Sanctuary in time : the effect of Sabbath keeping on the lives of missionaries

https://place.asburyseminary.edu/ecommonsatsdissertations/1358/thumbnail.jp

Improving Advanced Care Planning through Proper Implementation of the POLST Paradigm: An Integrative Review

End of life planning is critical to ensure enactment of patient wishes, ethical patient treatment, and improved family acceptance of death. As such, this project addressed integration of reviewed literature of advanced planning directives to influence end-of-life care. Implementation guidelines and incorporation of the Physician Orders for Life Sustaining Treatment (POLST) paradigm was the central focus of this project. Addressing best implementation practices of the POLST paradigm should increase advanced care planning and ultimately positively impact patient and surrogate decisions regarding end of life management and care. Completion of this integrative review has provided substantial implicative evidence regarding best practice standards related to the POLST paradigm. The need for robust end-of-life discussions, the universal applicability of the POLST paradigm form, and widespread adaptation suggest the POLST paradigm should be used when advanced care planning. The literature also suggests some troubling findings such as form misinterpretation, misapplication, and overall inconsistencies of use. Also, of note was the universal applicability of the POLST paradigm spanning racial, cultural, and medical diversity. Given the review question and project goals, implementation strategies such as standardized and comprehensive education, consistent form completion, and appropriate advanced care planning conversations can avoid pitfalls experienced with prior POSLT rollouts and mitigate many of the common themes found in the reviewed articles

Institutional Change in the Syrian Rangelands

Summaries During the past forty years, the Syrian rangelands have been the focal point of government interventions. These had four major components: assertion of state ownership over rangelands, settlement and transformation of herders into farmers, formal reorganization of the Bedouin population into range improvement and sheep husbandry cooperatives, and development of rangeland reserves. Each of these interventions has had many implications for livestock production, on rangeland management as well as on the livelihood strategies of herding households and communities. In 1994, the Syrian government took a major decision by banning cultivation in rangelands and committed itself to enhancing livestock production through better conservation, improvement and management of rangeland resources. The ban on cultivation, which is transforming sheep production systems and livelihood strategies of herding communities, is forcing herding communities to devise new strategies for overcoming their production constraints. Under present range conditions, it is clear that herding communities cannot stay there all year round and have, necessarily, to seek alternative feed resources. This article asks the questions: are herding communities likely to revert to old Bedouin livestock production systems based on trans?humance and reciprocity or will they opt to use more individualistic and market?based feed resources? Are feed access strategies differentiated by livestock ownership? How will these changes affect their production systems and livelihood strategies

Prevalence of internal parasites in sheep/goats and effective economic de-worming plan at upland Balochistan, Pakistan

Experiments were conducted on sheep and goats during 2006 to 2007 to investigate the prevalence, control and efficacy of anthelmintics against internal parasites at two sites (Loralai and Qila Saifullah) in Balochistan, Pakistan. Faecal samples were collected directly from the rectum of 10 to 20% animals from each flock before the administration of anthelmintics. About 87 to 93% sheep/goats were infested with 10 types of internal parasites. These were Dictyocaulus, Moniezia benideni, Moniezia expensa, Fasciola hepatica, Strongyloides, Nematodirus, Trichostrongylus, Cooperia, Trichuris ovis and Bunostomum. The level of parasitic infestation was mostly between 500 to 2000 eggs per gram (EPG) of faeces. Prior to execution of experiment, more than 80% animals showed high parasitic infectivity (>1000 EPG). Drenching of different anthelmintics such as Nilzan, Ivermectin, Zodec, Bendex, Oxadec and Albensil in infested animals with different durations lowered the internal parasitic level (300 EPG) and also eliminated most of the internal parasites except Dictyocaulus. Albensil was found more effective and economical against internal parasites of sheep and goats. It is concluded that 3 to 4 months interval de-worming with suitable anthelmintics enhance the small ruminants’ productivity.Keywords: Small ruminants, internal parasites, anthelmintics and economic parasitic contro

Autophagy in Adipocyte Browning: Emerging Drug Target for Intervention in Obesity

Autophagy, lipophagy, and mitophagy are considered to be the major recycling processes for protein aggregates, excess fat, and damaged mitochondria in adipose tissues in response to nutrient status-associated stress, oxidative stress, and genotoxic stress in the human body. Obesity with increased body weight is often associated with white adipose tissue (WAT) hypertrophy and hyperplasia and/or beige/brown adipose tissue atrophy and aplasia, which significantly contribute to the imbalance in lipid metabolism, adipocytokine secretion, free fatty acid release, and mitochondria function. In recent studies, hyperactive autophagy in WAT was observed in obese and diabetic patients, and inhibition of adipose autophagy through targeted deletion of autophagy genes in mice improved anti-obesity phenotypes. In addition, active mitochondria clearance through activation of autophagy was required for beige/brown fat whitening – that is, conversion to white fat. However, inhibition of autophagy seemed detrimental in hypermetabolic conditions such as hepatic steatosis, atherosclerosis, thermal injury, sepsis, and cachexia through an increase in free fatty acid and glycerol release from WAT. The emerging concept of white fat browning–conversion to beige/brown fat– has been controversial in its anti-obesity effect through facilitation of weight loss and improving metabolic health. Thus, proper regulation of autophagy activity fit to an individual metabolic profile is necessary to ensure balance in adipose tissue metabolism and function, and to further prevent metabolic disorders such as obesity and diabetes. In this review, we summarize the effect of autophagy in adipose tissue browning in the context of obesity prevention and its potential as a promising target for the development of anti-obesity drugs

Autophagy in Adipocyte Browning: Emerging Drug Target for Intervention in Obesity

Autophagy, lipophagy, and mitophagy are considered to be the major recycling processes for protein aggregates, excess fat, and damaged mitochondria in adipose tissues in response to nutrient status-associated stress, oxidative stress, and genotoxic stress in the human body. Obesity with increased body weight is often associated with white adipose tissue (WAT) hypertrophy and hyperplasia and/or beige/brown adipose tissue atrophy and aplasia, which significantly contribute to the imbalance in lipid metabolism, adipocytokine secretion, free fatty acid release, and mitochondria function. In recent studies, hyperactive autophagy in WAT was observed in obese and diabetic patients, and inhibition of adipose autophagy through targeted deletion of autophagy genes in mice improved anti-obesity phenotypes. In addition, active mitochondria clearance through activation of autophagy was required for beige/brown fat whitening – that is, conversion to white fat. However, inhibition of autophagy seemed detrimental in hypermetabolic conditions such as hepatic steatosis, atherosclerosis, thermal injury, sepsis, and cachexia through an increase in free fatty acid and glycerol release from WAT. The emerging concept of white fat browning–conversion to beige/brown fat–has been controversial in its anti-obesity effect through facilitation of weight loss and improving metabolic health. Thus, proper regulation of autophagy activity fit to an individual metabolic profile is necessary to ensure balance in adipose tissue metabolism and function, and to further prevent metabolic disorders such as obesity and diabetes. In this review, we summarize the effect of autophagy in adipose tissue browning in the context of obesity prevention and its potential as a promising target for the development of anti-obesity drugs

Biotic and physico-chemical conditions in a cooling reservoir of a coal-fired power plant

Cholla Lake is a cooling reservoir for the coal-fired Cholla electrical generating plant. The lake provides recreational fishing and water contact recreation. The fish populations are self-sustaining. I collected water, sediment, and whole body fish samples to be analyzed for levels of some possibly toxic inorganic constituents. I also measured dissolved oxygen, pH, Secchi disk transparency. I compared current fish population structure, fish stomach contents, and the frequency of occurrence of benthos, with those same parameters in previous studies. Water temperature and turbidity have increased; catfish and bluegill have increased in their relative abundance; and the density of benthic invertebrates has decreased. Aquatic insects occur most commonly in the stomach contents of bluegill and filamentous algae in the stomachs of catfish. Selenium levels in all matrices exceed national averages and are above levels in a nearby reservoir unaffected by the power station