Religious Construction of Coherence in Life Narratives

International audienceDuring the last decade the concepts of meaning and meaning-making have received widespread attention in psychology of religion rekindling interest in narrative, especially in life narratives and in the sense-making processes talking place by constructing coherence in life narratives. Habermas and Bluck (2000) coined the term autobiographical reasoning to denote a process of self-reflecting thinking that implies the life story as relevant frame of reference and produces coherence (e.g. thematic and causal-motivational coherence) in life narratives. This paper investigates how communication about religion in life narratives can enhance the construction of coherence in life narratives. First, religions may be understood as global belief systems that enable people to derive meaning from them in constructing a coherent life story. Second, especially relating religious or spiritual conversion implies enhanced autobiographical reasoning in order to position one's own life story in the context of one or more global belief systems and to articulate the change adequately. This autobiographical reasoning implies the construction of multiple coherences ( in particular thematic and causal-motivational coherence), sometimes accompanied by a meta-communication about the coherent composition of the "fabula" about the "sjuzet"

HD DVD substrates for surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy analysis : fabrication, theoretical predictions and practical performance

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Detection of vancomycin resistances in enterococci within 3 1/2 Hours

Vancomycin resistant enterococci (VRE) constitute a challenging problem in health care institutions worldwide. Novel methods to rapidly identify resistances are highly required to ensure an early start of tailored therapy and to prevent further spread of the bacteria. Here, a spectroscopy-based rapid test is presented that reveals resistances of enterococci towards vancomycin within 3.5 hours. Without any specific knowledge on the strain, VRE can be recognized with high accuracy in two different enterococci species. By means of dielectrophoresis, bacteria are directly captured from dilute suspensions, making sample preparation very easy. Raman spectroscopic analysis of the trapped bacteria over a time span of two hours in absence and presence of antibiotics reveals characteristic differences in the molecular response of sensitive as well as resistant Enterococcus faecalis and Enterococcus faecium. Furthermore, the spectroscopic fingerprints provide an indication on the mechanisms of induced resistance in VRE

Doubly resonant optical nanoantenna arrays for polarization resolved measurements of surface-enhanced Raman scattering

We report that rhomb-shaped metal nanoantenna arrays support multiple plasmonic resonances, making them favorable bio-sensing substrates. Besides the two localized plasmonic dipole modes associated with the two principle axes of the rhombi, the sample supports an additional grating-induced surface plasmon polariton resonance. The plasmonic properties of all modes are carefully studied by far-field measurements together with numerical and analytical calculations. The sample is then applied to surface-enhanced Raman scattering measurements. It is shown to be highly efficient since two plasmonic resonances of the structure were simultaneously tuned to coincide with the excitation and the emission wave- length in the SERS experiment. The analysis is completed by measuring the impact of the polarization angle on the SERS signal.Comment: 13 pages, 5 figure

Raman-spectroscopy based cell identification on a microhole array chip

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Preoperative Cognitive Impairment and Postoperative Delirium Predict Decline in Activities of Daily Living after Cardiac Surgery-A Prospective, Observational Cohort Study.

Cardiac surgery and subsequent treatment in the intensive care unit (ICU) has been shown to be associated with functional decline, especially in elderly patients. Due to the different assessment tools and assessment periods, it remains yet unclear what parameters determine unfavorable outcomes. This study sought to identify risk factors during the entire perioperative period and focused on the decline in activity of daily living (ADL) half a year after cardiac surgery. Follow-ups of 125 patients were available. It was found that in the majority of patients (60%), the mean ADL declined by 4.9 points (95% CI, -6.4 to -3.5; p < 0.000). In the "No decline" -group, the ADL rose by 3.3 points (2.0 to 4.6; p < 0.001). A multiple regression analysis revealed that preoperative cognitive impairment (MMSE ≤ 26; Exp(B) 2.862 (95%CI, 1.192-6.872); p = 0.019) and duration of postoperative delirium ≥ 2 days (Exp(B) 3.534 (1.094-11.411); p = 0.035) was independently associated with ADL decline half a year after the operation and ICU. Of note, preoperative ADL per se was neither associated with baseline cognitive function nor a risk factor for functional decline. We conclude that the preoperative assessment of cognitive function, rather than functional assessments, should be part of risk stratification when planning complex cardiosurgical procedures

Mechanical Surface Treatment of Polymer Parts Produced by FFF

The surface structure in the form of waviness and roughness as well as near surface density of FFF parts represents a major issue with respect to mechanical performance especially under fatigue loading. Mechanical surface treatments like shot peening or rolling are commonly used techniques, especially for metal components, to reduce surface roughness, increase surface densification and create beneficial residual stress states in the surface layer. In this study, a rolling process has been applied intermittently with the layer-wise FFF process and the effect on the surface state has been investigated using laser scanning and optical microscopy as well as microcomputed tomography. A process window with different rolling tools and rolling paths has been identified and analysed. The results show clearly advantageous properties regarding an improved surface roughness, with a higher densification gradient in the first perimeter tracks of the FFF extrusion strategy as well as sharper corners being realized.Mechanical Engineerin