Christian Higher Education and Students with Diverse Beliefs: Impacts and Challenges

The ethos, mission, and values of Christian Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) are usually grounded in a biblical worldview. Increasingly, Christian HEIs are attracting students who do not share the faith espoused by the institutions they attend. This qualitative case study explored the perceptions of six final-year education students with different belief frameworks to those of the Christian HEI they attended. They were interviewed to determine their perceptions of the transparency of the ethos, mission, and values of the HEI, the impact of the HEI on their lives, and the challenges they faced as students. The data revealed some positive impacts and some challenges for both the students and the Christian HEI and identified an overarching factor that moderated the identified tensions. Introductio

Generic Thermodynamic Template for Expander Performance

As emissions regulations become more stringent, automakers must improve fuel consumption in their vehicles to meet performance targets. An Organic Rankine Cycle is a technology with substantial fuel savings potential. As the power producing device in the system, the expander is a critical component with a large impact on overall cycle efficiency. The choice of expander type can significantlly affect system design choices. In order to decrease development time, a modeling tool which can evaluate the performance of various expander types is necessary to simulate expander performance without the need for costly prototyping and testing. This thesis will examine the development of a generic Matlab expander model which can replicate expander performance through a thermodynamic analysis. A modular approach to modeling allows for differentiation between expander types and sizes through modification of user defined modules. Thermal behaviour of the device is examined with an emphasis on heat transfer and its effect on expander performance. Results of the model and applications including the system response to thermal conditions are examined in detail

The Impact of Avondale College\u27s Ethos, Mission and Values on Six Students not of the Seventh-Day Adventist Faith

The Christian tertiary institutions‟ ethos, mission and values impacts on students not of the particular faith of the Christian educational institution. This study investigated six fourth year education students‟ experiences at Avondale College during their time of study. A review of the literature reveals a strong focus on the role of education in a Christian university, the ethos, mission and values that govern the university, as well as the faculty that maintain the Christian ethos of the university. The literature also highlights the danger of Christian universities and colleges moving progressively towards secularization, and suggests corrective measures to reacquaint with the founding vision and mission of the Christian university. The process of emergent design within the use of the case study as a research method was used to gather data through the use of face-to-face interviews. The data revealed that the students were impacted by Avondale College‟s ethos, mission and values during their time of study, especially through the authentic relationships formed with lecturers. Furthermore, the results indicated that the authentic relationships with lecturers impacted students beyond their academic achievements. It also impacted them in their social, professional, spiritual and intra-personal connections with Avondale College. The study concluded that the ethos, mission and values of a Christian institution are most likely to have an impact on students‟ lives through the authentic relationships they form with their lecturers

Crime on the High Seas: What Conditions Are Necessary to Achieve Effective Maritime Governance Regime?

This thesis explores why international maritime governance regimes have inconsistent rates of success. The global community relies on the world’s oceans for food, trade, and resources. Therefore, the regulation of these oceans is necessary to provide adequate passage through its waters and the management of all the resources they supply for the mutual benefit of all. Although there are international laws such as the United Nations Convention of the Law of the Seas (UNCLOS), many of these laws fail to address current global threats and have proven inadequate in forming proactive collective responses. It is particularly problematic addressing transnational criminal behavior. I argue that four criteria are absolutely necessary to determine whether any collective regimes will be successful. The first of these criteria includes states’ political will to cooperate with one another to recognize and address shared concerns. Secondly, the structure of international law needs to be formulated in a way that clearly defines states’ rights and obligations. Third, international law must be integrated into a state’s domestic legal framework that would allow the court system to have effective jurisdiction to prosecute criminals. Lastly, states need to have the enforcement capacity to effectively deter criminal behavior and strengthen state sovereignty. All four of these criteria must be present in a successful maritime governance regime. I offer two case studies on this subject: The first case study discusses maritime piracy, international efforts to ensure the freedom of navigation, and protect international trade. The second examines illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing which addresses the sustainable exploitation of the seas to ensure food security and market stability. The following cases demonstrate clear 3 evidence that international maritime governance currently lacks effective compliance and enforcement

Seamless connectivity architecture and methods for IoT and wearable devices

Wearable and Internet of Things (IoT) devices have the potential to improve lifestyle, personalize receiving treatments or introduce assisted living for elderly people. However, service delivery depends on maintaining and troubleshooting device connectivity to smartphones, where user engagement and technology proficiency represent a possible barrier that prevents a wider adoption, especially in the elderly and disabled population. Low-cost and low-power wearable and IoT devices face challenges when operating out of range of known home networks or pared devices. We propose an architecture and methods to provide seamless connectivity (Se-Co) between devices and wireless networks while maintaining low-power, low-cost and standards compatibility. Through Se-Co, the devices connect without user interaction both in home and in unknown roaming networks while maintaining anonymity, privacy and security. Roaming networks approve data limited connectivity to unknown devices that are able to provide a valid anonymized certificate of compliance and no harm through a home provider. Se-Co enables shifting data processing, such as pattern processing using artificial intelligence, from a wearable device or smartphone towards the cloud. The proposed Se-Co architecture could provide solutions to increase usability of wearable devices and improve their wider adoption, while keeping low the costs of devices, development and services

The Prognostic Effect of Circadian Blood Pressure Pattern on Long-Term Cardiovascular Outcome is Independent of Left Ventricular Remodeling

We aimed to investigate the predictive value of 24 h blood pressure (BP) patterns on adverse cardiovascular (CV) outcome in the initially untreated hypertensive patients during long-term follow-up. This study included 533 initially untreated hypertensive patients who were involved in this study in the period between 2007 and 2012. All participants underwent laboratory analysis, 24 h BP monitoring, and echocardiographic examination at baseline. The patients were followed for a median period of nine years. The adverse outcome was defined as the hospitalization due to CV events (atrial fibrillation, myocardial infarction, myocardial revascularization, heart failure, stroke, or CV death). During the nine-year follow-up period, adverse CV events occurred in 85 hypertensive patients. Nighttime SBP, non-dipping BP pattern, LV hypertrophy (LVH), left atrial enlargement (LAE), and LV diastolic dysfunction (LV DD) were risk factors for occurrence of CV events. However, nighttime SBP, non-dipping BP pattern, LVH, and LV DD were the only independent predictors of CV events. When all four BP pattern were included in the model, non-dipping and reverse dipping BP patterns were associated with CV events, but only reverse-dipping BP pattern was independent predictor of CV events. The current study showed that reverse-dipping BP pattern was predictor of adverse CV events independently of nighttime SBP and LV remodeling during long-term follow-up. The assessment of BP patterns has very important role in the long-time prediction in hypertensive population

Computational Study of Surface Tension and Wall Adhesion Effects on an Oil Film Flow Underneath an Air Boundary Layer

The fringe-imaging skin friction (FISF) technique, which was originally developed by D. J. Monson and G. G. Mateer at Ames Research Center and recently extended to 3-D flows, is the most accurate skin friction measurement technique currently available. The principle of this technique is that the skin friction at a point on an aerodynamic surface can be determined by measuring the time-rate-of-change of the thickness of an oil drop placed on the surface under the influence of the external air boundary layer. Lubrication theory is used to relate the oil-patch thickness variation to shear stress. The uncertainty of FISF measurements is estimated to be as low as 4 percent, yet little is known about the effects of surface tension and wall adhesion forces on the measured results. A modified version of the free-surface Navier-Stokes solver RIPPLE, developed at Los Alamos National Laboratories, was used to compute the time development of an oil drop on a surface under a simulated air boundary layer. RIPPLE uses the volume of fluid method to track the surface and the continuum surface force approach to model surface tension and wall adhesion effects. The development of an oil drop, over a time period of approximately 4 seconds, was studied. Under the influence of shear imposed by an air boundary layer, the computed profile of the drop rapidly changes from its initial circular-arc shape to a wedge-like shape. Comparison of the time-varying oil-thickness distributions computed using RIPPLE and also computed using a greatly simplified numerical model of an oil drop equation which does not include surface tension and wall adhesion effects) was used to evaluate the effects of surface tension on FISF measurement results. The effects of surface tension were found to be small but not necessarily negligible in some cases

Die Repräsentation von Minderheiten in Fernsehserien am Beispiel der Animationsserie "South Park"

South Park ist eine animierte Fernsehserie, die von Trey Parker und Matt Stone entwickelt wurde. Seit ihrer Erstausstrahlung 1997 wird die Serie von heftigen Kontroversen begleitet, die sich meist auf die Gewaltdarstellungen und die vulgäre Sprache beziehen. Mit der Zeit erkannte die Forschung das Potential der Serie, die tagespolitische Ereignisse und gesellschaftliche Probleme innerhalb nur weniger Wochen in die jeweilige Episode einbaut. Einen besonders großen Teil nimmt dabei der gesellschaftliche Umgang mit Minderheiten ein, weswegen ich mich mit deren Repräsentation in der Serie beschäftigt habe. Meine Fragestellung war zunächst, auf welche Weise Minderheiten abgebildet werden und in welcher Tradition diese Darstellungsweise steht. Ferner stellte sich die Frage, was eine Serie wie South Park zur gesellschaftlichen Besserstellung von Minderheiten beitragen kann. Bei der genaueren Analyse sämtlicher Episoden von South Park wurden die zahlreichen Traditionen erkennbar, auf die sich die Serie beruft: zum einen ist klar zu ersehen, dass Parker und Stone über eine genaue Kenntnis der filmischen Darstellungstradition von Afroamerikanern verfügen und dies an Hand verschiedener Figuren und Handlungen zum Ausdruck bringen. In der Frage nach einer gerechten Verteilung der Öffentlichkeit stößt man unumgänglich auf die Liberale Theorie, wobei sich gezeigt hat, dass die libertäre Haltung, die auf der Liberalen Theorie fußt, die durchgängigste ideologische Haltung ist, die der Serie zu Grunde liegt. So spricht sich South Park gegen Minderheitenquoten und übertriebene politische Korrektheit aus, da eine gerechtere Gesellschaftsordnung nur durch einen freien Diskurs gleichberechtigter Teilnehmer möglich sei. Eine Verwandtschaft zu Rebelais Konzept des Karnevals ist kaum übersehbar, sowohl was die optische, als auch was die inhaltliche Ebene betrifft. Dies ist ebenfalls kein Zufall, neben den postmodernen Implikationen zeigt die Karnevaleske eine Umkehrung der Machtverhältnisse, in der Minderheiten sich nicht mehr in einer benachteiligten Situation finden. In der Cultural Studies Forschung ist man sich großteils über die positiven Auswirkungen von Populärkultur mit einem gesellschaftskritischen Inhalt einig, weshalb South Park eine wichtige Rolle innerhalb der Unterhaltungsindustrie einnimmt und zur gesellschaftlichen Besserstellung von Minderheiten beitragen kann

Development of an ecosystem model of the northern Adriatic Sea

L'approccio ecosistemico alla pesca, incoraggiato sin dagli anni '80, non \ue8 stato ancora effettivamente applicato in forma di gestione ecosistemica della pesca (EBFM). L'uso di modelli ecosistemici nella scienza della pesca consente un approccio integrato per studiare e quantificare gli effetti potenziali di scenari gestionali o delle modifiche ambientali sulle risorse biologiche e sulla socioeconomia della pesca e possono rappresentare il nucleo di un approccio EBFM. L'adozione di modelli ecosistemici per la gestione \ue8 lenta, i modelli Ecopath con Ecosim e Atlantis non sono ancora operativi, hanno costi di sviluppo elevati e non vengono sempre accuratamente convalidati. In questa tesi \ue8 stato sviluppato un modello ecosistemico del Nord Est Adriatico (NEAS), quale potenziale strumento utilizzato per sostenere la gestione della pesca locale. Il modello integra 33 gruppi funzionali, 10 flotte di pesca e un'attivit\ue0 di acquacoltura. Le condizioni iniziali e la parametrizzazione sono coerentemente integrate nel modello Ecopath a bilancio di massa (2005). Le simulazioni dinamiche in Ecosim (2005-2015) sono state adattate (fitting) preliminarmente ai dati di riferimento raccolti e testate per la sensibilit\ue0 alla variazione dei parametri iniziali e forzanti mediante l'analisi Monte Carlo. I risultati hanno validato le condizioni iniziali e i parametri utilizzati per la struttura del modello. Inoltre, le variazioni maggiori nelle simulazioni di Ecosim sono dovute dai cambiamenti dei parametri di produzione e di consumo. Il modello risulta poco sensibile a variazioni dello sforzo di pesca, invece influenzato principalmente dalla produttivit\ue0 primaria. Un insieme di modelli creato tiene conto della variabilit\ue0 delle interazioni trofiche nella rete alimentare implementando strategie di fitting diverse per ogni modello, senza modificare le impostazioni dei parametri a bilancio di massa o le forzanti. Per ogni modello dell'insieme, i valori di vulnerabilit\ue0 sono stati stimati riducendo le discrepanze tra i dati predetti e osservati (serie temporali di riferimento). Sebbene l'area ed i confini aperti rappresentano i limiti di modello, esso riproduce la dinamica osservata dei gruppi funzionali con un buon grado di precisione. Il modello ha simulato gli impatti dell'ultima direttiva della Politica Comune della Pesca (2015-2030) e i risultati sono utilizzati come proxy per altre aree a pesca multi-specie multi-attrezzo nel Mediterraneo. L\u2019applicazione della normativa UE sull'obbligo di sbarco di scarti da pesca \ue8 stata simulata all\u2019interno di un scenario, valutando gli impatti ecologici e socioeconomici. Scenari aggiuntivi volti a ridurre i scarti da pesca regolamentati sono stati valutai come soluzioni alternative per il problema dello scarto. Effetti diretti e indiretti combinati di questo regolamento hanno un impatto ecologico ed economico negativo a livello globale. L'aumento della quantit\ue0 sbarcata conseguente al regolamento (circa +13%) aumenter\ue0 il carico di lavoro dei pescatori, ridurr\ue0 le entrate (circa -0.50%) e ridurr\ue0 le biomasse in mare (circa -0.20%) sia di specie di interesse commerciale che non. Le perdite economiche non saranno compensate nemmeno dalla possibilit\ue0 di vendere i rigetti sbarcati per usi diversi dal consumo umano (farine di pesce). Il miglioramento della selettivit\ue0 e l'introduzione di quote risultano le alternative migliori, tuttavia nessuno degli scenari alternativi compenser\ue0 del tutto gli effetti negativi del regolamento. I risultati suggeriscono che l'obbligo di sbarco \ue8 una misura di gestione con effetti negativi per i sistemi caratterizzati da pesca mista e l'assenza del controllo delle catture (quote), come il Mar Mediterraneo.The ecosystem approach to fisheries, encouraged since the 1980s\u2019, nowadays has still not been put in practice for an effective ecosystem based fishery management (EBFM). The use of ecosystem models in fishery science allows an integrated approach to study and quantify the potential effects of management scenarios or environmental changes on biological resources and fishery socioeconomics and can represent the core of an EBFM approach. The adoption of such ecosystem models, and especially Ecopath with Ecosim and/or Atlantis, for management is slow, have not yet become operational, have high development costs and are not always thoroughly validated. In this thesis, an ecosystem model was developed for the North East Adriatic Sea (NEAS), as a tool possibly used to support fisheries management in the area. The developed ecosystem model integrates 33 functional groups, 10 fishing fleets and an aquaculture activity. The initial conditions and main parametrization are coherently embedded in a mass-balanced Ecopath model for the year 2005. The time-dynamic simulations in Ecosim for the period 2005-2015, was preliminary fitted to collected reference data and it was tested for sensitivity to the variation of initial parameters and forcing functions using Monte Carlo analysis. The results of the Monte Carlo analysis validated initial conditions and main parameters used for the model structure. Additionally, the largest variations in Ecosim simulations are produced by changes in production and consumption rate parameters. The sensitivity analysis indicated that fishing effort had a minor influence on the NEAS model, which was primarily influenced by primary productivity. An ensemble of models was created to account for variability in food web interactions by implementing different fitting strategies for each model, without changing the mass-balance parameter settings or forcing functions. For each model in the ensemble, the vulnerability values were estimated by minimizing discrepancies between the predicted and observed data (reference time series). Although the area and the open boundaries represent model limitations, the model reproduced the observed dynamics of data by functional group with a good degree of accuracy. The NEAS model was used to simulate the impacts of the latest Common Fishery Policy directive (2015-2030) and results used as a proxy for other areas of Mediterranean hosting multi-target multi-gear fisheries. A management scenario applying the EU Landing Obligation was simulated to assess the regulation\u2019s ecological and socioeconomic impacts. Additional scenarios aimed at reducing the Landing Obligation-subjected discards were also assessed and evaluated as alternative solutions for the discarding issue. Results suggest that the combined direct and indirect effects of this regulation have globally a negative ecological and economic impact. The increase in landed biomass consequent of the regulation (approx. +13%) will cause an increase in fishermen workload, a small decrease in revenue (approx. -0.50%) and indirectly reduce biomasses at sea (approx. -0.20%) of both marketable and non-marketable species. Economic losses will not be compensated even with the possibility of selling landed discards for uses other than human consumption (e.g., fishmeal). Improving selectivity and introducing quotas resulted as the best alternatives, however none of the adaptation scenarios completely compensated the negative effects of the regulation. Results suggest the landing obligation is a management measure with several negative effects for systems characterized by mixed fisheries and the absence of output control (quotas), such as the Mediterranean Sea