Becoming Lyrical: Poems That Depict Our Reflective Journeys In Online Teaching

Online and blended learning over the years have brought great challenges and opportunities. At the beginning of this project, we asked: How do educators reflect on teaching online in particular? And how do we articulate our reflections in creative ways? With these questions in mind, the authors took on the challenge of the artistic expression of writing and reading poetry to reflect critically and creatively on our experiences of teaching online in higher education. By drawing connections between theory and our poetry we provide insight into our lessons learned from teaching online. We conclude with encouragement to use creative writing to foster a collective and reflective environment in higher education and for personal awareness and growth

Theological authority in the hymns and spirituals of American Protestantism, 1830-1930

This dissertation examines theological authority in the hymns and spirituals of American Protestantism within the period 1830-1930. It investigates the deuterocanonical status of hymns in hymnic-theological commentary, and demonstrates the functional canonicity of hymns in three case studies (children's hymnody, African American spirituals, and hymns of marginalized groups), and two representative areas of praxis (conversion and missions). This dissertation consults a variety of primary source materials, both elite and popular, including journals, biographies, conference minutes, academic addresses, theological works, hymn prefaces, domestic novels, newspapers, and poetry. These sources are used to situate the hymnal in the cultural context of American Protestantism and determine the status and role of hymnody. As the Bible is acclaimed the exclusive canonical text of Protestantism, consideration of the hymnal's theological authority in canonical terms is at odds with Protestant biblicism. As such, this dissertation's claim that the hymnal shared, to a significant degree, the Bible's place as a textual source of theological authority, is intellectually innovative. In identifying didactic and doctrinal themes in hymnals, primarily through systematic theology, this dissertation shows the role of hymns and spirituals in regulative theology and audible faith. Thus defended in this dissertation, is the hymnal's capacity to adjudicate on matters of faith and praxis. Of additional importance to this dissertation is its contribution toward hymnic theology, as well as demonstrating the hymnal's influence upon historical theology, liturgical theology, cultural theology, and evangelistic theology. This dissertation yields various insights for theology, especially the soteriological efficacy· of hymnody, the role of hymns in regulative theology, and the discussion of antiSemitism and black-liberation theology in African American spirituals. In applied theology and congregational studies the ramifications are critical, with the analysis of hymnic authority, the intersection of singing and doctrine (lex cantandi lex credendi), and the Bible and hymnal as mutually constitutive, all of paramount importance

Prestige of the bishop in Eusebius' Ecclesiastical history

iv, 250 leaves ; 28 cm.The Ecclesiastical History is the primary historical source of the Christian Church in the pre-Constantinian era. The History narrates the nature and work of Christ, the highlights of the apostolic age and the advancement of the Christian Church in the Roman Empire up to the principate of Constantine. Investigating the Ecclesiastical History using a quantitative method reveals Eusebius' preoccupation with the office of the bishop. There is almost no subject that Eusebius addresses that does not reflect his portrayal of the bishop's influence and universal presence. This thesis demonstrates the high status and undisputed authority of the episcopate as presented by Eusebius of Caesarea. The research of this thesis contributes to an understanding of the bishop in Roman society before Imperial favour

Detectors for the James Webb Space Telescope Near-Infrared Spectrograph I: Readout Mode, Noise Model, and Calibration Considerations

We describe how the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) Near-Infrared Spectrograph's (NIRSpec's) detectors will be read out, and present a model of how noise scales with the number of multiple non-destructive reads sampling-up-the-ramp. We believe that this noise model, which is validated using real and simulated test data, is applicable to most astronomical near-infrared instruments. We describe some non-ideal behaviors that have been observed in engineering grade NIRSpec detectors, and demonstrate that they are unlikely to affect NIRSpec sensitivity, operations, or calibration. These include a HAWAII-2RG reset anomaly and random telegraph noise (RTN). Using real test data, we show that the reset anomaly is: (1) very nearly noiseless and (2) can be easily calibrated out. Likewise, we show that large-amplitude RTN affects only a small and fixed population of pixels. It can therefore be tracked using standard pixel operability maps.Comment: 55 pages, 10 figure

Nest-building males trade-off material collection costs with territory value

This work was supported by the BBSRC (BB/I019502/1 to SDH and SLM) and Roslin Institute Strategic Grant funding from the BBSRC (SLM).Building a structurally robust nest is crucial for reproductive success in many birds. However, we know little about the criteria birds use to select material or where they go to collect it. Here we observed the material collection of male Cape Weavers (Ploceus capensis). Males typically selected long, strong material to build their nests and each male collected material from different locations. Males that built more nests nested in a different area of the colony and flew further to collect nest material than did males that built fewer nests. As these males that flew further to collect material had longer tails and wings and attracted more females to their territories than did males that flew shorter distances, they may have traded off the travel costs of collecting nest materials with benefits gained from holding a territory in a more 'desirable' part of the colony. Nest construction, then, appears to be a multi-dimensional task whereby birds take into account material's structural properties, material proximity to the nest site and territory quality. Males that do this effectively both attract more mates and provide structurally sound nests for their young.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Social exclusion of older persons: a scoping review and conceptual framework

As a concept, social exclusion has considerable potential to explain and respond to disadvantage in later life. However, in the context of ageing populations, the construct remains ambiguous. A disjointed evidence-base, spread across disparate disciplines, compounds the challenge of developing a coherent understanding of exclusion in older age. This article addresses this research deficit by presenting the findings of a two-stage scoping review encompassing seven separate reviews of the international literature pertaining to old-age social exclusion. Stage one involved a review of conceptual frameworks on old-age exclusion, identifying conceptual understandings and key domains of later-life exclusion. Stage two involved scoping reviews on each domain (six in all). Stage one identified six conceptual frameworks on old-age exclusion and six common domains across these frameworks: neighbourhood and community; services, amenities and mobility; social relations; material and financial resources; socio-cultural aspects; and civic participation. International literature concentrated on the first four domains, but indicated a general lack of research knowledge and of theoretical development. Drawing on all seven scoping reviews and a knowledge synthesis, the article presents a new definition and conceptual framework relating to old-age exclusion

Analysis of phase detects altered timing of muscle activation in subjects with chronic shoulder pain

Optimal exercise therapy for shoulder pain is unknown due to limited information regarding specific changes in muscle function associated with pain. Timing of muscle activity with respect to movement (phase) can provide information about muscle activation patterns without requiring electromyography data normalization which is problematic in the presence of pain. The aim of this study was to determine if a phase measure is able to detect differences in the timing of shoulder muscle activation in subjects with chronic shoulder pain. Fourteen subjects with pain and 14 without pain were recruited. Electromyography from eight shoulder muscles was recorded. Approximately 20 cycles of small amplitude (∼30°) rapid shoulder flexion/extension was performed. A cross-correlation and spectrographic analysis provided a measure of phase. Welch’s t-tests were used to compare mean phase angles between groups. Subjects with chronic shoulder pain had greater variability in the relative timing of muscle activation with significant differences found in the phase angles for pectoralis major, infraspinatus, supraspinatus, upper and lower trapezius and serratus anterior. This preliminary study indicates that the examination of the timing of muscle activation using a phase measure can identify significant differences in muscle function between normal subjects and those with chronic shoulder pain

Material Properties and Shrinkage of 3D Printing Parts using Ultrafuse Stainless Steel 316LX Filament

As a novel manufacturing methodology, 3D printing or additive manufacturing (AM) attracts much more attentions for complex structure fabrication, especially for manufacturing metal parts. A number of metal AM processes have been studied and commercialized. However, most of them are costly and less accessible. This paper introduces a material extrusion based 3D printing process for making austenitic stainless steel 316L part using a metal-polymer composite filament (Ultrafuse 316LX). The stainless steel 316L metal specimens are printed by a commonly used 3D printer loaded with Ultrafuse filament, followed by an industry standard debinding and sintering process. Tests are performed to understand the material properties, such as hardness, tensile strength, and microstructural characteristics, of the stainless steel 316L material. In addition, an artifact model is designed to estimate the part shrinkage after the debinding and sintering process. It is found that the stainless steel 316L part exhibits apparent shrinkage after sintering. But using the Ultrafuse filament for 3D printing could be an alternative way of making metal AM parts