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Crude oils from distinct geological sources worldwide are toxic to developing fish hearts. When oil spills occur in fish spawning habitats, natural resource injury assessments often rely on conventional morphometric analyses of heart form and function. The extent to which visible indicators correspond to molecular markers for cardiovascular stress is unknown for pelagic predators from the Gulf of Mexico. Here we exposed mahi (Coryphaena hippurus) embryos to field-collected crude oil samples from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster. We compared visible heart defects (edema, abnormal looping, reduced contractility) to changes in expression of cardiac-specific genes that are diagnostic of heart failure in humans or associated with loss-of-function zebrafish cardiac mutants. Mahi exposed to crude oil during embryogenesis displayed typical symptoms of cardiogenic syndrome as larvae. Contractility, looping and circulatory defects were evident, but larval mahi did not exhibit downstream craniofacial and body axis abnormalities. A gradation of oil exposures yielded concentration-responsive changes in morphometric and molecular responses, with relative sensitivity being influenced by age. Our findings suggest that 1) morphometric analyses of cardiac function are more sensitive to proximal effects of crude oil-derived chemicals on the developing heart and 2) molecular indicators reveal a longer-term adverse shift in cardiogenesis trajectory.

Presently, Islam in Europe has a weak and divided political voice. This article draws on collective action theory and the religious economies model to analyze Muslim interest organizations in democratic polities. The authors develop general theoretical propositions and apply them to a case study of mosque – state relations in the federal state ( land) of Berlin. The study shows that institutional features of the German polity and diaspora Islam make collective action difficult and provide opportunities for factions (“spoilers”) to under-mine broad-based collective action if they perceive centralizing organizations as compromising doctrinal and organizational autonomy. In addition, conflicts between organizations representing conservative Muslim interests and secularly oriented ones further complicate collective action. The result is narrow interest articulation by smaller, less diverse groups. Based on our study, the authors consider the general applicability of our propositions and their implications for European polities.

What accounts for cross-national variation in religiosity as measured by church attendance and non-religious rates? Examining answers from both secularization theory and the religious economy perspective, we assert that cross-national variation in religious participation is a function of government welfare spending and provide a theory that links macro-sociological outcomes with individual rationality. Churches historically have provided social welfare. As governments gradually assume many of these welfare functions, individuals with elastic preferences for spiritual goods will reduce their level of participation since the desired welfare goods can be obtained from secular sources. Cross-national data on welfare spending and religious participation show a strong negative relationship between these two variables after controlling for other aspects of modernization.

Since the 1930s, a number of countries in Latin America have experienced rapid growth in the expansion of evangelical Protestantism. Has this religious change produced concomitant changes in the political landscape? Some scholars have seen the possibility of a Weberian ‘Protestant ethic’ emerging, making the region more amenable to democratic capitalism. Others have argued that the ‘otherworldly’ nature of these new (predominantly Pentecostal) evangelicals lends itself to a more apolitical outlook and a deference to authoritarian rule. Using survey data from four countries – Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Mexico – this study concludes that denominational affiliation has little effect on political attitudes. The more critical factor determining political attitudes relates to the level of church attendance, which enhances civic engagement and trust in government.

By now the story is familiar. Throughout most of the 20th century, the study of religion was dominated by secularization theory, which predicted the inevitable decline of religion as modernity marched ever forward. However, empirical reality did not support this contention; God remains alive and well long after Friedrich Nietzsche's death. During the last several decades of the century, a new group of scholars, relying on insights from exchange theory and economic analysis, began to challenge the longstanding secularization paradigm (Stark and Bainbridge 1979, 1980, 1987; lannaccone 1988, 1991).1 These scholars used market theory to explore religion's persistent vitality in the United States. From this perspective, the United States is seen as a religious supermarket where relatively low levels of regulation allow religious pluralism to flourish. Pluralism, in turn, promotes competition among denominations and forces clergy to pay closer attention to their flock lest they go elsewhere. The end result is that consumers have more choices to meet their varied tastes and needs, they are better served by religious leaders, and society experiences a higher level of religiosity (measured numerous ways). Lori Beaman challenges this story on two grounds: (1) that the U.S. and Canadian markets are not truly pluralistic; and (2) that religious markets in both countries are not very free (at least for "marginalized" groups). Ironically, if correct, Beaman's two challenges to economic explanations of religion would actually serve to confirm the approach she is trying to critique. If, as she claims, religious freedom is quite limited in the United States and Canada, then it follows from lannaccone's (1991) analysis of religious market structure that religious pluralism would be minimal, which is Beaman's first contention. In essence, her critique would have the same effect as multiplying both sides of an algebraic equation by -1. However, I will argue that Beaman's inadvertent confirmation of lannaccone's thesis is based on two methodological flaws, which leave the analysis "lost in the supermarket" of religious pluralism. I will take issue with Beaman's two main contentions on methodological (as opposed to theoretical) grounds. First, I contend that Beaman's definition of religious pluralism is too broad to be useful. Lumping together most all Christian groups into one category and defining this as a single-faith tradition misses the true nature of religious diversity and competition. In making this critique, I offer an alternative conceptualization of religious pluralism that provides a more explicit working definition of the concept based on the organizational and financial autonomy of religious organizations. Second, Beaman's reliance on four anecdotal cases to support her claim of limited religious liberty provides a misleading contextualization of the situation faced by "'marginalized" religious movements. Although religious minorities may have a more difficult time establishing equal legal space for their denominations than more mainstream churches, the degree of religious freedom available to these groups is historically unprecedented when viewed

Summary We performed integrated genomic, transcriptomic, and proteomic profiling of 150 pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) specimens, including samples with characteristic low neoplastic cellularity. Deep whole-exome sequencing revealed recurrent somatic mutations in KRAS , TP5 3, CDKN2A , SMAD4 , RNF43 , ARID1A , TGFβR2 , GNAS , RREB1 , and PBRM1 . KRAS wild-type tumors harbored alterations in other oncogenic drivers, including GNAS , BRAF , CTNNB1 , and additional RAS pathway genes. A subset of tumors harbored multiple KRAS mutations, with some showing evidence of biallelic mutations. Protein profiling identified a favorable prognosis subset with low epithelial-mesenchymal transition and high MTOR pathway scores. Associations of non-coding RNAs with tumor-specific mRNA subtypes were also identified. Our integrated multi-platform analysis reveals a complex molecular landscape of PDAC and provides a roadmap for precision medicine.

Although scholars tend to downplay the role of religion in political life, the vast majority of people in the world profess a strong allegiance to some spiritual faith. Secularization theory has long held that religion would become irrelevant, leading many comparative scholars to ignore this potentially significant variable. A recent resurgence in religious fundamentalism and “new religious politics” has led more scholars to consider religious actors as important. However, research in this area befalls many of the same problems inherent in earlier secularization theories. A new body of scholarship, known as the “religious economy” school, seeks to address these problems by developing theories built on solid microlevel foundations of human behavior. This line of research holds great promise for the study of religion in comparative politics.

On 28 January 1992, the Mexican national legislature approved changes to the 1917 Constitution and effectively reversed over a cen tury of officially sanctioned hostility to religious organizations. Six months later, the federal government released La Ley de Asociaciones Religiosas y Culto Publico (henceforth: Ley Reglamentaria), a detailed set of legal statutes that form the basis of contemporary church-state relations. Having obtained the legal recognition and freedom it had sought for many years, leaders of the Catholic Church greeted this new legal framework with a sense of optimism. Jeronimo Prigione (the pa pal nuncio who spearheaded the church's struggle to obtain legal rec ognition throughout the 1980s and 1990s) stated: "We [the Catholic hierarchy] are sincerely appreciative and thankful for the effort of the House of Deputies, and the concern of the President [Carlos Salinas], a wise statesman, ... for opening new horizons in the relations between the Church and State, channeling the forces of the two societies to wards the service of social and religious peace."1 Archbishop Adolfo Suarez Rivera, then president of the Conferencia del Episcopado Mexi cano (CEM), declared that this legislation "has marked a new stage in our history. It has been the fruit of a long process. ... it is undeniable that it has represented a big step that has opened roads to the freedom

In the past several decades, religion has made a surprising and dramatic resurgence in political life. The Iranian Revolution of 1979 reminded scholars of the mobilizing power of religious fundamentalism. In Latin America, evangelical protestantism has been altering the social arena and influencing presidential elections in countries such as Columbia, Guatemala, and Peru. Likewise, religious movements are transforming the political landscape in nations as diverse as Algeria, the Philippines, Poland, South Korea, Tibet, and the United States, to name just a few. Scholars have been quick to note the importance of the resurgence of religious politics, inspiring Samuel Huntington to posit that future political conflict will not be between states but between “civilizations” or “cultures,” of which religion is a primary component. The American Academy of Arts and Sciences considered the topic worthy enough to fund a four-volume, cross-disciplinary study—The Fundamentalism Project—examining the changing role of religion in societies around the globe. The growing interest in religion and politics is a recent phenomenon. Influenced by modernization theory, the reigning notion among political scientists prior to the 1980s was that as societies industrialized, religion would fade into the

The rapid growth of evangelical Protestantism in Latin America has received a substantial amount of scholarly attention in recent years. The most common explanation for this phenomenon has been a variant of `social anomie' theory that focuses on changes in social demand for religion. Individuals experiencing socio-economic crisis become displaced from their communities and lose their cultural identities. These individuals are then more susceptible to the appeals of new religious movements. An alternative, supply-side hypothesis is advanced. I argue that the degree of government regulation of religious economies can best account for cross-national variations in Protestant growth. Less restrictive laws regulating religious organizations lower the cost of consuming religion, thus leading to an increase in religious diversity and participation. Comparative statistical analysis of 20 Latin American countries supports the latter hypothesis. This analysis suggests that secularization is a function of government policy.

Papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) persistence or recurrence and the need for long-term surveillance can cause significant inconvenience and morbidity in patients. Currently, recurrence risk stratification is accomplished by using clinicopathologic factors, and serum thyroglobulin is the only commercially available marker for persistent or recurrent disease. The objective of this study was to determine microRNA (miRNA) expression in PTC and determine whether 1 or more miRNAs could be measured in plasma as a biomarker for recurrence.Patients with recurrent PTC (Rc-PTC) and those without recurrence (NR-PTC) were retrospectively recruited for a comparison of their tumor miRNA profiles. Patients with either newly diagnosed PTC or multinodular goiter who were undergoing total thyroidectomy were prospectively recruited for an analysis of preoperative and postoperative circulating miRNA levels. Healthy volunteers were recruited as the control group.MicroRNA-222 and miR-146b were over-expressed 10.8-fold and 8.9-fold, respectively, in Rc-PTC tumors compared with NR-PTC tumors (P = .014 and P = .038, respectively). In plasma from preoperative PTC patients, levels of miR-222 and miR-146b were higher compared with the levels in plasma from healthy volunteers (P.01 for both). Reductions of 2.7-fold and 5.1-fold were observed in the plasma levels of miR-222 and miR-146b, respectively, after total thyroidectomy (P = .03 for both).This study demonstrated that tumor levels of miR-222 and miR-146b are associated with PTC recurrence and that miR-222 and miR-146b levels in the circulation correspond to the presence of PTC. The potential of these miRNAs as tumor biomarkers to improve patient stratification according to the risk of recurrence and as circulating biomarkers for PTC surveillance warrants further study.

From the vantage point of the 1970s and early 1980s, the Latin American Catholic Church appeared to be on a trajectory of increasing progressivism, typically manifesting itself as a “preferential option for the poor”. Recently, however, the Catholic hierarchy has experienced a “conservative retrenchment”. Why has this change occurred? Argues that the need to maintain a high profile in democratic societies experiencing rapid growth in evangelical Protestantism has led Church officials to return to an élite‐based, conservative political strategy. Suggests that lacking the resources to compete adequately with the rapid expansion of evangelical Protestantism, bishops have turned to lobbying the political and economic élite to help them maintain their social presence and prevent further parishioner defections from the faith. Ironically, at that time when the Church most needs state assistance to compete effectively, politicians are least likely to lend support.

Parathyroid carcinoma has been regarded as an exceedingly rare disease worldwide, responsible for less than 1% of cases of primary hyperparathyroidism. However, there have been anecdotal reports recently of an increasing number of patients presenting with parathyroid carcinoma. The aim of this study was to examine the changing incidence and presentation of parathyroid cancer within a single centre.This is a retrospective case series. Data were obtained from the University of Sydney Endocrine Surgical Unit database, as well as a review of hospital records. All pathology was independently reviewed.Over the 52-year period of the study from 1958 to 2010, there were 21 cases of confirmed parathyroid cancer. Only three cases were reported in the first 30 years of the study with the majority of cases (n = 11) presenting in the last 5 years. Despite the exponential increase in presentations, no significant differences in demographics or mode of presentation were found.Possible reasons for the dramatic increase in parathyroid cancer include increased screening, an increase in referrals for parathyroid surgery overall associated with the availability of minimally invasive techniques, changes in diagnostic techniques with immunohistochemistry for parafibromin and protein gene product 9.5 (PGP9.5) or possibly a true increase in the incidence of the disease.

In 1971, Gustavo Gutierrez published his Teologia de la liberaci6n, which was translated into English two years later. The publication of this book marked the birth of the liberation theology movement (albeit one that had been gestating for a decade or more). While many of Gutierrez's ideas were formulated in his time abroad in Europe, and based on lessons from Vatican II, his tome spoke to the reality of Latin American life. His humble upbringing and steadfast commitment to minister to the poor gave him the basis to create Latin America's first indigenous theology. The book was grand in scope, tackling not only important theological issues, but incorporating modern social scientific theories and methodologies to produce a spiritual philosophy grounded in praxis (i.e., day-to-day practice). His words rang loudly throughout the Western hemisphere and created one of the most dynamic grassroots movements the Catholic Church had seen in quite some time. Throughout the 1970s and into the early 1980s, liberation theology promised to reinvigorate a Catholicism grown ritualistic and moribund over the centuries. While earlier movements had attempted to do the same (e.g., Catholic Action), these were usually controlled by the hierarchy. Liberation theology, and the associated Christian base community movement, offered a more democratic version of Catholic revivalism. Not surprisingly, scholars quickly ran to study this surprising new phenomenon. Prior to the 1 970s, the reigning notion of religion in academia was one of conservatism and declining influence, the fruits of the "inevitable" process of secularization. Now the role of religion in politics and society had to be rethought. Far from being inimical to progressive ideas, this new theology often showed itself in alliance with revolutionary movements throughout the region. Scholarship on revolutionary movements in Latin America could hardly be done without considering the role that liberation theology was playing-either by providing a new philosophical foundation from which to launch an assault on the ancien regime, or by filling the ranks of revolutionary groups with clergy and lay Catholics. Scholarship on Latin American religion witnessed a golden age during this period. But the liberation theology movement was not easily confined to Latin America. As the articles by Mitchell, Nadeau, and Poethig reveal, liberationist ideas quickly found homes in Asia and Africa. And while the ideas advanced by Gutierrez and his followers seemed best suited for the third world, a receptive audience awaited them in the United States and Europe as well. Liberation theology quickly became cosmopolitan. It has now been more than a quarter century since a Teologia de la liberacion was published. Looking back, it is easy to conclude that the movement this book spawned has yet to live up to its great expectations. The mid-1980s witnessed a concerted attempt by the Vatican to reign in some of the more outspoken liberationists, especially those challenging authoritative relations within the Catholic hierarchy. John Paul II distanced himself from the Sandinista regime in Nicaragua, which had claimed to be influenced strongly by liberation theology, and publicly chastised high-profile clergy participating in this government. It also became apparent by the late 1 980s that many of the grassroots organizations inspired by liberation theology the Christian base communities did not multiply at the expected rate (see Daudelin and Hewitt 1995).1 The decline of the Soviet model of development and an inability to clearly articulate a "third way" also slowed liberation theology's momentum. Finally, by 1990 it had become apparent to

Papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) has an impressive propensity for lymphatic spread. Signal transducers and activators of transcription 3 (STAT3), constitutively activated in many different cancers, may play a role in PTC lymphatic metastases. We examined 49 patients with PTC, 22 with and 27 without lymphatic metastases. All patients had a total thyroidectomy with lymph node dissection to document true node negative cases. The level of STAT3 expression in benign, non-neoplastic thyroid tissue is barely detectable by immunohistochemistry. Only 11 of the 35 (31%) specimens exhibited weak immunostainingfor STAT3 and pSTAT3 was found weakly positive in 3 of 35 (9%) benign specimens. Expression of STAT3 in all PTC primary tumors was 98% (40/41) and thus significantly higher than corresponding benign thyroid tissue (p=0.0001). pSTAT3 was found in 37% of primary tumors (15/41) and this was significantly higher than pSTAT3 expression in benign tissue (p=0.006). Comparing node-positive and node-negative primary tumors, there was no difference in staining intensity for STAT3 where strong (2+) staining was seen 12/19 node-positive tumors and 13/22 node-negative tumors (p=1). Regarding pSTAT3 expression in primary PTC tumors, node negative cases (n=22) exhibited significantly less staining compared to node positive cases (n=19). Only 4 of 22 (18%) cases in the node-negative group were weakly (1+) positive for pSTAT3 while 12 of 19 (58%) cases in the node-positive group were positive (p=0.011) with 45% of these specimens exhibiting strong (2+) staining. Lymphatic metastases were highly positive (>93%) for both STAT3 and pSTAT3. The STAT3 pathway is ubiquitous in PTC and activated pSTAT3 is significantly upregulated in PTC tumors with metastatic disease. This study is the first to suggest a potential role for activated pSTAT3 in lymphatic metastases in thyroid cancer.

A growing concern among healthcare professionals is the need to continually update knowledge and skills in order to enhance clinical practice. It is recognized that there are major concerns about recruitment and retention of staff within health care, and an increasing need for greater emphasis on valuing the existing workforce. This article contributes to the debate about the role of e-learning in conjunction with continuing professional development (CPD) and personal professional development. It describes how healthcare professionals utilized an innovative, self-managed, pickup and put-down distance learning module delivered online or by CD-ROM. Staff enrolled on the module were encouraged to complete a questionnaire online or by post upon completion of each unit; to enhance validity, telephone interviews were also conducted with selected staff. Results indicate that participants showed some improvement in all categories, especially patient care where 90% of staff reported some improvement after completing the course. This particular method of teaching and learning was shown to be favoured by staff as a method of CPD, and thus has the potential to enhance patient care.

The issue of religious liberty has gained ever-increasing attention among policy makers and the public. Whereas politicians have long championed the idea of religious freedom and tolerance, the actual achievement of these goals has been an arduous battle for religious minorities. What motivates political leaders to create laws providing for greater religious liberty? In contrast to scholars who argue that religious liberty results from the spread of secularization and modern ideas, Anthony Gill argues that religious liberty results from interest-based calculations of secular rulers. Using insights from political economists, Gill develops a theory of the origins of religious liberty based upon the political and economic interests of governing officials. Political leaders are most likely to permit religious freedom when it enhances their own political survival, tax revenue, and the economic welfare of their country. He explores his theory using cases from British America, Latin America, Russia, and the Baltic states.

Religion is the law of conscience. Any law imposed on it annuls it, because when we enforce duty, we remove merit from faith, which is the basis of religion. The precepts and sacred dogmas of religion are useful, luminous proofs of transcendence; we should all profess them, but this obligation is moral, not political. – Simon Bolivar, Address to the Constituent Congress (1826) O n january 28, 1992, the Mexican national legislature approved changes to the country's revolutionary 1917 Constitution and effectively reversed eight decades of officially sanctioned hostility toward religious organizations, including principally (and surprisingly) the Roman Catholic Church. Church leaders greeted this new legal framework with a sense of optimism and accomplishment, having obtained the legal recognition and freedom it had sought for many years. Jeronimo Prigione, the papal nuncio who spearheaded the Church's struggle to obtain legal recognition, stated, “We [the Catholic hierarchy] are sincerely appreciative and thankful for the effort of the House of Deputies, and the concern of [President Carlos Salinas], a wise statesman … for opening new horizons in the relations between the Church and State [ sic ], channeling the forces of the two societies toward the service of social and religious peace” (Prigione 1992, 24). Archbishop Adolfo Suarez Rivera, then president of the Conferencia del Episcopado Mexicano (CEM), declared that this legislation “has marked a new stage in our history.

The phosphate-wasting condition, oncogenic osteomalacia, is problematic to diagnose and manage clinically due to difficulty in locating the causative tumor. Fibroblast growth factor 23 (FGF23) has recently been implicated in the pathogenesis of oncogenic osteomalacia. In this case the patient presented with clinical features typical of oncogenic osteomalacia. Removal of an angiolipoma from the thigh did not correct the clinical or biochemical abnormalities. Subsequent identification and removal of a benign giant cell tumor in the pubic ramus, however, did result in normalization of his symptoms and signs. Positive staining for FGF23 protein by immunohistochemistry was demonstrated in the giant cell tumor, but not in the angiolipoma. The serum concentration of FGF23 was elevated in preoperative serum, then normalized after removal of the giant cell tumor. Expression of both FGF23 mRNA and protein was demonstrated in the giant cell tumor tissue, and FGF23 mRNA expression and renal phosphate uptake inhibitory activity were also detected in cultured giant cell tumor cells. This case provides further evidence for the involvement of FGF23 in the pathogenesis of oncogenic osteomalacia and for the utility of serum FGF23 measurement and immunohistochemical detection of FGF23 in the diagnosis and clinical management of this condition.

Fur mehrere Jahrzehnte, von den 1960ern bis zu den 1980ern, war Lateinamerika fur Politologen und Soziologen von besonderem Interesse. Wahrend dieser Zeitspanne schwankten viele Lander dieser Region zwischen Autoritarismus und Demokratie, was einen betrachtlichen Anstieg von Literatur zum Thema Regimewandel zur Folge hatte. Ab den fruhen 1990er Jahren verlagerte sich der wissenschaftliche Schwerpunkt auf das Studium der Regimekonsolidierung, wobei Bedingungen untersucht wurden, unter denen Demokratie aufrecht erhalten und gefestigt werden kann. Aber die politische Landschaft war nicht das einzige, was sich wahrend der zweiten Halfte des 20. Jahrhunderts veranderte. Ein religioser Wandel ging durch die Region. Innerhalb der beherrschenden Religion Lateinamerikas — dem Katholizismus — bildete sich eine lose zusammenhangende Bewegung radikaler Geistlicher heraus, die den politischen und sozialen Status quo unter dem Banner der „Befreiungstheologie“ in Frage stellten. Mehrere nationale Bischofskonferenzen, die lange fur ihre Rucksichtnahme auf die politischen Fuhrer bekannt waren, begannen ebenfalls, die Wirtschaftspolitik und die Menschenrechtsverletzungen der Diktaturen der Region anzuprangern. Aber noch uberraschender als dieser radikale Wandel innerhalb der katholischen Kirche war fur Wissenschaftler die Entstehung und die rasante Entwicklung einer neuen religiosen Bewegung - des evangelikalen Protestantismus.

The nature of the journalist profession requires reporters to know a few things about a great many topics. Even journalists who focus on specialized fields have only superficial knowledge of the fi...

The challenge facing leaders of organisations in the 90s is how to change — or more fundamentally, how to shift paradigm. Change is part of the dynamic world in which we live; we need to adapt to turbulence on an ongoing basis. Until recently, many organisations were able to get away with being bureaucratic machines in a relatively stable world/business environment dominated by power politics. Today, a large number of these institutions and their leaders are simply not surviving. Who would have predicted the fate of the former role model IBM? Who would have anticipated the swift departures of boardroom chiefs like Robert Horton of BP, John Akers of IBM, James Robinson of American Express, Robert Stempel of GM etc?

The trend toward alkaline papermaking has accelerated over the past four years due to the availability of inexpensive, high quality precipitated calcium carbonate. This movement has been largely brought about through on-site production of precipitated calcium carbonate (PCC). Over ten facilities exist in North America providing the host mills with custom-made PCC products to provide specific properties for the paper grades being manufactured.Laboratory studies were recently conducted to investigate the performance of paper-grade PCC fillers in fine quality printing papers. This investigation focused on the effect of changes in PCC particle size, size distribution, surface area, and morphology on paper properties. The PCC fillers were also compared to other filler materials such as ground limestone and kaolin.In general, the results show that sheet properties are greatly influenced by the size and shape of the PCC product used. The data reveal strong correlations between average particle size and/or surface area, and sheet properties such as opacity, porosity, tensile strength, bulk, and sizing within certain filler morphologies.