Quality and readability of internet information about stuttering

PurposeWe examined the quality and readability of English-language Internet information about stuttering and evaluated the results considering recommendations by experts in health literacy.MethodA search of Internet websites containing information about stuttering was conducted. Three key words (i.e., stuttering, stammering, speech disfluency) were entered into five country-specific versions of the most commonly used Internet search engine. A total of 79 websites were assessed. Their origin (commercial, non-profit, government, personal or university), quality [Health On the Net (HON) certification and DISCERN scores], and readability [Flesch Reading Ease (FRE) score, Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level Formula (F-KGL), and Simple Measure of Gobbledygook (SMOG)] were assessed.ResultsOf the 79 websites, 38 % were of commercial, 42 % were of nonprofit organization, 15 % were of government and 5% were of university origins, respectively. Only 13 % had obtained HON certification and the mean DISCERN scores was 3.10 in a 5-point scale. The mean reading grade levels were at 13th and 14th grade and 100 % of the websites exceeded the recommended 5th to 6th reading grade level for health information.ConclusionsThe quality of Internet-based health information about the treatment of stuttering is generally adequate, but actual usability of the sites examined in this study may be limited due to poor readability levels. This is problematic in persons with poor literacy skills. Since the Internet can be readily accessed as a valuable consumer information resource, speech-language pathologists and other healthcare professionals have an opportunity to direct consumers to websites that provide readable information of good quality.     

“These Things Took Place as Examples for Us”: On the Theological and Ecumenical Significance of the Lutheran Sola Scriptura

The principle of sola Scriptura does not suggest a reading of the Bible in a room void of context, but points to the fact that the unity of church, canon, and confession defines the identity of the Christian church. The Lutheran Reformation was an attempt to retrieve this perspective at a time when it had become obscure. This retrieval corresponds to certain tendencies on the contemporary scene; it remains to be seen, however, how far convincing answers in this way can be provided for today's burning issues.     

Religious themes in the Soviet press in 1989

Abstract

The Orthodox Church has become a visible institution in postsoviet Russia. The relationship between the church and state has been of current interest among researchers studying postcommunist religious and societal transformations. Many peculiarities of the relationship between church and state can be traced to both the prerevolutionary and the Soviet traditions. This article examines Orthodox monarchism in Russia today. The analysis is based on qualitative interviews and on observations in a few Orthodox parishes in St Petersburg in 2005 and 2006, and the article thus gives voice to the views of the ‘unofficial’ church, represented by local believers, on the state system. I analyse Orthodox monarchism in the frame of reference of the deprivatisation of religion and discuss how religion matters in the present-day construction of solidarity and national identity under Russian societal transformation.     

Views of the West: Transnationalism in contemporary Ukrainian Baptist churches

Abstract

Ukrainian evangelical churches of all kinds are intimately connected with churches, people and religious ideas in other parts of the world. Because of the close relationship between Ukrainian Baptists and churches in the United States, and also because of the perceived ubiquitous nature of American culture worldwide, including in Ukraine, the idea of ‘the West’ is a strong one in Ukrainian church life. This article, based on research carried out in four Ukrainian Baptist churches over a ten-month period, examines how Ukrainian Baptists view ‘the West’. During focus group discussions and individual interviews, Baptists portrayed the West as an object both of admiration and of distaste; as a place from which help had come for Ukraine, as well as a force that had caused problems in the Ukrainian church and in Ukraine more generally. It was described as a place of freedom, wealth, sin and opportunity; as a factor in intergenerational church conflicts; and as the place that entices church members to emigrate and abandon their home churches. Developed out of a larger study on the geographies of identity among Ukrainian Protestants, this article shows that the contemporary Ukrainian Baptist church is in part defined by a transformation from a relatively insular religious community into one that is open both to Ukrainian and western outsiders. To church members, this shift is to blame for a host of changes ushered in by transnational connections between their churches and churches in the West.     

Philosophizing with a historiographical figure: Descartes in Degérando’s Histoire comparée des systèmes de philosophie (1804 and 1847)

Abstract

The writings by the ‘state philosophers’ of nineteenth-century France are often seen, either as entirely driven by political or ideological concerns, or reduced to mere history of philosophy. Hence, ironically, those who established the philosophical canon that still now informs philosophy teaching in France were themselves excluded from that canon. Using the heuristic concept of a philosophical figure, this article intends to show how, for these philosophers, historiography represented a seemingly inoffensive, but in reality, extremely efficient means of searching out philosophical alternatives to the institutionally dominant philosophy of Victor Cousin (1792–1867). Focusing on the almost forgotten case of Joseph-Marie Degérando (1772–1842), I show how he used the philosophical figure of Descartes and how he used it to counter Cousin.     

The impact of career websites: what's the evidence?

ABSTRACT

Careers provision for young people in the UK is being re-formulated on the basis of a central role for career websites but this policy is based on unproven assumptions about their value. In this article we consider the use and impact of the two main career websites in Scotland on pupils' career management skills. We found that pupils at risk of not achieving positive post-school destinations were less likely to use the websites, as were minority ethnic pupils. Although similar in functions, the two websites differed in their effect: one had no impact while the other impacted on only one aspect of pupils' career management skills. Careers policy needs to be informed by more extensive research on career websites.     

Kierkegaard's anti-ecclesiology: the attack on ‘Christendom’, 1854–1855

Abstract

This article examines Kierkegaard's attack on the Danish state church in 1854–1855, beginning with Kierkegaard's rejection of Martensen's application of the term ‘witness to the truth’ to the recently deceased primate of the Danish church, J. P. Mynster. For Kierkegaard a witness to the truth is the person who emulates Christ's life of suffering and lives in poverty and abasement. It is an insult to the memory of the ‘glorious ones’ of the past to apply this term to the worldly, self-serving Mynster. The article goes on to consider Kierkegaard's conception of the heterogeneity of Christianity with the world, before considering Kierkegaard's rejection of the state church as a confusion of church and state which eliminates the Imitatio Christi essential for genuine Christian existence. The failure of the state church and its clergy to live according to the New Testament means that they are an abomination, and public worship is a blasphemous insult to God. The paper concludes by considering what lessons can be learned from Kierkegaard's radical anti-ecclesiology.     

Collaboration of Churches and Service Providers: Meeting the Needs of Older African Americans

ABSTRACT

This article describes a community outreach volunteer project designed to reach frail community-based older adults. The project is an example of church and secular agency collaboration in which the church provides leadership in volunteer recruitment and the agency provides training and outreach activity monitoring. The church's role in this project illustrates that small and medium-size African American churches can play an important role in mobilizing volunteer resources and can perform a linking role in helping secular agencies to gain access to frail, hard-to-reach, low-income older adults.     

Freedom of Religion or Belief in the Jurisprudence of the Bulgarian Constitutional Court1

Abstract

This article discusses the evolution of the jurisprudence of the Bulgarian Constitutional Court (BCC) in the area of freedom of religion or belief by reference to its most recent judgment, which among other things considered the legality of a provision of establishment ex lege of the majority religion. While the court was unable to reach the majority needed for a decisive judgment, the elaborations of the two groups of judges illustrate two distinctive trends in BCC jurisprudence in the area of freedom of religion or belief. At one end of the spectrum the dissenting judges presented very detailed elaborations for the justification of establishment ex lege against the background of Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights, with notions similar to the Hartian rule of recognition, using sources such as canon law and Ottoman law as legally relevant facts for the constitution of a ‘background culture’ (via establishing the majority religion ex lege). At the other end of the spectrum dissenting judges presented a more sceptical approach to establishment ex lege through a very literal interpretation of the principles and some of the European Court of Human Rights jurisprudence dealing with Article 9. While the decision was not conclusive it flagged a new dimension to the BCC's approach in the area of human rights and freedom of religion or belief – the blending of political and legal analytical philosophy with a detailed analysis of European Court of Human Rights case law.     

How do scientists select articles in the PubMed database? An empirical study of criteria and strategies

IntroductionThe present study investigated the strategies used by experienced researchers to find articles in an online bibliographic database.ObjectiveThe goal was to shed light on researchers’ actual search behaviour by empirically observing users during the search process.MethodWe asked 16 neuroscience researchers and 16 researchers in other disciplines of life sciences to perform five search tasks on neuroscience topics using the PubMed database. Think-aloud protocols were recorded while the participants performed the search tasks.ResultsAll researchers managed to find adequate references for the tasks in the limited amount of time allocated. Most participants used similar, very basic moves and tactics to perform the tasks. However, they behaved in many different ways when they had to decide whether to read the retrieved results or to modify their query (according to the number of references they obtained), or when selecting the one or two references they finally gave as answers among all possible answers.DiscussionVariability in participants’ behaviour may result from inter-individual differences in either the participants’ mental models of PubMed or cognitive abilities and styles, but the question requires further investigation. The data further suggest that developers of online search engines and databases should concentrate their efforts on improving simple-search interfaces and helping users to correct search errors in real time.     

‘Just Because I Can't Remember …’ Religiousness in Older People with Dementia

SUMMARY

This paper reports part of a pilot study that used spiritual reminiscence techniques to explore issues of religiosity, church attendance and meaning in life of a group of older people with dementia. The study used small groups, individual interviews and participant observation to examine the experience of dementia and the search for meaning used by people with dementia. There were 22 participants from three aged care facilities involved in the project. The majority of participants had been long-term church attendees and could describe how their religion and relationship with God had impacted on their lives. They had few fears for the future and derived considerable meaning in life from their relationships with family. Participants were able to describe early memories and also remember things happening recently in their aged care facility. This would seem to be the opposite of community expectations (and sometimes staff expectations) of older people with dementia.     

Unique needs: Salvation Army officers in retirement and end-of-life care

ABSTRACT

Retirement is a major life transition. On this point there is general agreement. But what about retirement for clergy and those who serve in the church? Perhaps a few see ministry as a job; then the change would be much like a worker ceasing paid employment. However, does being ordained, having a respected leadership role in the church, and serving God bring some unique dynamics to this transition? In this article we try to identify such factors using a large sample of Australian Salvation Army officers.     

A Response to G. Scott Davis

This defense of my essay on Vitoria and Suárez argues that my use of the term “religious war” is based on religious authority at least as much as religious cause, and that Davis’s decision to discuss only Vitoria limits his ability to come to terms with my thesis. To Davis’s argument that for Vitoria war was justified against the Indians only as a necessity of simple justice and to protect the innocent, I argue that his disjunction between simple justice and religious cause is a false one that fails to come to term with the church’s primary reason for approaching Indians, with the Thomistic understanding of the relation between nature and grace and between reason and revelation, and with the distinction between what justice requires in relation to the church and Christians and what it requires for others. I explain finally that my claim is not that the Catholic political rulers readily responded to papal calls for war except when it was in their interest, but that papal war was central to the normative just‐war tradition of the church in canon law and among major theologians like Vitoria and Suárez.     

First impressions online: The inclusion of transgender and gender nonconforming identities and services in mental healthcare providers' online materials in the USA

Background: When accessing mental healthcare services, transgender and gender nonconforming (TGNC) individuals face systemic barriers to gender-affirmative care. Initial points of contact, like intake forms, may show limited consideration for the heterogeneity of TGNC identities and can lead to negative consequences prior to face-to-face interaction with providers. Aims: The first aim was to mimic a likely pathway a TGNC individual may follow to seek mental healthcare services in the USA and to describe the extent to which they may encounter enacted stigma or affirmative messages that may impede or facilitate access to care. The second aim was to determine if a positive State legal climate for TGNC people was associated with more affirmative provider materials. Methods: Content analysis was used to examine a national sample of websites and intake forms of mental healthcare providers who advertise online as working with TGNC clients. Intake forms were coded for usage of affirmative language in gender/sex questions and including questions for a client's pronouns and preferred name. Websites were coded for mentioning a variety of services or resources for TGNC clients. Results: While provider websites were found through Google searches for a “gender therapist,” only 56.6% of websites stated a provider specialty to work with TGNC clients and 32.1% of websites had no mention of services or resources for TGNC people. Additionally, a significantly larger proportion of intake forms from States with legal protections for TGNC people used affirmative language in gender/sex questions and asked for a client's pronouns than intake forms from States without legal protections. Discussion: Barriers to affirmative healthcare for TGNC people within patient and provider interactions have been identified in previous research and these data show TGNC individuals may face enacted stigma even in their search for a provider, particularly those TGNC people living in States without legal protections.     

Church and State After Christendom

Abstract

At a time when traditional markers of Christian identity are in decline, renewed attention has been devoted to the relationship of the church to state and society. In particular, there has been a marked rise in counter-cultural ecclesiologies stressing the distinctiveness of the church over against its host society. The article argues that there is a rich resource of Scriptural and traditional materials for fruitful reflection upon the political nature of the Christian community and its relationship to the state and civil society. Particular attention is devoted to the kingship of Yahweh in the Old Testament, the ministry of Jesus, and several leading writers of the early church. It is claimed that these historical attempts to express a positive account of stratified citizenship are significant for the increasingly post-Christendom context of Western churches.     

Pope Benedict XVI and the Church in China

ABSTRACT

Pope Benedict XVI’s letter to the Church in China in 2007 emphasises the importance of papal authority, the relationship between local and universal churches, and the appointment of bishops. This article highlights Pope Benedict’s centrist ecclesiology, which had been normative for the Catholic Church since he was the Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (1981 to 2005). In spite of his conservative stance regarding church doctrine, he was open to dialogue with the Chinese authorities. He understood the complexities of the Chinese Church, the hardship and predicament faced by the faithful.     

Jealousy,envy, strife and discord in first clement*

Abstract

This article investigates the role that the author of the First Epistle of Clement attributes to the rivalrous emotions in creating discord in the church at Corinth. Comparison with contemporary philosophers and moralists demonstrates that Clement employs conventional topics of conservative ideology in order to crush the revolt against the established presbyters.