The Changing Economy of the Spiritual Marketplace in the United States

Distinguished Lecture of the Institute and Society for Advanced Study given on September 24, 2000

Religion/Religions in the United States: Changing Perspectives and Prospects

Symposium: Religious Liberty at the Dawn of a New Millennium held at Indiana University School of Law-Bloomington on April 9, 1999

Religion/Religions in the United States: Changing Perspectives and Prospects

Symposium: Religious Liberty at the Dawn of a New Millennium held at Indiana University School of Law-Bloomington on April 9, 1999

Celebrating and Sacralizing Violence: Testimonies Concerning Ann Lee and the Early Shakers

In what follows it is my intention to identify briefly the religious claims of the Shakers, formally the United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Appearing, to sketch some aspects of the early history of the community, and to describe the ways in which Ann Lee and her followers, also called Believers, were subjected to violence. Then I will examine the ways that the Shakers featured, utilized, and exploited the tales of violence against Lee and the early Believers—celebrating and sacralizing that violence for their own religious ends

Comparability of Functional MRI Response in Young and Old During Inhibition

When using fMRI to study age-related cognitive changes, it is important to establish the integrity of the hemodynamic response because, potentially, it can be affected by age and disease. However, there have been few attempts to document such integrity and no attempts using higher cognitive rather than perceptual or motor tasks. We used fMRI with 28 healthy young and older adults on an inhibitory control task. Although older and young adults differed in task performance and activation patterns, they had comparable hemodynamic responses. We conclude that activation during cognitive inhibition, which was predominantly increased in elders, was not due to vascular confounds or specific changes in hemodynamic coupling

Can variability in the effect of opioids on refractory breathlessness be explained by genetic factors?

© 2015, BMJ Publishing Group. All rights reserved. Objectives: Opioids modulate the perception of breathlessness with a considerable variation in response, with poor correlation between the required opioid dose and symptom severity. The objective of this hypothesis-generating, secondary analysis was to identify candidate single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) from those associated with opioid receptors, signalling or pain modulation to identify any related to intensity of breathlessness while on opioids. This can help to inform prospective studies and potentially lead to better tailoring of opioid therapy for refractory breathlessness. Setting: 17 hospice/palliative care services (tertiary services) in 11 European countries. Participants: 2294 people over 18 years of age on regular opioids for pain related to cancer or its treatment. Primary outcome measures: The relationship between morphine dose, breathlessness intensity (European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer Core Quality of Life Questionnaire; EORTCQLQC30 question 8) and 112 candidate SNPs from 25 genes (n=588). Secondary outcome measures: The same measures for people on oxycodone (n=402) or fentanyl (n=429). Results: SNPs not in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium or with allele frequencies ( < 5%) were removed. Univariate associations between each SNP and breathlessness intensity were determined with Benjamini-Hochberg false discovery rate set at 20%. Multivariable ordinal logistic regression, clustering over country and adjusting for available confounders, was conducted with remaining SNPs. For univariate morphine associations, 1 variant on the 5-hydroxytryptamine type 3B (HTR3B) gene, and 4 on the β-2-arrestin gene (ARRB2) were associated with more intense breathlessness. 1 SNP remained significant in the multivariable model: people with rs7103572 SNP (HTR3B gene; present in 8.4% of the population) were three times more likely to have more intense breathlessness (OR 2.86; 95% CIs 1.46 to 5.62; p=0.002). No associations were seen with fentanyl nor with oxycodone. Conclusions: This large, exploratory study identified 1 biologically plausible SNP that warrants further study in the response of breathlessness to morphine therapy

Examining \u3cem\u3eDSM\u3c/em\u3e Criteria for Trichotillomania in A Dimensional Framework: Implications for \u3cem\u3eDSM-5\u3c/em\u3e And Diagnostic Practice

Background: Diagnosis of Trichotillomania (TTM) requires meeting several criteria that aim to embody the core pathology of the disorder. These criteria are traditionally interpreted monothetically, in that they are all equally necessary for diagnosis. Alternatively, a dimensional conceptualization of psychopathology allows for examination of the relatedness of each criterion to the TTM latent continuum. Objectives: First, to examine the ability of recently removed criteria (B and C) to identify the latent dimensions of TTM psychopathology, such that they discriminate between individuals with low and high degrees of hair pulling severity. Second, to determine the impact of removing criteria B and C on the information content of remaining diagnostic criteria. Third, to determine the psychometric properties of remaining TTM diagnostic criteria that remain largely unchanged in DSM-5; that is, whether they measure distinct or overlapping levels of TTM psychopathology. Fourth, to determine whether information content derived from diagnostic criteria aid in the prediction of disease trajectory (i.e., can relapse propensity be predicted from criteria endorsement patterns). Method: Statistics derived from Item Response Theory were used to examine diagnostic criteria endorsement in 91 adults with TTM who underwent psychotherapy. Results: The removal of two criteria in DSM-5 and psychometric validity of remaining criteria was supported. Additionally, individual trait parameters were used to predict treatment progress, uncovering predictive power where none previously existed. Conclusions: Diagnostic criteria for TTM should be examined in dimensional models, which allow for nuanced and sensitive measurement of core symptomology in treatment contexts

Isothermal DNA amplification using the T4 replisome: circular nicking endonuclease-dependent amplification and primase-based whole-genome amplification.

In vitro reconstitution of the bacteriophage T4 replication machinery provides a novel system for fast and processive isothermal DNA amplification. We have characterized this system in two formats: (i) in circular nicking endonuclease-dependent amplification (cNDA), the T4 replisome is supplemented with a nicking endonuclease (Nb.BbvCI) and a reverse primer to generate a well-defined uniform double-stranded linear product and to achieve up to 1100-fold linear amplification of a plasmid in 1 h. (ii) The T4 replisome with its primase (gp61) can also support priming and exponential amplification of genomic DNA in primase-based whole-genome amplification (T4 pWGA). Low amplification biases between 4.8 and 9.8 among eight loci for 0.3-10 ng template DNA suggest that this method is indeed suitable for uniform whole-genome amplification. Finally, the utility of the T4 replisome for isothermal DNA amplification is demonstrated in various applications, including incorporation of functional tags for DNA labeling and immobilization; template generation for in vitro transcription/translation and sequencing; and colony screening and DNA quantification