61 research outputs found
Evolution, the Purpose of Life and the Order of Society
This essay treats the pseudo-biographical monographs with which the Turkish author Halit ErtuÄrul popularizes the teachings of Said Nursi, founder of the Nurcu movement. Rejection of the theory of evolution plays a central role in these narratives, where a religious person acts as a prompter who demonstrates to a person led astray by materialism the futility of his ideology. As soon as âthe materialistsâ have understood this, they change their life entirely and free themselves from the sociopolitical delusions of communism or behavioral problems. The theory of evolution functions in these accounts not only as a basis of atheism and materialism but also as the antithesis of a harmonious order of the cosmos, which ought to be reflected in a harmonious order of society.
This paper is one of a collection that originated in the IAHR Special Conference âReligions, Science and Technology in Cultural Contexts: Dynamics of Changeâ, held at The Norwegian University of Science and Technology on March 1â2, 2012. For an overall introduction see the article by Ulrika MĂ„rtensson, also published here.
 
The Islamic Creationism of Harun Yahya
For some time Islamic publishing in the West has been associated with pamphlets in awkward English printed on pulp. Strolling through Islamic bookshops in Britain one immediately realizes how things have changed: beautifully edited books are offered for considerable prices. A notable part of these publications is dedicated to the defence of Islam against the challenges of Christianity and materialism. Outstanding examples for this new tendency are the writings of the prolific Turkish author Harun Yahya (pseudonym of Adnan Oktar), whose list of Turkish publications includes about 180 titles, most of them dedicated to the refutation of Darwinism
« Lâislam a dĂ©butĂ© Ă©tranger et Ă©tranger il redeviendra » : Muáž«taáčŁar sÄ«rat ar-rasĆ«l de Muáž„ammad ÊżAbd al-WahhÄb en tant que programme et propagande
Parmi les Ćuvres de Muáž„ammad b. ÊżAbd al-WahhÄb, on trouve une biographie du ProphĂšte intitulĂ©e RĂ©sumĂ© de la vie du ProphĂšte (Muáž«taáčŁar sÄ«rat ar-rasĆ«l). Seuls deux islamologues occidentaux se sont jusquâĂ prĂ©sent confrontĂ©s Ă cet ouvrage, bien quâil soit bien connu que le fondateur du wahhabisme eĂ»t pris grand soin de modeler son activitĂ© sur la vie de Muáž„ammad. Chase Robinson fait remarquer dans une courte note dâIslamic Historiography la structure inhabituelle de lâouvrage ; Shahab Ahmed, dan..
Ein Cytochrom P450 2C8/9-abhÀngig gebildeter EDHF hyperpolarisiert Thrombozyten und hemmt deren AdhÀsion an Endothelzellen
Im Rahmen dieser Dissertation wurde der potentielle Einfluss des endothelialen hyperpolarisierenden Faktors (EDHF) auf Thrombozyten untersucht und geprĂŒft, ob die EDHF Wirkungen durch eine (oder mehrere) EpoxyeicosatriensĂ€uren (Produkte der endothelialen CYP450 Monooxygenase) ausgelöst sein könnten.
EDHF wurde bisher hauptsĂ€chlich, neben NO und Prostazyklin, als dritter funktionell bedeutender vom Endothel gebildeter vasodilatierender Faktor charakterisiert. FĂŒr NO und Prostazyklin ist vielfach eine Freisetzung in das GefĂ€Ălumen und damit neben der lokalen dilatierenden Wirkung auch eine Beeinflussung zirkulierender Blutbestandteile, wie Thrombozyten beschrieben. Beide können die thrombozytĂ€re Aktivierung und Aggregation effektiv hemmen und dadurch gefĂ€Ăprotektive Wirkungen ausĂŒben. Ob EDHF ebenfalls Blutbestandteile wie Thrombozyten beein-flussen kann, war die Hauptfragestellung dieser Arbeit.
Wir konnten erstmals im Bioassay zeigen, dass kultivierte menschliche Endothelzellen (HUVEC) nach entsprechender Stimulation einen EDHF freisetzen, der Thrombozyten hyperpolarisiert. Weiterhin konnten wir nachweisen, dass dieser Faktor die thrombozytĂ€re AdhĂ€sion an Endothelzellen sowie die thrombozytĂ€re Aktivierung (P-Selektin Expression) hemmte. Diese Effekte waren - analog zu den hyper-polarisierenden Effekten - vermittelt durch Aktivierung von Calcium aktivierbaren Kalium-KanĂ€len (KCa-KanĂ€le) mit groĂer (BKCa) und mittlerer (IKCa) LeitfĂ€higkeit, nicht jedoch von denen mit geringerer (SKCa) LeitfĂ€higkeit.
Die beobachteten Hemmeffekte waren durch die EDHF Wirkungen auf das thrombozytÀre Membranpotential erklÀrbar, ein zusÀtzlicher ergÀnzender membranpotentialunabhÀngiger Effekt konnte jedoch nicht ausgeschlossen werden.
Der in unserem Bioassay nachweisbare EDHF zeigte Ă€hnliche Eigenschaften wie exogen verabreichte EpoxyeicosatriensĂ€uren (EETs) - Produkte, die durch die Cytochrom P450 2C8/9 Oxidase im Endothel aus ArachidonsĂ€ure gebildet werden. ErhĂ€rtet wurden diese Befunde durch eine CYP2C9 stabil ĂŒberexprimierende Zellinie mit endothelialen Eigenschaften, welche verschiedene EETs in physiologischen Konzen-trationen freisetzte und deren Ăberstand Ă€hnliche hyperpolarisierende und antiadhĂ€sive Effekte auf Thrombozyten wie der EDHF hatte. EDHF stellte somit unter unseren experimentellen Bedingungen eine Epoxyeicosa-triensĂ€ure (oder eine Mischung verschiedener EETs) dar.
Bei vielen Herz-Kreislauf Erkrankungen spielen thrombozytĂ€re Aktivierung und AdhĂ€sion eine wichtige Rolle. Insbesondere beim akuten Herzinfarkt, der Haupttodesursache in westlichen IndustrielĂ€ndern, kommt es in patho-physiologisch, z.B. durch Atherosklerose, vorgeschĂ€digten GefĂ€Ăen, aufgrund einer arteriellen Thrombusbildung zum kompletten GefĂ€Ă-verschluss mit MyokardischĂ€mie. Daher könnte EDHF bzw. EET - infolge seiner thrombozytenhyperpolarisierenden und antiadhĂ€siven Effekte - von groĂer Bedeutung sein, vor allem, wenn er durch Risikofaktoren wie freie Sauerstoffradikale und HyperlipidĂ€mie weniger stark beeinflusst wĂŒrde als NO.
Die Daten dieser Dissertation könnten somit zukĂŒnftiger Ansatzpunkt fĂŒr weitere Untersuchungen sowie Basis fĂŒr die Entwicklung potentiell gefĂ€Ăprotektiver Medikamente zur effektiveren Therapie kardiovaskulĂ€rer Erkrankungen darstellen
Propagating Islamic Creationism on the Internet
Although negative reactions accompanied the reception of Darwinism in the Islamic World from the beginning, a full fledged Islamic creationist movement did notappear before the 1970s. Originally it was restricted to Turkey, where Islamic groups attempted to undermine the materialist foundation of Marxism and Kemalism. From the late 1990s onwards the subject became popular among Muslims inthe diaspora. This was due to the efforts of Adnan Oktar alias Harun Yahya, ahitherto marginal figure in Turkey, to propagate his ideas via the Internet. The Internet allows him to adapt his propaganda constantly to new issues and creationistand anti-creationist publications and to recruit volunteers willing to translate hisbooks. Thanks to the combination of a neglected subject with the innovative use ofnew media Oktar gained the opinion leadership in this field. Even movements, the founders of which had attacked Darwinism, now refer to Oktar as main authorityon this issue. However, he failed to gain an equal degree of attention for topics like conspiracy theories and eschatology. In these fields he had to compete with a bulk ofexisting material in conventional media. The success of his former disciple Mustafa Akyol shows that using the Internet as main means of propaganda may restrict thepolitical impact. He became the chief Muslim ally of Christian creationists in the USA by managing to get published by respectable âold mediaâ. For him the Internet only fulfils an auxiliary function
Al-ShÄáčibÄ«s sufismekritik: Hvorfor en ÊżÄlim fra al-Andalus forkastede askese og virtuosereligiositet
The faqÄ«h (Islamic legal scholar) al-ShÄáčibÄ« (d. 1388) from Granada is primarily known for his innovative approach within the field of legal theory (uáčŁĆ«l al-fiqh). However, he dedicated much attention to the criticism of sufism. But like other Islamic scholars who opposed Sufism he did not primarily attack infringements on the ârights of Godâ. Instead he highlighted that the ascetic practices propagated by the Sufis are detrimental to the welfare of both the individual Muslim and society as a whole. Furthermore he argues that their charismatic authority based on their asceticism and miracles allegedly bestowed on them threatens to undermine Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh) along rational and intersubjective lines
Unsere geschĂŒtzte Natur
Anliegen dieses Faltblattes ist es, bei der interessierten Ăffentlichkeit VerstĂ€ndnis fĂŒr die Ziele des Naturschutzes zu erreichen und die zum Schutz von Natur und Landschaft unverzichtbaren Schutzgebietskategorien und Kriterien vorzustellen
General simulation method for quantum-sensing systems
Quantum sensing encompasses highly promising techniques with diverse
applications including noise-reduced imaging, super-resolution microscopy as
well as imaging and spectroscopy in challenging spectral ranges. These
detection schemes use biphoton correlations to surpass classical limits or
transfer information to different spectral ranges. Theoretical analysis is
mostly confined to idealized conditions. Therefore, theoretical predictions and
experimental results for the performance of quantum-sensing systems often
diverge. Here we present a general simulation method that includes experimental
imperfections to bridge the gap between theory and experiment. We develop a
theoretical approach and demonstrate the capabilities with the simulation of
aligned and misaligned quantum-imaging experiments. The results recreate the
characteristics of experimental data. We further use the simulation results to
improve the obtained images in post-processing. As simulation method for
general quantum-sensing systems, this work provides a first step towards
powerful simulation tools for interactively exploring the design space and
optimizing the experiment's characteristics.Comment: 19 pages, 8 figure
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