The Development of a Program for the Retention of New Members in the New Jerusalem Seventh-day Adventist Church

This dissertation evaluates a program that was developed for the retention of new members in the New Jerusalem Seventh-day Adventist Church. One of the greatest needs of new Christians is help in establishing a meaningful relationship within the body of Christ. The church, not the new converts, is primarily responsible for the process of assimilation. Two strategies were implemented at the New Jerusalem Church: 1. A study was conducted to analyze the growth pattern of the church for the past ten years. Two groups of members were surveyed— those baptized within the past eighteen Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. months and have left the church and those baptized during the same period and still actively involved in the church. The result of this survey laid the foundation for the implementation of the second strategy. 2. A new paradigm for membership assimilation was outlined and implemented in three phases: Phase 1. Pre-assimilation phase which was all the activities, ministries, and interactions between members and non-members prior to baptism Phase 2 . Membership phase which dealt with significance of church membership, involvement, and expectations of both old and new members Phase 3 . Post-assimilation phase which focuses specifically on the spiritual growth and maturity of the new converts. The church can be very meaningful in the assimilation process of the new converts when it is actually practicing congregational love of sharing, suffering, and discipleship. To make the project more practical an assimilation model was developed with five levels. The real purpose of the model was to take an individual through various stages of the assimilation process to the point of becoming a serviceable Christian for Christ. We must always be aware of one fact: evangelism is an incomplete process until the evangelized becomes the evangelizer. The findings from the research and the practical experience of the project suggest that the church needs to Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. re-evaluate its evangelism relative to the growth and stability of the new converts. What goes on in the lives of the new converts after baptism is of equal importance as what goes on before. A knowledge of Christianity and all lifestyle changes are taught prior to baptism, but from practical assumptions, all lifestyle changes occur after baptism and church membership. The project had a great impact on the New Jerusalem Seventh-day Adventist Church. There are visible, measurable improvements such as: increased attendance, increased financial giving, and more laity involvement in outreach ministries. It is my hope that this dissertation can be used to evaluate the effectiveness of the local and global church in the entire process of evangelism. It is also my hope that the results of the dissertation can be used as a resource for strengthening this vital aspect of our evangelistic efforts

Potentiation rather than distraction in a trace fear conditioning procedure

Trace conditioning procedures are defined by the introduction of a trace interval between conditioned stimulus (CS, e.g. noise or light) offset and unconditioned stimulus (US, e.g. footshock). The introduction of an additional stimulus as a distractor has been suggested to increase the attentional demands of the task and to extend the usefulness of the behavioural model. In Experiment 1, the CS was noise and the distractor was provided by an intermittent light. In Experiment 2, the CS was light and the distractor was provided by an intermittent noise. In both experiments, the introduction of a 10s trace interval weakened associative learning compared with that seen in a 0s delay conditioned group. However, there was no consistent evidence of distraction. On the contrary, in Experiment 1, associative learning was stronger (in both trace and delay conditioned groups) for rats conditioned also in the presence of the intermittent light. In Experiment 2, there was no such effect when the roles of the stimuli were reversed. The results of Experiment 2 did however confirm the particular salience of the noise stimulus. The finding of increased associative learning dependent on salience is consistent with arousal-mediated effects on associative learning

Getting shot of elves: healing, witchcraft and fairies in the Scottish witchcraft trials

This paper re-examines the evidence of the Scottish witchcraft trials for beliefs associated by scholars with "elf-shot." Some supposed evidence for elf-shot is dismissed, but other material illuminates the interplay between illness, healing and fairy-lore in early modern Scotland, and the relationship of these beliefs to witchcraft itself

The Next Generation of Photo-Detector for Particle Astrophysics.

We advocate support of research aimed at developing alternatives to the photomultiplier tube for photon detection in large astroparticle experiments such as gamma-ray and neutrino astronomy, and direct dark matter detectors. Specifically, we discuss the development of large area photocathode microchannel plate photomultipliers and silicon photomultipliers. Both technologies have the potential to exhibit improved photon detection efficiency compared to existing glass vacuum photomultiplier tubes

Robust automated detection of microstructural white matter degeneration in Alzheimer’s disease using machine learning classification of multicenter DTI data

Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) based assessment of white matter fiber tract integrity can support the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). The use of DTI as a biomarker, however, depends on its applicability in a multicenter setting accounting for effects of different MRI scanners. We applied multivariate machine learning (ML) to a large multicenter sample from the recently created framework of the European DTI study on Dementia (EDSD). We hypothesized that ML approaches may amend effects of multicenter acquisition. We included a sample of 137 patients with clinically probable AD (MMSE 20.6±5.3) and 143 healthy elderly controls, scanned in nine different scanners. For diagnostic classification we used the DTI indices fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean diffusivity (MD) and, for comparison, gray matter and white matter density maps from anatomical MRI. Data were classified using a Support Vector Machine (SVM) and a Naïve Bayes (NB) classifier. We used two cross-validation approaches, (i) test and training samples randomly drawn from the entire data set (pooled cross-validation) and (ii) data from each scanner as test set, and the data from the remaining scanners as training set (scanner-specific cross-validation). In the pooled cross-validation, SVM achieved an accuracy of 80% for FA and 83% for MD. Accuracies for NB were significantly lower, ranging between 68% and 75%. Removing variance components arising from scanners using principal component analysis did not significantly change the classification results for both classifiers. For the scanner-specific cross-validation, the classification accuracy was reduced for both SVM and NB. After mean correction, classification accuracy reached a level comparable to the results obtained from the pooled cross-validation. Our findings support the notion that machine learning classification allows robust classification of DTI data sets arising from multiple scanners, even if a new data set comes from a scanner that was not part of the training sample

WHAT GOOD IS WEALTH WITHOUT HEALTH? THE EFFECT OF HEALTH ON THE MARGINAL UTILITY OF CONSUMPTION

We estimate how the marginal utility of consumption varies with health. To do so, we develop a simple model in which the impact of health on the marginal utility of consumption can be estimated from data on permanent income, health, and utility proxies. We estimate the model using the Health and Retirement Study's panel data on the elderly and near-elderly, and proxy for utility with measures of subjective well-being. Across a wide range of alternative specifications and assumptions, we find that the marginal utility of consumption declines as health deteriorates, and we are able to clearly reject the null of no state dependence. Our point estimates indicate that a one-standard-deviation increase in the number of chronic diseases is associated with a 10%–25% decline in the marginal utility of consumption relative to this marginal utility when the individual has no chronic diseases. We present some simple, illustrative calibration results that suggest that state dependence of the magnitude we estimate can have a substantial effect on important economic problems such as the optimal level of health insurance benefits and the optimal level of life-cycle savings.United States. Social Security Administration (National Bureau of Economic Research Grant 10-P-98363-1-05)National Institute on Aging (Grant T32-AG000186

The Winter Camp of the Viking Great Army, AD 872–3, Torksey, Lincolnshire

This paper presents the results of a multidisciplinary project that has revealed the location, extent and character of the winter camp of the Viking Great Army at Torksey, Lincolnshire, of AD 872–3. The camp lay within a naturally defended area of higher ground, partially surrounded by marshes and bordered by the River Trent on its western side. It is considerably larger than the Viking camp of 873–4 previously excavated at Repton, Derbyshire, and lacks the earthwork defences identified there. Several thousand individuals overwintered in the camp, including warriors, craftworkers and merchants. An exceptionally large and rich metalwork assemblage was deposited during the Great Army’s overwintering, and metal processing and trading was undertaken. There is no evidence for a pre-existing Anglo-Saxon trading site here; the site appears to have been chosen for its strategic location and its access to resources. In the wake of the overwintering, Torksey developed as an important Anglo-Saxon borough with a major wheel-thrown pottery industry and multiple churches and cemeteries. The Torksey evidence allows for a radical reappraisal of the character of Viking winter camps, and the legacy of the Viking Great Army for Anglo-Saxon England

Dignity and Respect in Midwifery Education in the UK: a survey of Lead Midwives of Education

In the UK respect, dignity and compassion are the underpinning values which must determine service user care in the National Health Service (NHS). In midwifery education it is unclear how students are being taught these values. We created a study that aimed to explore how learning about dignity and respect is facilitated and assessed within pre-registration midwifery curricula. An online survey was devised and distributed to all Lead Midwives for Education in the UK. The findings are presented under the three main themes of understanding the meaning of dignity and respect, teaching and assessment and experiences. The study concludes that, though there are some good areas of education practice there is inconsistency in how Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) guidelines are transferred into curricula. This leads to students receiving differing emphasis of education on the values of dignity and respect