The formation of pastoral leaders for the 21st-century church

Mainline Protestant churches are in crisis. In the Episcopal Church, Sunday attendance has declined nearly 25% in the last decade. Clergy with limited leadership skills are unable to help reverse this trend. But the leadership skills clergy need can be taught. After reviewing literature from studies of church growth and the field of leadership studies, I created a list of vital leadership skills and used it as the basis for a questionnaire sent to the ten Episcopal seminaries. After reviewing these quantitative results and qualitative interviews, I identified organizational management and evangelism as relative weaknesses in Episcopal clergy formation. Interviews showed a variety of curricular and extracurricular strategies to form clergy leaders. Drawing on this research and on studies of professional education and leadership pedagogy, I outline a three-year leadership formation curriculum, which will serve as a model for leadership formation at Berkeley Divinity School

Controlled expression of functional miR-122 with a ligand inducible expression system

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>To study the biological function of miRNAs, and to achieve sustained or conditional gene silencing with siRNAs, systems that allow controlled expression of these small RNAs are desirable. Methods for cell delivery of siRNAs include transient transfection of synthetic siRNAs and expression of siRNAs in the form of short hairpins using constitutive RNA polymerase III promoters. Systems employing constitutive RNA polymerase II promoters have been used to express miRNAs. However, for many experimental systems these methods do not offer sufficient control over expression.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We present an inducible mammalian expression system that allows for the conditional expression of short hairpin RNAs that are processed <it>in vivo </it>to generate miRNAs or siRNAs. Using modified nuclear receptors in a two hybrid format and a synthetic ligand, the Rheoswitch system allows rapid and reversible induction of mRNA expression. We evaluated the system's properties using miR-122 as a model miRNA. A short hairpin encoding miR-122 cloned into the expression vector was correctly processed to yield mature miRNA upon induction with ligand and the amount of miRNA produced was commensurate with the concentration of ligand. miR-122 produced in this way was capable of silencing both endogenous target genes and appropriately designed reporter genes. Stable cell lines were obtained, resulting in heritable, consistent and reversible expression of miR-122, a significant advantage over transient transfection. Based on these results, obtained with a microRNA we adapted the method to produce a desired siRNA by designing short hairpins that can be accurately and efficiently processed.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>We established an Inducible expression system with a miR-122 backbone that can be used for functional studies of miRNAs and their targets, in heterologous cells that do not normally express the miRNA. Additionally we demonstrate the feasibility of using the miR-122 backbone to express shRNA with a desired siRNA guide strand for inducible RNAi silencing.</p

CLIPS: A tool for corn disease diagnostic system and an aid to neural network for automated knowledge acquisition

This paper describes the building of a corn disease diagnostic expert system using CLIPS, and the development of a neural expert system using the fact representation method of CLIPS for automated knowledge acquisition. The CLIPS corn expert system diagnoses 21 diseases from 52 symptoms and signs with certainty factors. CLIPS has several unique features. It allows the facts in rules to be broken down to object-attribute-value (OAV) triples, allows rule-grouping, and fires rules based on pattern-matching. These features combined with the chained inference engine result to a natural user query system and speedy execution. In order to develop a method for automated knowledge acquisition, an Artificial Neural Expert System (ANES) is developed by a direct mapping from the CLIPS system. The ANES corn expert system uses the same OAV triples in the CLIPS system for its facts. The LHS and RHS facts of the CLIPS rules are mapped into the input and output layers of the ANES, respectively; and the inference engine of the rules is imbedded in the hidden layer. The fact representation by OAC triples gives a natural grouping of the rules. These features allow the ANES system to automate rule-generation, and make it efficient to execute and easy to expand for a large and complex domain

Using concept mapping to understand motivational interviewing practice

Purpose Motivational interviewing (MI) has developed considerably since its inception, which may have led to diverse practice across contexts and differential understanding of core principles. Concept mapping is one potential method for offering insight into practitioner awareness, understanding and application of MI. The paper aims to discuss this issue. Design/methodology/approach In total, 29 professionals from a range of disciplines, including counselling, education and health, completed concept maps about MI, following brief training at the UK regional MI interest network. In total, 17 completed maps were submitted for analysis using quantitative and qualitative methods. Findings A total of 186 concepts and 175 propositional links were found within the 17 maps. The most commonly identified concepts were: change, empathy, collaboration, open-ended questions, affirmations, reflections, summaries (OARS), client centred and compassion. The concept maps also suggested differing levels of expertise across network members using concept mapping morphology classification. Research limitations/implications The sample was small scale and located in one region of the UK. Maps were submitted anonymously meaning that participant data could not be matched to the maps. Practical implications Concept mapping is a potentially useful method for auditing practice and developing skills in MI, as well as exploring participants’ understanding of related concepts and therapeutic mechanisms. Social implications MI has a strong evidence-based across a variety of disciplines and contexts. Refining practitioner skills in MI has implications for the integrity of delivery, and improved client outcomes in areas such as substance use, health promotion and educational disaffection. Originality/value This is the first study to investigate concept mapping as a means of understanding MI practice. It has potential implications for training, monitoring, supervision and development in MI practice

Zooplankton of the waters adjacent to the C.P. Crane Generating Station

Zooplankton populations in the Gunpowder River and its tributaries were sampled monthly from July 1979 to March 1980 in a continuation of similar studies begun in March 1979. Fourteen stations were sampled for mesozooplankton (202 ~m nets); six of these stations were also sampled for microzooplankton (concentration of pumped samples on 76 ~m netting)

Image Construction as a Strategy of Resistance by Progressive Community Organizations

This article presents research findings on image construction as a strategy of resistance used by progressive community agencies to be responsive to the increasing marginalization of their service users in current times. The agencies project nuanced images in representing their work to service users, funders and stakeholders and community partner agencies. These nuanced images serve to demonstrate the multiple and complex identities of these agencies. The agencies have used this strategy successfully to reclaim their power with funders and use their power effectively in making their services responsive and relevant to the situations of service users. The article provides an interesting presentation on the dynamics of the use of this strategy by progressive community organizations.Cet article présente quelques résultats d’une recherche portant sur la construction de l’image comme stratégie de résistance chez des organismes communautaires progressistes. Ceux-ci y ont actuellement recours afin de réagir adéquatement à l’accroissement de la marginalisation de leurs usagers et usagères. Ces organismes recourent à de multiples images et représentations selon qu’ils s’adressent à des usagers et usagères, des bailleurs de fonds ou des organismes communautaires partenaires. Cette représentation différenciée de leurs interventions démontre le caractère multiple et complexe des identités de ces organismes. Plus encore, en employant des stratégies de construction d’images, ces organismes communautaires progressistes ont réussi à modifier les rapports de pouvoir entre les bailleurs de fonds et eux. Cette stratégie a aussi permis à ces organismes de fournir des réponses pertinentes et adaptées aux réalités de leurs usagers et usagères. Enfin, cet article offre une lecture intéressante des dynamiques sous-jacentes à cette stratégie et, plus particulièrement, à son recours par des organismes communautaires progressistes

Design of a recumbent seating system

Future space shuttle missions presented by NASA might require the shuttle to rendezvous with the Russian space station Mir for the purpose of transporting astronauts back to earth. Due to the atrophied state of these astronauts, a special seating system must be designed for their transportation. The main functions of this seating system are to support and restrain the astronauts during normal reentry flight and to dampen some of the loading that might occur in a crash situation. Through research, the design team developed many concept variants for these functional requirements. By evaluating each variant, the concepts were eliminated until the four most attractive designs remained. The team used a decision matrix to determine the best concept to carry through embodiment. This concept involved using struts for support during reentry flight and a spring damper/shock absorber system to dampen crash landing loads. The embodiment design process consisted of defining the layout of each of the main functional components, specifically, the seat structure and the strut structure. Through the use of MCS/pal two, the design was refined until it could handle all required loads and dampen to the forces specified. The auxiliary function carriers were then considered. Following the design of these components, the complete final layout could be determined. It is concluded that the final design meets all specifications outlined in the conceptual design. The main advantages of this design are its low weight, simplicity, and large amount of function sharing between different components. The disassembly of this design could potentially present a problem because of time and size constraints involved. Overall, this design meets or exceeds all functional requirements

Electronic Archives and Partnerships - Preserving Government Information for Tomorrow

This presentation discusses electronic archives, partnerships, and preserving government information. In this presentation, the authors discuss digital libraries and the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP). They present the background of the FDLP, developing the Memorandum of Understanding, the CyberCemetery, and gives a current status of the FDLP