The network dependency of religious and secular belief.

This thesis develops and tests a social network theory of religion to explain the phenomena of religious and secular beliefs in the general population in contemporary Britain. Drawing upon the writings of several historians and upon the work of Giddens (1994a, 1994b), the study is placed in the theoretical context of the debate about the nature of modernity. Due to the various processes of modernization it is argued that personal network links between church attenders and non-church attenders have gradually been severed since pre-modern times. The immediate consequences of this development are twofold. First, the transmission of church religion is greatly restricted. Second, personal overarching religious, or indeed secular, world views are now likely to be formulated, maintained, modified and transmitted by individuals within discrete and geographically dispersed social networks within the private sphere. On the basis of this argument a network dependency hypothesis was formulated, from which twenty-two testable propositions were derived. By employing ego-centred network analysis, the empirical dimension of this thesis reports the testing of each of these propositions against data obtained from a quantitative 500 questionnaire survey of a middle class suburb in the south of England, followed by 39 qualitative focused interviews with informants selected from the initial survey. The data showed that responses to the process of primary socialization had a profound effect on the initial belief formation of ego. This provided a foundation both for religious or secular belief in later life and for the future selection of network alters. With the exception of conversionists, these beliefs generally continued to be maintained by ego within ego's current network. At all stages ego demonstrated a need to reduce cognitive dissonance and to pursue cognitive consonance (Festinger, 1985). The local community did not constitute a plausibility structure and even the local church did not perform this function. Only discrete, dispersed, personal networks in the private sphere functioned to maintain the plausibility of religious and secular beliefs. The findings constituted overwhelming support for the network dependency hypothesis

Allies down under? The Australian at war and the "big lie"

There can be no doubt that the Murdoch press played an important role in cohering what support there was for Australia's involvement in 'Gulf War Two'. From the start, Murdoch's 'Australian' newspaper was firmly committed to the coalition of the willing and provided a well-orchestrated cheer squad for Prime Minister John Howard and the war against Iraq

Bulletin No. 125 - The Chemical Milling and Bake Value of Utah Wheats

The Chemical Department of the Utah Experiment Station, since 1903, has been conducting investigations regarding the value of different wheats grown in the State. The results obtained during the years 1903 to 1906 were published as Bulletin No. 103 of this station. A special investigation in 1910 regarding the influence of the combined harvester on the value of the wheat was conducted and the results obtained issued as Bulletin No. 113. The results reported in the following pages were obtained during the progress of these investigations during the years 1907, 1908, and 1909. The method of milling the samples of wheat are essentially the same as previously reported.* The samples of wheat were all cleaned by the scrubber as indicated in the previous report. The methods of analysis are similar to the ones described in the former bulletins. The determinations for gliadin and glutenin are not reported because considerable energy has been expended on perfecting a better method of determining the gliadin content of the flour. The results of this special investigation have been published by Dr. Greaves. The determination. of the acidity of the flour has also been omitted. Before any valuable information can be obtained from this factor, it is necessary to make a complete study of the methods of determination. Such a study will be taken up at this laboratory. The volumetric method as reported in the former bulletin has no value

Bulletin No. 147 - The Alkali Content of Irrigation Water

In certain irrigated districts the alkali problem is a menace. Any controllable factor which tends to increase the alkali content of the soil should be carefully considered in a successful system of soil management. In this connection the quality of the irrigation water is of great importance; the saline content of water has a marked influence upon the method and quantity to be used for irrigation. The factors which will contribute to an increase or decrease of the alkali content of the water must be clearly understood. The amount of the several kinds of alkali salts added to the soil by large or small applications of water must be clearly understood in order that the farmer may utilize the water supply to the best advantage. A knowledge of the quantity and nature of the alkali salts added to the soil will enable him to more systematically plan his crop rotation since crops vary in their power to resist the action of the several kinds of alkali

University of the 3rd Age (U3A): Coming to Calgary

The purpose of this descriptive case study is to promote understanding of the University of the Third Age (U3A) as an approach to facilitating lifelong learning opportunities for and with older adults.  This case study is specific to the development of a University of the Third Age in Calgary (U3A Calgary).  The benefits of lifelong learning for older adults and communities are described.  The benefits are followed by the articulation of the work done by the project team in moving the U3A Calgary from an idea to reality

Patients' experience of using colonoscopy as a diagnostic test after a positive FOBT/FIT: a systematic review of the quantitative literature

OBJECTIVES: Faecal occult blood testing (FOBT) and faecal immunochemical testing (FIT) are among the most used screening modalities for colorectal cancer (CRC). Colonoscopy is also widely used as a screening and diagnostic test for adults with a positive FOBT/FIT. Patient experience of colonoscopy is an important component for most CRC screening programmes. Individuals with negative experiences are less likely to engage with colonoscopy in the future and can deter others from attending colonoscopy when invited. This review synthesised data on patient experience with colonoscopy, following a positive result, to provide insights into how to improve patient experience within the English Bowel Cancer Screening Programme. METHODS: MEDLINE, EMBASE and PsycINFO were searched for quantitative questionnaire studies evaluating patient-reported experience with colonoscopy, following a positive screening FOB/FIT result. The search was limited to studies published between 2000 and 2021 (ie, when the first FOBT/FIT screening programmes for CRC were introduced). Data-driven and narrative summary techniques were used to summarise the literature. RESULTS: In total, six studies from the UK (n=4), Spain (n=1) and the Netherlands (n=1) were included in the review (total participants: 152 329; response rate: 68.0-79.3%). Patient experiences were categorised into three 'stages': 'pre-colonoscopy', 'during the test' and 'post-colonoscopy'. Overall, patients reported a positive experience in all six studies. Bowel preparation was the most frequently endorsed issue experienced pre-test (experienced by 10.0-41.0% of individuals, across all studies), pain and discomfort for during the test (experienced by 10.0-21.0% of participants) and abdominal pain and discomfort after the test (these were experienced by 14.8-22% of patients). CONCLUSION: This review highlighted that patient-reported experiences associated with colonoscopy were generally positive. To improve the colonoscopy experience, bowel screening centres should investigate means to: make bowel preparation more acceptable, make colonoscopy less painful and reduce post-colonoscopy symptoms

The Universal Cloud and Aerosol Sounding System (UCASS): a low-cost miniature optical particle counter for use in dropsonde or balloon-borne sounding systems

© Author(s) 2019. This work is distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License. An earlier version of this work was published in Atmospheric Measurement Techniques Discussions: https://dx.doi.org/10.5194/amt-2019-70.A low-cost miniaturized particle counter has been developed by The University of Hertfordshire (UH) for the measurement of aerosol and droplet concentrations and size distributions. The Universal Cloud and Aerosol Sounding System (UCASS) is an optical particle counter (OPC), which uses wide-angle elastic light scattering for the high-precision sizing of fluid-borne particulates. The UCASS has up to 16 configurable size bins, capable of sizing particles in the range 0.4–40 µm in diameter. Unlike traditional particle counters, the UCASS is an open-geometry system that relies on an external air flow. Therefore, the instrument is suited for use as part of a dropsonde, balloon-borne sounding system, as part of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), or on any measurement platform with a known air flow. Data can be logged autonomously using an on-board SD card, or the device can be interfaced with commercially available meteorological sondes to transmit data in real time. The device has been deployed on various research platforms to take measurements of both droplets and dry aerosol particles. Comparative results with co-located instrumentation in both laboratory and field settings show good agreement for the sizing and counting ability of the UCASS.Peer reviewe