bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Contribution of the Clp Protease to Bacterial Survival and Mitochondrial Homoeostasis
Authors: Illigmann Astrid , Thoma Yvonne , Pan Stefan , Reinhardt Laura , Brötz-Oesterhelt Heike
Published: August 2021

Fast adaptation to environmental changes ensures bacterial survival, and proteolysis represents a key cellular process in adaptation. The Clp protease system is a multi-component machinery responsible for protein homoeostasis, protein quality control, and targeted proteolysis of transcriptional regulators in prokaryotic cells and prokaryote-derived organelles of eukaryotic cells. A functional Clp protease complex consists of the tetradecameric proteolytic core ClpP and a hexameric ATP-consuming Clp-ATPase, several of which can associate with the same proteolytic core. Clp-ATPases confer substrate specificity by recognising specific degradation tags, and further selectivity is conferred by adaptor proteins, together allowing for a fine-tuned degradation process embedded in elaborate regulatory networks. This review focuses on the contribution of the Clp protease system to prokaryotic survival and summarises the current state of knowledge for exemplary bacteria in an increasing degree of interaction with eukaryotic cells. Starting from free-living bacteria as exemplified by a non-pathogenic and a pathogenic member of the Firmicutes, i.e., Bacillus subtilis and Staphylococcus aureus, respectively, we turn our attention to facultative and obligate intracellular bacterial pathogens, i.e., Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Listeria monocytogenes, and Chlamydia trachomatis, and conclude with mitochondria. Under stress conditions, the Clp protease system exerts its pivotal role in the degradation of damaged proteins and controls the timing and extent of the heat-shock response by regulatory proteolysis. Key regulators of developmental programmes like natural competence, motility, and sporulation are also under Clp proteolytic control. In many pathogenic species, the Clp system is required for the expression of virulence factors and essential for colonising the host. In accordance with its evolutionary origin, the human mitochondrial Clp protease strongly resembles its bacterial counterparts, taking a central role in protein quality control and homoeostasis, energy metabolism, and apoptosis in eukaryotic cells, and several cancer cell types depend on it for proliferation.
The Prognosis of Radical Prostatectomy, External Beam Radiotherapy plus Brachytherapy, and External Beam Radiotherapy Alone for Patients above 70 Years with Very High-Risk Prostate Cancer: A Population-Matched Study
Authors: Song Pan , Shu Mengxuan , Yang Luchen , Di Xiaoyu , Liu Peiwen , Liu Zhenghuan , Zhou Jing , Dong Qiang
Published: August 2021

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the survival outcomes of radical prostatectomy (RP), external beam radiotherapy plus brachytherapy (EBRT + BT), and EBRT alone among elderly men (aged 70 years and above) with very high-risk (VHR) prostate cancer (PCa). Methods: We identified elderly men diagnosed with VHR PCa between 2004 and 2015 in the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database. The propensity score-matching method was adopted to balance the covariates and generate new cohorts. ­Kaplan-Meier and Cox analyses were conducted to build up survival curves and evaluate the overall survival (OS) and PCa-specific survival (PCSS) outcomes. Results: A total of 9,818 patients were identified. Of them, 5,839 were in the EBRT group, 725 in the EBRT + BT group, and 3,254 in the RP group. The survival curves of the overall cohort showed that RP was associated with the best OS, followed by EBRT + BT and EBRT (p < 0.001). As for the PCSS, RP shared similar outcomes with EBRT + BT (hazard ratio [HR]: 1.25 [0.93–1.69], p = 0.175). EBRT was associated with significantly worse PCSS than both RP (HR: 1.88, 95% confidence interval [95% CI] [1.64–2.15], p < 0.001) and EBRT + BT (HR: 1.48, 95% CI [1.19–1.85], p = 0.002). In the matched cohorts, RP presented better OS (HR: 1.41, 95% CI [1.07–1.86], p = 0.041) and similar PCSS with EBRT + BT (HR: 1.50, 95% CI [0.91–2.47], p = 0.12). RP was associated with significantly better OS and PCSS outcomes than EBRT alone (OS HR: 1.58, 95% CI [1.59–2.12], p < 0.001; PCSS HR: 2.08 [1.60–2.72], p < 0.001). EBRT + BT also had significantly better OS and PCSS outcomes than EBRT alone (OS HR: 1.33, 95% CI [1.11–1.60], p < 0.001; PCSS HR: 1.57 [1.13–2.19], p = 0.003). Conclusions: For patients above 70 years with VHR PCa, RP was associated with better OS and similar PCSS than EBRT + BT. Both RP and EBRT + BT have better OS and PCSS than EBRT alone.
Inner Ear Symptoms Are Prevalent in Patients with High Head Abbreviated Injury Scale Scores after Blunt Head Trauma
Authors: Choi Ji Eun , Chang Ye Rim , Mun In-Kwon , Jung Jae Yun , Lee Min Young , Yun Jung-Ho
Published: August 2021

Introduction: The purpose of this article was to determine the prevalence of inner ear symptoms in patients with blunt head trauma and to explore whether the severity of head trauma was associated with the incidence of such symptoms. Methods: We performed a retrospective review of 56 patients admitted with blunt head trauma who underwent audiovestibular evaluation within 1 month after injury. Two scales were used to measure the severity of trauma; these were the Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) and the Head Abbreviated Injury Scale (H-AIS). Patients with sensorineural-type hearing loss, or dizziness with nystagmus, were considered to have inner ear symptoms. Results: About half of all patients (45%) with blunt head trauma showed trauma-related inner ear symptoms. Patients with inner ear symptoms were significantly more likely to have H-AIS scores ≥4 than those without inner ear symptoms (p = 0.004), even without concomitant temporal bone fracture (p > 0.05). Also, patients with inner ear symptoms required a statistically significantly longer time (measured from admission) before undergoing their ontological evaluations than did those without such symptoms (p = 0.002), possibly due to prolonged bed rest and use of sedatives. Conclusion: Thus, detailed history-taking and early evaluation using trauma scales are essential for all patients suffering from severe head trauma. It may be necessary to initiate early treatment of traumatic inner ear diseases.
Outcomes of Remote Patient Monitoring for Automated Peritoneal Dialysis: A Randomized Controlled Trial
Authors: Jung Hee-Yeon , Jeon Yena , Kim Yon Su , Kim Dong Ki , Lee Jung Pyo , Yang Chul Woo , Ko Eun Jeong , Ryu Dong-Ryeol , Kang Shin-Wook , Park Jung Tak , Lim Jeong-Hoon , Choi Ji-Young , Cho Jang-Hee , Kim Chan-Duck , Kim Yong-Lim , Park Sun-Hee
Published: August 2021

Introduction: We hypothesize that remote patient monitoring (RPM) for automated peritoneal dialysis (APD) and feedback could enhance patient self-management and improve outcomes. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of RPM-APD compared to traditional APD (T-APD) without RPM. Methods: In this multicenter, randomized controlled trial, patients on APD were randomized to T-APD (n = 29) or RPM-APD (n = 28) at 12 weeks and followed until 25 weeks. Health-related quality of life (HRQOL), patient and medical staff satisfaction with RPM-APD, and dialysis-related outcomes were compared between the 2 groups. Results: We found no significant differences in HRQOL scores at the time of enrollment and randomization between RPM-APD and T-APD. At the end of the study, the RPM-APD group showed better HRQOL for the sleep domain (p = 0.049) than the T-APD group and the T-APD group showed better HRQOL for the sexual function domain (p = 0.030) than the RPM-APD group. However, we found no significant interactions between the time and groups in terms of HRQOL. Different HRQOL domains significantly improved over time in patients undergoing RPM-APD (effects of kidney disease, p = 0.025) and T-APD (burden of kidney disease, p = 0.029; physical component summary, p = 0.048). Though medical staff satisfaction with RPM-APD was neutral, most patients were quite satisfied with RPM-APD (median score 82; possible total score 105 on 21 5-item scales) and the rating scores were maintained during the study period. We found no significant differences in dialysis adherence, accuracy, adequacy, overhydration status, blood pressure, or the number of unplanned visits between the 2 groups. Discussion/Conclusion: Although HRQOL and dialysis-related outcomes were comparable between RPM-APD and T-APD, RPM-APD was positive in terms of patient satisfaction. Further long-term and large-scale studies will be required to determine the efficacy of RPM-APD. Trial Registration: CRIS identifier: KCT0003390, registered on December 14, 2018 – retrospectively registered, https://cris.nih.go.kr/cris/search/search_result_st01.jsp?seq=12348.
Uveal Melanoma and Paraneoplastic Perivascular Dermal Melanocytic Proliferation in the Setting of Bilateral Diffuse Uveal Melanocytic Proliferation: The Potential Role of the Hepatocyte Growth Factor/c-Met Axis in Their Pathogenesis
Authors: Mudhar Hardeep Singh , Bata Bashar M. , Quhill Hibba , Milman Tatyana , Salvi Sachin M.
Published: August 2021

Two patients, with non-small cell lung carcinoma treated with pembrolizumab, developed bilateral diffuse uveal melanocytic proliferation (BDUMP) with interesting histopathological features. The first patient developed a right ciliary body mass concurrently with BDUMP. The globe was enucleated. The ciliary body mass was a mitotically active epithelioid uveal melanoma, invading the trabecular meshwork and peripheral corneal stroma, with over 90% of the cells expressing Cyclin D1 protein. The melanoma showed no chromosome 3 or 8 changes. The background uvea showed diffuse, bland spindle cell melanocytic proliferation with much lower Cyclin D1 expression (around 10%). In the choroid, this population was punctuated by islands of pigmented epithelioid cells, some of which were necrotic. All these islands expressed a high level of Cyclin D1, and some islands expressed nuclear preferentially expressed antigen in melanoma (PRAME). The ciliary body mass, epithelioid cell islands, and the BDUMP all expressed c-Met (the receptor for hepatocyte growth factor [HGF]). The features were those of ciliary body melanoma and choroidal melanoma “tumorlets,” developing on a background of BDUMP. The second patient developed bilateral periocular skin pigmentation following a diagnosis of BDUMP, which when biopsied, showed dermal islands of paraneoplastic perivascular melanocytic cell proliferation. These cells also expressed c-Met protein. These observations implicate the HGF/c-Met axis in the pathogenesis of BDUMP, the uveal melanomas in the ciliary body and choroid in the first patient and the paraneoplastic dermal melanocytic proliferation in the second patient.
Normal Mid-Gestation Fetal Ultrasonography Cannot Reliably Exclude Severe Perinatal Hypophosphatasia
Authors: Chinoy Amish , Iruloh Chibuike , Kerr Bronwyn , Mughal M. Zulf , Padidela Raja
Published: August 2021

Introduction: Hypophosphatasia is a systemic bone disease characterized by inhibition of bone mineralization due to mutations in the ALPL gene that results in a deficiency of tissue nonspecific alkaline phosphatase. The perinatal form is the most severe. In the past, this form was lethal, although human recombinant enzyme replacement therapy has now been developed and licensed, which improves survival. Perinatal hypophosphatasia is usually suggested on antenatal ultrasonography with undermineralization of the long bones, skull, and thoracic cavity. In the UK, antenatal ultrasonography for fetal anomalies is conducted at mid-gestation (i.e., 18–21 weeks gestational age), and if normal, no further routine scans are performed. Usually, this would identify abnormalities in bone mineralization suggestive of perinatal hypophosphatasia. Cases: We describe 2 cases of perinatal hypophosphatasia where mid-gestation ultrasonography was normal. In the first case, where a previous pregnancy had been terminated for perinatal hypophosphatasia, third trimester ultrasonography revealed skeletal features of hypophosphatasia. In the second case, the diagnosis of perinatal hypophosphatasia was made only immediately after birth. Conclusion: We conclude that serial antenatal ultrasonography or antenatal genetic testing should be considered in all pregnancies with a positive family history of hypophosphatasia, as mid-gestation ultrasonography cannot reliably exclude perinatal hypophosphatasia. This is especially important given that effective enzyme replacement therapy is now available.
Imaging the Hypothalamo-Neurohypophysial System
Authors: Bárez-López Soledad , Scanlon Liam , Murphy David , Greenwood Michael Paul
Published: August 2021

The hypothalamo-neurohypophysial system (HNS) is a brain peptidergic neurosecretory apparatus which is composed of arginine vasopressin (AVP) and oxytocin (OXT) magnocellular neurones and their neuronal processes in the posterior pituitary (PP). In response to specific stimuli, AVP and OXT are secreted into the systemic circulation at the neurovascular interface of the PP, where they act as hormones, but they can also behave as neurotransmitters when released at the somatodendritic compartment or by axon collaterals to other brain regions. Because these peptides are crucial for several physiological processes, including fluid homoeostasis and reproduction, it is of great importance to map the HNS connectome in its entirety in order to understand its functions. In recent years, advances in imaging technologies have provided considerable new information about the HNS. These approaches include the use of reporter proteins under the control of specific promoters, viral tracers, brain-clearing methods, genetically encoded indicators, sniffer cells, mass spectrometry imaging, and spatially resolved transcriptomics. In this review, we illustrate how these latest approaches have enhanced our understanding of the structure and function of the HNS and how they might contribute further in the coming years.
On the reproductive biology of the invasive Armoured Sailfin Catfish Pterygoplicthys pardalis (Castelnau, 1855) (Siluriformes: Loricariidae) from the natural drainages in Thiruvananthapuram, India
Authors: Raj Smrithy , Devi Suvarna , Joy Amrutha , Kumar A. Biju
Published: August 2021

The present paper deals with the breeding biology of the invasive fish Pterygoplicthys pardalis from the natural drainages of Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. The specimens were collected from Amayizhanchan Thodu, a natural drainage running through the heart of the city. A total of 145 males and 142 females were collected from January to December 2018. The sex ratio was determined monthly as the percentage of males to females (M: F). Monthly mean gonadosomatic index (GSI) values were compared using R stat, and GSI was plotted monthly to identify the spawning seasons. The gonads were examined and different stages of maturity were noted using standard methods. The length at first maturity was also found out. The fish exhibit courtship behaviour and the eggs are deposited in burrows and also along the crevices in the granite walls; the burrows are guarded by the male fish till the young ones are hatched out. The sex ratio showed an average mean value of 1.04: 1 and showed no significant departure. The size at first maturity was 23.9 cm standard length. The ova diameter studies show the presence of ripe ovaries throughout the year, with peaks during March and April and between August and September and in December, indicating the fish is a batch spawner. The absolute fecundity ranges from 923 to 14,777 eggs, and the relative fecundity ranges 0.0142–0.0015. Regression analysis showed a significant relationship (P <0.001) between absolute fecundity and the total length, the total body weight, and ovary weight. The strong breeding behaviour, the presence of accessory respiratory organs, the absence of natural enemies and parental care makes Pterygoplichthys pardalis a successful invader in the natural drainage. More biological studies are needed for the successful eradication of the species from the invaded ecosystem.
Diminished PLK2 Induces Cardiac Fibrosis and Promotes Atrial Fibrillation
Authors: Künzel Stephan R. , Hoffmann Maximilian , Weber Silvio , Künzel Karolina , Kämmerer Susanne , Günscht Mario , Klapproth Erik , Rausch Johanna S.E. , Sadek Mirna S. , Kolanowski Tomasz , Meyer-Roxlau Stefanie , Piorkowski Christopher , Tugtekin Sems M. , Rose-John Stefan , Yin Xiaoke , Mayr Manuel , Kuhlmann Jan Dominik , Wimberger Pauline , Grützmann Konrad , Herzog Natalie , Küpper Jan-Heiner , O’Reilly Molly , Kabir S. Nashitha , Sommerfeld Laura C. , Guan Kaomei , Wielockx Ben , Fabritz Larissa , Nattel Stanley , Ravens Ursula , Dobrev Dobromir , Wagner Michael , El-Armouche Ali
Published: August 2021

Rationale:

Fibrosis promotes the maintenance of atrial fibrillation (AF), making it resistant to therapy. Improved understanding of the molecular mechanisms leading to atrial fibrosis will open new pathways toward effective antifibrotic therapies.

Objective:

This study aims to decipher the mechanistic interplay between PLK2 (polo-like kinase 2) and the profibrotic cytokine OPN (osteopontin) in the pathogenesis of atrial fibrosis and AF.

Methods and Results:

Atrial PLK2 mRNA expression was 10-fold higher in human fibroblasts than in cardiomyocytes. Compared with sinus rhythm, right atrial appendages and isolated right atrial fibroblasts from patients with AF showed downregulation of PLK2 mRNA and protein, along with increased PLK2 promotor methylation. Genetic deletion as well as pharmacological inhibition of PLK2 induced profibrotic phenotype conversion in cardiac fibroblasts and led to a striking de novo secretion of OPN. Accordingly, PLK2-deficient (PLK2 knockout) mice showed cardiac fibrosis and were prone to experimentally induced AF. In line with these findings, OPN plasma levels were significantly higher only in patients with AF with atrial low-voltage zones (surrogates of fibrosis) compared with sinus rhythm controls. Mechanistically, we identified ERK1/2 as the relevant downstream mediator of PLK2 leading to increased OPN expression. Finally, oral treatment with the clinically available drug mesalazine, known to inhibit ERK1/2, prevented cardiac OPN overexpression and reversed the pathological PLK2 knockout phenotype in PLK2 knockout mice.

Conclusions:

Abnormal PLK2/ERK1/2/OPN axis function critically contributes to AF-related atrial fibrosis, suggesting reinforcing PLK2 activity and/or OPN inhibition as innovative targets to prevent fibrosis progression in AF. Mesalazine derivatives may be used as lead compounds for the development of novel anti-AF agents targeting fibrosis.
Tragedies of Communion: Seeking Reconciliation amid Colonial Legacies
Authors: Kane Ross
Published: August 2021

In seeking justice for LGBT persons, many Episcopalians have found ourselves in significant moral tragedies over recent decades. Support for same-sex relationships often emerged from a concern to stand up for the marginalized and to be “on the right side of history.” At the same time, however, we inadvertently alienated many of those historically marginalized in global Anglican conversations, specifically those in the global South. The content and form of the Episcopal Church's public statements in Anglican debates over human sexuality proved subtly—and usually unintentionally—neocolonial. The content of the debate privileged a specifically Western discourse based in the designation of homosexuality, while the form of the debate often resembled an abstracted “white gaze.” In seeking a path to reconciliation, the essay concludes by engaging H. Richard Niebuhr's thought, suggesting that he enables us to conceive how we ended up in such tragedies and offers a means to reconciliation by way of repentance.
The Spirit and the Subprime: Race, Risk, and Our Common Dispossession
Authors: Jones-Armstrong Amaryah
Published: August 2021

This essay argues that Sarah Coakley's understanding of contemplation and the Spirit's dispossessive work can provide timely interruption of contemporary economic crises when read beside Willie Jennings's indictment of Christianity's imagination as the production of race. Read together, contemplation and dispossession provide useful frames for analyzing and reimagining the common good. Here, I argue that theologians and church communities can understand Coakley's and Jennings's work as confrontations with racial capitalism. In particular, I take Coakley's attention to the need for dispossession by the Spirit to correspond with black theologians’ assertions that we must turn to the dispossessed in the United States—the black and brown poor—to find where God is at work. The racialized subprime debtors who are perpetually dispossessed, failing, and criminal are the people Christian theology must align with in order to confront its relation to white supremacy. By contemplating alternative conceptions of property and ownership foregrounded by the concept of dispossession, we can begin to imagine, perceive, and practice an otherwise common good.
Soteriology, Debt, and Faithful Witness: Four Theses for a Political Theology of Economic Democracy
Authors: Bretherton Luke
Published: August 2021

The essay seeks to understand what is theologically at stake when challenging the power of money in shaping our common life. To do so it sets out four theses, with commentary, that are suggestive of how we might go about generating a critically constructive and theologically attuned vision of an earthly oikonomia within the contemporary context. The first thesis is that envisioning a contemporary economics of mutual and ecological flourishing necessitates teasing out how Christian doctrines of God and soteriology legitimate oppressive conceptions of debt, and, at the same time, can help dismantle capitalism as an all-encompassing social imaginary to which there is no alternative. The second thesis is that as part of reenvisioning contemporary soteriology we must reengage with scriptural, patristic, scholastic, and medieval rabbinic and Islamic conceptions of property, debt, and usury in order to generate robust theological frameworks through which to analyze finance capitalism and the forms of domination it produces. The third thesis is that a vision for a common life must move beyond notions of recognition and redistribution as the basis for a just public life. And the last thesis is that we need to recover a consociational vision of democratic citizenship and a commitment to economic democracy.
Tracing the Theological Development of the South African Baptismal Rites: The Journey to An Anglican Prayer Book 1989 and Beyond
Authors: Bethke Andrew-John
Published: August 2021

This essay analyzes the theological changes which are reflected in successive revisions of Southern Africa's Anglican liturgy from 1900 to 1989. The following liturgies are examined: A Book of Common Prayer—South Africa (1954); Proposals for the Revision of the Rites of Baptism and Confirmation (1967); the Church Unity Commission's ecumenical liturgies in the 1970s; Birth and Growth in Christ (1984); and An Anglican Prayer Book 1989. The article also includes valuable source material which influenced the revised liturgies, including two official reports on the theology of baptism and confirmation. The author finds that theological uncertainty surrounding the underpinning of current rites brings into question whether full church membership is actually granted during baptism.
The Night Office: Loss, Darkness, and the Practice of Solidarity
Authors: Christie Douglas E.
Published: August 2021

What does it mean to enter the night? This question has long haunted the Christian mystical tradition. There, entering the night almost always means accepting uncertainty, insecurity, and loss as inevitable and necessary, part of what it is to come to know ourselves in God and in relation to one another. In our own time, amid increasingly acute encounters with loss, suffering, and insecurity, the language of darkness is taking on new meaning and significance. In this essay, I consider what it might mean to retrieve traditions of spiritual darkness as part of a transformative spiritual practice. How might such practice help us cultivate the courage and empathy to engage the profound loss and unknowing that has become so pervasive in our world and to stand in solidarity with those who suffer and struggle there? How might it help us become, in the words of Pope Francis, more “painfully aware”?
To Serve and Protect: The Police, Race, and the Episcopal Church in the Black Lives Matter Era
Authors: Fisher-Stewart Gayle
Published: August 2021

Black lives matter; they matter to God and they should matter to all Americans. However, as we continue to witness unjust and unconstitutional killing of black men by the police, we must ask: What is the role of the Episcopal Church in providing safe space for and mediating discussions of the role of policing in America as it continues to maintain racial attitudes and values that have negative effects on the life chances of blacks in America? How do we lead the way to bodily encompass our Baptismal Covenant, in which we promise to “strive for justice” and to “respect the dignity of every human being”? The Episcopal Church has directly profited from slavery, discrimination, and Jim Crow, and the police were in the forefront of maintaining those mechanisms that defaced God's people. Through acts of confession and repentance led by the church, perhaps four hundred years of oppression can truly end.
Theological Interpretation, Second Naiveté, and the Rediscovery of the Old Testament
Authors: Moberly R. W. L.
Published: August 2021

This essay is in four parts. The first briefly sketches some of the problems for Christian understanding and use of the Old Testament posed by contemporary ecclesial and academic culture. The second part considers some of the extensive conceptual resources that have become available in recent years through a revolution in hermeneutics; these make it possible to rethink the nature and purpose of the study of the Old Testament in terms of “theological interpretation,” which is still informed by the insights of modern historical-critical scholarship yet is simultaneously more engaged with the concerns of contemporary faith. The third part considers some other models for theological interpretation, especially the work of Walter Brueggemann and the Scripture and Hermeneutics Seminar led by Craig Bartholomew. The final part briefly considers the story of Cain and Abel in Genesis 4, as an example of a text that can be validly read in more than one way.
Stewarding Water in the Great Economy
Authors: Bader-Saye Scott
Published: August 2021

This article uses the Christian metaphor of stewardship to address the growing and unprecedented crisis of fresh water scarcity. Stewardship provides a way of naming a theological vision of responsibility for what is not our own. At the same time the metaphor resonates with non-theological accounts of responsibility, allowing a common framework for Christians and non-Christians to engage together in local and global problem solving. Faithful stewardship requires the use of prudence to discern the hierarchy of goods served by water, as well as the means by which the distribution and availability of water can be managed justly for the sake of the flourishing of creation. The article also addresses the potential dangers of the stewardship metaphor and suggests that stewardship is best understood as the wise tending of a little economy within what Wendell Berry calls the “Great Economy,” or the kingdom of God.
The Sacramental Sea
Authors: Newell Edmund
Published: August 2021

This article contributes to environmental theology by exploring our ambivalent attitude toward the sea. It begins by examining the largely negative references to the sea in the Bible, arguing that this is due primarily to the sea's association with the precreation state of chaos. As such, the sea plays an important role in the biblical salvation narrative, the goal of which is a perfected creation in which “the sea was no more” (Rev. 21:1). It then looks at positive attitudes to the sea related to exploration, religious experience, and the development of natural theology. It concludes that this ambivalent theological attitude gives the sea a highly sacramental nature that speaks to both the contrasting apophatic and kataphatic traditions in theology, which highlight, respectively, God's revelation and unfathomable nature.
A Reconsideration of the Continued Practice of Confirmation in the Episcopal Church
Authors: Keane Drew Nathaniel
Published: August 2021

Many Episcopal liturgists argue for the elimination of confirmation. This essay explores the reformed rite of confirmation, the doctrine of the Book of Common Prayer (1979), and considers objections to the rite involving its relationship to the sacraments of baptism and communion. I argue that it is a nuanced application of the New Testament's teaching on baptism to a context in which infant baptism is normative. The supposed redundancy and theological untidiness of confirmation prove, in fact, to be its strength.
Liturgia Latina
Authors: Oliver Juan M. C.
Published: August 2021

The General Convention, meeting in July 2018, called for the inclusion of Latino liturgical resources in new BCP translations and revisions. Consequently, it seems right to reassess how we think about liturgy by, with, and among Latinos. In this article, the author proposes that liturgy entails, above all, signifying actions involving the whole congregation. Latinos are the people to whom these actions must signify, and worship must be incarnated or inculturated in Latino cultures in imitation of the incarnation, a theological foundation of liturgical theology and practice. The author concludes by pointing to the challenges in both practice and spirituality facing Anglicanism in the development of Latino Anglican liturgy.
Liderazgo en Conjunto: a Leadership Development Model for the Twenty-First-Century
Authors: Pérez-Bullard Altagracia
Published: August 2021

The leadership challenges of Latinx Episcopal congregations echo broadly in US churches and institutions of all types, as they seek to adjust and respond to rapid change. Leadership and organizational theories from the public sector have been adapted and applied to congregational settings. This study identifies elements of these theories in play among Latinx priests ministering in the Episcopal Diocese of New York as they address leadership issues in congregations challenged by organizational change and transitioning neighborhoods. Their strategies emerge from a Latinx cultural paramountcy on community and justice values, described here as liderazgo en conjunto, and are a model for adaptable leadership that is responsive to the gospel mandate to work for justice.
Public Theology and Public Missiology
Authors: Heaney Robert S.
Published: August 2021

Faithful public witness is an expression of the faith of particular communities of formation. Thus, demythologized public discourse should be rejected in favor of the outwardness (or mission) emerging from theological particularity. This article draws from missiological resources in a bid to identify priorities for Christian formation toward public engagement. First, I take “public” to be a dialogic space where bounded entities and identities (people and communities) take part in interaction, engagement, and adaptation. Second, such an understanding of “public” is already at work in the prophetic emergence of the early church, thus pointing toward the theological significance of such sociality. Third, I identify priorities for formation from the missiological vision of prophetic dialogue.
Keeping Faith in the Public Square: An Autobiographical and Contextual Approach
Authors: Hudson-Wilkin Rose
Published: August 2021

How do we live authentically as a people of faith within our secularized societies? The challenges to public representations of faith underline the tension between personal expression and corporate identity. This article argues for engagement in the public square that signifies being present in positive social action and change. Charles Mathewes's A Theology of Public Life offers a useful lens through which to interrogate this argument. Through biblical examples, we recognize the epicenter of this notion of engagement as relational, at an individual and a collective level. Faith intersecting with the public square emphasizes the recognition of the other and of their need, as well as our own identity as a people called to bear witness. This article explores this integrated and holistic approach that decompartmentalizes faith and affirms its rightful location in the public square.
Public Theology: Characteristics from the Multireligious Neighborhood
Authors: Mosher Lucinda Allen
Published: August 2021

Given the multireligious neighborhood as its context, Lucinda Allen Mosher argues that Christian public theology is characteristically multidisciplinary, incarnational, cognizant of other faiths and cultures, supportive of civil discourse, collaborative, and transformational. Specialists who address the specifically inter-religious concerns of the multifaith neighborhood in faith-rooted terms indeed function as public theologians.
Gaps between academia and practice: Perspectives on new graduates’ readiness for social work practice in Georgia
Authors: Saitadze Inga , Dvalishvili Darejan
Published: August 2021

The study explores the perspectives of social work students, faculty, and the main employer of social workers with regard to new graduates’ readiness for social work practice in Georgia. The results of focus groups and in-person interviews revealed significant gaps and tension between academic programs and professional practice contributing to students’ low levels of readiness for practice. Participants identified various concerns regarding academic program curricula, field education, and professional practice; although, reasons for new graduates’ lack of readiness for practice highlighted by the main employer and academic program faculty were conflicting and pointed need for further actions.
Retrieving At-one-ment in the English Soteriological Tradition
Authors: Gallagher Joel R.
Published: August 2021

This article examines the use of the word atonement in biblical-theological discourse in the English language and early English translations of the Bible. It traces the word’s origin and development, and it uncovers its original signification and the meaning of the words from which it derives. It suggests that modern English-speaking theologians could benefit from a re-evaluation of this word given that it was first introduced in English translations of the Bible and subsequently used in Christian theological discourse for a specific purpose which is no longer operative. It suggests that a recovery of its original signification can be helpful to understanding how some medieval and early Renaissance English Christians interpreted that word, scriptural passages, and Christ’s salvific work.
Elementary School–Based Health Centers and Access to Preventive and Asthma-Related Care Among Publicly Insured Children With Asthma in Georgia
Authors: Adams E. Kathleen , Johnson Veda C. , Hogue Carol J. , Franco-Montoya Daniela , Joski Peter J. , Hawley Jonathan N.
Published: August 2021

Objectives

We assessed the effects of 3 new elementary school–based health centers (SBHCs) in disparate Georgia communities—predominantly non-Hispanic Black semi-urban, predominantly Hispanic urban, and predominantly non-Hispanic White rural—on asthma case management among children insured by Medicaid/Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP).

Methods

We used a quasi-experimental difference-in-differences analysis to measure changes in the treatment of children with asthma, Medicaid/CHIP, and access to an SBHC (treatment, n = 193) and children in the same county without such access (control, n = 163) in school years 2011-2013 and 2013-2018. Among children with access to an SBHC (n = 193), we tested for differences between users (34%) and nonusers of SBHCs. We used International Classification of Diseases diagnosis codes, Current Procedural Terminology codes, and National Drug Codes to measure well-child visits and influenza immunization; ≥3 asthma-related visits, asthma-relief medication, asthma-control medication, and ≥2 asthma-control medications; and emergency department visits during the child–school year.

Results

We found an increase of about 19 ( P = .01) to 33 ( P < .001) percentage points in the probability of having ≥3 asthma-related visits per child–school year and an increase of about 22 ( P = .003) to 24 ( P < .001) percentage points in the receipt of asthma-relief medication, among users of the predominantly non-Hispanic Black and Hispanic SBHCs. We found a 19 ( P = .01) to 29 ( P < .001) percentage-point increase in receipt of asthma-control medication and a 15 ( P = .03) to 30 ( P < .001) percentage-point increase in receipt of ≥2 asthma-control medications among users. Increases were largest in the predominantly non-Hispanic Black SBHC.

Conclusion

Implementation and use of elementary SBHCs can increase case management and recommended medications among racial/ethnic minority and publicly insured children with asthma.
Excess Mortality Associated With COVID-19 by Demographic Group: Evidence From Florida and Ohio
Authors: Quast Troy , Andel Ross
Published: August 2021

Objective

COVID-19 mortality varies across demographic groups at the national level, but little is known about potential differences in COVID-19 mortality across states. The objective of this study was to estimate the number of all-cause excess deaths associated with COVID-19 in Florida and Ohio overall and by sex, age, and race.

Methods

We calculated the number of weekly and cumulative excess deaths among adults aged ≥20 from March 15 through December 5, 2020, in Florida and Ohio as the observed number of deaths less the expected number of deaths, adjusted for population, secular trends, and seasonality. We based our estimates on death certificate data from the previous 10 years.

Results

The results were based on ratios of observed-to-expected deaths. The ratios were 1.17 (95% prediction interval, 1.14-1.21) in Florida and 1.15 (95% prediction interval, 1.11-1.19) in Ohio. Although the largest number of excess deaths occurred in the oldest age groups, in both states the ratios of observed-to-expected deaths were highest among adults aged 20-49 (1.21; 95% prediction interval, 1.11-1.32). The ratio of observed-to-expected deaths for the Black population was especially elevated in Florida.

Conclusions

Although excess deaths were largely concentrated among older cohorts, the high ratios of observed-to-expected deaths among younger age groups indicate widespread effects of COVID-19. The high levels of observed-to-expected deaths among Black adults may reflect in part disparities in infection rates, preexisting conditions, and access to care. The finding of high excess deaths among Black adults deserves further attention.
Occupational Stress and Burnout in the Fire Service: Examining the Complex Role and Impact of Sleep Health
Authors: Dyal Mari-Amanda A. , Smith Todd D. , DeJoy David M. , Moore Brian A.
Published: August 2021

The occupational stress inherent in firefighting poses both physiological and psychological risks to firefighters that have been found to possess a reciprocal nature. That is, the nature of these relationships in terms of indicator and impact are elusive, especially as it relates to sleep health (e.g., quality, quantity, hygiene, etc.) as a specific physiological risk and burnout as a specific psychological risk. A series of mediation models were assessed to examine the reciprocal relationships between occupational stress, burnout, and sleep health in a sample of 161 career firefighters. The mediation models confirmed reciprocity among the variables in so much that relationships were best described by the underlying mechanism at work. Comprehensive assessments of both subjective and objective markers of sleep health should be incorporated into firefighter research to supplement behavioral health assessments and interventions, especially related to burnout and occupational stress.
When Fringe Hate Goes Mainstream: How White Nationalist Discourse Manifests in Online News Commenting
Authors: Wolfgang J. David
Published: August 2021

After protestors clashed in Charlottesville, Virginia over the planned removal of a statue of a Confederate general, President Trump refused to condemn white nationalists. Over the following days, numerous news stories were written about the protests, allowing the public to discuss white nationalism through online comments. Using theories on ideology, discourse, and framing, this study considers how white nationalist discourse emerged in those comments. The findings show broad support for white nationalism, including complaints about threats to white culture, reinterpretation of American history to support white nationalist ideas, and rejection of the idea that marginalized people face oppression. However, the study also shows a burgeoning force of critical commenters struggling to challenge white nationalism’s emergence in public spaces.
Hemispheric cerebral blood flow predicts outcome in acute small subcortical infarcts
Authors: Hong Lan , Ling Yifeng , Su Ya , Yang Lumeng , Lin Longting , Parsons Mark , Cheng Xin , Dong Qiang
Published: August 2021

The association between baseline perfusion measures and clinical outcomes in patients with acute small subcortical infarcts (SSIs) has not been studied in detail. Post-processed acute perfusion CT and follow-up diffusion-weighted imaging of 71 patients with SSIs were accurately co-registered. Relative perfusion values were calculated from the perfusion values of the infarct lesion divided by those of the mirrored contralateral area. The association between perfusion measures with clinical outcomes and the interaction with intravenous thrombolysis were studied. Additionally, the perfusion measures for patients having perfusion CT before and after thrombolysis were compared. Higher contralateral hemispheric cerebral blood flow (CBF) was the only independent predictor of an excellent clinical outcome (modified Rankin Scale of 0-1) at 3 months (OR = 1.3, 95% CI 1.1–1.4, P = 0.001) amongst all the perfusion parameters, and had a significant interaction with thrombolysis (P = 0.04). Patients who had perfusion CT after thrombolysis demonstrated a better perfusion profile (relative CBF ≥1) than those who had perfusion CT before thrombolysis (After:45.5%, Before:21.1%, P = 0.03). This study implies that for patients with SSIs, hemispheric CBF is a predictor of clinical outcome and has an influence on the effect of intravenous thrombolysis.
Asthma Severity and Control and Their Association With Perinatal Mental Illness
Authors: Aker Amira M. , Stephenson Anne L. , Wilton Andrew S. , Vigod Simone N. , Dennis Cindy-Lee , Guttmann Astrid , Brown Hilary K.
Published: August 2021

Objective

Growing evidence suggests asthma increases perinatal mental illness risk, but few studies have explored the impact of asthma severity and control. Our objective was to explore the association between asthma severity and control and perinatal mental illness risk and the impact of asthma exacerbations during pregnancy on postpartum mental illness risk.

Methods

This was a population-based retrospective cohort study of all women in Ontario, Canada, from 2005 to 2015 with a singleton live birth who used public drug insurance, excluding women with recent history of mental illness. We constructed modified Poisson regression models to assess the risk of perinatal mental illness, defined as a mood or anxiety, psychotic or substance use disorder, self-harm or other mental illness diagnosed from conception to 365 days postnatally. Models controlled for socio-demographic factors and medical history.

Results

There were 62,583 women in the cohort (46.7% between 15 − 24 years), of whom 22.7% had asthma (94.3% mild, 5.7% moderate/severe; 86.5% controlled and 13.5% uncontrolled). After adjustment, there was increased risk of perinatal mental illness with mild asthma (adjusted relative risk [RR]: 1.12; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.09 to 1.16) and moderate/severe asthma (aRR: 1.16; 95% CI, 1.04 to 1.30) compared to no asthma. Controlled asthma (aRR: 1.11; 95% CI, 1.08 to 1.15) and uncontrolled asthma (aRR: 1.19; 95% CI, 1.11 to 1.27) were also associated with increased perinatal mental illness risk compared to no asthma. Women with worsened asthma during pregnancy had the highest risk of postpartum mental illness compared to no change in asthma status (by severity: aRR: 1.57; 95% CI, 1.36 to 1.80; by control: aRR: 1.37; 95% CI, 1.22 to 1.54).

Conclusion

Asthma is associated with increased risk of perinatal mental illness, particularly in the presence of asthma exacerbations in pregnancy. The results support multidisciplinary collaborative care programmes throughout the perinatal period, especially among women with asthma exacerbations during pregnancy.
The Language of Immigration Coverage: The Arizona Republic and Media’s Role in the Production of Social Illegality
Authors: Alvord Daniel R. , Menjívar Cecilia
Published: August 2021

Recently, several mainstream media organizations have moved away from using “illegal immigrant” in their immigration coverage. While this shift in immigration coverage is positive, seemingly positive language may still be exclusionary, particularly if the content of stories remains the same. We investigate whether newspaper articles that describe immigrants as “illegal” are more negative in content than articles that present immigrants as “undocumented” by analyzing 1,616 newspaper articles and letters to the editor in The Arizona Republic between 2000 and 2016, a critical period of immigration legislative activity in Arizona. We find that The Arizona Republic inundated readers with negative news coverage and that this coverage is baked into the content of stories and transcends the use of either term, “illegal” or “undocumented.” We then draw on letters to the editor and original interview data to consider how social forces outside of the media may influence coverage.
Youth Ministry and Crisis
Authors: Brown Megan G.
Published: August 2021

Youth ministry is not unfamiliar with crisis. Youth pastors are trained and equipped to manage all sorts of crises. However, conducting youth ministry in the middle of a global pandemic? Well, that is uncharted territory. This article focuses on how (select) youth ministries operated, reached out to youth, and cared for youth during the COVID-19 pandemic. How technology was utilized, challenges faced, and lessons gleaned are also addressed with practical application ideas.
Using Photovoice to Explore Teen Parents’ Perspectives on Raising Healthy Children
Authors: Tremblay Melissa , Kingsley Bethan , Gokiert Rebecca , Blums Tamarya , Mottershead Karen , Pei Jacqueline
Published: August 2021

Given the unique challenges and strengths of teen parents, specialized supports are needed to help teen families reach their full potential. This study explored, from the perspectives of teen parents involved in a supportive housing program, what helps teen parents raise their children in healthy ways. Aligned with a community-based participatory research approach, we used the photovoice method. Two 6-month rounds of photovoice were conducted, during which teen parents met with the researchers on a biweekly basis for group discussions and engaged in innovative knowledge mobilization. Resulting categories, in response to the question of what helps teen parents raise their children in healthy ways, consist of (a) supports and services; (b) safe, secure, and affordable housing; and (c) community. Ultimately, teen families have both complex needs and strengths that require relationship-based, trauma-informed, structured supports delivered by nonjudgmental staff who respect their independence, supportive landlords, and communities where they can feel safe to raise their children without stigma and judgment. Importantly, findings emphasize the need for supportive and responsive structures, policies, and housing programs to be in place for teen families rather than focusing exclusively on preventing teen pregnancy. Specific recommendations are provided with direct relevance for research and practice.