ἌΦΕΣΙΣ in the New Testament and Its Suggested Links to the Biblical Jubilee

This study responds to the claims that the term ἄφεσις (usually translated “forgiveness”) should be understood in light of the biblical Jubilee. The study commences with a brief survey of the word's use in the Septuagint and Classical Greek literature, alongwith the related verb ἀφίημι. It then examines each use of ἄφεσις in the New Testament. Texts in Matthew, Mark, Luke-Acts, Paul's writings and Hebrews are examined, with a particular focus on Lucan texts (since these contain the majority of the occurrences of the word). The study concludes that the verb ἀφίημι was never explicitly connected to the Jubilee in the Septuagint, so there is no reason to view the word in this light in the New Testament. The study also concludes that even though the term ἄφεσις had Jubilee connotations at the time the Septuagint was written, there was significant semantic development such that by the time of the New Testament, the word had a distinct and unambiguous meaning, centred on the forgiveness of sins and unrelated to the Jubilee

Pattern formation in wireless sensor networks

technical reportBiological systems exhibit an amazing array of distributed sensor/actuator systems, and the exploitation of principles and practices found in nature will lead to more effective artificial systems. The retina is an example of a highly tuned sensing organ, and the human skin is comprised of a set of heterogeneous sensor and actuator elements. Moreover, the specific organization and architecture of these systems depends on contextual influences during the developmental stages of the organism. Comparable theoretical and technological methodologies need to be found for wireless sensor networks. We propose the study of reaction-diffusion systems from mathematical biology as a starting point for this endeavor. Algorithms and experiments are described here for a useful set of pattern formation methods in wireless sensor networks

Exploring the major difficulties perceived by residents in training: a pilot study.

To assess residents' difficulties during the first year of residency. In contrast to previous studies that mainly used structured questionnaires, a qualitative procedure was applied. Twenty-four consecutive first-year residents in internal medicine were asked to "Please identify two to three major difficulties or concerns related to your practice of medicine within this hospital". The answers were submitted to content analysis performed by three independent researchers. Inter-rater agreement was high (kappa coefficient = 0.92). Disagreements were solved by consensus. Physicians' characteristics: female 37%, mean age 28 +/- 2.2 years, mean duration of postgraduate training 2.5 +/- 1.3 years. Total number of answers: 122, average answers/resident 5.1 +/- 1.3. Nine categories were extracted from content analysis: communication problems at the workplace, feelings of not being respected, constraints of collaborative work, experiencing the gap between medical school and clinical care, work overload, responsibility towards and emotional investment in patients, worries about career plans, and lack of theoretical knowledge. Residents expressed major difficulties in communicating with and being respected by seniors and peers in particular, and hospital staff in general. They also voiced problems in coping with emotions, either their own or those of their patients. The residents' responses stressed the complexity of blending the requirements of the physician's role when instrumental/cognitive knowledge is not sufficient to deal with problems requiring personal and relational dimensions. Learning to combine medical knowledge and practice necessitates helping students/residents identify and deal with the constraints of these requirements

Growth rate of primary left atrial myxoma

We describe the growth of a primary left atrial myxoma over a period of approximately 27 months, review the literature on the growth rate of primary myxoma and discuss the value of echocardiography compared to CT scan and MRI in the diagnosis of intracardiac tumuor

Ceftazidime in severe infections: a Swiss multicentre study

A total of 105 patients (mean age 57, range 15 to 90) with serious infections were treated with intravenous ceftazidime, usually 2 g 8-hourly. Most patients had complicating factors such as major surgery, cancer, chronic obstructive lung disease, catheters or anatomical abnormalities. Eighty-seven infectious episodes in 77 patients could be assessed for efficacy. Bacteraemia was diagnosed in 26% of these episodes. Seventy-five per cent of infections were due to Gram-negative bacteria, Pseudomonas aeruginosa being the most frequent. The major sites of infections were the lower respiratory tract (30), the urinary tract (28), the soft tissues (9), the biliary tract (4), bones (4) and the ears (4). Overall, 67% of the patients were cured, 20% improved, 7% relapsed and 6% failed to respond. Among the 27 infections due to Ps aeruginosa, only two failures (in the same patient) and four relapses were recorded. However, in the two failures and in three other cases with persistent Ps. aeruginosa colonisation, the organism had become resistant to ceftazidime. Three failures were recorded in the seven Staphylococcus aureus infections included in this study. Superinfection occurred in four patients. Adverse events included rash (6), Clostridium difficile toxin-induced diarrhoea (3), transaminase elevation (3), weakly positive Coombs test (10). Ceftazidime appears to be safe and effective for the treatment of severe Gram-negative infections, including those caused by Ps. aeruginos

Ceftazidime in severe infections: a Swiss multicentre study

A total of 105 patients (mean age 57, range 15 to 90) with serious infections were treated with intravenous ceftazidime, usually 2 g 8-hourly. Most patients had complicating factors such as major surgery, cancer, chronic obstructive lung disease, catheters or anatomical abnormalities. Eighty-seven infectious episodes in 77 patients could be assessed for efficacy. Bacteraemia was diagnosed in 26% of these episodes. Seventy-five per cent of infections were due to Gram-negative bacteria, Pseudomonas aeruginosa being the most frequent. The major sites of infections were the lower respiratory tract (30), the urinary tract (28), the soft tissues (9), the biliary tract (4), bones (4) and the ears (4). Overall, 67% of the patients were cured, 20% improved, 7% relapsed and 6% failed to respond. Among the 27 infections due to Ps aeruginosa, only two failures (in the same patient) and four relapses were recorded. However, in the two failures and in three other cases with persistent Ps. aeruginosa colonisation, the organism had become resistant to ceftazidime. Three failures were recorded in the seven Staphylococcus aureus infections included in this study. Superinfection occurred in four patients. Adverse events included rash (6), Clostridium difficile toxin-induced diarrhoea (3), transaminase elevation (3), weakly positive Coombs test (10). Ceftazidime appears to be safe and effective for the treatment of severe Gram-negative infections, including those caused by Ps. aeruginosa

Histological interpretation of differentiated vulvar intraepithelial neoplasia (dVIN) remains challenging-observations from a bi-national ring-study

Differentiated vulvar intraepithelial neoplasia (dVIN) is a premalignant lesion that is known to progress rapidly to invasive carcinoma. Accurate histological diagnosis is therefore crucial to allow appropriate treatment. To identify reliable diagnostic features, we evaluated the inter-observer agreement in the histological assessment of dVIN, among a bi-national, multi-institutional group of pathologists. Two investigators from Erasmus MC selected 36 hematoxylin-eosin-stained glass slides of dVIN and no-dysplasia, and prepared a list of 15 histological features of dVIN. Nine participating pathologists (i) diagnosed each slide as dVIN or no-dysplasia, (ii) indicated which features they used for the diagnosis, and (iii) rated these features in terms of their diagnostic usefulness. Diagnoses rendered by > 50% participants were taken as the consensus (gold standard). p53-immunohistochemistry (IHC) was performed for all cases, and the expression patterns were correlated with the consensus diagnoses. Kappa statistics were computed to measure inter-observer agreements, and concordance of the p53-IHC patterns with the consensus diagnoses. For the diagnosis of dVIN, overall agreement was moderate (= 0.42), and pair-wise agreements ranged from slight (= 0.10) to substantial (= 0.73). Based on the levels of agreement and ratings of usefulness, the most helpful diagnostic features were parakeratosis, cobblestone appearance, chromatin abnormality, angulated nuclei, atypia discernable under x 100, and altered cellular alignment. p53-IHC patterns showed substantial concordance (= 0.67) with the consensus diagnoses. Histological interpretation of dVIN remains challenging with suboptimal inter-observer agreement. We identified the histological features that may facilitate the diagnosis of dVIN. For cases with a histological suspicion of dVIN, consensus-based pathological evaluation may improve the reliability of the diagnosis

A falls prevention programme to improve quality of life, physical function and falls efficacy in older people receiving home help services: study protocol for a randomised controlled trial

BACKGROUND: Falls and fall-related injuries in older adults are associated with great burdens, both for the individuals, the health care system and the society. Previous research has shown evidence for the efficiency of exercise as falls prevention. An understudied group are older adults receiving home help services, and the effect of a falls prevention programme on health-related quality of life is unclear. The primary aim of this randomised controlled trial is to examine the effect of a falls prevention programme on quality of life, physical function and falls efficacy in older adults receiving home help services. A secondary aim is to explore the mediating factors between falls prevention and health-related quality of life. METHODS: The study is a single-blinded randomised controlled trial. Participants are older adults, aged 67 or older, receiving home help services, who are able to walk with or without walking aids, who have experienced at least one fall during the last 12 months and who have a Mini Mental State Examination of 23 or above. The intervention group receives a programme, based on the Otago Exercise Programme, lasting 12 weeks including home visits and motivational telephone calls. The control group receives usual care. The primary outcome is health-related quality of life (SF-36). Secondary outcomes are leg strength, balance, walking speed, walking habits, activities of daily living, nutritional status and falls efficacy. All measurements are performed at baseline, following intervention at 3 months and at 6 months' follow-up. Sample size, based on the primary outcome, is set to 150 participants randomised into the two arms, including an estimated 15-20% drop out. Participants are recruited from six municipalities in Norway. DISCUSSION: This trial will generate new knowledge on the effects of an exercise falls prevention programme among older fallers receiving home help services. This knowledge will be useful for clinicians, for health managers in the primary health care service and for policy makers

Toward Identifying the Next Generation of Superfund and Hazardous Waste Site Contaminants

Reproduced with permission from Environmental Health Perspectives."This commentary evolved from a workshop sponsored by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences titled "Superfund Contaminants: The Next Generation" held in Tucson, Arizona, in August 2009. All the authors were workshop participants." doi:10.1289/ehp.1002497Our aim was to initiate a dynamic, adaptable process for identifying contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) that are likely to be found in future hazardous waste sites, and to identify the gaps in primary research that cause uncertainty in determining future hazardous waste site contaminants. Superfund-relevant CECs can be characterized by specific attributes: they are persistent, bioaccumulative, toxic, occur in large quantities, and have localized accumulation with a likelihood of exposure. Although still under development and incompletely applied, methods to quantify these attributes can assist in winnowing down the list of candidates from the universe of potential CECs. Unfortunately, significant research gaps exist in detection and quantification, environmental fate and transport, health and risk assessment, and site exploration and remediation for CECs. Addressing these gaps is prerequisite to a preventive approach to generating and managing hazardous waste sites.Support for the workshop, from which this article evolved, was provided by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences Superfund Research Program (P42-ES04940)