Francis A. Schaeffer : the force behind the evangelical takeover of the Republican Party in America

Title from PDF of title page, viewed on January 21, 2015Thesis advisor: Max SkidmoreVitaIncludes bibliographical references (pages 130-138)Thesis (M. A.)--Department of Political Science. University of Missouri--Kansas City 2013Over the last 40 years or so, Americans have been involved in a religious/political struggle that has divided the nation. The struggle has impacted American government, culture, the economy, and international relations. It has divided the American people, almost evenly between so-called secularist, who favor government based on the Declaration of Independence, The United States Constitution and the Bill of Rights, and evangelical/fundamentalist Protestant, Catholic Christians, many of whom seem to prefer a government based on the principles and dictates of the Bible. These particular Christians number in the tens of millions, with reputable polling organizations suggesting that there one hundred million of them. These conservative Christians attend tens of thousands of churches across America regularly and for the last forty years or so, have been listening to sermons offered by their ministers that regularly demonize the Supreme Court, Congressional liberals, Presidents, particularly if they are Democrats, and the United States government in general. As a result of these circumstances, it has been suggested by knowledgeable observers that conditions in America today resemble in some ways, the conditions that existed in this nation prior to the Civil War in the 1860s. While numerous individuals, organizations and philosophies deserve credit and/or blame for this current situation, a relatively unknown American missionary who spent most of his working life in Europe, is primarily responsible for "striking the match that lit the fire that started" the Religious Right of America on its current course to "take back America for God." That individual was Francis A. Schaeffer, who along with his son Frank, came back to America in the 1970s and 1980s to offer encouragement, guidance and a philosophical foundation upon which evangelical/fundamentalist/Catholic Christians would organize and develop one of the most powerful political organizations in the history of this country. A significant part of the success of these particular Christians has been the near "take-over" of the Republican Party. This thesis examines the life and work of Francis Schaeffer, his religious beliefs, and his leadership in the development of the Religious Right in America. It also presents new insights on perhaps the single greatest issue used by evangelical/fundamentalist/Catholics to incite their followers--ABORTION. Much of the personal information about Francis Schaeffer and his son Frank, comes not only from their numerous books, and news articles and books about them, but from several face to face interviews with Frank during his 2010 and 2011 trips to Kansas City to speak about his and his father's political/religious activities in the 70s and 80s. Frank, who regrets what he and his father got started, now travels the country attempting, unsuccessfully, to enlighten Americans to the dangers America now faces as as a result of a result of their earlier work. He also offers many personal and somewhat private observations about himself, his family and many of the current and previous leaders of the Religious Right. A most disturbing aspect of the entire situation is the fact that a vast majority of Americans and the American media either are unaware of the facts presented here, or they are fearful to discuss them.Introduction -- Who was Francis A. Schaeffer IV? -- Changing times call for changing attitudes -- Where evangelical/fundamentalist Christianity is today -- Conclusio

Handheld ISFET Lab-on-Chip detection of TMPRSS2-ERG and AR mRNA for prostate cancer prognostics

Ion-sensitive field-effect transistors (ISFETs) in combination with unmodified complementary metal oxide semiconductors present a point-of-care platform for clinical diagnostics and prognostics. This work illustrates the sensitive and specific detection of two circulating mRNA markers for prostate cancer, the androgen receptor and the TMPRSS2-ERG fusion using a target-specific loop-mediated isothermal amplification method. TMPRSS2-ERG and androgen receptor RNA were detected down to 3x10 1 and 5x10 1 copies respectively in under 30 minutes. Administration of these assays onto the ISFET Lab-on-chip device was successful and the specificity of each marker was corroborated with mRNA extracted from prostate cancer cell lines

Policing and performing gay sexualities : how do gay men neg(oti)ate their sexual identities in the workplace and how does occupational setting frame these processes? : A comparative study into the working lives of gay male police officers and performers

This thesis explores the working realities of gay police officers and performers in relation to ‘gay-friendly’/‘gay-hostile’ worksites and embodied sexual identity, developing an understanding of the meanings gay workers attach to their working lives by mobilising conceptual resources primarily from sociology. Deep seated assumptions pervade current perceptions regarding gay male sexuality and certain occupations. The idea is that there are gay industries like fashion, nursing and the performing arts. In contrast, occupations such as the police and the armed forces are often seen as homophobic, yet a dearth of academic research investigates the lived experiences of gay men located within perceived ‘gay friendly’ or ‘gay hostile’ worksites. Acknowledging this as a missed opportunity for developing empirical insight, I bring to the fore the work realities of some of these overlooked people. Taking the performing arts as an example of a ‘gay-friendly’ occupation, the police as an example of a ‘gay-hostile’ occupation, and drawing on in-depth interview data with 20 gay performers/police officers, I show that the perspectives and experiences of these men allow us to nuance existing research on how LGB employees understand, value and experience ‘gay-friendly’ workplaces, an emerging construct in the organisation studies literature. Focusing on the significance of embodied, sexual identity for the performance of the occupational roles of interest allows this study to consider the relationship between gender and sexuality at work. Literature on the gendered nature of work along with the promising literature on (homo)sexuality in the workplace have proceeded relatively separately, with the exception of the literature on sexualized labour and the commodification of women's (assumed hetero)sexuality in sales-service work (Tyler, 1997). The effect is that the experience and performance of gender and/in/through sexuality at work has been neglected as a topic of empirical investigation. Although sociologists argue that sexuality cannot be understood without reference to gender, and vice versa, few organizational scholars explore the experiences of work with this in mind. This thesis addresses this gap in knowledge. It brings together the perspectives of gay performers and police officers and highlights the prevalence of a „gender imperative‟ throughout the day-to-day lives of these workers. In detailing the workplace experiences of my participants, this thesis also builds on existing studies that tend to focus solely on the general working lives of gay employees. Gay workers face important contextual issues relating to 'passing', 'coming out' and homophobia. Although these are key areas of interest to existing literature, studies so far fail to address these concepts in detail with reference to specific occupational settings. In other words, the research contributes to the area of lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) disclosure and management at work. Stigma-based models (Goffman, 1963) are particularly useful here in framing some of the empirical insights of my research

Supplementation of Merino ewes with cholecalciferol in late pregnancy improves the vitamin D status of ewes and lambs at birth but is not correlated with an improvement in immune function in lambs

Functional deficiencies of the immune system are known to predispose human and animal neonates to death. Thus, immune competency may be a significant factor influencing the mortality of lambs. Vitamin D has been recognised to improve immune function and is transferred across the placenta. This study tested the hypotheses that (1) supplementation of Merino ewes with cholecalciferol during late pregnancy will increase the concentrations of vitamin D in the ewe and lamb at birth and (2) supplementation of Merino ewes with cholecalciferol during late pregnancy is correlated with an increase in innate phagocytic and adaptive antibody immune responses in the lamb. Merino ewes (n≤53) were injected intramuscularly with 1 × 106 IU cholecalciferol at Days 113 and 141 of pregnancy. A control group (n≤58) consisted of ewes receiving no additional nutritional treatments. The vitamin D status of ewes and lambs was assessed up until 1 month post-lambing. Lamb immune function was assessed by analysing the functional capacity of phagocytes, and the plasma IgG and anti-tetanus-toxoid antibody concentrations between birth and weaning. Maternal supplementation with cholecalciferol increased the plasma 25(OH)D concentrations of both ewes (137 vs 79 nmol/L; P < 0.001) and lambs (49 vs 24 nmol/L; P < 0.001) at birth compared with the controls. Supplementation with cholecalciferol had no significant effect on the phagocytic capacity of monocytes or polymorphonuclear leukocytes, the concentration of IgG in the colostrum or plasma of lambs, or the vaccine-specific antibody response against tetanus toxoid. Overall, the results support our first hypothesis, but suggest that maternal supplementation with 1 × 106 IU cholecalciferol does not improve innate, passive or adaptive immune function in lambs

The effect of nodal connectivity and strut density within stochastic titanium scaffolds on osteogenesis

Modern orthopaedic implants use lattice structures that act as 3D scaffolds to enhance bone growth into and around implants. Stochastic scaffolds are of particular interest as they mimic the architecture of trabecular bone and can combine isotropic properties and adjustable structure. The existing research mainly concentrates on controlling the mechanical and biological performance of periodic lattices by adjusting pore size and shape. Still, less is known on how we can control the performance of stochastic lattices through their design parameters: nodal connectivity, strut density and strut thickness. To elucidate this, four lattice structures were evaluated with varied strut densities and connectivity, hence different local geometry and mechanical properties: low apparent modulus, high apparent modulus, and two with near-identical modulus. Pre-osteoblast murine cells were seeded on scaffolds and cultured in vitro for 28 days. Cell adhesion, proliferation and differentiation were evaluated. Additionally, the expression levels of key osteogenic biomarkers were used to assess the effect of each design parameter on the quality of newly formed tissue. The main finding was that increasing connectivity increased the rate of osteoblast maturation, tissue formation and mineralisation. In detail, doubling the connectivity, over fixed strut density, increased collagen type-I by 140%, increased osteopontin by 130% and osteocalcin by 110%. This was attributed to the increased number of acute angles formed by the numerous connected struts, which facilitated the organization of cells and accelerated the cell cycle. Overall, increasing connectivity and adjusting strut density is a novel technique to design stochastic structures which combine a broad range of biomimetic properties and rapid ossification

The unspoken voice: applying John Shotter’s dialogic lens to qualitative data from people who have communication difficulties

As speech and language therapists, we explored theories of communication and voice that are familiar to our profession and found them an inadequate basis on which to generate deep and rich analysis of the qualitative data from people who have communication difficulties and who use augmentative and alternative communication. Expanding our conceptual toolkit to include the work of John Shotter allowed us to reconceptualise voice and where it is emergent in dialogue. Reimaging voice will inform clinical and research praxis with people who have communication difficulties as it allows practitioners to attend more closely to the complexity and nuance inherent in interactions with this population. Our proposition is exemplified with excerpts from a single participant who has communication difficulties to illustrate the value of dialogic theory in praxis. This article presents a provocation for the wider academy of qualitative health research; do we have the concepts and tools to develop meaning with people whose lived experiences may also be hard to voice in monologues

Creativity in public involvement: supporting authentic collaboration and inclusive research with seldom heard voices

Background The role of public involvement (PI) in healthcare research is growing in importance and it is imperative that researchers continuously reflect on how to promote the inclusion of patients and service users in the design and delivery of research. PI offers a mechanism for end-users to be involved planning, executing, and reporting research. Some patient groups, including people who have communication difficulties, may struggle to engage in the methods traditionally employed to promote PI engagement such as questionnaires and focus groups. Methods This article describes a longitudinal case-study of a PI group, consisting of people who have communication difficulties, for a patient-reported outcome development project. Creative methods, informed by the participatory design principles of enacting, seeing and doing, were introduced stepwise into seven PI meetings. Data from video and visual minutes were used to evaluate the impact of the methods, following each group. Feedback, in the form of verbal and visual outputs taken directly from group meeting minutes, along with vignettes evidenced the impact of the methods on the project and group members. Results Creative methods enabled the PI group members to successfully contribute in meetings, to interact dynamically and to engage with the aims and processes of the research project. Their involvement facilitated the development of accessible recruitment materials, informed data analysis and supported the dissemination of project outputs. Employing creative methods also enabled both PI group members and the academic team to reflect on their own roles within the research project and the impact that their active involvement in the PI group has had on their personal development and perspectives on research. Conclusion The impact of using creative methods in PI for this patient-reported outcome measure (PROM) development project improved collaboration and understanding between PI members and the academic team. The authentic engagement of people who have communication difficulties in PI generated a more accessible project in terms of both process and impact. Creativity has applicability beyond people whose communication is non-verbal; it should be harnessed by research teams to identify and breakdown barriers to involvement to develop outcome tools that reflect the diversity of our populations

Appraising the quality of tools used to record patient-reported outcomes in users of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC): a systematic review

© 2019, The Author(s). Purpose: People who have complex communication needs (CCN), and who use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) to help them express themselves, can be difficult to engage in decision making about their healthcare. The purpose of this review was to identify what patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) have been employed with people who use AAC. Of the tools identified, the review aimed to establish what conceptual frameworks were used and how the reports describe completion of the PROM. Methods: A systematic literature review was carried out. A pre-defined set of search terms was entered into five main health and education databases. Titles and abstracts were sifted for relevance. Full text papers were screened against inclusion/exclusion criteria. Data pertaining to the type and nature of the PROM used was extracted. Complementary data sources were analysed to construct a narrative synthesis of the papers identified. Results: Within 15 papers that met the review criteria, 25 PROMs were used with people who rely on AAC comprising of 15 separate measures. The conceptual frameworks for 12 of these tools were reported from which 62 items, or concepts being measured, were identified. Following synthesis of these items, 9 conceptual domains and 11 sub-domains were generated. Limited information was available about who completed the PROM nor how much, if any, support they received. Conclusions: No PROM that has been developed specifically for people who use AAC was identified by this review. Of the tools that have been used with people who use AAC, the concepts measured were broad and varied. The quality of reporting concerning who completed the PROM was limited, undermining the trustworthiness of many of the studies

Management of pain in Fabry disease in the UK clinical setting: consensus findings from an expert Delphi panel

Background: Fabry disease is a rare, X-linked inherited lysosomal storage disorder, that manifests as a heterogeneous disease with renal, cardiac and nervous system involvement. The most common pain experienced by people with Fabry disease are episodes of neuropathic pain reported in up to 80% of classical hemizygous male patients and up to 65% of heterozygous female patients. No clear consensus exists within UK clinical practice for the assessment and management of pain in Fabry disease based on agreed clinical practice and clinical experience. Here we describe a modified Delphi initiative to establish expert consensus on management of pain in Fabry disease in the UK clinical setting. Methods: Delphi panel members were identified based on their demonstrated expertise in managing adult or paediatric patients with Fabry disease in the UK and recruited by an independent third-party administrator. Ten expert panellists agreed to participate in two survey rounds, during which they remained anonymous to each other. Circulation of the questionnaires, and collection and processing of the panel’s responses were conducted between September 2021 and December 2021. All questions required an answer. Results: The Delphi panel reached a consensus on 21 out of 41 aspects of pain assessment and management of pain in Fabry disease. These encompassed steps in the care pathway from the goals of therapy through to holistic support, including the use of gabapentin and carbamazepine as first-line analgesic medications for the treatment of neuropathic pain in Fabry disease, as well as the proactive management of symptoms of anxiety and/or depression associated with Fabry pain. Conclusions: The consensus panel outcomes reported here have highlighted strengths in current UK clinical practice, along with unmet needs for further research and agreement. This consensus is intended to prompt the next steps towards developing clinical guidelines