Defining forgiveness: Christian clergy and general population perspectives.

The lack of any consensual definition of forgiveness is a serious weakness in the research literature (McCullough, Pargament &amp; Thoresen, 2000). As forgiveness is at the core of Christianity, this study returns to the Christian source of the concept to explore the meaning of forgiveness for practicing Christian clergy. Comparisons are made with a general population sample and social science definitions of forgiveness to ensure that a shared meaning of forgiveness is articulated. Anglican and Roman Catholic clergy (N = 209) and a general population sample (N = 159) completed a postal questionnaire about forgiveness. There is agreement on the existence of individual differences in forgiveness. Clergy and the general population perceive reconciliation as necessary for forgiveness while there is no consensus within psychology. The clergy suggests that forgiveness is limitless and that repentance is unnecessary while the general population suggests that there are limits and that repentance is necessary. Psychological definitions do not conceptualize repentance as necessary for forgiveness and the question of limits has not been addressed although within therapy the implicit assumption is that forgiveness is limitless.</p

Autonomous Light Management in Flexible Photoelectrochromic Films Integrating High Performance Silicon Solar Microcells

Commercial smart window technologies for dynamic light and heat management in building and automotive environments traditionally rely on electrochromic (EC) materials powered by an external source. This design complicates building-scale installation requirements and substantially increases costs for applications in retrofit construction. Self-powered photoelectrochromic (PEC) windows are an intuitive alternative wherein a photovoltaic (PV) material is used to power the electrochromic device, which modulates the transmission of the incident solar flux. The PV component in this application must be sufficiently transparent and produce enough power to efficiently modulate the EC device transmission. Here, we propose Si solar microcells (μ-cells) that are i) small enough to be visually transparent to the eye, and ii) thin enough to enable flexible PEC devices. Visual transparency is achieved when Si μ-cells are arranged in high pitch (i.e. low-integration density) form factors while maintaining the advantages of a single-crystalline PV material (i.e., long lifetime and high performance). Additionally, the thin dimensions of these Si μ-cells enable fabrication on flexible substrates to realize these flexible PEC devices. The current work demonstrates this concept using WO₃ as the EC material and V₂O₅ as the ion storage layer, where each component is fabricated via sol-gel methods that afford improved prospects for scalability and tunability in comparison to thermal evaporation methods. The EC devices display fast switching times, as low as 8 seconds, with a modulation in transmission as high as 33%. Integration with two Si μ-cells in series (affording a 1.12 V output) demonstrates an integrated PEC module design with switching times of less than 3 minutes, and a modulation in transmission of 32% with an unprecedented EC:PV areal ratio

Comparison of spirometry criteria for the diagnosis of COPD: results from the BOLD study

To access publisher full text version of this article. Please click on the hyperlink in Additional Links fieldPublished guidelines recommend spirometry to accurately diagnose chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). However, even spirometry-based COPD prevalence estimates can vary widely. We compared properties of several spirometry-based COPD definitions using data from the international Burden of Obstructive Lung Disease (BOLD)study. 14 sites recruited population-based samples of adults aged > or =40 yrs. Procedures included standardised questionnaires and post-bronchodilator spirometry. 10,001 individuals provided usable data. Use of the lower limit of normal (LLN) forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV(1)) to forced vital capacity (FVC) ratio reduced the age-related increases in COPD prevalence that are seen among healthy never-smokers when using the fixed ratio criterion (FEV(1)/FVC <0.7) recommended by the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease. The added requirement of an FEV(1) either <80% predicted or below the LLN further reduced age-related increases and also led to the least site-to-site variability in prevalence estimates after adjusting for potential confounders. Use of the FEV(1)/FEV(6) ratio in place of the FEV(1)/FVC yielded similar prevalence estimates. Use of the FEV(1)/FV

Multi-netclust: an efficient tool for finding connected clusters in multi-parametric networks

Summary: Multi-netclust is a simple tool that allows users to extract connected clusters of data represented by different networks given in the form of matrices. The tool uses user-defined threshold values to combine the matrices, and uses a straightforward, memory-efficient graph algorithm to find clusters that are connected in all or in either of the networks. The tool is written in C/C++ and is available either as a form-based or as a command-line-based program running on Linux platforms. The algorithm is fast, processing a network of > 106 nodes and 108 edges takes only a few minutes on an ordinary computer

Do ACE inhibitors improve the response to exercise training in functionally impaired older adults? A randomized controlled trial

&lt;br&gt;Background: Loss of muscle mass and strength with ageing is a major cause for falls, disability, and morbidity in older people. Previous studies have found that angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEi) may improve physical function in older people. It is unclear whether ACEi provide additional benefit when added to a standard exercise training program. We examined the effects of ACEi therapy on physical function in older people undergoing exercise training.&lt;/br&gt; &lt;b&gt;Methods:&lt;/b&gt; Community-dwelling people aged ≥65 years with functional impairment were recruited through general (family) practices. All participants received progressive exercise training. Participants were randomized to receive either 4 mg perindopril or matching placebo daily for 20 weeks. The primary outcome was between-group change in 6-minute walk distance from baseline to 20 weeks. Secondary outcomes included changes in Short Physical Performance Battery, handgrip and quadriceps strength, self-reported quality of life using the EQ-5D, and functional impairment measured using the Functional Limitations Profile.&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;b&gt;Results:&lt;/b&gt; A total of 170 participants (n = 86 perindopril, n = 84 placebo) were randomized. Mean age was 75.7 (standard deviation [SD] 6.8) years. Baseline 6-minute walk distance was 306 m (SD 99). Both groups increased their walk distance (by 29.6 m perindopril, 36.4 m placebo group) at 20 weeks, but there was no statistically significant treatment effect between groups (−8.6m [95% confidence interval: −30.1, 12.9], p = .43). No statistically significant treatment effects were observed between groups for the secondary outcomes. Adverse events leading to withdrawal were few (n = 0 perindopril, n = 4 placebo).&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;b&gt;Interpretation:&lt;/b&gt; ACE inhibitors did not enhance the effect of exercise training on physical function in functionally impaired older people.&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt

Academic language socialisation in high school writing conferences

This study examines multilingual high school writers’ individual talk with their teachers in two advanced English language development classes to observe how such talk shapes linguistically diverse adolescents’ writing. Addressing adolescent writers’ language socialization through microethnographic discourse analysis, the author argues that teachers’ oral responses during writing conferences can either scaffold or deter students’ socialization into valued ways of using academic language for school writing. She suggests what forms of oral response provide scaffolding and what forms might limit multilingual adolescent learners’ academic literacy. Constructive interactions engaged students in dialogue about their writing, and students included content or phrasing from the interaction in their texts. Unhelpful interactions failed to foster students’ language development in observable ways. Although teachers attempted to scaffold ideas and language, they often did not guide students’ discovery of appropriate forms or points. These interactions represent restrictive academic language socialization: while some students did create academic texts, they learned little about academic language use

Towards a genome-wide transcriptogram: the Saccharomyces cerevisiae case

A genome modular classification that associates cellular processes to modules could lead to a method to quantify the differences in gene expression levels in different cellular stages or conditions: the transcriptogram, a powerful tool for assessing cell performance, would be at hand. Here we present a computational method to order genes on a line that clusters strongly interacting genes, defining functional modules associated with gene ontology terms. The starting point is a list of genes and a matrix specifying their interactions, available at large gene interaction databases. Considering the Saccharomyces cerevisiae genome we produced a succession of plots of gene transcription levels for a fermentation process. These plots discriminate the fermentation stage the cell is going through and may be regarded as the first versions of a transcriptogram. This method is useful for extracting information from cell stimuli/responses experiments, and may be applied with diagnostic purposes to different organisms