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Congregational studies: bibliography of UK literature 2005-2025
Full text linkBibliography referenced in Cameron, H. (2026) 'Congregational studies in the UK 2005-2025', Practical Theology (Special Issue May 2026)
Exploring assessment literacy of undergraduate English language teachers in Bangladesh: practices and challenges
Full text linkAssessment literacy, the knowledge, skills, and principles required to design, implement, interpret, and infer educational assessments effectively, represents a critical but understudied dimension of teaching quality in higher education contexts outside North America and Western Europe. This study addresses a significant empirical gap by investigating the assessment literacy of undergraduate English language teachers in Bangladesh, an examination-dominated context with limited assessment training infrastructure. Using a cross-sectional mixed-methods design, 52 English language teachers from public and private universities completed an adapted Assessment Practices Inventory measuring self-perceived skill and self-reported frequency of use across seven assessment domains, alongside open-ended questions about challenges and professional development needs. Quantitative analysis employed non-parametric Wilcoxon signed-rank tests with Benjamini-Hochberg false discovery rate correction; qualitative data underwent inductive content analysis. Key findings revealed consistent patterns where teachers reported higher self-perceived skill (M = 3.71) than frequency of use (M = 3.44) across all domains (p < .008). Domain-specific analysis showed largest skill-use gaps in communication of results (gap = 0.38), construction of traditional tests (gap = 0.33), and performance-based assessment (gap = 0.29). Qualitative thematic analysis identified five explanatory themes: contextual constraints (time, class size, policy mandates), student factors (preparedness, academic integrity), lack of training and institutional support, tension between traditional examinations and alternative assessment, and technical-digital skills gaps. Teaching experience correlated positively with assessment literacy (Spearman's ρ = .28–.40), and formal training showed modest but consistent advantages (Cliff's δ = −0.28 to −0.34, all non-significant after correction). No significant differences emerged between public and private universities, suggesting uniform structural constraints across institutional types. Findings support situated models of assessment literacy, indicating that observed skill-use gaps reflect systemic barriers rather than knowledge deficits. The study demonstrates that assessment literacy is culturally specific and context-dependent, with implications for professional development and institutional reform in examination-dominated higher education systems
pH ‐Dependent Microenvironmental Ionic Signaling in Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma
Full text linkAim: Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) develops within a uniquely dynamic pH landscape shaped by substantial acid–base fluxes produced by the exocrine pancreas. Secretion of alkaline pancreatic juice, normally linked to digestion, produces intermittent acidifications of the pancreatic interstitium, which challenges epithelial and stromal cells. It was postulated that these unique pancreatic pH dynamics can facilitate PDAC initiation and progression through selection of a more aggressive phenotype emerging with PDAC driver mutations. Methods: Here, we summarize evidence that pH‐regulatory transport proteins have an important role in shaping the PDAC microenvironment. Results: pH‐regulatory transport proteins generate and sense their microenvironment and act as signaling hubs to regulate proliferation, migration, and metabolism, and immune evasion. In this way, transport proteins that are crucial for the normal physiology of the exocrine pancreas are misused and become coerced into playing a pro‐cancer role in pancreatic tumor cells, pancreatic stellate cells, or infiltrating immune cells. Experiments with PDAC mouse models revealed a therapeutic potential of targeting pH dynamics, notably by inhibition or genetic ablation of pH‐regulatory proteins. It is a consistent finding that these maneuvers have a marked impact on the tumor immune defense and the communication between cancer and immune cells. Conclusion: Collectively, we present a case for considering pH‐regulating proteins as a therapeutic avenue
Ethnic differences in Long COVID diagnosed in primary care in England (2020-2022): an observational cohort study using OpenSAFELY
Full text linkBackgroundLong COVID continues to affect millions of adults and contribute to substantial economic burden across Europe. Ethnic inequalities in Long COVID, and the reasons underlying these, are poorly understood. We aimed to investigate ethnic differences in the incidence of diagnosed Long COVID in England using linked national primary care data.MethodsWith approval from NHS England, we used linked health record data from England, 2020-2022, accessed through the OpenSAFELY platform. We applied Cox regression to compare incidence of diagnosed Long COVID in primary care across self-reported ethnicity in five groups. We explored potential explanations for these differences by 1) adjusting for sociodemographic and health-related factors, 2) restricting to those tested or hospitalised with COVID-19, 3) stratifying into 16 ethnic sub-groups.FindingsOur sample comprised 17,848,825 adults, of whom 16,970 (0.1%) had a diagnosis of Long COVID recorded in primary care. Hazard ratios (95% confidence intervals) for Long COVID compared with the white group were 1.04 (0.98-1.11) for the South Asian group, 0.84 (0.75-0.94) for the Black group, 0.97 (0.84-1.13) for the Mixed Ethnicity group, and 0.63 (0.55-0.72) for Other ethnic groups, which remained similar when adjusting for sociodemographic and health-related factors and among those tested or hospitalised for COVID-19. Disaggregating into 16 ethnic sub-groups revealed heterogeneity within groups, for example, compared with the White British group, hazard ratios were 1.21 (1.00-1.47) for the Bangladeshi group and 1.09 (0.99-1.21) for the Pakistani group, but 0.77 (0.70-0.86) for the Indian group; and 1.15 (0.95-1.40) for the Black Caribbean group but 0.61 (0.51-0.72) for the Black African group.InterpretationDifferences in Long COVID diagnoses across broad ethnic groups mask important sub-group inequalities, offering insight into underlying mechanisms and approaches to better target Long COVID services.FundingThe OpenSAFELY platform is principally funded by grants from: NHS England [2023-2025]; The Wellcome Trust (222097/Z/20/Z) [2020-2024]; MRC (MR/V015737/1) [2020-2021]. Additional contributions to OpenSAFELY and this analysis have been funded by grants from: MRC via the National Core Study programme, Longitudinal Health and Wellbeing strand (MC_PC_20030, MC_PC_20059) [2020-2022] and the Data and Connectivity strand (MC_PC_20058) [2021-2022]; NHS England via the Primary Care Medicines Analytics Unit [2021-2024]; NIHR and MRC via the CONVALESCENCE programme (COV-LT-0009, MC_PC_20051) [2021-2024] and MRC (MR/V040235/1) [2021-24]
Menopausal hormone therapy and risk of neuropsychiatric disease: a drug target Mendelian randomisation study
Full text linkEvidence on whether menopausal hormone therapy (MHT) affects neurological or psychiatric disease is conflicting. As MHT acts by binding to oestrogen receptors (ERα and ERβ), we used drug-target Mendelian randomisation (MR) to test whether perturbing these targets alters the risk of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), brain structure, depression, or anxiety. Genetic variants in the genes encoding these oestrogen receptors (ESR1 and ESR2) that were associated with positive controls were leveraged as instrumental variables. In two-sample MR analyses using large genome-wide association studies, genetically proxied ERα and ERβ perturbation showed no evidence of effect on AD or on cortical grey matter, hippocampal volume, or white matter hyperintensities. Genetically proxied ERβ perturbation significantly increased risk for depression (β = −0.66, 95% CI [−0.99, −0.32], p = 0.002), but not anxiety. Our study highlights psychiatric considerations when targeting oestrogen receptors with MHT, but provides no evidence for either harmful or protective effects on AD risk
Volatile evolution of silicic magmatic systems in the central Main Ethiopian Rift: insights from melt inclusions and apatite crystals of Tullu Moye and Boset volcanoes
No full textMagmatic volatile elements play a critical role in magma reservoir and ascent processes, from influencing the liquid line of descent to controlling magma storage dynamics and eruption style. However, constraining volatile behaviour prior to eruption remains challenging. This study presents a detailed model of pre-eruptive volatile content and evolution in a peralkaline magmatic system, based on integrated analyses of apatite crystals and glass (matrix and melt inclusions) from four explosive eruptions sourced from the Tullu Moye and Boset-Bericha volcanoes in the Main Ethiopian Rift. Apatite records from these eruptions indicate prolonged volatile-undersaturated conditions during magma crystallization at shallow crustal levels (~4 – 6 km depth). Thermodynamic modelling of measured apatite and melt inclusion compositions suggest that magmatic differentiation was the dominant control on volatile evolution during eruption. Apatite and melt inclusions from the Older Tullu Moye Pumice are compositionally distinct, exhibiting higher Cl and minor element contents (i.e., MgO) than those from subsequent comenditic eruptions at Tullu Moye and Boset-Bericha volcanoes. This likely reflects crystallization from a more primitive melt, associated with early-stage clinopyroxene phenocrysts of the Older Tullu Moye Pumice. Continued crystallization and differentiation in the Tullu Moye reservoir led to volatile and trace element enrichment, ultimately feeding the Younger Tullu Moye Pumice eruption. In contrast, the Boset-Bericha deposits show no comparable inter-eruption variation in magma composition, suggesting limited temporal evolution. Our integrated approach can be broadly applied to reconstruct the temporal evolution of pre-eruptive volatile behaviour in other volcanic systems
Adaptive tuning of Hamiltonian Monte Carlo methods
Full text linkWith the recently increased interest in probabilistic models, the efficiency of an underlying sampler becomes a crucial consideration. Hamiltonian Monte Carlo is one popular option for models of this kind. Performance of the method, however, strongly relies on a choice of parameters associated with an integration approach for Hamiltonian equations. Up to date, such a choice remains mainly heuristic or introduces time complexity. We propose a novel computationally inexpensive and flexible approach (we call it Adaptive Tuning or ATune) that, by combining a theoretical analysis of the multivariate Gaussian model with simulation data generated during a burn-in stage of a Hamiltonian Monte Carlo simulation, detects a system specific splitting integrator with a set of reliable sampler’s hyperparameters, including their credible randomization intervals, to be readily used in a production simulation. The method automatically eliminates those values of simulation parameters which could cause undesired extreme scenarios, such as resonance artifacts, low accuracy or poor sampling. The new approach is implemented in the in-house software package HaiCS, with no computational overheads introduced in a production simulation, and can be easily incorporated in any package for Bayesian inference with Hamiltonian Monte Carlo. The tests on popular statistical models reveal the superiority of adaptively tuned standard and generalized Hamiltonian Monte Carlo methods in terms of stability, performance and accuracy over conventional Hamiltonian Monte Carlo tuned heuristically and coupled with the well-established integrators. We also claim that the generalized Hamiltonian Monte Carlo is preferable for achieving high sampling performance. The efficiency of the new methodology is assessed in comparison with state-of-the-art samplers, e.g. the No-U-Turn-Sampler, in real-world applications, such as endocrine therapy resistance in cancer, modeling of cell-cell adhesion dynamics and influenza A epidemic outbreak
Schistosoma mansoni infections are associated with faecal calprotectin markers of gut inflammation after accounting for HIV, hepatitis B, and malaria
No full textBackground The role of gut inflammation for intestinal schistosomiasis remains poorly understood in chronically infected and repeatedly treated populations. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional study nested in the SchistoTrack cohort within Pakwach district, Uganda. In 2024, 640 participants aged 6-85 years were examined for Schistosoma mansoni by KatoKatz. fCal concentration was measured by ELISA. fCal was analysed as binary outcomes (detectable, ≥100 µg/g, >250 µg/g) and natural log-transformed continuous values. Co-endemic infections (malaria, HIV, hepatitis B (HBV)) and diverse sociodemographic covariates were investigated in logistic regressions with covariate selection. Correlations of symptoms, medications, and circulating white blood cells (WBC) with infections and fCal were reported. Results 74.4% of participants had detectable fCal, 22.3% had fCal ≥100 µg/g, and 7% had fCal >250 µg/g. S. mansoni prevalence was 49.1% (median 144 eggs per gram, IQR 36-369). Infection intensity was positively associated with all fCal outcomes (detectable: OR 1.20, ≥100 µg/g: OR 1.11, >250 µg/g: OR 1.26; continuous: β = 0.06) while status was positively related to all but the continuous fCal outcome. HIV was associated with fCal ≥100 µg/g (OR 2.52), while malaria and HBV were uninformative. Spearman analyses revealed significant and weak positive correlations between fCal, WBCs (neutrophils, monocytes and lymphocytes), faecal occult blood, medications (praziquantel and antiinflammatories) and gastrointestinal symptoms (blood in stool). Conclusions S. mansoni infections are characterised by persistent, clinically concerning levels of gut inflammation in chronically infected populations with repeated praziquantel treatment. Integration of fCal thresholds into clinical guidelines may improve management of schistosomiasis-related morbidity
Human vagus nerve fascicular anatomy and its implications for targeted cardiac stimulation: a microCT segmentation and histological pilot anatomical study
Full text linkThe functional anatomy of autonomic nerve fascicles has remained poorly understood. Building on prior evidence of organotopic organization in the pig cervical vagus nerve, this study examined the thoracic branches of the human vagus nerve using microcomputed tomography (microCT) and histological validation. Left and right vagus nerves (n = 10) were dissected from human cadavers with cardiac, recurrent laryngeal, and pulmonary branches preserved. Fascicles were segmented and traced within 5 nerves from their branching points, and morphological features analyzed. Cardiac, pulmonary, and recurrent laryngeal fascicles preserved partial organization near their entry points but merged further along the nerve. In left nerves, cardiac and pulmonary fascicles merged while recurrent laryngeal fascicles remained separate; in right nerves, cardiac fascicles merged with both pulmonary and recurrent laryngeal fascicles. Right nerves had a larger diameter and contained more fascicles, with counts varying along their length, indicative of the observed anastomoses. Notably, the superior cardiac branch on both sides remained distinct near the typical vagus nerve stimulation cuff site, highlighting potential for targeted cardiac neuromodulation potentially relevant to conditions including myocardial infarction, heart failure, and atrial fibrillation. These findings advance understanding of human vagus nerve organization and support the design of selective stimulation strategies for precise autonomic regulation
A Narrowband Technosignature Search toward the Hycean Candidate K2-18 b Using the VLA and MeerKAT
Full text linkK2-18 b, a sub-Neptune exoplanet located in the habitable zone of its host star, has emerged as an important target for atmospheric characterization, and assessments of potential habitability. Motivated by recent interpretations of JWST observations suggesting a hydrogen-rich atmosphere consistent with Hycean-world scenarios, we conducted a coordinated, multiepoch search for narrowband radio technosignatures using the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array equipped with the COSMIC backend and the MeerKAT telescope with the BLUSE backend. Our observations span frequencies from 544 MHz to 9.8 GHz and include multiple epochs that cover at least one full orbital period of the planet. In this work we outline, create, and apply a comprehensive postprocessing framework that incorporates observatory-informed radio frequency interference masking, drift-rate filtering based on the expected dynamics of the K2-18 system, multibeam spatial discrimination, primary and secondary transit filtering (when applicable), and signal-to-noise-ratio-based excision of weak and strong spurious signals. Across all bands and epochs, no signals consistent with an astrophysical or artificial origin were identified at a limit of 1012–1013 W. These nondetections allow us to place upper limits on the presence of persistent, isotropic narrowband transmitters within the K2-18 system, providing the first interferometric technosignature constraints for a Hycean-planet candidate. Our results demonstrate the efficacy of coordinated multiepoch interferometric searches and establish a methodological framework for future technosignature studies of nearby potentially habitable exoplanets