A Pastoral Response to the Charismatic Movement

In the material recorded in Paul\u27s First Epistle to the Corinthian congregation, the reader comes into contact with what Paul refers to as charismata, or spiritual gifts. Chapter 14 of this Epistle concentrates on two of these charismata, namely speaking in tongues and prophecy. Both are utterance gifts , and from Paul\u27s treatment of them, it seems that there is a definite link between them. Since we are currently experiencing an increasing element of charismatic renewal within our own denomination, and do not seem able to deal pastorally with it, it will be my purpose in this brief section to delve into each of these two gifts in respect to their contributions to the community of believers. This treatment will take place in regards to the unabused forms in which these gifts are to appear, as related in chapter 14 of I Corinthians

Courtroom data and politeness research : a case for neo-Peircean semiotics in interpersonal pragmatics

In this article, we take a neo-Peircean semiotic approach to analyzing an interaction in which a routine bail hearing between a defendant and a judge goes awry. Neo-Peircean semiotics is steadily gaining recognition within linguistics for providing a new perspective on meaning. One neo-Peircean approach, referred to as Relationship Thinking (Enfield, 2009; 2013), has the potential to be influential for politeness research and linguistic pragmatics generally. In this article, we explore how the concept of relationship can be used to explore meaning on two dimensions: residential and representational (Kockelman, 2006 a;b). It is our contention that both of these dimensions are crucial to developing an understanding of what happens in the courtroom data on which this special issue focusses. We begin by providing a detailed overview of neo-Peircean semiotics in order to demonstrate its utility for researchers from different disciplines. We then show how a neo-Peircean analytical approach can illuminate elements of data that may not be accounted for in other analyses. This is as a consequence of the neo-Peircean framework’s scope and its capacity for coping with a range of interactionally significant phenomena, from individual linguistic tokens to institutional norms. In our analysis of the data at the heart of this special issue, the Penelope Soto case, we show that problems can arise when interactants have different understandings of what is a sign and what is an interpretant (Peirce, 1955). We make the case that it is a misunderstanding at this level (specifically the interpretations of the word “value”) that is ultimately what causes the interaction to conclude in the way that it does. Ultimately, we suggest that a neo-Peircean approach to the study of in/appropriate behaviour can facilitate links between the traditional (and sometimes disparate) methods of analysis used in politeness research

Network structure determines patterns of network reorganization during adult neurogenesis

New cells are generated throughout life and integrate into the hippocampus via the process of adult neurogenesis. Epileptogenic brain injury induces many structural changes in the hippocampus, including the death of interneurons and altered connectivity patterns. The pathological neurogenic niche is associated with aberrant neurogenesis, though the role of the network-level changes in development of epilepsy is not well understood. In this paper, we use computational simulations to investigate the effect of network environment on structural and functional outcomes of neurogenesis. We find that small-world networks with external stimulus are able to be augmented by activity-seeking neurons in a manner that enhances activity at the stimulated sites without altering the network as a whole. However, when inhibition is decreased or connectivity patterns are changed, new cells are both less responsive to stimulus and the new cells are more likely to drive the network into bursting dynamics. Our results suggest that network-level changes caused by epileptogenic injury can create an environment where neurogenic reorganization can induce or intensify epileptic dynamics and abnormal integration of new cells.Comment: 28 pages, 10 figure

On A Summer Night

https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/mmb-vp/3690/thumbnail.jp

NEPC Review: Financial Crisis Looming for K-12 Schools? Flexibility Needed, Not Bailouts (Heritage Foundation, April 2020)

A Heritage Foundation report argues that special interest groups are pushing for excessive federal relief. Such spending, the report suggests, will come at the immediate expense of priorities like national defense. It recommends that instead of increasing spending, policy leaders should renegotiate teacher contracts, trim administrative “bloat,” and give schools more discretion over how to spend their reduced budgets. But the report’s findings and recommendations are poorly grounded, and its selective use of data presents a misleading picture of the school funding landscape

Can behaviour impede evolution? Persistence of singing effort after morphological song loss in crickets

Funding: Natural Environmental ResearchCouncil for funding (NE/L011255/1) (N.W.B.).Evolutionary loss of sexual signals is widespread. Examining the consequences for behaviours associated with such signals can provide insight into factors promoting or inhibiting trait loss. We tested whether a behavioural component of a sexual trait, male calling effort, has been evolutionary reduced in silent populations of Hawaiian field crickets (Teleogryllus oceanicus). Cricket song requires energetically costly wing movements, but ‘flatwing’ males have feminized wings that preclude song and protect against a lethal, eavesdropping parasitoid. Flatwing males express wing movement patterns associated with singing but, in contrast with normal-wing males, sustained periods of wing movement cannot confer sexual selection benefits and should be subject to strong negative selection. We developed an automated technique to quantify how long males spend expressing wing movements associated with song. We compared calling effort among populations of Hawaiian crickets with differing proportions of silent males and between male morphs. Contrary to expectation, silent populations invested as much in calling effort as non-silent populations. Additionally, flatwing and normal-wing males from the same population did not differ in calling effort. The lack of evolved behavioural adjustment following morphological change in silent Hawaiian crickets illustrates how behaviour might sometimes impede, rather than facilitate, evolution.PostprintPeer reviewe

Adding Student Voice to the Mix: Perception Surveys and State Accountability Systems

For the past two decades, student perception surveys have become standard tools in data collection efforts. At the state level, however, “student voice” is still used sparingly. In this study, we examine the ways in which including student survey results might alter state accountability determinations. Reconstructing the accountability system in Massachusetts, we draw on a unique set of student survey data, which we add to the state’s formula at a maximally feasible dosage in order to determine new school ratings. As we find, student survey data shift school accountability ratings in small but meaningful ways and appear to enhance functional validity. Student survey results introduce information about school quality that is not captured by typical accountability metrics, correlate moderately with test score growth, and are not predicted by student demographic variables

Susceptibility Provision Enhances Effective De-escalation (SPEED): utilizing rapid phenotypic susceptibility testing in Gram-negative bloodstream infections and its potential clinical impact

Abstract Objectives We evaluated the performance and time to result for pathogen identification (ID) and antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) of the Accelerate Pheno™ system (AXDX) compared with standard of care (SOC) methods. We also assessed the hypothetical improvement in antibiotic utilization if AXDX had been implemented. Methods Clinical samples from patients with monomicrobial Gram-negative bacteraemia were tested and compared between AXDX and the SOC methods of the VERIGENE® and Bruker MALDI Biotyper® systems for ID and the VITEK® 2 system for AST. Additionally, charts were reviewed to calculate theoretical times to antibiotic de-escalation, escalation and active and optimal therapy Results ID mean time was 21 h for MALDI-TOF MS, 4.4 h for VERIGENE® and 3.7 h for AXDX. AST mean time was 35 h for VITEK® 2 and 9.0 h for AXDX. For ID, positive percentage agreement was 95.9% and negative percentage agreement was 99.9%. For AST, essential agreement was 94.5% and categorical agreement was 93.5%. If AXDX results had been available to inform patient care, 25% of patients could have been put on active therapy sooner, while 78% of patients who had therapy optimized during hospitalization could have had therapy optimized sooner. Additionally, AXDX could have reduced time to de-escalation (16 versus 31 h) and escalation (19 versus 31 h) compared with SOC. Conclusions By providing fast and reliable ID and AST results, AXDX has the potential to improve antimicrobial utilization and enhance antimicrobial stewardship

Ten Simple Rules for Developing a Short Bioinformatics Training Course

This is an open-access article under the Creative Commonset.-- et al.This paper considers what makes a short course in bioinformatics successful. In today’s research environment, exposure to bioinformatics training is something that anyone embarking on life sciences research is likely to need at some point. Furthermore, as research technologies evolve, this need will continue to grow. In fact, as a consequence of the introduction of high-throughput technologies, there has already been an increase in demand for training relating to the use of computational resources and tools designed for high-throughput data storage, retrieval, and analysis. Biologists and computational scientists alike are seeking postgraduate learning opportunities in various bioinformatics topics that meet the needs and time restrictions of their schedules. Short, intensive bioinformatics courses (typically from a couple of days to a week in length, and covering a variety of topics) are available throughout the world, and more continue to be developed to meet the growing training needs.This work was partly supported by the Intramural Research Program of the NIH, NLM, NCBI, and by funds awarded to the EMBL-European Bioinformatics Institute by the European Commission under SLING, grant agreement number 226073 (Integrating Activity) within Research Infrastructures of the FP7 Capacities Specific Programme EMBL-EBI.Peer reviewe

Barriers to early diagnosis of symptomatic breast cancer: a qualitative study of Black African, Black Caribbean and White British women living in the UK

Objectives: Understanding barriers to early diagnosis of symptomatic breast cancer among Black African, Black Caribbean and White British women in the UK. Design: In-depth qualitative interviews using grounded theory methods to identify themes. Findings validated through focus groups. Participants: 94 women aged 33–91 years; 20 Black African, 20 Black Caribbean and 20 White British women diagnosed with symptomatic breast cancer were interviewed. Fourteen Black African and 20 Black Caribbean women with (n=19) and without (n=15) breast cancer participated in six focus groups. Setting: Eight cancer centres/hospital trusts in London (n=5), Somerset (n=1), West Midlands (n=1) and Greater Manchester (n=1) during 2012–2013. Results: There are important differences and similarities in barriers to early diagnosis of breast cancer between Black African, Black Caribbean and White British women in the UK. Differences were influenced by country of birth, time spent in UK and age. First generation Black African women experienced most barriers and longest delays. Second generation Black Caribbean and White British women were similar and experienced fewest barriers. Absence of pain was a barrier for Black African and Black Caribbean women. Older White British women (≥70 years) and first generation Black African and Black Caribbean women shared conservative attitudes and taboos about breast awareness. All women viewed themselves at low risk of the disease, and voiced uncertainty over breast awareness and appraising non-lump symptoms. Focus group findings validated and expanded themes identified in interviews. Conclusions: Findings challenged reporting of Black women homogenously in breast cancer research. This can mask distinctions within and between ethnic groups. Current media and health promotion messages need reframing to promote early presentation with breast symptoms. Working with communities and developing culturally appropriate materials may lessen taboos and stigma, raise awareness, increase discussion of breast cancer and promote prompt help-seeking for breast symptoms among women with low cancer awareness