Devotional exercises : chiefly designed for the use of families on the Sabbath, and other opportunities, varying expressions as occasion and circumstances require: selected partly from the Episcopal service: also an address, by the ministers on Piscataqua river, recommending forms in worship: and from sundry public papers, the propriety of keeping the advent of Christ: likewise, a serious address to the spectators on the execution of the pirates, Feb. 18, 1819: to which is added Meditations selected from the works of the Rev. John Flavel, Husbandry and Navigation spiritualized with abridgments and variations: and likewise prayers on the various seasons of the year, selected from the Christian monitor: also, a short abridgment of the book of Job; with poetry on the subject /

Mode of access: Internet.

Memoir of the Rev. Benjamin Goodier. Abridged from the English edition. From the Christian Examiner, number V. vol. II.

Mode of access: Internet.

The meditations of Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, with the Manual of Epictetus, and a Summary of Christian morality. Freely tr. from the original Greek,

Mode of access: Internet.

The eight volumes of letters writ by a Turkish spy, who liv'd five and forty years undiscover'd at Paris: giving an impartial account to the Divan at Constantinople, of the most remarkable transactions of Europe: and, discovering several intrigues and secrets of the Christian courts (especially of that of France) continued from the year 1637, to the year 1682 /

Authorities agree that the first part of the work, published in Paris 1684, was written by Marana. The remainder has been ascribed to different Englishmen, among them Dr. Robert Midgley and William Bradshaw. It is probable however that Midgley simply edited the English translation, made by Bradshaw, of the original Italian manuscript. cf. ESTC.

The conflict between capital and labor; a fair, candid and impartial treatment of the subject from a non-partizan and Christian standpoint.

Mode of access: Internet.

The Christian spectator: being a journey from England to Ohio, two years in that state, travels in America, &c.

Appended is the author's "European stranger in America," New York, 1839.

The Didache and Traditioned Innovation: Shaping Christian Community in the First Century and the Twenty-First Century

Church leaders, both lay and clergy, shape Christian community. Among their central tasks are: building communal identity, nurturing Christian practices, and developing faithful structures. When it comes to understanding the approach of the earliest Christian communities to these tasks, the Didache might well be the most important text most twenty-first century church leaders have never read. The Didache innovated on tradition, shaping the second generation of Christians to meet the crises and challenges of a changing world.

Most likely composed in the second half of the first century, the Didache served as a training manual for gentile converts to Christianity, preparing them for life in Christian community. This brief document, roughly one third the length of Mark’s gospel, developed within early Jewish-Christian communities. It soon found wide usage throughout the Mediterranean region, and its influence endured throughout the patristic and into the medieval period.

The Didache outlines emerging Christian practices that were rooted in both Jewish tradition and early Jesus material, yet were reaching forward in innovative ways. The Didache adopts historical teachings and practices and then adapts them for an evolving context. In this respect, the writers of the Didache, as well as the community shaped by its message, exemplify the pattern of thinking described by Greg Jones as “traditioned innovation.”

The Didache invites reflection on the shape and content of Christian community and Christian leadership in the twenty-first century. As churches and church leaders engage a rapidly changing world, the Didache is an unlikely and yet important conversation partner from two millennia ago. A quick read through its pages – a task accomplished in less than half an hour – brings the reader face to face with a brand of Christianity both very familiar and strikingly dissimilar to modern Christianity. Such dissonance challenges current assumptions about the church and creates a space in which to re-imagine our situation in light of this ancient Christian tradition. The Didache provides a window through which we might re-examine current conceptualizations of Christian life, liturgy, and leadership.

This thesis begins with an exploration of the form and function of the Didache and an examination of a number of important background issues for the informed study of the Didache. The central chapters of this thesis exegete and explore select passages in each of the three primary sections of the Didache – the Two Ways (Didache 1-6), the liturgical section (Didache 7-10), and the church order (Didache 11-15). In each instance, the composers of the Didache reach back into a cherished and life-giving aspect of the community’s heritage and shape it anew into a fresh and faithful approach to living the Christian life in a drastically different context.

The thesis concludes with three suggestions of how the Didache may provide a resource for the way the Church in the present thinks about training disciples, shaping community, and developing leadership structures. These conversation starters offer beginning points for a richer, fuller discussion of traditioned innovation in our current church context. The Didache provides a source of wisdom from our spiritual forebears that modern Christian leaders would do well not to ignore. With a look through the first century window of the Didache, twenty-first century Christians can discover fresh insights for shaping Christian community in the present.

Generation of a 3D proximal femur shape from a single projection 2D radiographic image.

Summary Generalized Procrustes analysis and thin plate splines were employed to create an average 3D shape template of the proximal femur that was warped to the size and shape of a single 2D radiographic image of a subject. Mean absolute depth errors are comparable with previous approaches utilising multiple 2D input projections. Introduction Several approaches have been adopted to derive volumetric density (g cm-3) from a conventional 2D representation of areal bone mineral density (BMD, g cm-2). Such approaches have generally aimed at deriving an average depth across the areal projection rather than creating a formal 3D shape of the bone. Methods Generalized Procrustes analysis and thin plate splines were employed to create an average 3D shape template of the proximal femur that was subsequently warped to suit the size and shape of a single 2D radiographic image of a subject. CT scans of excised human femora, 18 and 24 scanned at pixel resolutions of 1.08 mm and 0.674 mm, respectively, were equally split into training (created 3D shape template) and test cohorts. Results The mean absolute depth errors of 3.4 mm and 1.73 mm, respectively, for the two CT pixel sizes are comparable with previous approaches based upon multiple 2D input projections. Conclusions This technique has the potential to derive volumetric density from BMD and to facilitate 3D finite element analysis for prediction of the mechanical integrity of the proximal femur. It may further be applied to other anatomical bone sites such as the distal radius and lumbar spine.

Comparative effects of posterior eye cup tissues from Myopic and Hyperopic chick eyes on cultured scleral fibroblasts

The role of individual ocular tissues in mediating changes to the sclera during myopia development is unclear. The aim of this study was to examine the effects of retina, RPE and choroidal tissues from myopic and hyperopic chick eyes on the DNA and glycosaminoglycan (GAG) content in cultures of chick scleral fibroblasts. Primary cultures of fibroblastic cells expressing vimentin and -smooth muscle actin were established in serum-supplemented growth medium from 8-day-old normal chick sclera. The fibroblasts were subsequently co-cultured with posterior eye cup tissue (full thickness containing retina, RPE and choroid) obtained from untreated eyes and eyes wearing translucent diffusers (form-deprivation myopia, FDM) or -15D lenses (lens-induced myopia, LIM) for 3 days (post hatch day 5 to 8) (n=6 per treatment group). The effect of tissues (full thickness and individual retina, RPE, and choroid layers) from -15D (LIM) versus +15D (lens-induced hyperopia, LIH) treated eyes was also determined. Refraction changes in the direction predicted by the visual treatments were confirmed by retinoscopy prior to tissue collection. Glycosaminoglycan (GAG) and DNA content of the scleral fibroblast cultures were measured using GAG and PicoGreen assays. There was no significant difference in the effect of full thickness tissue from either FDM or LIM treated eyes on DNA and GAG content of scleral fibroblasts (DNA 8.9±2.6 µg and 8.4±1.1 µg, p=0.12; GAG 11.2±0.6 µg and 10.1±1.0 µg, p=0.34). Retina from LIM eyes did not alter fibroblast DNA or GAG content compared to retina from LIH eyes (DNA 27.2±1.7 µg versus 23.2±1.5 µg, p=0.21; GAG 28.1±1.7 µg versus. 28.7±1.2 µg, p=0.46). Similarly, the choroid from LIH and LIM eyes did not produce a differential effect on DNA content (DNA, LIM 46.9±6.4 versus LIH 51.5±4.7 µg, p=0.31), whereas GAG content was higher for cells in co-culture with choroid from LIH eyes (GAG 32.5±0.7 µg versus 18.9±1.2 µg, F1,6=9.210, p=0.0002). In contrast, fibroblast DNA was greater in co-culture with RPE from LIM eyes than the empty basket and DNA content less for co-culture with RPE from LIH eyes (LIM: 72.4±6.3 µg versus Empty basket: 46.03±1.0 µg; F1,6=69.99, p=0.0005 and LIH: 27.9±2.3 µg versus empty basket: 46.03±1.0 µg; p=0.0004). GAG content was higher with RPE from LIH eyes (LIH: 33.7±1.9 µg versus empty basket: 29.5±0.8 µg, F1,6=13.99, p=0.010) and lower with RPE from LIM eyes (LIM: 27.7±0.9 µg versus empty basket: 29.5±0.8 µg, p=0.021). GAG content of cells in co-culture with choroid from LIH eyes was higher compared to co-culture with choroid from LIM eyes (32.5±0.7 µg versus 18.9±1.2 µg respectively, F1,6=9.210, p=0.0002). In conclusion, these experiments provide evidence for a directional growth signal that is present (and remains) in the ex-vivo RPE, but that does not remain in the ex-vivo retina. The identity of this factor(s) that can modify scleral cell DNA and GAG content requires further research.

The cost of being ethical : evidence from Islamic equity funds

This paper examines the relationship between financial performance and ethical screening intensity of a special class of ethical funds that is rooted in Islamic values – Islamic equity funds (IEFs). These faith-based ethical funds screen investments on compliance with Islamic values where conventional interest expense (riba), gambling (maysir), excessive uncertainty (gharar), and non-ethical (non-halal) products are prohibited. We test whether these extra screens affect the financial performance of IEFs relative to non-Islamic funds. Based on a large survivorship-free international sample of 387 Islamic funds, our results show that IEFs on average underperform conventional funds by 40 basis points per month, or 4.8% per year (supporting the underperformance hypothesis). While Islamic funds do not generally perform better during crisis periods, they outperformed conventional funds during the recent sub-prime crisis (supporting the outperformance hypothesis). Using holdings-based measures for ethical screening intensity, results show IEFs that apply more intensive screening perform worse, suggesting that there is a cost to being ethical.

"They did not believe me" : Adult survivors' perspectives of child sexual abuse by personnel in Christian Institutions

Executive Summary Child sexual abuse (CSA) in Christian Institutions continues to be of serious concern in public, criminal justice and institutional discourse. This study was conducted in conjunction with Project Kidsafe Foundation and sought the perspectives of Australian survivors of CSA by Personnel in Christian Institutions (PICIs). In total, 81 individual survivors responded to an online survey which asked them a range of questions about their current and childhood life circumstance; the nature, extent and location of abuse; grooming strategies utilised by perpetrators; their experiences of disclosure; and outcomes of official reporting to both criminal justice agencies and also official processes Christian institutions. Survey participants were given the option to further participate in a qualitative interview with the principal researcher. These interviews are not considered within this report. In summary, survey data examined here indicate that: • Instances of abuse included a range of offences from touching outside of clothing to serious penetrative offences. • The onset of abuse occurred at a young age: between 6 and 10 years for most female participants, and 11 and 13 years for male participants. • In the majority of cases the abuse ceased because of actions by survivors, not by adults within families or the Christian institution. • Participants waited significant time before disclosing their abuse, with many waiting 20 years or more. • Where survivors disclosed to family members or PICIs, they were often met with disbelief and unhelpful responses aimed at minimising the harm. • Where an official report was made, it was most often made to police. In these cases 53% resulted in an official investigations. • The primary reasons for reporting were to protect others from the perpetrator and make the Christian institution accountable to an external agency. • Where reports to Christian institutions were made, most survivors were dissatisfied with outcomes, and a smaller majority was extremely dissatisfied. This report reflects the long-held understanding that responding to CSA is a complex and difficult task. If effective and meaningful responses are not made, however, trauma to the survivor is most often compounded and recovery delayed. This report demonstrates the need for further independent analysis and oversight of responses made to CSA by both criminal justice, religious and social institutions. Meaningful change will only be accessible, however, if family, community and institutional environments are safe places for survivors to disclose their experiences of abuse and begin to seek ways of healing. There is much to be learnt from survivors that have already made this journey.

Identity, forgiveness and power in the management of child sexual abuse by personnel in Christian Institutions

The ongoing crises of child sexual abuse by Christian institutions leaders across the Anglophone world continue to attract public attention and public inquiries. The pervasiveness of this issue lends credence to the argument that the prevailing ethos functioning within some Christian Institutions is one which exercises influence to repeatedly mismanage allegations of child sexual abuse by Church leaders. This work draws on semistructured interviews conducted with 15 Personnel in Christian Institutions (PICIs) in Australia who were identified as being pro-active in their approach to addressing child sexual abuse by PICIs. From these data, themes of power and forgiveness are explored through a Foucaultian conceptualising of pastoral power and ‘truth’ construction. Forgiveness is viewed as a discourse which can have the power effect of either silencing or empowering victim/survivors. The study concludes that individual PICIs’ understandings of the role ofpower in their praxis influences outcomes from the deployment of forgiveness.