The Practical Application of Biblical Theology to Christian Apologetics

Many Christians are skeptical regarding the practical relevance of theology for the common believer. Exploring how the subdiscipline of biblical theology can be applied can effectively dispel this misconception. In particular, the apologetic applications of biblical theology’s primary deliverances underscore the relevance theology has to the average Christian. Given the growing need for effective Christian apologetics, it would be wise for the Church to further explore biblical theology and to incorporate it into the defense of Christianity. Existing scholarship has largely overlooked biblical theology’s apologetic potential. Thus, there is a need to explore this relationship for the benefit of the Church’s global witness. Biblical theology’s two primary deliverances, a proper understanding of Scripture’s metanarrative and a framework for properly applying Scripture, have apologetic applications and implications that are important for the average Christian. Although there are many possible approaches to apologetics, the utilization of biblical theology remains an overlooked method with significant potential

Thermally Activated, Variable Blazed Grating for Coherent Beam Steering

The ability to perform non-mechanical optical beam steering is of critical importance in laser communication and remote sensing; it is as vital as a phased-array antenna is for RADAR. Directed energy transmission and direction-selective reception increase performance and produce tactical advantage in DoD applications. However, specific geometric features of non-mechanical beam steering devices must be designed in proportion to the wavelength of the monochromatic light to be steered. Also, the ability to handle higher energies by reducing the energy per unit requires large areas of uniform properties on the micrometer scale. These challenges have been addressed in the past using liquid crystals (LC) to produce a peak steering angle of 4 degrees, albeit limited by problems due to the fringing field effect. Recent advances in micro-fabrication techniques, including the synthesis and manipulation of certain electro- and thermo-optic materials, hold new opportunities for efficient beam steering solutions. The objective of this thesis research is to demonstrate thermally controllable beam steering, and enable further investigation of efficiency and response time and their dependence on geometry. The design, fabrication and performance of such a thermally-activated, nonmechanical beam steering device is demonstrated for the first time herein. The elastomeric media, polydimethlyoxane (PDMS), was used as the active, phase-controlling agent. Its temperature-dependent index of refraction was employed in a reflection-mode device by depositing it on a stair-step-approximated, blazed grating. The periodic nature of the device contains the reflected beam within discrete, angular orders. The proofof- concept device is modeled, tested and analyzed to explain its observed performance. Angular control of up to 1.2 degrees has been experimentally demonstrated. This approach promises simplicity of design and fabrication without thelarger

Supply Dynamics in the U.S. Hog Industry

A quarterly econometric model of supply response I the U.S. Hog industry is constructed. This model incorporates relevant biological features of hog production directly into the structural specification. dynamic mean path elasticities of the model are analytically derived with the results indicating behavior which is consistent with economic intuition

The Value of Climate Information

The existing system for sensing, recording, and reporting climatic conditions has been developed mainly in response to demands of specific clients. Weather conditions provided for airline navigation, agricultural production management, and severe storm tracking, are three examples. Thus, the system for producing, storing, and disseminating climate data has strong historical linkages to the demands of major clients and the sensing and recording technologies available at the time of implementation. Locations of first order stations at airports, the cooperator system, frequency of reporting, and the levels in the atmosphere at which data are recorded all can be viewed as having a user based history

Bounded Price Variation, Rational Expectations, and Endogenous Switching in the U.S. Corn Market

A method for estimating bounded price variation models with rational expectations which incorporates all information implied by rationality is applied to a model of the U.S. corn market. The results indicate that the estimated model performs at least as well as a traditional equilibrium model with naive expectations

Newly-Discovered Planets Orbiting HD~5319, HD~11506, HD~75784 and HD~10442 from the N2K Consortium

Initially designed to discover short-period planets, the N2K campaign has since evolved to discover new worlds at large separations from their host stars. Detecting such worlds will help determine the giant planet occurrence at semi-major axes beyond the ice line, where gas giants are thought to mostly form. Here we report four newly-discovered gas giant planets (with minimum masses ranging from 0.4 to 2.1 MJup) orbiting stars monitored as part of the N2K program. Two of these planets orbit stars already known to host planets: HD 5319 and HD 11506. The remaining discoveries reside in previously-unknown planetary systems: HD 10442 and HD 75784. The refined orbital period of the inner planet orbiting HD 5319 is 641 days. The newly-discovered outer planet orbits in 886 days. The large masses combined with the proximity to a 4:3 mean motion resonance make this system a challenge to explain with current formation and migration theories. HD 11506 has one confirmed planet, and here we confirm a second. The outer planet has an orbital period of 1627.5 days, and the newly-discovered inner planet orbits in 223.6 days. A planet has also been discovered orbiting HD 75784 with an orbital period of 341.7 days. There is evidence for a longer period signal; however, several more years of observations are needed to put tight constraints on the Keplerian parameters for the outer planet. Lastly, an additional planet has been detected orbiting HD 10442 with a period of 1043 days.Comment: Accepted for publication in Ap

Winning versus losing during gambling and its neural correlates

Humans often make decisions which maximize an internal utility function. For example, humans often maximize their expected reward when gambling and this is considered as a "rational" decision. However, humans tend to change their betting strategies depending on how they "feel". If someone has experienced a losing streak, they may "feel" that they are more likely to win on the next hand even though the odds of the game have not changed. That is, their decisions are driven by their emotional state. In this paper, we investigate how the human brain responds to wins and losses during gambling. Using a combination of local field potential recordings in human subjects performing a financial decision-making task, spectral analyses, and non-parametric cluster statistics, we investigated whether neural responses in different cognitive and limbic brain areas differ between wins and losses after decisions are made. In eleven subjects, the neural activity modulated significantly between win and loss trials in one brain region: the anterior insula ($p=0.01$). In particular, gamma activity (30-70 Hz) increased in the anterior insula when subjects just realized that they won. Modulation of metabolic activity in the anterior insula has been observed previously in functional magnetic resonance imaging studies during decision making and when emotions are elicited. However, our study is able to characterize temporal dynamics of electrical activity in this brain region at the millisecond resolution while decisions are made and after outcomes are revealed

Changes in HBCU Financial Aid and Student Enrollment After the Tightening of PLUS Credit Standards

We analyze changes in financial aid and student enrollment at historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) that occurred after the U.S. Department of Education increased the credit history requirements necessary to obtain Parent Loans for Undergraduate Students (PLUS). We use institution-level data to examine financial aid and enrollment changes in the first two academic years affected by the new credit standards (2012-13 and 2013-14). The results show that PLUS loans declined substantially at HBCUs in 2012-13, and the decreases were not fully replaced by other types of federal financial aid. HBCUs also experienced larger declines in enrollment than other institutions – particularly for first-year students. Though PLUS loans increased somewhat in 2013-14 after the U.S. Department of Education streamlined the appeals process for PLUS denials, enrollment at HBCUs continued to decline