Activation of gases by electron collision for reaction with carbon

Imperial Users onl

History of the churches of Louisville with special reference to slavery.

In the one hundred and forty years of Louisville\u27s existence, it has grown from a log cabin settlement with no churches to a city with 269 churches and church property valued at over $30,000,000. It is impossible to measure the moral and religious force that they have exerted on the city. It can best be appreciated when one thinks of what the city would be without them. Few of us would care to live in such a city. In the field of education, Louisville churches have contributed much. Some of the first schools in the city were conducted by ministers, and the work done by various Catholic orders in this field have been far reaching. Louisville churches have contributed numerous college presidents. One of the first night schools in the city was started by a group of church men. Louisville children have had Sunday Schools to attend for the past ninety years. The location in Louisville of Baptist, Presbyterian, and Catholic Theological Seminaries and the Baptist Missionary Training School has meant much to the various churches of the ity. Most of Louisville\u27s charitable organizations, hospitals, and orphanages were started by churches and church people. During both the Civil War and the recent World War much work was done, not only in the care of the sick and the wounded, but in providing inspiration, recreation, and hospitality for the soldiers quartered in the city. But the greatest moral question that ever faced the churches of Louisville was that of slavery. The positions the local churches took on this issue can scarcely be separated from those of their national and state organizations, especially in the Methodist, Presbyterian, and Baptist Churches

Pathogenesis of emphysema: molecular mechanisms underlying cigarette smoke-induced cell death

Cigarette smoking is the major aetiological factor in the development of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), a collection of diseases encompassing chronic bronchitis and emphysema. Emphysema is characterised by enlargement of the distal airspaces in the lungs due to destruction of alveolar walls, and was initially thought to be the result of matrix destruction from a protease-antiprotease and oxidant-antioxidant imbalance, leading to detachment of alveolar cells. However, recently apoptosis has been implicated in alveolar cell loss; increased numbers of apoptotic epithelial and endothelial cells have been observed in the lungs of emphysema patients. Thus the effect of cigarette smoke on apoptotic cell death was investigated.Unexpectedly, cigarette smoke condensate (CSC) did not induce apoptosis in either an alveolar epithelial type II cell line (A549) or primary human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs), but instead it induced necrosis and inhibited staurosporine-induced apoptosis. The anti-apoptotic, pro-necrotic, effect of CSC was reproduced in a model system using Jurkat T cells, when either staurosporine or Fas ligation was used as an apoptotic stimulus. Additional studies indicated that these effects might be oxidantmediated as the antioxidant compounds glutathione and dithiothreitol prevented CSCmediated apoptosis inhibition, and necrosis. Time course experiments revealed that CSC inhibited an early step in the caspase cascade, whereby caspase-3 was not activated. Moreover, reconstitution of the apoptosome in cytoplasmic extracts from CSC-treated cells, by addition of cytochrome-c and dATP, did not result in activation of caspases-3 or -9. Thus, smoke treatment may alter the levels of pro- and antiapoptogenic factors downstream of the mitochondria to inhibit active apoptosome formation. Therefore these data demonstrate that CSC treatment did not induce apoptosis as previously reported. More interestingly, CSC inhibited apoptosis by preventing activation of caspases, resulting in necrotic cell death. Thus, cell death in response to cigarette smoke by necrosis, and not apoptosis, may be responsible for the loss of alveolar walls observed in emphysema

The Collective Communication of Social Choice Messages

The research problem addressed in this dissertation is to develop a theory of collective communication. Collective communication is defined as social interaction mediated through messages whose production involves a collectivity. The focus of analysis is on social choice messages, messages that prescribe or proscribe the behavior of members of that collectivity. The theory developed here is used to describe the social choice messages necessary to realize common interests in specific economic environments and the collective communication systems necessary to communicate those messages in those environments. The theory of collective communication is developed in four steps. First, a mathematical theory of collective communication is derived from the unification of game theory and information theory. Building upon the work of von Neumann and Morgenstern, Shannon, Ashby and Conant, philosophical foundations are established and nineteen theorems are derived to predict the transmission of information in a basic game and in a metagame whose outcomes describe constraints to be imposed upon strategic behavior in the basic game. Second, this mathematical theory is formally interpreted as a social theory of collective communication. Third, these theorems are applied to a variety of political and social problems, including those of common property resource management, market failure, the provision of public goods, collective action and coordinated action. Finally, the empirical validity of this theory is tested against research on the development of property rights. The set of regulations and statutes governing mining activity in Nevada between 1858 and 1895 is studied using the techniques of content analysis and multiple linear regression analysis. The predicted relationship between the precision of mining law and the value of mine output is found to be strong, with R squares as high as 0.82347. The research instrument is determined to be reliable and the findings to be statistically significant at the 0.01 level. The evidence presented here is limited but sufficient to motivate the continued development of a unified theory of information and games and the use of mathematical modeling to study salient social problems in the collective communication of social choice messages

Participatory inclusion evaluation: a flexible approach to building the evidence base on the impact of community-based rehabilitation and inclusive development programmes

In response to the variability, complexity, and cross-sectoral nature of community-based rehabilitation (CBR) programmes and the lack of a structured approach to impact evaluations, an innovative model and set of tools, called the participatory inclusion evaluation (PIE) approach, has been developed. This is conceptualised in an evaluation framework, influenced by diverse evaluation theories and methods used in mainstream international development. Each has its own merits and shortcomings, so we have developed a hybrid to ensure a pragmatic and flexible mixed methods approach. We discuss the theoretical choices made in the evolution of PIE. PIE involves the participation of three types of stakeholders: people with disabilities, the CBR core team, and the network of strategic partners. PIE assesses the impact and the what, how and why of CBR programmes, privileging people with disabilities’ perspectives. In synchrony with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) principles and the World Health Organisation (WHO) CBR guidelines, impact is defined as changes in inclusion, empowerment, and living conditions. PIE was developed using a participatory process, piloted in Uganda and Malawi. It provides a flexible outcome and impact evaluation methodology for CBR, using a mixture of quantitative and qualitative data, using an inclusive and participatory approach

SDGs, Inclusive Health and the Path to Universal Health Coverage

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a set of goals designed to improve the social, economic and well-being of all, while maintaining global and environmental sustainability. Health is one of the 17 goals, and focuses not only on addressing morbidity and mortality, but also on improving access to healthcare services for all through Universal Health Coverage (UHC). While disability is not specifically mentioned in this goal, a focus on people with disabilities is important given the inclusive nature of the SDGs and the fact that people with disabilities make up the largest minority group in the world. This paper aims to critically consider what the health goal could mean for people with disabilities and advocates for inclusive health. It discusses the complex relationship between disability and health, and why people with disabilities are more vulnerable to poor health are discussed, and then considers factors that impact access to quality healthcare for people with disabilities and how these impact on the achievement of the targets in SDG Health Goal and the main principles of UHC. The paper argues that developing an inclusive approach to healthcare will not only improve achieving good health for all, but is also important since experiencing poor health may reduce quality of life and participation (e.g. in education, employment or community activities). Poor quality of life and participation can exacerbate disability, poverty and exclusion in addition to increasing suffering, morbidity and early mortality. The paper concludes that an inclusive UHC will not only fulfil the fundamental rights of people with disabilities to health and rehabilitation, as emphasized within the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, but also contribute to the achievement of the SDGs