Seeing and believing: spiritual discernment and response in john's gospel: a study of encounters with Jesus, with special reference to the story of the man born blind.

In this study I have set out to explore what I would see to be the central significance of the theme of "Seeing and Believing" in the Gospel of John, with special reference to the story of the healing of the man born blind in chapter 9, to consider that man's encounter with Jesus alongside other encounters recorded by John and the various responses to Jesus which we find in this Gospel, and to explore some of the issues and questions raised by any such study of the way in which individuals come to encounter Jesus and see - or not see - who he really is. After a preliminary chapter introducing the theme and glancing briefly at some encounters with Jesus recorded by John, and a second chapter considering the possible relevance to such a study of some recent critical approaches to this Gospel, especially those adopting a "historical-critical" or "literary" approach, I have looked in greater detail at two encounters with Jesus to place alongside that of the man born blind. Chapter 3 explores the encounter between Jesus and Nicodemus, focusing on the three passages in which Nicodemus is seen in this Gospel, and chapter 4 turns to Pilate’s meeting with Jesus and his response to Jesus, the prisoner brought to him. Chapter 5 brings us to the central story for this study, the narrative of John 9 in which the man born blind encounters Jesus and comes to make a response of faith. The final chapter of the study focuses again on the central theme of "coming to see who Jesus really is", and takes up again those questions which have been discussed throughout the study: the question about whether faith is a gift, and the more "Johannine" question about the validity of what might be considered "inadequate" or "partial" faith responses

Towards understanding the lives and educational experiences of children and their drug using caregivers: connecting home and school

Over the last two decades concern has grown about the effects of parental substance use on children. A significant body of evidence has detailed a range of harms to children, including negative impacts on academic outcomes, school attendance and school engagement. There have been limited attempts to focus on the day-to-day lives and experiences of school of both young people and their parents/carers who use drugs. Similarly, there has been a dearth of research on the experiences of teachers in identifying and responding to children affected by parental substance use. Experiences of education can be transformational. School can act as a normalising, highly structured and supportive space, but it can also be a ‘nightmare’. Using a feminist approach, enhanced by childhood studies, Tronto’s ethics of care, and Nussbaum’s (2001) theorisation of compassion, this study examines day-to-day life and the connection with home and school for children and young people and their mothers/caregivers who use drugs, and the recognition and responses of teachers and schools. The study adopted a qualitative approach. Fourteen semi-structured home-based interviews with six families were conducted with children and their mothers/ caregivers. Three discussion groups were held with ten schoolteachers. This study employed a range of projective techniques in the interviews using visually creative methods, including ecomaps. The data was analysed using thematic analysis. Findings indicate the complexity of family situations experienced by children and young people affected by parental substance use and intersecting challenges including domestic abuse. The data indicates that school is a complex environment for children and young people and their mothers and caregivers. Attempts to manage stigma, to stay under the radar, highlight relationships within and outside school. Teachers’ recognition of, and responses to, children and young people are detailed and shifts in responsibility for wellbeing and the burden of care on teachers’ wellbeing are explored. Relational care and compassionate responses, to both children and their mothers/ caregivers in school, were revealed in the data. Overall, I conclude that school is, simultaneously, both a safe haven and a nightmare for children and young people and, in the concluding chapter of the thesis, I suggest a range of recommendations for the development of policy and practice and offer potential avenues for further research

Darwin\u27s Bee-Trap: The Kinetics of Catasetum, a New World Orchid

The orchid genera Catasetum employs a hair-trigger activated, pollen release mechanism, which forcibly attaches pollen sacs onto foraging insects in the New World tropics. This remarkable adaptation was studied extensively by Charles Darwin and he termed this rapid response sensitiveness. Using high speed video cameras with a frame speed of 1000 fps, this rapid release was filmed and from the subsequent footage, velocity, speed, acceleration, force and kinetic energy were computed

Outcome measurement in functional neurological disorder: a systematic review and recommendations.

OBJECTIVES: We aimed to identify existing outcome measures for functional neurological disorder (FND), to inform the development of recommendations and to guide future research on FND outcomes. METHODS: A systematic review was conducted to identify existing FND-specific outcome measures and the most common measurement domains and measures in previous treatment studies. Searches of Embase, MEDLINE and PsycINFO were conducted between January 1965 and June 2019. The findings were discussed during two international meetings of the FND-Core Outcome Measures group. RESULTS: Five FND-specific measures were identified-three clinician-rated and two patient-rated-but their measurement properties have not been rigorously evaluated. No single measure was identified for use across the range of FND symptoms in adults. Across randomised controlled trials (k=40) and observational treatment studies (k=40), outcome measures most often assessed core FND symptom change. Other domains measured commonly were additional physical and psychological symptoms, life impact (ie, quality of life, disability and general functioning) and health economics/cost-utility (eg, healthcare resource use and quality-adjusted life years). CONCLUSIONS: There are few well-validated FND-specific outcome measures. Thus, at present, we recommend that existing outcome measures, known to be reliable, valid and responsive in FND or closely related populations, are used to capture key outcome domains. Increased consistency in outcome measurement will facilitate comparison of treatment effects across FND symptom types and treatment modalities. Future work needs to more rigorously validate outcome measures used in this population

Phase transitions in self-gravitating systems and bacterial populations with a screened attractive potential

We consider a system of particles interacting via a screened Newtonian potential and study phase transitions between homogeneous and inhomogeneous states in the microcanonical and canonical ensembles. Like for other systems with long-range interactions, we obtain a great diversity of microcanonical and canonical phase transitions depending on the dimension of space and on the importance of the screening length. We also consider a system of particles in Newtonian interaction in the presence of a ``neutralizing background''. By a proper interpretation of the parameters, our study describes (i) self-gravitating systems in a cosmological setting, and (ii) chemotaxis of bacterial populations in the original Keller-Segel model

100 Years of Radical Adult Education in Scotland: Building Hope for the Future (Transcript)

This pamphlet contains the transcripts of talks made on November 16th 2019, at the only event held in Scotland marking the 100th anniversary of the 1919 Report on Adult Education. The 1919 report shaped the development of formalised adult education in Britain and continues to influence the current adult learning landscape. We met just a few days before the publication of the 2019 Centenary Report on Adult Education, with its call to reinvigorate our national infrastructure for adult learning necessary for securing adult learning so essential to civic and political life. Sponsored by the Lipman Miliband Trust, the event was held at the offices of the Scottish Trade Union Congress (STUC) on Woodlands Road in Glasgow. The purpose was to look back to the social and economic crises that shaped Scotland in 1919, immediately after the Great War, considering the role of radical adult education within social movement responses. This was no nostalgia trip. The intention was to be reminded of how adult education was born out of crisis and was integral to collective refusals to accept social injustice and inequality. Our assumption was that this reminder might inspire our own responses to current political and social events

100 Years of Radical Adult Education in Scotland: Building Hope for the Future (Transcript)

This pamphlet contains the transcripts of talks made on November 16th 2019, at the only event held in Scotland marking the 100th anniversary of the 1919 Report on Adult Education. The 1919 report shaped the development of formalised adult education in Britain and continues to influence the current adult learning landscape. We met just a few days before the publication of the 2019 Centenary Report on Adult Education, with its call to reinvigorate our national infrastructure for adult learning necessary for securing adult learning so essential to civic and political life. Sponsored by the Lipman Miliband Trust, the event was held at the offices of the Scottish Trade Union Congress (STUC) on Woodlands Road in Glasgow. The purpose was to look back to the social and economic crises that shaped Scotland in 1919, immediately after the Great War, considering the role of radical adult education within social movement responses. This was no nostalgia trip. The intention was to be reminded of how adult education was born out of crisis and was integral to collective refusals to accept social injustice and inequality. Our assumption was that this reminder might inspire our own responses to current political and social events

Mechanical chest compression devices at in-hospital cardiac arrest: A systematic review and meta-analysis

AIM: To summarise the evidence in relation to the routine use of mechanical chest compression devices during resuscitation from in-hospital cardiac arrest. METHODS: We conducted a systematic review of studies which compared the effect of the use of a mechanical chest compression device with manual chest compressions in adults that sustained an in-hospital cardiac arrest. Critical outcomes were survival with good neurological outcome, survival at hospital discharge or 30-days, and short-term survival (ROSC/1-h survival). Important outcomes included physiological outcomes. We synthesised results in a random-effects meta-analysis or narrative synthesis, as appropriate. Evidence quality in relation to each outcome was assessed using the GRADE system. DATA SOURCES: Studies were identified using electronic databases searches (Cochrane Central, MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL), forward and backward citation searching, and review of reference lists of manufacturer documentation. RESULTS: Eight papers, containing nine studies [689 participants], were included. Three studies were randomised controlled trials. Meta-analyses showed an association between use of mechanical chest compression device and improved hospital or 30-day survival (odds ratio 2.34, 95% CI 1.42-3.85) and short-term survival (odds ratio 2.14, 95% CI 1.11-4.13). There was also evidence of improvements in physiological outcomes. Overall evidence quality in relation to all outcomes was very low. CONCLUSIONS: Mechanical chest compression devices may improve patient outcome, when used at in-hospital cardiac arrest. However, the quality of current evidence is very low. There is a need for randomised trials to evaluate the effect of mechanical chest compression devices on survival for in-hospital cardiac arrest

Melody, an ENU mutation in Caspase 3, alters the catalytic cysteine residue and causes sensorineural hearing loss in mice

Progeny from the Harwell N-ethyl-N-nitrosourea (ENU) recessive mutagenesis screen were assessed for auditory defects. A pedigree was identified with multiple progeny lacking response to a clickbox test. Auditory brainstem response (ABR) analysis showed that homozygous mutant mice were profoundly deaf and the line was named melody. We subsequently mapped this mutation to a 6-Mb region on chromosome 8 and identified a point mutation in melody that results in a C163S substitution in the catalytic site of Caspase 3, a cysteine protease involved in apoptosis. Melody fails to complement a null Caspase-3 mutant. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) has revealed disorganised sensory hair cells and hair cell loss. Histological analysis of melody has shown degeneration of spiral ganglion cells in homozygote mice, with a gradient of severity from apical to basal turns. Melody heterozygotes also show evidence of loss of spiral ganglion neurons, suggesting that the C163S mutation may show dominant negative effects by binding and sequestering proteins at the active site. The melody line provides a new model for studying the role of Caspase 3 in deafness and a number of other pathways and systems