“Deliver us from evil” A critical analysis of soteriological discourse in African pentecostalism

Magister Artium - MAIn the history of Christianity a number of distinct soteriological models have developed over the centuries. In the Patristic period, victory over death and destruction was emphasised. In late medieval Catholicism, the Protestant Reformation and evangelical circles, the focus was on reconciliation with God through the forgiveness of sins, while modern liberal notions of salvation emphasised the need for education and moral upliftment, if not enlightenment. In the twentieth century, other soteriological motifs became dominant, including development (in the tradition of the Social Gospel), self-actualisation (in existentialist theologies), liberation and emancipation (in liberation theologies, feminist theologies, etc). With the emergence of global Pentecostalism in the 20th century, two other forms of soteriology resurfaced, namely an emphasis on healing and deliverance from evil. This study will contribute to Pentecostal discourse on deliverance as a soteriological motif. In Western forms of Pentecostalism the need for deliverance from evil is recognised, in contrast with evangelicalism where the emphasis is on forgiveness of sins. Deliverance from evil is typically understood in personalist terms as affliction, namely as the need to overcome forces of evil inside the human psyche, typically associated with personal vices. This suggests a ministry of exorcism in order to be delivered from such vices that are then described as “demons”, evil forces, dominions and principalities. In political and liberation theologies, there is likewise an emphasis on evil forces, but these are understood in societal and structural terms, namely with references to ideologies, oppressive structures and forms of exploitation. In African forms of Pentecostalism (as in the case amongst African Instituted Churches) there is a similar emphasis on deliverance and the need for exorcism. However, this is especially understood with reference to witchcraft. Here, the one in need of deliverance is regarded as the victim of (demonic) possession beyond one’s locus of control. Deliverance is thus understood as victory over forces outside one’s own psyche that cause psychological trauma and have medical, social and economic consequences for the victim. This research project will explore a corpus of literature on the understanding of deliverance in the context of West-African Pentecostalism (or neo-Pentecostalism). It will analyse and compare views in this regard emerging from amongst Western African Pentecostals with Western Pentecostal scholars that seek to understand the distinct understanding of deliverance in the context of West-African Pentecostalism. More specifically, it will describe, analyse, compare and assess the contributions of Allan Anderson, Paul Gifford, Ogbu Kalu, J Kwabena Asamoah-Gyadu, and Opoku Onyunah in this regard

Global estimates of mineral dust aerosol iron and aluminum solubility that account for particle size using diffusion-controlled and surface-area-controlled approximations

Mineral aerosol deposition is recognized as the dominant source of iron to the open ocean and the solubility of iron in the dust aerosol is highly variable, with measurements ranging from 0.01–80%. Global models have difficulty capturing the observed variations in solubility, and have ignored the solubility dependence on aerosol size. We introduce two idealized physical models to estimate the size dependence of mineral aerosol solubility: a diffusion‐controlled model and a surface‐area‐controlled model. These models produce differing time‐ and space‐varying solubility maps for aerosol Fe and Al given the dust age at deposition, size‐resolved dust entrainment fields, and the aerosol acidity. The resulting soluble iron deposition fluxes are substantially different, and more realistic, than a globally uniform solubility approximation. The surface‐area‐controlled solubility varies more than the diffusion‐controlled solubility and better captures the spatial pattern of observed solubility in the Atlantic. However, neither of these two models explains the large solubility variation observed in the Pacific. We then examine the impacts of spatially variable, size‐dependent solubility on marine biogeochemistry with the Biogeochemical Elemental Cycling (BEC) ocean model by comparing the modeled surface ocean dissolved Fe and Al with observations. The diffusion‐based variable solubility does not significantly improve the simulation of dissolved Fe relative to a 5% globally uniform solubility, while the surface‐area‐based variable solubility improves the simulation in the North Atlantic but worsens it in the Pacific and Indian Oceans

Mechanical thrombectomy in patients with acute ischemic stroke: a cost-effectiveness and value of implementation analysis

Background: Recent clinical trials have demonstrated the efficacy of mechanical thrombectomy in acute ischemic stroke. Aims: To determine the cost-effectiveness, value of future research, and value of implementation of mechanical thrombectomy. Methods: Using UK clinical and cost data from the Pragmatic Ischemic Stroke Thrombectomy Evaluation (PISTE) trial, we estimated the cost-effectiveness of mechanical thrombectomy over time horizons of 90-days and lifetime, based on a decision-analytic model, using all existing evidence. We performed a meta-analysis of seven clinical trials to estimate treatment effects. We used sensitivity analysis to address uncertainty. Value of implementation analysis was used to estimate the potential value of additional implementation activities to support routine delivery of mechanical thrombectomy. Results: Over the trial period (90 days), compared with best medical care alone, mechanical thrombectomy incurred an incremental cost of £5207 and 0.025 gain in QALY (incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) £205,279), which would not be considered cost-effective. However, mechanical thrombectomy was shown to be cost-effective over a lifetime horizon, with an ICER of £3466 per QALY gained. The expected value of perfect information per patient eligible for mechanical thrombectomy in the UK is estimated at £3178. The expected value of full implementation of mechanical thrombectomy is estimated at £1.3 billion over five years. Conclusion: Mechanical thrombectomy was cost-effective compared with best medical care alone over a patient’s lifetime. On the assumption of 30% implementation being achieved throughout the UK healthcare system, we estimate that the population health benefits obtained from this treatment are greater than the cost of implementation. Trial registration: NCT01745692

Evaluation of the ECOSSE model for simulating soil organic carbon under Miscanthus and short rotation coppice-willow crops in Britain

Acknowledgements This work contributes to the ELUM (Ecosystem Land Use Modelling & Soil Carbon GHG Flux Trial) project, which was commissioned and funded by the Energy Technologies Institute (ETI). We acknowledge the E-OBS data set from the EU-FP6 project ENSEMBLES (http://ensembles-eu.metoffice.com) and the data providers in the ECA&D project (http://www.ecad.eu).Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Intensity standardization methods in magnetic resonance imaging of head and neck cancer

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Conventional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) poses challenges in quantitative analysis because voxel intensity values lack physical meaning. While intensity standardization methods exist, their effects on head and neck MRI have not been investigated. We developed a workflow based on healthy tissue region of interest (ROI) analysis to determine intensity consistency within a patient cohort. Through this workflow, we systematically evaluated intensity standardization methods for MRI of head and neck cancer (HNC) patients.MATERIALS AND METHODS: Two HNC cohorts (30 patients total) were retrospectively analyzed. One cohort was imaged with heterogenous acquisition parameters (HET cohort), whereas the other was imaged with homogenous acquisition parameters (HOM cohort). The standard deviation of cohort-level normalized mean intensity (SD NMI c), a metric of intensity consistency, was calculated across ROIs to determine the effect of five intensity standardization methods on T2-weighted images. For each cohort, a Friedman test followed by a post-hoc Bonferroni-corrected Wilcoxon signed-rank test was conducted to compare SD NMI c among methods. RESULTS: Consistency (SD NMI c across ROIs) between unstandardized images was substantially more impaired in the HET cohort (0.29 ± 0.08) than in the HOM cohort (0.15 ± 0.03). Consequently, corrected p-values for intensity standardization methods with lower SD NMI c compared to unstandardized images were significant in the HET cohort (p &lt; 0.05) but not significant in the HOM cohort (p &gt; 0.05). In both cohorts, differences between methods were often minimal and nonsignificant. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings stress the importance of intensity standardization, either through the utilization of uniform acquisition parameters or specific intensity standardization methods, and the need for testing intensity consistency before performing quantitative analysis of HNC MRI.</p

1964: Abilene Christian College Bible Lectures - Full Text

LEADERSHIP IN THE CHURCH” Being the Abilene Christian College Annual Bible Lectures 1964 Price: $3.95 Published by ABILENE CHRISTIAN COLLEGE STUDENTS EXCHANGE ACC Station Abilene, Texa

Initial soil C and land-use history determine soil C sequestration under perennial bioenergy crops

Acknowledgements We are exceptionally grateful to all the land owners who have granted us access to sample their fields. Kate Farrall, Jessica Adams, Neil Mullinger, Adam Dargan and Lou Walker for field and laboratory assistance. Pete Henrys (Centre for Ecology & Hydrology) for statistical guidance. This work was part of the Ecosystem Land-Use Modelling (ELUM) project, which was commissioned and funded by the Energy Technologies Institute.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Carbon implications of converting cropland to bioenergy crops or forest for climate mitigation: a global assessment

The potential for climate change mitigation by bioenergy crops and terrestrial carbon sinks has been the object of intensive research in the past decade. There has been much debate about whether energy crops used to offset fossil fuel use, or carbon sequestration in forests, would provide the best climate mitigation benefit. Most current food cropland is unlikely to be used for bioenergy, but in many regions of the world, a proportion of cropland is being abandoned, particularly marginal croplands, and some of this land is now being used for bioenergy. In this study, we assess the consequences of land-use change on cropland. We first identify areas where cropland is so productive that it may never be converted and assess the potential of the remaining cropland to mitigate climate change by identifying which alternative land use provides the best climate benefit: C4 grass bioenergy crops, coppiced woody energy crops or allowing forest regrowth to create a carbon sink. We do not present this as a scenario of land-use change – we simply assess the best option in any given global location should a land-use change occur. To do this, we use global biomass potential studies based on food crop productivity, forest inventory data and dynamic global vegetation models to provide, for the first time, a global comparison of the climate change implications of either deploying bioenergy crops or allowing forest regeneration on current crop land, over a period of 20 years starting in the nominal year of 2000 ad. Globally, the extent of cropland on which conversion to energy crops or forest would result in a net carbon loss, and therefore likely always to remain as cropland, was estimated to be about 420.1 Mha, or 35.6% of the total cropland in Africa, 40.3% in Asia and Russia Federation, 30.8% in Europe-25, 48.4% in North America, 13.7% in South America and 58.5% in Oceania. Fast growing C4 grasses such as Miscanthus and switch-grass cultivars are the bioenergy feedstock with the highest climate mitigation potential. Fast growing C4 grasses such as Miscanthus and switch-grass cultivars provide the best climate mitigation option on ≈485 Mha of cropland worldwide with ~42% of this land characterized by a terrain slope equal or above 20%. If that land-use change did occur, it would displace ≈58.1 Pg fossil fuel C equivalent (Ceq oil). Woody energy crops such as poplar, willow and Eucalyptus species would be the best option on only 2.4% (≈26.3 Mha) of current cropland, and if this land-use change occurred, it would displace ≈0.9 Pg Ceq oil. Allowing cropland to revert to forest would be the best climate mitigation option on ≈17% of current cropland (≈184.5 Mha), and if this land-use change occurred, it would sequester ≈5.8 Pg C in biomass in the 20-year-old forest and ≈2.7 Pg C in soil. This study is spatially explicit, so also serves to identify the regional differences in the efficacy of different climate mitigation options, informing policymakers developing regionally or nationally appropriate mitigation actions

Nanostructures Technology, Research, and Applications

Contains reports on seventeen research projects and a list of publications.Joint Services Electronics Program Contract DAAL03-92-C-0001Joint Services Electronics Program Grant DAAH04-95-1-0038Semiconductor Research Corporation Contract 94-MJ-550National Science Foundation Grant ECS 94-07078U.S. Army Research Office Contract DAAL03-92-G-0291Advanced Research Projects Agency/Naval Air Systems Command Contract N00019-92-K-0021National Aeronautics and Space Administration Contract NAS8-36748National Aeronautics and Space Administration Grant NAGW-2003IBM Corporation Contract 1622U.S. Army Research Office Grant DAAH04-94-G-0377U.S. Air Force - Office of Scientific Research Grant F-49-620-92-J-006

Immunopathological signatures in multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children and pediatric COVID-19

: Pediatric Coronavirus Disease 2019 (pCOVID-19) is rarely severe; however, a minority of children infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) might develop multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C), with substantial morbidity. In this longitudinal multi-institutional study, we applied multi-omics (analysis of soluble biomarkers, proteomics, single-cell gene expression and immune repertoire analysis) to profile children with COVID-19 (n = 110) and MIS-C (n = 76), along with pediatric healthy controls (pHCs; n = 76). pCOVID-19 was characterized by robust type I interferon (IFN) responses, whereas prominent type II IFN-dependent and NF-κB-dependent signatures, matrisome activation and increased levels of circulating spike protein were detected in MIS-C, with no correlation with SARS-CoV-2 PCR status around the time of admission. Transient expansion of TRBV11-2 T cell clonotypes in MIS-C was associated with signatures of inflammation and T cell activation. The association of MIS-C with the combination of HLA A*02, B*35 and C*04 alleles suggests genetic susceptibility. MIS-C B cells showed higher mutation load than pCOVID-19 and pHC. These results identify distinct immunopathological signatures in pCOVID-19 and MIS-C that might help better define the pathophysiology of these disorders and guide therapy