Integration of Faith and Learning in Christian School Art Education

A Christian philosophy of art education begins with an understanding that God is sovereign and that his word is infallible truth. It is not always is the case that Christian school art educators have dedicated themselves to the integration of faith and learning in the art curriculum. In the art classroom the educator should promote scriptural truths, the work and importance of the Holy Spirit in the art process, and the exciting calling that God has for the Christian artist. By teaching these fundamentals to students, the classroom atmosphere will be more conducive to productive learning and response by students, and should do so in a manner that is real and practical for students’ lives. This paper will examine why the art curriculum in the Christian school should not only be based on a sound biblical philosophy, but why this philosophy needs to be “fleshed out” in practice in order to make clear and relevant a Christian perspective in students’ lives. Research in integration of faith and learning, art education as a process, and assessment in art education will be summarized along with suggestions for integration of a biblical perspective into the Christian School art classroom

Coping Strategies and Behavioral Changes Following a Genital Herpes Diagnosis Among an Urban Sample of Underserved Midwestern Women

This study focused on understanding the coping strategies and related behavioural changes of women who were recently diagnosed with herpes simplex virus type 2. In particular, we were interested in how coping strategies, condom use, and acyclovir uptake evolve over time. Twenty-eight women screening positive for herpes simplex virus type 2 were recruited through a public health STD clinic and the Indianapolis Community Court. Participants completed three semi-structured interviews with a woman researcher over a six-month period. The interviews focused on coping strategies for dealing with a diagnosis, frequency of condom use, suppressive and episodic acyclovir use, and the utilisation of herpes simplex virus type 2 support groups. Interview data were analysed using content analysis to identify and interpret concepts and themes that emerged from the interviews. Women employed a variety of coping strategies following an herpes simplex virus type 2 diagnosis. Of the women, 32% reported an increase in religious activities, 20% of women reported an increase in substance use, and 56% of women reported engaging in other coping activities. A total of 80% of women reported abstaining from sex immediately following the diagnosis, but 76% of women reported engaging in sex again by the six-month interview. Condom and medication use did not increase and herpes simplex virus type 2 support groups were not utilised by participants. All participants reported engaging in at least one coping mechanism after receiving their diagnosis. A positive diagnosis did not seem to result in increased use of condoms for the majority of participants and the use of acyclovir was low overall

Economic Analyses of Respiratory Tract Infection Diagnostics:A Systematic Review

BACKGROUND: Diagnostic testing for respiratory tract infections is a tool to manage the current COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the rising incidence of antimicrobial resistance. At the same time, new European regulations for market entry of in vitro diagnostics, in the form of the in vitro diagnostic regulation, may lead to more clinical evidence supporting health-economic analyses. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this systematic review was to review the methods used in economic evaluations of applied diagnostic techniques, for all patients seeking care for infectious diseases of the respiratory tract (such as pneumonia, pulmonary tuberculosis, influenza, sinusitis, pharyngitis, sore throats and general respiratory tract infections). METHODS: Following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines, articles from three large databases of scientific literature were included (Scopus, Web of Science and PubMed) for the period January 2000 to May 2020. RESULTS: A total of 70 economic analyses are included, most of which use decision tree modelling for diagnostic testing for respiratory tract infections in the community-care setting. Many studies do not incorporate a generally comparable clinical outcome in their cost-effectiveness analysis: fewer than half the studies (33/70) used generalisable outcomes such as quality-adjusted life-years. Other papers consider outcomes related to the accuracy of the test or outcomes related to the prescribed treatment. The time horizons of the studies generally are limited. CONCLUSIONS: The methods to economically assess diagnostic tests for respiratory tract infections vary and would benefit from clear recommendations from policy makers on the assessed time horizon and outcomes used. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40273-021-01054-1

Health-economic modelling of infectious disease diagnostics: current approaches and future opportunities

Objectives: Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a public health threat; infections with resistant organisms are estimated to cause over 650.000 infections and over 30.000 deaths in Europe. AMR is associated with antibiotic consumption: appropriate prescribing of antibiotics is key in combating AMR. To fight this threat, it has been suggested that point-of-care diagnostics to inform antibiotics prescribing are an important tool in reducing antibiotics prescriptions. With the objective of knowing the state of the art, we reviewed diagnostic cost-effectiveness analyses (CEAs) for infectious disease, focussing on model types, effects on prescriptions and AMR.  Methods: We searched the literature comprehensively through the PUBMED, Web of Science and EMBASE databases, as well as grey literature for the period 2000-2018. We included economic evaluations for diagnostic strategies for infectious disease in all geographic areas. Data extraction was based on the Consolidated Health Economic Evaluation Reporting Standards statement, with an additional focus on the modelling type and inclusion of AMR.Results: In general, CEAs of diagnostics for infectious disease fall in two categories: trial-based cost-effectiveness, focusing on short-term outcomes, and long-term models, focusing on outcomes extrapolated beyond the trial. Outcomes measured are for example prescriptions saved or hospitalizations saved. Cost-utility analyses seem to be difficult, as QALY differences between various diagnostic strategies are minor. Antimicrobial resistance is considered indirectly: as an ICER with prescriptions saved as an outcome; by calculating the threshold cost of resistance that would change the conclusion of cost-effectiveness; or as a point estimate; often, it is not considered at all.Conclusions: CEAs of diagnostic strategies for infectious disease are relatively scarce and it can be challenging to prove the cost-effectiveness of diagnostic strategies, especially in the context of relatively inexpensive treatments, such as antibiotics. However, there is an important opportunity of including the societal costs of AMR in future CEAs.<br/

The exact evaluation of the corner-to-corner resistance of an M x N resistor network: Asymptotic expansion

We study the corner-to-corner resistance of an M x N resistor network with resistors r and s in the two spatial directions, and obtain an asymptotic expansion of its exact expression for large M and N. For M = N, r = s =1, our result is R_{NxN} = (4/pi) log N + 0.077318 + 0.266070/N^2 - 0.534779/N^4 + O(1/N^6).Comment: 12 pages, re-arranged section

GANGs: Generative Adversarial Network Games

Generative Adversarial Networks (GAN) have become one of the most successful frameworks for unsupervised generative modeling. As GANs are difficult to train much research has focused on this. However, very little of this research has directly exploited game-theoretic techniques. We introduce Generative Adversarial Network Games (GANGs), which explicitly model a finite zero-sum game between a generator ($G$) and classifier ($C$) that use mixed strategies. The size of these games precludes exact solution methods, therefore we define resource-bounded best responses (RBBRs), and a resource-bounded Nash Equilibrium (RB-NE) as a pair of mixed strategies such that neither $G$ or $C$ can find a better RBBR. The RB-NE solution concept is richer than the notion of `local Nash equilibria' in that it captures not only failures of escaping local optima of gradient descent, but applies to any approximate best response computations, including methods with random restarts. To validate our approach, we solve GANGs with the Parallel Nash Memory algorithm, which provably monotonically converges to an RB-NE. We compare our results to standard GAN setups, and demonstrate that our method deals well with typical GAN problems such as mode collapse, partial mode coverage and forgetting

Having Fun in Learning Formal Specifications

There are many benefits in providing formal specifications for our software. However, teaching students to do this is not always easy as courses on formal methods are often experienced as dry by students. This paper presents a game called FormalZ that teachers can use to introduce some variation in their class. Students can have some fun in playing the game and, while doing so, also learn the basics of writing formal specifications in the form of pre- and post-conditions. Unlike existing software engineering themed education games such as Pex and Code Defenders, FormalZ takes the deep gamification approach where playing gets a more central role in order to generate more engagement. This short paper presents our work in progress: the first implementation of FormalZ along with the result of a preliminary users' evaluation. This implementation is functionally complete and tested, but the polishing of its user interface is still future work

Flavonoids Influence Monocytic GTPase Activity and Are Protective in Experimental Allergic Encephalitis

In the chronic disabling disease multiple sclerosis (MS), migration of monocytes across the blood-brain barrier is a crucial step in the formation of new lesions in the central nervous system (CNS). Infiltrating monocyte-derived macrophages secrete inflammatory mediators such as oxygen radicals, which contribute to axonal demyelination and damage, resulting in neurological deficits. Flavonoids are compounds occurring naturally in food, which scavenge oxygen radicals and have antiinflammatory properties. To investigate whether they might suppress clinical symptoms in MS, we treated rats sensitized for acute and chronic experimental allergic encephalomyelitis, an experimental model of MS, with flavonoids. We demonstrated that the flavonoid luteolin substantially suppressed clinical symptoms and prevented relapse when administered either before or after disease onset. Luteolin treatment resulted in reduced inflammation and axonal damage in the CNS by preventing monocyte migration across the brain endothelium. Luteolin influenced migration by modulating the activity of Rho GTPases, signal transducers involved in transendothelial migration. Oral administration of luteolin also significantly reduced clinical symptoms