Healthy Boundaries, Healthy Ministry

Maintaining the integrity of the pastoral relationship and protecting those who are vulnerable are two essential dimensions in the practice of ministry. In order to fulfill these goals, one must have healthy boundaries sustained by self-awareness, self-discipline, and accountability

Reframing the Galaxy and Cluster Mass Discrepancy Problem: A Consequence of Virial Equilibrium and Other Energy Considerations

Galaxy and galaxy clusters exhibit tight robust physical scaling relations between baryons and system dynamics. One such phenomenon is mass discrepancy with two leading solution spaces occupied by LCDM and MOND. Here, we propose an alternative solution to this puzzling problem exclusively based on application of the scalar virial theorem. For these dynamically equilibrated systems, we demonstrate there is ample virially-induced kinetic energy available to modify bulk structure dynamics in apparent violation of Newtonian law. We propose the ubiquitous Baryonic Tully-Fisher Relation represents the preferred dynamic configuration that best assures long-term survivability for these thermodynamic quasi-equilibrated systems. We compare total mass estimates guided by the empirical evidence to those obtained from NFW dark matter halo fits ranging from small dwarf galaxies to massive galaxy clusters.Comment: Comments welcom

"Mam, ma troosers is fa'in doon!" Community, caregiver and child in the acquisition of variation in Scottish dialect

Recent work on acquisition in sociolinguistic research suggests that some aspects of the structured variation found in adult speech are evident in children's speech from the very start of language acquisition, and input from the primary caregiver is crucial in this process. In this article we contribute to this research by conducting a cross-sectional analysis of the acquisition of variable forms in a Scottish dialect. Two linguistic variables are targeted in the speech of eleven children (2;10–3;6) and their primary caregivers. Quantitative analysis of over 5000 contexts of use demonstrates that one variable is conditioned by social and linguistic constraints in the speech of the caregiver and these constraints are matched by the children. In contrast, the other variable is influenced by a complex array of linguistic constraints only. We explore the ramifications of these findings for understanding the mechanisms involved in acquisition of variation from the very earliest stages

Host transcription in active and latent tuberculosis

A recent study has identified a transcriptional signature for active tuberculosis, suggesting that the distinction between active and latent forms may not be absolute

On the pathwidth of almost semicomplete digraphs

We call a digraph {\em $h$-semicomplete} if each vertex of the digraph has at most $h$ non-neighbors, where a non-neighbor of a vertex $v$ is a vertex $u \neq v$ such that there is no edge between $u$ and $v$ in either direction. This notion generalizes that of semicomplete digraphs which are $0$-semicomplete and tournaments which are semicomplete and have no anti-parallel pairs of edges. Our results in this paper are as follows. (1) We give an algorithm which, given an $h$-semicomplete digraph $G$ on $n$ vertices and a positive integer $k$, in $(h + 2k + 1)^{2k} n^{O(1)}$ time either constructs a path-decomposition of $G$ of width at most $k$ or concludes correctly that the pathwidth of $G$ is larger than $k$. (2) We show that there is a function $f(k, h)$ such that every $h$-semicomplete digraph of pathwidth at least $f(k, h)$ has a semicomplete subgraph of pathwidth at least $k$. One consequence of these results is that the problem of deciding if a fixed digraph $H$ is topologically contained in a given $h$-semicomplete digraph $G$ admits a polynomial-time algorithm for fixed $h$.Comment: 33pages, a shorter version to appear in ESA 201

Characterization of the space shuttle reaction control system engine

A computer program was developed and written in FORTRAN 5 which predicts the transient and steady state performance and heat transfer characteristics of a pulsing GO2/GH2 rocket engine. This program predicts the dynamic flow and ignition characteristics which, when combined in a quasi-steady state manner with the combustion and mixing analysis program, will provide the thrust and specific impulse of the engine as a function of time. The program also predicts the transient and steady state heat transfer characteristics of the engine using various cooling concepts. The computer program, test case, and documentation are presented. The program is applicable to any system capable of utilizing the FORTRAN 4 or FORTRAN 5 language