Francis A. Schaeffer : the force behind the evangelical takeover of the Republican Party in America

Title from PDF of title page, viewed on January 21, 2015Thesis advisor: Max SkidmoreVitaIncludes bibliographical references (pages 130-138)Thesis (M. A.)--Department of Political Science. University of Missouri--Kansas City 2013Over the last 40 years or so, Americans have been involved in a religious/political struggle that has divided the nation. The struggle has impacted American government, culture, the economy, and international relations. It has divided the American people, almost evenly between so-called secularist, who favor government based on the Declaration of Independence, The United States Constitution and the Bill of Rights, and evangelical/fundamentalist Protestant, Catholic Christians, many of whom seem to prefer a government based on the principles and dictates of the Bible. These particular Christians number in the tens of millions, with reputable polling organizations suggesting that there one hundred million of them. These conservative Christians attend tens of thousands of churches across America regularly and for the last forty years or so, have been listening to sermons offered by their ministers that regularly demonize the Supreme Court, Congressional liberals, Presidents, particularly if they are Democrats, and the United States government in general. As a result of these circumstances, it has been suggested by knowledgeable observers that conditions in America today resemble in some ways, the conditions that existed in this nation prior to the Civil War in the 1860s. While numerous individuals, organizations and philosophies deserve credit and/or blame for this current situation, a relatively unknown American missionary who spent most of his working life in Europe, is primarily responsible for "striking the match that lit the fire that started" the Religious Right of America on its current course to "take back America for God." That individual was Francis A. Schaeffer, who along with his son Frank, came back to America in the 1970s and 1980s to offer encouragement, guidance and a philosophical foundation upon which evangelical/fundamentalist/Catholic Christians would organize and develop one of the most powerful political organizations in the history of this country. A significant part of the success of these particular Christians has been the near "take-over" of the Republican Party. This thesis examines the life and work of Francis Schaeffer, his religious beliefs, and his leadership in the development of the Religious Right in America. It also presents new insights on perhaps the single greatest issue used by evangelical/fundamentalist/Catholics to incite their followers--ABORTION. Much of the personal information about Francis Schaeffer and his son Frank, comes not only from their numerous books, and news articles and books about them, but from several face to face interviews with Frank during his 2010 and 2011 trips to Kansas City to speak about his and his father's political/religious activities in the 70s and 80s. Frank, who regrets what he and his father got started, now travels the country attempting, unsuccessfully, to enlighten Americans to the dangers America now faces as as a result of a result of their earlier work. He also offers many personal and somewhat private observations about himself, his family and many of the current and previous leaders of the Religious Right. A most disturbing aspect of the entire situation is the fact that a vast majority of Americans and the American media either are unaware of the facts presented here, or they are fearful to discuss them.Introduction -- Who was Francis A. Schaeffer IV? -- Changing times call for changing attitudes -- Where evangelical/fundamentalist Christianity is today -- Conclusio

An Improved Volumetric Metric for Quantum Computers via more Representative Quantum Circuit Shapes

In this work, we propose a generalization of the current most widely used quantum computing hardware metric known as the quantum volume. The quantum volume specifies a family of random test circuits defined such that the logical circuit depth is equal to the total number of qubits used in the computation. However, such square circuit shapes do not directly relate to many specific applications for which one may wish to use a quantum computer. Based on surveying available resource estimates for known quantum algorithms, we generalize the quantum volume to a handful of representative circuit shapes, which we call Quantum Volumetric Classes, based on the scaling behavior of the logical circuit depth (time) with the problem size (qubit number).Comment: 13 pages, 5 figures, v2 corrects equation erro

Mass Spectrometric Analyses of Organophosphate Insecticide Oxon Protein Adducts

OBJECTIVE: Organophosphate (OP) insecticides continue to be used to control insect pests. Acute and chronic exposures to OP insecticides have been documented-to cause adverse health effects, but few OP-adducted proteins have been correlated with these illnesses at the molecular level. Our aim was to review the literature covering the current state of the art in mass spectrometry (MS) used to identify OP protein biomarkers. DATA SOURCES AND EXTRACTION: We identified general and specific research reports related to OP insecticides, OP toxicity, OP structure, and protein MS by searching PubMed and Chemical Abstracts for articles published before December 2008. DATA SYNTHESIS: A number of OP-based insecticides share common structural elements that result in predictable OP-protein adducts. The resultant OP-protein adducts show an increase in molecular mass that can be identified by MS and correlated with the OP agent. Customized OP-containing probes have also been used to tag and identify protein targets that can be identified by MS. CONCLUSIONS: MS is a useful and emerging tool for the identification of proteins that are modified by activated organophosphate insecticides. MS can characterize the structure of the OP adduct and also the specific amino acid residue that forms the key bond with the OP. Each protein that is modified in a unique way by an OP represents a unique molecular biomarker that with further research can lead to new correlations with exposure

A prospective study comparing tendon-to-bone interface healing using an interposition bioresorbable scaffold with a vented anchor for primary rotator cuff repair in sheep.

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the biomechanical and histologic properties of rotator cuff repairs using a vented anchor attached to a bioresorbable interpositional scaffold composed of aligned PLGA (poly(l-lactide-co-glycoside)) microfibers in an animal model compared to standard anchors in an ovine model. METHODS: Fifty-six (n = 56) skeletally mature sheep were randomly assigned to a repair of an acute infraspinatus tendon detachment using a innovative anchor-PLGA scaffold device (Treatment) or a similar anchor without the scaffold (Control). Animals were humanely euthanized at 7 and 12 weeks post repair. Histologic and biomechanical properties of the repairs were evaluated and compared. RESULTS: The Treatment group had a significantly higher fibroblast count at 7 weeks compared to the Control group. The tendon bone repair distance, percentage perpendicular fibers, new bone formation at the tendon-bone interface, and collagen type III deposition was significantly greater for the Treatment group compared with the Control group at 12 weeks (P ≤ .05). A positive correlation was identified in the Treatment group between increased failure loads at 12 weeks and the following parameters: tendon-bone integration, new bone formation, and collagen type III. No statistically significant differences in biomechanical properties were identified between Treatment and Control Groups (P \u3e .05). CONCLUSIONS: Use of a vented anchor attached to a bioresorbable interpositional scaffold composed of aligned PLGA microfibers improves the histologic properties of rotator cuff repairs in a sheep model. Improved histology was correlated with improved final construct strength at the 12-week time point