School Chaplaincy is Effective But Could it Be Better?

Analysis of the data collected in the Valuegenesis II study of 3263 students in Seventh-day Adventist schools, indicates that 63% consider the school chaplain has influenced their development of faith. Further, school chaplaincy is associated with statistically significant positive differences in the levels of Faith Maturity, Christian Commitment, Intrinsic Orientation to Religion, Positive Views of God, Denominational Loyalty and Social Responsibility, being a medium to large effect impacting students lives. The potential of reflective practice to improve the outcomes of chaplaincy in the current context of low levels of job satisfaction and chaplaincy retention is considered

APROVECHAMIENTO DE PELOS DE VACUNO DEL PROCESO DE PELAMBRE ENZIMÁTICO DE LAS CURTIEMBRES EN LA REMOCIÓN DE PLOMO

In this study, waste hairs of the enzymatic unhairing process (PPE) of tannery were used as adsorbents to remove lead of a solution. Waste hairs were treated with acid hydrolysis and used in the type batch adsorption experiments, to be examined the effect of pH on the adsorption and also to investigate the mechanism of adsorption for which studies adsorption isotherms and the adsorption kinetics of Pb (II) were performed on treated hairs. The results showed that adsorption of Pb (II) was pH dependent with the optimum pH of 7. Isotherm studies showed that experimental data match the pattern of the Langmuir isotherm for the case of treated hairs of the enzymatic unhairing process (PTPE). The maximum adsorption capacity was 321.20 mg Pb (II)/g of bioadsobent (PTPE). The kinetic studies showed that the reaction model of pseudo-second order best describes the adsorption process. Finally, the study showed that residues of hairs of the enzymatic unhairing process can be used as effective adsorbents for the removal of lead (II).En este estudio, los residuos de pelos del proceso de pelambre enzimático (PPE) de una curtiembre fueron utilizados como adsorbentes para la remoción de plomo de una solución. Los residuos de pelos fueron tratados con hidrólisis ácida y utilizados en experimentos de adsorción tipo Batch en los cuales se evaluó el efecto del pH en la adsorción así como también el mecanismo de adsorción para lo cual se realizaron los estudios de las isotermas de adsorción y la cinética de adsorción de Pb (II) sobre los pelos tratados. Los resultados obtenidos mostraron que la adsorción de Pb (II) fue dependiente del pH siendo el pH óptimo de 7. Los estudios de la isoterma mostraron que los datos experimentales se ajustan con el modelo de la isoterma de Langmuir para los pelos tratados del proceso de pelambre enzimático (PTPE). La capacidad máxima de adsorción fue de 321,0 mg de Pb (II)/g de bioadsorbente (PTPE). Los estudios de cinética mostraron que el modelo de reacción de pseudo-segundo orden describe mejor el proceso de adsorción. Por último, el estudio mostró que los residuos de pelos del proceso de pelambre enzimático pueden ser utilizados como adsorbentes eficientes para la remoción de plomo (II)

Establishment of a standard operating procedure for predicting the time of calving in cattle

Precise calving monitoring is essential for minimizing the effects of dystocia in cows and calves. We conducted two studies in healthy cows that compared seven clinical signs (broad pelvic ligaments relaxation, vaginal secretion, udder hyperplasia, udder edema, teat filling, tail relaxation, and vulva edema) alone and in combination in order to predict the time of parturition. The relaxation of the broad pelvic ligaments combined with teat filling gave the best values for predicting either calving or no calving within 12 h. For the proposed parturition score (PS), a threshold of 4 PS points was identified below which calving within the next 12 h could be ruled out with a probability of 99.3% in cows (95.5% in heifers). Above this threshold, intermitted calving monitoring every 3 h and a progesterone rapid blood test (PRBT) would be recommended. By combining the PS and PRBT (if PS ≥ 4), the prediction of calving within the next 12 h improved from 14.9% to 53.1%, and the probability of ruling out calving was 96.8%. The PRBT was compared to the results of an enzyme immunoassay (sensitivity, 90.2%; specificity, 74.9%). The standard operating procedure developed in this study that combines the PS and PRBT will enable veterinarians to rule out or predict calving within a 12 h period in cows with high accuracy under field conditions

A diamond nanophotonic interface with an optically accessible deterministic electronuclear spin register

A contemporary challenge for the scalability of quantum networks is developing quantum nodes with simultaneous high photonic efficiency and long-lived qubits. Here, we present a fibre-packaged nanophotonic diamond waveguide hosting a tin-vacancy centre with a spin-1/2 $^{117}$Sn nucleus. The interaction between the electronic and nuclear spins results in a signature 452(7) MHz hyperfine splitting. This exceeds the natural optical linewidth by a factor of 16, enabling direct optical nuclear-spin initialisation with 98.6(3)% fidelity and single-shot readout with 80(1)% fidelity. The waveguide-to-fibre extraction efficiency of our device of 57(6)% enables the practical detection of 5-photon events. Combining the photonic performance with the optically initialised nuclear spin, we demonstrate a spin-gated single-photon nonlinearity with 11(1)% contrast in the absence of an external magnetic field. These capabilities position our nanophotonic interface as a versatile quantum node in the pursuit of scalable quantum networks

Hyperfine Spectroscopy of Isotopically Engineered Group-IV Color Centers in Diamond

A quantum register coupled to a spin-photon interface is a key component in quantum communication and information processing. Group-IV color centers in diamond (SiV, GeV, and SnV) are promising candidates for this application, comprising an electronic spin with optical transitions coupled to a nuclear spin as the quantum register. However, the creation of a quantum register for these color centers with deterministic and strong coupling to the spin-photon interface remains challenging. Here, we make first-principles predictions of the hyperfine parameters of the group-IV color centers, which we verify experimentally with a comprehensive comparison between the spectra of spin active and spin neutral intrinsic dopant nuclei in single GeV and SnV emitters. In line with the theoretical predictions, detailed spectroscopy on large sample sizes reveals that hyperfine coupling causes a splitting of the optical transition of SnV an order of magnitude larger than the optical linewidth and provides a magnetic-field insensitive transition. This strong coupling provides access to a new regime for quantum registers in diamond color centers, opening avenues for novel spin-photon entanglement and quantum sensing schemes for these well-studied emitters

Microwave-based quantum control and coherence protection of tin-vacancy spin qubits in a strain-tuned diamond membrane heterostructure

Robust spin-photon interfaces in solids are essential components in quantum networking and sensing technologies. Ideally, these interfaces combine a long-lived spin memory, coherent optical transitions, fast and high-fidelity spin manipulation, and straightforward device integration and scaling. The tin-vacancy center (SnV) in diamond is a promising spin-photon interface with desirable optical and spin properties at 1.7 K. However, the SnV spin lacks efficient microwave control and its spin coherence degrades with higher temperature. In this work, we introduce a new platform that overcomes these challenges - SnV centers in uniformly strained thin diamond membranes. The controlled generation of crystal strain introduces orbital mixing that allows microwave control of the spin state with 99.36(9) % gate fidelity and spin coherence protection beyond a millisecond. Moreover, the presence of crystal strain suppresses temperature dependent dephasing processes, leading to a considerable improvement of the coherence time up to 223(10) ${\mu}$s at 4 K, a widely accessible temperature in common cryogenic systems. Critically, the coherence of optical transitions is unaffected by the elevated temperature, exhibiting nearly lifetime-limited optical linewidths. Combined with the compatibility of diamond membranes with device integration, the demonstrated platform is an ideal spin-photon interface for future quantum technologies

Hundreds of variants clustered in genomic loci and biological pathways affect human height

Most common human traits and diseases have a polygenic pattern of inheritance: DNA sequence variants at many genetic loci influence the phenotype. Genome-wide association (GWA) studies have identified more than 600 variants associated with human traits, but these typically explain small fractions of phenotypic variation, raising questions about the use of further studies. Here, using 183,727 individuals, we show that hundreds of genetic variants, in at least 180 loci, influence adult height, a highly heritable and classic polygenic trait. The large number of loci reveals patterns with important implications for genetic studies of common human diseases and traits. First, the 180 loci are not random, but instead are enriched for genes that are connected in biological pathways (P = 0.016) and that underlie skeletal growth defects (P < 0.001). Second, the likely causal gene is often located near the most strongly associated variant: in 13 of 21 loci containing a known skeletal growth gene, that gene was closest to the associated variant. Third, at least 19 loci have multiple independently associated variants, suggesting that allelic heterogeneity is a frequent feature of polygenic traits, that comprehensive explorations of already-discovered loci should discover additional variants and that an appreciable fraction of associated loci may have been identified. Fourth, associated variants are enriched for likely functional effects on genes, being over-represented among variants that alter amino-acid structure of proteins and expression levels of nearby genes. Our data explain approximately 10% of the phenotypic variation in height, and we estimate that unidentified common variants of similar effect sizes would increase this figure to approximately 16% of phenotypic variation (approximately 20% of heritable variation). Although additional approaches are needed to dissect the genetic architecture of polygenic human traits fully, our findings indicate that GWA studies can identify large numbers of loci that implicate biologically relevant genes and pathways.

EDS1 complexes are not required for PRR responses and execute TNL‐ETI from the nucleus in Nicotiana benthamiana

Heterodimeric complexes incorporating the lipase-like proteins EDS1 with PAD4 or SAG101 are central hubs in plant innate immunity. EDS1 functions encompass signal relay from TIR domain-containing intracellular NLR-type immune receptors (TNLs) towards RPW8-type helper NLRs (RNLs) and, in Arabidopsis thaliana, bolstering of signaling and resistance mediated by cell-surface pattern recognition receptors (PRRs). Increasing evidence points to the activation of EDS1 complexes by small molecule binding. We used CRISPR/Cas-generated mutant lines and agroinfiltration-based complementation assays to interrogate functions of EDS1 complexes in Nicotiana benthamiana. We did not detect impaired PRR signaling in N. benthamiana lines deficient in EDS1 complexes or RNLs. Intriguingly, in assays monitoring functions of SlEDS1-NbEDS1 complexes in N. benthamiana, mutations within the SlEDS1 catalytic triad could abolish or enhance TNL immunity. Furthermore, nuclear EDS1 accumulation was sufficient for N. benthamiana TNL (Roq1) immunity. Reinforcing PRR signaling in Arabidopsis might be a derived function of the TNL/EDS1 immune sector. Although Solanaceae EDS1 functionally depends on catalytic triad residues in some contexts, our data do not support binding of a TNL-derived small molecule in the triad environment. Whether and how nuclear EDS1 activity connects to membrane pore-forming RNLs remains unknown