Trinitarian pneumatological personhood and the theology of John Zizioulas

This thesis critically engages John Zizioulas’s historical and theological paradigm of personhood to present a trinitarian pneumatologically constituted personhood of communion, becoming a complete person as a specific Christian anthropology. Zizioulas defines personhood as persons-in-communion rather than individuals in isolation. More specifically, this personhood occurs as people participate in the Eucharist. This thesis engages Zizioulas’s theology of personhood and suggests that personhood, specifically as persons-in-communion, is established through the Holy Spirit, who constitutes the Christian person. The method has a two-fold approach. First, we evaluate Zizioulas’s central tenets and interpretation of Patristic sources concerning personhood. These central tenets include trinitarian theology, an ontology of person, and the writings of the Early Church Fathers. In turn, the thesis critically evaluates the historical and the theological development of Zizioulas’s thought. The conclusion finds a deficiency in pneumatology and personal identity. The Holy Spirit relates not only to the Father and the Son but also to believers of Christ in a personal way bringing about complete Christian personhood as beings-in-relation with each other and with God, establishing trinitarian pneumatological personhood in humans. The trinitarian person becomes a prototype for human personhood with the caveat that the creature cannot equal the Creator. The second approach further develops trinitarian pneumatological personhood by taking three keywords from Zizioulas’s theological vocabulary and presenting them as significant in Wesleyan theology: particularity, presence, and participation. The persons of the Holy Trinity are a community in relationship that is mutual self-giving love and serve as an example for the human community. The trinitarian community reveals an equality-with-headship model. Human persons discover their identity and fulfillment not within themselves but rather in relationship with another. The person of the Holy Spirit constitutes Christian anthropology drawing the human person into a relationship with God and with others making the human being a complete person

The Effects of Competition and Perceived Pressure on Performance of a Visual Scanning Task: A Test of Cognitive Evaluation Theory

Cognitive Evaluation Theory was developed by Deci & Ryan, (1985) to explain factors that affect intrinsic motivation. This study was done to test this theory by having volunteers engage in direct and indirect competition while working on a simple task in a time-pressured environment. Specifically, it was predicted that task performance would be adversely affected in competition because participants would be focused on the outcome (winning versus losing), while being faced with a deadline for task completion. In addition, a reduction in intrinsic motivation toward the activity was expected. While these hypotheses were not supported, a proposal was made that certain environments may result in people becoming accustomed to competition and/or pressure, which would explain why this outcome occurred. In addition, females performed better and reported higher levels of intrinsic motivation, which is inconsistent with previous research

Identification of Infant Feeding Practices in Eastern Kentucky and Southern West Virginia That Correlate with High Weight-for-Length

Background: Approximately 20% of children in the United States are obese. West Virginia and Kentucky rank in the top 10 for obesity rates in children as young as 2-4 years old. Obesity increases the risk for numerous short-term health problems and impacts long-term health, development, quality of life, and life expectancy. Research indicates that obesogenic behaviors can be addressed prior to the development of obesity or significant health problems to prevent, rather than treat. Interventions targeting caregivers of infants younger than 2-years can promote early development of healthy feeding habits that persist through the developmental stages of nutrition. Before a community can make healthy changes, an assessment is required to determine current practices and needs. Methods: Sixty-three caregiver-infant dyads were enrolled. Demographics were obtained from infant medical records and caregiver report. Caregivers completed two surveys (Infant Feeding Styles Questionnaire, Infant Feeding Questionnaire) via telephone. Surveys assessed beliefs and practices of infant feeding, especially as they related to 5 characteristic feeding styles. Results: Twenty-seven dyads completed study visits. At least 1/3 of the infant sample population was considered high weight-for-length (HWFL). Caregivers of HWFL infants had lower Responsive Feeding (RF) scores (p= .035), and these infants had a higher number of siblings (p= .017) and fell later in birth order (p= .012). Though not statistically significant, the rate of HWFL was at least twice as high among infants whose caregivers utilized WIC. Discussion: This study confirmed the presence of high weight status early in life in this community. It confirmed RF association with weight status and revealed potentially high-risk groups. Conclusion: Primary care interventions should be implemented that focus on early prevention through overall healthy feeding practices. Individual community needs may differ, and an assessment facilitates customized care and reduces “trial and error.” Community interventions should incorporate these findings and similar assessments should continue in other communities

Composite Skyrme Model with Vector Mesons

We study the composite Skyrme model, proposed by Cheung and G\"{u}rsey, introducing vector mesons in a chiral Lagrangian. We calculate the static properties of baryons and compare with results obtained from models without vector mesons.Comment: LaTeX, 9 pages, 3 figures, to be published in Phys. Rev.

Safety Department Officers\u27 Perceptions: Concealed Carry and the Imposed Risk on Campus

A small number of studies have explored community college safety officers’ perceptions regarding concealed carry on campuses. This understudied topic demands attention as the number of concealed handgun permits increased nationally for the third year in a row (Crime Prevention Research Center, 2021). Data suggests that within the 34 states that require a concealed carry permit, the number of Americans carrying stands at 18.66 million, a 304% increase since 2007 (Crime Prevention Research Center, 2021). As a result of recent state legislation and court decisions, ten states have provisions allowing for concealed carry on public campuses of higher education: Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Mississippi, Oregon, Texas, Utah, and Wisconsin. Using the Routine Activities Theory alongside Theory of Mind and qualitative methods, the purpose of this study was to gather information about how safety department officers at one community college perceived concealed carry and the imposed risk on campus

Analyses of Hydrodynamic Radial Forces on Centrifugal Pump Impellers

Hydrodynamic interactions that occur between a centrifugal pump impeller and a volute are experimentally and theoretically investigates. The theoretical analysis considers the inability of the blades to perfectly guide the flow through the impeller, and also includes a quasi-one dimensional treatment of flow in the volute. Flow disturbances at the impeller discharge and the resulting forces are determined by the theoretical model. The model is then extended to obtain the hydrodynamic force perturbations that are caused by the impeller whirling eccentrically in the volute. Under many operating conditions, these force perturbations were found to be destabilizing. Comparisons are made between the theoretical model and the experimental measurements of pressure distributions and radial forces on the impeller. The theoretical model yields fairly accurate predictions of the radial forces caused by the flow through the impeller. However, it was found that the pressure acting on the front shroud of the impeller has a substantial effect on the destabilizing hydrodynamic forces

Obituary - Edwin Wallace King

Dr. E.W. King was a highly respected scientist and teacher whose enthusiasm for entomology and general biology has inspired students toward excellence in our discipline for more than 30 years. On December 10, 1984, Dr. King died suddenly of complications associated with cancer

Promoting Research to the Masses: Assessing the Impact of a Poster Walk

Poster sessions are often used to educate communities. In this paper, we describe a project in which students summarized research findings on child development issues in poster form and showcased their work to the campus community. Through a variety of assessments, we show that poster walk participants not only enjoyed the event but also became more knowledgeable about child development issues

Clinical trial data of anti-PD-1/PD-L1 therapy for recurrent or metastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma: A review

IMPORTANCE: Anti-programmed cell death receptor-1 (PD-1) therapy is standard of care for incurable recurrent or metastatic non-nasopharyngeal head and neck cancer. In contrast, there are no regulatory agency-approved anti-PD-1 agents indicated for the treatment of recurrent or metastatic nasopharyngeal carcinomas (RM-NPC) in the Western hemisphere, and no standard treatment option exists beyond first-line chemotherapy for RM-NPC. The pace of development of novel systemic therapy regimens for RM-NPC has been slow compared to many other advanced tumor types, leaving an unmet clinical need for these patients with a poor prognosis. OBSERVATIONS: Recent clinical trials have documented the clinical activity of anti-PD-1 therapy in RM-NPC. In particular, randomized clinical trials in the first-line setting have demonstrated significant improvements in progression-free survival (PFS) with the addition of anti-PD-1 therapy to standard chemotherapy. Whether the observed PFS benefits require combination chemoimmunotherapy or can be achieved with chemotherapy followed by crossover to immunotherapy upon progression remains unknown. Ongoing clinical trials are exploring novel anti-PD-1 therapy-based combinations, which may further solidify a role for these agents in RM-NPC. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: Among patients with RM-NPC, anti-PD-1 therapy added to first-line standard-of-care gemcitabine plus cisplatin provides significantly better efficacy outcomes compared to chemotherapy alone, and anti-PD-1 monotherapy appears to have comparable clinical activity and better tolerability than chemotherapy in previously treated disease. Thus, anti-PD-1 therapy is poised to advance standard of care for the treatment of RM-NPC

The Single Photon Annihilation Contributions to the Positronium Hyperfine Splitting to Order meα6m_e\alpha^6

The single photon annihilation contributions for the positronium ground state hyperfine splitting are calculated analytically to order $m_e\alpha^6$ using NRQED. Based on intuitive physical arguments the same result can also be determined by a trivial calculation using results from existing literature. Our result completes the hyperfine splitting calculation to order $m_e\alpha^6$. We compare the theoretical prediction with the most recent experimental measurement.Comment: 8 pages, latex, two eps figures include