Europe and the Gospel. Past Influences, Current Developments, Mission Challenges

Combining human interest stories with thought provoking analyses, Dr Evert Van de Poll paints the socio-cultural and religious picture of this exceptional continent: its population and cultural variety; past and present idea of ‘we Europeans’; immigration, multiculturalism and the issue of (Muslim) integration; the construction of the EU and the concerns it raises; and the quest for the ‘soul’ of Europe. Special attention is paid to Christian and other roots of Europe; the mixed historical record of Christianity; vestiges of its past dominance; its place and influence in today’s societies that are rapidly de-Christianising; and secularization as a European phenomenon. The author indicates specific challenges for Church development, mission and social service. In so doing, he outlines the contours of a contextualised communication of the Gospel

Carboniferous Stratigraphy and Sedimentology of the Chignecto Bay Area: Southern New Brunswick

Geology of New Brunswick: field guide to excursions, 1973: Trip A-

Lithostratigraphy of the Prince Edward Island redbeds

The redbeds of Prince Edward Island are of Stephanian-late Early Permian age and represent the youngest known on-land exposed strata of uk post (Acadian) orogenic Maritimes Basin of eastern Canada. The Island redbeds have previously been informally subdivided into four Fining-upwards megacyclic sequences I, II, HI and IV, on the basis of variations in grain size and composition. It has also been past practice to informally assign the redbeds to the top of the Pictou Group of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick with which they merge uninterruptedly at depth below the Island. Regional variations in conglomerate composition, maturity and sediment dispersal trends indicate tiiat the redbeds comprise two separate lithofacies sequences representing: (1) die relative distal platformal Pictou Group lithofacies of New Brunswick to the southwest, and (2) the more proximal Cumberland Sub-basin Pictou Group lithofacies of Nova Scotia to the south. It is suggested here that lithostratigraphic purpose may be best served by die following changes: The Northumberland Strait Supergroup be established to accommodate die Pictou Group below (grey and red terrestrial strata, locally coal measures) and the Prince Edward Island Group (redbeds) above. The Prince Edward Island Group is to be subdivided on the basis of their internal megacyclic order into five formal formations and two members. From oldest to youngest these are: Miminegash, Egmont Bay, Kildare Capes, Hillsborough River and Orby Head formations. The Hillsborough River Formation is further subdivided into die Malpeque and Wood Islands members. The Stephanian-late Early Permian age of the Prince Edward Island redbeds is reasonably well established on the basis of paleontological evidence. RÉSUMÉ Les séries rouges de L’lie du Prince-Edouard, d'âge compris entre le Stéphanien et la Fin du Permien précoce, représentent les plus jeunes strates connues du Bassin post-orogénique (post-acadien) des Maritimes à affleurer sur la lerre ferme. On a auparavant subdivisé ces séries de façon informelle, en raison de variations dans leur granuloma trie et leur composition, en quatre mégaséquences granodecroissantcs (I, II, HI et IV). H était aussi coutume d'attribuer de façon informelle ces séries rouges au sommet du Groupe de Pictou (Nouvelle-Écosse et Nouveau-Brunswick), auquel elles s'incorporent continument, et ce en profondeur sous l’ile. Les variations régionales dans la composition des poudingues, la maturité des sédiments ainsi que les tendances dans la dispersion des sédiments démontrent que les assises rouges s'articulentendeux séries distinctesde lithofaciès représentant (1) vers le sud-ouest (Nouveau-Brunswick), le lithofaciès de plate-forme plus externe du Groupe de Pictou et (2) vers le sud (Nouvelle-Écosse), le lithofacèis plus proximal du Sous-Bassin de Cumberland dans le Groupe de Pictou. On suggère que la lithostratigraphie serai t favorisée par les changements suivants: que le Supergroupe de Northumberland Strait soit établi pour concilier en bas le Groupe de Pictou (strates terrestres grises et rouges, veines de charbon locales) et en haut le Groupe de Prince Edward Island (séries rouges). On subdivise de façon formelle le Groupe de Prince Edward Island en cinq formations et deux membres en s'appuyant sur leur disposition mégacyclique interne. De la plus vieille à la plus jeune, celles-ci englobent les formations de Miminegash, d'Egmont Bay, de Kildare Capes, de Hillsborough River et d'Orby Head. On subdivise aussi la Formation de Hillsborough River en deux membres: les membres de Malpeque et de Wood Islands. L'âges stéphanien-éopermien tardif des assises rouges de l'ile du Prince-Edouard est raisonnablement établi sur des bases paléontologiques. [Traduit par le journal

The role of zinc in the adaptive evolution of polar phytoplankton

Zinc is an essential trace metal for oceanic primary producers with the highest concentrations in polar oceans. However, its role in the biological functioning and adaptive evolution of polar phytoplankton remains enigmatic. Here, we have applied a combination of evolutionary genomics, quantitative proteomics, co-expression analyses and cellular physiology to suggest that model polar phytoplankton species have a higher demand for zinc because of elevated cellular levels of zinc-binding proteins. We propose that adaptive expansion of regulatory zinc-finger protein families, co-expanded and co-expressed zinc-binding proteins families involved in photosynthesis and growth in these microalgal species and their natural communities were identified to be responsible for the higher zinc demand. The expression of their encoding genes in eukaryotic phytoplankton metatranscriptomes from pole-to-pole was identified to correlate not only with dissolved zinc concentrations in the upper ocean but also with temperature, suggesting that environmental conditions of polar oceans are responsible for an increased demand of zinc. These results suggest that zinc plays an important role in supporting photosynthetic growth in eukaryotic polar phytoplankton and that this has been critical for algal colonization of low-temperature polar oceans.</p

Severity of cardiovascular disease and health-related quality of life in men with prostate cancer: a longitudinal analysis from CaPSURE.

ObjectiveTo evaluate the influence of comorbid cardiovascular disease severity on health-related quality of life (HRQL) in men treated with radical prostatectomy (RP) or radiotherapy (RT) for early stage prostate cancer.MethodsSubjects (n=830) with non-metastatic disease who had been diagnosed in 2000-2002 were drawn from Cancer of the Prostate Strategic Urologic Research Endeavor (CaPSURE). We evaluated the influence of cardiovascular disease (CVD) severity on generic and disease-specific HRQL before and 6, 12, 18, and 24 months after treatment with RP or RT. HRQL was measured with the SF-36 and the UCLA Prostate Cancer Index.ResultsMen with moderate (n=193) or severe (n=51) cardiovascular disease had worse pre-treatment HRQL than did men without CVD (n=293) (P&lt;0.01); HRQL scores were worse in men referred for RT. During 24 months of follow-up, men with moderate or severe CVD had worse SF-36 physical and mental component summaries and worse bowel function at all time points (P&lt;0.05). Men with severe CVD also experienced a slower recovery in physical function (P=0.03) and sexual functioning (P=0.02) than did men without CVD.ConclusionsProstate cancer patients with moderate to severe CVD have worse HRQL during follow-up. Those with severe CVD recover their physical and sexual functioning more slowly after treatment