Assumption

Assumption is the story of a slave named Nathan living in a racially hostile environment in antebellum and post-Civil War Louisiana. Assumption Parish was the kind of place where slaves were whipped frequently, where disease and rustic living were the normal course of life, where the swamp, with all its savage foreboding, loomed nearby. It was a place, Nathan discovered, that traded in men\u27s spirits, breaking them little by little for purposes that were difficult for him to comprehend. Like many slaves of his time, Nathan is raised without biological parents. His surrogate mother, Abbie, longs for the day when slavery ended. But she is too conservative in nature, too aware of her powerlessness, to do anything to force change. Nathan\u27s surrogate fathers, on the other hand, are only too willing to rebel against the plantation system. Nefs, in fact, covertly plots revolt. He hopes Nathan will join him in this crusade. But even after being brutally whipped for a petty, accidental infraction of the plantation\u27s unspoken code of conduct, Nathan does not fight back but instead opts to run from the plantation. This illusion of leaving the harshest of the Old South\u27s conditions was fomented by Nathan\u27s other surrogate father, Pinder Beauregard, who dreamed Nathan would become a New Orleans musician as Pinder once had been. Eventually, the plantation\u27s slaves revolted and Nathan escaped, though not before witnessing Pinder death in battle. Nathan wanders the swamp where he discovers freedom is not what he\u27d expected. Every institution, from the military to religion to marriage, is closed off to him. Nathan falls into a deep fever, like the kind that killed his parents. He is returned to the plantation where he grew up, recovering to find the plantation has changed little since he\u27s been away. The biggest shock is the fate of Nefs, who has been rendered into a catatonic, bootlicking, house servant. Nathan sees in Nefs his future self, a strange alien puppet with barely a mind of his own. He decides his musical life can wait until he can begin a campaign to topple the post-Civil War society

Through the Looking Glass: \u3cem\u3eDer Spiegel’s\u3c/em\u3e Presentation of America’s Image in the Iraq War

Der Spiegel, the weekly German news magazine, offered extensive coverage of the beginnings of the Iraq War. The magazine blended historical fact and cinematic and historical comparisons to present its decidedly negative view of the conflict. The twofold purpose of this thesis is to illuminate the German attitudes towards the war and the American culture from which it sprang and to explore some of the comparisons and metaphors and the visuals used to communicate this viewpoint. The intent is to examine the gap between the abstract position the magazine expresses and the wider scope of meaning created by the metaphors and visuals. Chapter I concentrates on the magazine\u27s presentation of a perceived history of failures on the part of the American CIA and the manner in which this is combined with allusions to the Rambo image. Through the use of the Rambo figure and other references to film characters (James Bond), the magazine suggests that both U.S. leaders such as George W. Bush and the population at large are victims of their own cinematic myths and vastly overestimate their own capacity to determine the world\u27s fate. Sharply contrasting portraits of two CIA agents who were casualties of the war, Alabama born Michael Spann and German born Helge Philipp Boes, cast the American as an inept blunderer and the German as an idealistic and sensitive defender of Western freedoms. Chapter II concerns the way in which historical comparisons are used to illuminate the conflict. The magazine suggests that the U.S. is an empire in decline. The very heterogeneous selection of examples offered in defense of this argument (e.g. the Roman, British, and Soviet empires) all spring from material that would be familiar to German readers. They offer cursory and arguably superficial analogies to explain today\u27s complex situation. Part II of the chapter explores the use of images from 20th century history, particularly World War II, to explain events. Very often the comparisons seem overblown and particularly inappropriate (e.g. Stalingrad and the Battle of Baghdad; the bombing of Dresden and the bombing of Baghdad). Rhetorically the magazine sometimes distances itself from these questionable analogies by attributing them to others (anonymous observers ). Such comparisons speak to a specifically German historical sensibility and the deep emotions these events evoke in German readers rather than to the explanatory power of the examples

Sustainability Attitudes of College Students as Future Business Leaders

Limited time and finite resources are motivating firms to make significant changes in policy and business practices to maintain profits, sustain the environment, and further a companies’ strategic goals. Managers now value sustainability information and do not discard sustainability activities as being a burden for a firm's financial viability. This is a step in the right direction, but the current CEOs and leaders of today’s business world will only drive businesses for so long and will eventually hand to reins to a new generation of business leaders. The future of business lies with college students, the soon-to-be future employees in the business world. Sustainability has become an almost ubiquitous term at colleges and universities across the United States and world. Professors and managers can stress the importance of sustainable business practices to their students and employees respectively, but are they listening and comprehending? Several recent studies on business education indicate that including sustainability as a topic in the curriculum of universities and business schools is becoming a trend. Introducing a select few students is just the first step though. To witness real change, sustainability must become a focus across all curriculums. This is just the first piece to our two-pronged question. Whether students are conceptualizing sustainability remains to be seen. During the Spring, 2018 semester, an electronic survey will be distributed to undergrads in classrooms through Qualtrics Solutions. Survey participants undergrad students currently studying supply chain management at East Carolina University. These are students who have been introduced to the concept of sustainability. We will be testing to see what their attitudes and behaviors towards the concept are, and if there is any effect on their employment choices later in life

An Analysis and Role Description of the Seventh-day Adventist Conference Ministerial Secretary in North America

Problem. Although the local conference ministerial association secretary of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in North America has been designated as the pastor\u27s pastor, relatively little study has been given to the meaning and job description implied by this title. The goal of this study, therefore, was to discover from a broad sampling of ministers, ministerial association secretaries, and conference presidents their perceptions concerning the role of this office, and to compile from this and related data a role description for the office of conference ministerial association secretary in North America. Method. Informal and formal interviews with 93 ministers, some of whom were ministerial secretaries and conference presidents, produced the content of a questionnaire dealing with the role of the conference ministerial association secretary in North America. This questionnaire was sent to a random sampling of 326 ministers, all conference ministerial association secretaries, and all conference presidents in the North American Division of Seventh-day Adventists. In addition to the above, the writer corresponded with other denominations and searched the Scriptures seeking data and principles relative to a ministry-to-ministers. Results. The respondents perceived the ministerial association secretary as of equal or greater importance than the secretaries of the departments of the conference such as Lay Activities or Sabbath School. They further perceived the need for a ministerial association secretary who would share with then on a personal level not only the needed skills of ministry but personal encouragement as well. They reacted negatively to the ministerial association secretary as administrator and positively to those categories which saw him as a pastor\u27s pastor to the Seventh-day Adventist ministry. Conclusions. It was concluded that a ministerial association secretary functioning as a ministry-to-ministers is needed at the local conference level. On the basis of these findings and related research, a role description for the conference ministerial association secretary in North America was developed

Use of microwave satellite data to study variations in rainfall over the Indian Ocean

The University of Wisconsin Space Science and Engineering Center mapped rainfall over the Indian Ocean using a newly developed Scanning Multichannel Microwave Radiometer (SMMR) rain-retrieval algorithm. The short-range objective was to characterize the distribution and variability of Indian Ocean rainfall on seasonal and annual scales. In the long-range, the objective is to clarify differences between land and marine regimes of monsoon rain. Researchers developed a semi-empirical algorithm for retrieving Indian Ocean rainfall. Tools for this development have come from radiative transfer and cloud liquid water models. Where possible, ground truth information from available radars was used in development and testing. SMMR rainfalls were also compared with Indian Ocean gauge rainfalls. Final Indian Ocean maps were produced for months, seasons, and years and interpreted in terms of historical analysis over the sub-continent

Housing and Business Investment in Nebraska

Editor\u27s Note: The 1975 Legislative Session of the Nebraska Legislature recognized the need to analyze all available options for dealing with the problems of urban redevelopment: lack of adequate housing, revitalization of older business districts, and possible incentives for investment in older neighborhoods in Nebraska. Accordingly, Resolution 53 directed the Legislature\u27s Urban Affairs Committee to study a) causes of urban decay, b) current Federal and State programs in urban redevelopment, c) laws and programs of other states that encourage redevelopment, d) incentives to encourage urban redevelopment and e) needs for changes in Nebraska law. The study here summarized was completed by the Center for Applied Urban Research under contract with the Urban Affairs Committee of the Nebraska Legislature and the State Office of Planning and Programming as one aspect of the larger program. The study was designed a) to ascertain the demand for housing and business investment funds and the factors which dis~ courage such investment in declining neighborhoods of Nebraska\u27s two major metropolitan cities, Omaha and Lincoln, and in Nebraska\u27s nonmetropolitan communities, and b) to recommend areas for consideration by the administrative and legislative branches of the Nebraska government. The study was financed in part through a comprehensive planning assistance grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development under contract with the Nebraska Legislature and the Nebraska State Office of Planning and Programming. Comprehensive Planning Grant, Project No. NEB-P-7070

Protein kinase C and growth regulation in malignant gliomas

Journal ArticleTo the Editor: The presence of amplified growth factor systems in many tumor models, including malignant gliomas, raises the question of how such external signals are transduced into a transformed phenotype (increased proliferation, invasion, lack of contact inhibition, angiogenic capacity, etc.). In this regard, intracellular signal transduction systems a re likely to play a key role. Such amplified external signals, by way of transduction systems, may alter genomic expression to effect a change of the expression of structural or regulatory genes to produce the malignant phenotype. Furthermore, the complexity and multiplicity of the growth factor systems place therapeutic impetus upon determining events that follow growth factor/receptor binding. Determination of postbinding events may reveal common intracellular transduction mechanisms activated by these different signals

Sodium-Glucose Cotransporter-2 Inhibitor and Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 Receptor Agonist Combination Therapy in Type 2 Diabetes: Protocol for a Kidney End Points Real-world Study (COMBi-KID Study)

BACKGROUND: Sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitors (SGLT2is) and glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RAs) are both considered to be part of standard care in the management of glycemia in type 2 diabetes. Recent trial evidence has indicated benefits on primary kidney end points for individual drugs within each medication class. Despite the potential benefits of combining SGLT2is and GLP-1RAs for glycemia management, according to national and international guideline recommendations, there is currently limited data on kidney end points for this drug combination. OBJECTIVE: The aims of the study are to assess the real-world effects of combination SGLT2i and GLP-1RA therapies for diabetes management on kidney end points, glycemic control, and weight in people with type 2 diabetes who are being treated with renin-angiotensin system blockade medication. METHODS: This retrospective cohort study will use the electronic health records of people with type 2 diabetes that are registered with general practices covering over 15 million people in England and Wales and are included in the Oxford-Royal College of General Practitioners Research and Surveillance Centre network. A propensity score-matched cohort of prevalent new users of SGLT2is and GLP-1RAs and those who have been prescribed SGLT2is and GLP-1RAs in combination will be identified. They will be matched based on drug histories, comorbidities, and demographics. A repeated-measures, multilevel, linear regression analysis will be performed to compare the mean change (from baseline) in estimated glomerular filtration rate at 12 and 24 months between those who switched to combined therapy and those continuing monotherapy with an SGLT2i or GLP-1RA. The secondary end points will be albuminuria, serum creatinine level, glycated hemoglobin level, and BMI. These will also be assessed for change at the 12- and 24-month follow-ups. RESULTS: The study is due to commence in March 2022 and is expected to be complete by September 2022. CONCLUSIONS: Our study will be the first to assess the impact of combination SGLT2i and GLP-1RA therapy in type 2 diabetes on primary kidney end points from a real-world perspective. INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID): PRR1-10.2196/34206

A Model for Calculating Desert Aerosol Turbidity Over the Oceans from Geostationary Satellite Data

A technique has been developed to infer the optical thickness of Saharan dust from Synchronous Meteorological Satellite (SMS) brightness measurements at visible wavelengths. The scattering model consists of an air layer, a dust layer and a lower boundary of variable albedo. Single-scatter properties of the dust computed from Mie theory were the basis for calculations by plane-parallel theory of radiative transfer in the dust layer. Radiative interactions between air and dust layers and the lower boundary were calculated with an adding version of the doubling scheme. Optical thickness was determined from satellite brightness measurements through a lookup table produced by the adding program. SMS visible sensors were calibrated from the prelaunch calibration measurements and measurements of sun and space. Error analysis and tests indicate a potential accuracy of ∼0.1 unit of optical thickness. The main limits on accuracy are digitizing resolution of the SMS visible signals, and mistaking clouds for dust in the satellite imagery. This technique of inferring Saharan dust turbidity has been verified and fine-tuned using surface turbidity measurements during GATE and corresponding SMS imagery