The other side of The Bible Battle…from Rev. Robert Gass

What a paradox! After likening fundamental preachers to such things as two-bit Latin American dictators, Theological perverts, religious witch hunters who merchandise the Gospel for profit and preach an upside-down gospel of fear and hatred and finally suggesting that we missed our true calling since we should be planting corn instead of preaching Christ, the Rev. Walter Thompson goes on to say that what we all need is more love and less of a spirit of judgement

Inter-Judge Agreement: An Analysis of the 1990 NFA and AFA-NIET National Individual Events Tournaments

Given the increasing concern about the judge\u27s role in individual events tournaments, and given the paucity of literature specifically pertaining to inter-judge agreement, we sought to analyze the degree of inter-judge agreement at two national level tournaments which employ multiple judge panels in preliminary rounds. The results of the 1990 National Forensics Association Tournament and the 1990 American Forensic Association - National Individual Events Tournament serve as a basis for the analysis

Australia and New Zealand applied linguistics (ANZAL): Taking stock

This paper reviews some emerging trends in applied linguistics in both Australia and New Zealand. It sketches the current scene of (selected) postgraduate applied linguistics programs in higher education and considers how various university programs define applied linguistics through the classes (titles) they have postgraduate students complete to be awarded a degree. Evidence of program requirements and topics reveal not only what applied linguistics generally entails, but offers insights into how applied linguistics is defined and practiced. Additionally, some of the salient research topics (titles) being published in the journals from the two countries' applied linguistics associations are sketched

An acetylcholine alpha7 positive allosteric modulator rescues a schizophrenia-associated brain endophenotype in the 15q13.3 microdeletion, encompassing CHRNA7

The 15q13.3 microdeletion copy number variation is strongly associated with schizophrenia and epilepsy. The CHRNA7 gene, encoding nicotinic acetylcholine alpha 7 receptors (nAChA7Rs), is hypothesized to be one of the main genes in this deletion causing the neuropsychiatric phenotype. Here we used a recently developed 15q13.3 microdeletion mouse model to explore whether an established schizophrenia-associated connectivity phenotype is replicated in a murine model, and whether positive modulation of nAChA7 receptor might pharmacologically normalize the connectivity patterns. Resting-state fMRI data were acquired from male mice carrying a hemizygous 15q13.3 microdeletion (N=9) and from wild-type mice (N=9). To study the connectivity profile of 15q13.3 mice and test the effect of nAChA7 positive allosteric modulation, the 15q13.3 mice underwent two imaging sessions, one week apart, receiving a single intraperitoneal injection of either 15 mg/kg Lu AF58801 or saline. The control group comprised wild-type mice treated with saline. We performed seed-based functional connectivity analysis to delineate aberrant connectivity patterns associated with the deletion (15q13.3 mice (saline treatment) versus wild-type mice (saline treatment)) and their modulation by Lu AF58801 (15q13.3 mice (Lu AF58801 treatment) versus 15q13.3 mice (saline treatment)). Compared to wild-type mice, 15q13.3 mice evidenced a predominant hyperconnectivity pattern. The main effect of Lu AF58801 was a normalization of elevated functional connectivity between prefrontal and frontal, hippocampal, striatal, thalamic and auditory regions. The strongest effects were observed in brain regions expressing nAChA7Rs, namely hippocampus, cerebral cortex and thalamus. These effects may underlie the antiepileptic, pro-cognitive and auditory gating deficit-reversal effects of nAChA7R stimulation

A community survey of coverage and adverse events following country-wide triple-drug mass drug administration for lymphatic filariasis elimination, Samoa 2018

The Global Programme to Eliminate Lymphatic Filariasis has made considerable progress but is experiencing challenges in meeting targets in some countries. Recent World Health Organization guidelines have recommended two rounds of triple-drug therapy with ivermectin, diethylcarbamazine (DEC), and albendazole (IDA), in areas where mass drug administration (MDA) results with two drugs (DEC and albendazole) have been suboptimal, as is the case in Samoa. In August 2018, Samoa was the first country in the world to implement countrywide triple-drug MDA. This paper aims to describe Samoa’s experience with program coverage and adverse events (AEs) in the first round of triple-drug MDA. We conducted a large cross-sectional community survey to assess MDA awareness, reach, compliance, coverage and AEs in September/October 2018, 7–11 weeks after the first round of triple-drug MDA. In our sample of 4420 people aged ≥2 years (2.2% of the population), age-adjusted estimates indicated that 89.0% of the eligible population were offered MDA, 83.9% of the eligible population took MDA (program coverage), and 80.2% of the total population took MDA (epidemiological coverage). Overall, 83.8% (2986/3563) reported that they did not feel unwell at all after taking MDA. Mild AEs (feeling unwell but able to do normal everyday things) were reported by 13.3% (476/3563) and moderate or severe AEs (feeling unwell and being unable to do normal everyday activities such as going to work or school) by 2.9% (103/3563) of participants. This study following the 2018 triple-drug MDA in Samoa demonstrated a high reported program awareness and reach of 90.8% and 89.0%, respectively. Age-adjusted program coverage of 83.9% of the total population showed that MDA was well accepted and well tolerated by the community

Supporting elimination of lymphatic filariasis in Samoa by predicting locations of residual infection using machine learning and geostatistics

The global elimination of lymphatic filariasis (LF) is a major focus of the World Health Organization. One key challenge is locating residual infections that can perpetuate the transmission cycle. We show how a targeted sampling strategy using predictions from a geospatial model, combining random forests and geostatistics, can improve the sampling efficiency for identifying locations with high infection prevalence. Predictions were made based on the household locations of infected persons identified from previous surveys, and environmental variables relevant to mosquito density. Results show that targeting sampling using model predictions would have allowed 52% of infections to be identified by sampling just 17.7% of households. The odds ratio for identifying an infected individual in a household at a predicted high risk compared to a predicted low risk location was 10.2 (95% CI 4.2–22.8). This study provides evidence that a ‘one size fits all’ approach is unlikely to yield optimal results when making programmatic decisions based on model predictions. Instead, model assumptions and definitions should be tailored to each situation based on the objective of the surveillance program. When predictions are used in the context of the program objectives, they can result in a dramatic improvement in the efficiency of locating infected individuals

Lymphatic filariasis epidemiology in Samoa in 2018: geographic clustering and higher antigen prevalence in older age groups

Background: Samoa conducted eight nationwide rounds of mass drug administration (MDA) for lymphatic filariasis (LF) between 1999 and 2011, and two targeted rounds in 2015 and 2017 in North West Upolu (NWU), one of three evaluation units (EUs). Transmission Assessment Surveys (TAS) were conducted in 2013 (failed in NWU) and 2017 (all three EUs failed). In 2018, Samoa was the first in the world to distribute nationwide triple-drug MDA using ivermectin, diethylcarbamazine, and albendazole. Surveillance and Monitoring to Eliminate LF and Scabies from Samoa (SaMELFS Samoa) is an operational research program designed to evaluate the effectiveness of triple-drug MDA on LF transmission and scabies prevalence in Samoa, and to compare the usefulness of different indicators of LF transmission. This paper reports results from the 2018 baseline survey and aims to i) investigate antigen (Ag) prevalence and spatial epidemiology, including geographic clustering; ii) compare Ag prevalence between two different age groups (5–9 years versus ≥10 years) as indicators of areas of ongoing transmission; and iii) assess the prevalence of limb lymphedema in those aged ≥15 years. Methods: A community-based cluster survey was conducted in 30 randomly selected and five purposively selected clusters (primary sampling units, PSUs), each comprising one or two villages. Participants were recruited through household surveys (age ≥5 years) and convenience surveys (age 5–9 years). Alere Filariasis Test Strips (FTS) were used to detect Ag, and prevalence was adjusted for survey design and standardized for age and gender. Adjusted Ag prevalence was estimated for each age group (5–9, ≥10, and all ages ≥5 years) for random and purposive PSUs, and by region. Intraclass correlation (ICC) was used to quantify clustering at regions, PSUs, and households. Results: A total of 3940 persons were included (1942 children aged 5–9 years, 1998 persons aged ≥10 years). Adjusted Ag prevalence in all ages ≥5 years in randomly and purposively selected PSUs were 4.0% (95% CI 2.8–5.6%) and 10.0% (95% CI 7.4–13.4%), respectively. In random PSUs, Ag prevalence was lower in those aged 5–9 years (1.3%, 95% CI 0.8–2.1%) than ≥10 years (4.7%, 95% CI 3.1–7.0%), and poorly correlated at the PSU level (R-square = 0.1459). Adjusted Ag prevalence in PSUs ranged from 0% to 10.3% (95% CI 5.9–17.6%) in randomly selected and 3.8% (95% CI 1.3–10.8%) to 20.0% (95% CI 15.3–25.8%) in purposively selected PSUs. ICC for Ag-positive individuals was higher at households (0.46) compared to PSUs (0.18) and regions (0.01). Conclusions: Our study confirmed ongoing transmission of LF in Samoa, in accordance with the 2017 TAS results. Ag prevalence varied significantly between PSUs, and there was poor correlation between prevalence in 5–9 year-olds and older ages, who had threefold higher prevalence. Sampling older age groups would provide more accurate estimates of overall prevalence, and be more sensitive for identifying residual hotspots. Higher prevalence in purposively selected PSUs shows local knowledge can help identify at least some hotspots

Different Sites of Alcohol Action in the NMDA Receptor GluN2A and GluN2B Subunits

The NMDA receptor is a major target of alcohol action in the CNS, and recent behavioral and cellular studies have pointed to the importance of the GluN2B subunit in alcohol action. We and others have previously characterized four amino acid positions in the third and fourth membrane-associated (M) domains of the NMDA receptor GluN2A subunit that influence both ion channel gating and alcohol sensitivity. In this study, we found that substitution mutations at two of the four corresponding positions in the GluN2B subunit, F637 and G826, influence ethanol sensitivity and ion channel gating. Because position 826 contains a glycine residue in the native protein, we focused our attention on GluN2B(F637). Substitution mutations at GluN2B(F637) significantly altered ethanol IC50 values, glutamate EC50 values for peak (Ip) and steady-state (Iss) current, and steady-state to peak current ratios (Iss:Ip). Changes in apparent glutamate affinity were not due to agonist trapping in desensitized states, as glutamate Iss EC50 values were not correlated with Iss:Ip values. Ethanol sensitivity was correlated with values of both Ip and Iss glutamate EC50, but not with Iss:Ip. Values of ethanol IC50, glutamate EC50, and Iss:Ip for mutants at GluN2B(F637) were highly correlated with the corresponding values for mutants at GluN2A(F636), consistent with similar functional roles of this position in both subunits. These results demonstrate that GluN2B(Phe637) regulates ethanol action and ion channel function of NMDA receptors. However, despite highly conserved M domain sequences, ethanol\u27s actions on GluN2A and GluN2B subunits differ

Bapineuzumab for mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease in two global, randomized, phase 3 trials

Background Our objective was to evaluate the efficacy (clinical and biomarker) and safety of intravenous bapineuzumab in patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Methods Two of four phase 3, multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, 18-month trials were conducted globally: one in apolipoprotein E ε4 carriers and another in noncarriers. Patients received bapineuzumab 0.5 mg/kg (both trials) or 1.0 mg/kg (noncarrier trial) or placebo every 13 weeks. Coprimary endpoints were change from baseline to week 78 on the 11-item Alzheimer’s Disease Assessment Scale–Cognitive subscale and the Disability Assessment for Dementia. Results A total of 683 and 329 patients completed the current carrier and noncarrier trials, respectively, which were terminated prematurely owing to lack of efficacy in the two other phase 3 trials of bapineuzumab in AD. The current trials showed no significant difference between bapineuzumab and placebo for the coprimary endpoints and no effect of bapineuzumab on amyloid load or cerebrospinal fluid phosphorylated tau. (Both measures were stable over time in the placebo group.) Amyloid-related imaging abnormalities with edema or effusion were confirmed as the most notable adverse event. Conclusions These phase 3 global trials confirmed lack of efficacy of bapineuzumab at tested doses on clinical endpoints in patients with mild to moderate AD. Some differences in the biomarker results were seen compared with the other phase 3 bapineuzumab trials. No unexpected adverse events were observed. Trial registration Noncarriers (3000) ClinicalTrials.gov identifier NCT00667810; registered 24 Apr 2008. Carriers (3001) ClinicalTrials.gov identifier NCT00676143; registered 2 May 2008

Recognizing Intimate Partner Violence in Primary Care: Western Cape, South Africa

Introduction: Interpersonal violence in South Africa is the second highest contributor to the burden of disease after HIV/ AIDS and 62 % is estimated to be from intimate partner violence (IPV). This study aimed to evaluate how women experiencing IPV present in primary care, how often IPV is recognized by health care practitioners and what other diagnoses are made. Methods: At two urban and three rural community health centres, health practitioners were trained to screen all women fo