An examination of the form and content of John Calvin's prayers

The -writings on the life and work of John Calvin are numerous. Calvin's importance has always been recognised by the theologians both those who have been interested in the history of the Church and those who have been dealing with the trend of theology since the days of the Reformation. Special interest in Calvin has been shown by recent writers. There is the enlightening book by R. Stickelberger, who, in his biography of Calvin, has drawn a better balanced picture of the Reformer than others before. More important still are the works on Calvin's theology. Of the most outstanding ones, there may be mentioned: Erwin Miilhaupt's 'Die Predigt Calvins', which is a study of form and basic thoughts of Calvin's sermonsj T.P. Torrance's 'Calvin's doctrine of man*, a careful study of Calvin's understanding of man as he is in relation to God; Wilhelm Niesel's 'Die Theologie Calvins', which is a concise outline of the Reformer's theology; Heinrich Quistorp's 'Die letsten Dinge im Zeugnis Calvins', and others.However, in spite of all the many extensive investigations by so many theologians, very little attention has actually been paid to the prayers of John Calvin. Even an expert on Reformed theology like Alfred de Quervain, who has written an excellent book on prayer, refers very little to Calvin.So far there are only two books dealing with Calvin's prayers. One is by an English writer the other by a German. •Devotions and prayers of John Calvin* by E. Edwards, a small compilation of prayers and extracts from sermons. Then Johannes Calvin: Gebete zu den Vorlesungen uber Jeremia und Hesekiel' by Werner Dahm, also a small compilation of prayers. Except in each case for a short preface the writers make no comments on the prayers.An investigation into the form and content of John Calvin's prayers is therefore a fairly new undertaking. Admittedly, the ecclesiastical prayers, or parts of them, have been used for centuries by various churches, especially of the Reformed tradition of the French language. But also in other traditions was this the case. For instance, when the German speaking Reformed Church of the Canton of Aargau, Switzerland, introduced a new liturgy in 1950, more elements of Calvin's ecclesiastical prayers have been taken over than was the case in the earlier liturgies. However, the ecclesiastical prayers form actually only a small part, although an important one, of the many hundreds of prayers by the Reformer.Row as far as the sources are concerned some difficulties have arisen. The Corpus Reformatorum, which normally provides the student with the writings of Calvin, proved to be of little help. Strange enough, the editors omitted the vast majority of Calvin's prayers which were attached to his lectures and sermons, except for some few. It was therefore necessary to go back to old editions which, very fortunately, have printed those prayers throughout. Most of the citations given in this study are taken from the Amsterdam edition, 1667, the Recueil des Opuscules, 1566, 200 sermons on Deuteronomy, 1567, then from Arthur Golding's translation, 1583 and 1584. Of great help were also the volumes of the Calvin Translation Society, which, fortunately, printed the prayers throughout.A further valuable source has been the manuscripts of yet unpublished sermons and prayers which are to be found in the Biblioth&que Publique in Geneva. The history of those manuscripts is a very lamentable one. 2) According to Gagnebin some 43 volumes containing 2023 sermons in manuscript disappeared from the Biblioth&que Publique at the beginning of the 19th century. Apparently, they were sold to various people because the library was short of space. In 1823 eight of those volumes have been rediscovered in a second-hand dealer's shop by two students of theology who handed them back to the library. 3) As the situation is at present, out of 44 volumes that were originally in possession of the Biblioth&que Publique only twelve have been discovered and regained. 4) Some of them are now being printed and published under the supervision of Hanns Ruckert.This means that our investigation of Calvin's prayers will be incomplete in the sense that not all prayers that were originally written by Raguenier and his companions could be looked up for the simple reason that over one thousand sermons, together with the attached prayers, are still missing. 6) But although we cannot alter the fact that so many sermons and prayers are lost, perhaps beyond rediscovery, there is still a vast number available in print and also in manuscript. That should provide us with material enough to draw a fairly adequate picture of the form and content of John Calvin's prayers.As to the order of this study, it seemed expedient to give an outline of Calvin's doctrine of prayer. This will be done in the first chapter which is based mainly on the Institutes. It is supposed to provide the reader with the basic thoughts of Calvin on the subject of prayer. Thus an appropriate starting point will be made for our investigations in the actual prayers. Chapter two and three will deal with the form and the use of metaphor, simile, and illustrations. Chapter four to nine deal with the content where the main points of the Reformer's theology will be worked out. The final chapter will be of a critical survey of the matter treated, and certain conclusions will be drawn.One great problem must be mentioned here, namely: What is the better test of what a man really believes, systematic writings or prayers? There may well be a discrepancy between the content of Calvin's systematic theology as set forth in the Institutes and the content of his prayers which were mainly spoken ex tempore. Which of the two is more genuine in the sense that it represented more closely what was really important to Calvin ? Can one be held against the other ? Or should both be seen together in order to reach a balanced view ? These questions are most important in the case of Calvin as he was not only a theological writer but also one of the great public preachers of all time, and a man who played a leading part in the whole life of the Church. Many of his opponents who judged Calvin predominantly, if not solely, by the Institutes, and in fact by the least attractive things that he said in the Institutes, have wondered at the influence exercised by such a repulsive man on his Christian contemporaries.It would throw some light on the matter if we remember that a man in Calvin's position would exercise just as much influence through, for instance, his conduct of public worship as he did through such writings as the Institutes. For this reason it is doubly important to examine carefully such things as Calvin's public prayers and we are indeed fortunate that in spite of serious losses mentioned above so much of this material has survived. As it will be shown below it is the belief of the writer that Calvin's prayers do in fact not only correct some of the mistakes in emphasis but furnish us with new insight into many of the features of the Christian faith that are not adequately expressed elsewhere

Time- and temperature-dependent postmortem concentration changes of the (synthetic) cannabinoids JWH-210, RCS-4, as well as ∆9-tetrahydrocannabinol following pulmonary administration to pigs

In forensic toxicology, interpretation of postmortem (PM) drug concentrations might be complicated due to the lack of data concerning drug stability or PM redistribution (PMR). Regarding synthetic cannabinoids (SC), only sparse data are available, which derived from single case reports without any knowledge of dose and time of consumption. Thus, a controlled pig toxicokinetic study allowing for examination of PMR of SC was performed. Twelve pigs received a pulmonary dose of 200 µg/kg BW each of 4-ethylnaphthalene-1-yl-(1-pentylindole-3-yl)methanone (JWH-210), 2-(4-methoxyphenyl)-1-(1-pentyl-indole-3-yl)methanone (RCS-4), and Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol via an ultrasonic nebulizer. Eight hours after, the pigs were put to death with T61 and specimens of relevant tissues and body fluids were collected. Subsequently, the animals were stored at room temperature (n = 6) or 4 °C (n = 6) and further samples were collected after 24, 48, and 72 h each. Concentrations were determined following enzymatic cleavage and solid-phase extraction by liquid-chromatography tandem mass spectrometry applying the standard addition approach. High concentrations of the parent compounds were observed in lung, liver, kidney and bile fluid/duodenum content as well as brain. HO-RCS-4 was the most prevalent metabolite detected in PM specimens. In general, changes of PM concentrations were found in every tissue and body fluid depending on the PM interval as well as storage temperature

Is adipose tissue suitable for detection of (synthetic) cannabinoids? A comparative study analyzing antemortem and postmortem specimens following pulmonary administration of JWH-210, RCS-4, as well as ∆9-tetrahydrocannabinol to pigs

Examining fatal poisonings, chronic exposure may be refected by the concentration in tissues known for long-term storage of drugs. Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) persists in adipose tissue (AT), but sparse data on synthetic cannabinoids (SC) are available. Thus, a controlled pig study evaluating antemortem (AM) disposition and postmortem (PM) concentration changes of the SC 4-ethylnaphthalene-1-yl-(1-pentylindole-3-yl)methanone (JWH-210) and 2-(4-methoxyphenyl)-1-(1-pentyl-indole3-yl)methanone (RCS-4) as well as THC in AT was performed. The drugs were administered pulmonarily (200 µg/kg body weight) to twelve pigs. Subcutaneous (s.c.) AT specimens were collected after 15 and 30 min and then hourly up to 8 h. At the end, pigs were sacrifced and s.c., perirenal, and dorsal AT specimens were collected. The carcasses were stored at room temperature (RT; n=6) or 4 °C (n=6) and specimens were collected after 24, 48, and 72 h. After homogenization in acetonitrile and standard addition, LC–MS/MS was performed. Maximum concentrations were reached 0.5–2 h after administration amounting to 21±13 ng/g (JWH-210), 24±13 ng/g (RCS-4), and 22±20 ng/g (THC) and stayed at a plateau level. Regarding the metabolites, very low concentrations of N-hydroxypentyl-RCS-4 (HO-RCS-4) were detected from 0.5 to 8 h. PM concentrations of parent compounds did not change signifcantly (p>0.05) over time under both storage conditions. Concentrations of HO-RCS-4 signifcantly (p<0.05) increased in perirenal AT during storage at RT. These results suggest a rapid distribution and persistence in s.c. AT. Furthermore, AT might be resistant to PM redistribution of parent compounds. However, signifcant PM increases of metabolite concentrations might be considered in perirenal AT

Chinese and Korean Characters Engage the Same Visual Word Form Area in Proficient Early Chinese-Korean Bilinguals

A number of recent studies consistently show an area, known as the visual word form area (VWFA), in the left fusiform gyrus that is selectively responsive for visual words in alphabetic scripts as well as in logographic scripts, such as Chinese characters. However, given the large difference between Chinese characters and alphabetic scripts in terms of their orthographic rules, it is not clear at a fine spatial scale, whether Chinese characters engage the same VWFA in the occipito-temporal cortex as alphabetic scripts. We specifically compared Chinese with Korean script, with Korean script serving as a good example of alphabetic writing system, but matched to Chinese in the overall square shape. Sixteen proficient early Chinese-Korean bilinguals took part in the fMRI experiment. Four types of stimuli (Chinese characters, Korean characters, line drawings and unfamiliar Chinese faces) were presented in a block-design paradigm. By contrasting characters (Chinese or Korean) to faces, presumed VWFAs could be identified for both Chinese and Korean characters in the left occipito-temporal sulcus in each subject. The location of peak response point in these two VWFAs were essentially the same. Further analysis revealed a substantial overlap between the VWFA identified for Chinese and that for Korean. At the group level, there was no significant difference in amplitude of response to Chinese and Korean characters. Spatial patterns of response to Chinese and Korean are similar. In addition to confirming that there is an area in the left occipito-temporal cortex that selectively responds to scripts in both Korean and Chinese in early Chinese-Korean bilinguals, our results show that these two scripts engage essentially the same VWFA, even at the level of fine spatial patterns of activation across voxels. These results suggest that similar populations of neurons are engaged in processing the different scripts within the same VWFA in early bilinguals

Longitudinal study of computerised cardiotocography in early fetal growth restriction.

OBJECTIVES: To explore if in early fetal growth restriction (FGR) the longitudinal pattern of short-term fetal heart rate (FHR) variation (STV) can be used for identifying imminent fetal distress and if abnormalities of FHR registration associate with two-year infant outcome. METHODS: The original TRUFFLE study assessed if in early FGR the use of ductus venosus Doppler pulsatility index (DVPI), in combination with a safety-net of very low STV and / or recurrent decelerations, could improve two-year infant survival without neurological impairment in comparison to computerised cardiotocography (cCTG) with STV calculation only. For this secondary analysis we selected women, who delivered before 32 weeks, and who had consecutive STV data for more than 3 days before delivery, and known infant two-year outcome data. Women who received corticosteroids within 3 days of delivery were excluded. Individual regression line algorithms of all STV values except the last one were calculated. Life table analysis and Cox regression analysis were used to calculate the day by day risk for a low STV or very low STV and / or FHR decelerations (DVPI group safety-net) and to assess which parameters were associated to this risk. Furthermore, it was assessed if STV pattern, lowest STV value or recurrent FHR decelerations were associated with two-year infant outcome. RESULTS: One hundred and fourty-nine women matched the inclusion criteria. Using the individual STV regression lines prediction of a last STV below the cCTG-group cut-off had a sensitivity of 0.42 and specificity of 0.91. For each day after inclusion the median risk for a low STV(cCTG criteria) was 4% (Interquartile range (IQR) 2% to 7%) and for a very low STV and / or recurrent decelerations (DVPI safety-net criteria) 5% (IQR 4 to 7%). Measures of STV pattern, fetal Doppler (arterial or venous), birthweight MoM or gestational age did not improve daily risk prediction usefully. There was no association of STV regression coefficients, a last low STV or /and recurrent decelerations with short or long term infant outcomes. CONCLUSION: The TRUFFLE study showed that a strategy of DVPI monitoring with a safety-net delivery indication of very low STV and / or recurrent decelerations could increase infant survival without neurological impairment at two years. This post-hoc analysis demonstrates that in early FGR the day by day risk of an abnormal cCTG as defined by the DVPI protocol safety-net criteria is 5%, and that prediction of this is not possible. This supports the rationale for cCTG monitoring more often than daily in these high-risk fetuses. Low STV and/or recurrent decelerations were not associated with adverse infant outcome and it appears safe to delay intervention until such abnormalities occur, as long as DVPI is in the normal range

How to monitor pregnancies complicated by fetal growth restriction and delivery below 32 weeks: a post-hoc sensitivity analysis of the TRUFFLE-study.

OBJECTIVES: In the recent TRUFFLE study it appeared that, in pregnancies complicated by fetal growth restriction (FGR) between 26 and 32 weeks, monitoring of the ductus venosus (DV) combined with computerised cardiotocography (cCTG) as a trigger for delivery, increased the chance of infant survival without neurological impairment. However, concerns in interpretation were raised as DV monitoring appeared associated with a non-significant increase in fetal death, and part of the infants were delivered after 32 weeks, after which the study protocol was no longer applied. This secondary sensitivity analysis focuses on women who delivered before 32 completed weeks, and analyses fetal death cases in detail. METHODS: We analysed the monitoring data of 317 women who delivered before 32 weeks, excluding women with absent infant outcome data or inevitable perinatal death. The association of the last monitoring data before delivery and infant outcome was assessed by multivariable analysis. RESULTS: The primary outcome (two year survival without neurological impairment) occurred more often in the two DV groups (both 83%) than in the CTG-STV group (77%), however the difference was not statistically significant (p = 0.21). Nevertheless, in surviving infants 93% was free of neurological impairment in the DV groups versus 85% in the CTG-STV group (p = 0.049). All fetal deaths (n = 7) occurred in women allocated to DV monitoring, which explains this difference. Assessment of the monitoring parameters that were obtained shortly before fetal death in these 7 cases showed an abnormal CTG in only one. Multivariable regression analysis of factors at study entry demonstrated that higher gestational age, larger estimated fetal weight 50th percentile ratio and lower U/C ratio were significantly associated with the (normal) primary outcome. Allocation to the DV groups had a smaller effect, but remained in the model (p < 0.1). Assessment of the last monitoring data before delivery showed that in the CTG-STV group abnormal fetal arterial Doppler was significantly associated with adverse outcome. In contrast, in the DV groups an abnormal DV was the only fetal monitoring parameter that was associated with adverse infant outcome, while fetal arterial Doppler, STV below CTG-group cut-off or recurrent fetal heart rate decelerations were not. CONCLUSIONS: In accordance with the results of the overall TRUFFLE study of the monitoring-intervention management of very early severe FGR we found that the difference in the proportion of infants surviving without neuroimpairment (the primary endpoint) was non-significant when comparing timing of delivery with or without changes in the DV waveform. However, the uneven distribution of fetal deaths towards the DV groups was likely by chance, and among surviving children neurological outcomes were better. Before 32 weeks, delaying delivery until abnormalities in DVPI or STV and/or recurrent decelerations occur, as defined by the study protocol, is therefore probably safe and possibly benefits long-term outcome

ARIA 2016 : Care pathways implementing emerging technologies for predictive medicine in rhinitis and asthma across the life cycle

The Allergic Rhinitis and its Impact on Asthma (ARIA) initiative commenced during a World Health Organization workshop in 1999. The initial goals were (1) to propose a new allergic rhinitis classification, (2) to promote the concept of multi-morbidity in asthma and rhinitis and (3) to develop guidelines with all stakeholders that could be used globally for all countries and populations. ARIA-disseminated and implemented in over 70 countries globally-is now focusing on the implementation of emerging technologies for individualized and predictive medicine. MASK [MACVIA (Contre les Maladies Chroniques pour un Vieillissement Actif)-ARIA Sentinel NetworK] uses mobile technology to develop care pathways for the management of rhinitis and asthma by a multi-disciplinary group and by patients themselves. An app (Android and iOS) is available in 20 countries and 15 languages. It uses a visual analogue scale to assess symptom control and work productivity as well as a clinical decision support system. It is associated with an inter-operable tablet for physicians and other health care professionals. The scaling up strategy uses the recommendations of the European Innovation Partnership on Active and Healthy Ageing. The aim of the novel ARIA approach is to provide an active and healthy life to rhinitis sufferers, whatever their age, sex or socio-economic status, in order to reduce health and social inequalities incurred by the disease.Peer reviewe

Transcriptome-wide association study of breast cancer risk by estrogen-receptor status

Previous transcriptome-wide association studies (TWAS) have identified breast cancer risk genes by integrating data from expression quantitative loci and genome-wide association studies (GWAS), but analyses of breast cancer subtype-specific associations have been limited. In this study, we conducted a TWAS using gene expression data from GTEx and summary statistics from the hitherto largest GWAS meta-analysis conducted for breast cancer overall, and by estrogen receptor subtypes (ER+ and ER-). We further compared associations with ER+ and ER- subtypes, using a case-only TWAS approach. We also conducted multigene conditional analyses in regions with multiple TWAS associations. Two genes, STXBP4 and HIST2H2BA, were specifically associated with ER+ but not with ER- breast cancer. We further identified 30 TWAS-significant genes associated with overall breast cancer risk, including four that were not identified in previous studies. Conditional analyses identified single independent breast-cancer gene in three of six regions harboring multiple TWAS-significant genes. Our study provides new information on breast cancer genetics and biology, particularly about genomic differences between ER+ and ER- breast cancer.Peer reviewe