A Historical Analysis, Critical Interpretation, and Contemporary Application of the Virtue of Temperance

The purpose of this thesis is to provide a thorough and relevant account of the virtue of temperance, working from within its status as a cardinal virtue in classical and Christian moral thought. With this objective, it undertakes an historical analysis and interpretation of temperance in the work of seven major philosophers and theologians before applying it to the contemporary issue of consumerism. Of the four cardinal virtues, only temperance has virtually disappeared from common usage. The ‘temperance movements’ of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries left temperance with a highly restricted definition and scope; at present, its principal definition is either ‘abstinence from drinking’ or ‘everything in moderation’. As a result – and despite the resurgence of interest in virtue ethics – temperance is often forgotten or dismissed, as when Peter Geach called it ‘humdrum’ virtue and ‘nothing to get excited about.’ Yet temperance was once a dynamic component of the moral life. For centuries, within both the classical and Christian traditions, temperance engaged the interest of numerous philosophers and theologians. Through an historical survey and critical analysis, this thesis explores the nuanced history of the virtue of temperance in the work of Plato, Aristotle, the Stoics, Augustine, Aquinas, Calvin, and Wesley. Their portrayals of temperance provide an ideal starting point for any retrieval of the virtue. Within this historical analysis, various interpretive threads begin to emerge – self-control, knowledge, mode, humility, and harmonious order. These five components of temperance are the center of this thesis and its interpretation of the virtue of temperance. The thesis then applies this new understanding of temperance to the modern issue of consumerism, using it as a lens to examine the tenets and ethos of Western consumer culture. Rather than commonplace and irrelevant, the virtue of temperance emerges again as a vibrant component of contemporary moral discussion

The Effect of Caffeine Supplementation on Endurance Performance in Multi Sprint Sports

Introduction • Over the last 25 years, caffeine has been one of the most widely studied ergogenic aids by sports scientists. During this time there has been indisputable support for the beneficial effects of oral caffeine ingestion on prolonged submaximal endurance exercise (Graham and Spriet, 1991; Bell and McLellan, 2002) • Recently there is growing evidence that caffeine can improve performance in short term high intensity exercise, lasting from several seconds up to ~ 7 minutes (Spriet, 1995; Graham, 2001) • To date, there are no published findings into the effects of caffeine on performance of an intermittent nature with altering intensities as experienced during multi sprint sports. • Historically fitness testing in multiple sprint sports has involved the completion of a multistage fitness tests to estimate maximum oxygen uptake VO2max as a measure of aerobic fitness (Gore 2000). Individuals with high VO2max values can be said to possess endurance fitness or cardiorespiratory fitness, however in multiple sprint sports VO2max is not the sole component of fitness. • Recently the JAM test has been developed (Martin and Jones, 2001) to identify the physiological variables important in executing intermittent exercise. It combines them in a manner, which simulates the activity pattern of multiple sprint sports players. • The JAM test was used to investigate the effects of caffeine supplementation on multiple sprint performance

Ti-6Al-4V microstructural orientation at different length scales as a function of scanning strategies in Electron Beam Melting in additive manufacturing

Additive manufacturing has been around for many years, yet the underlying physics of thermal gradients, local pressure environment, and other non-steady state manufacturing conditions are not fully understood. A Multi-University Research Initiative (MURI) is currently ongoing to measure liquid/solid and solid/solid interface stabilities in AM Ti-6Al-4V. Samples were produced with different beamscanning strategies in order to study the role of thermal gradients on the resulting microstructure. The motivation is to determine which beam-scanning strategy leads to desired grain size and texture. Orientation at different length scales (from mm to nm) can be quantified and compared with a combination of techniques including Precession Electron Diffraction (PED), Electron Backscatter Diffraction (EBSD) and Neutron diffraction. This new information will help predict properties of additively manufactured parts

Health indicators associated with poor sleep quality among university students

Objective To associate the sleep quality of Brazilian undergraduate students with health indicators. Method A cross-sectional study was developed with a random sample of 662 undergraduate students from Fortaleza, Brazil. The demographic data, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index and health data indicators (smoking, alcoholism, sedentary lifestyle, nutritional condition and serum cholesterol) were collected through a self-administered questionnaire. Blood was collected at a clinical laboratory. In order to estimate the size of the associations, a Poisson Regression was used. Results For students who are daily smokers, the occurrence of poor sleep was higher than in non-smokers (p<0.001). Prevalence rate values were nevertheless close to 1. Conclusion The likelihood of poor sleep is almost the same in smokers and in alcoholics

How Habitat Change and Rainfall Affect Dung Beetle Diversity in Caatinga, a Brazilian Semi-Arid Ecosystem

The aim of the present study was to evaluate how dung beetle communities respond to both environment and rainfall in the Caatinga, a semi-arid ecosystem in northeastern Brazil. The communities were sampled monthly from May 2006 to April 2007 using pitfall traps baited with human feces in two environments denominated “land use area” and “undisturbed area.” Abundance and species richness were compared between the two environments and two seasons (dry and wet season) using a generalized linear model with a Poisson error distribution. Diversity was compared between the two environments (land use area and undisturbed area) and seasons (dry and wet) using the Two-Way ANOVA test. Non-metric multidimensional scaling was performed on the resemblance matrix of Bray-Curtis distances (with 1000 random restarts) to determine whether disturbance affected the abundance and species composition of the dung beetle communities. Spearman's correlation coefficient was used to determine whether rainfall was correlated with abundance and species richness. A total of 1097 specimens belonging to 13 species were collected. The most abundant and frequent species was Dichotomius geminatus Arrow (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae). The environment exerted an influence over abundance. Abundance and diversity were affected by season, with an increase in abundance at the beginning of the wet season. The correlation coefficient values were high and significant for abundance and species richness, which were both correlated to rainfall. In conclusion, the restriction of species to some environments demonstrates the need to preserve these areas in order to avoid possible local extinction. Therefore, in extremely seasonable environments, such as the Caatinga, seasonal variation strongly affects dung beetle communities

Expanding the clinical and immunological phenotypes of PAX1-deficient SCID and CID patients

Paired box 1 (PAX1) deficiency has been reported in a small number of patients diagnosed with otofaciocervical syndrome type 2 (OFCS2). We described six new patients who demonstrated variable clinical penetrance. Reduced transcriptional activity of pathogenic variants confirmed partial or complete PAX1 deficiency. Thymic aplasia and hypoplasia were associated with impaired T cell immunity. Corrective treatment was required in 4/6 patients. Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation resulted in poor immune reconstitution with absent naïve T cells, contrasting with the superior recovery of T cell immunity after thymus transplantation. Normal ex vivo differentiation of PAX1-deficient CD34+ cells into mature T cells demonstrated the absence of a hematopoietic cell-intrinsic defect. New overlapping features with DiGeorge syndrome included primary hypoparathyroidism (n = 5) and congenital heart defects (n = 2), in line with PAX1 expression during early embryogenesis. Our results highlight new features of PAX1 deficiency, which are relevant to improving early diagnosis and identifying patients requiring corrective treatment