bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A systematic review of dalbavancin efficacy as a sequential therapy for infective endocarditis
Authors: Leanza Gabriele Maria , Rando Emanuele , Frondizi Federico , Taddei Eleonora , Giovannenze Francesca , Horcajada Juan P. , Scoppettuolo Giancarlo , Torti Carlo
Published: September 2024

Introduction

Dalbavancin is an antibiotic characterized by an extended half-life and efficacy against methicillin-resistant Staphylococci. Currently, there are only narrative reviews summarizing the evidence about the use of dalbavancin for infective endocarditis (IE), many of which are focused primarily on its use as consolidation therapy. For this reason, we conducted a systematic review to describe the clinical efficacy and the safety of dalbavancin in IE treatment.

Methods

We searched for available evidence using the MEDLINE (PubMed), Embase, Scopus, Cochrane Library and Web of Science libraries, with no restrictions regarding the publication year. The risk of bias was performed using the Cochrane ROBINS-I tool for the comparative studies and the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale for descriptive studies.

Results

Nine studies were included. All of them were observational. Native valve endocarditis was the most common kind of IE found in the studies’ populations (128/263, 48.7%), followed by prosthetic valve endocarditis, and cardiovascular implantable electronic device-related endocarditis. Coagulase-negative Staphylococci were the most common pathogens isolated (83/269, 30.1%), followed by S. aureus, Enterococci spp and Streptococci spp. Five out of nine studies documented a clinical failure rate of less than 10%. Dalbavancin showed a favourable safety profile. Dalbavancin appears to be a promising option for the consolidation therapy of IE. However, further studies comparing dalbavancin with standard of care are needed.

PROSPERO registration number

CRD42023430032.
Neither agree nor disagree: use and misuse of the neutral response category in Likert-type scales
Authors: Kankaraš Miloš , Capecchi Stefania
Published: September 2024

The Likert-type scales are among the most widely implemented instruments in social sciences, nonetheless, it is not clear so far whether such scales should or should not employ a mid-point “neutral” response option. While a mid-point category might improve the psychometric properties of survey instruments when appropriately applied, it has been argued that respondents often tend to use it in several invalid ways. This study aims to examine how a neutral response modality may influence the scales’ psychometric properties. We conducted two types of survey experiments employing a between-subjects and a within-subjects design, comparing psychometric properties of twelve personality scales in both cases i.e., with and without the neutral response category. Our findings show that the scales presenting the neutral category allow to some extent for better psychometric characteristics, both in terms of their reliability and with respect to the proportion of accounted variance by the first factors. Results also suggest that most respondents seem to use the neutral category validly. However, there are also indications that a minority of respondents actually employ the neutral answer as an “escape” option, especially when asked socially sensitive questions.
Enhancing Replication Research in Developmental Coordination Disorder
Authors: Ruddock Scott , Petridis Laura , Rahimi-Golkhandan Shahin
Published: September 2024

Purpose of Review

This paper discusses the application of replication research to the study of Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD), a field that has engaged multiple health disciplines for over four decades. It seeks to answer how replication research can be incorporated into the investigation of DCD, addressing the growing need for validation and verification in the face of increasing published manuscripts.

Recent Findings

There has been a substantial increase in the number of published manuscripts focusing on various aspects of DCD, including symptoms, assessment, and intervention. This proliferation of research highlights the need for replication studies to ensure the reliability and validity of findings.

A systematic literature search conducted reveals that replication research is underrepresented in DCD studies. The paper discusses several likely challenges researchers face if incorporating replication into DCD research and provides recommendations to account for these in future study designs. The emphasis on replication research is expected to enhance the reliability and validity of findings in the field, contributing to more effective assessment and intervention strategies for DCD and impacting future research directions.
Spontaneous Orientation Polarization of Anisotropic Equivalent Dipoles Harnessed by Entropy Engineering for Ultra-Thin Electromagnetic Wave Absorber
Authors: Wang Honghan , Xiao Xinyu , Zhai Shangru , Xue Chuang , Zheng Guangping , Zhang Deqing , Che Renchao , Cheng Junye
Published: September 2024

The synthesis of carbon supporter/nanoscale high-entropy alloys (HEAs) electromagnetic response composites by carbothermal shock method has been identified as an advanced strategy for the collaborative competition engineering of conductive/dielectric genes. Electron migration modes within HEAs as manipulated by the electronegativity, valence electron configurations and molar proportions of constituent elements determine the steady state and efficiency of equivalent dipoles. Herein, enlightened by skin-like effect, a reformative carbothermal shock method using carbonized cellulose paper (CCP) as carbon supporter is used to preserve the oxygen-containing functional groups (O·) of carbonized cellulose fibers (CCF). Nucleation of HEAs and construction of emblematic shell-core CCF/HEAs heterointerfaces are inextricably linked to carbon metabolism induced by O·. Meanwhile, the electron migration mode of switchable electron-rich sites promotes the orientation polarization of anisotropic equivalent dipoles. By virtue of the reinforcement strategy, CCP/HEAs composite prepared by 35% molar ratio of Mn element (CCP/HEAs-Mn2.15) achieves efficient electromagnetic wave (EMW) absorption of − 51.35 dB at an ultra-thin thickness of 1.03 mm. The mechanisms of the resulting dielectric properties of HEAs-based EMW absorbing materials are elucidated by combining theoretical calculations with experimental characterizations, which provide theoretical bases and feasible strategies for the simulation and practical application of electromagnetic functional devices (e.g., ultra-wideband bandpass filter).
Smart Cellulose-Based Janus Fabrics with Switchable Liquid Transportation for Personal Moisture and Thermal Management
Authors: Xi Jianfeng , Lou Yanling , Meng Liucheng , Deng Chao , Chu Youlu , Xu Zhaoyang , Xiao Huining , Wu Weibing
Published: September 2024

The Janus fabrics designed for personal moisture/thermal regulation have garnered significant attention for their potential to enhance human comfort. However, the development of smart and dynamic fabrics capable of managing personal moisture/thermal comfort in response to changing external environments remains a challenge. Herein, a smart cellulose-based Janus fabric was designed to dynamically manage personal moisture/heat. The cotton fabric was grafted with N-isopropylacrylamide to construct a temperature-stimulated transport channel. Subsequently, hydrophobic ethyl cellulose and hydrophilic cellulose nanofiber were sprayed on the bottom and top sides of the fabric to obtain wettability gradient. The fabric exhibits anti-gravity directional liquid transportation from hydrophobic side to hydrophilic side, and can dynamically and continuously control the transportation time in a wide range of 3–66 s as the temperature increases from 10 to 40 °C. This smart fabric can quickly dissipate heat at high temperatures, while at low temperatures, it can slow down the heat dissipation rate and prevent the human from becoming too cold. In addition, the fabric has UV shielding and photodynamic antibacterial properties through depositing graphitic carbon nitride nanosheets on the hydrophilic side. This smart fabric offers an innovative approach to maximizing personal comfort in environments with significant temperature variations.
Ultra-Transparent and Multifunctional IZVO Mesh Electrodes for Next-Generation Flexible Optoelectronics
Authors: Nirmal Kiran A. , Dongale Tukaram D. , Khot Atul C. , Yao Chenjie , Kim Nahyun , Kim Tae Geun
Published: September 2024

Mechanically durable transparent electrodes are essential for achieving long-term stability in flexible optoelectronic devices. Furthermore, they are crucial for applications in the fields of energy, display, healthcare, and soft robotics. Conducting meshes represent a promising alternative to traditional, brittle, metal oxide conductors due to their high electrical conductivity, optical transparency, and enhanced mechanical flexibility. In this paper, we present a simple method for fabricating an ultra-transparent conducting metal oxide mesh electrode using self-cracking-assisted templates. Using this method, we produced an electrode with ultra-transparency (97.39%), high conductance (Rs = 21.24 Ω sq−1), elevated work function (5.16 eV), and good mechanical stability. We also evaluated the effectiveness of the fabricated electrodes by integrating them into organic photovoltaics, organic light-emitting diodes, and flexible transparent memristor devices for neuromorphic computing, resulting in exceptional device performance. In addition, the unique porous structure of the vanadium-doped indium zinc oxide mesh electrodes provided excellent flexibility, rendering them a promising option for application in flexible optoelectronics.
The Impact of Urban Particulate Matter on Lightning Frequency in Thunderstorms: A Case Study of the Bangkok Metropolitan Region
Authors: Sae-Jung Jojinda , Bentley Mace , Gerken Tobias , Duan Zhuojun
Published: September 2024

Bangkok, Thailand is a tropical Asian megacity with high aerosol concentrations and frequent thunderstorm activity. This investigation examines the covariation between thermodynamics, aerosols, and thunderstorms, using lightning stroke counts as a measure of intensity, for a five-year period (2016–2020). The investigation incorporates data from the aerosol robotic network (AERONET), ERA-5 reanalysis, ground-based air quality stations, and total lighting data from Vaisala Inc.’s GLD360 network to examine the aerosol-thermodynamic interrelationships within thunderstorm initiation environments. Results indicate that aerosol impacts on thunderstorms are robust and, when examined in concert with instability, can augment lightning. Thermodynamic instability is also positively correlated with stroke counts in thunderstorms. Particulate matter greater than 10 µg m-3 (PM10) concentration is significantly higher in thunderstorms containing more than 100 strokes, supporting the potential role of aerosols in promoting the non-inductive charge process. The emergence of a “boomerang” or threshold effect is also evident as aerosol optical depth (AOD) increases. Evidence suggests increasing AOD initially promotes, then limits, instability and thunderstorm intensity. Finally, there exists a positive relationship between aerosol concentration and particle size in thunderstorm initiation environments.
Advancements in delivery strategies and non-tissue culture regeneration systems for plant genetic transformation
Authors: Wu Minyi , Chen Ao , Li Xiaomeng , Li Xiaoyun , Hou Xingliang , Liu Xu
Published: September 2024

Plant genetic transformation is a pivotal and essential step in modifying important agronomic traits using biotechnological tools, which primarily depend on the efficacy of transgene delivery and the plant regeneration system. Over the years, advancements in the development of delivery methods and regeneration systems have contributed to plant engineering and molecular breeding. Recent studies have demonstrated that the efficiency of plant transformation can be improved by simultaneously delivering meristem-developmental regulators, utilizing virus-mediated gene editing, and executing non-sterile in planta manipulations. Efficient genetic delivery and non-tissue culture regeneration systems are gradually being developed. This review summarizes diverse delivery strategies and in planta regeneration techniques aimed at improving the efficiency of plant genetic transformation. We also emphasize the integration and utilization of these emerging transgenic approaches for expediting future crop engineering.
Solitary But Not Alone: Materialising Boundaries at a Distance with a Leafcutter Bee’s Nest
Authors: Strange Amalie
Published: September 2024

More-than-human refusal, as an expression of agency, plays an active role in constructing boundaries. In this article, I address what kind of environmental education is made possible by the productive constraints of respecting more-than-human boundaries and refusal. This is intertwined with how humans can practice being attentive to the intra-actions of more-than-humans when they are not physically present, are only speculated to be present or are present through artifacts. I rhizomatically analyse my relationship with a leafcutter bee (Megachile spp.) nest as a situated example of practicing a relational ethic of care. Through queering the boundary between myself and the leafcutter bee, nature becomes not something that I (human) experience, but as something we (bougainvillea-leafcutter bee-nest-human assemblage) produce through our human-and-more-than-human relationality. Rather than seeing limited proximity as prohibitive, environmental education can use this productive constraint to know-with more-than-human others in a way that disrupts the nature/culture binary — to blur the boundaries between humans and more-than-humans without violating the agency asserted by more-than-humans.
“How do Bugs Move Us?”: Becoming Different(ly) with/in the More-than-Human Movement(s) of the Early Years Classroom
Authors: Kovalchin Rachael , Myers Casey Y.
Published: September 2024

Despite the growing influence of the “material” turn within childhood studies and education, scholarship related to teaching and learning within the early childhood classroom remains a largely humanistic endeavour. By applying relational and multispecies onto-epistomologies to both children’s classroom relations and our own teacher subjectivities, this work aims to highlight what other possibilities emerge when the dominant hierarchies of teacher-researcher-child-non-human are destabilised. Taking the idea of destabilisation literally, we diffractively map our own experiences as teacher-researchers within early years educational contexts, utilising diffractive methods to narrow-in on the mutually constituted conditions of movement. These more-than-human movements emerged during improvised classroom encounters between young children, animals and plants and varied in intensity and duration, as these constructed cuts and data (re)presentations continue to “move” us years later. Building upon research that explores the relationalities of children and non-human others, as well as “how movement does relationships’’ in early childhood educational contexts (Riley & Proctor, 2023, p. 663), we argue that a complex meta/physics of more-than-human movement affords literal and conceptual turning, enmeshing, decentering, connecting and rupturing, producing a less certain but more attuned early years teacher.
Mess-making as a Force for Resistance: Reimagining Environmental Educational Research for Multispecies Flourishing
Authors: Hogarth Hannah , Hankin Charlotte
Published: September 2024

We are the living. We find ourselves in a mess that is sometimes called the ‘Anthropocene’. This is a mess that has been hidden, ignored, neglected through a narrative of progress, consumption, linearity, categorisation, control, prosperity, rationality. To respond to this narrative, we employ ‘mess-making’ as a force for resistance. We rethink our more-than-human relations by concepting with mess to invigorate, agitate and provoke. Employing Haraway’s (2008) ‘messmates’, we conceptualise how ‘we’ as ecosystems of thriving life forms are constantly living, learning and dying together and need to find new ways to co-research with/in/for more-than-human methodologies. These, we suggest, are inherently messy. The paper is organised in a nonconventional way in that it is mostly created by more-than-human narratives gathered from two doctoral post-qualitative inquiries exploring play in an urban forest school in London and animal-child relations in a wall-less school in Bali. We explore how mess-making is both generative and challenging as data emerge in dynamic and exciting ways. With this messy turn, we illuminate potential for educational futures that support multispecies flourishing.
Regional variations in epiphytic microbiota influence fermentation quality, microbial communities, and aerobic stability of Napier grass silage
Authors: Ding Hao , Yan Qi , Zhang Nanji , Gu Qichao , Tang Qingfeng , Lin Bo , Zou Caixia
Published: September 2024

Species of epiphytic microbiota are closely associated with the fermentation performance of natural forage silage. This study aimed to evaluate the dynamic microbial communities, fermentation parameters, and aerobic stability of Napier grass silage from the same variety and growth period but harvested from three different regions (NGP1, NGP2, and NGP3). After 60 days of ensiling, triplicate silos were opened for sampling and testing aerobic stability. The epiphytic microbiota with higher relative abundances in fresh Napier grass (NGP1, NGP2, and NGP3) were Weissella, Enterobacter, and Lactococcus, respectively. After 60 days of ensiling, NGP3 exhibited higher fermentation quality, indicated by higher lactic acid (LA) concentration and lower pH than that of NGP1 and NGP2. The NH3–N content of all treatments was lower than 100 g/kg total nitrogen. Compared with NGP1 and NGP2 silage, NGP3 silage exhibited a sharp rise in pH and LA consumption during air exposure. After 7 days of air exposure, NGP3 had higher ethanol concentrations and pH. Ruminiclostridium_5, Pediococcus, and Lactobacillus predominated in NGP1, NGP2, and NGP3 silages, respectively, whereas Candida and Monascus predominated in air-exposed NGP3 silage. The bacterial co-occurrence networks from fresh samples to ensiling and air exposure became more complex; however, NGP3 had a higher negative correlation with co-occurrence after air exposure. Different regions had significant effects on the fermentation patterns, bacterial communities, and aerobic stability of Napier grass silage. This was mainly due to variable epiphytic microbiota. Higher fermentation quality of Napier grass silage may also result in accelerated spoilage due to air exposure. Candida and Monascus were primarily responsible for the lower dry matter recovery and higher ethanol contents and air exposure spoilage of Napier grass silage.
Relativization in Likpakpaln (Ghana): New typological perspectives on the Mabia (Gur) languages
Authors: Bisilki Abraham Kwesi , Quint Nicolas , Yakpo Kofi
Published: September 2024

This article provides the first systematic account of relativization in Likpakpaln, an understudied Mabia (Gur) language of Ghana. Broadly speaking, Likpakpaln features two types of relative clauses: restrictive and non-restrictive. Both types of relative clauses are finite and marked by a relative pronoun as well as a clausal definite determiner. The first type is always headed by an indefinite noun. The second is invariably headed by a definite head noun, is additionally marked by a prosodic break, and is usually under focus. The relative pronoun is a composite form comprised of a noun class agreement marker and an invariant relative marker. A number of the features of relative clauses in Likpakpaln align it with other Mabia languages of the region, whereas others distinguish it from these languages. This analysis situates Likpakpaln within its genealogical and areal context while providing new typological perspectives on the Mabia languages as a whole.
Closed equation model for cavity evolution in granular media
Authors: Zeng Junsheng , Meng Baoqing , Ye Xiaoyan , Tian Baolin
Published: September 2024

Cavity evolution in granular media is crucial in explosion-driven gas–particle flows, particularly in many engineering applications. In this study, a theoretical model was first proposed to describe the cavity evolution in granular media by extending the classical Rayleigh–Plesset model. A closed equation set comprising the radius, pressure and gas leak-off velocity equations was built by considering the gas expansion and non-Darcy gas-penetration effects. Both centrally symmetric and non-centrally symmetric cases of gas injection into granular media were investigated. Especially for modelling the non-symmetric scenario, the radius and gas leak-off velocity equations were proposed in each radial direction with angle

$\theta$

, and then the pressure equation was built up based on the integral gas leak-off along the cavity outline. Through non-dimensionalizing the theoretical equations, four key dimensionless numbers

$\varPi_1,\ \varPi_4$

were obtained to characterize the response time of cavity expansion and the intensity of non-Darcy effects for both cases. This allowed us to determine a scaling law of effective cavity radius

$R_{eff}^*=\sqrt {2\varPi _2/(7{\rm \pi} )}t^{*1/2}$

and the critical time

$t_{cr}^*=\sqrt {12.5/\varPi _1}$

for two-dimensional cavity evolution. Additionally, the necessity of incorporating non-Darcy effects was ascertained under conditions of

$\varPi _4>400$

. The findings demonstrate that the proposed theoretical equations effectively predict the cavity evolution results under various operational conditions (

$0.7<\varPi _1<7\times 10^2, 3<\varPi _4<1.1\times 10^3$

), as validated by refined Euler–Lagrange numerical simulations.
Ethical leadership in the East: A systematic review of literature
Authors: Dodamgoda Nadeeja , Roche Maree , Sibunruang Hataya , Williamson Amanda
Published: September 2024

Differences in cultures, religious beliefs, and philosophical views suggest that leadership ethics may vary between Western and Eastern perspectives. However, ethical leadership scales are mostly rooted in Western conceptualization. This systematic review explores the cultural contributions, philosophical perspectives, and underlying theories shaping the measures of ethical leadership. A comprehensive search across Scopus, Web of Science, ProQuest Management, and Emerald Insight from 1990 to 2021 yielded over 3900 articles, with only 15 focusing on an Eastern conceptualization of ethical leadership. Findings reveal that Eastern ethical leadership encompasses unique dimensions, including leaders’ responsibility and concern for long-term sustainability, often overlooked in existing measures. Despite some similarities in virtues and values between Eastern and Western philosophical views, past studies predominantly employed Western theoretical perspectives to explain ethical leadership. This review highlights the imperative for measures that authentically capture Eastern cultural distinctions, crucial for advancing ethical leadership research amid the East’s increasing global influence.
Prenatal vitamin C and fish oil supplement use are associated with human milk microbiota composition in the Canadian CHILD Cohort Study
Authors: Chehab Rana F. , Fehr Kelsey , Moossavi Shirin , Subbarao Padmaja , Moraes Theo J. , Mandhane Piushkumar , de Souza Russell J. , Turvey Stuart E. , Khafipour Ehsan , Azad Meghan B. , Forman Michele R.
Published: September 2024

Maternal diet may modulate human milk microbiota, but the effects of nutritional supplements are unknown. We examined the associations of prenatal diet and supplement use with milk microbiota composition. Mothers reported prenatal diet intake and supplement use using self-administered food frequency and standardised questionnaires, respectively. The milk microbiota was profiled using 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Associations of prenatal diet quality, dietary patterns, and supplement use with milk microbiota diversity and taxonomic structure were examined using Wilcoxon signed-rank tests and multivariable models adjusting for relevant confounders. A subset of 645 mothers participating in the CHILD Cohort Study (originally known as the Canadian Healthy Infant Longitudinal Development Study) provided one milk sample between 2 and 6 months postpartum and used prenatal multivitamin supplements ≥4 times a week. After adjusting for confounders, vitamin C supplement use was positively associated with milk bacterial Shannon diversity (β = 0.18, 95% CI = 0.05, 0.31) and Veillonella and Granulicatella relative abundance (β = 0.54; 95% CI = 0.05, 1.03 and β = 0.44; 95% CI = 0.04, 0.84, respectively), and negatively associated with Finegoldia relative abundance (β = –0.31; 95% CI = –0.63, –0.01). Fish oil supplement use was positively associated with Streptococcus relative abundance (β = 0.26; 95% CI = 0.03, 0.50). Prenatal diet quality and dietary patterns were not associated with milk microbiota composition. Prenatal vitamin C and fish oil supplement use were associated with differences in the milk microbiota composition. Future studies are needed to confirm our findings and elucidate mechanisms linking maternal supplement use to milk microbiota and child health.
Multiplexed pseudo-deterministic photon source with asymmetric switching elements
Authors: Brandhofer Sebastian , Myers Casey R. , Devitt Simon , Polian Ilia
Published: September 2024

The reliable, deterministic production of trustworthy high-quality single photons is a critical component of discrete variable, optical quantum technology. For single-photon based fully error-corrected quantum computing systems, it is estimated that photon sources will be required to produce a reliable stream of photons at rates exceeding 1 GHz (Vigliar et al., 2021). Photon multiplexing, where low probability sources are combined with switching networks to route successful production events to an output, are a potential solution but requires extremely fast single-photon switching with ultra-low-loss rates. In this paper, we examine the specific properties of the switching elements and present a new design that exploits the general one-way properties of common switching elements such as thermal pads. By introducing multiple switches to a basic, temporal multiplexing device, we can use slow switching elements in a multiplexed source being pumped at much faster rates. We model this design under multiple error channels and show that anticipated performance is now limited by the intrinsic loss rate of the optical waveguides within integrated photonic chipsets. While the developed design does not achieve the necessary 1 GHz photon rate, we demonstrate design elements that could become useful when underlying technology improves.
A tree-ring cellulose extraction device adapted to radiocarbon analysis
Authors: Lin Pengyu , Zhao Yesi , Zhang Hongyan , Wieloch Thomas , Gu Yao , Liang Chenghong , Chen Feng , Lu Huayu
Published: September 2024

Tree-ring cellulose is a commonly used material for radiocarbon analysis. Extracting cellulose is labor-consuming and several devices that enable batchwise extraction have been developed. However, these devices bear the risk of sample contamination. The present study describes a new device which improves upon two aspects of currently available devices. First, to prevent cross-sample-contamination, we redesigned the drainage module to enable independent removal of chemical waste from each individual sample funnel. Second, we added covers to the sample funnels to reduce the risk of external contamination. Cellulose purity (i.e., holocellulose) was confirmed by Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) Spectroscopy. Furthermore, accuracy of the radiocarbon analysis was confirmed by results of 14C-blank samples and samples of known age. In conclusion, while maintaining labor-saving, our modified device significantly reduces the risk of sample contamination during extraction of tree-ring cellulose.
High non-use of contraception among tribal and non-tribal women in North-Eastern India: alarming but neglected
Authors: Mog Mithun , Neogi Debasis , Srivastava Shobhit
Published: September 2024

Limited evidence exists about the contraception uptake in indigenous tribal groups of the north-eastern region of India. This study based on the National Family Health Survey (NFHS) IV (2015–2016) reports aimed to describe the pattern and factors associated with contraceptive non-use in the tribal women of the north-eastern part of India. The study was a cross-sectional analytical study based on secondary analysis of NFHS-IV data. All women in the age group of 15–49 years from the north-eastern part of India were included. Data were extracted and analysed using modified STATA-14 software. The association of socio-demographic and economic characteristics with contraceptive non-use was assessed using logistic regression. The inter-group differences of population characteristics for non-use contraceptives were assessed by modified Blinder–Oaxaca decomposition technique using ‘Fairlie decomposition’. A total of 65,941 women were included, of whom 34,936 (52.9%) were tribal women. The proportion of contraceptive non-use was higher in tribal women. Tribal women with age at marriage above 30 years, Christian community, and women from Assam and Manipur state had higher odds of contraceptive non-use. The decomposition analysis showed that geographical variations, parity, and Christian religion contributed the most to contraceptive use disparity in the population. A huge gap was observed in contraceptive non-use among tribal and non-tribal women in the north-eastern part of India. The healthcare system must involve community representatives in designing context-specific community-based initiatives to increase the uptake of contraceptive use in these remote vulnerable communities.
The Beginnings of Wisdom
Authors: Lawlor Monica
Published: September 2024

Two things prompted me to think a little more closely about the relation between fear and Christian belief; one was reading a book by Pfister on Christianity and Fear and the other was a growing concern with the extent to which fear seems to rule the lives of many Christians and provides an apparent contradiction of the love and freedom which are formally acknowledged as the keystones of Christianity. I have taken this opportunity to offer you the result of some reflection on the subject in the hope that in discussion we may gain some further insight into the meaning of the psalmist's words:

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; a good understanding have all those who practise it.

(Ps. III. 10).
Two Aspects of Liturgy
Authors: Sheppard Lancelot
Published: September 2024

Despite the ‘liturgical movement’, the reform now taking place in the Roman rite, and the considerable efforts made by recent popes to render the Church's worship accessible to all, it would still be possible for an unbiased observer to form something like the following views about Catholic worship in the West, and particularly in English-speaking countries, in the latter half of the twentieth century.

He would find in the first place a system of worship, with the text printed out in the liturgical books of the Roman rite, which had developed from the simple elements whose origins are to be found in the New Testament, the worship of the synagogue and the practice of the primitive Church; he would observe that by study of the history of these liturgical forms it is possible to trace the evolution of the various rites to their present complex form. Thus he would discover a highly developed system of worship which has grown up in the course of some two thousand years. On the other hand, he could hardly fail to observe from the celebration of this worship that very much of it appears to be totally incomprehensible to those using it. Not only the language (though that forms a considerable barrier) but other things as well could confirm him in his opinion.
The Angels
Authors: Stopp Elisabeth
Published: September 2024

October is the month which the Church has dedicated to the angels, and it is also the month in which the daily public recitation of the rosary before the Blessed Sacrament is obligatory in all churches. A coincidence? Perhaps; but a coincidence, whatever the word may mean, which is worth looking into.

Supposing our own recitation of the rosary has suffered some check, or has through our own fault become stale and wearisome like the prophet's valley of dry bones, then a consideration of the mysteries via the angels will perhaps breathe new life there too, as in the Mass, and prove a starting point for the quickened appreciation of our beads. For after the Mass, the rosary is the most important Catholic devotion, and if it is being neglected, then all is not well with us. The rosary has been called ‘the people's liturgy’—and that is the real answer to those unfortunate people who are irritated and distressed, and whose prayer seems to be altogether disturbed by the sight of the Mass-goer who is fingering his beads instead of turning the pages of the missal.
The Mystical Life of Isaias: I
Authors: Humphries Silvester
Published: September 2024

Isaias was a member of a junior clan of the house of David, dwelling in Jerusalem in the age when the ferocious imperialism of Assyria overwhelmed first the north, then the centre of the Israelite peoples, and menaced little Judah when it remained the sole remnant of the tribes that Moses had led out of Egypt. His work was to be the spiritual guide and prophet of its survival; to be ascribed solely to deep faith in God, at the same time as he announced the doctrine of the Incarnation to men. But his prophetic office also involved a spiritual development in his own soul, which can here be traced as far as the records permit.
The Mass: Source and Centre of the Liturgy
Authors: McGowan F. A.
Published: September 2024

Once the central position of the liturgy in the plan of redemption is recognized and when it is distinguish from the protocol of its administration (the rubrics), then it is seen, not as an end in itself, but the function of communication for divine life so that we, who come from the Trinity, may live by the Trinity and go to the Trinity. All definitions of liturgy imply its divine source, the Mass.

The Liturgy is the official dispensation of the Mysteries of Christ. It is ‘the whole body of official prayers and sacramental actions whereby the communication of men with God is carried on in the Church', ‘the life-dispensing, life-preserving and life-restoring activity of Ecclesia, the mystical Christ'. It is the official distribution of Christ's life by which through the Church he communicates grace to individuals by means of the four inter-related parts: the sacraments, the sacramentals and ritual prayers, the Divine Office, and the Liturgical Year—all centred about an finding their source in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
Eirenic Theology
Authors: Davis Francis
Published: September 2024

It was Fr Henry St John who suggested the title. The term ‘eirenic’ has some advantages over the term ‘ecumenical, though the latter is of course the more widely used. ‘Ecumenical', if understood etymologically, and if understood otherwise than the word ‘Catholic', suggests that there is a theology which is general, over against a theology which is particular. In the context of modern conditions, that could mean there is a supradenominational Christian theology, over against sectarian or local theologies. Such a suggestion would be disturbing to the Catholic as being out of harmony with the divinely instituted unity of the Church.

There is, of course, a possibility of adapting the principle here involved to Catholic theology. One can, and must, distinguish between the theological opinions of a school and the universal teaching of the Church.
Unity Work in Holland
Authors: Kreykamp A.
Published: September 2024

In Holland there came a turn in the tide of the relationships between the Churches as early as the end of the first world war, though this war itself, unlike the later one, had but little influence on the religious climate in Holland. In the winter of 1919 the Dominicans of Zwolle started giving ‘conferences for non-Cathohcs’ in which they consciously abandoned the polemic tone for a quiet and objective explanation of the Catholic faith. On the Catholic side this was the first swallow which did not indeed make a summer, but at least announced it. Looking at it now it is easier to understand that the spiritual climate still had to change considerably before the age-old process of ossification in polemics and apologetics could be reversed.

In Holland, if anywhere in the world, one has to reckon witn non-theological factors in the relations of churches and confession.
Point of View: The Clergy and the Laity
Authors: Belfield E. M. G.
Published: September 2024

The relationship between the clergy and the laity is one of the touchstones of the health of the Church. This relationship varies from age to age and from country to country. The subject is a delicate one, but without desiring to arouse controversy, it is worth looking at a few of the factors involved.
Mary of Ágreda
Authors: S.M.M.
Published: September 2024

Mary of Ágreda is an outstanding figure in Spanish history of the seventeenth century and her writings have had a strong, though often unrecognized, influence on the trend of Catholic spirituality for nearly three hundred years. It is not surprising that Faber, with his genius for foreign importation, should have drawn freely on this Spanish mystic; it is more unexpected to meet with Manning's praise. In one of his sermons on the Sacred Heart he says: ‘The Ven. Mary of Ágreda, in a profuse and minute exposition, has taught us the mystery of the deified humanity and the actions and passion of our Blessed Lord. No human genius could have conceived such teaching.’ Such unstinted praise coming from this source may well arouse the curiosity of those to whom La Mίstica Ciudad de Dios is as yet unknown. Those who have not access to the original Spanish will be grateful to Fiscar Marison for his pleasing and accurate rendering into the English tongue. The American publishers are to be congratulated on their well-finished and serviceable reprint.
Revelation and The Modern World
Authors: Graham Aelred
Published: September 2024

It is a disconcerting experience to read a book on what is perhaps the most important subject in theology, to be aware that one is making contact at every stage with a powerful mind ranging easily over the whole of the Biblical data, to be grateful for a number of profoundly true observations, and yet to find oneself at the end seemingly very little nearer the heart of the matter. The cause of this failure may be no further to seek than the present reviewer's obtuseness, or at least his habitual inclination to approach these problems in a manner quite different from that of the author; but it is not perhaps only the vanity of self-justification which looks for some other explanation. Dr Thornton is a difficult and obscure writer, but he is never unintelligible; given the necessary sympathy, there is significant meaning to be found in all that he says; there is also much that is rewarding.
The Apostle as Poet
Authors: Pepler Conrad
Published: September 2024

The true apostle must be a poet, and an apostle who is not a poet is no true apostle.

In order to understand this claim, we may start by describing the would-be apostle who is no apostle. A Christian sets out to be an apostle for Christ. He joins a Catholic Action group or enters an Order such as that of the Dominicans who specialize in preaching. He begins to prepare himself for the work by reaching down from the shelves of the library large tomes of Christian doctrine and theology. He learns all that the Church commonly teaches; he delves into St Thomas's deep and precise explanations. Better still, he may con the gospels to discover what Christ himself taught. He will study, too, maybe in a course of apologetics, all the reasons against the faith that are likely to be brought up against him in his missionary activity, and he will discover, not merely ‘the answers’ as though every problem he met could be answered by his own wit, but, sensibly, he will discover the lines along which such attacks can be met and parried.
An Educational Centenary
Authors: Albert M.
Published: September 2024

On August ist, 1855, when the riots which had greeted the restoration of the Hierarchy in England were still a lively memory, a middle-class boarding school for boys Was opened at Netherton House, Clapham. The needs of its four Pupils were catered for by a Community of nine Religious, three of whom were already teaching in the primary school attached to the Redemptorist church. All nine of them were French, Brothers of the Christian Schools, an Institute founded by St John Baptist de La Salle in the seventeenth century and now making its first English foundation. The renting of the house on Lady Day seemed to augur well for the future of this initiative in the land that had once been Mary's Dowry. And so it proved. In May this year, 1955, some 250 Brothers and nearly 7,000 Pupils in thirty-one educational establishments in England and scotland, not to mention innumerable past pupils, relations and friends will be celebrating the centenary of that event.
The Divine Specialists
Authors: Pepler Conrad
Published: September 2024

Although every type of Christian may derive much profit from the writings of Walter Hilton so that his Scale in particular has become a popular work of spirituality, we should not forget that the people for whom he wrote were of a very specialised type. He was addressing a particular person who must have been living the same sort of life as Mother Julian at Norwich, an anchoress shut up in her little house and devoted to the work of contemplation. He does in fact draw a sharp distinction, which many readers have to pass over in puzzlement and try to forget, between the common man and the one who is specially called. The gift of contemplation may be bestowed by God upon, any kind of person he may choose, ‘learned or lewd, men and women, those occupied in prelacy and to solitary also’.
The Living Knowledge of Christ
Authors: Randag W.
Published: September 2024

We live in a time of speed, and there is a truly frightening flight from thought, reflection, depth and all things that lie below the surface. For this reason, among others, this time of speed has become a time of action, and a time of action becomes in matters spiritual a time in which particular stress is laid upon the apostolate.

The danger is that speed is valued more than rest, speech more than silence, action more than contemplation, and time more than eternity. For the layman especially the word ‘apostolate’ can lose all meaning unless it is the natural outcome of a full inner life. It is this inner life which still remains such a bewildering and unwieldy issue for him that the flight into social action may easily become flight from one's own problems. Perhaps the main difficulty lies in a lack of knowledge where there is plenty of good will. The knowledge we have of Christ remains like the negative of a photograph, lightless. It is not often realized that knowledge is a function of life.
The Book Of Job
Authors: Steinmann J.
Published: September 2024

The books of the Hebrew Bible may be divided into three groups: the Torah, the Prophets and the ‘Writings'. This latter part is made up of works composed, collected or published for the most part after the return from exile to Babylon. One of the books it contains has as its title the single word Job. It is the name of a person who from the very first lines is presented to us as a just man, a believer, one who is rich and fortunate in life. The reader then leaves earth to catch a glimpse of what is taking place in heaven. Job is accused by Satan of self-interest in his piety. Yahweh allows S'atan to afflict Job in the first instance in his material possessions, and his family. Job accepts this trial. Still sceptical in the face of this proof of disinterestedness, Satan obtains from Yahweh permission to strike Job in his person, by disease.
Lectio Divina
Authors: Griffiths Bede
Published: September 2024

In the Rule of St Benedict the monastic day is divided into three unequal periods. The longest is that which is given to manual work, which might amount to as much as seven hours. The others, which were roughly equal and amounted to about half that time, were given to prayer, or the ‘work of God', and to lectio divina or sacred reading. Each of these elements in the monastic life, as we hope to show, were intimately related to one another, but it is with the lectio divina that we are primarily concerned today. There is no doubt of the nature of this reading in the time of St Benedict and in the centuries which followed. It was confined at first to the study of the Bible and the Fathers, especially the Latin Fathers, and above all St Jerome and St Augustine. To these were added later, perhaps through the influence of Cassiodorus, some of the classical writers, but the typical Benedictine study has always remained the Bible and the Fathers.
The Old Testament And Modern Psychology
Authors: Elkisch F. B.
Published: September 2024

That there is a connection between the Old Testament and Modern Psychology may seem a farfetched idea which has no foundation in fact, but both are related in Judaic roots.

The Old Testament is a divinely inspired book written by Jews about Jews, whilst psychology is the science based on the ideas of a Jew—Sigmund Freud. Freud, who is generally accepted as the father of modern psychology, found recognition first among Jews, but when his method— psychoanalysis—proved to be successful in the treatment of nervous disorders, it spread beyond the small group of Jewish enthusiasts into the circles of Christian psychologists.

It is no mere coincidence that a Jew realized the importance of psychological problems in the present world. Centuries of ghetto life had made the Jews extremely sensitive in their reactions to people who lived in freedom. The enforced isolation shaped their mentality into a set pattern different from that of the surrounding European world which was developing its own particular culture.
Seat of Wisdom
Authors: Davis H. Francis
Published: September 2024

The Lord is my Light.’ These words from the psalm form the device of our senior University. Come back with me a moment to the early years Of the twelfth century. Come to Oxford, to the vicinity of St Mary the Virgin's Church in the High Street. A certain Theobald, a master from Normandy, arrives here with his own group of disciples. Later his place is taken by Robert Pullen and Vacarius of Bologna.

In the second half of the century, there comes a whole migration of masters and disciples, driven back from Paris because of discrimination against their countrymen. Oxford was then an island town, surrounded by marshland and rivers, at the spot where the Cherwell joins the Isis or Thames: an important river crossing with easy access to London. The food supply was good, and it was in the centre of England's population.
The Heir
Authors: Elwes Cary
Published: September 2024

Beres Universorum’ occurs in the accusative case in the first sentence of the Epistle to the Hebrews. St Paul is intensely conscious that Christ's coming is the summing up of the past, the completion of an immense cycle, the climax of a great series of stupendous events, the crowning act of a drama, the final interference of God in his own creation. Not only that; Christ's ‘coming, for St Paul, gathered up all the past, gave it shape and substance, explained it, since all things pointed to or prepared for him. He was the heir of all things. In this title we have a glimpse of the Augustinian vision that history was summed up in Christ, that all the golden threads in pagan life and worship led ultimately to heredem universorum Christum. Thus there are two lines of thought: Christ heir to the Jewish tradition, and Christ heir to the pagan tradition.