Events, Christian Faith Communities, and the Public Square

Living as members of a faith community can be problematic in world regions where secularism controls the public sphere. The secularisation of European society, for example, has made it more difficult for religious groups to have a voice in public affairs. However, in many instances, religion has seen a revitalised role in the public square. Even in places where religion is believed to be best served as a muted witness in the private realm, Jews, Christians, and Muslims share a long tradition and heritage of political dissent, such as gathering on street corners to express their faith and their views. This political dissent is often guised in the form of events as a method of creating a public presence. The purpose of this paper is to examine and typologise the ways in which Christian faith communities (mainly in the United Kingdom) engage in the public square, through the medium of events. Contributing towards the development of the concept of the Eventization of Faith, this study interprets ‘events’ broadly, through a critical events perspective, acknowledging the contestation of secular spaces for sacred or faith-related purposes (Dowson & Lamond, 2018), as well as the potential for contestation of sacred spaces used for non-faith events. This paper acknowledges overt and covert motivations of Christian faith communities in their engagement in public and sacred spaces through the medium of events

All-Versus-Nothing Proof of Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen Steering

Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen steering is a form of quantum nonlocality intermediate between entanglement and Bell nonlocality. Although Schr\"odinger already mooted the idea in 1935, steering still defies a complete understanding. In analogy to "all-versus-nothing" proofs of Bell nonlocality, here we present a proof of steering without inequalities rendering the detection of correlations leading to a violation of steering inequalities unnecessary. We show that, given any two-qubit entangled state, the existence of certain projective measurement by Alice so that Bob's normalized conditional states can be regarded as two different pure states provides a criterion for Alice-to-Bob steerability. A steering inequality equivalent to the all-versus-nothing proof is also obtained. Our result clearly demonstrates that there exist many quantum states which do not violate any previously known steering inequality but are indeed steerable. Our method offers advantages over the existing methods for experimentally testing steerability, and sheds new light on the asymmetric steering problem.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures. Accepted in Sci. Re

Evaluation of test statistics in split-mouth clinical trials

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/65787/1/j.1600-0765.1988.tb01616.x.pd

Effectiveness of stratified treatment for back pain in Danish primary care: A randomized controlled trial

Background A randomized controlled trial (RCT) of stratified care demonstrated superior clinical outcomes and cost-effectiveness for low back pain (LBP) patients in UK primary care. This is the first study in Europe, outside of the original UK study, to investigate the clinical efficacy and cost-effectiveness of stratified care compared with current practice for patients with non-specific LBP. Methods The study was a two-armed RCT. Danish primary care patients with LBP were randomized to stratified care (n = 169) or current practice (n = 164). Primary outcomes at 3- and 12-months' follow-up were Roland Morris Disability Questionnaire (RDMQ), patient-reported global change and time off work. Secondary outcomes included pain intensity, patient satisfaction, healthcare resource utilization and quality-adjusted life years. Results Intention-to-treat analyses found no between-group difference in RMDQ scores at 3 months (0.5, 95% CI −1.8 to 0.9) or 12 months (0.4, −2.1 to 1.3). No overall differences were found between the arms at 3 and 12 months with respect to time off work or secondary outcomes. Stratified care intervention resulted in significantly fewer treatment sessions (3.5 [SD 3.1] vs. 4.5 [3.5]) and significantly lower total healthcare costs (€) (13.4 [529] vs. 228 [830], p = .002). There was no difference in cost-effectiveness (0.09, 0.05 to 0.13 vs. 0.10, 0.07–0.14, p = .70). Conclusions There was no significant difference in clinical outcomes between patients with non-specific LBP receiving stratified care and those receiving current practice. However, stratified care may reduce total healthcare costs if implemented in Danish primary care. Significance Stratified care for low back pain based on risk profile is recommended by recent evidence based clinical guidelines. This study is the first broad replication of the STarT Back Trial in Europe. Therefore, the study adds to the body of knowledge evaluating the effectiveness of stratified care for low back pain in primary care, and provides insight into the effects of stratification on clinical practice

Neglected Tropical Diseases outside the Tropics

Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) have been targeted due to their prevalence and the burden of disease they cause globally, but there has been no significant focus in the literature on the subject of NTDs as a group in immigrants and travelers, and no specific studies on the emerging phenomenon of imported NTDs. We present the experience of a Tropical Medicine Unit in a major European city, over a 19-year period, describing and comparing NTDs diagnosed amongst immigrants, travelers and travelers visiting friends and relatives (VFRs). NTDs were diagnosed outside tropical areas and occurred more frequently in immigrants, followed by VFR travelers and then by other travelers. The main NTDs diagnosed in immigrants were onchocerciasis, Chagas disease and ascariasis; most frequent NTDs in travelers were schistosomiasis, onchocerciasis and ascariasis, and onchocerciasis and schistosomiasis in VFRs. Issues focusing on modes of transmission outside endemic areas and how eradication programs for some NTDs in endemic countries may have an impact in non-tropical Western countries by decreasing disease burden in immigrants, are addressed. Adherence to basic precautions such as safe consumption of food/water and protection against arthropod bites could help prevent many NTDs in travelers

Average distances on self-similar sets and higher order average distances of self-similar measures

The purpose of this paper is twofold: (1) we study different notions of the average distance between two points of a self-similar subset of ℝ, and (2) we investigate the asymptotic behaviour of higher order average moments of self-similar measures on self-similar subsets of ℝ

Exposure to p,p′-DDE: A Risk Factor for Type 2 Diabetes

BACKGROUND: Persistent organic pollutants (POPs), such as PCBs, DDT and dioxins have in several cross-sectional studies shown strong associations with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Reversed causality can however not be excluded. The aim of this case-control study was to evaluate whether POPs concentration is a risk factor for type 2 diabetes. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: A case-control study was performed within a well-defined cohort of women, age 50-59 years, from the Southern part of Sweden. Biomarkers for POP exposure, 2,2',4,4',5,5'-hexachlorobiphenyl (CB-153) and 1,1-dichloro-2,2-bis (p-chlorophenyl)-ethylene (p,p'-DDE) were analyzed in stored serum samples, which were collected at the baseline examination when the cohort was established. For 107 out of the 371 cases, serum samples were stored at least three years before their type 2 diabetes was diagnosed. In this data set, CB-153 and p,p'-DDE were not associated with an increased risk to develop type 2 diabetes. However, when only the cases (n = 39) that were diagnosed more than six years after the baseline examination and their controls were studied, the women in the highest exposed quartile showed an increased risk to develop type 2 diabetes (OR of 1.6 [95% 0.61, 4.0] for CB-153 and 5.5 [95% CI 1.2, 25] for p,p'-DDE). CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: The results from the present case-control study, including a follow-up design, confirms that p,p'-DDE exposure can be a risk factor for type 2 diabetes

Regional Genetic Structure in the Aquatic Macrophyte Ruppia cirrhosa Suggests Dispersal by Waterbirds

The evolutionary history of the genus Ruppia has been shaped by hybridization, polyploidisation and vicariance that have resulted in a problematic taxonomy. Recent studies provided insight into species circumscription, organelle takeover by hybridization, and revealed the importance of verifying species identification to avoid distorting effects of mixing different species, when estimating population connectivity. In the present study, we use microsatellite markers to determine population diversity and connectivity patterns in Ruppia cirrhosa including two spatial scales: (1) from the Atlantic Iberian coastline in Portugal to the Siculo-Tunisian Strait in Sicily and (2) within the Iberian Peninsula comprising the Atlantic-Mediterranean transition. The higher diversity in the Mediterranean Sea suggests that populations have had longer persistence there, suggesting a possible origin and/or refugial area for the species. The high genotypic diversities highlight the importance of sexual reproduction for survival and maintenance of populations. Results revealed a regional population structure matching a continent-island model, with strong genetic isolation and low gene flow between populations. This population structure could be maintained by waterbirds, acting as occasional dispersal vectors. This information elucidates ecological strategies of brackish plant species in coastal lagoons, suggesting mechanisms used by this species to colonize new isolated habitats and dominate brackish aquatic macrophyte systems, yet maintaining strong genetic structure suggestive of very low dispersal.Fundacao para a Cincia e Tecnologia (FCT, Portugal) [PTDC/MAR/119363/2010, BIODIVERSA/0004/2015, UID/Multi/04326/2013]Pew FoundationSENECA FoundationMurcia Government, Spain [11881/PI/09]FCT Investigator Programme-Career Development [IF/00998/2014]Spanish Ministry of Education [AP2008-01209]European Community [00399/2012]info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio