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

OPTIMIZATION OF NICKEL (II) AND CHROMIUM (III) REMOVAL FROM CONTAMINATED WATER USING SORGHUM BICOLOR

A central composite design (CCD) under the response surface methodology (RSM)was used to study the effect of three adsorption variables (pH, initial concentration, and adsorbent dosage) in order to determine the optimum process conditions for the adsorptions of Ni (II) and Cr (III) onto sulphuric acid modified sorghum bicolor activated carbon (SBAC).This study yielded removal efficiency of 98.89 % for Ni (II) and 94.27 % for Cr (III) ion under optimal conditions of pH (8), initial metal ion concentration (25 mg/L), adsorbent dosage (10 mg) and pH (7), initial metal ion concentration (5 mg/L), dosage (15 mg);respectively. Statistical analysis of variance results showed a good correlation existed between the experimental and predicted data with R2 values of 0.99 for Ni and 0.98 for Cr. The equilibrium data for Ni (II) adsorption was best described using Freundlich model while Langmuir model best fit Cr (III) adsorption. The mechanism of adsorption for both Ni and Cr adsorptions on SBAC followed Pseudo second order kinetic model.  http://dx.doi.org/10.4314/njt.v36i3.4

Secondary treated domestic wastewater in reverse electrodialysis : what is the best pre-treatment?

Although Reverse Electrodialysis (RED) is most commonly known as a selective separation technology used for the production of sustainable energy, it can also serve as a valuable pre-desalination tool. By coupling RED to Reverse Osmosis (RO) for seawater desalination: (1) sustainable energy is produced in the RED process and (2) seawater is partially desalinated prior to RO thus, decreasing the energy demand. In this study, secondary-treated wastewater is proposed as the low salinity source in RED and suitable pre-treatment techniques for this effluent are investigated. Although it is generally accepted that RED is less prone to fouling than typical pressure driven membrane processes, results showed that pre-treatment is a key to ensure efficient operation of the wastewater-seawater RED. Both 100 mu m filtration and rapid sand filtration proved to be suitable, with an increase in pressure drop of only 0.09-0.18 bar and a permselectivity decrease of only approximately 20% during 40 days of continuous operation. Conversely, River bank filtration did not perform better than the non-pretreated sample. As such, 100 mu m filtration and rapid sand filtration are considered suitable, robust, and cost efficient pre-treatment options for wastewater fed RED, enabling the improvement of the hybrid process of RED-RO seawater desalination

Exploring haemodynamics of haemodialysis using extrema points analysis model

Background: Haemodialysis is a form of renal replacement therapy used to treat patients with end stage renal failure. It is becoming more appreciated that haemodialysis patients exhibit higher rates of multiple end organ damage compared to the general population. There is also a strong emerging evidence that haemodialysis itself causes circulatory stress. We aimed at examining haemodynamic patterns during haemodialysis using a new model and test that model against a normal control. Methods: We hypothesised that blood pressures generated by each heart beat constantly vary between local peaks and troughs (local extrema), the frequency and amplitude of which is regulated to maintain optimal organ perfusion. We also hypothesised that such model could reveal multiple haemodynamic aberrations during HD. Using a non-invasive cardiac output monitoring device (Finometer®) we compared various haemodynamic parameters using the above model between a haemodialysis patient during a dialysis session and an exercised normal control after comparison at rest. Results: Measurements yielded 29,751 data points for each haemodynamic parameter. Extrema points frequency of mean arterial blood pressure was higher in the HD subject compared to the normal control (0.761Hz IQR 0.5-0.818 vs 0.468Hz IQR 0.223-0.872, P < 0.0001). Similarly, extrema points frequency of systolic blood pressure was significantly higher in haemodialysis compared to normal. In contrary, the frequency of extrema points for TPR was higher in the normal control compared to HD (0.947 IQR 0.520-1.512 vs 0.845 IQR 0.730-1.569, P < 0.0001) with significantly higher amplitudes. Conclusion: Haemodialysis patients potentially exhibit an aberrant haemodynamic behaviour characterised by higher extrema frequencies of mean arterial blood pressure and lower extrema frequencies of total peripheral resistance. This, in theory, could lead to higher variation in organ perfusion and may be detrimental to vulnerable vascular beds

A frequentist framework of inductive reasoning

Reacting against the limitation of statistics to decision procedures, R. A. Fisher proposed for inductive reasoning the use of the fiducial distribution, a parameter-space distribution of epistemological probability transferred directly from limiting relative frequencies rather than computed according to the Bayes update rule. The proposal is developed as follows using the confidence measure of a scalar parameter of interest. (With the restriction to one-dimensional parameter space, a confidence measure is essentially a fiducial probability distribution free of complications involving ancillary statistics.) A betting game establishes a sense in which confidence measures are the only reliable inferential probability distributions. The equality between the probabilities encoded in a confidence measure and the coverage rates of the corresponding confidence intervals ensures that the measure's rule for assigning confidence levels to hypotheses is uniquely minimax in the game. Although a confidence measure can be computed without any prior distribution, previous knowledge can be incorporated into confidence-based reasoning. To adjust a p-value or confidence interval for prior information, the confidence measure from the observed data can be combined with one or more independent confidence measures representing previous agent opinion. (The former confidence measure may correspond to a posterior distribution with frequentist matching of coverage probabilities.) The representation of subjective knowledge in terms of confidence measures rather than prior probability distributions preserves approximate frequentist validity.Comment: major revisio

Antibacterial, Anti-HIV-1 Protease and Cytotoxic Activities of Aqueous Ethanolic Extracts from Combretum Adenogonium Steud. Ex A. Rich (Combretaceae).

\ud \ud Records have shown that Combretum adenogonium Steud. Ex A. Rich (Combretaceae) is used in traditional medicine systems of several tribes in Tanzania. This study focused on the investigation of antibacterial activity, anti-HIV-1 protease activity, toxicity properties and classes of phytochemicals in extracts from C. adenogonium Steud. Ex A. Rich (Combretaceae) to evaluate potential of these extracts for development as herbal remedies. Dried plant material were ground to fine powder and extracted using 80% aqueous ethanol to afford root, leaf and stem bark extracts. The extracts were assayed for anti-HIV-1 protease activities, antibacterial activities using microdilution methods and cytotoxicity using brine shrimps lethality assay. Screening for major phytochemical classes was carried out using standard chemical tests. All extracts exhibited antibacterial activity to at least one of the test bacteria with MIC-values ranging from 0.31-5.0 mg/ml. Two extracts, namely, root and stem bark exhibited anti-HIV-1 PR activity with IC50 values of 24.7 and 26.5 μg/ml, respectively. Stem bark and leaf extracts showed mild toxicity with LC50 values of 65.768 μg/ml and 76.965 μg/ml, respectively, whereas roots were relatively non-toxic (LC50 = 110.042 μg/ml). Phytochemical screening of the extracts indicated presence of flavonoids, terpenoids, alkaloids, tannins, glycosides and saponins. These results provide promising baseline information for the potential development of C. adenogonium extracts in treatment of bacterial and HIV/AIDS-related opportunistic infections

Histomorphometric analysis of inflammatory response and necrosis in re-implanted central incisor of rats treated with low-level laser therapy

Low-level laser therapy is a tool employed in the management of post-operative inflammation process and in the enhancement of reparative process. The aim of the study was to perform histological evaluation of dental and periodontal ligament of rats central upper-left incisor teeth re-implanted and irradiated with low-level laser (InGaAl, 685 nm, 50 J/cm2) 15, 30, and 60 days after re-implantation. Seventy-two male rats had the central upper left incisor removed and kept for 15 min on dry gauze before replantation. Laser was irradiated over the root surface and empty alveolus prior replantation and over surrounding mucosa after the re-implantation. After histological procedures, all slices were analyzed regarding external resorption area and histological aspects. We observed an increase of root resorption (p < 0.05) in the control group compared to the laser group at 15, 30, and 60 days. These results showed that the laser groups developed less root resorption areas than the control group in all experimental periods. Additionally, histological analysis revealed less inflammatory cells and necrotic areas in laser groups

Determinants of Salivary Cotinine among Smokeless Tobacco Users : A Cross-Sectional Survey in Bangladesh

INTRODUCTION: More than 80% of all smokeless tobacco (ST) products in the world are consumed in South Asia; yet little is known about their consumption behaviour, addictiveness, and toxic properties. This paper, for the first time, describes associations between salivary cotinine concentrations among ST users in Bangladesh and their socio-demographic characteristics and tobacco use behaviours. METHODS: In a survey of ST users in Dhaka, Bangladesh, we purposively recruited 200 adults who were non-smokers but consumed ST on a regular basis. In-person interviews were conducted to obtain information about socio-demographic and ST use behaviours, and saliva samples were collected to measure cotinine concentration. Simple and multiple linear regression analyses were conducted to test associations between the log transformed salivary cotinine concentration and other study variables. RESULTS: The geometric mean of cotinine concentration among ST users was 380ng/ml (GSD:2). Total duration of daily ST use in months had a statistically significant association with cotinine concentration. Other ST use characteristics including type and quantity of ST use, swallowing of tobacco juice, urges and strength of urges and attempts to cut down on tobacco use were not found to be associated with cotinine concentration in a multivariable model. CONCLUSION: This is the first report from Bangladesh studying cotinine concentration among ST users and it points towards high levels of addiction. This warrants effective tobacco control policies to help ST cessation and prevention

A database application for pre-processing, storage and comparison of mass spectra derived from patients and controls.

BACKGROUND: Statistical comparison of peptide profiles in biomarker discovery requires fast, user-friendly software for high throughput data analysis. Important features are flexibility in changing input variables and statistical analysis of peptides that are differentially expressed between patient and control groups. In addition, integration the mass spectrometry data with the results of other experiments, such as microarray analysis, and information from other databases requires a central storage of the profile matrix, where protein id's can be added to peptide masses of interest. RESULTS: A new database application is presented, to detect and identify significantly differentially expressed peptides in peptide profiles obtained from body fluids of patient and control groups. The presented modular software is capable of central storage of mass spectra and results in fast analysis. The software architecture consists of 4 pillars, 1) a Graphical User Interface written in Java, 2) a MySQL database, which contains all metadata, such as experiment numbers and sample codes, 3) a FTP (File Transport Protocol) server to store all raw mass spectrometry files and processed data, and 4) the software package R, which is used for modular statistical calculations, such as the Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney rank sum test. Statistic analysis by the Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney test in R demonstrates that peptide-profiles of two patient groups 1) breast cancer patients with leptomeningeal metastases and 2) prostate cancer patients in end stage disease can be distinguished from those of control groups. CONCLUSION: The database application is capable to distinguish patient Matrix Assisted Laser Desorption Ionization (MALDI-TOF) peptide profiles from control groups using large size datasets. The modular architecture of the application makes it possible to adapt the application to handle also large sized data from MS/MS- and Fourier Transform Ion Cyclotron Resonance (FT-ICR) mass spectrometry experiments. It is expected that the higher resolution and mass accuracy of the FT-ICR mass spectrometry prevents the clustering of peaks of different peptides and allows the identification of differentially expressed proteins from the peptide profiles