Contemporary developments in Negro middle-class religion : an overview

The sociology of religion is often placed in a defensive position in which it must define its status as a legitimate area of scientific inquiry. Many doubt that religious phenomena, with a concern for the supernatural and with individual, subjective, non-empirical elements can be studied in any systematic, reliable fashion. But as the sociologist views religion, individual and subjective attributes are only one aspect of religious phenomena. Beyond this, religion is viewed as having significant collective and social elements. Religion is seen as a part of a cultural complex such that there is an interrelation of religion and society which involves mutual influences. The social system and social changes affect religious forms and expressions. At the same time, religion has significant effects on the socio-cultural system

Investigating the North Carolina charter school movement: a critical discourse analysis of editorial-page items from 1995 to 2014

Charter schools remain hotly contested nationally and in North Carolina, where the number of charter schools has grown rapidly from 100 in 2011 to 148 in 2014. Interest shows no signs of abating. North Carolina has approved 11 new charter schools to open in 2015, along with two new virtual charter schools. The state has received 40 applications from charter operators hoping to open new schools in 2016. This dissertation conducts a critical discourse analysis of 114 randomly selected editorial-page items and 60 news articles about charter schools published by 20 North Carolina newspapers from 1995 to 2014. The findings indicate that the strategic use of political discourse, consistent message framing, and editorial board support helped charter school proponents gain more social, economic, and cultural power in North Carolina, despite charter schools' tendency toward hyper-segregation by race and class, limited gains in student achievement, and lingering doubts regarding equity of access, scalability, oversight, and public accountability. Key words: critical discourse analysis (CDA), frames, editorial(s), news, charter schools, race, class, equity, North Carolina, school reform, public policy

Examining the time course of attention in a soccer kick using a dual task paradigm

A dual-task paradigm was implemented to determine the time course of attention demands of a soccer penalty kick. A sample of experienced soccer players was selected to participate in the study. Participants (N= 15) were asked to perform a 12-yard soccer-style penalty kick into a FIFA-regulation soccer goal that was divided into smaller scoring zones. As part of the dual task paradigm, participants were instructed to respond to an audible cue that was administered during one of three probe positions (PP) during the primary task. Tests were performed with both the dominant foot (DFP) and the non-dominant foot (NDFP). The order of presentation of the tasks and of the probe positions was randomized and counterbalanced. I hypothesized that the Verbal Response Reaction Time (VRRT) would follow the pattern observed in previous research conducted with other sport skills. Reaction times would be slowest at the beginning and end of the performance of the motor skill in both the DFP and NDFP situations. I also hypothesized that overall VRRT would be slower in the NDFP than DFP, but that kicking foot would not affect the pattern of attentional demands. Results indicated that VRRT was slowest at PP1 for both the DFP and the NDFP and that VRRT was significantly slower at PP1 for the DFP than for the NDFP. This suggests that soccer players may engage in more complex planning during the preparatory phases when executing a kick with their dominant foot or, alternatively, that the determinant of attentional demands is the support foot rather than the kicking foot. Future research should be designed to further our understanding of foot dominance with regard to kicking and to explore attentional demands of striking tasks

Visual design of Jean Genet's The balcony

The purpose of this thesis is to present in three parts the design production of Jean Genet’s The Balcony. The thesis is divided into three parts: (l) Part I, the playwright, the play, and the design approach, (2) Part II, the technical production, and (3) Part III, an analysis. Part I deals with the historical and stylistic considerations influencing the design approach and a description of the design approach to setting, costumes and makeup, and lighting. Part II, largely illustrative, contains renderings, production photographs, and working plots for sets, costumes, and lighting. Part III discusses the weaknesses of the set, costumes, and lighting as part of the total visual design

Local public sector allocation of scarce emergency assets : an evaluation of the fire service.

The methodology utilized by public sector managers to allocate scarce resources determines the level, efficiency, and effectiveness of service delivery. These decisions are influenced by a myriad of factors, not the least of which is the ideal goal to distribute services in a fair and equitable manner. This ideal becomes problematic if service outcomes are important to public decision-makers, because the level of need for these resources is not spread equally across local jurisdictions. Therefore, when goods and services are located or distributed equally to all “customers,” many do not receive enough assistance and others receive more than they prefer. This causes inefficient service delivery that fails to maximize potential positive outcomes with the available limited resources. This is particularly true with the geographic distribution of fire service resources across most communities in this country. This research effort attempts to model the demographic characteristics that drive emergency service demand and workload across local jurisdictions. Specifically, data about demographic characteristics was collected at the Census block group level and compared to emergency response data collected by the Charlotte Fire Department. The findings from this effort are promising, as the bivariate correlation and multivariate regression analyses indicate that economic and structural factors common to all local communities can be used to confidently predict demand and workload on local public safety systems. Measuring these characteristics at the block group level permitted the opportunity to isolate homogenous groups within the population that have risk characteristics associated with more or less demand for these services. These findings provide a solid base to support the development of an alternative model for locating these critical emergency resources according to demand and workload to better meet the needs of individual communities

The Value Of Using Biracial Young Adult Literature In The Secondary Classroom

This thesis argues for the inclusion of biracial young adult literature in the secondary classroom because of the value it can add to students', teachers', and communites’ lives. As the population of biracial young adults grows, as does the need for them to see themselves in the classroom for the development of their identity. By including biracial young adult literature in the secondary classroom, it provides a tremendous learning experience for students who are biracial and non-biracial. For students who are biracial, it allows them to connect with another who faces similar problems to themselves. For non-biracial students, these novels provide them the opportunity to learn about the issues their classmates may face and also provides a platform for these issues to be discussed. For teachers, it provides the opportunity to teach about issues of social justice, bullying, and advocating for others. By examining multiple biracial young adult novels and the issues discussed within, this thesis defends and asserts the value of using these novels in the classroom

Using global datasets to estimate flood exposure at the city scale: an evaluation in Addis Ababa

Copyright \ua9 2024 Carr, Trigg, Haile, Bernhofen, Alemu, Bekele and Walsh.Introduction: Cities located in lower income countries are global flood risk hotspots. Assessment and management of these risks forms a key part of global climate adaptation efforts. City scale flood risk assessments necessitate flood hazard information, which is challenging to obtain in these localities because of data quality/scarcity issues, and the complex multi-source nature of urban flood dynamics. A growing array of global datasets provide an attractive means of closing these data gaps, but their suitability for this context remains relatively unknown. Methods: Here, we test the use of relevant global terrain, rainfall, and flood hazard data products in a flood hazard and exposure assessment framework covering Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. To conduct the tests, we first developed a city scale rain-on-grid hydrodynamic flood model based on local data and used the model results to identify buildings exposed to flooding. We then observed how the results of this flood exposure assessment changed when each of the global datasets are used in turn to drive the hydrodynamic model in place of its local counterpart. Results and discussion: Results are evaluated in terms of both the total number of exposed buildings, and the spatial distribution of exposure across Addis Ababa. Our results show that of the datasets tested, the FABDEM global terrain and the PXR global rainfall data products provide the most promise for use at the city scale in lower income countries

Thomas Godfrey, Colonial American Playwright: 1736-1763

The purpose of this thesis is to present a biography of Thomas Godfrey, Jr., and to show how his play "The Prince of Parthia" is a part of the beginnings of native American drama

A Summative Program Evaluation of an Outpatient Community Heart Failure Clinic

Background: A southeastern US rural hospital supported by an outpatient heart failure (HF) clinic struggled with high readmission rates. Due to the high prevalence of HF, associated extreme costs, and readmission burden it was important to identify interventions to decrease hospital readmissions. Purpose: The purpose of this project was to evaluate effectiveness of a HF clinic program as a quality improvement initiative. The project also identified research recommendations for decreasing hospital HF readmissions related to outpatient HF clinics. Methods: A summative program evaluation was conducted through a quantitative retrospective design. Data from the HF clinic including age, sex, and race for the years 2017-2020 was collected and evaluated. Results: A total of 896 of the 3822 clinic visits examined represented patients readmitted to the hospital within 30 days from a previous HF admission. Readmission rates from the HF clinic increased each year with the exception of 2019. Females attend the clinic more often, however males were the majority of 30-day readmissions. Whites comprised 62% of the HF clinic visits as compared to African Americans at 37%. Additionally, African Americans were much younger than their white counterparts. Recommendations: A transition of care (TOC) clinic program with resources of a HF cardiologist, nursing staff, social worker, and pharmacist should be implemented to provide an outpatient setting safety net for patients.Conclusions: Clearly defined objectives are needed for the HF clinic program. Support in a HF TOC clinic can improve readmission rates, mortality, and financial stability for healthcare organizations

First Emergence of Resistance to Macrolides and Tetracycline Identified in Mannheimia haemolytica and Pasteurella multocida Isolates from Beef Feedlots in Australia

Bovine respiratory disease (BRD) causes high morbidity and mortality in beef cattle worldwide. Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) monitoring of BRD pathogens is critical to promote appropriate antimicrobial stewardship in veterinary medicine for optimal treatment and control. Here, the susceptibility of Mannheimia haemolytica and Pasteurella multicoda isolates obtained from BRD clinical cases (deep lung swabs at post-mortem) among feedlots in four Australian states (2014-2019) was determined for 19 antimicrobial agents. The M. haemolytica isolates were pan-susceptible to all tested agents apart from a single macrolide-resistant isolate (1/88; 1.1%) from New South Wales (NSW). Much higher frequencies of P. multocida isolates were resistant to tetracycline (18/140; 12.9%), tilmicosin (19/140; 13.6%), tulathromycin/gamithromycin (17/140; 12.1%), and ampicillin/penicillin (6/140; 4.6%). Five P. multocida isolates (3.6%), all obtained from NSW in 2019, exhibited dual resistance to macrolides and tetracycline, and a further two Queensland isolates from 2019 (1.4%) exhibited a multidrug-resistant phenotype to ampicillin/penicillin, tetracycline, and tilmicosin. Random-amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) typing identified a high degree of genetic homogeneity among the M. haemolytica isolates, whereas P. multocida isolates were more heterogeneous. Illumina whole genome sequencing identified the genes msr(E) and mph(E)encoding macrolide resistance, tet(R)-tet(H) or tet(Y) encoding tetracycline resistance, and blaROB-1 encoding ampicillin/penicillin resistance in all isolates exhibiting a corresponding resistant phenotype. The exception was the tilmicosin-resistant, tulathromycin/gamithromycin-susceptible phenotype identified in two Queensland isolates, the genetic basis of which could not be determined. These results confirm the first emergence of AMR in M. haemolytica and P. multocida from BRD cases in Australia, which should be closely monitored