The Development of the Wycliffe Bible Translators and the Summer Institute of Linguistics, 1934-1982

This thesis examines the development of one of the twentieth century’s largest North American faith missions, the dual-organizational combination of the Wycliffe Bible Translators (WBT) and the Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL) from its founding in 1934 to 1982. WBT-SIL grew out of the distinctive vision of its founder, William Cameron Townsend (1896-1982), a former Central American Mission missionary. The extraordinarily inventive Townsend conceived of an approach to Christian mission that construed Bible translation as a linguistic and quasi-scientific enterprise, thereby permitting the non-sectarian SIL side of the organization to collaborate with anticlerical governments in Latin America, where it undertook pioneer Bible translation for indigenous peoples speaking as-yet unwritten languages. This unique government relations and scientific approach to missions was at many points in conflict with the prevailing missionary ethos of the organization’s North American evangelical constituency. Therefore the WBT side of the mission functioned as the religious arm of the enterprise for the purposes of publicity and recruiting. The dual organization drew sharp critique from nearly every quarter, ranging from North American evangelicals to Latin American Catholics to secular anthropologists. The controversial nature of the organization begs the question: Why did WBT-SIL become the largest faith mission of the twentieth century? This study seeks to answer this question by analysing the development WBT-SIL in both its foreign and domestic settings. The principal argument mounted in this thesis is that WBT-SIL met with success because its leaders and members followed Townsend’s lead in pragmatically adapting the organization to widely varying contexts both at home in North America and abroad as it sought to serve indigenous peoples through Bible translation, literacy and education. By striking a creative balance between maintaining the essentials of a traditional faith mission and imaginative breaking with convention when conditions necessitated a progressive approach, WBT-SIL became one of the largest and yet most unusual of twentieth-century evangelical missions

Vitamin Bullets. Microencapsulated Feeds to Fortify Shellfish and Tackle Human Nutrient Deficiencies

Over two billion people worldwide are micronutrient deficient, with regionally specific deficiencies. Fortification of food with micronutrients has become an industry standard for enhancing public health. Bivalve shellfish (e.g., oysters, clams, and mussels) provide the most sustainable source of animal protein on the planet, and the market is rapidly growing—with production in China increasing 1,000-fold since 1980 to an annual 36 kg capita−1 consumption level. Bivalves are also unique in that micronutrients consumed at their end-life stage will be digested by humans, as humans consume the entire organism including the gut. We have developed a novel microencapsulated vehicle for delivering micronutrients to bivalves, tailored for optimal size, shape, buoyancy, and palatability, demonstrating the potential of fortified bivalves to tackle human nutrient deficiencies. Oysters fed vitamin A and D microcapsules at a 3% initial dosage for just 8 h had elevated tissue vitamin content. A serving of just two such bivalves provides enough vitamin A and D to meet human dietary RDAs. Scale-up of this technology and application to other bivalve species including clams and mussels could provide a low-cost and highly sustainable mechanism to contribute toward tackling nutrient deficiencies globally

Clinical Implementation of DIGEST as an Evidence Based Practice Tool to Assess Pharyngeal Dysphagia Using Videoflouroscopy in Oncology: A Six-year Single Institution Implementation Evaluation

https://openworks.mdanderson.org/sumexp22/1004/thumbnail.jp

Creating a climate in which students can flourish: A whole school intercultural approach

This article reports part of an ongoing process that is taking place at one high school. With the vision of an inclusive school in which all students could flourish, the school deliberately set out to develop a culture in which the students would feel welcome, connected and have a sense of belonging. This article focuses on, first, how the school, with a culturally-diverse student population, implemented a whole school intercultural approach aimed at improving students’ views of the school climate and, second, the impact that this had on students’ perceptions of the school climate and their self-reports of wellbeing, resilience and identity. These results indicated that, at the end of the 18 month period, students’ perceptions of the school climate were statistically significantly higher for four of the six school climate scales. Further, students’ scored statistically higher in terms of their wellbeing, resilience, self-anchoring and moral identity

Observation and Modeling of Source Effects in Coda Wave Interferometry at Pavlof Volcano

We examine seismic records of repeating explosions from Pavlof volcano, Alaska, during its 2007 eruption. Repetitive explosions are typical of Strombolian-style eruptions and allow measurement of relative time shifts between similar late-arriving phases using the technique called coda wave interferometry (Snieder et al., 2002). The measurements enable the detection of small changes in the volcanic interior of Pavlof. We are able to resolve an increase in the relative traveltime change of late-arriving seismic waves on the order of 0.3% over the course of two weeks. Based on the spectra of the explosions, their location inside the magma conduit, previous studies of Pavlof volcano, and 3D seismic modeling, we argue the most likely scenario is one in which the velocity and/or the geometry of the conduit changes. This demonstrates the sensitivity of coda wave interferometry to source effects, in addition to path effects, at volcanoes

Protocol for the health economic evaluation of increasing the weekend specialist to patient ratio in hospitals in England

Introduction: This protocol concerns the evaluation of increased specialist staffing at weekends in hospitals in England. Seven-day health services are a key policy for the UK government and other health systems trying to improve use of infrastructure and resources. A particular motivation for the 7-day policy has been the observed increase in the risk of death associated with weekend admission, which has been attributed to fewer hospital specialists being available at weekends. However, the causes of the weekend effect have not been adequately characterised; many of the excess deaths associated with the ‘weekend effect’ may not be preventable, and the presumed benefits of improved specialist cover might be offset by the cost of implementation. Methods/design: The Bayesian-founded method we propose will consist of four major steps. First, the development of a qualitative causal model. Specialist presence can affect multiple, interacting causal processes. One or more models will be developed from the results of an expert elicitation workshop and probabilities elicited for each model and relevant model parameters. Second, systematic review of the literature. The model from the first step will provide search limits for a review to identify relevant studies. Third, a statistical model for the effects of specialist presence on care quality and patient outcomes. Fourth, valuation of outcomes. The expected net benefits of different levels of specialist intensity will then be evaluated with respect to the posterior distributions of the parameters

Synchrotron powder diffraction study of cements pastes

 Knowledge of the degree of hydration of cement pastes is critical for determining properties such as the durability of concrete. As part of an integrated study on the prediction of chloride ingress in reinforced concrete, synchrotron Xray powder diffraction was used to estimate the degree of hydration of cement pastes. While for the past 20 years the composition of Portland cement has been determined by Rietveld analysis of X-ray diffraction, nevertheless there are a number of factors, including the amorphous content of the cement and relative proportion of mineral polymorphs present in the initial clinker, whose impact on the analysis are still not completely understood. Analysis of the resulting diffraction patterns indicated enhanced identification of polymorphs of alite, belite, ferrite and aluminate, which are present in the initial unhydrated cement and clinker, as well as improved quantification of hydrated crystalline phases such as calcium hydroxide and ettringite, which are key phases determining the speed of the chemical reactions in cement. In this paper we describe the experience that we have gained in the determination of the degree of hydration of cement pastes. We detail the standards and precautions that we took to characterize production cements and their hydration products

Evaluation of Outcomes for Psychosis and Epilepsy Treatment Delivered by Primary Health Care Workers in Nepal: A Cohort Study.

Background: Most evaluations of task-shifting have focused on common mental disorders. Much less work has been done on severe mental neurological and substance use (MNS) disorders, such as chronic psychosis and epilepsy. Given the high burden associated with severe MNS and the lack of mental health professionals in low and middle income countries, evaluations on the impact of task-shifting for these disorders are important. Methods: In a rural district of Nepal, a community mental health program, based on World Health Organization\u27s Mental Health Gap Action Programme guidelines, was evaluated using a cohort study design. People with epilepsy and psychotic disorders were interviewed at treatment initiation and at 12-month follow-up. We also compared a group that was offered a comprehensive package of care (medication combined with psychosocial interventions, such as counselling and peer support groups) to a group that received medication only. Results: One-hundred nineteen persons were enrolled in the epilepsy cohort (EC) and 85 in the psychosis cohort (PC). The patients were enrolled in either the comprehensive package (n = 157) or medication only (n = 47). There was significant improvement (P \u3c 0.0001) in psychosis symptoms (PC: Z = 6.78, r = 0.80) and depressive symptoms (EC: Z = 7.43, r = 0.73; PC: Z = 6.02, r = 0.70), seizures (EC: Z = 6.78), functional disability (EC: Z = 6.38, r = 0.67; PC: Z = 4.60, r = 0.57), family and caregiver burden (EC: Z = 8.09, r = 0.85; PC: Z = 6.81, r = 0.84), and social behaviour (PC: Z = 5.94, r = 0.84). There was greater risk reduction for recent seizures among people with epilepsy in the comprehensive treatment package vs. medication only (risk ratio = 0.52, 95% CI 0.29-0.95; P = 0.03); no other significant differences were observed between treatment arms. Conclusions: A community mental health program in Nepal, implemented by non-specialists, resulted in moderate to large effects among people with epilepsy or psychosis. A comprehensive package of care, including counselling and patient support groups, appears to offer added clinical benefits for patients with epilepsy. For people with psychosis, the basic package of care (i.e., psychotropic medications) performed similar to the comprehensive package, suggesting a less resource-intensive package may offer comparable results