Factors shaping prayer frequency among 9- to 11-year-olds

This paper begins by reviewing the evidence from international research concerning the personal and social correlates of prayer frequency during childhood and adolescence. Overall these data continue to support the view that young people who pray not only report higher levels of personal wellbeing but also report higher levels of pro-social attitudes. These findings raise a research question of particular relevance within church schools regarding the factors that predict higher levels of prayer activity among students. The Student Voice Project offers data that can illuminate this research question. Among the 3,101 9- to 11-year old students who participated in the project 11% prayed daily, 9% at least once a week, 32% sometimes, 11% once or twice a year, and 37% never. The present paper tests the power of four sets of predictor variables to account for individual differences in prayer frequency among these students: personal factors (age and sex), psychological factors (using the three dimensional model of personality proposed by Eysenck), church attendance (self, mother, and father), and family discussion about prayer (mother, father, and grandparents). Multiple regression analyses identified the discussion of prayer with the mother as the single most important predictor. These findings locate the development of the practice of prayer within the home, even more than within the church

Microneedles: A New Frontier in Nanomedicine Delivery

This review aims to concisely chart the development of two individual research fields, namely nanomedicines, with specific emphasis on nanoparticles (NP) and microparticles (MP), and microneedle (MN) technologies, which have, in the recent past, been exploited in combinatorial approaches for the efficient delivery of a variety of medicinal agents across the skin. This is an emerging and exciting area of pharmaceutical sciences research within the remit of transdermal drug delivery and as such will undoubtedly continue to grow with the emergence of new formulation and fabrication methodologies for particles and MN. Firstly, the fundamental aspects of skin architecture and structure are outlined, with particular reference to their influence on NP and MP penetration. Following on from this, a variety of different particles are described, as are the diverse range of MN modalities currently under development. The review concludes by highlighting some of the novel delivery systems which have been described in the literature exploiting these two approaches and directs the reader towards emerging uses for nanomedicines in combination with MN

Local forest governance assessed through Social Network Analysis: comparison of three case studies in Italy, Bosnia Herzegovina and Montenegro

In natural resources governance, there is a growing awareness on the importance of being able to manage multidimensional networks which involve a multitude of actors representing different levels (from local to international; vertical integration) and various (public and private) sectors (horizontal integration). The organizations which play key roles in local development based on forest resources need to involve actors of civil society in decision-making processes, and to form new networks of collaboration and information exchange. At local level, governance assessment systems seldom consider the analysis of networks as an instrument to better address policy making, and Social Network Analysis (SNA) is prominently used in descriptive studies. In our work, SNA tool has been applied in three case studies (protected forest areas, in Italy, Montenegro and Bosnia-Herzegovina). Indices, including network density and cliques analysis, typical of SNA, have been calculated as proxy indicators for evaluating key aspects of governance capacity (e.g. level of efficiency and participation). The snowball technique was applied to identify stakeholders, data were collected through face-to-face interviews in 2012 and 2013, and networks were graphically represented. Results show that SNA is important to assess the role of main actors and to evaluate the policy process in local forest governance