Calibrating self-reported church attendance questions in online surveys ; Experimental evidence from the Italian context

Despite widespread use in survey research, the accuracy and validity of self-reported church attendance questions have often been debated. Since the seminal article by Hadaway et al. (1993), that this indicator leads to an overestimation of the number of regular churchgoers has entered common knowledge. However, no systematic work to improve the understanding and command of the measurement instrument has been carried out. This contribution analyses the effect of different formulations of the self-reported church attendance question in online questionnaires, by means of survey experiments on a sample of Italian Catholics. In particular the most common \u2018how often\u2019 version of the question is compared to an alternative version asking how many times respondents went to church in the last month. The experimental results show that, despite criticism, the \u2018how often\u2019 version remains the best option for obtaining information on individual religious practice in survey research. This version is robust to changes in the formulation of answer categories and produces more informative results for respondents with low attendance. Finally, the study supplies evidence consistent with the growing body of literature that underlines the role of religious identity and self-conception in answering questions on church attendance

Church attendance and religious change inEastern Europe (1990-2015)

Eastern Europe is one of the areas where the debate on religious change and individual-level secularization has been recently more intense. The attempt to explain religious developments in this part of Europe has brought to a fierce competition among the main theories of religious change (secularization, individualization and market theory). An additional source of interest for Eastern European countries stems from their heterogeneity, in both religious (e.g. the Catholic rather than the Orthodox tradition) and historical terms (starting from the intensity of the Soviet regime's grip). Finally, literature analysis highlights some inconsistencies among the different authors in assessing church attendance trends, see for example the recent contributions by Brenner (2016), van Ingen and Moor (2015) and Burkimsher (2014): such discrepancies give room to new contributions. The paper aims to contribute to the debate on religious change in Eastern Europe focusing on estimates of church attendance trends for the past twenty-five years. The research design considers more studies simultaneously to enlarge the observation window and get more reliable estimates. To this end, we consider the following comparative and repeated cross-sectional surveys: Eurobarometer (various series), European Social Survey (ESS), European Values Study (EVS), the World Values Survey (WVS), International Social Survey Programme (ISSP). Church attendance is available in all these studies and, despite some relevant criticisms, continues to be a key indicator of religious change. At the end of the paper the trends detected for Eastern Europe will be compared to those in Western countries in order to highlight differences and similarities

Dendritic Cells Cause Bone Lesions in a New Mouse Model of Histiocytosis.

Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH) is a rare disease caused by the clonal accumulation of dendritic Langerhans cells, which is often accompanied by osteolytic lesions. It has been reported that osteoclast-like cells play a major role in the pathogenic bone destruction seen in patients with LCH and these cells are postulated to originate from the fusion of DCs. However, due to the lack of reliable animal models the pathogenesis of LCH is still poorly understood. In this study, we have established a mouse model of histiocytosis- recapitulating human disease for osteolytic lesions seen in LCH patients. At 12 weeks after birth, severe bone lesions were observed in our multisystem histiocytosis (Mushi) model, when CD8α conventional dendritic cells (DCs) are transformed (MuTuDC) and accumulate. Most importantly, our study demonstrates that bone loss in LCH can be accounted for the transdifferentiation of MuTuDCs into functional osteoclasts both in vivo and in vitro. Moreover, we have shown that injected MuTuDCs reverse the osteopetrotic phenotype of oc/oc mice in vivo. In conclusion, our results support a crucial role of DCs in bone lesions in histiocytosis patients. Furthermore, our new model of LCH based on adoptive transfer of MuTuDC lines, leading to bone lesions within 1-2 weeks, will be an important tool for investigating the pathophysiology of this disease and ultimately for evaluating the potential of anti-resorptive drugs for the treatment of bone lesions

Efectividad (adherencia) en la etapa de admisión en los centros preventivos asistenciales en adicciones en función de los estadios y procesos de cambio y variables socio-demográficas.

El estudio mide el perfil socio-demográfico, el estadio y los procesos de cambio de los pacientes que llegaron a admisión a los Centros Preventivos Asistenciales Públicos en adicciones (CPAA) y su relación con la adherencia al tratamiento al cabo de 60 días. Investigaciones indican que cuanto más avanzada está la persona en el estadio de cambio al inicio del proceso terapéutico más rápido puede predecirse el progreso. Se abordó este estudio desde el Modelo Transteórico de Prochaska y DiClemente

Régénération tissulaire guidée: observation ultrastructurale au microscope électronique à transmission et au microscope électronique à balayage

PTFE membranes are used for guided tissue regeneration in oder to treat angular bone defects or forcation involvements in surgical treatment.Ultrastructural investigations have been performed by means of electron transmission and scanning microscopy. In agreement with previous reports, fibroblast cells adhering to the reticular structure of PTFE membrane were observed; these were interposed among coagulated clusters of fibrinous material and blood cells round shaped. Elongated bacterial cells were always present in the microscope fields analysed.These observations were confirmed by means of transmission microscopy; moreover specific techniques enabled us to demonstrate that fibroblast cells were synthetizing collagene, which was present in the form of extracellular fibers mixed to fibrine clusters. Roundish and elongate bacterial cells were always observed both in the extracellular matrix and into macrophages.Les Auteurs ont effectué des recherches ultrastructurales au M.E.T. et au M.E.B. sur quelques membranes de PTFE employées pour guider la régénération tissulaire dans la correction de défauts osseux angulaires ou de la zone de la bifurcation radiculaire après traitement chirurgical.Les observations au M.E.B. ont confirmé celles que d’autres auteurs ont effectuées en mettant en évidence, à la surface des membranes des corps cellulaires de fibroblastes adhérents aux structures réticulaires du PTFE, mélangés à des amas coagulés de matériel fibrineux et à des éléments figurés du sang.En outre, la présence, dans les champs examinés, de corps bactériens à forme ronde et allongée, est constante, signe de contamination bactérienne.Au M.E.T., ces observations ont trouvé une correspondance exacte et les techniques spécifiques ont permis de démontrer que les cellules fibroblastes présentes sont en phase active de synthèse de collagène. Ce dernier apparaît amassé en position extracellulaire, mélangé aux amas de fibrine.De la même façon on a démontré la présence, aussi bien en position extra-cellulaire qu’à l’intérieur desmacrophages, des corps bactériens ronds et allongés

Probing dynamic covalent chemistry in a 2D boroxine framework by in situ near-ambient pressure X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy

peer reviewedDynamic covalent chemistry is a powerful approach to design covalent organic frameworks, where high crystallinity is achieved through reversible bond formation. Here, we exploit near-ambient pressure X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy to elucidate the reversible formation of a two-dimensional boroxine framework. By in situ mapping the pressure–temperature parameter space, we identify the regions where the rates of the condensation and hydrolysis reactions become dominant, being the key to enable the thermodynamically controlled growth of crystalline frameworks

B lymphocytes limit senescence-driven fibrosis resolution and favor hepatocarcinogenesis in mouse liver injury

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a frequent neoplasia and a leading cause of inflammation-related cancer mortality. Despite that most HCCs arise from persistent inflammatory conditions, pathways linking chronic inflammation to cancer development are still incompletely elucidated. We dissected the role of adaptive immunity in the Mdr2 knockout (Mdr2\u2013/\u2013) mouse, a model of inflammation-associated cancer, in which ablation of adaptive immunity has been induced genetically (Rag2\u2013/\u2013Mdr2\u2013/\u2013 and \u3bcMt-Mdr2\u2013/\u2013 mice) or with in vivo treatments using lymphocyte-specific depleting antibodies (anti-CD20 or anti-CD4/CD8). We found that activated B and T lymphocytes, secreting fibrogenic tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF\u3b1) and other proinflammatory cytokines, infiltrated liver of the Mdr2\u2013/\u2013 mice during chronic fibrosing cholangitis. Lymphocyte ablation, in the Rag2\u2013/\u2013Mdr2\u2013/\u2013 and \u3bcMt-Mdr2\u2013/\u2013 mice, strongly suppressed hepatic stellate cell (HSC) activation and extracellular matrix deposition, enhancing HSC transition to cellular senescence. Moreover, lack of lymphocytes changed the intrahepatic metabolic/oxidative state, resulting in skewed macrophage polarization toward an anti-inflammatory M2 phenotype. Remarkably, hepatocarcinogenesis was significantly suppressed in the Rag2\u2013/\u2013Mdr2\u2013/\u2013 mice, correlating with reduced TNF\u3b1/NF-\u3baB (nuclear factor kappa B) pathway activation. Ablation of CD20+ B cells, but not of CD4+/CD8+ T cells, in Mdr2\u2013/\u2013 mice, promoted senescence-mediated fibrosis resolution and inhibited the protumorigenic TNF\u3b1/NF-\u3baB pathway. Interestingly, presence of infiltrating B cells correlated with increased tumor aggressiveness and reduced disease-free survival in human HCC. Conclusion: Adaptive immunity sustains liver fibrosis (LF) and favors HCC growth in chronic injury, by modulating innate components of inflammation and limiting the extent of HSC senescence. Therapies designed for B-cell targeting may be an effective strategy in LF. (Hepatology 2018;67:1970-1985)

Single-Cell Analysis of Ploidy and Centrosomes Underscores the Peculiarity of Normal Hepatocytes

Polyploidization is the most well recognized feature of the liver. Yet, a quantitative and behavioral analysis of centrosomes and DNA content in normal hepatocytes has been limited by the technical challenges of methods available. By using a novel approach employing FISH for chromosomes 18, X and Y we provide, for the first time, a detailed analysis of DNA copies during physiological development in the liver at single cell level. We demonstrate that aneuploidy and unbalanced DNA content in binucleated hepatocytes are common features in normal adult liver. Despite the common belief that hepatocytes contain 1, 2 or no more than 4 centrosomes, our double staining for centrosome associated proteins reveals extranumerary centrosomes in a high percentage of cells as early as 15 days of age. We show that in murine liver the period between 15 days and 1.5 months marks the transition from a prevalence of mononucleated cells to up to 75% of binucleated cells. Our data demonstrate that this timing correlates with a switch in centrosomes number. At 15 days the expected 1 or 2 centrosomes converge with several hepatocytes that contain 3 centrosomes; at 1.5 months the percentage of cells with 3 centrosomes decreases concomitantly with the increase of cells with more than 4 centrosomes. Our analysis shows that the extranumerary centrosomes emerge in concomitance with the process of binucleation and polyploidization and maintain α-tubulin nucleation activity. Finally, by integrating interphase FISH and immunofluorescent approaches, we detected an imbalance between centrosome number and DNA content in liver cells that deviates from the equilibrium expected in normal cells. We speculate that these unique features are relevant to the peculiar biological function of liver cells which are continuously challenged by stress, a condition that could predispose to genomic instability