O ESTUDO DA RELIGIÃO NO DEPARTAMENTO DE ANTROPOLOGIA SOCIAL E CULTURAL DA VRJE UNIVERSITEIT EM AMSTERDÃ

Os autores neste artigo analisam a trajetó ria e o momento atual de um grupo de professores e pesquisadores em Antropologia da Religião radicado no departamento de Antropologia Social da Universidade Livre de Amsterdã . Fizeram uma breve Historia da constituição do grupo na segunda metade do século XX. Nas décadas de 1960 e 1970, as pesquisas de campo eram desenvolvidas em varias lugares do mundo, com marcos teóricos igualmente diversos. Atualmente há uma articu lação das pesquisas dos professores e alunos de doutorado em dois grandes programas de pesquisa. O primeiro programa, "Entre secularização e sacralizacao" engloba pesquisas no campo religioso holandês a partir de um enquadramento metodológico qualitativo. o segundo programa, "trajetórias de conversão e políticas da cultura ", dedica -se ao estudo da expansão do cristianismo carismático e pentacostal na Holanda e no globo

THE STUDY OF RELIGION IN DEPARTAMENT OF SOCIAL AND CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY VRIJE UNIVERSITEIT AMSTERDAM

The authcrs of this artic analy the trajectory and the conterrporary moment of a group of profsors and reseamhers in Anthiopolcgy of Religion at the Departmmt of Social Anthropology at Free University of Amsterdam. They elabcrate a brief histcry of the constitution of the group in secord half of the Century in the decades of 1960 and 1970, the field resrch were devebped in different loca in the world, with theomtical marks also different. Nowadays there is an artiwlation of the researches of the profsors and Ph.D. studmts in two big plDgrams.The first: "Between secularization and sacralization", includes researches on the Dutth religious field from a qualitatiw methodological grade The secord: "Careers of conversion and politics of culture", is dedicated on the study of the expansionof charismatic and pentecostal Christianity in Holland and over the globe

Long non-coding RNAs as novel components in the TP53 pathway

C

Determination of the liquid-phase speciation in the MDEA-H2O-CO2 system

AbstractAqueous solutions of alkanolamines are commonly used in CO2 capture processes. To describe these complex processes rigorous mass transfer models are needed, in which all mass transfer, kinetics and thermodynamics are incorporated correctly. To improve the quality of the thermodynamic models, not only commonly used P-α (CO2 partial pressure versus CO2 liquid loading) experimental data, but also liquid phase speciation data are important. Speciation data of amine-H2O-CO2 data are very scarce in literature. In this work speciation data of MDEA-H2O-CO2 have been determined experimentally with a Fourier Transform Infra-Red spectrometer (FTIR) at ambient temperature. After several calibration lines were prepared, the speciation of this system was determined online in the FTIR. The experimental data presented in this work were well in line with speciation from open literature

Allelic loss of chromosome 1p as a predictor of unfavorable outcome in patients with neuroblastoma

Background. Neuroblastoma is a childhood tumor derived from cells of the neural crest, with a widely variable outcome. Differences in the behavior and prognosis of the tumor suggest that neuroblastoma can be divided into several biologic subgroups. We evaluated the most frequent genetic abnormalities in neuroblastoma to determine their prognostic value. Methods. We used Southern blot analysis to study the allelic loss of chromosomes 1p, 4p, 11q, and 14q, the duplication of chromosome 17q, and the amplification of the N-myc oncogene in 89 neuroblastomas. We also determined the nuclear DNA content of the tumor cells. Results. Allelic loss of chromosome 1p, N-myc amplification, and extra copies of chromosome 17q were significantly associated with unfavorable outcomes. In a multivariate analysis, loss of chromosome 1p was the most powerful prognostic factor. It provided strong prognostic information when it was included in multivariate models containing the prognostic factors of age and stage or serum ferritin level and stage. Among the patients with stage I, II, or IVS disease, the mean (±SD) three-year event-free survival was 100 percent in those without allelic loss of chromosome 1p and 34±15 percent in those with such loss; the rates of three- year event-free survival among the patients with stage III and stage IV disease were 53±10 percent and 0 percent, respectively. Conclusions. The loss of chromosome 1p is a strong prognostic factor in patients with neuroblastoma, independently of age and stage. It reliably identifies patients at high risk in stages I, II, and IVS, which are otherwise clinically favorable. More intensive therapy may be considered in these patients. Patients in stages III and IV with allelic loss of chromosome 1p have a very poor outlook, whereas those without such loss are at moderate risk

Reliability of the Spinal Instability Neoplastic Score (SINS) among radiation oncologists: an assessment of instability secondary to spinal metastases

BACKGROUND: The Spinal Instability Neoplastic Score (SINS) categorizes tumor related spinal instability. It has the potential to streamline the referral of patients with established or potential spinal instability to a spine surgeon. This study aims to define the inter- and intra-observer reliability and validity of SINS among radiation oncologists. METHODS: Thirty-three radiation oncologists, across ten international sites, rated 30 neoplastic spinal disease cases. For each case, the total SINS (0-18 points), three clinical categories (stable: 0-6 points, potentially unstable: 7-12 points, and unstable: 13-18 points), and a binary scale (‘stable’: 0-6 points and ‘current or possible instability’; surgical consultation recommended: 7-18 points) were recorded. Evaluation was repeated 6-8 weeks later. Inter-observer agreement and intra-observer reproducibility were calculated by means of the kappa statistic and translated into levels of agreement (slight, fair, moderate, substantial, and excellent). Validity was determined by comparing the ratings against a spinal surgeon’s consensus standard. RESULTS: Radiation oncologists demonstrated substantial (κ = 0.76) inter-observer and excellent (κ = 0.80) intra-observer reliability when using the SINS binary scale (‘stable’ versus ‘current or possible instability’). Validity of the binary scale was also excellent (κ = 0.85) compared with the gold standard. None of the unstable cases was rated as stable by the radiation oncologists ensuring all were appropriately recommended for surgical consultation. CONCLUSIONS: Among radiation oncologists SINS is a highly reliable, reproducible, and valid assessment tool to address a key question in tumor related spinal disease: Is the spine ‘stable’ or is there ‘current or possible instability’ that warrants surgical assessment

Kine-Mould: Flexible mould system opens up wide range of possibilities

The Kine-Mould is a development that makes it easier to manufacture building elements with complex geometry. Since June 2014 the team has been working on a range of solutions and prototypes. Various building materials have been investigated such as concrete, glass and plastic composites. In a joint effort of TU Delft and TU Eindhoven the following prototypes were designed and built:One for thermoplastic polymers;One for concrete elements;One for glass elements;Several for inflatable mould surfaces.Students carried out a significant part of the work. Companies were involved in the manufacturing process of the prototypes and application of the results

Prominent microglial inclusions in transgenic mouse models of α-synucleinopathy that are distinct from neuronal lesions.

Alpha-synucleinopathies are a group of progressive neurodegenerative disorders, characterized by intracellular deposits of aggregated α-synuclein (αS). The clinical heterogeneity of these diseases is thought to be attributed to conformers (or strains) of αS but the contribution of inclusions in various cell types is unclear. The aim of the present work was to study αS conformers among different transgenic (TG) mouse models of α-synucleinopathies. To this end, four different TG mouse models were studied (Prnp-h[A53T]αS; Thy1-h[A53T]αS; Thy1-h[A30P]αS; Thy1-mαS) that overexpress human or murine αS and differed in their age-of-symptom onset and subsequent disease progression. Postmortem analysis of end-stage brains revealed robust neuronal αS pathology as evidenced by accumulation of αS serine 129 (p-αS) phosphorylation in the brainstem of all four TG mouse lines. Overall appearance of the pathology was similar and only modest differences were observed among additionally affected brain regions. To study αS conformers in these mice, we used pentameric formyl thiophene acetic acid (pFTAA), a fluorescent dye with amyloid conformation-dependent spectral properties. Unexpectedly, besides the neuronal αS pathology, we also found abundant pFTAA-positive inclusions in microglia of all four TG mouse lines. These microglial inclusions were also positive for Thioflavin S and showed immunoreactivity with antibodies recognizing the N-terminus of αS, but were largely p-αS-negative. In all four lines, spectral pFTAA analysis revealed conformational differences between microglia and neuronal inclusions but not among the different mouse models. Concomitant with neuronal lesions, microglial inclusions were already present at presymptomatic stages and could also be induced by seeded αS aggregation. Although nature and significance of microglial inclusions for human α-synucleinopathies remain to be clarified, the previously overlooked abundance of microglial inclusions in TG mouse models of α-synucleinopathy bears importance for mechanistic and preclinical-translational studies