Aligning Mission Expectations and Practice in a Denominational Context

John L. Mehl. Aligning Mission Expectations and Practice in a Denominational Context.” D.Min. Major Applied Project, Concordia Seminary, 2012. In an era when inexpensive travel and communication have flattened the world and made it possible for everyone to be involved in mission in foreign lands, denominations struggle to maintain a unified mission effort. This study included survey work of major stakeholders in the foreign mission effort of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, including partner church leadership from around the world, in an effort to identify points where mission efforts lacked alignment. The results showed that besides agreeing on mission tasks, stakeholders need to step out of silos, communicate with one another in an atmosphere of trust, and develop common goals. The findings of the project can provide insights for those working in North America based denominations that seek to refine unified partnership efforts between different stakeholders

Ecology, Osmoregulation and Reproductive Biology of the White Steenbras, Lithognathus Lithognathus (Teleostei: Sparidae)

Over a one-year period 437 steenbras, Lithognathus lithognathus, ranging from 8-39 em fork length were sampled from the Heuningnes River Estuary. The length-weight relationship was linear and there was no fluctuation in the modal size range throughout the year. Steenbras up to the age of six years and over inhabited the estuary, adapting to large salinity fluctuations. Abundance of food items, mainly Crustacea and Annelida, and virtual absence of predators made the estuary an ideal nursery ground. Ectoparasitic infestation by leeches and copepods was moderately intense without causing any apparent deleterious effects. In a series of experiments designed to study osmoregulation in steenbras, it was found that haematocrits from fish sampled after 48 hours in freshwater were significantly (p<0,01) higher than the seawater controls. Two of the five protein fractions, however, as well as total protein, chloride, sodium, potassium and osmolality were all significantly (p<0,01) decreased in freshwater. Steenbras were unable to survive more than one week in freshwater. Due to capture diuresis the plasma constituents from a freshly captured sample were all significantly (p<0.01) higher when compared to steenbras acclimated for 48 hours in seawater. Gonads from the entire estuarine sample were all infantile, virtually impossible to sex and showed no macroscopic signs of development. Histology of a representative sample showed them to be all hermaphroditic, with mainly testicular-dominant ovotestes. Maturity indexes assigned on the basis of ovarian and testicular development gave an indication of a cyclic rhythm in activity during prematuration, with a June peak. Marine steenbras ovotestes, on the other hand, were large and could be accurately sexed macroscopically. Histology of 42 gonads again revealed a majority of testiculardominant hermaphroditic ovotestes. Maturity indexes indicated peak activity in June and a minimum in September, suggesting a spawning period in July and August. Sex-chromatin (Barr) bodies were detected in liver nuclei of ovarian-dominant ovotestes, but were almost entirely absent from testicular-dominant ovotestes. Prediction of the genetic sex against the actual dominant macroscopic sex, based on the presence or absence of Barr bodies in a sample of steenbras liver sections proved very accurate. This is the first record of sex-chromatin occurring in teleost tissue. There was no indication of sex-reversal, the steenbras remaining permanently hermaphroditic throughout the study year. It is postulated that the steenbras is a rudimentary hermaphrodite with only one of the two sexes functioning throughout the individual's life span. This is possibly a transitionary stage towards eventual gonochorism

Adiabatic two-qubit gates in capacitively coupled quantum dot hybrid qubits

The ability to tune qubits to flat points in their energy dispersions ("sweet spots") is an important tool for mitigating the effects of charge noise and dephasing in solid-state devices. However, the number of derivatives that must be simultaneously set to zero grows exponentially with the number of coupled qubits, making the task untenable for as few as two qubits. This is a particular problem for adiabatic gates, due to their slower speeds. Here, we propose an adiabatic two-qubit gate for quantum dot hybrid qubits, based on the tunable, electrostatic coupling between distinct charge configurations. We confirm the absence of a conventional sweet spot, but show that controlled-Z (CZ) gates can nonetheless be optimized to have fidelities of $\sim$99% for a typical level of quasistatic charge noise ($\sigma_\varepsilon$$\simeq$1 $\mu$eV). We then develop the concept of a dynamical sweet spot (DSS), for which the time-averaged energy derivatives are set to zero, and identify a simple pulse sequence that achieves an approximate DSS for a CZ gate, with a 5$\times$ improvement in the fidelity. We observe that the results depend on the number of tunable parameters in the pulse sequence, and speculate that a more elaborate sequence could potentially attain a true DSS.Comment: 14 pages, 9 figure

Bunnfiskundersøkelser i Barentshavet vinteren 2006

A combined acoustic and bottom trawl survey to obtain indices of abundance and estimates of length and weight at age has been carried out each winter (4-6 weeks in January- March) since 1981 in the Barents Sea. The target species are cod and haddock, but abundance indices have also been worked out for the redfish species since 1986 and Greenland halibut since 1990. Prior to 1993 a fixed standard area (ABCD in Fig. 2.1) was covered, but in 1993 the survey area was extended to the north and east in order to obtain a more complete coverage of the younger age groups of cod. In winter 1997 only the Norwegian part of the Barents Sea and a small part of the Svalbard area was covered, while in 1998 also a small part of the Russian EEZ was covered. In 1999 and 2000 the Norwegian vessels had full access to the Russian EEZ. In the years 2001-2005 a Russian research vessel covered the areas where the Norwegian vessels did not have access. In 2006 no Russian vessel participated, and an area off the Murman coast could not be covered

Investigations on demersal fish in the Barents Sea winter 2006

A combined acoustic and bottom trawl survey to obtain indices of abundance and estimates of length and weight at age has been carried out each winter (4-6 weeks in January- March) since 1981 in the Barents Sea. The target species are cod and haddock, but abundance indices have also been worked out for the redfish species since 1986 and Greenland halibut since 1990. Prior to 1993 a fixed standard area (ABCD in Fig. 2.1) was covered, but in 1993 the survey area was extended to the north and east in order to obtain a more complete coverage of the younger age groups of cod. In winter 1997 only the Norwegian part of the Barents Sea and a small part of the Svalbard area was covered, while in 1998 also a small part of the Russian EEZ was covered. In 1999 and 2000 the Norwegian vessels had full access to the Russian EEZ. In the years 2001-2005 a Russian research vessel covered the areas where the Norwegian vessels did not have access. In 2006 no Russian vessel participated, and an area off the Murman coast could not be covered

Beyond the Rigid-Ion Approximation with Spherically Symmetric Ions

Ab initio calculations show that a spherically symmetric charge relaxation of ions in a crystal, in response to the long-range electrostatic potential, is important for understanding the splitting between longitudinal- and transverse-optic-mode frequencies, and the violation of the Cauchy relations among elastic constants

The Dual Enrollment Playbook: A Guide to Equitable Acceleration for Students

More than a million high school students across the nation participate in dual enrollment each year. Dual enrollment students are more likely to graduate from high school, enroll in college, and complete college degrees. But students from historically underrepresented racial/ethnic groups and low-income backgrounds do not have equitable access to or success in dual enrollment. This playbook examines nine dual enrollment programs in Florida, Ohio, and Washington that have narrowed or closed equity gaps in dual enrollment for Black, Latinx, Indigenous, and Pacific Islander students. These programs—developed by partnerships between high schools and community colleges—show that it is possible to close equity gaps when intentional strategy is paired with innovation and commitment. The playbook identifies five principles and the supporting strategies and practices through which community colleges and K-12 leaders can advance equity in high-quality dual enrollment: Set a shared vision and goals that prioritize equity. Expand equitable access. Provide advising and supports that ensure equitable student outcomes. Provide high-quality instruction that builds students’ competence and confidence. Organize teams and develop relationships to maximize potential

Force-matched embedded-atom method potential for niobium

Large-scale simulations of plastic deformation and phase transformations in alloys require reliable classical interatomic potentials. We construct an embedded-atom method potential for niobium as the first step in alloy potential development. Optimization of the potential parameters to a well-converged set of density-functional theory (DFT) forces, energies, and stresses produces a reliable and transferable potential for molecular dynamics simulations. The potential accurately describes properties related to the fitting data, and also produces excellent results for quantities outside the fitting range. Structural and elastic properties, defect energetics, and thermal behavior compare well with DFT results and experimental data, e.g., DFT surface energies are reproduced with less than 4% error, generalized stacking-fault energies differ from DFT values by less than 15%, and the melting temperature is within 2% of the experimental value.Comment: 17 pages, 13 figures, 7 table

Electronic Properties of NaCdF3: A First-Principles Prediction

Based on first-principles total energy calculations, we predict that NaCdF3 could be formed in a ferroelectric crystal structure. Using a symmetry guided search with structure optimization, we found two ferroelectric structures, nearly degenerate in energy, competing for the ground state: a rhombohedral structure with space group R3c and an orthorhombic structure with space group Pna21. The energies of both structures are \u2760 meV lower than the sum of those of the constituents, NaF and CdF2, implying chemical stability

Temperature dependence of bend elastic constant in oblique helicoidal cholesterics

Elastic moduli of liquid crystals, known as Frank constants, are of quintessential importance for understanding fundamental properties of these materials and for the design of their applications. Although there are many methods to measure the Frank constants in the nematic phase, little is known about the elastic constants of the chiral version of the nematic, the so-called cholesteric liquid crystal, since the helicoidal structure of the cholesteric renders these methods inadequate. Here we present a technique to measure the bend modulus K33 of cholesterics that is based on the electrically tunable reflection of light at an oblique helicoidal ChOH cholesteric structure. K33 is typically smaller than 0.6 pN, showing a nonmonotonous temperature dependence with a slight increase near the transition to the twist-bend phase. K33 depends strongly on the molecular composition. In particular, chiral mixtures that contain the flexible dimer 1′′,7′′-bis(4-cyanobiphenyl-4′-yl) heptane (CB7CB) and rodlike molecules such as pentylcyanobiphenyl (5CB) show a K33 value that is 5 times smaller than K33 of pure CB7CB or of mixtures of CB7CB with chiral dopants. Furthermore, K33 in CB11CB doped with a chiral agent is noticeably smaller than K33 in a similarly doped CB7CB which is explained by the longer flexible link in CB11CB. The proposed technique allows a direct in-situ determination of how the molecular composition, molecular structure and molecular chirality affect the elastic properties of chiral liquid crystals