Dogmatism, coping, and spirituality : predicting mental health among the religious and the secular.

Religiousness has frequently been found to positively predict numerous types of beneficial mental health variables in previous literature. These results have often been inferred by scholars to mean that secular groups have poorer levels of mental health despite rarely including secular populations in studies. An ideological diverse sample of 4,667 respondents provided usable data in the current correlational study that measured the relationships between general dogmatism levels, existential belief strength, spiritual coping, spiritual harmony (i.e., the degree to which one lives in accordance with their self-defined values) and six indicators of mental health. The sample was comprised mainly of agnostic, atheist, Buddhist, Christian, Jewish, and spiritual nonreligious participants. Multi-group analyses within structural equation models and multivariate analysis of covariance procedures were used to investigate hypotheses. The data showed that religious and secular adherents had null differences on five of the six mental health indicators. Further, dogmatism, existential belief strength, and spiritual coping levels all had small-sized standardized regression weights that were statistically significant but weakly predictive of mental health levels even when measured at the ideological group level. Spiritual harmony levels were the only statistically significant standardized regression weight across all groups that was large in magnitude. The implications of the current study suggest that living in accordance with one’s spiritual values, regardless of how those values are defined, is strongly characteristic of better mental health

A preliminary investigation of additive manufacture to fabricate human nail plate surrogates for pharmaceutical testing

In vitro permeation studies using nail clippings or nail plates are commonly used in the development of transungual formulations. However, there are ethical, safety and cost issues associated with sourcing such tissues. Herein, we describe a preliminary approach is described for the design and manufacture of a human nail model surrogate based on 3D printing. To evaluate these 3D printed constructs, nails were mounted in conventional glass Franz cells and a commercial antifungal lacquer formulation containing ciclopirox olamine was applied daily to the surrogate printed surfaces for a period of 14 days. On days 8 and 14, the surfaces of the 3D printed nails were washed with ethanol to remove excess formulation. Confocal Raman spectroscopy (CRS) was used to profile the drug in the 3D printed nail. At the end of the Franz cell studies, no drug was observed in the receptor phase. CRS studies confirmed penetration of the active into the model nails with reproducible depth profiles. Our ongoing work is focused on synthesising commercial and non-commercial printable resins that can replicate the physical and chemical characteristics of the human nail. This will allow further evaluation of actives for ungual therapy and advance the development of the surrogate nail tissue model

Chunks in PLAN: Language Support for Programs as Packets

Chunks are a programming construct in PLAN, the Packet Language for Active Networks, comprised of a code segment and a suspended function call. In PLAN, chunks provide support for encapsulation and other packet programming techniques. This paper begins by explaining the semantics and implementation of chunks. We proceed, using several PLAN source code examples, to demonstrate the usefulness of chunks for micro-protocols, asynchronous adaptations, and as units of authentication granularity

Quantifying Inter- and Intra-Population Niche Variability Using Hierarchical Bayesian Stable Isotope Mixing Models

Variability in resource use defines the width of a trophic niche occupied by a population. Intra-population variability in resource use may occur across hierarchical levels of population structure from individuals to subpopulations. Understanding how levels of population organization contribute to population niche width is critical to ecology and evolution. Here we describe a hierarchical stable isotope mixing model that can simultaneously estimate both the prey composition of a consumer diet and the diet variability among individuals and across levels of population organization. By explicitly estimating variance components for multiple scales, the model can deconstruct the niche width of a consumer population into relevant levels of population structure. We apply this new approach to stable isotope data from a population of gray wolves from coastal British Columbia, and show support for extensive intra-population niche variability among individuals, social groups, and geographically isolated subpopulations. The analytic method we describe improves mixing models by accounting for diet variability, and improves isotope niche width analysis by quantitatively assessing the contribution of levels of organization to the niche width of a population

Individual Taxation: Digest of Recent Developments

The Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010 extended the current individual income tax rates on ordinary income and the rates on qualified dividend and capital gains income for two years through 2012. * The IRS, changing its long-standing position, ruled that debt on a mortgage loan used to acquire, construct, or substantially improve a qualified residence, to the extent it exceeds $1 million, qualifies as home equity indebtedness, and thus the interest on up to$100,000 of that debt is deductible as an itemized deduction. * The Tax Court held that the Sec. 121 exclusion of gain from the sale of a principal residence applied only to the home that the taxpayer used as a principal residence and not to a replacement home built on the site of the home that was used as a principal residence. * In two cases, the Tax Court held that a taxpayer was not entitled to a charitable deduction for the donation of a home to a fire department for use in live fire-training exercises

An exploratory randomised controlled trial of a premises-level intervention to reduce alcohol-related harm including violence in the United Kingdom

<b>Background</b><p></p> To assess the feasibility of a randomised controlled trial of a licensed premises intervention to reduce severe intoxication and disorder; to establish effect sizes and identify appropriate approaches to the development and maintenance of a rigorous research design and intervention implementation.<p></p> <b>Methods</b><p></p> An exploratory two-armed parallel randomised controlled trial with a nested process evaluation. An audit of risk factors and a tailored action plan for high risk premises, with three month follow up audit and feedback. Thirty-two premises that had experienced at least one assault in the year prior to the intervention were recruited, match paired and randomly allocated to control or intervention group. Police violence data and data from a street survey of study premises’ customers, including measures of breath alcohol concentration and surveyor rated customer intoxication, were used to assess effect sizes for a future definitive trial. A nested process evaluation explored implementation barriers and the fidelity of the intervention with key stakeholders and senior staff in intervention premises using semi-structured interviews.<p></p> <b>Results</b><p></p> The process evaluation indicated implementation barriers and low fidelity, with a reluctance to implement the intervention and to submit to a formal risk audit. Power calculations suggest the intervention effect on violence and subjective intoxication would be raised to significance with a study size of 517 premises.<p></p> <b>Conclusions</b><p></p> It is methodologically feasible to conduct randomised controlled trials where licensed premises are the unit of allocation. However, lack of enthusiasm in senior premises staff indicates the need for intervention enforcement, rather than voluntary agreements, and on-going strategies to promote sustainability

A Click Chemistry Strategy for the Synthesis of Efficient Photoinitiators for Two‐Photon Polymerization

It is reported that efficient photoinitiators, suitable for two‐photon polymerization, can be obtained using the copper catalyzed azide/alkyne cycloaddition reaction. This click chemistry strategy provides a modular approach to the assembly of photoinitiators that enables the rapid variation of key fragments to produce photoinitiators with desirable properties. To assess the performance of the first‐in‐class photoinitiators generated by this approach, a screening method is developed to enable the rapid determination of polymerization and damage thresholds in numerous photoresists during two‐photon polymerization. The degree of consumption of vinyl groups (DC) and homogeneity of the polymerization are further assessed by micro‐Raman spectroscopy. Finally, more complex structures are fabricated to demonstrate that the efficient two‐photon polymerization of stable 3D microarchitectures can be achieved using triazole‐based photoinitiators

Characterization of Retinal Structure in ATF6-Associated Achromatopsia.

PurposeMutations in six genes have been associated with achromatopsia (ACHM): CNGA3, CNGB3, PDE6H, PDE6C, GNAT2, and ATF6. ATF6 is the most recent gene to be identified, though thorough phenotyping of this genetic subtype is lacking. Here, we sought to test the hypothesis that ATF6-associated ACHM is a structurally distinct form of congenital ACHM.MethodsSeven genetically confirmed subjects from five nonconsanguineous families were recruited. Foveal hypoplasia and the integrity of the ellipsoid zone (EZ) band (a.k.a., IS/OS) were graded from optical coherence tomography (OCT) images. Images of the photoreceptor mosaic were acquired using confocal and nonconfocal split-detection adaptive optics scanning light ophthalmoscopy (AOSLO). Parafoveal cone and rod density values were calculated and compared to published normative data as well as data from two subjects harboring CNGA3 or CNGB3 mutations who were recruited for comparative purposes. Additionally, nonconfocal dark-field AOSLO images of the retinal pigment epithelium were obtained, with quantitative analysis performed in one subject with ATF6-ACHM.ResultsFoveal hypoplasia was observed in all subjects with ATF6 mutations. Absence of the EZ band within the foveal region (grade 3) or appearance of a hyporeflective zone (grade 4) was seen in all subjects with ATF6 using OCT. There was no evidence of remnant foveal cone structure using confocal AOSLO, although sporadic cone-like structures were seen in nonconfocal split-detection AOSLO. There was a lack of cone structure in the parafovea, in direct contrast to previous reports.ConclusionsOur data demonstrate a near absence of cone structure in subjects harboring ATF6 mutations. This implicates ATF6 as having a major role in cone development and suggests that at least a subset of subjects with ATF6-ACHM have markedly fewer cellular targets for cone-directed gene therapies than do subjects with CNGA3- or CNGB3-ACHM

3D-printed Franz type diffusion cells

Franz cells are routinely used to measure in vitro skin permeation of actives and must be inert to the permeant under study. The aim of the present work was to develop and manufacture transparent Franz-type diffusion cells using 3D printing and test these using a range of model active compounds. The study also aims to identify the critical 3D printing parameters necessary for the process including object design, choice of printing resin, printout curing and post-curing settings and introduction of model coatings. Transparent Franz cells were constructed using an online computer aided design program and reproduced with different stereolithography 3D printers. The two acrylate-based resins used for the fabrication process were a commercially available product and a polymer synthesised in-house. Comparative studies between glass and 3D printed Franz cells were conducted with selected model actives: terbinafine hydrochloride (TBF), niacinamide (NIA), diclofenac free acid (DFA) and n-methyl paraben (MPB). In preliminary studies, MPB showed the lowest recovery when exposed to the receptor compartment of 3D printed cells. Consequently, in vitro permeation studies were carried out using only MPB with polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) membrane. A decrease in the amounts of selected compounds was observed for transparent 3D printed Franz cells compared to glass cells. MPB showed the lowest recovery (53.8 ± 13.1%) when compared with NIA (74.9 ± 4.0%), TBF (81.5 ± 12.0%) and DFA (90.2 ± 12.9%) after 72 h. Permeation studies conducted using 3D printed transparent cells with PDMS membrane also showed a decrease in MPB recovery of 51.4 ± 3.7% for the commercial resin and 94.4 ± 3.5% for the polymer synthesised in-house, when compared to glass cells. Although hydrophobic coatings were subsequently applied to the 3D printed cells the same reduction in MPB concentration was observed in the receptor solution. Transparent Franz cells were successfully prepared using 3D printing and were observed to be robust and leak-proof. There are few resins currently available for preparation of transparent materials and incompatibilities between the actives investigated and the 3D printed cells were evident. Hydrophobic coatings applied as barriers to the printed materials did not prevent these interactions. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. [Abstract copyright: This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.