Wand\u27ring this Woody Maze : Deciphering the Obscure Wilderness of Paradise Regained

The setting of Milton’s great sequel is puzzling, being called a desert and a “waste wild” (IV. 523) repeatedly and at the same time including descriptions of protective oaks and woody mazes. These conflicting descriptions conjure up several questions: In which environment does the epic take place? Because Milton is so detailed in his adaptations of biblical narrative the inclusion of trees is quite perplexing. While he does tend to expand biblical narrative quite frequently – e.g. Paradise Lost – he rarely initiates a change without just cause. The crux of this particular change centers on what this just cause could be. How does the addition of a few trees change the overall effect of Milton’s brief epic? This thesis thus attempts to find further meaning in Paradise Regained’s setting by exploring three possibilities for this just cause while uncovering what the concept of a tree/forest means in early modern England

Machine Translation with Image Context from Mandarin Chinese to English

Despite ongoing improvements in machine translation, machine translators still lack the capability of incorporating context from which source text may have been derived. Machine translators use text from a source language to translate it into a target language without observing any visual context. This work aims to produce a neural machine translation model that is capable of accepting both text and image context as a multimodal translator from Mandarin Chinese to English. The model was trained on a small multimodal dataset of 700 images and sentences, and compared to a translator trained only on the text associated with those images. The model was also trained on a larger text only corpus of 21,000 sentences with and without the addition of the small multimodal dataset. Notable differences were produced between the text only and the multimodal translators when trained on the small 700 sentence and image dataset, however no observable discrepancies were found between the translators trained on the larger text corpus. Further research with a larger multimodal dataset could provide more results clarifying the utility of multimodal machine translation

The Nutrition Care Process Related to Hypertension

This paper describes the nutrition care process related to hypertension using a case study patient to provide specific examples. Included is an introduction to hypertension, a brief description of the pathophysiology, etiology, epidemiology, signs and symptoms as well as a description and examples of the nutrition care process. To view the presentation on this topic, please download the PowerPoint from the additional files

Liberating service learning and the rest of higher education civic engagement

Stoecker does not shy away from asking the hard questions, including challenging widely celebrated dominant theories, practices, and even histories in institutionalized service-learning. He challenges those in the field to reflect on the language we use, terms like “reciprocity,” “partnership,” and “social justice,” and to critically examine if our practice actually aligns with proclaimed theories and values

Modernizing Leisure Assessment through Technology Applications

Purpose: The purpose of the product was to create an electronic based leisure interest companion for occupational therapists to utilize when treating clients. An electronic based leisure assessment would illustrate for the occupational therapy a more comprehensive understanding of the clients’ leisure interests. Methods: A literature review was conducted using the CINAHL, OTSEARCH, Pub Med, and Google Scholar databases. The literature review results supported the value of leisure, and leisure assessment tools were explored. The UK Modified Interest Checklist was chosen as a focal point for the My Leisure Activities (MyLA™) companion tool development. A storyboard was created by the authors to determine key product features. Representatives of the University of North Dakota (UND) Center for Instructional & Learning Technologies (CILT) were consulted to assist with the selection of design software and provided ongoing consultation throughout the product development using the Captivate program. Once completed, the MyLA™ companion tool was published to a website. Results: An electronic based leisure assessment companion tool to the UK Modified Interest Checklist was completed. The product, MyLA™, allows the client to explore leisure interests through video and virtual technology, develop a realistic Action Plan, and complete a follow-up review in an accessible electronic format. Conclusions: MyLA™, the electronic leisure assessment companion, extends options for leisure exploration and provides easy access for planning and monitoring activity participation. By providing an electronic version of the leisure assessment, client-centeredness can be reached, as well as the therapist being able to gain a more holistic view of different ways leisure can be completed and enjoyed by the client. Additional features may be added to enhance product use

Draft Treaty Language: Withdrawal of Consent to Arbitrate and Termination of International Investment Agreements

The United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) is currently working on how to reform international investment treaties, focusing in particular on those treaties’ provisions enabling investors to sue governments in international arbitration. As an observer organization in this process, CCSI has emphasized that in the context of investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) reform, it is important to first consider what it is that investment treaties aim to achieve, and only then to consider what form(s) of dispute settlement will best advance those objectives. This means not only looking at reform of the existing ISDS mechanism, but also alternatives to it. Having identified various concerns about ISDS, UNCITRAL is now taking stock of potential reform options, and will consider this fall which options to pursue and in what order. To contribute to UNCITRAL’s work, CCSI, together with the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) and the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), submitted this document outlining potential reform options and considerations. In line with our broader work on objectives of international investment law, the costs and benefits of the current system, alternatives to investor-state arbitration, and strategies for advancing those alternatives, in Draft Treaty Language: Withdrawal of Consent to Arbitrate and Termination of International Investment Agreements, we outline two more systemic and near-term options that states can explore to recraft their investment policies with domestic and international sustainable development objectives

Securing Adequate Legal Defense in Proceedings under International Investment Agreements: A Scoping Study

CCSI prepared a Scoping Study for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands. Also available are: A summary version of the study (33 pages) A webinar (March 24, 2020), hosted by CCSI and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, discussed the Scoping Study and its findings (see also accompanying slides with speaking notes). A webinar organized by UNCITRAL (April 21, 2020). CCSI presented the Scoping Study. A video link of the webinar along with CCSI’s slides are available in English (with speaking notes) and French at that link. CCSI Senior Fellow Karl Sauvant also presented his UNCITRAL Academic Forum Concept paper, available at that link. The primary research question that the Scoping Study was requested to address is: How can adequate legal defense for parties in proceedings under International Investment Agreements (IIAs) be better secured? The Scoping Study provides a broad and inclusive overview of issues, concerns, empirical evidence, opinions, lessons learned, and proposed solutions as they relate to potential or expanded Assistance Mechanisms for international investment law. This Scoping Study reflects input received on a confidential basis from: government officials (of all World Bank Group economic development levels); individuals who have experience establishing or working for existing or attempted Assistance Mechanisms; individuals who have experience working for an arbitral institution; academics who have written on and/or advised states with respect to international investment law; private practitioners; representatives of non-governmental organizations; and representatives of private sector foreign investors. Concerns about IIAs and ISDS are much more fundamental than only the financial costs of participation in this system. The Scoping Study considers the range of problems that states and other actors have in engaging with and benefiting from international investment law and in participating effectively in investor-state dispute settlement processes related to: investment policy-making IIA negotiation implementation and management of their IIAs and associated policies dispute prevention pre-dispute management and consultations case staffing anticipating, and potentially resolving, ISDS cases at an early phase appointing arbitrators dealing with uncertainty and ambiguity working with experts engaging in discovery of and managing information. The Scoping Study surveys a wide variety of models that Assistance Mechanisms, both with respect to international investment law as well as those employed in other legal fields, have taken and may take to address various concerns. Various cross-cutting issues emerged from analysis of and experience with existing Assistance Mechanisms. These cross-cutting issues should be considered by policy-makers as they consider the breadth and depth of services as well as the model(s) that an Assistance Mechanism could follow. The cross-cutting issues that are explored in depth in the Scoping Study include: Quality, reliability, reputation, and trust; Funding of an Assistance Mechanism and scope of services; Costs of support and who bears them; Stakeholder tensions; Identifying the client/beneficiary; Location, staffing, and remuneration; Institutionalized vs. ad hoc mechanisms; “Politics” surrounding the role of an Assistance Mechanism; and Intersection with other reforms

International Investment Agreements: Impacts on Climate Change Policies in India, China and Beyond

Mitigating and adapting to climate change will require a fundamental reorientation of our global economy as we move away from fossil fuels and transition to a low carbon and climate-resilient world. This reorientation depends on government actions to help catalyze and channel financial flows in new directions and away from business-as-usual practices. International investment agreements (IIAs) – treaties that now number over 3,000 and have the objective of promoting and protecting cross-border investment flows_could potentially play a key role in these efforts to scale up and (re)direct investments to meet climate change mitigation and adaptation needs. As presently drafted and interpreted, however, these IIAs represent a missed opportunity to advance climate change solutions and, worse, may even frustrate them. Due to the daunting amount of investment needed for mitigation and adaptation, and the consequent mandate for governments to be strategic in closing financing gaps, it is necessary to critically assess the climate-policy consistency of IIAs and (re)shape them accordingly. This paper examines these issues. Beginning with a brief overview of IIAs and the challenges and opportunities they can pose for climate change policy generally, this paper then highlights particular challenges and opportunities these agreements pose for climate policy in China and India. When analyzing the relationship between IIAs and climate change, these two countries are important to examine because of their significant modern contributions and vulnerabilities to climate change; their active yet divergent approaches to IIAs; and their dual roles as hosts of considerable inward investment and homes to a large and growing cadre of major outward investors. The issues China and India face in terms of the intersections of climate policy and investment law are not entirely unique to them, but are especially visible. This visibility presents important examples of how current legal frameworks may hinder, but could be harnessed to advance, national action on climate change mitigation and adaptation

Conversations on suicide : 13 Reasons Why

The television series 13 Reasons Why, released in March 2017, was followed by a wave of controversy over how it portrayed the suicide of its protagonist. Some critics thought that the show handled the suicide exceptionally well; others thought the overall premise and handling of the subject matter were irresponsible. The present study sought to examine the full spectrum of critiques of the show in order to determine whether they lined up with media guidelines for the portrayal of suicide, as well as to determine what dialectical tensions existed among the critiques. This study found that there were some areas in which journalistic critique of 13 Reasons Why did line up with media guidelines; however, there were far more instances in which journalists veered into territory that was distinct from what was mentioned within guidelines. Within this territory, there were several webs of dialectical tensions in which opposing arguments discussed similar concepts but drew differing conclusions. The primary areas of disagreement found in this study included 'accurate and relatable portrayal-versus-romanticization' of mental health issues, 'suicide as necessary-versus-suicide as irresponsible,' 'actions have consequences-versus-outsourcing blame for Hannah's suicide,' and 'suicide as preventable-versus-suicide as inevitable.' Some of these opposing poles could have been balanced via better storytelling, whereas others point to more foundational issues with the show.by Brooke Ellen JohnsonIncludes bibliographical reference