The mad rhetoric: Toward a rigor on radical creativity and its function in consciousness as a communicative principle

This thesis explores three creative works, The music of Erich Zann by H.P. Lovecraft; the film Eraserhead by David Lynch; and the Self-Portrait (blue) by Vincent Van Gogh, as examples of different forms of mad rhetorics as a way in which to demonstrate the application of the theory of mad rhetorics and the role radical creativity plays in the construction of mad rhetorics by mad rhetors play in society

Terra Nova 2.0 - The New World of MMORPGs

This is a preprint of an article whose final and definitive form has been published in the journal Critical Studies in Media Communication.The dominant metaphor used to describe and situate MMORPGs, or massively multiplayer online role playing games (e.g. Ultima Online, EverQuest, World of Warcraft, Second Life, etc.), has been “new world” and “new frontier.” By deploying this powerful imagery, game developers, players, the popular media, and academic researchers draw explicit connections between the technology of MMORPGs and the European encounter with the Americas and the western expansion of the United States. Although providing a compelling and often recognizable explanation of the innovations and opportunities of this new technology, the use of this terminology comes with a considerable price, one that had been demonstrated and examined by scholars of the Internet, cyberspace, and virtual reality over a decade ago. This essay explores the impact and significance of the terms “new world” and “frontier” as they have been deployed to explain and describe MMORPGs

The Model Cities Program

The period from 1961 through 1965 saw a dramatic increase in the number of federal grant-in-aid programs and the total federal funding levels directed at curing the ills of the urban community. There was a persistent anxiety, however, that, despite the proliferation of new drugs administered to the patient for his array of symptoms, the progress was not satisfactory, and that time was running out. In October, 1965, a Task Force on Urban Problems was appointed by President Johnson to study urban problems and recommend action. The Task Force looked at the prior efforts and decided a new approach was necessary-a treatment to be commenced in selected cities as a demonstration. They recommended that the federal, state and local medicine men consult with each other in order to develop a program of drug therapy which would be comprehensive, and coordinated. They also recommended that massive new types and higher dosage levels of drugs were necessary if the patient was to be revitalized. The basic Task Force recommendation was accepted by the President and presented to the Congress in his message of January 26, 1966. A proposed Demonstration Cities Act of 1966 was introduced into Congress, which was later consolidated with other provisions into an omnibus bill, and finally was enacted as Title I of the Demonstration Cities and Metropolitan Development Act of 1966. As HUD commenced to implement the new program, it was given its popular name, the Model Cities Program, a designation not appearing in the Act. This article presents this, program in its historical perspective and its posture as developed administratively by the Johnson Administration. Its full potential and direction will unfold during the Nixon Administration. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, George W. Romney, has endorsed the concept underlying the Program and announced Presidential approval of certain revisions in the administration of the Program.\u2

An Ecological analysis of relic diatoms in sediments of Las Vegas Bay, Lake Mead

Relic diatoms in sediments of the inner Las Vegas Bay, near the Las Vegas Wash sewage inflow, were examined in order to assess historic trophic conditions in this area of Lake Mead. Diatom sedimentation rates and ratios of Araphidineae/Centrales (A/C) diatom groups were determined from sediment cores collected in the old wash channel 1.5 km from the sewage inflow (station 2), in a small cove 1.5 km further downstream (station 3) and in an adjacent embayment off Gypsum Wash (station 4). Diatom sedimentation rates generally increased from the bottom to the top of each core, but pronounced minima existed at various sediment intervals. Siltation from floods that occurred during 1975 appeared to cause these minima and may also have masked true rates of diatom sedimentation and A/C ratios at stations 2 and 4 which were located in areas most affected by flooding. A/C ratios in sediments at station 3 revealed that the inner bay has been primarily mesotrophiceutrophic since 1971, but a sharp decrease in annual diatom sedimentation rates after 1975 indicates there has been a decline in diatom production. This could, in part, account for the recent decrease in chlorophyll-a concentrations observed in past monitoring of the inner bay

SPIRITUAL WARFARE IN THE PRE-K – 12 CLASSROOM : A GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE

The purpose of this study focuses on spiritual warfare as it relates to Christian educators in the PreK-12 classroom. Elements of spiritual warfare discussed in the literature review include: a three-fold model of spiritual warfare—worldly temptations, the human propensity towards sin, and Satanic influence (Arnold, 2011); a four-fold model of evil—the World Systems Model, the Flesh Model, the Ground-Level Deliverance Model, and the Strategic-Level Deliverance Model (Beilby & Eddy, 2012); and the history of spiritual warfare training. The questions examined in this paper are, “As a teacher, have you ever encountered spiritual warfare? What happened and how did you or others confront evil in this context?” This study is a subset of a larger study of 1,509 teachers in 38 countries on the “Spiritual Lives of Teachers” (Hetzel & Costillo, 2013). The subset examined includes 702 private PreK-12 teachers from 29 countries who responded to the spiritual warfare questions. Of the 702 participants, 598 or 85% indicated that they experienced spiritual warfare as a teacher. Narrative data indicates respondents experienced spiritual warfare through relational discord and lack of unity, demonic oppression, student misbehavior, and emotional disequilibrium. Spiritual warfare was described as daily and palpable in the classroom. When answering the question, “how did you or others confront evil in this context?” 49% of respondents exercised prayer and 11% Scripture as the primary defense against spiritual warfare. The results of this study indicate a critical need for teacher training as it relates to spiritual preparedness for the teaching profession

Genetic diversity of Asian water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis): mitochondrial DNA D-loop and cytochrome b sequence variation

Swamp and river buffalo mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) was sequenced for 303 bp of the cytochrome b gene for 54 animals from 14 populations, and for 158 bp of the D-loop region for 80 animals from 11 populations. Only one cytochrome b haplotype was found in river buffalo. Of the four haplotypes identified in swamp buffalo, one found in all populations is apparently ancestral both to the other swamp haplotypes and to the river haplotype. The phylogenetic relationships among the 33 D-loop haplotypes, with a cluster of 11 found in swamp buffalo only, also support the evolution of domesticated swamp and river buffalo from an ancestral swamp-like animal, most likely represented today by the wild Asian buffalo (Bubalus arnee). The time of divergence of the swamp and river types, estimated from the D-loop data, is 28 000 to 87 000 years ago. We hypothesise that the species originated in mainland south-east Asia, and that it spread north to China and west to the Indian subcontinent, where the rive type evolved and was domesticated. Following domestication in China, the domesticated swamp buffalo spread through two separate routes, through Taiwan and the Philippines to the eastern islands of Borneo and Sulawesi, and south through mainland southeast Asia and then to the western islands of Indonesia

Human Streptococcus agalactiae Isolate in Nile Tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus)

Streptococcus agalactiae, the Lancefield group B streptococcus (GBS) long recognized as a mammalian pathogen, is an emerging concern with regard to fish. We show that a GBS serotype Ia multilocus sequence type ST-7 isolate from a clinical case of human neonatal meningitis caused disease and death in Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus)

Cognitive-behavioural therapy has no effect on disease activity but improves quality of life in subgroups of patients with inflammatory bowel disease : a pilot randomised controlled trial

Background: Studies have demonstrated usefulness of cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) in managing distress in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD); however, few have focused on IBD course. The present trial aimed to investigate whether adding CBT to standard treatment prolongs remission in IBD in comparison to standard therapy alone.\ud \ud Methods: A 2-arm parallel pragmatic randomised controlled trial (+CBT – standard care plus either face-to-face (F2F) or online CBT over 10 weeks versus standard care alone (SC)) was conducted with adult patients in remission. IBD remission at 12 months since baseline was the primary outcome measure while the secondary outcome measures were mental health status and quality of life (QoL). Linear mixed-effect models were used to compare groups on outcome variables while controlling for baseline.\ud \ud Results: Participants were 174 patients with IBD (90 +CBT, 84 SC). There was no difference in remission rates between groups, with similar numbers flaring at 12 months. Groups did not differ in anxiety, depression or coping at 6 or 12 months (p >0.05). When only participants classified as 'in need' (young, high baseline IBD activity, recently diagnosed; poor mental health) were examined in the post-hoc analysis (n = 74, 34 CBT and 40 controls), CBT significantly improved mental QoL (p = .034, d = .56) at 6 months. Online CBT group had a higher score on Precontemplation than the F2F group, which is consistent with less developed coping with IBD in the cCBT group (p = .045).\ud \ud Conclusions: Future studies should direct psychological interventions to patients 'in need' and attempt to recruit larger samples to compensate for significant attrition when using online CBT

Near-field coded-mask technique and its potential for proton therapy monitoring

Objective. Prompt-gamma imaging encompasses several approaches to the online monitoring of the beam range or deposited dose distribution in proton therapy. We test one of the imaging techniques - a coded mask approach - both experimentally and via simulations. Approach. Two imaging setups have been investigated experimentally. Each of them comprised a structured tungsten collimator in the form of a modified uniformly redundant array mask and a LYSO:Ce scintillation detector of fine granularity. The setups differed in detector dimensions and operation mode (1D or 2D imaging). A series of measurements with radioactive sources have been conducted, testing the performance of the setups for near-field gamma imaging. Additionally, Monte Carlo simulations of a larger setup of the same type were conducted, investigating its performance with a realistic gamma source distribution occurring during proton therapy. Main results. The images of point-like sources reconstructed from two small-scale prototypes' data using the maximum-likelihood expectation maximisation algorithm constitute the experimental proof of principle for the near-field coded-mask imaging modality, both in the 1D and the 2D mode. Their precision allowed us to calibrate out certain systematic offsets appearing due to the limited alignment accuracy of setup elements. The simulation of the full-scale setup yielded a mean distal falloff retrieval precision of 0.72 mm in the studies for beam energy range 89.5–107.9 MeV and with 1 × 10$^{8}$ protons (a typical number for distal spots). The implemented algorithm of image reconstruction is relatively fast—a typical procedure needs several seconds. Significance. Coded-mask imaging appears a valid option for proton therapy monitoring. The results of simulations let us conclude that the proposed full-scale setup is competitive with the knife-edge-shaped and the multi-parallel slit cameras investigated by other groups