A Railroader\u27s Vocabulary

Non-fiction by Jack Sleet

Historical Consequence of the Misinterpretation of the Doctrine of Election

The goal of this research was to demonstrate how Scripture has been misrepresented throughout the centuries and utilized as a specific tool to enable nations and empires with more sophisticated technological backgrounds to exploit developing cultures and relegate them to a position of inferiority. Specifically, the misinterpretation of the Doctrine of Election has been a principle motivating factor and justification to conquer indigenous groups and subjugate populations under the guise of proselytization. Colonization, Imperialism, Slavery and nation-sanctioned discrimination have all occurred under the self-righteous banner of performing God’s will. Biblical principle and doctrine neither advocate nor condone any of the latter mentioned man-made principles. God’s Word has been purposefully twisted through the advent of perceived idealism read into Biblical Doctrine, as opposed to understanding what the Scripture actually intended and designed in its original meaning and context by the original author. The research reveals, through Biblical exegetical analysis that the meaning of Scripture has nothing to do with preeminent discriminatory practices, and that the continued misinterpretation of Scripture will have long-lasting negative repercussions

In Vitro Assessment of Dynamic Guidance in Endodontic Microsurgical Osteotomy & Root-End Resection

Introduction: Dynamic guidance is a technology that uses CBCT images and an array of cameras & sensors to guide the operator’s dental handpiece along a pre-determined path in real-time. It has been used in implant surgery, non-surgical endodontics, as well as in a few reported clinical cases of endodontic microsurgery to improve the accuracy of these procedures. However, no study has been published which quantitatively evaluates its ability to improve accuracy and reduce osteotomy size in endodontic microsurgery. Therefore, the aim of this in-vitro study was to compare dynamically guided endodontic microsurgery to freehand surgery in terms of osteotomy window, osteotomy volume, apical bevel, apical resection length and depth of osteotomy past the target root. Materials and Methods: Thirty-six human mandibular posterior teeth were cast into stone models containing three teeth each (one premolar, two molars), and those models were subsequently divided equally into freehand and guided groups. In the freehand group, an experienced operator performed osteotomies and root-end resections. In the guided group, the X-Guide System was used to assist in the execution of similar osteotomies and resections. Post-operative CBCT images were taken of both groups and the aforementioned parameters were evaluated using software native to the imaging system. Results: Significant differences were found between the freehand and guided groups in terms of osteotomy window area, osteotomy volume, depth of osteotomy past the target root and amount of resection. Most notably, the window area in the guided group (15.7mm2 ± 3.85) was significantly (p\u3c0.05) smaller than in the freehand group (37.6mm2 ± 5.02), and the osteotomy volume in the guided group (0.111cm3 ± 0.04) was significantly (p\u3c0.05) smaller than in the freehand group (0.226cm3 ± 0.05). Conclusions: The results of this study show that implementing dynamic guidance in endodontic microsurgery has the potential to significantly reduce the osteotomy window area and osteotomy volume as compared to freehand surgery, which subsequently can result in improved healing. It can also ensure that critical structures such as adjacent non-target roots and the mandibular canal are avoided while attempting to locate the target root

The Performance of Simple Artificial Floating Wetland Communities and Their Effects on Aquatic Nutrient Levels and Algal Abundance

Harmful algal blooms are exponential increases in autotrophic microorganisms that proliferate in such a way that the surrounding environment, the local economy and the health of regional populations are negatively affected. Among the causes of these blooms are anthropogenic inputs of excess nitrogen and phosphorus into the environment through overfertilization. Floating treatment wetlands (FTW) have emerged as a novel method of reducing the negative impacts of these nutrient inputs by using artificial rafts to float normally emergent wetland plants on the surface of water bodies to assimilate excess nutrients. Because their use is so new, only limited research has been performed on their effectiveness. This mesocosm-level study evaluated the performance of a FTW consisting of a community of yellow canna (Canna flaccida), blue flag iris (Iris hexagona) and bulltongue arrowhead (Saggittaria lancifolia) in simulated stormwater of varying nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations. The community of plants displayed nitrogen limitation, while the cyanobacteria-dominated algal community that developed displayed phosphorus limitation, leading to the conclusion that in order for this community of macrophytes to limit algal growth, nitrogen must be present to support their growth and concurrent assimilation of the algae-limiting nutrient phosphorus. Canna and iris were found to significantly outperform arrowhead in terms of biomass gains. The study also showed that the size of the plants may be of great importance in the ability of FTWs to limit algal development. Despite the fact that the community of plants in this study were unable to limit the development of algae, the use of FTWs remains promising and further research should be done to continue to enhance our understanding of their strengths and weaknesses

Exploring Intelligibility in Tracheoesophageal Speech: A Descriptive Analysis

Despite literature that suggests tracheoesophageal (TE) voice restoration to have the highest intelligibility of the three alaryngeal modes of speech, previous studies have shown that TE speech is less intelligible than “normal” speech. It is important to understand where problems related to intelligibility currently exist in order for members of the rehabilitation team to provide the best therapy/prostheses to each individual using TE speech as a mode of communication. This study evaluated the intelligibility of 15 male and female tracheoesophageal speakers. Eighteen normal-hearing, naive, young adult listeners assessed digital voice samples of 15 adult male and female TE speakers. Listeners made judgments by transcribing the monosyllabic words heard into English orthographics. Confusion matrices were then generated based on the transcriptions. The data were analyzed to determine overall intelligibility and to determine if patterns of increased or decreased intelligibility existed based on manner of classification