“But how could we sing a song of the Lord in a foreign land?” An ESL/ESP class for Catholic immigrants

The U.S. Catholic population has a larger proportion of immigrants than the U.S. population at large. The majority of Catholic immigrants come from Latin America and are not native speakers of English. In this qualitative study, I interviewed nine Catholic immigrants from Latin America to better understand their experiences of navigating their Catholic faith in the United States and the role an English-as-a-second-language (ESL) class could play in helping them successfully adjust to United States Catholicism. Findings suggest that, beyond a general ESL class, an English-for-specific-purposes class, capitalizing on the universality of Catholicism and specialized for Catholic prayer, liturgy, sacraments, and community life, could equip immigrant Catholics to live their faith in English. English Language Teaching (ELT) and Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) professionals are encouraged to be more attentive to their students’ spiritual needs, and Catholics conducting outreach efforts, including ESL classes, are encouraged to specialize their ESL classes to assist students in ways other ESL programs cannot

Testosterone And Vitamin D Concentrations In Military Personnel Following Traumatic Brain Injury

Purpose: To investigate testosterone and vitamin D status in service members, with and without a history of traumatic brain injury (TBI). Methods: This retrospective de-identified medical review analyzed hormone assessments ordered for 4,285 active duty and veteran military personnel at Womack Army Medical Center, Fort Bragg, NC from 2016-2018. Results: Overall, 343 (8%) of service members had a medically diagnosed TBI. In all men, 19% were deficient in testosterone (<270 ng/dl), and 10% had a testosterone prescription. Active duty men with a history of TBI had lower testosterone compared to active duty men with no documented head injury, but there was no significant difference in veteran men. More than one-third (38%) of all service members were insufficient in vitamin D (<30 ng/ml). Overall there was a weak positive correlation between testosterone and vitamin D concentrations in men but not in women. Conclusions: Our research does not support evidence for high rates of hypogonadism, testosterone prescription, or vitamin D deficiency after TBI compared to military personnel without prior injury. However, our overall dataset shows a high prevalence of vitamin D insufficiency in service members independent of TBI, further supporting that vitamin D status should be assessed regularly in service members

Cluster Variation Approach to the Random-Anisotropy Blume-Emery-Griffiths Model

The random--anisotropy Blume--Emery--Griffiths model, which has been proposed to describe the critical behavior of $^3$He--$^4$He mixtures in a porous medium, is studied in the pair approximation of the cluster variation method extended to disordered systems. Several new features, with respect to mean field theory, are found, including a rich ground state, a nonzero percolation threshold, a reentrant coexistence curve and a miscibility gap on the high $^3$He concentration side down to zero temperature. Furthermore, nearest neighbor correlations are introduced in the random distribution of the anisotropy, which are shown to be responsible for the raising of the critical temperature with respect to the pure and uncorrelated random cases and contribute to the detachment of the coexistence curve from the $\lambda$ line.Comment: 14 pages (plain TeX) + 12 figures (PostScript, appended), Preprint POLFIS-TH.02/9

aiWOM: Artificial Intelligence Word-of-Mouth. Conceptualizing Consumer-to-AI Communication

The advent of innovative technologies with installed artificial intelligence (AI) has raised the need to understand evolutive consumers’ behaviours. The dyadic communicative experience between consumers and technological artifacts with programmed social humanoid features shed the light on the emergence of an adaptative form of word-of-mouth (WOM) and that we label as “AI word-of-mouth” (aiWOM). We argue that there is a need for defining and investigating aiWOM as an emerging phenomenon which derive but diverge from WOM. Our conceptualization suggests that the communication interaction between consumers and AI technologies produce new consumers’ behaviors and psychological reactions

Integrating Al with NiO nano honeycomb to realize an energetic material on silicon substrate

Nano energetic materials offer improved performance in energy release, ignition, and mechanical properties compared to their bulk or micro counterparts. In this study, the authors propose an approach to synthesize an Al/NiO based nano energetic material which is fully compatible with a microsystem. A two-dimensional NiO nano honeycomb is first realized by thermal oxidation of a Ni thin film deposited onto a silicon substrate by thermal evaporation. Then the NiO nano honeycomb is integrated with an Al that is deposited by thermal evaporation to realize an Al/NiO based nano energetic material. This approach has several advantages over previous investigations, such as lower ignition temperature, enhanced interfacial contact area, reduced impurities and Al oxidation, tailored dimensions, and easier integration into a microsystem to realize functional devices. The synthesized Al/NiO based nano energetic material is characterized by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, differential thermal analysis, and differential scanning calorimetry

Buckling Response of a Large-Scale, Seamless, Orthogrid-Stiffened Metallic Cylinder

Results from the buckling test of a compression-loaded 8-ft-diameter seamless (i.e., without manufacturing joints), orthogrid-stiffened metallic cylinder are presented. This test was used to assess the buckling response and imperfection sensitivity characteristics of a seamless cylinder. In addition, the test article and test served as a technology demonstration to show the application of the flow forming manufacturing process to build more efficient buckling-critical structures by eliminating the welded joints that are traditionally used in the manufacturing of large metallic barrels. Pretest predictions of the cylinder buckling response were obtained using a finite-element model that included measured geometric imperfections. The buckling load predicted using this model was 697,000 lb, and the test article buckled at 743,000 lb (6% higher). After the test, the model was revised to account for measured variations in skin and stiffener geometry, nonuniform loading, and material properties. The revised model predicted a buckling load of 754,000 lb, which is within 1.5% of the tested buckling load. In addition, it was determined that the load carrying capability of the seamless cylinder is approximately 28% greater than a corresponding cylinder with welded joints

Oncogenic ras induces gastrin gene expression in colon cancer

AbstractBackground & Aims: The expression of gastrin, as a tumor growth factor, is significantly increased in some colon cancers compared with the low levels found in normal mucosa. The aim of this study was to elucidate the transcriptional mechanisms of gastrin induction in colon cancer. Methods: Gastrin messenger (mRNA) levels and K-ras genotype were determined in colon cancer cell lines and surgical specimens. Colon cancer cells were transfected with oncogenic ras expression vectors, and transcriptional activity was assayed with gastrin-luciferase reporter genes. Results: Colon cancer cell lines and tissues with K-ras mutations all had significantly higher gastrin mRNA levels than those that were ras wild type. Treatment of several ras mutant cell lines with PD98059, an inhibitor of mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase, resulted in a decrease in endogenous gastrin mRNA levels. The effects of ras on gastrin expression appeared to be mediated through the gastrin promoter because transfection of oncogenic ras and activated raf expression vectors both induced gastrin-promoter, luciferase-reporter genes. The inductive effects of oncogenic ras could be blocked by the coexpression of dominant negative forms of raf and extracellular regulated kinase. Conclusions: Oncogenic ras induces gastrin gene expression through activation of the Raf-MEK-ERK signal transduction pathway.GASTROENTEROLOGY 1998;115:1144-115