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Two Spatial Correlation Estimates in Quantum Statistical Mechanics
No full textThis thesis presents the results of two studies done by the author and his collaborators with the common thread of obtaining spatial correlation estimates for quantum states of interest in quantum statistical mechanics. The main body (Chapters 1, 2, and 3) is concerned with the decay properties of the spatial correlations of finite-volume steady states in dissipative quantum lattice systems. In it we show that the steady states with respect to a power-law decaying interaction have correlations that decay polynomially in space. To do so, we develop a general Lieb-Robinson bound which grows linearly in time for certain small time-scales, and employ it to give estimates on various finite-volume approximations to the associated dynamics. Some of the results contained in these chapters appear in the preprint [75].
Chapter 4 is a summary of the results of a co-authored study [65]. This paper studies a stochastic quantum model where states are generated by a stochastic process in a von Neumann algebra. In particular, Nelson and Roon construct an example of a random translation co-variant state on a quantum spin chain with infinite-dimensional on-site observable algebras. An estimate for the spatial correlations of a random co-variant state is derived from a multiplicative ergodic theorem for random quantum channels. The preprint [65] is included in Appendix C.
While the models considered in each study are quite different, the underlying principle is to reduce the estimation of spatial correlations to a kind of completely positive dynamics: in the first case, these arise as quantum dynamical semigroups of the local interaction; in the second case, these dynamics arise as a kind of ``factorization'' of the random state we construct. In each case, the properties of the dynamics give rise to an upper estimate on the correlations
The descent of Christ in Ephesians 4:7-11 : an exegetical investigation with special reference to the influence of traditions about Moses associated with Psalm 68:19.
No full textThis study attempts to demonstrate that the most probable interpretation of the descent of Christ in Eph. 4: 7-11 involves a descent of Christ as the Spirit who distributes gifts to his church subsequent to the ascent of Eph. 4: 8. The investigation begins with a history of the interpretation of Eph. 4: 7-11. Most modern interpreters favour either a descent to the under- world (or the grave) between Christ's death and resurrection or a descent from heaven to earth at the incarnation. Textual and grammatical problems relevant to the proposed exegesis are also discussed. A major portion of the study deals with the ascent-descent imagery associating Ps. 68: 19 (quoted in Eph. 4: 8) and Moses as found in Tg Psalms and the rabbinic literature. The author of Ephesians, had he been aware of these traditions associating Psalm 68 with Moses, would have been predisposed to think in terms of a subsequent descent, because Moses' ascent of Mt Sinai to receive the Torah was followed by his descent to distribute it as 'gifts' to men. Although it is clear that both Tg Psalms and the rabbinic literature are later than Ephesians, there is evidence from a number of early sources that such Moses-traditions were in circulation prior to the first century CE. The association of these traditions with Ps. 68: 19 as employed by the author of Ephesians appears to exist through the connection of Moses' ascent of Sinai to receive the Torah with the celebration of the Jewish feast of Pentecost on the one hand, and the Christian use of Psalm 68 in connection with Pentecost (described in Acts 2) on the other. Ps. 68: 19 was already understood to refer to the ascent of Christ and the gift of the Spirit in a layer of tradition older than Ephesians. Familiarity with the Moses-traditions connected with an ascent and descent of Sinai would have suggested a subsequent descent. Thus the author's innovation did not lie in the use of the psalm in a christological sense, nor in the introduction of a subsequent descent of Christ inferred from the ascent mentioned in Ps. 68: 19. The contribution of the author of Ephesians consisted in his identification of the ascended Christ as the Spirit who descended to distribute gifts to his church. Such an interpretation offers the best explanation of the passage in light of the evidence linking Moses-traditions of a heavenly ascent at Sinai with Pentecost and Psalm 68
'You who were called the uncircumcision by the circumcision’ a study of Jewish attitudes toward the gentiles and ethnic reconciliation according to eph. 2.1-22
No full textThe present work is a study of the connections between Jewish attitudes toward the Gentiles and ethnic reconciliation according to Eph. 2. It begins by assessing previous scholarly tradition whose hermeneutical 'grid' has been derived from the philosophy of dialectics or the Protestant Reformation. The 'new perspective(s) on Paul', however, shifts our perspective back to first century Judaism and enables us to penetrate fully into the historical context of first century Jews and Judaism. We have taken pains to describe some of the relevant Jewish features and demonstrated them by focusing particularly on Eph. 2 and attempting to set it as fully as possible into its historical context. The uncontroversial a priori of Jewish context conceals many explosive issues: how much was our author influenced by Jewish ideas? Does he wish to speak about his Gentile addressees from a Jewish perspective? Does his status as a Jew also create for him a convenient 'pre-text' so that he could reiterate the perspective of other Jews about the Gentiles in his representation of it? These questions are addressed in this study. We have paid attention to the question of 'representation' or characterization and suggested that ethnography provides a way into the author's statements about the Gentiles: it aids die author to heighten the boundary between Jews and Gentiles and to underscore the negative valence which is attached to the Gentiles. The author's ethnographic statements enable us to show the way in which the language of 'powers' had become for our author a means of dividing human groups, establishing the differences between them and suggesting wherein their 'otherness' lies (Eph. 2.2). These statements and the negative verdict which the author passes on the Gentiles represent but a preamble to the author’s arduous effort to surmount the social distance between Jews and Gentiles. This is made most evident in his rhetoric of admission and conciliation in which he lays bare the fact that the Jews (himself included) were in no better position than the Gentiles who are 'sub-let' to the 'powers', although the idea of Israel’s status was never put in question (2.3). His aim is to evoke the need for the promptings of divine grace and love toward humankind (2.4-10). We also seek to show that Ephesians does not consist of a polemic against meritorious works. We have taken pains to demonstrate that the author of Ephesians has adopted a subtle approach in unraveling the exclusivistic Jewish attitudes toward the Gentiles. His characterization of the Gentiles reveals a distinctively Jewish perspective, and, more importantly, tells us much about the Jews (2.1 l-13a). We also show that the Gentiles were estranged by the Jews and that the estrangement can be best explained by die hypothesis that the Gentiles were perceived by die Jews through the 'grid' of covenantal ethnocentrism. The task of the author at this point is to exhibit his de-constructive strategy which provides a resolution to one of the thorniest issues regarding two ethnic groups: can Jew and Gentile, the two estranged human groups, be one {people of God)l And if so, howl We then go on to consider the way in which an exclusive, ethnic-oriented 'body politic of Israel' is transposed into an inclusive community-body. We pointed out that a major weakness with previous treatments of Ephesians has been a lack of appreciation for the close connections between die exclusive Jewish attitudes toward die Gentiles and the author's encomiastic statements about Christ (2.14-18). Previous scholarship has also been substantially hampered by its attempt to 'discover' a preformed material in Eph. 2.14-18, failing to recognise the discussion in Eph. 2.11-13 which sets the parameters for understanding Eph. 2.14-22. Rather than a 'parenthesis' or 'digression', which is tangential to the primary design of die author's argument, we suggested that Eph. 2.14-18 can be best read as an amplificatio through which the author has set in comparison with the magnanimity of Christ the Jewish attitudes toward the Gentiles (w. llb-12). What becomes immediately clear in his attempt to accentuate Christ's magnanimity toward humankind is that this attempt was prompted by the Jewish tendency to exclude. The author maximises the expedient, noble act of Christ who brings peace to an estranged humanity and surmounts the social distance between Jews and Gentiles, and whose death has in his perception provided a new framework, i.e. pax Christi within which mutual acceptance or 'the oneness of spirit' between Jews and Gentiles may then be filled out (v. 18; cf. 4.1-6). Such community- enhancing metaphors as 'one new man', 'one body' and 'one spirit' signalled the importance of and were introduced to put the exclusive Jewish 'body politic' and Jewish conception about humankind in question, but they never question the legitimacy of Israel as God's choice or replace Israel. Some vital implications of Christ's reconciling work for the Christian Gentiles and, not least, for their relation to Israel are considered in the penultimate chapter of this study. Two major topoi from ancient political theorists and from the Jewish Temple are introduced by the author to surmount the 'us- them' divisions, to forge the idea of sameness and to consolidate a close relationship of Gentiles with other members of an inclusivistic community. Although die author could readily suggest that Gentiles have become fellow-citizens with 'Israel' (2.19; cf. 2.12), he nevertheless refrained from making this suggestion. The fact is that the meaning of Israel had been hijacked, transcoded and turned into an etimically-based 'body politic' (). But with 'die holy ones' (2.19), the author can redefine the relationship of die Gentiles to die Israel of God afresh. We round off our present study by considering the implications which our present study may have for future research on Ephesians
Investigating the role of Bmi-1 in liver growth and function
No full textPhDBmi-1 is a member of the Polycomb group (PcG) family of transcriptional repressors, which are implicated in the maintenance of embryonic and adult stem cells. Previous reports indicate that Bmi-1 plays a key role in repressing the Ink4a/Arf tumour suppressor locus. Overexpression of Bmi-1 in putative liver stem/progenitor cells leads to increased self-renewal in vitro and tumourigenesis following transplantation into immunocompromised mice. However, the in vivo functional requirement for Bmi-1 in liver development, homeostasis and regeneration has not been investigated. For this thesis, the consequences of Bmi-1 deletion for the post-natal murine liver were assessed using a knockout mouse model. Immunohistochemical techniques were first used to examine Bmi-1 expression in normal murine and human liver, and in human liver pathologies. Bmi-1 was highly expressed in biliary cells of both mouse and human liver, and at lower levels in some murine hepatocytes. Strong expression of Bmi-1 was observed in cytokeratin 19-positive oval cells in regenerating murine liver. Bmi-1 knockout mice exhibited structural abnormalities in the liver parenchyma, most strikingly the abnormal development of polyploidy in hepatocytes. Bmi-1 deletion did not result in impaired proliferation in mice, despite increased expression levels of cell cycle inhibitors p16Ink4a, p19Arf and p21. In contrast, an increase in hepatocyte proliferation was observed in 8 week old Bmi-1 deficient mice, which was correlated with upregulation of cyclin D1. Mel-18, a structural homologue of Bmi-1, was also expressed in murine cholangiocytes and was upregulated in the livers of Bmi-1 deficient mice during ageing, suggesting it may have been exerting a compensatory effect. Adult Bmi-1 knockout mice also exhibited excessive iron loading and abnormalities in the expression of key regulators of hepatic iron homeostasis
Are we at the beginning of a new long term expansion induced by technological change? Economic Papers No. 85, August 1991
No full textDynamics of photosynthetic complexes in the thylakoid membranes from higher plants
No full textPhDPhotosynthetic machinery in higher plants is localised in the thylakoids enclosed in
a chloroplast. To optimise and regulate the photosynthetic efficiency under different,
rapidly changeable environmental conditions the dynamics of the thylakoid
membrane components is required. It has been invoked in several contexts, for
example during assembly and turnover of the photosynthetic apparatus, regulation of
light-harvesting and photosynthetic electron transport. In this study, by employing
a confocal FRAP technique combined with freeze-fracture electron microscopy,
I addressed a fundamental problem of visualising the mobility and distribution of
photosynthetic complexes in a direct way close to the situation in vivo - the
thylakoids of intact chloroplasts isolated from green plants. Firstly, I provided direct
evidence that the dynamic changes in the distribution of photosynthetic complexes
are involved in two high-light related physiological phenomena, namely
photoinhibition and non-photochemical quenching. My study indicates that the
photoinhibited membranes exhibit an elevated level of protein mobility accompanied
by a decreased spacing between the complexes with the opposite effect observed in
the photoprotective state. Secondly, my work allowed the identification of some key
elements that are responsible for controlling the mobility under different
physiological conditions such as: (1) phosphorylation of PSII core complexes after
photoinhibition, (2) PsbS protein enhancing the membrane fluidity in a dark-adapted
state and decreasing it after light treatment, (3) different xanthophyll composition of
light-harvesting antenna with particular attention being paid to zeaxanthin which
decreases the size of mobile fraction, (4) the degree of macromolecular crowding and
the organisation of PSII-LHCII supercomplexes in the grana membranes which is
dependent strongly on individual light-harvesting proteins, the minor antenna
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complexes in particular. Lastly, a completely new approach of visualising the
mobility of photosynthetic machinery in intact leaves has been introduced as a useful
tool to study different aspects of plant acclimation and physiology under natural
conditions.Biotechnology and Biological Science Research Council.
University of London Central Research fun
The triumph of God in Christ : divine warfare in the argument of Ephesians
No full textIn this thesis I argue that the letter of Ephesians contains a coherent
argument and that this argument is animated by the ideology of divine warfare.
This ideological tool was utilized throughout the ancient world to assert and
defend the cosmic supremacy of national deities, and appears throughout the Old
Testament in texts that declare the exalted status of Yahweh over all other gods
and over the forces of chaos that threaten creation. This ideology is applied to
Ephesians with the result that what many regard as the central portion of the
letter-Ephesians 2--contains a complete cycle of this mythological pattern.
Here, within a context of praise and worship (1:1-19), the cosmic Lordship of
Christ is asserted (1:20-23) and the triumphs of God in Christ over the powers that
rule the present evil age are elaborated (2:1-22). God in Christ has triumphed over
the powers that hold humanity captive to death by raising believers to life and
seating them in the heavenlies with Christ. Further, Christ triumphs over the
powers and their divisive effects within humanity by creating a new unified
humanity that shares in the life of God in Christ by the Spirit. I then attempt to
demonstrate that reading Ephesians through this lens provides satisfying solutions
to a number of problems in subsequent sections of the letter. The
'autobiographical' remarks in Eph 3:2-13 are not intended as an apostolic defence,
but rather are an explanation of how Paul's imprisonment, which would appear to
be a devastating argument against the cosmic Lordship of Christ, actually serves
to epitomize and reinforce that exalted status. I also argue that the difficult
quotation of Psalm 68 in Eph 4:8 finds a satisfying solution through the
application of divine warfare ideology. Finally, I argue that this reading
demonstrates that the two halves of Ephesians are integrally related-that the
exhortatory portion is a call to the New Humanity to engage in divine warfare
against the evil powers, embodying the triumph of God in Christ in their corporate
life
Calculated parenteral initial therapy of bacterial infections: Antibiotic treatment in the elderly
No full textThis is the fifteenth chapter of the guideline "Calculated initial parenteral treatment of bacterial infections in adults - update 2018" in the 2nd updated version. The German guideline by the Paul-Ehrlich-Gesellschaft für Chemotherapie e.V. (PEG) has been translated to address an international audience.Multimorbidity, an atypical symptomatology of infections in combination with multimedication, the associated interaction risks and serious consequences of synergistic side effects characterize the conditions when deciding on the use of antibiotics in old age. Strict decision regarding the indication itself, choice of the best antibiotic even considering rare side effects which may be dangerous in the elderly, determining the correct dose, dosing interval and the shortest possible duration according to the physiological status of the patient as well as monitoring effectiveness and toxicity detect expected and unexpected side effects early. Recommendations must reflect the peculiarities of antibiotic treatment in elderly patients.Dies ist das fünfzehnte Kapitel der von der Paul-Ehrlich-Gesellschaft für Chemotherapie e.V. (PEG) herausgegebenen S2k Leitlinie "Kalkulierte parenterale Initialtherapie bakterieller Erkrankungen bei Erwachsenen - Update 2018" in der 2. aktualisierten Fassung.Multimorbidität, eine atypische Symptomatik von Infektionen in Kombination mit Multimedikation, die damit verbundenen Interaktionsrisiken und die oft schwerwiegenden Folgen synergistischer Nebenwirkungen kennzeichnen die Bedingungen bei der Entscheidung über den Einsatz von Antibiotika im Alter. Strenge Indikationsentscheidung, Auswahl des besten Antibiotikums auch unter Berücksichtigung seltener, bei älteren Menschen gefährlicher Nebenwirkungen, Ermittlung der richtigen Dosis, des Dosierungsintervalls und der kürzestmöglichen Dauer entsprechend dem physiologischen Status des Patienten sowie Überwachung von Effektivität und Toxizität erkennen frühzeitig erwartete und unerwartete Nebenwirkungen. Empfehlungen müssen die Besonderheiten der Antibiotika-Behandlung bei älteren Patienten widerspiegeln
