Mark 6:45–52 as a Fear-Increasing and Fear-Decreasing Passage: A Homiletical Analysis From a Biblical-Theological Perspective

This article wants to show that it is fruitful for homiletics to continue to listen to what is offered from a biblical-theological perspective, especially when it comes to addressing a life of fear. After a short introduction, an overview is given of some important homiletical-exegetical notes, followed by the insights obtained from a focus group following a sermon on Mark 6:45–52. Finally, a number of homiletical insights received from listening to this text will follow

Kom en zie ; Dl. II : De pre-existentie van de Zoon belicht vanuit de existentie van Jezus, de Christus

Deze dissertatie wil een systematisch-theologische bijdrage zijn aan de voort-durende christologische bezinning. Met de thematiek van de pre-existentie van de Zoon wordt aangeduid, dat het bestaan van Jezus niet beperkt kan worden tot een leven tussen wieg en graf. Deze studie onderzoekt welke elementen in de christelijke theologie bepalend zijn voor de plaats en betekenis van het spre-ken over de pre-existentie van de Zoon en wat de relevantie van dit aspect van het christologisch dogma is voor de theologie van de 21e eeuw. Een onderzoek naar de Griekse woordenschat die de vroege kerk ter beschikking stond, laat zien dat het begrip pre-existentie wel gebruikt wordt in tal van theologische geschriften, maar niet in het belijdend spreken van de kerk. In de belijdenis van Nicea-Constantinopel (381) wordt de omschrijving ‘vóór alle eeuwen’ gebruikt. Betoogd wordt dat dit een ontkenning is van de ‘Ariaanse slogan’: ‘er was eens (een tijd) dat Hij er niet was’. Van beslissende betekenis voor de interpretatie van de woorden ‘vóór alle eeuwen’ blijken in ieder geval te zijn de visie op de verhouding van Vader en Zoon en op de verhouding van Schepper en schepping. Aan de hand van een Bijbels-theologisch onderzoek wordt aangetoond dat een spreken over pre-existentie uitsluitend in termen van de traditie van de Wijsheid geen recht kan doen aan de reële, persoonlijke pre-existentie van de Zoon. De Zoon blijkt Zijn bestaan reeds te hebben vóór de schepping en Zijn incarnatie. Jezus wordt in het NT geplaatst in een veld van tradities (malak JHWH, kabod JHWH, tempel, Thora en wijsheid) waarbij Hij deze tradities ook te boven blijkt te gaan. Juist in dit ‘te boven gaan’ komt Zijn pre-existentie tot uitdrukking. In het bijzonder geldt dit voor de aanduiding van Jezus Christus als de Zoon van God. Daarbij is de samenhang en het onderscheid tussen Jezus’ messiaanse en ontologische zoonschap van wezenlijk belang. Daarom wordt in deze studie de pre-existentie van de Zoon belicht vanuit de existentie van Jezus, de Christus. Het gaat niet om abstracte bespiegelingen over een ‘tweede per-soon van het goddelijk Wezen’ en evenmin om een ‘niet meer dan menselijke’ Jezus. In het kader van een onderzoek naar de betekenis van het voorvoegsel ‘pre’ wordt een pleidooi gevoerd om filosofische concepten over de relatie tussen eeuwigheid en tijd theologisch ter verwerken in christologische en pneumatologische termen. Het ontologische onderscheid tussen eeuwigheid en tijd dient geïnterpreteerd te worden vanuit het onderscheid tussen ‘oude’ en ‘nieuwe’ tijd. In samenhang hiermee kan methodisch gezien het meest recht gedaan worden aan het spreken over de pre-existentie van de Zoon als gebruik gemaakt wordt van de complementaire benaderingen from within en from ahead. Dit geldt voor de betekenis van de pre-existentie van de Zoon in geheel van de geschiedenis van het heil, het leven van Jezus als de Zoon van God en de theologische bezinning daarop in het heden. In het slothoofdstuk volgen de belangrijkste punten die de relevantie van het belijden van de pre-existentie van de Zoon aantonen binnen de christologie en de theologie als geheel. Daarbij wordt o.a. aandacht gegeven aan de samenhang tussen de pre-existentie en de post-existentie van de Zoon als de Eschatos, de eenheid van OT en NT, typologie als een ‘reeds’ van het ‘nog niet’ en de relatie tussen de lofzang op ‘God is liefde’ en de pre-existentie van de ‘eigen’ Zoon van God. Wanneer de existentie van de Zoon pas in de wereld van de phenoumena realiteit geworden zou zijn, blijven we met een open vraag naar God zitten. De pre-existentie van de Zoon duidt aan dat we binnen de grenzen van ons bestaan God werkelijk kunnen leren kennen, zoals Hij is. De Zoon is immers de ‘afdruk van zijn Wezen’ (Hebr.1:3)

Cooling curves for neutron stars with hadronic matter and quark matter

The thermal evolution of isothermal neutron stars is studied with matter both in the hadronic phase as well as in the mixed phase of hadronic matter and strange quark matter. In our models, the dominant early-stage cooling process is neutrino emission via the direct Urca process. As a consequence, the cooling curves fall too fast compared to observations. However, when superfluidity is included, the cooling of the neutron stars is significantly slowed down. Furthermore, we find that the cooling curves are not very sensitive to the precise details of the mixing between the hadronic phase and the quark phase and also of the pairing that leads to superfluidity.Comment: 19 pages, 25 figure

Reversible male sterility in eggplant

SummarySince decades, plant male sterility is considered a powerful tool for biological containment to minimize unwanted self‐pollination for hybrid seed production. Furthermore, prevention of pollen dispersal also answers to concerns regarding transgene flow via pollen from Genetically Modified (GM) crops to traditional crop fields or wild relatives. We induced male sterility by suppressing endogenous general transcription factor genes, TAFs, using anther‐specific promoters combined with artificial microRNA (amiRNA) technology (Schwab et al., 2006). The system was made reversible by the ethanol inducible expression of an amiRNA‐insensitive form of the target gene. We provide proof of concept in eggplant, a cultivated crop belonging to the Solanaceae family that includes many important food crops. The transgenic eggplants that we generated are completely male sterile and fertility can be fully restored by short treatments with ethanol, confirming the efficiency but also the reliability of the system in view of open field cultivation. By combining this system with induced parthenocarpy (Rotino et al., 1997), we provide a novel example of complete transgene containment in eggplant, which enables biological mitigation measures for the benefit of coexistence or biosafety purposes for GM crop cultivation

B-cell targeting with anti-CD38 daratumumab:implications for differentiation and memory responses

B cell–targeted therapies, such as CD20-targeting mAbs, deplete B cells but do not target the autoantibody-producing plasma cells (PCs). PC-targeting therapies such as daratumumab (anti-CD38) form an attractive approach to treat PC-mediated diseases. CD38 possesses enzymatic and receptor capabilities, which may impact a range of cellular processes including proliferation and differentiation. However, very little is known whether and how CD38 targeting affects B-cell differentiation, in particular for humans beyond cancer settings. Using in-depth in vitro B-cell differentiation assays and signaling pathway analysis, we show that CD38 targeting with daratumumab demonstrated a significant decrease in proliferation, differentiation, and IgG production upon T cell–dependent B-cell stimulation. We found no effect on T-cell activation or proliferation. Furthermore, we demonstrate that daratumumab attenuated the activation of NF-κB in B cells and the transcription of NF-κB–targeted genes. When culturing sorted B-cell subsets with daratumumab, the switched memory B-cell subset was primarily affected. Overall, these in vitro data elucidate novel non-depleting mechanisms by which daratumumab can disturb humoral immune responses. Affecting memory B cells, daratumumab may be used as a therapeutic approach in B cell–mediated diseases other than the currently targeted malignancies.</p

B-cell targeting with anti-CD38 daratumumab:implications for differentiation and memory responses

B cell–targeted therapies, such as CD20-targeting mAbs, deplete B cells but do not target the autoantibody-producing plasma cells (PCs). PC-targeting therapies such as daratumumab (anti-CD38) form an attractive approach to treat PC-mediated diseases. CD38 possesses enzymatic and receptor capabilities, which may impact a range of cellular processes including proliferation and differentiation. However, very little is known whether and how CD38 targeting affects B-cell differentiation, in particular for humans beyond cancer settings. Using in-depth in vitro B-cell differentiation assays and signaling pathway analysis, we show that CD38 targeting with daratumumab demonstrated a significant decrease in proliferation, differentiation, and IgG production upon T cell–dependent B-cell stimulation. We found no effect on T-cell activation or proliferation. Furthermore, we demonstrate that daratumumab attenuated the activation of NF-?B in B cells and the transcription of NF-?B–targeted genes. When culturing sorted B-cell subsets with daratumumab, the switched memory B-cell subset was primarily affected. Overall, these in vitro data elucidate novel non-depleting mechanisms by which daratumumab can disturb humoral immune responses. Affecting memory B cells, daratumumab may be used as a therapeutic approach in B cell–mediated diseases other than the currently targeted malignancies

Resectability and Ablatability Criteria for the Treatment of Liver Only Colorectal Metastases:Multidisciplinary Consensus Document from the COLLISION Trial Group

The guidelines for metastatic colorectal cancer crudely state that the best local treatment should be selected from a 'toolbox' of techniques according to patient- and treatment-related factors. We created an interdisciplinary, consensus-based algorithm with specific resectability and ablatability criteria for the treatment of colorectal liver metastases (CRLM). To pursue consensus, members of the multidisciplinary COLLISION and COLDFIRE trial expert panel employed the RAND appropriateness method (RAM). Statements regarding patient, disease, tumor and treatment characteristics were categorized as appropriate, equipoise or inappropriate. Patients with ECOG≤2, ASA≤3 and Charlson comorbidity index ≤8 should be considered fit for curative-intent local therapy. When easily resectable and/or ablatable (stage IVa), (neo)adjuvant systemic therapy is not indicated. When requiring major hepatectomy (stage IVb), neo-adjuvant systemic therapy is appropriate for early metachronous disease and to reduce procedural risk. To downstage patients (stage IVc), downsizing induction systemic therapy and/or future remnant augmentation is advised. Disease can only be deemed permanently unsuitable for local therapy if downstaging failed (stage IVd). Liver resection remains the gold standard. Thermal ablation is reserved for unresectable CRLM, deep-seated resectable CRLM and can be considered when patients are in poor health. Irreversible electroporation and stereotactic body radiotherapy can be considered for unresectable perihilar and perivascular CRLM 0-5cm. This consensus document provides per-patient and per-tumor resectability and ablatability criteria for the treatment of CRLM. These criteria are intended to aid tumor board discussions, improve consistency when designing prospective trials and advance intersociety communications. Areas where consensus is lacking warrant future comparative studies.</p

Mark 6:45–52 as a Fear-Increasing and Fear-Decreasing Passage: A Homiletical Analysis From a Biblical-Theological Perspective

This article wants to show that it is fruitful for homiletics to continue to listen to what is offered from a biblical-theological perspective, especially when it comes to addressing a life of fear. After a short introduction, an overview is given of some important homiletical-exegetical notes, followed by the insights obtained from a focus group following a sermon on Mark 6:45–52. Finally, a number of homiletical insights received from listening to this text will follow

Mark 6:45–52 as a Fear-Increasing and Fear-Decreasing Passage: A Homiletical Analysis From a Biblical-Theological Perspective

This article wants to show that it is fruitful for homiletics to continue to listen to what is offered from a biblical-theological perspective, especially when it comes to addressing a life of fear. After a short introduction, an overview is given of some important homiletical-exegetical notes, followed by the insights obtained from a focus group following a sermon on Mark 6:45–52. Finally, a number of homiletical insights received from listening to this text will follow