A Mixed-Methods Study of the Variables that Influence Southern Baptists’ Affirmation of the Inerrancy of the Bible

The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) had discovered by the late 1970s that belief in the inerrancy of the Bible was not consistently affirmed by their leadership. After a twenty year battle, the SBC attempted to clarify the doctrine of inerrancy through the Baptist Faith and Message 2000. A mixed-method analysis was conducted by surveying 502 Florida Southern Baptist (FSB) church members with a 68-question survey instrument to determine the degree to which they affirmed the doctrine of inerrancy. The study revealed that a large percentage of FSB church members affirmed the doctrine, but the underlining beliefs were not always consistently acknowledged

The relationship between various live animal scores/measurements and carcass classification for conformation and fatness with meat yield and distribution, and ultimate carcass value

End of project reportAccordingly, the primary objectives of the following study were to: (1) determine the relationship of live animal muscular and skeletal scores, ultrasonically scanned muscle and fat depth measurements of the m. longissimus dorsi, and carcass conformation and fat scores with kill-out proportion, carcass composition and value. (2) Specifically develop and test the accuracy of prediction equations for carcass meat, fat and bone proportions, derived from carcass conformation and fat scores, and develop prediction equations for total carcass composition from hind-quarter composition

Validation and Improvement of the Beef Production Sub-index in Ireland for Beef Cattle

End of project reportThe objectives of the following study were to: a. Quantify the effect of sire genetic merit for BCI on: 1. feed intake, growth and carcass traits of progeny managed under bull or steer beef production systems. 2. live animal scores, carcass composition and plasma hormone and metabolite concentrations in their progeny. b. Compare the progeny of : 1. Late-maturing beef with dairy breeds and 2. Charolais (CH), Limousin (LM), Simmental (SM) and Belgian Blue (BB) sires bred to beef suckler dams, for feed intake, blood hormones and metabolites, live animal measurements, carcass traits and carcass value in bull and steer production systems

A Mixed-Methods Study of the Variables that Influence Florida Southern Baptists\u27 Affirmation of the Inerrancy of the Bible

The culmination of the resurgence within the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) was finalized by adopting the Baptist Faith and Message 2000 (BFM 2000). The SBC had discovered in the 1970s and 1980s that belief in the inerrancy of the Bible was not being affirmed by their leadership, particularly within their six seminaries. After a twenty plus year battle, the SBC attempted to affirm in more precise language the inerrancy of the Bible through the BFM 2000. However, this raises the question, how has this firm commitment to the inerrancy of the Bible, as affirmed by the leadership, translated to the general membership of the SBC? The extant literature reveals a gap in the research. That is, the general membership within the SBC had not been surveyed to determine the degree to which they affirm the doctrine of inerrancy. Due to the size of the general population of the Southern Baptist Convention and limited resources, a sample population was selected – namely Florida Southern Baptists (FSB). A mixed-method analysis was conducted by surveying 502 FSB church members with a 68-question survey instrument and then formulating an expert panel to comment on the findings. The study revealed that a large percentage of FSB church members affirmed the doctrine, but the underlining beliefs were not always consistently acknowledged. There was an inconsistent understanding of Genesis1-11 and misapplication of the moral and personal living commands of the Bible. The importance of continual Christian education of the Bible and essential orthodox beliefs within the church and home can ensure that future generations will affirm a correct understanding the term of inerrancy

Reduced glycogen availability is associated with increased AMPKα2 activity, nuclear AMPKα2 protein abundance, and GLUT4 mRNA expression in contracting human skeletal muscle

Glycogen availability can influence glucose transporter 4 (GLUT4) expression in skeletal muscle through unknown mechanisms. The multisubstrate enzyme AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) has also been shown to play an important role in the regulation of GLUT4 expression in skeletal muscle. During contraction, AMPK [alpha]2 translocates to the nucleus and the activity of this AMPK isoform is enhanced when skeletal muscle glycogen is low. In this study, we investigated if decreased pre-exercise muscle glycogen levels and increased AMPK [alpha]2 activity reduced the association of AMPK with glycogen and increased AMPK [alpha]2 translocation to the nucleus and GLUT4 mRNA expression following exercise. Seven males performed 60 min of exercise at ~70% [VO.sub.2] peak on 2 occasions: either with normal (control) or low (LG) carbohydrate pre-exercise muscle glycogen content. Muscle samples were obtained by needle biopsy before and after exercise. Low muscle glycogen was associated with elevated AMPK [alpha]2 activity and acetyl-CoA carboxylase [beta] phosphorylation, increased translocation of AMPK [alpha]2 to the nucleus, and increased GLUT4 mRNA. Transfection of primary human myotubes with a constitutively active AMPK adenovirus also stimulated GLUT4 mRNA, providing direct evidence of a role of AMPK in regulating GLUT4 expression. We suggest that increased activation of AMPK [alpha]2 under conditions of low muscle glycogen enhances AMPK [alpha]2 nuclear translocation and increases GLUT4 mRNA expression in response to exercise in human skeletal muscle. <br /

Stress and immunological response of heifers divergently ranked for residual feed intake following an adrenocorticotropic hormone challenge

peer-reviewedBackground When an animal is exposed to a stressor, metabolic rate, energy consumption and utilisation increase primarily through activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. Changes to partitioning of energy by an animal are likely to influence the efficiency with which it is utilised. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the physiological stress response to an exogenous adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) challenge in beef heifers divergently ranked on phenotypic residual feed intake (RFI). Results Data were collected on 34 Simmental weaning beef heifers the progeny of a well characterized and divergently bred RFI suckler beef herd. Residual feed intake was determined on each animal during the post-weaning stage over a 91-day feed intake measurement period during which they were individually offered adlibitum grass silage and 2 kg of concentrate per head once daily. The 12 highest [0.34 kg DM/d] and 12 lowest [−0.48 kg DM/d] ranking animals on RFI were selected for use in this study. For the physiological stress challenge heifers (mean age 605 ± 13 d; mean BW 518 ± 31.4 kg) were fitted aseptically with indwelling jugular catheters to facilitate intensive blood collection. The response of the adrenal cortex to a standardised dose of ACTH (1.98 IU/kg metabolic BW0.75) was examined. Serial blood samples were analysed for plasma cortisol, ACTH and haematology variables. Heifers differing in RFI did not differ (P = 0.59) in ACTH concentrations. Concentration of ACTH peaked (P < 0.001) in both RFI groups at 20 min post-ACTH administration, following which concentration declined to baseline levels by 150 min. Similarly, cortisol systemic profile peaked at 60 min and concentrations remained continuously elevated for 150 min. A RFI × time interaction was detected for cortisol concentrations (P = 0.06) with high RFI heifers had a greater cortisol response than Low RFI from 40 min to 150 min relative to ACTH administration. Cortisol response was positively associated with RFI status (r = 0.32; P < 0.01). No effect of RFI was evident for neutrophil, lymphocytes, monocyte, eosinophils and basophil count. Plasma red blood cell number (6.07 vs. 6.23; P = 0.02) and hematocrit percentage (23.2 vs. 24.5; P = 0.02) were greater for low than high RFI animals. Conclusions Evidence is provided that feed efficiency is associated with HPA axis function and susceptibility to stress, and responsiveness of the HPA axis is likely to contribute to appreciable variation in the efficiency feed utilisation of cattle

Successes and Failures of Hospital Ethics Committees: A National Survey of Ethics Committee Chairs

In 1992, the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) passed a mandate that all its approved hospitals put in place a means for addressing ethical concerns. Although the particular process the hospital uses to address such concerns—ethics consultant, ethics forum, ethics committee—may vary, the hospital or healthcare ethics committee (HEC) is used most often. In a companion study to that reported here, we found that in 1998 over 90% of U.S. hospitals had ethics committees, compared to just 1% in 1983, and that many have some and a few have sweeping clinical powers in hospitals

Phospholipase D promotes Arcanobacterium haemolyticum adhesion via lipid raft remodeling and host cell death following bacterial invasion

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p><it>Arcanobacterium haemolyticum </it>is an emerging bacterial pathogen, causing pharyngitis and more invasive infections. This organism expresses an unusual phospholipase D (PLD), which we propose promotes bacterial pathogenesis through its action on host cell membranes. The <it>pld </it>gene is found on a genomic region of reduced %G + C, suggesting recent horizontal acquisition.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Recombinant PLD rearranged HeLa cell lipid rafts in a dose-dependent manner and this was inhibited by cholesterol sequestration. PLD also promoted host cell adhesion, as a <it>pld </it>mutant had a 60.3% reduction in its ability to adhere to HeLa cells as compared to the wild type. Conversely, the <it>pld </it>mutant appeared to invade HeLa cells approximately two-fold more efficiently as the wild type. This finding was attributable to a significant loss of host cell viability following secretion of PLD from intracellular bacteria. As determined by viability assay, only 15.6% and 82.3% of HeLa cells remained viable following invasion by the wild type or <it>pld </it>mutant, respectively, as compared to untreated HeLa cells. Transmission electron microscopy of HeLa cells inoculated with <it>A. haemolyticum </it>strains revealed that the <it>pld </it>mutant was contained within intracellular vacuoles, as compared to the wild type, which escaped the vacuole. Wild type-infected HeLa cells also displayed the hallmarks of necrosis. Similarly inoculated HeLa cells displayed no signs of apoptosis, as measured by induction of caspase 3/7, 8 or 9 activities.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>These data indicate that PLD enhances bacterial adhesion and promotes host cell necrosis following invasion, and therefore, may be important in the disease pathogenesis of <it>A. haemolyticum </it>infections.</p

Electronic feeding behavioural data as indicators of health status in dairy calves

peer-reviewedThe objectives of this study were (i) to characterise clinical health in dairy calves on an Irish research farm during the artificial calf-rearing period and (ii) to determine whether calves’ pre-weaning intakes and feeding behaviour, recorded by electronic calf feeders, changes in response to incidents of bovine respiratory disease (BRD). Holstein-Friesian (H-F) and Jersey (J) calves were fed by automatic milk replacer (MR) and concentrate feeders. Feeding behaviour, including MR consumption, drinking speed, number of rewarded and unrewarded visits to the feeder as well as concentrate consumption, was recorded by the feeders. A modified version of the Wisconsin calf health scoring criteria chart was used to score calves’ clinical measurements and identify incidences of BRD. Thus, 40% of calves were found to have at least one incident of BRD. Feeding behaviour was altered during incidents of BRD. The number of unrewarded visits to the feeder was reduced, by approximately four visits, for calves with BRD during the 3 d prior to the identification of BRD (P < 0.05) and tended to be reduced during the 7 d following the identification of BRD (P = 0.05), compared with healthy calves. Additionally, calves with BRD had a tendency for reduced net energy intake (approximately 8%) during the 3 d prior to the identification of BRD, compared with healthy calves. Therefore, calf feeding behavioural data, recorded by electronic feeders during the pre-weaning period, can indicate cases of BRD

The relationship between various live animal scores/measurements and carcass classification for conformation and fatness with meat yield and distribution, and ultimate carcass value.

End of Project Reportthe primary objectives of the following study were to: (1) determine the relationship of live animal muscular and skeletal scores, ultrasonically scanned muscle and fat depth measurements of the m. longissimus dorsi, and carcass conformation and fat scores with kill-out proportion, carcass composition and value. (2) Specifically develop and test the accuracy of prediction equations for carcass meat, fat and bone proportions, derived from carcass conformation and fat scores, and develop prediction equations for total carcass composition from hind-quarter composition