Health and Spirituality: the Development and Presentation of a Seminar on the Role of the Doctrine of Health in the Message and Mission of the Seventh-day Adventist Church

The purpose of this project was to develop and present a seminar on the role of the doctrine of health in the message and mission of the Seventh-day Adventist church. The historical development of the Seventh-day Adventist doctrines of health was studied to discover which biblical concepts have been used to support the doctrine of health. Then a six-session seminar entitled Putting the Good News! Back into Health! was developed. Seminar materials included scripts, participant magazines, pre-and-post-evaluative instruments, overhead transparencies, and advertising information. The seminar was presented in the New Port Richey, Florida, Seventh-day Adventist church, Sabbath and Wednesday evenings, from October 28 to November 14, 1992. Attendance averaged fifty-two persons per night. Twenty-five matched entry/exit tests were obtained. Cross-tab tables were generated which indicated positive movement toward better health habits and attitudes in several of the areas covered by the seminar. The evaluative instrument results suggest that the seminar succeeded in imparting spiritual motivations for healthful living. I personally felt enriched by this study of the doctrine of health. The seminar met a need for teaching materials concerning health and spirituality. After further revision and testing the seminar could be made available to other churches. Recommendations include developing a comprehensive theology of health, further study of Ellen White\u27s philosophy of healthful living, a survey of motivation for healthful living among Adventists, research studies into the relationship between healthful living and spirituality, and further study of the ethical implications of the doctrine of health. Dialogue should also be initiated with other Christians working in the wholistic heal field. Research for the project revealed fundamental differences between a biblically based wholistic health philosophy and holistic health concepts based upon New Age or Eastern religious philosophies. It was suggested that the Seventh-day Adventist church can preserve the unique identity of its health message only by retaining the message\u27s biblical foundation

“Adventist Millennials: Measuring Emerging Adults Connection to Church”

How do graduates of Adventist universities connect with or disconnect from the church in the context of identity, community, orthodoxy, and orthopraxy? Findings include the influence personal religiosity has on acceptance of Adventist teachings and faith practice, and the negative impact media usage and transitory lifestyles have on connection to local churches

Potential implications of practice effects in Alzheimer's disease prevention trials.

IntroductionPractice effects (PEs) present a potential confound in clinical trials with cognitive outcomes. A single-blind placebo run-in design, with repeated cognitive outcome assessments before randomization to treatment, can minimize effects of practice on trial outcome.MethodsWe investigated the potential implications of PEs in Alzheimer's disease prevention trials using placebo arm data from the Alzheimer's Disease Cooperative Study donepezil/vitamin E trial in mild cognitive impairment. Frequent ADAS-Cog measurements early in the trial allowed us to compare two competing trial designs: a 19-month trial with randomization after initial assessment, versus a 15-month trial with a 4-month single-blind placebo run-in and randomization after the second administration of the ADAS-Cog. Standard power calculations assuming a mixed-model repeated-measure analysis plan were used to calculate sample size requirements for a hypothetical future trial designed to detect a 50% slowing of cognitive decline.ResultsOn average, ADAS-Cog 13 scores improved at first follow-up, consistent with a PE and progressively worsened thereafter. The observed change for a 19-month trial (1.18 points) was substantively smaller than that for a 15-month trial with 4-month run-in (1.79 points). To detect a 50% slowing in progression under the standard design (i.e., a 0.59 point slowing), a future trial would require 3.4 times more subjects than would be required to detect the comparable percent slowing (i.e., 0.90 points) with the run-in design.DiscussionAssuming the improvement at first follow-up observed in this trial represents PEs, the rate of change from the second assessment forward is a more accurate representation of symptom progression in this population and is the appropriate reference point for describing treatment effects characterized as percent slowing of symptom progression; failure to accommodate this leads to an oversized clinical trial. We conclude that PEs are an important potential consideration when planning future trials

Reconciliation and the Constitution: A Transcript of the Roundtable

As described in the opening piece in this Volume of the Supreme Court Law Review, unprecedented national media and political attention was given to the relationship between Indigenous people and the Canadian state in 2016. As part of our conference, we asked a group of people to come together and talk about the future of the Constitution as a means or an obstacle to reconciliation with Indigenous peoples and First Nations in Canada. Amnesty International’s most recent global report on the State of the World’s Human Rights praised Canada’s action regarding refugees, but then noted that “[c]oncerns persisted about the failure to uphold the rights of Indigenous Peoples in the face of economic development projects”. We asked our panelists about the connection between the rhetoric of reconciliation and the situation on the ground. Would the Court continue to play a significant role in the development of section 35 Aboriginal rights? Are these discussions likely to play out in courts, at constitutional amendment conferences, or in the political arena

National Educators' Workshop. Update 92: Standard Experiments in Engineering Materials Science and Technology

This document contains a collection of experiments presented and demonstrated at the workshop. The experiments related to the nature and properties of engineering materials and provided information to assist in teaching about materials in the education community

Mindful violence? Responses to the Rambo series' shifting aesthetic of aggression

Rambo (2008) marked the return of Sylvester Stallone's iconic action hero. What is most striking about the fourth film (as the response from reviewers testifies), is its graphic violence. My intention here is to critically engage with Rambo (2008) as rewriting the series' established aesthetic of violence. My overarching aim is to highlight how the popular press has sought to read the 2008 version of Rambo according to the discursive narratives surrounding Stallone's 1980s action films. The negative response to Rambo, I argue, stems from relying on critical patterns that do not fit the film itself

Entangled State Synthesis for Superconducting Resonators

We present a theoretical analysis of methods to synthesize entangled states of two superconducting resonators. These methods use experimentally demonstrated interactions of resonators with artificial atoms, and offer efficient routes to generate nonclassical states. We analyze physical implementations, energy level structure, and the effects of decoherence through detailed dynamical simulations.Comment: 14 pages, 10 figure

Effect of fixed-dose subcutaneous reslizumab on asthma exacerbations in patients with severe uncontrolled asthma and corticosteroid sparing in patients with oral corticosteroid-dependent asthma : results from two phase 3, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trials

BACKGROUND: Reslizumab 3 mg/kg administered intravenously is approved for the treatment of severe eosinophilic asthma. We assessed the safety and efficacy of subcutaneous reslizumab 110 mg in two trials in patients with uncontrolled severe asthma and increased blood eosinophils. The aim was to establish whether subcutaneous reslizumab 110 mg can reduce exacerbation rates in these patients (study 1) or reduce maintenance oral corticosteroid dose in patients with corticosteroid-dependent asthma (study 2). METHODS: Both studies were randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, phase 3 studies. Entry criteria for study 1 were uncontrolled severe asthma, two or more asthma exacerbations in the previous year, a blood eosinophil count of 300 cells per μL or more (including no more than 30% patients with an eosinophil count <400 cells/μL), and at least a medium dose of inhaled corticosteroids with one or more additional asthma controllers. Patients in study 2 had severe asthma, a blood eosinophil count of 300 cells per μL or more, daily maintenance oral corticosteroid (prednisone 5-40 mg, or equivalent), and high-dose inhaled corticosteroids plus another controller. Patients were randomly assigned (1:1) to subcutaneous reslizumab (110 mg) or placebo once every 4 weeks for 52 weeks in study 1 and 24 weeks in study 2. Patients and investigators were masked to treatment assignment. Primary efficacy outcomes were frequency of exacerbations during 52 weeks in study 1 and categorised percentage reduction in daily oral corticosteroid dose from baseline to weeks 20-24 in study 2. Primary efficacy analyses were by intention to treat, and safety analyses included all patients who received at least one dose of study treatment. These studies are registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02452190 (study 1) and NCT02501629 (study 2). FINDINGS: Between Aug 12, 2015, and Jan 31, 2018, 468 patients in study 1 were randomly assigned to placebo (n=232) or subcutaneous reslizumab (n=236), and 177 in study 2 to placebo (n=89) or subcutaneous reslizumab (n=88). In study 1, we found no significant difference in the exacerbation rate between reslizumab and placebo in the intention-to-treat population (rate ratio 0·79, 95% CI 0·56-1·12; p=0·19). Subcutaneous reslizumab reduced exacerbation frequency compared with placebo in the subgroup of patients with blood eosinophil counts of 400 cells per μL or more (0·64, 95% CI 0·43-0·95). Greater reductions in annual exacerbation risk (p=0·0035) and longer time to first exacerbation were observed for patients with higher trough serum reslizumab concentrations. In study 2, we found no difference between placebo and fixed-dose subcutaneous reslizumab in categorised percentage reduction in daily oral corticosteroid dose (odds ratio for a lower category of oral corticosteroid use in the reslizumab group vs the placebo group, 1·23, 95% CI 0·70-2·16; p=0·47). The frequency of adverse events and serious adverse events with reslizumab were similar to those with placebo in both studies. INTERPRETATION: Fixed-dose (110 mg) subcutaneous reslizumab was not effective in reducing exacerbation frequency in patients with uncontrolled asthma and increased blood eosinophils (≥300 cells/μL), or in reducing the daily maintenance oral corticosteroid dose in patients with oral corticosteroid-dependent severe eosinophilic asthma. Higher exposures than those observed with 110 mg subcutaneous reslizumab are required to achieve maximal efficacy. FUNDING: Teva Branded Pharmaceutical Products R&D