized dose of treosulfan can therefore be useful to reduce toxicity in children, but because the toxicity profile of treosulfan is generally relatively mild, it will not be necessary in most cases. This is beneficial, because measuring blood levels is not always available in every hospital. Future research should focus on specific disease categories or patient groups that may benefit from treosulfan monitoring. More research is also needed on the late complications of treosulfan, such as dental, neurocognitive, hair, eye and lung problems, as this aspect becomes increasingly important as more (very young) patients undergo stem cell transplantation.Stichting Kinderen Kankervrij no. 213LUMC / Geneeskund

Verschil moet er zijn : christelijke filosofie en morele orde

Rede uitgesproken bij het publiek aanvaarden van het ambt van bijzonder hoogleraar Christelijke Filosofie aan de Theologische Universiteit Kampen|Utrecht op 20 mei 2022

Application of molecular techniques to the diagnosis and epidemiology of Haemophilus parasuis

Consultable des del TDXTítol obtingut de la portada digitalitzadaHaemophilus parasuis es l'agent etiológic de la malaltia de Glässer's, però aquesta bactèria pot causar altres manifestacions clíniques, a més a més de poder ser aïllat del tracte respiratori superior de porcs sans. Els aïllaments de H. parasuis poden presentar diferents fenotips (per exemple diferent perfil de proteïnes, morfologia de colònia o bé producció de càpsula) i diferent capacitat patogènica. Les diferencies entre soques també s'han demostrat a nivell genètic. S'han emprat varis mètodes de tipat per classificar soques de camp d' H. parasuis, però totes presentaven problemes de resolució o implementació. Per resoldre aquestes limitacions es van avaluar diferents tècniques basades en seqüenciació d'ADN. Conseqüentment l'objectiu d'aquest estudi fou millorar el tipat d' H. parasuis i examinar l'associació entre grups de soques i aparició de malaltia. En el primer capítol d'aquest treball s'estudià l'ús d'una seqüència parcial del gen «heat shock protein 60 KDa» (hsp60) com a marcador epidemiológic en un esquema de «single locus sequence typing» (SLST). Es compararen els resultats obtinguts emprant patrons de «enterobacterial repetitive intergenic consensus» (ERIC)-PCR, seqüències parcials de hsp60 i 16S rARN de 103 soques d' H. parasuis i altres espècies relacionades. En el segon capítol d'aquest treball es va desenvolupar un esquema de «multilocus sequence typing» (MLST) fent servir seqüències parcial del gens «house-keeping» mdh, 6pgd, atpD, g3pd, frdB, infB and rpoB. Onze soques de referència i 120 soques de camp van ser incloses en aquest darrer estudi. Els nostres resultats mostren que la hsp60 es un marcador fiable per estudis epidemiológics d' H. parasuis, i que l'anàlisi d'aquesta seqüència es una aproximació millor que els mètodes basats en patrons de bandes. Sorprenentment els gen 16S rARN mostrà prou variabilitat com per ser emprat en el tipatge de H. parasuis enlloc de només en la identificació a nivell d'espècie. A més a més, l'anàlisi de les seqüències de hsp60 i 16S rARN revelaren l'existència de un llinatge divergent de soques associades a l'aparició de malaltia. Ambdós estudis, un amb SLST i l'altre amb MLST, indicaren l'existència de transferències laterals de gens entre soques de H. parasuis i Actinobacillus invalidant l'ús d'aproximacions basades en un sol gen en l'anàlisi filogenètic d'aquesta espècie. L'anàlisi amb MLST mostrà l'existència de 6 «clusters». Quan s'examina l'origen clínic dels aïllaments es veié que un dels «clusters» estava estadísticament associat amb l'aïllament nasal mentre que un altre era associat amb l'aïllament de lesions. El darrer «cluster» incloïa les mateixes soques que el llinatge associat amb l'aparició de malaltia prèviament descrit amb els gens hsp60 i 16S rARN. Finalment, tot i que H. parasuis presenta una estructura de població lliurement recombinant es van trobar dues branques divergents en construir un arbre «neighbour-joining» amb les seqüències del MLST concatenades. Aquesta troballa dona suport als resultats obtinguts amb el gen 16S rARN indicant que H. parasuis sembla tenir una especiació críptica enlloc de una estructura de població panmíctica.Haemophilus parasuis is the etiological agent of Glässer's disease, but this bacterium causes other clinical outcomes and can also be isolated from the upper respiratory tract of healthy pigs. Isolates of H. parasuis differ in phenotypic features (e.g. protein profiles, colony morphology or capsule production) and pathogenic capacity. Differences among strains have also been demonstrated at the genetic level. Several typing methods have been used to classify H. parasuis field strains, but they showed resolution or implementation problems. To overcome these limitations, different DNA sequence based techniques were evaluated. Consequently, the final goal of this study was to improve H. parasuis typing and examine the association of groups of strains with disease outcome. In the first chapter of this work, a partial sequence from the heat shock protein 60 KDa (hsp60) gene was assessed as epidemiological marker in a single locus sequence typing (SLST). We compared enterobacterial repetitive intergenic consensus (ERIC)-PCR patterns, partial sequences of hsp60 and 16S rRNA genes from 103 strains of H. parasuis and other related species. In the second chapter of this work, we developed a multilocus sequence typing (MLST) system using partial sequences of the house-keeping genes mdh, 6pgd, atpD, g3pd, frdB, infB and rpoB. Eleven reference strains and 120 field strains were included in this latter study. Our results showed that hsp60 is a reliable marker for epidemiological studies in H. parasuis, and the analysis of its sequence is a better approach than fingerprinting methods. Surprisingly, the 16S rRNA gene showed enough variability to be used, not only for species identification, but also for typing. Furthermore, the analysis of the hsp60 and 16S rRNA sequences revealed the presence of a separated lineage of disease-associated strains. Both SLST and MLST studies indicated the occurrence of lateral gene transfer among H. parasuis and Actinobacillus strains invalidating the use of single gene approaches in the phylogenetic analysis of these species. MLST analysis revealed the existence of 6 clusters. When the clinical background of the isolates was examined, one cluster was statistically associated with nasal isolation, while another cluster was associated with isolation from lesions. The latter cluster was the same disease-associated cluster identified by hsp60 and 16S rRNA gene analysis. Finally, although a freely recombining population structure was reported, two divergent branches were found when a neighbour-joining tree was constructed with the concatenated sequences. The latter, supports the results obtained by 16S rRNA gene sequencing and indicate that H. parasuis is more likely to have a cryptic speciation than a true panmictic population structure

Stories becoming sticky : how civic initiatives strive for connection to governmental spatial planning agendas

This thesis aims to understand the phenomenon of self-organizing civic initiatives, how they engage in and connect to planning practices aimed at the improvement of the quality of places and why these connections lead to alteration or transformation of governmental planning agendas or not. By providing greater understanding about these processes the thesis aims to contribute to debates about how planners can improve connections with civil society initiatives and how a more responsive and adaptive attitude towards a dynamically changing society can be achieved. Conclusions were drawn from two in-depth case-studies of civic initiatives in two Dutch regions: 1) initiatives of business entrepreneurs and experts to develop New Markets which support the cultural landscape of the region Heuvelland, and 2) initiatives of citizens for the protection and development of landscape values in the urban-rural fringe Gouda-Krimpenerwaard. Building on agenda-setting and framing theory the analysis focused on how initiatives self-organized and connected to other stakeholders and how outcomes of their efforts in terms of their ambitions and government agendas could be understood. The research results point to the crucial role of storytelling and the day-to-day interactions in which stories emerge and become ‘sticky’. Sticky stories are strong ‘attractors’ that mobilize attention and support. The stickiness of a story was enhanced through discursive processes in which the story was connected to the self-referential frames of targeted supporters. Thus, sticky stories could not emerge without empathic listening, timing and patience. Three interplaying conditions were critical in the process of a story becoming sticky or fading away: 1) formal and informal ‘catalytic’ conversations as the medium of storytelling; 2) storytelling by people who perform as connectors and enable the travelling of stories through a wider network, and 3) signalling and incorporating focusing events into evolving stories in ways considered meaningful and relevant by targeted supporters. This results in a model that offers a way to understand dynamical change of policy and planning agendas by focusing on the interactive construction, connection, and subtle alteration of stories in day-to-day conversations, by the right people, at the right moments.</p