The doctrine of grace in the Caroline Divines (1625-1685)

The crucial issue of the doctrine ox' grace in the formative period of xhe Church of England*s life and thought constitutes the theological thought oxid historical background of this thesis. This work represents, through an examination of primary source material, an attempt to place the Church's thinking at this period within the continuity of Reformed thought with particular reference to the doctrine of toraceThe Method by which this attempt is curried through is set forth in the first two chapters. Ry a critical examination of the works of some of the leading bishops the distinctive element in their thought concern¬ ing the doctrine of grace is presented. This element, the eschatological dimension of gr~ce, is an internal framework indigenous to the thought forms of the Caroline writers. The attempt to let the writers 3peak their own words is a conscious part of the method employed.eir own words is a conscious part of the method employed. The period under consideration abounded in some of the greatest controversies ever to confront the Church of England} the everpresent struggle with the Church of Rome from without, the puritan conflict within and the numerous heritical opinions given vent to by a growing rationalistic spirit. These controversies centred around some of the fundamental doctrines of the Church and the bishops of the Church of England were fully involved in the continuous theological debates. The last four chapters of the dissertation examine, the doctrine of grace in the light of the controversial issues and ihis means a structure of Caroline thought has been erected.A brief examination of the immediate pre Caroline period has been presented in the third chapter and a line of theological thought has been drawn from the Reformation era to show that the Reformed thought in the church of England, though at times modified by a different historic situation, was maintained by the Caroline bishops. It is of course true, as pointed out in Lhe thesis, that the Carolines did not speak with a unanimous voice but within the total structure of thought in the Church of England its Reformed heritage is unmistakeably seen

Superior lentiviral vectors designed for BSL-0 environment abolish vector mobilization.

Lentiviral vector mobilization following HIV-1 infection of vector-transduced cells poses biosafety risks to vector-treated patients and their communities. The self-inactivating (SIN) vector design has reduced, however, not abolished mobilization of integrated vector genomes. Furthermore, an earlier study demonstrated the ability of the major product of reverse transcription, a circular SIN HIV-1 vector comprising a single- long terminal repeat (LTR) to support production of high vector titers. Here, we demonstrate that configuring the internal vector expression cassette in opposite orientation to the LTRs abolishes mobilization of SIN vectors. This additional SIN mechanism is in part premised on induction of host PKR response to double-stranded RNAs comprised of mRNAs transcribed from cryptic transcription initiation sites around 3'SIN-LTR's and the vector internal promoter. As anticipated, PKR response following transfection of opposite orientation vectors, negatively affects their titers. Importantly, shRNA-mediated knockdown of PKR rendered titers of SIN HIV-1 vectors comprising opposite orientation expression cassettes comparable to titers of conventional SIN vectors. High-titer vectors carrying an expression cassette in opposite orientation to the LTRs efficiently delivered and maintained high levels of transgene expression in mouse livers. This study establishes opposite orientation expression cassettes as an additional PKR-dependent SIN mechanism that abolishes vector mobilization from integrated and episomal SIN lentiviral vectors

Models of College Persistence Intentions

While withdrawal from higher education may be the result of many reasons both within and beyond the control of the student or the institution, the intent of not returning to higher education indicates the acceptance of a permanent disassociation with the pursuit of the higher education endeavor. It is of paramount importance in understanding the relationship between our higher education institutions and our society that those engaged in institutional research develop the fullest understanding of this phenomenon and its implications for the future of those institutions and that society. In order to do this, however, we must look beyond the actual behavior of dropping out and examine the academic intentions underlying those behaviors. This study brought together two lines of research, one drawn from behavioral theory and one from college persistence theory, to develop a model of intentions relating specifically to college persistence intentions.Two disciplines, behavioral theory and higher education persistence theory have developed along different paths in determining effects on behavior. Each has important implications related to the prediction of college students' decisions to stay in or leave higher education. While each theory is useful, neither is adequate to fully address why and if students will persist in college. First, behavioral theorists have made the distinction between intentions and action. One such theorist, Ajzen, concluded that intentions play the central and primary role in determining actions and developed the Theory of Planned Behavior around this concept. Second, educational researchers have developed models of college persistence that can classified into the perspectives of sociological, psychological, organizational, and economic. The problem identified was that these two lines of research have never been brought together in the examination of college persistence. This study addressed how to integrate these areas of research in the examination of college persistence and, by doing so, addressed a void in research concerning intentions in college persistence.The study utilized the background, pre-collegiate experience, and collegiate experience data reported by 372 freshmen and sophomore students at a four-year higher education institution in the development and evaluation of path models for intentions to persist in higher education. This quantitative study analyzed the relationships found to exist among these variables and utilized path analysis techniques in the determination of models of freshman and sophomore college student intentions toward future participation in higher education. Specifically, research questions focused on four areas of analysis: 1) pre-collegiate variables that influence perceptions of higher education experiences; 2) sociological, psychological, organizational, and economic perceptions of higher education experiences that influence intentions regarding participation in higher education; 3) interactions between pre-collegiate variables and perceptions of higher education experiences that influence intentions for participation in higher education; and 4) development of causal models that resulted from the observed relationships among pre-collegiate variables, perceptions of higher education experiences, and intentions for participation in higher education.Path analysis procedures resulted in rather complex models for intentions of persistence, whether at the same institution or at a different institution, as well as for undecided intentions. On the other hand, path analysis procedures resulted in far less complex models for intentions of stopping out, whether returning to the same institution or a different institution, as well as for intentions of dropping out. All models, however, met the criteria established for goodness-of-fit and parsimony which characterize accurate and useful models of the phenomena. While collegiate experience factors varied noticeably among the models, several background and pre-collegiate experience variables appeared consistently among the models: mother's education, certainty of major, expectations of attending college, quality of guidance, satisfaction with high school life, distance, and years between graduate. This observation highlighted the relevance of the factors to all of the persistence intention dependent variables.The study contributed to research in higher education persistence through the development of path models for these intentions. These models were developed to enhance our knowledge and understanding of the character and nature of persistence and departure decisions among college students. The study represented an attempt to look deeper into higher education persistence and attrition phenomena by examining, analyzing, and modeling the academic intentions underlying those actions. An examination of the background, pre-collegiate, and collegiate factors encompassed in this study and their role in the development of academic intentions of students regarding higher education provided causal models that can be used to guide our understanding of intentions regarding participation in higher education for freshman and sophomore students. While college persistence and subsequent graduation are still challenges facing American higher education, the pursuit of a deeper understanding of the character and nature of these constructs offers the hope of addressing these challenges to the benefit of all concerned

Use of Multiple Regression Analysis and Response Surface Techniques in the Design of Optional Non-demand Electric Utility Rates

This study develops a systematic procedure whereby multiple regression analysis and response surface techniques can be used in the design of electric utility rates to determine revenue recovery involving migration for large non-demand rate classes. A Plackett-Burman design and a Central Composite design are used in the development of the three models included in this study. Correlation coefficients and residuals are calculated in the evaluation of these models.General Engineerin

Inefficiency as the major driver of excess costs in lung resection

BackgroundRisk-adjusted outcomes of surgical care are important for quality and cost assessments. Although cardiac surgery is commonly studied, risk-adjusted analysis of excess costs of lung resection has not been pursued.MethodsWe used 2002 to 2005 National Inpatient Sample of the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project data to evaluate adverse outcomes and costs in elective lung resections in hospitals with more than 20 cases during that period. Adverse outcomes were inpatient death or excessive risk-adjusted postoperative stay. Logistic models were defined to predict adverse outcomes. Linear models were designed to predict costs. Hospital-specific adverse outcome rates and costs were measured to define performance outliers. Cost-effective reference hospitals were used to define total excess costs.ResultsAmong 12,182 patients at 215 hospitals undergoing lung resection, there were 336 inpatient deaths (2.8%) and 880 live discharges with prolonged risk-adjusted postoperative stay (7.2%). Predictive models for mortality and risk-adjusted postoperative stay had C statistics of 0.773 and 0.643, respectively. There were 11 ineffective hospitals (5.1%) with excessive adverse outcomes (P < .005) and 34 inefficient hospitals (15.8%) meeting quality measures but with higher than predicted costs (P < .0005). Ineffective hospitals had costs $1020 per case lower than predicted. Inefficient hospitals had costs$9978 higher than predicted.ConclusionsInefficiency is the major factor in excess inpatient costs associated with lung resection in this model. Although refinements in databases, including total physician costs and postdischarge adverse event costs, will alter models, excess costs of lung resection appear to be driven by inefficiency, not adverse outcomes

Pyrrolo[2,3D]Pyrimidine Compounds

Described herein is pyrrolo{2,3-d}pyrimidine compounds, their use as Janus Kinase (JAK) inhibitors, pharmaceutical compositions containing this compounds, and methods for the preparation of these compounds

Ocean thermal energy conversion plants : experimental and analytical study of mixing and recirculation

Also issued as Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Ralph M. Parsons Laboratory for Water Resources and Hydrodynamics. Report no.231. Prepared by the Energy Laboratory in association with Ralph M. Parsons Laboratory for Water Resources and Hydrodynamics.Ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC) is a method of generating power using the vertical temperature gradient of the tropical ocean as an energy source. Experimental and analytical studies have been carried out to determine the characteristics of the temperature and velocity fields induced in the surrounding ocean by the operation of an OTEC plant. The condition of recirculation, i.e. the reentering of mixed discharge water back into the plant intake, was of particular interest because of its adverse effect on plant efficiency. The studies were directed at the mixed discharge concept, in which the evaporator and condenser water flows are exhausted jointly at the approximate level of the ambient ocean thermocline. The OTEC plant was of the symmetric spar-buoy type with radial or separate discharge configurations. A distinctly stratified ocean with uniform, ambient current velocity was assumed. The following conclusions are obtained: The recirculation potential of an OTEC plant in a stagnant ocean is determined by the interaction of the jet discharge zone and a double sink return flow (one sink being the evaporator intake, the other the jet entrainment). This process occurs in the near-field of an OTEC plant up to a distance of about three times the ocean mixed layer depth. The stratified internal flow beyond this zone has little effect on recirculation, as have small ocean current velocities (up to 0.10 m/s prototype). Conditions which are conducive to recirculation are characterized by high discharge velocities and large plant flow rates. A design formula is proposed which determines whether recirculation would occur or not as a function of plant design and ocean conditions. On the basis of these results, it can be concluded that a 100 MW OTEC plant with the mixed discharge mode can operate at a typical candidate ocean site without incurring any discharge recirculation.Prepared under the support of Division of Solar Energy, U.S. Energy Research and Development Administration, Contract no. EY-76-S-02-2909.M001

The clustering of galaxies in the SDSS-III Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey: measuring structure growth using passive galaxies

We explore the benefits of using a passively evolving population of galaxies to measure the evolution of the rate of structure growth between z=0.25 and z=0.65 by combining data from the SDSS-I/II and SDSS-III surveys. The large-scale linear bias of a population of dynamically passive galaxies, which we select from both surveys, is easily modeled. Knowing the bias evolution breaks degeneracies inherent to other methodologies, and decreases the uncertainty in measurements of the rate of structure growth and the normalization of the galaxy power-spectrum by up to a factor of two. If we translate our measurements into a constraint on sigma_8(z=0) assuming a concordance cosmological model and General Relativity (GR), we find that using a bias model improves our uncertainty by a factor of nearly 1.5. Our results are consistent with a flat Lambda Cold Dark Matter model and with GR.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS (clarifications added, results and conclusions unchanged

The clustering of massive galaxies at z~0.5 from the first semester of BOSS data

We calculate the real- and redshift-space clustering of massive galaxies at z~0.5 using the first semester of data by the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS). We study the correlation functions of a sample of 44,000 massive galaxies in the redshift range 0.4<z<0.7. We present a halo-occupation distribution modeling of the clustering results and discuss the implications for the manner in which massive galaxies at z~0.5 occupy dark matter halos. The majority of our galaxies are central galaxies living in halos of mass 10^{13}Msun/h, but 10% are satellites living in halos 10 times more massive. These results are broadly in agreement with earlier investigations of massive galaxies at z~0.5. The inferred large-scale bias (b~2) and relatively high number density (nbar=3e-4 h^3 Mpc^{-3}) imply that BOSS galaxies are excellent tracers of large-scale structure, suggesting BOSS will enable a wide range of investigations on the distance scale, the growth of large-scale structure, massive galaxy evolution and other topics.Comment: 11 pages, 12 figures, matches version accepted by Ap