Missiological Education by Extension: A Case Study of the Course, “Foundations of the World Christian Movement”

This article is a case study of a simple online course created jointly by a mission agency and small university. It demonstrates how open source course management technology has been used to create a true sense of community among students from a variety of cultural backgrounds and locations. The content of the course was delivered through a blending of open source technology and self-directed adult learning facilitated through online dialog, which in turned engendered multi-cultural, respectful virtual community. Information is shared to enable others to obtain low-cost technological help for setting up other individual courses in Moodle

Ion clustering in aqueous salt solutions near the liquid/vapor interface

Molecular dynamics simulations of aqueous NaCl, KCl, NaI, and KI solutions are used to study the effects of salts on the properties of the liquid/vapor interface. The simulations use the models which include both charge transfer and polarization effects. Pairing and the formation of larger ion clusters occurs both in the bulk and surface region, with a decreased tendency to form larger clusters near the interface. An analysis of the roughness of the surface reveals that the chloride salts, which have less tendency to be near the surface, have a roughness that is less than pure water, while the iodide salts, which have a greater surface affinity, have a larger roughness. This suggests that ions away from the surface and ions near the surface affect the interface in opposite ways.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figure

IL-6 controls susceptibility to helminth infection by impeding Th2 responsiveness and altering the Treg phenotype in vivo

IL-6 plays a pivotal role in favoring T-cell commitment toward a Th17 cell rather than Treg-cell phenotype, as established through in vitro model systems. We predicted that in the absence of IL-6, mice infected with the gastrointestinal helminth Heligmosomoides polygyrus would show reduced Th17-cell responses, but also enhanced Treg-cell activity and consequently greater susceptibility. Surprisingly, worm expulsion was markedly potentiated in IL-6-deficient mice, with significantly stronger adaptive Th2 responses in both IL-6−/− mice and BALB/c recipients of neutralizing anti-IL-6 monoclonal Ab. Although IL-6-deficient mice showed lower steady-state Th17-cell levels, IL-6-independent Th17-cell responses occurred during in vivo infection. We excluded the Th17 response as a factor in protection, as Ab neutralization did not modify immunity to H. polygyrus infection in BALB/c mice. Resistance did correlate with significant changes to the associated Treg-cell phenotype however, as IL-6-deficient mice displayed reduced expression of Foxp3, Helios, and GATA-3, and enhanced production of cytokines within the Treg-cell population. Administration of an anti-IL-2:IL-2 complex boosted Treg-cell proportions in vivo, reduced adaptive Th2 responses to WT levels, and fully restored susceptibility to H. polygyrus in IL-6-deficient mice. Thus, in vivo, IL-6 limits the Th2 response, modifies the Treg-cell phenotype, and promotes host susceptibility following helminth infection

Bishop Elliot

He was born in Beaufort, South Carolina, on August 31, 1806, oldest son of Stephen and Esther Habersham Elliott. The family moved to Charleston shortly after Stephen\u27s birth. At sixteen he attended Harvard University for one year. He finished his education at South Carolina College graduating in 1825. He thereafter studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1827. In 1828 Elliott married Mary Gibbes Barnwell. He began his law practice in Charleston, then moved back to Beau­ fort sometime before 1833. In the early 1830 1 s moved by the new evangelical spirit of the Episcopal Church and a need to rejuvenate his spiritual life, Elliott along with six other men from the same law office gave up the practice of law for the ministry.https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/sav-bios-lane/1062/thumbnail.jp

Identity crime and misuse in Australia: results of the 2014 online survey

Misuse of personal information lies at the heart of identity crime and continues to affect all sectors of the Australian community. Abstract To understand the trends associated with identity crime and misuse in Australia, the Australian Institute of Criminology (AIC) was, in 2014, commissioned by the Commonwealth Attorney-General’s Department to undertake a national survey of the problem for the second time. The study is one of a series of initiatives being implemented as part of the National Identity Security Strategy, Australia’s national response to enhancing identity security, which seeks to prevent identity crime and misuse, contribute to national security and facilitate the benefits of the digital economy

Discovery of a ~5 day characteristic timescale in the Kepler power spectrum of Zw 229-15

We present time series analyses of the full Kepler dataset of Zw 229-15. This Kepler light curve --- with a baseline greater than three years, composed of virtually continuous, evenly sampled 30-minute measurements --- is unprecedented in its quality and precision. We utilize two methods of power spectral analysis to investigate the optical variability and search for evidence of a bend frequency associated with a characteristic optical variability timescale. Each method yields similar results. The first interpolates across data gaps to use the standard Fourier periodogram. The second, using the CARMA-based time-domain modeling technique of Kelly et al. (2014), does not need evenly-sampled data. Both methods find excess power at high frequencies that may be due to Kepler instrumental effects. More importantly both also show strong bends ({\Delta}{\alpha} ~ 2) at timescales of ~5 days, a feature similar to those seen in the X-ray PSDs of AGN but never before in the optical. This observed ~5 day timescale may be associated with one of several physical processes potentially responsible for the variability. A plausible association could be made with light-crossing, dynamical or thermal timescales, depending on the assumed value of the accretion disk size and on unobserved disk parameters such as {\alpha} and H/R. This timescale is not consistent with the viscous timescale, which would be years in a ~10^7 Solar mass AGN such as Zw 229-15. However there must be a second bend on long (>~1 year) timescales, and that feature could be associated with the viscous timescale.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures, 1 table. To appear in the Astrophysical Journal, Part

Cave Fauna of Arkansas: Selected Invertebrate Taxa

This report is the first in a series of reports describing the fauna of Arkansas caves. Included are notes accumulated during the past four years on nematomorphs, amphipods, isopods, diplopods, decapods, and a variety of insect taxa. In addition to indicated records of distribution, the ecological status of each species (as a cavernicole) is described as troglobitic, troglophilic, trogloxenic, or accidental. Several of the included species are reported for the first time from Arkansas