Vani P. Sanon
Oct 1, 2016; 34:181-186
Feature Articles

The state, which earned a B-plus, led the nation in K-12 achievement rankings and outperformed other states in several key academic indicators, but fell short on funding equity.

The state, which earned a D-plus, has struggled with school finance issues and endured teacher strikes and battles over pay, but also earned B-plus for funding equity.

The state, which earned a D-plus, was weak on socioeconomic factors that can affect the educational environment, and also in the school finance area.

The state, which earned a B, saw its educational strength buoyed by strong performance in areas that measure socioeconomic factors that can affect the educational environment.

The state, which earned a B, is one of the nation’s wealthiest and turned in strong performances in the school finance arena and in areas such as preschool and kindergarten enrollment.

Consumers who only make the minimum repayment on their credit card could be paying hundreds of dollars a year in high interest payments. To help, BETA partnered with the Treasury and Westpac to see if reminders could encourage consumers to pay earlier and save money. We found any type of SMS reminder resulted in a $134 (28 per cent) increase in repayments in the following month, compared to those who received no message. However, different SMS messages all had a similar impact and we were unable to detect an effect from sending email reminders. Overall, the findings suggest that sending an SMS reminder to credit card consumers before their payment due date is a simple, cost-effective way to improve their financial wellbeing.

[S.i.] : [publisher not identified]

Paris : A. Parent, 1874.

Paris : G. Steinheil, 1891.

Wiesbaden : Bergmann, 1900.

Halae : Typis Grunerti, [1817?]

Barbour, who served as chairman of the Republican National Committee from 1993 to 1997, will serve as chairman of the National Assessment Governing Board for a term that lasts until Sept. 30, 2023.

The state, which earned a D-plus, scored low on the Chance for Success Index, which tracks a host of socioeconomic factors that can affect the educational environment.

[Rome?]

Segmentation of cardiac images, particularly late gadolinium-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (LGE-MRI) widely used for visualizing diseased cardiac structures, is a crucial first step for clinical diagnosis and treatment. However, direct segmentation of LGE-MRIs is challenging due to its attenuated contrast. Since most clinical studies have relied on manual and labor-intensive approaches, automatic methods are of high interest, particularly optimized machine learning approaches. To address this, we organized the "2018 Left Atrium Segmentation Challenge" using 154 3D LGE-MRIs, currently the world's largest cardiac LGE-MRI dataset, and associated labels of the left atrium segmented by three medical experts, ultimately attracting the participation of 27 international teams. In this paper, extensive analysis of the submitted algorithms using technical and biological metrics was performed by undergoing subgroup analysis and conducting hyper-parameter analysis, offering an overall picture of the major design choices of convolutional neural networks (CNNs) and practical considerations for achieving state-of-the-art left atrium segmentation. Results show the top method achieved a dice score of 93.2% and a mean surface to a surface distance of 0.7 mm, significantly outperforming prior state-of-the-art. Particularly, our analysis demonstrated that double, sequentially used CNNs, in which a first CNN is used for automatic region-of-interest localization and a subsequent CNN is used for refined regional segmentation, achieved far superior results than traditional methods and pipelines containing single CNNs. This large-scale benchmarking study makes a significant step towards much-improved segmentation methods for cardiac LGE-MRIs, and will serve as an important benchmark for evaluating and comparing the future works in the field.

Browse the collections for artworks with a CC0 license as part of the Smithsonian's Open Access Initiative,

Some farmers across the province are worried about getting their fuel in time for spring seeding. The Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan says it has been fielding complaints this week about delays at the Co-op cardlock near Moose Jaw.

A St. John's cardiologist says public health restrictions put in place under the COVID-19 pandemic, while justified, may be harming cardiac patients whose procedures have been postponed indefinitely as well as heart patients who are avoiding hospitals.

We're answering your questions about the pandemic. Send yours to COVID@cbc.ca and we’ll answer as many as we can. We’ll publish a selection of answers every weekday online, and also put some questions to the experts during The National and on CBC News Network.

UFC 249 will proceed as planned Saturday night despite Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza being ruled out Friday following a positive test for the coronavirus. He was scheduled to oppose Uriah Hall in Jacksonville, Fla.

Cardinal Robert Sarah, head of the Vatican's liturgy office, claims he never signed a petition claiming the coronavirus is an over-hyped "pretext" to deprive the faithful of Mass.

The post Using SOLIDWORKS Sheet Metal for Cardboard Packaging Design appeared first on SOLIDWORKS Education Blog.

Following in the footsteps of Apple Card, and in the shadow of a rumored debit card solution from Google, Samsung on Thursday announced plans to field a physical debit card product in partnership with finance company SoFi.

CNA Staff, Apr 14, 2020 / 02:00 pm (CNA).- Cardinal George Pell has said culture wars and anti-Catholic sentiment could have played a part in the decision of Victoria police to pursue charges against him, even while they lacked supportive evidence of the allegations in his case.

Cardinal Pell described Victoria police as having “advertised for business” against him in an April 14 interview with Sky News Australia. Pell was asked about the decision by Victoria police to launch an open-ended investigation into him, despite having received no complaints of a crime.

The interview was Pell’s first televised appearance since his release last week after more than 400 days in prison. On the evidence of a single accuser, Pell was convicted in December 2018 of sexually assaulting two choirboys at the Melbourne Cathedral in 1996.

On April 7, the Australian High Court unanimously ruled that the evidence presented during the trial would not have allowed the jury to avoid reasonable doubt and ordered Pell’s acquittal and release.

On the day of his release, Pell told CNA that “The only basis for long term healing is truth and the only basis for justice is truth, because justice means truth for all.”

Pell spoke with Sky News’ Andrew Bolt about the decision by local police to bring 28 allegations of sexual abuse against him, only to see 27 of them dropped before reaching court. The remaining allegation resulted in Pell’s conviction by a Victoria jury and eventual acquittal by the High Court.

Asked directly if he thought police were “out to get” him, Pell said he did not know.

“I don’t know how you explain it, but it is certainly extraordinary,” Pell said.

Asked if he thought there was an anti-Catholic bias at work in the decision of police to charge him and by judges at the Victoria Court of Appeal to sustain his conviction, despite the evidence which eventually led to his exoneration, Pell said it was a possibility.

“I’ve seen too many people [make the leap] from possible to probable to fact. Certainly, people do not like Christians who teach Christianity, especially on life and family and issues like that.”

“The culture wars are real,” Pell said. “There is a systematic attempt to remove the Judeo-Christian legal foundations [on for example] marriage, life, gender, sex.”

“Unfortunately, there’s less rational discussion and more playing the man, more abuse and intimidation, and that’s not good for a democracy.”

During the interview, the cardinal was also asked if he believed that there was any connection between his work to reform the Vatican finances during his time as Prefect for the Economy and the emergence of charges against him in Victoria.

“Most of the senior people in Rome who are in any way sympathetic to financial reform believe that they are [connected]. But I have seen too much from people, as I said, going to possibility to probability to fact – I don’t have any evidence of that.”

“But one of my fears was that what we had done [to reform the Vatican finances] would remain hidden for ten years or so, and they’d would be revealed and the baddies would say ‘Well, Pell and Casey [Pell’s chief advisor] were in charge then, they turned a blind eye and did nothing to it.’”

“Thanks be to God all that’s gone, because there was a flurry of articles just before Christmas exposing all sorts of things like a disastrous purchase – actually a couple of them – in London, and it was very clearly demonstrated that we tenaciously opposed those things.”

“What we were pushing and saying has been massively vindicated,” Pell said. “Now you can see why they sacked the auditor [Libero Milone], why they got rid of the external auditors.”

Asked how high up in the curial hierarchy financial corruption goes, Pell said “Who knows? It’s a little bit like [anti-Catholicism] in Victoria, you’re not quite sure where the vein runs, how thick and broad it is, and how high it goes.”

But the cardinal also made clear that, in financial reforming efforts, Pope Francis had “absolutely” supported him and that “at the feet of the pope we’ve got Cardinal [Pietro] Parolin, he’s certainly not corrupt. Just how high up [the corruption goes] is an interesting hypothesis.”

Pell said that despite the difficulties he faced in prison, where he was held in solitary confinement for much of the time for his own safety, he bore no anger towards his accuser.

“I’ve got no anger, no hostility towards my complainant, I never have,” said Pell.

“I am called to forgive what happened to me that might have been a little unjust, and there is this heroic Christian call to forgiveness in the most appalling circumstances.”

But, Pell said, he had no hesitation in condemning the terrible scandal of sexual abuse in the Church.

“I totally condemn those sorts of activities [of abuse] and the damage that it has done to people – and I have seen the damage that it has done to people.”

“One of the things that grieves me is the suggestion that I’m anti-victim or not sufficiently sympathetic. I devoted a lot of time and energy to trying to get [victims] justice, and to get them help and compensation.”

Pell noted that as archbishop in the 1990s he set up the Melbourne Response to deal with sexual abuse in the Church and bringing about justice and compensation for victims.

“I worked hard,” Pell said, “when it wasn’t easy or fashionable, to get something in place – not run by clerics – that would give some protection and redress to these people, and I have worked consistently at that since at least the middle 90s.”

The cardinal said he had kept the same routine while in prison that, as a bishop, he had often urged on priests who found themselves “in a bit of trouble;” getting up early and at a set time, praying, exercising, and eating well.

“If you can’t pray when you are in trouble, your faith is very weak indeed.”

Asked if he had ever asked God, in the words of Christ on the cross, “why have you forsaken me?” Pell responded “No.”

“But I have said ‘My God, my God, what are you up to?’”

“One of the strangest teachings about Christianity – and the most useful – is that you can offer up your suffering,” Pell said. “Suffering is not just a brute fact. A Christian can offer that up to the Good God.”

CNA Staff, May 7, 2020 / 11:00 am (CNA).- Cardinal George Pell has expressed his “surprise” at newly released findings of an Australian investigation, which concluded that the cardinal was aware of sexual abuse by clerics in the 1970s and 80s, and failed to act.

In 2017, Australia’s Royal Commission released a report on sexual abuse of minors in the country, the result of a five-year enquiry into the behavior and responsibility of institutions including the Church. Sections of the report relating to Cardinal Pell were redacted until the conclusion of criminal legal proceedings against the cardinal. 

The redacted portions were released May 6.

In the newly available material, the commission found that Pell knew about the abusive activities of two priests during his own years as a priest, and that he failed to act to stop them. 

On Thursday, Pell said through a spokesperson that the commission’s conclusions about him were “not supported by evidence.”

Pell gave evidence to the commission in 2016 via video link from Rome. During his testimony, he denied failing to act against known sexual abusers in the clergy. Pell specifically denied that while he was a priest in Ballarat in the 1970s and 80s, he had any awareness of the actions of then-Father Gerald Ridsdale, a serial abuser from the same diocese.

The Royal Commission concluded that, as a member of Bishop Ronald Mulkearns’ college of priest consulters in the diocese, Pell would have been made aware of allegations of abuse against Ridsdale during discussions about the priest’s transfers between assignments in 1977 and 1982.

But Pell told the commission that he and the other consulters had been deceived by Mulkearns and were unaware of Ridsdale’s crimes until years later.

“The Consultors who gave evidence on the meetings in 1977 and 1982 either said they did not learn of Ridsdale’s offending against children until much later or they had no recollection of what was discussed. None said they were made aware of Ridsdale’s offending at these meetings,” Pell said in a statement released through a spokesperson late Wednesday evening.

In a 2017 statement, Pell said “I would never have condoned or participated in a decision to transfer Ridsdale in the knowledge that he had abused children, and I did not do so.” 

The commission rejected Pell’s testimony, and found that it “ought to have been obvious” why Ridsdale was being transferred from one assignment to another.

“We are satisfied Bishop Mulkearns gave reasons for it being necessary to move Ridsdale. We are satisfied that he referred to homosexuality at the meeting, in the context of giving reasons for Ridsdale’s move,” the report found. “However, we are not satisfied that Bishop Mulkearns left the explanation there, as Cardinal Pell said there would have been a discussion."

“We do not accept that Bishop Mulkearns lied to his consultors.”

The commission did not delineate specific proofs for its conclusion.

The commission also said that Pell would have known about allegations of abuse made against Fr. Peter Searson, who was active as a Melbourne priest during Pell’s time as an auxiliary bishop in the Melbourne archdiocese.

In 1989, Pell held a meeting with representatives from the parish and school in Doveton, where Searson was assigned. During that meeting a number of complaints were made against Searson but, according to Pell, sexual misconduct with children was not raised, and Searson’s removal was not requested.

Following Pell’s installation as Archbishop of Melbourne in 1996, Pell placed Searson on administrative leave and removed him from parish ministry in 1997. Searson died in 2009 and was never charged by police.

A spokesman for Victoria Police, which brought charges against Pell leading to his imprisonment for more than a year before the High Court freed him last month, told the Guardian that the newly released sections of the report would be studied and police would “undertake an assessment of those findings.”

“At this time it would not be appropriate to comment further about any possible action,” The spokesman said.

Current Archbishop of Melbourne Peter Comensoli released his own statement in response to the new material from the commission, in which he repeated his previous apologies “for the failure of the Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne to responsibly care for and protect our young people and vulnerable adults.”

“Child safety and care is not a project with an end date”, Comensoli said, but a project that “requires life-long vigilance.”

In December 2018, Pell was convicted of five counts of sexual abuse, but was acquitted by the Australian High Court last monthl. Following that decision, the redacted portions of the commission’s findings were released.

CNA Staff, May 8, 2020 / 10:25 am (CNA).- Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò has accused a Vatican cardinal of causing him “serious harm” in a bitter war of words over a controversial open letter regarding the coronavirus crisis.

In a statement published May 8, the archbishop criticized Cardinal Robert Sarah’s decision to distance himself from the letter, titled “Appeal for the Church and the World,” which argues that the coronavirus pandemic has been exploited in order to create a one-world government.

The statement details Vigano’s account of his interactions with Sarah beginning May 4. Viganò claims that on the evening of May 7, the prefect of the Vatican's Congregation for Divine Worship and Sacraments asked him to remove him from the list of signatories to the letter, which had by that time already been published.

“With surprise and deep regret,” he wrote, “I then learned that His Eminence had used his Twitter account, without giving me any notice, to make statements that cause serious harm to the truth and to my person.”

Viganò was referring to a series of three May 7 tweets from Sarah, which said: “A Cardinal Prefect, member of the Roman Curia has to observe a certain restriction  on political matters. He shouldn't sign petitions in such aereas [sic].”

“Therefore this morning I explicitely [sic] asked the authors of the petition titled ‘For the Church and for the world’ not to mention my name.”

“From a personal point of view, I may share some questions or preoccupations raised regarding restrictions on fundamental freedom but I didn't sign that petition,” Sarah added.

Viganò’s statement continued: “I am very sorry that this matter, which is due to human weakness, and for which I bear no resentment towards the person who caused it, has distracted our attention from what must seriously concern us at this dramatic moment.”

After Viganò issued his rebuke, Sarah tweeted May 8: “I will not speak to this petition, which today seems to occupy a lot of people. I leave to their conscience those who want to exploit it in one way or another. I decided not to sign this text. I fully accept my choice.”

In his statement, Viganò said he had chosen to publicize his private conversations with Sarah because he had a duty to tell the truth, and “also for the sake of fraternal correction.”

Vigano said Sarah had initially told him: “Yes, I agree to put my name to it, because this is a fight we must engage in together, not only for the Catholic Church but for all mankind.”

He confirmed that Sarah’s signature has now been removed from the open letter.

Vigano, a former papal nuncio made headlines in August 2018, for a letter that alleged Vatican officials had ignored warnings about the sexual abuse of disgraced former cardinal Theodore McCarrick. Since that time, Vigano has released numerous letters expressing his viewpoints on matters in the Church, which include criticisms of Pope Francis and other curial officials.

The appeal argued that as a result of the pandemic centuries of Christian civilization could be “erased under the pretext of a virus” and an “odious technological tyranny” established in its place.

It said: “We have reason to believe, on the basis of official data on the incidence of the epidemic as related to the number of deaths, that there are powers interested in creating panic among the world’s population with the sole aim of permanently imposing unacceptable forms of restriction on freedoms, of controlling people and of tracking their movements. The imposition of these illiberal measures is a disturbing prelude to the realization of a World Government beyond all control.”

Several bishops and cardinals are alleged to have signed the letter. Bishop Joseph Strickland of Tyler, Texas told CNA May 7 that he had signed it.

A press release on the appeal’s website May 8 claimed that Robert Kennedy Jr, son of the slain US. Presidential candidate Sen. Robert Kennedy, had signed the letter.

To date, nearly 4 million people have tested positive for the coronavirus, and at least 272,000 have died.

CNA Staff, May 7, 2020 / 03:45 pm (CNA).- Hours after the publication of a controversial open letter regarding the coronavirus pandemic, the prefect of the Church’s dicastery for liturgy and sacraments, listed among the signers of the letter, said he did not sign it.

The letter, titled “Appeal for the Church and the World,” says the coronavirus pandemic has been exaggerated to foster widespread social panic and undercut freedom, as a preparation for the establishment of a one-world government.

Cardinal Robert Sarah, prefect of the Vatican's Congregation for Divine Worship and Sacraments, tweeted: “I share on a personal basis some of the questions or concerns raised with regard to restrictions on fundamental freedoms, but I have not signed this petition.”

“A cardinal prefect of the Roman Curia must observe a certain reserve in political matters, Sarah wrote in another tweet, “so I explicitly asked this morning the authors of the petition titled ‘for the Church and for the world’ not to mention me.”

Sarah was listed as a signatory of the letter when it was published May 7 by the National Catholic Register, LifeSiteNews, and other websites. Sarah's denial raises questions about the legitimacy of other reported signatories to the letter.

Jeanette DeMelo, editor of the National Catholic Register, told CNA that the principal author of the letter is Archbishop Carlo Vigano, a former papal emissary to the United States.

Vigano made headlines for an August 2018 letter that alleged Vatican officials had ignored warnings about the sexual abuse of disgraced former cardinal Theodore McCarrick. Since that time, Vigano has released numerous letters expressing his viewpoints on matters in the Church, which include criticisms of Pope Francis and other curial officials.

DeMelo said that Vigano had vouched for the authenticity of Sarah's signature.

“The Register contacted Archbishop Vigano, the principal author, and asked him specifically about the authenticity of the signature of Cardinal Sarah and he said ‘I can confirm 100% that Cardinal Sarah signed it.,” DeMelo told CNA.

The letter laments the social distancing and stay-at-home orders issued to slow the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, suggesting they are contrived mechanisms of social control, with a nefarious purpose.

“We have reason to believe, on the basis of official data on the incidence of the epidemic as related to the number of deaths, that there are powers interested in creating panic among the world’s population with the sole aim of permanently imposing unacceptable forms of restriction on freedoms, of controlling people and of tracking their movements,” the letter said.

“The imposition of these illiberal measures is a disturbing prelude to the realization of a world government beyond all control,” it added. (bold original)

Among the letter’s reported signatories are four cardinals: Sarah, who has now indicated he is not a signatory; Cardinal Gerhard Muller, former prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal Joseph Zen, emeritus bishop of Hong Kong, and Cardinal Janis Pujats, emeritus archbishop of Riga, Latvia.

Two U.S. bishops are also alleged signatories: Bishop Rene Gracida, emeritus bishop of Corpus Christi, and Bishop Joseph Strickland, the Bishop of Tyler, Texas. 

Strickland told CNA by email May 7 that he “did sign off on this letter.”

Along with several other bishops, the well-known auxiliary bishop of Astana, Kazakhstan, Bishop Athanasius Schneider, is listed as a signer of the letter.

Another reported signatory is Fr. Curzio Nitoglia, a priest of the Society of St. Pius X, a traditionalist group in “irregular communion” with the Church. Nitoglia is the author of “The Magisterium of Vatican II,” a 1994 article that claims that “the church of Vatican II is therefore not the Apostolic and Roman Catholic Church instituted by our Lord Jesus Christ.”

The May 7 letter argued that the coronavirus pandemic has been sensationalized and exploited, to impede civil rights and exact government control over individuals and families.

The letter said that “the facts have shown that, under the pretext of the Covid-19 epidemic, the inalienable rights of citizens have in many cases been violated and their fundamental freedoms, including the exercise of freedom of worship, expression and movement, have been disproportionately and unjustifiably restricted.”

“Many authoritative voices in the world of science and medicine confirm that the media’s alarmism about Covid-19 appears to be absolutely unjustified.”

Nearly 4 million people worldwide have tested positive for the coronavirus, and at least 270,000 have died. In some countries, death rates in the months of the coronavirus pandemic have far exceeded death rates over the same months in previous years, suggesting to some demographers and epidemiologists that coronavirus deaths have been dramatically undercounted.

The pandemic, and the social distancing and stay-at-home orders issued to slow its spread, have become a source of considerable controversy in recent weeks. In the U.S., protests in several state capitals have gathered demonstrators in close proximity to one another, a move public health experts say could lead to new outbreaks of the disease.

The letter said that the economic crisis occasioned by the global pandemic “encourages interference by foreign powers and has serious social and political repercussions. Those with governmental responsibility must stop these forms of social engineering, by taking measures to protect their citizens whom they represent, and in whose interests they have a serious obligation to act.”

“The criminalization of personal and social relationships must likewise be judged as an unacceptable part of the plan of those who advocate isolating individuals in order to better manipulate and control them,” the authors added.

No cure or therapeutic treatment has yet been identified for the virus. In early weeks of the pandemic, President Donald Trump hypothesized that hydroxychloroquine, an inexpensive anti-malarial medication, could help treat the disease. U.S. researchers have largely moved away from the medication, especially after a study by the Veterans’ Administration found that administering the drug leads to higher death rates among patients receiving it.

Some, including television hosts Laura Ingraham and Sean Hannity have alleged that the study is inaccurate. Some protestors have suggested the VA study was intended to discredit Trump or profit vaccine manufacturers.

In an apparent reference to the hydroxychloroquine controversy, the letter said that: “Every effort must be made to ensure that shady business interests do not influence the choices made by government leaders and international bodies. It is unreasonable to penalize those remedies that have proved to be effective, and are often inexpensive, just because one wishes to give priority to treatments or vaccines that are not as good, but which guarantee pharmaceutical companies far greater profits, and exacerbate public health expenditures.” 

“Let us also remember, as Pastors, that for Catholics it is morally unacceptable to develop or use vaccines derived from material from aborted fetuses,” the letter added.

The U.S. bishops conference has also said vaccine development should avoid unethical links to abortion.

The letter argues that governments do not have the right to ban or restrict public worship or other kinds of ministry, and asks that any such restrictions be rescinded.

On the sacraments, which have been subject both to voluntary restrictions and public health orders in some states, the letter noted that “the Church firmly asserts her autonomy to govern, worship, and teach.”

“The State has no right to interfere, for any reason whatsoever, in the sovereignty of the Church. Ecclesiastical authorities have never refused to collaborate with the State, but such collaboration does not authorize civil authorities to impose any sort of ban or restriction on public worship or the exercise of priestly ministry. The rights of God and of the faithful are the supreme law of the Church, which she neither intends to, nor can, abdicate. We ask that restrictions on the celebration of public ceremonies be removed.”

While restrictions on public worship have been met with public criticism in many places, the objections have been most pronounced in Italy.

After Italy’s prime minister announced in late April new health measures that would continue prohibiting religious gatherings, the Italian bishops released a statement denouncing the decision, which the bishops criticized as “arbitrary.” Two days later, Pope Francis seemed to signal his own view, praying while celebrating Mass that Christians would respond to the lifting of lockdown restrictions with “prudence and obedience.”

Along with cardinals, bishops, and priests, the letter’s signatories also included some academics, journalists, and scientists. Included among them are Vatican journalists Marco Tosatti and Robert Moynihan, Lifesitenews editor John-Henry Westen, Stephen Mosher, president of the Virginia-based Population Research Institute, and the leaders of pro-life groups in Texas and Ohio.

The letter’s signatories encouraged Catholics, and “all men and women of good will” to “assess the current situation in a way consistent with the teaching of the Gospel. This means taking a stand: either with Christ or against Christ.” (bold original)
 
“Let us not allow centuries of Christian civilization to be erased under the pretext of a virus, and an odious technological tyranny to be established, in which nameless and faceless people can decide the fate of the world by confining us to a virtual reality. If this is the plan to which the powers of this earth intend to make us yield, know that Jesus Christ, King and Lord of History, has promised that ‘the gates of Hell shall not prevail’ (Mt 16:18).”

The Holy See has not yet commented on the letter.
 

This story has been updated since its original publication. It is developing and will continue to be updated.

CNA Staff, May 8, 2020 / 10:25 am (CNA).- Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò has accused a Vatican cardinal of causing him “serious harm” in a bitter war of words over a controversial open letter regarding the coronavirus crisis.

In a statement published May 8, the archbishop criticized Cardinal Robert Sarah’s decision to distance himself from the letter, titled “Appeal for the Church and the World,” which argues that the coronavirus pandemic has been exploited in order to create a one-world government.

The statement details Vigano’s account of his interactions with Sarah beginning May 4. Viganò claims that on the evening of May 7, the prefect of the Vatican's Congregation for Divine Worship and Sacraments asked him to remove him from the list of signatories to the letter, which had by that time already been published.

“With surprise and deep regret,” he wrote, “I then learned that His Eminence had used his Twitter account, without giving me any notice, to make statements that cause serious harm to the truth and to my person.”

Viganò was referring to a series of three May 7 tweets from Sarah, which said: “A Cardinal Prefect, member of the Roman Curia has to observe a certain restriction  on political matters. He shouldn't sign petitions in such aereas [sic].”

“Therefore this morning I explicitely [sic] asked the authors of the petition titled ‘For the Church and for the world’ not to mention my name.”

“From a personal point of view, I may share some questions or preoccupations raised regarding restrictions on fundamental freedom but I didn't sign that petition,” Sarah added.

Viganò’s statement continued: “I am very sorry that this matter, which is due to human weakness, and for which I bear no resentment towards the person who caused it, has distracted our attention from what must seriously concern us at this dramatic moment.”

After Viganò issued his rebuke, Sarah tweeted May 8: “I will not speak to this petition, which today seems to occupy a lot of people. I leave to their conscience those who want to exploit it in one way or another. I decided not to sign this text. I fully accept my choice.”

In his statement, Viganò said he had chosen to publicize his private conversations with Sarah because he had a duty to tell the truth, and “also for the sake of fraternal correction.”

Vigano said Sarah had initially told him: “Yes, I agree to put my name to it, because this is a fight we must engage in together, not only for the Catholic Church but for all mankind.”

He confirmed that Sarah’s signature has now been removed from the open letter.

Vigano, a former papal nuncio made headlines in August 2018, for a letter that alleged Vatican officials had ignored warnings about the sexual abuse of disgraced former cardinal Theodore McCarrick. Since that time, Vigano has released numerous letters expressing his viewpoints on matters in the Church, which include criticisms of Pope Francis and other curial officials.

The appeal argued that as a result of the pandemic centuries of Christian civilization could be “erased under the pretext of a virus” and an “odious technological tyranny” established in its place.

It said: “We have reason to believe, on the basis of official data on the incidence of the epidemic as related to the number of deaths, that there are powers interested in creating panic among the world’s population with the sole aim of permanently imposing unacceptable forms of restriction on freedoms, of controlling people and of tracking their movements. The imposition of these illiberal measures is a disturbing prelude to the realization of a World Government beyond all control.”

Several bishops and cardinals are alleged to have signed the letter. Bishop Joseph Strickland of Tyler, Texas told CNA May 7 that he had signed it.

A press release on the appeal’s website May 8 claimed that Robert Kennedy Jr, son of the slain US. Presidential candidate Sen. Robert Kennedy, had signed the letter.

To date, nearly 4 million people have tested positive for the coronavirus, and at least 272,000 have died.

In conjunction with the soft launch, Apple uploaded 10 YouTube videos that explain how consumers can apply for the credit card and use it. Sign up in the iPhone's Wallet app.

If you need a last-minute gift, you can grab a $50 Apple iTunes gift card for $42.50. Plus, you can save $250 on the Microsoft Surface Pro 6 and $100 on the iRobot Roomba 675.

The Scottish Labour Party, I think it’s fair to say, hasn’t had a good decade.

While the Trump administration proposal would not strip student eligibility for Head Start, the federal school lunch program, or the Individual with Disabilities Education Act, it could still affect millions of school-aged children who live with immigrant parents.

The first season of the Netflix political potboiler was rich with education-policy plotlines, and we're hoping for more of the same.

It is not known whether birth at a pediatric cardiac specialty center or at a hospital with a higher neonatal level of care affects mortality for infants with ductal-dependent congenital heart disease.

For infants with ductal-dependent congenital heart disease, there is no difference in 90-day mortality for those born at specialty centers versus other centers in the state of Washington. (Read the full article)

Cardiovascular risk factors predict the development of premature atherosclerosis. As the number of risk factors increases, so does the extent of these lesions. Assessment of cardiovascular risk factors is an accepted practice in adults but is not used in pediatrics.

In this study, the authors discuss how the presence of ≥2 cardiovascular risk factors is associated with vascular changes in adolescents. The findings were compared with the Patholobiological Determinants of Atherosclerosis in Youth risk score to demonstrate that a simple method of clustering is a reliable tool to use in clinical practice. (Read the full article)

Over the past decade, drug oversight committees and professional organizations have debated the evidence regarding cardiac screening to identify undiagnosed disorders associated with sudden cardiac death in youth with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder before beginning treatment with stimulants.

How practicing pediatricians have responded to this controversy is not known. We present results from a national sample of pediatricians regarding current attitudes, barriers, and practices for cardiac screening in youth with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder before prescribing stimulants. (Read the full article)

Changes in BMI category appear to be common in young children and are associated with cardiometabolic risk in cross-sectional studies. However, there are few longitudinal studies and little information from multiethnic samples of US middle school children.

Findings demonstrate that shifts in BMI category are common in middle-school-aged children and associated with clinically meaningful changes in cardiometabolic risk factors. Programs to promote decreases in BMI, prevent increases, and moderate risk are indicated. (Read the full article)

Disparities in outcomes of ethnic minority children have been reported, and have been ascribed to having barriers to access to health care. Minority parents have indicated that difficulties in access are because of problems with transportation and being non-English speaking.

This population-based study of Texas infants with severe congenital heart disease reports that neither home distance from a cardiac center nor Hispanic children having a Latin American–born parent were risk factors for first-year mortality. (Read the full article)

Overweight and obese children have a higher prevalence of several cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors. There is growing evidence demonstrating that CVD risk factors present during childhood persist into adulthood.

US adolescents had no significant change in prehypertension/hypertension and borderline-high/ high low-density lipoprotein cholesterol prevalence from 1999–2000 to 2007–2008; however, prediabetes/diabetes increased by 14%. (Read the full article)

Sudden cardiac death in young athletes is an uncommon but devastating event. Addition of routine electrocardiogram (ECG) screening to standard preparticipation care may reduce the number of sudden deaths. Lack of data regarding effectiveness and costs has prevented widespread implementation.

Adding ECG screening to current preparticipation evaluation is not cost-effective. Cost is driven primarily by the evaluation of the large number of false-positive findings. An ECG-only screening strategy is more cost-effective. (Read the full article)

Adult patients with neurocardiogenic syncope have shown high rates of depression. Patients with more severe depressive symptoms have higher rates of syncope recurrence. Psychiatric interventions improve quality of life and decrease syncope recurrence rates.

Children with neurocargiogenic syncope presented a 2.6-fold higher rate of clinically significant depressive symptoms compared to healthy controls. No recurrent syncope was noted during follow-up which along with improvement in family functioning predicted depressive symptoms improvement. (Read the full article)

Heart rate continues to be the single most important indicator of well-being in a newborn. Availability of a reliable method to determine heart rate in the first minute would help determine resuscitation interventions, particularly for the extremely premature infant.

Electrocardiograms can provide a reliable, continuous heart rate in the most premature infants in the first minute of resuscitation compared with pulse oximeters. (Read the full article)

Doxorubicin therapy, effective against many malignancies, is limited by cardiotoxicity. Continuous-infusion doxorubicin, compared with bolus-infusion, reduces early cardiotoxicity in adults. Its effectiveness in reducing late cardiotoxicity in children remains uncertain.

This multicenter randomized trial assessed whether continuous-infusion of doxorubicin in pediatric patients provides long-term cardioprotection or improvement in event-free survival over bolus-infusion in acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Continuous-infusion of doxorubicin provided no cardioprotection or improvement in event-free survival. (Read the full article)

Few reports have explored the measurement validity of the relative value unit (RVU) system, particularly in pediatrics. The RVU system, although broadly applied in health care settings, was developed for the adult population and thus may possess unique inadequacies in pediatrics.

We found deficiencies in the ability of the RVU system to capture features of case mix complexity and differences related to age. Additional investigation may be warranted to determine the validity of RVU as a measurement tool in pediatrics. (Read the full article)

The presence of elevated cardiometabolic risk factors, such as obesity, high glucose or lipid levels, and smoking, in adolescents has been shown to be associated with earlier onset of chronic conditions, such as diabetes and heart disease.

Obesity, smoking, and elevated glucose increases the risk of dying before the age of 55 years. This is the first study to focus on risk factors and mortality among adolescents and young adults in a nationally representative US sample. (Read the full article)