A Strategy for Effectiveness in Preaching Old Testament Narrative Scripture

Old Testament preaching appears to be on the decline. Very often when it is preached, it is done poorly. Since narratives comprise 40% of the Old Testament, a large portion of God\u27s Word is being either neglected or abused by many modern preachers. The purpose of this project is to show how proven hermeneutical and homiletical skills may be combined to provide a strategy for effectively preaching Old Testament narratives. The project will present a series of sermons based on the Old Testament book of Ruth which will demonstrate the author\u27s strategy as it is fleshed out in practical exposition

The Technology Bias in Entrepreneur-Investor Negotiations

Entrepreneur-investor negotiations are pivotal for ventures in need of funding. Yet, to date, little is known about the dynamics of these negotiations. We investigate a critical feature of this phenomenon by examining the role of technology, via cognitive heuristics, in shaping entrepreneur and investor perceptions as well as subsequent negotiation outcomes. In a controlled laboratory setting, we simulated 103 negotiations between entrepreneurs and investors. We hypothesize and find that there is a pervasive technology bias that influences the perceptions of both parties of the negotiation, and consequently negotiation outcomes. Our findings offer unique insights into the relationships of technology, cognitive heuristics, and negotiations. We discuss the implications for both practitioners and theoreticians in the areas of technology, decision making, negotiations, and entrepreneurial financing

Use of Trusted Software Modules for Emergency-Integrity Display

This report provides summary of the interface, mechanisms and semantics for high integrity display of information in a secure computer system, based on the use of a high assurance separation kernel and trusted software modules in both the application domain and the trusted software domain.Grant number: CNS-0430566 and CNS-0430598.Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited

Testing Hydrodynamic Models of LMC X-4 with UV and X-ray Spectra

We compare the predictions of hydrodynamic models of the LMC X-4 X-ray binary system with observations of UV P Cygni lines with the GHRS and STIS spectrographs on the Hubble Space Telescope. The hydrodynamic model determines density and velocity fields of the stellar wind, wind-compressed disk, accretion stream, Keplerian accretion disk, and accretion disk wind. We use a Monte Carlo code to determine the UV P Cygni line profiles by simulating the radiative transfer of UV photons that originate on the star and are scattered in the wind. The qualitative orbital variation predicted is similar to that observed, although the model fails to reproduce the strong orbital asymmetry (the observed absorption is strongest for phi>0.5). The model predicts a mid-eclipse X-ray spectrum, due almost entirely to Compton scattering, with a factor 4 less flux than observed with ASCA. We discuss how the model may need to be altered to explain the spectral variability of the system.Comment: 11 figures, accepted by Ap

Redefined blood pressure variability measure and its association with mortality in elderly primary care patients

Visit-to-visit blood pressure (BP) variability has received considerable attention recently. The objective of our study is to define a variability measure that is independent of change over time and determine the association between longitudinal summary measures of BP measurements and mortality risk. Data for the study came from a prospective cohort of 2906 adults, aged ≥60 years, in an urban primary care system with ≤15 years of follow-up. Dates of death for deceased participants were retrieved from the National Death Index. Systolic and diastolic BP measurements from outpatient clinic visits were extracted from the Regenstrief Medical Record System. For each patient, the intercept, regression slope, and root mean square error for visit-to-visit variability were derived using linear regression models and used as independent variables in Cox proportional hazards models for both all-cause mortality and mortality attributable to coronary heart disease or stroke. Rate of change was associated with mortality risk in a U-shaped relationship and that participants with little or no change in BP had the lowest mortality risk. BP variability was not an independent predictor of mortality risk. By separating change over time from visit-to-visit variability in studies with relatively long follow-up, we demonstrated in this elderly primary care patient population that BP changes over time, not variability, were associated with greater mortality risk. Future research is needed to confirm our findings in other populations

Errors in self-reports of health services use: impact on alzheimer disease clinical trial designs

BACKGROUND: Most Alzheimer disease clinical trials that compare the use of health services rely on reports of caregivers. The goal of this study was to assess the accuracy of self-reports among older adults with Alzheimer disease and their caregiver proxy respondents. This issue is particularly relevant to Alzheimer disease clinical trials because inaccuracy can lead both to loss of power and increased bias in study outcomes. METHODS: We compared respondent accuracy in reporting any use and in reporting the frequency of use with actual utilization data as documented in a comprehensive database. We next simulated the impact of underreporting and overreporting on sample size estimates and treatment effect bias for clinical trials comparing utilization between experimental groups. RESULTS: Respondents self-reports have a poor level of accuracy with κ-values often below 0.5. Respondents tend to underreport use even for rare events such as hospitalizations and nursing home stays. In analyses simulating underreporting and overreporting of varying magnitude, we found that errors in self-reports can increase the required sample size by 15% to 30%. In addition, bias in the reported treatment effect ranged from 3% to 18% due to both underreporting and overreporting errors. CONCLUSIONS: Use of self-report data in clinical trials of Alzheimer disease treatments may inflate sample size needs. Even when adequate power is achieved by increasing sample size, reporting errors can result in a biased estimate of the true effect size of the intervention

RASSF1A and the rs2073498 Cancer Associated SNP

RASSF1A is one of the most frequently inactivated tumor suppressors yet identified in human cancer. It is pro-apoptotic and appears to function as a scaffolding protein that interacts with a variety of other tumor suppressors to modulate their function. It can also complex with the Ras oncoprotein and may serve to integrate pro-growth and pro-death signaling pathways. A SNP has been identified that is present in approximately 29% of European populations [rs2073498, A(133)S]. Several studies have now presented evidence that this SNP is associated with an enhanced risk of developing breast cancer. We have used a proteomics based approach to identify multiple differences in the pattern of protein/protein interactions mediated by the wild type compared to the SNP variant protein. We have also identified a significant difference in biological activity between wild type and SNP variant protein. However, we have found only a very modest association of the SNP with breast cancer predisposition