Ordinary christology: a qualitative study and theological appraisal

The aim of this study is to identify and critically to analyse the ordinary christologies of a group of thirty regular Anglican churchgoers. Ordinary christology, by the definition employed here, is the account, by believers who have received no formal theological education, of who Jesus was/is (christology) and what he did/does (soteriology). Data was gathered by means of in-depth interviews. Three main christologies are identified: these are designated as fuctional, ontological and sceptical christology. Functional christology considers Jesus to be the Son of God, not God and is effectively Arian; ontological christology holds the orthodox doctrine that Jesus is God; and sceptical christology doubts or denies altogether the divinity of Jesus. Three main soteriologies are also identified: these are named as exemplarist, traditionalist and evangelical soteriology. Exemplarist soteriology emphasises the life and death of Jesus as exemplary; traditionalist soteriology cannot articulate a theology of the cross at all; and evangelical soteriology hinges on substitutionary atonement and a personal relationship with Jesus. Functional christology and exemplarist soteriology dominate the sample. Difficulties with the 'traditional' theology of the cross, and the idea that God’s forgiveness is dependent on Jesus' atoning death, are widespread amongst the sample, indicating that new ways of telling the story of how Jesus saves are urgently required if Christianity is to capture again the imagination of our contemporary world. Various formal characteristics of ordinary christology are also brought to light. The ordinary Christology of this sample is story-shaped, avoids metaphysical speculation, highlights the affective dimension of christology, resists learning cliristological dogma and is primarily non-cognitive. It also shows that christology is at heart an on-going hermeneutical process rather than a doctrinal system, and it suggests that what matters most in christology is not right doctrine, but letting the story of Jesus have its way with us

Border Patrol, social media, and transnational messaging

Since the U.S. Border Patrol was established in 1924, agents have been an integral part of the community and have worked to educate the public on the Border Patrol mission and how they can support it. Outreach campaigns began with such programs as D.A.R.E., Red Ribbon Week, and No Mas Cruces. The campaigns were conducted via schools and traditional media such as radio, television, and print. In 2003, Border Patrol's Public Affairs Office was absorbed into the newly created Department of Homeland Security's Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agency. While Border Patrol conducts public affairs, the messaging is controlled by CBP. The prevalence of social media has provided an inexpensive, high-capacity way for Border Patrol to conduct community engagement. However, CBP retains the authority to approve social media use in an official capacity and only allows Border Patrol to use social media under the CBP umbrella. This thesis argues that Border Patrol should be allowed to use Border Patrol–specific social media accounts for community engagement and to educate the public on the Border Patrol mission. Furthermore, engagement should occur with Canadian and Mexican citizens in their native languages when possible and applicable.http://archive.org/details/borderpatrolsoci1094556888Patrol Agent in Charge, United States Border PatrolApproved for public release; distribution is unlimited

The School District Library Supervisor and the National School Library Standards

The article focuses on the role of district library supervisors under the 2018 National School Library Standards for Learners, School Librarians, and School Libraries. Topics covered include the importance of connecting with educators in supervisory roles, the Lilead Surveys to collect baseline data on supervisors, and the differences between the Surveys and the Standards

Investigating lupus retention in care to inform interventions for disparities reduction: an observational cohort study.

BACKGROUND:Systemic lupus erythematous (SLE) disproportionately impacts patients of color and socioeconomically disadvantaged patients. Similar disparities in HIV were reduced through a World Health Organization-endorsed Care Continuum strategy targeting "retention in care," defined as having at least two annual visits or viral load lab tests. Using similar definitions, this study aimed to examine predictors of lupus retention in care, to develop an SLE Care Continuum and inform interventions to reduce disparities. We hypothesized that Black patients and those residing in disadvantaged neighborhoods would have lower retention in care. METHODS:Abstractors manually validated 545 potential adult cases with SLE codes in 2013-2014 using 1997 American College of Rheumatology (ACR) or 2012 Systemic Lupus Erythematosus International Collaborating Clinics (SLICC) criteria. We identified 397 SLE patients who met ACR or SLICC criteria for definite lupus, had at least one baseline rheumatology visit, and were alive through 2015. Retention in care was defined as having two ambulatory rheumatology visits or SLE labs (e.g., complement tests) during the outcome year 2015, analogous to HIV retention definitions. Explanatory variables included age, sex, race, ethnicity, smoking status, neighborhood area deprivation index (ADI), number of SLE criteria, and nephritis. We used multivariable logistic regression to test our hypothesis and model predictors of SLE retention in care. RESULTS:Among 397 SLE patients, 91% were female, 56% White, 39% Black, and 5% Hispanic. Notably, 51% of Black versus 5% of White SLE patients resided in the most disadvantaged ADI neighborhood quartile. Overall, 60% met visit-defined retention and 27% met complement lab-defined retention in 2015. Retention was 59% lower for patients in the most disadvantaged neighborhood quartile (adjusted OR 0.41, CI 0.18, 0.93). No statistical difference was seen based on age, sex, race, or ethnicity. More SLE criteria and non-smoking predicted greater retention. CONCLUSIONS:Disadvantaged neighborhood residence was the strongest factor predicting poor SLE retention in care. Future interventions could geo-target disadvantaged neighborhoods and design retention programs with vulnerable populations to improve retention in care and reduce SLE outcome disparities

Quantifying Cognitive Decrements Caused by Cranial Radiotherapy

With the exception of survival, cognitive impairment stemming from the clinical management of cancer is a major factor dictating therapeutic outcome. For many patients afflicted with CNS and non-CNS malignancies, radiotherapy and chemotherapy offer the best options for disease control. These treatments however come at a cost, and nearly all cancer survivors (~11 million in the US alone as of 2006) incur some risk for developing cognitive dysfunction, with the most severe cases found in patients subjected to cranial radiotherapy (~200,000/yr) for the control of primary and metastatic brain tumors1. Particularly problematic are pediatric cases, whose long-term survival plagued with marked cognitive decrements results in significant socioeconomic burdens2. To date, there are still no satisfactory solutions to this significant clinical problem

Language, learning and electronic communications media

Guest editorial - article outline 1. Why is language significant? 2. Research settings 2.1. School age students: (i) text-based conferencing (ii) multimodal writing 2.2. University students: (i) text-based conferencing (ii) web-based literacy support 2.3. Informal adult learning: web-based reading 3. Methodologies for exploring language and learnin

Lack of Pathology in a Triple Transgenic Mouse Model of Alzheimer’s Disease after Overexpression of the Anti-Apoptotic Protein Bcl-2

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is characterized by the accumulation of plaques containing ß-amyloid (Aß) and neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs) consisting of modified tau. Although Aß deposition is thought to precede the formation of NFTs in AD, the molecular steps connecting these two pathologies is not known. Previous studies have suggested that caspase activation plays an important role in promoting the pathology associated with AD. To further understand the contribution of caspases in disease progression, a triple transgenic Alzheimer’s mouse model overexpressing the anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-2 was generated. Here we show that overexpression of Bcl-2 limited caspase-9 activation and reduced the caspase cleavage of tau. Moreover, overexpression of Bcl-2 attenuated the processing of APP (amyloid precursor protein) and tau and reduced the number of NFTs and extracellular deposits of Aß associated with these animals. In addition, overexpression of Bcl-2 in 3xTg-AD mice improved place recognition memory. These findings suggest that the activation of apoptotic pathways maybe an early event in AD and contributes to the pathological processes that promote the disease mechanisms underlying AD

Genetic background influences tumour development in heterozygous Men1 knockout mice

Multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 (MEN1), an autosomal dominant disorder caused by MEN1 germline mutations, is characterised by parathyroid, pancreatic and pituitary tumours. MEN1 mutations also cause familial isolated primary hyperparathyroidism (FIHP), a milder condition causing hyperparathyroidism only. Identical mutations can cause either MEN1 or FIHP in different families, thereby implicating a role for genetic modifiers in altering phenotypic expression of tumours. We therefore investigated the effects of genetic background and potential for genetic modifiers on tumour development in adult Men1+/- mice, which develop tumours of the parathyroids, pancreatic islets, anterior pituitary, adrenal cortex and gonads, that had been backcrossed to generate C57BL/6 and 129S6/SvEv congenic strains. A total of 275 Men1+/- mice, aged 5–26 months were macroscopically studied, and this revealed that genetic background significantly influenced the development of pituitary, adrenal and ovarian tumours, which occurred in mice over 12 months of age and more frequently in C57BL/6 females, 129S6/SvEv males and 129S6/SvEv females, respectively. Moreover, pituitary and adrenal tumours developed earlier, in C57BL/6 males and 129S6/SvEv females, respectively, and pancreatic and testicular tumours developed earlier in 129S6/SvEv males. Furthermore, glucagon-positive staining pancreatic tumours occurred more frequently in 129S6/SvEv Men1+/- mice. Whole genome sequence analysis of 129S6/SvEv and C57BL/6 Men1+/- mice revealed >54,000 different variants in >300 genes. These included, Coq7, Dmpk, Ccne2, Kras, Wnt2b, Il3ra and Tnfrsf10a, and qRT-PCR analysis revealed that Kras was significantly higher in pituitaries of male 129S6/SvEv mice. Thus, our results demonstrate that Kras and other genes could represent possible genetic modifiers of Men1