Psychological type and prayer preferences: a study among Anglican clergy in the United Kingdom

This study applies the framework of Jungian psychological type theory to define eight aspects of prayer preference, namely: introverted prayer, extraverted prayer, sensing prayer, intuitive prayer, feeling prayer, thinking prayer, judging prayer, and perceiving prayer. On the basis of data provided by 1,476 newly ordained Anglican clergy from England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales, eight 7-item scales were developed to access these aspects of prayer preferences. Significant correlations were found between each prayer preference and the relevant aspect of psychological type accessed by the Keirsey Temperament Sorter. These data support the theory that psychological type influences the way in which people pray

Better Knee, Better Me™: effectiveness of two scalable health care interventions supporting self-management for knee osteoarthritis – protocol for a randomized controlled trial

Although education, exercise, and weight loss are recommended for management of knee osteoarthritis, the additional benefits of incorporating weight loss strategies into exercise interventions have not been well investigated. The aim of this study is to compare, in a private health insurance setting, the clinical- and cost-effectiveness of a remotely-delivered, evidence- and theory-informed, behaviour change intervention targeting exercise and self-management (Exercise intervention), with the same intervention plus active weight management (Exercise plus weight management intervention), and with an information-only control group for people with knee osteoarthritis who are overweight or obese

Upper atmospheres and ionospheres of planets and satellites

The upper atmospheres of the planets and their satellites are more directly exposed to sunlight and solar wind particles than the surface or the deeper atmospheric layers. At the altitudes where the associated energy is deposited, the atmospheres may become ionized and are referred to as ionospheres. The details of the photon and particle interactions with the upper atmosphere depend strongly on whether the object has anintrinsic magnetic field that may channel the precipitating particles into the atmosphere or drive the atmospheric gas out to space. Important implications of these interactions include atmospheric loss over diverse timescales, photochemistry and the formation of aerosols, which affect the evolution, composition and remote sensing of the planets (satellites). The upper atmosphere connects the planet (satellite) bulk composition to the near-planet (-satellite) environment. Understanding the relevant physics and chemistry provides insight to the past and future conditions of these objects, which is critical for understanding their evolution. This chapter introduces the basic concepts of upper atmospheres and ionospheres in our solar system, and discusses aspects of their neutral and ion composition, wind dynamics and energy budget. This knowledge is key to putting in context the observations of upper atmospheres and haze on exoplanets, and to devise a theory that explains exoplanet demographics.Comment: Invited Revie

Population-Level Associations between Preschool Vulnerability and Grade-Four Basic Skills

Background: This is a predictive validity study examining the extent to which developmental vulnerability at kindergarten entry (as measured by the Early Development Instrument, EDI) is associated with children’s basic skills in 4th grade (as measured by the Foundation Skills Assessment, FSA). Methodology/Principal Findings: Relative risk analysis was performed on a large database linking individual-level EDI ratings to the scores the same children obtained on a provincial assessment of academic skills (FSA – Foundation Skills Assessment) four years later. We found that early vulnerability in kindergarten is associated with the basic skills that underlie populations of children’s academic achievement in reading, writing and math, indicating that the Early Development Instrument permits to predict achievement-related skills four years in advance. Conclusions/Significance: The EDI can be used to predict children’s educational trends at the population level and can help select early prevention and intervention programs targeting pre-school populations at minimum cost

Folic Acid Transport to the Human Fetus Is Decreased in Pregnancies with Chronic Alcohol Exposure

During pregnancy, the demand for folic acid increases since the fetus requires this nutrient for its rapid growth and cell proliferation. The placenta concentrates folic acid into the fetal circulation; as a result the fetal levels are 2 to 4 times higher than the maternal level. Animal and in vitro studies have suggested that alcohol may impair transport of folic acid across the placenta by decreasing expression of transport proteins. We aim to determine if folate transfer to the fetus is altered in human pregnancies with chronic alcohol consumption.Serum folate was measured in maternal blood and umbilical cord blood at the time of delivery in pregnancies with chronic and heavy alcohol exposure (n = 23) and in non-drinking controls (n = 24). In the alcohol-exposed pairs, the fetal:maternal serum folate ratio was ≤ 1.0 in over half (n = 14), whereas all but one of the controls were >1.0. Mean folate in cord samples was lower in the alcohol-exposed group than in the controls (33.15 ± 19.89 vs 45.91 ± 20.73, p = 0.04).Our results demonstrate that chronic and heavy alcohol use in pregnancy impairs folate transport to the fetus. Altered folate concentrations within the placenta and in the fetus may in part contribute to the deficits observed in the fetal alcohol spectrum disorders

Prolonged Exposure to a Mer Ligand in Leukemia: Gas6 Favors Expression of a Partial Mer Glycoform and Reveals a Novel Role for Mer in the Nucleus

Mer tyrosine kinase is ectopically expressed in acute lymphoblastic leukemia and associated with enhanced chemoresistance and disease progression. While such effects are generally ascribed to increased engagement of oncogenic pathways downstream of Mer stimulation by its ligand, Gas6, Mer has not been characterized beyond the scope of its signaling activity. The present study explores Mer behavior following prolonged exposure to Gas6, a context similar to the Gas6-enriched microenvironment of the bone marrow, where a steady supply of ligand facilitates continuous engagement of Mer and likely sustains the presence of leukemic cells. Long-term Gas6 exposure induced production of a partially N-glycosylated form of Mer from newly synthesized stores of protein. Preferential expression of the partial Mer glycoform was associated with diminished levels of Mer on the cell surface and altered Mer localization within the nuclear-soluble and chromatin-bound fractions. The presence of Mer in the nucleus is a novel finding for this receptor, and the glycoform-specific preferences observed in each nuclear compartment suggest that glycosylation may influence Mer function within particular subcellular locales. Previous studies have established Mer as an attractive cancer biologic target, and understanding the complexity of its activity has important implications for potential strategies of Mer inhibition in leukemia therapy. Our results identify several novel features of Mer that expand the breadth of its functions and impact the development of therapeutic modalities designed to target Mer

Single DermaVir Immunization: Dose-Dependent Expansion of Precursor/Memory T Cells against All HIV Antigens in HIV-1 Infected Individuals

BACKGROUND: The GIHU004 study was designed to evaluate the safety and immunogenicity of three doses of DermaVir immunization in HIV-infected subjects on fully suppressive combination antiretroviral therapy (cART). METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: This first-in-human dose escalation study was conducted with three topical DermaVir doses targeted to epidermal Langerhans cells to express fifteen HIV antigens in draining lymph nodes: 0.1 mg DNA targeted to two, 0.4 mg and 0.8 mg DNA targeted to four lymph nodes. Particularly, in the medium dose cohort 0.1 mg DNA was targeted per draining lymph node via ∼8 million Langerhans cells located in 80 cm(2) epidermis area. The 28-days study with 48-week safety follow-up evaluated HIV-specific T cell responses against Gag p17, Gag p24 and Gag p15, Tat and Rev antigens. DermaVir-associated side effects were mild, transient and not dose-dependent. Boosting of HIV-specific effector CD4(+) and CD8(+) T cells expressing IFN-gamma and IL-2 was detected against several antigens in every subject of the medium dose cohort. The striking result was the dose-dependent expansion of HIV-specific precursor/memory T cells with high proliferation capacity. In low, medium and high dose cohorts this HIV-specific T cell population increased by 325-, 136,202 and 50,759 counts after 4 weeks, and by 3,899, 9,878 and 18,382 counts after one year, respectively, compared to baseline. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Single immunization with the DermaVir candidate therapeutic vaccine was safe and immunogenic in HIV-infected individuals. Based on the potent induction of Gag, Tat and Rev-specific memory T cells, especially in the medium dose cohort, we speculate that DermaVir boost T cell responses specific to all the 15 HIV antigens expressed from the single DNA. For durable immune reactivity repeated DermaVir immunization might be required since the frequency of DermaVir-boosted HIV-specific memory T cells decreased during the 48-week follow up. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrial.gov NCT00712530

High versus standard doses interferon-alpha in the treatment of naïve chronic hepatitis C patients in Taiwan: a 10-year cohort study

BACKGROUND: Interferon-alpha monotherapy is effective in less than one-third patients with chronic hepatitis C. The dose-effect, tolerability and durability of interferon-alpha treatment and its long-term effect on the prevention of cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma in naïve Taiwanese patients with chronic hepatitis C have not been well investigated. We conducted the present cohort study treated with high and standard interferon-alpha to illustrate the issues. METHODS: We performed a long-term virologic and histological follow-up of 214 chronic hepatitis C patients treated with interferon-alpha, 3 million units (3-MU, n = 80) or 6-MU (n = 134) thrice weekly for 24 weeks, in Taiwan between 1992 and 2001. RESULTS: There was no difference in the incidence of discontinuation between 3-MU and 6-MU groups (4/80, 5.0% versus 10/134. 7.5%). The 6-MU group had similar incidence of adverse events with the 3-MU group, except that 6-MU group had significantly higher incidence of psychological manifestations, mainly presented as irritability. The rates of sustained virological response (SVR) were significantly higher in 6-MU regimen (37.1%) than in 3-MU regimen (23.7%, p < 0.05) in per protocol analysis. Based on multivariate analysis, baseline viral load was strongly associated with SVR, followed by hepatitis C virus genotype, interferon-alpha regimen, and liver fibrosis. A histological improvement in necroinflammatory activity, but not in fibrosis was observed in the follow-up biopsy performed 0.5–5.5 years (mean: 1.9 years, n = 51) after end-of-treatment. Among patients without SVR, there was more activity improvement in 6-MU group. The durability of SVR was 100% (18/18) and 97.8% (45/46) for 3-MU and 6-MU group, respectively, in a mean follow-up period of 6.81 years (5.25–9.18 years). For 163 baseline non-cirrhotic patients, 9 of 84 (10.7%) non-responders and 3 of 79 (3.8%) sustained responders progressed to cirrhosis during a mean follow-up period of 5.52 and 5.74 years, respectively (p = 0.067, Kaplan-Meier survival analysis, log-rank test). For all 200 patients, hepatocellular carcinoma was detected in 12 of 113 (10.6%) non-responders and one of 87 (1.1%) sustained responders during a mean follow-up period of 5.67 and 5.73 years, respectively (p < 0.01, Kaplan-Meier survival analysis, log-rank test). CONCLUSION: We confirm the dose effect of interferon-alpha in chronic hepatitis C. Six-MU regimen had better efficacy than 3-MU regimen in virologic and histological responses. Both regimens had good tolerability and durability in Taiwan. Sustained response could reduce the incidence of cirrhotic change and hepatocarcinogenesis

Intra-operative spectroscopic assessment of surgical margins during breast conserving surgery

Background: In over 20% of breast conserving operations, postoperative pathological assessment of the excised tissue reveals positive margins, requiring additional surgery. Current techniques for intra-operative assessment of tumor margins are insufficient in accuracy or resolution to reliably detect small tumors. There is a distinct need for a fast technique to accurately identify tumors smaller than 1 mm2 in large tissue surfaces within 30 min. Methods: Multi-modal spectral histopathology (MSH), a multimodal imaging technique combining tissue auto-fluorescence and Raman spectroscopy was used to detect microscopic residual tumor at the surface of the excised breast tissue. New algorithms were developed to optimally utilize auto-fluorescence images to guide Raman measurements and achieve the required detection accuracy over large tissue surfaces (up to 4 × 6.5 cm2). Algorithms were trained on 91 breast tissue samples from 65 patients. Results: Independent tests on 121 samples from 107 patients - including 51 fresh, whole excision specimens - detected breast carcinoma on the tissue surface with 95% sensitivity and 82% specificity. One surface of each uncut excision specimen was measured in 12–24 min. The combination of high spatial-resolution auto-fluorescence with specific diagnosis by Raman spectroscopy allows reliable detection even for invasive carcinoma or ductal carcinoma in situ smaller than 1 mm2. Conclusions: This study provides evidence that this multimodal approach could provide an objective tool for intra-operative assessment of breast conserving surgery margins, reducing the risk for unnecessary second operations