Y2K, The Apocalypse, and Evangelical Christianity: The Role of Eschatological Belief in Church Responses

Apocalyptic beliefs in Christianity have endured for two thousand years and on occasion have motivated and justified radical and even revolutionary collective action (Boyer 1992). Why apocalyptic visions are part of some Christians\u27 belief system is grounded in their beliefs about the end times, or eschatologies, that shape church cultures and subsequent behaviors. This paper considers cultural aspects of collective action, applying the concept of frames that give events meaning and inspire and legitimize collective behavior to Christian church responses to Y2K as a recent example of an anticipated apocalyptic event. Five interpretive frames linking eschatological ideation with specific collective behaviors are identified and discussed, as well as three corresponding strategic responses to Y2K that were taken by various kinds of Protestant Christian churches as they prepared for the ushering in of a new millennium

Mental Health Needs and Resources in Christian Communities of South Korea

In an effort to understand the mental health needs and resources of Korean Christians, we collected quantitative and qualitative data through surveys and interviews with Korean pastors and Christian educators. Several mental health concerns were identified: the high level of daily stress faced by many Koreans, marriage and family concerns, conflicts between Korean culture and the teachings of the church, and a tendency to keep emotional discomfort suppressed. Mental health resources include deep spiritual commitment to a life of prayer, high levels of commitment to family and community, cultural values of persistence and patience, and reliance on Christian communities for spiritual hope and meaningful interpersonal relationships

Perceiving the Cultural Sea that is Our Home - Spiritual Formation and Western 21st Century Culture

Spiritual formation occurs in the routines of daily living. We are formed by choices made at the grocery store, as we reach for our medicine cabinet, as we consider whether to drive ten minutes or walk thirty. Such seemingly insignificant choices reflect assumptions held about who we are, and how we are supposed to live in the world. Spiritual formation, like notions of civic duty, develops from within a cultural context. Cultural environments give us largely unquestioned taken-for- granted assumptions about how the world is and how we should live in it. This essay explores three of the many Western 21st century assumptions (the autonomous self eradicating pain, and overvaluing efficiency) that affect spiritual formation. Knowing how we are seeing a thing helps us better interpret what we are seeing and how it influences decisions we make. The hope is that in knowing, we can make choices with more intention, understanding that our decisions shape and form our soul

Changes in lipophorins are related to the activation of phenoloxidase in the haemolymph of Locusta migratoria in response to injection of immunogens

In Locusta migratoria, activation of phenoloxidase in the haemolymph in response to injection of laminarin is age-dependent: being absent in fifth instar nymphs and newly emerged adults, and only becoming evident four days after the final moult. This pattern of change in phenoloxidase activation correlates with the pattern of change in the concentration of apolipophorin-III (apoLp-III) in the haemolymph. Injection of a conspecific adipokinetic hormone (Lom-AKH-I) has no effect on the phenoloxidase response in nymphs or newly emerged adults but, in adults older than four days, co-injection of the hormone with laminarin prolongs the activation of phenoloxidase in the haemolymph: a similar enhancement of the response to laminarin is observed in locusts that have been starved for 48 h but not injected with AKH-I. During most of the fifth stadium, injection of laminarin results in a decrease in the level of prophenoloxidase in the haemolymph; an effect that is not observed in adults of any age. Marked changes in the concentration of apoLp-III, and the formation of LDLp in the haemolymph, are observed after injection of laminarin (or LPS) and these are remarkably similar, at least qualitatively, to those that occur after injection of AKH-I. The involvement of lipophorins in the activation of locust prophenoloxidase in response to immunogens is discussed

Industrially-relevant examples using a data analytics strategy to effectively address complex performance challenges

Manufacturing processes that produce biotherapeutic medicines rely heavily on chemical engineering principles alongside deep biological understanding. With the invent of high-speed, high-throughput data acquisition capability of recent years, there is a need for high-speed data analytics and visualization to get the most value out of the data. Yet, most processing is still done in user-specific spreadsheets with highly time-consuming, manual inputs and calculations. Further, when challenges arise, it becomes necessary to couple reams of disparate data sources, often in multiple iterations, to better understand the complex bioreactor or purification dynamics. It is not uncommon for a technical team to need to leverage significant historical data to enable small-scale model verification and provide insights into various scale-up challenges, all within a very tight product development timeline. This old-fashioned way of handling data is especially problematic due to the rapidly increasing number of cell therapies that need to be transitioned from a proof-of-concept phase to a scale and quality suitable for commercial production, with even more limited resources and time. The right data, including a way to assess it quickly and easily in collaboration with colleagues, is needed to understand the potential effect that process scaling may have on product comparability. Since this session focuses on process scale-up and characterization, this presentation will focus on how to implement a data analytics strategy that can put a more holistic “molecule development view right at our fingertips. The approach, using industrially-relevant case studies, will highlight how to better assess all of the data gathered in order to more rapidly advance promising molecules, while using fewer resources and ultimately seeing new patterns and relationships that otherwise would have remained unknown. In this presentation, we will focus on case studies that illustrate how scientists rapidly achieved these specific improvements: 1) uncovered important issues related to bioreactor scale up, including rapid comparisons of key process steps across multiple batches at the 3L, 100L and 1000L scale, 2) enabled rapid data analytics efforts to be able to dig deeper into the physics of a process and explore data in a new way for both upstream and downstream processes, 3) developed a methodology that provided a framework for comparing outcomes across upstream and downstream processes, all within the same application environment, and 4) facilitated inter-department collaboration during an investigation phase. By replacing the old time-consuming approaches typically used for analyzing data, there is more opportunity to develop quality insight into the key performance indicators, thus supporting a more holistic “molecule-development view” when scaling a process. Using a streamlined data analytics strategy enables the development of a truly robust understanding of the physical situation from early development through commercialization. Reference: Graham, L.J. (Alkemy Innovation, Inc.), and T. Barreira (Merrimack Pharmaceuticals, Inc.) Leveraging a Data Strategy with Seeq to Create the Optimal Biotherapeutic Development Process, poster presentation at the Bioprocessing Summit Conference, Boston, MA, August 15-19

Modeling Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experiences: An Agenda for Future Research and Evaluation

Course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) are being championed as scalable ways of involving undergraduates in science research. Studies of CUREs have shown that participating students achieve many of the same outcomes as students who complete research internships. However, CUREs vary widely in their design and implementation, and aspects of CUREs that are necessary and sufficient to achieve desired student outcomes have not been elucidated. To guide future research aimed at understanding the causal mechanisms underlying CURE efficacy, we used a systems approach to generate pathway models representing hypotheses of how CURE outcomes are achieved. We started by reviewing studies of CUREs and research internships to generate a comprehensive set of outcomes of research experiences, determining the level of evidence supporting each outcome. We then used this body of research and drew from learning theory to hypothesize connections between what students do during CUREs and the outcomes that have the best empirical support. We offer these models as hypotheses for the CURE community to test, revise, elaborate, or refute. We also cite instruments that are ready to use in CURE assessment and note gaps for which instruments need to be developed.Howard Hughes Medical InstituteScience and Mathematics Educatio

Masculinity and Femininity: Origins and Implications (Chapter Two of Growing Strong Daughters)

Excerpt: God could have made one sex, but he chose to create two distinct image-bearing creatures. Articulating conclusions about how women and men bear God\u27s image differently is difficult, perhaps because we believe we must first figure out which differences to attribute to environment and which are knitted into our beings at conception

What is it like to be funny? The spontaneous humor producer’s subjective experience

The purpose of this study is to explore the experience of the individual who spontaneously produces humor during conversation. Although a broad humor literature exists, very little research addresses the experience of the spontaneous humor producer. This study represents an early step toward filling this gap in the literature. I gathered data by videotaping organizational meetings and conducting subsequent Interpersonal Process Recall (IPR) interviews with individuals who produced humor during the course of the meetings. I analyzed data from the IPR interviews using an emergent thematic analysis. Most humor producers in this sample were consciously aware of specific external cues, thoughts, and feelings when they produced humor. Sometimes, participants were aware of what they hoped to accomplish by interjecting humor and, at other times, they recalled their intentions only upon reflection. Producers’ tacit assumptions, or underlying beliefs about humor and/or about themselves, as well as certain aspects of the context affected their humor production as well. The study also uncovered three themes about the experience of humor production. First, humor producers were fully engaged in the dynamics of the current interaction when they contributed humor. Second, many humor producers reported having a sense of other group members’ internal experiences. Third, participants’ roles within the group often led to different experiences of humor production. Leaders tended to initiate humor in hopes of influencing others and/or creating change. Team members who did not hold formal positions of leadership were especially tuned into their managers’ actions, thoughts, and feelings. This study adds meaningfully to the humor literature, especially to research on humor functions, tacit knowledge, humor and social sensitivity, and humor and hierarchical relationships. The results of this study also have important implications for leadership. In addition, I propose a connection between this study’s findings and research on improvisation. The electronic version of this dissertation is accessible at the OhioLINK ETD Center, https://etd.ohiolink.edu

Becoming an Old Woman (in the West) (from Dirt and the Good Life)

Excerpt: I turned 53 this summer. To anyone over, say, 63, that will sound young enough. To those younger than about 43, I will seem old-ish, and I\u27ll be so old to those under 20 that the nice ones will treat me with gentle kindness for fear that I might break and the rest will see me as irrelevant and/ or invisible