Beyond Consolation: The Significance of Failure for Faith

Christopher Morse, the Dietrich Bonhoeffer Professor Emeritus of Theology and Ethics at Union Theological Seminary, teaches how to "test the spirits," not only of the tradition, but also of we ourselves, as theology witnesses our transformation into who God made us to be. The following presentation, which I gave on April 25, 2013 at Columbia University’s Teacher’s College for non-theologians engaged in an interdisciplinary seminar series, shows how Morse’s work influences theology and theology’s engagement with other disciplines, so we can best find what it means to be human, or, as Bonhoeffer emphasized, following the apostle Paul, that "God is for us." In gratitude for all Morse has taught me about doing dogmatics as a "theology of freedom" —each one of us invited to test the evidence presented because God, as "the One who loves in freedom," can be trusted to con- firm or convict what we conclude—I write as a witness to what God is doing and the difference it makes in our lives and communities as my mentor has so faithfully done for decades

Hearing the Music of the Festschrift: A “Listening Guide”

In music, a listening guide points the listener toward the sounds that may be heard in a composition. In this introduction to the festschrift honoring Christopher Morse, I offer a "listening guide" to hearing the music of his theology as it resonates in theme and variation throughout this volume. Well-known to Union as a theological virtuoso who plays a doctrinal Stradivarius, Morse invites all people to rehear the Gospel as news, and has, himself, served as a guide to listening to hear its resonances. His reimagining of dogmatics as a radically critical discipline worthy of academic study, the “antidote to dogmatism” for church and society, and his pastoral presence as a teacher and mentor who deeply respects the God-given integrity of each person, mark the central themes of the music in this written celebration of his towering contribution to theology

“No More a Stranger, Nor a Guest, But Like a Child at Home”: Hostility and Hospitality in a “Non-Religious” Pastoral Encounter in Hospice

With gratitude for the space-making oxygen she generates for so many as a blooming evergreen, for the tender care with which she as a gardener waters and prunes all her plants, including me, I offer this clinical essay for this festschrift in honor of my beloved advisor and doktormutter, Ann Belford Ulanov. Ann’s focus on applied or depth theology as an “eschatology of presence,” which fosters the God-given integrity and freedom of the person in relation to the divine, sets apart her writing and teaching. Depth theology is “faith” in the psyche, which in turn is “part of the flesh in which the Holy incarnates,” and, as she demonstrates, opens onto faith in God as experienced through the psyche, conscious and unconscious. For theology and psychology today, Ulanov’s work, which employs a “rigor of the heart” that demands heart, soul, strength and mind work together as advised in the shema, opens new vistas to receiving all of ourselves and others, and like Mary, to receiving God among us in the flesh

Date of Planting and Nitrogen Management for Winter Malt Barley Production in the Northeast, USA

There is an increasing market for locally grown malting barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) in the Northeast US. Malting barley must meet certain quality standards for acceptability in the brewing market. Up-to-date recommendations are needed regionally for adaptation to ongoing climate change. A two-year field experiment was conducted to assess the interactive influence of three dates of planting (5 September, 15 September, and 25 September), two levels of fall N (0 or 28 kg ha−1), and three levels of spring N (28, 50.5, and 73 kg ha−1). No significant difference was detected in grain yield amongst the treatments. The date of planting and fall N application mainly affected crop growth while spring N impacted grain quality. Delayed planting led to better winter survival and reduced lodging and foliar disease. Fall N application reduced winter survival for the early September planting but had minimal other agronomic impacts. An increased spring N application rate increased grain protein and lowered falling number, but there were no treatment differences in other quality parameters. Results indicated that late September planting, application of no fall N, and moderate spring N (28 kg ha−1) resulted in the highest agronomic N efficiency and grain quality for malting barley in Northeast

Spectral Line Depth Variability in Radial Velocity Spectra

Stellar active regions, including spots and faculae, can create radial velocity (RV) signals that interfere with the detection and mass measurements of low mass exoplanets. In doing so, these active regions affect each spectral line differently, but the origin of these differences is not fully understood. Here we explore how spectral line variability correlated with S-index (Ca H & K emission) is related to the atomic properties of each spectral line. Next we develop a simple analytic stellar atmosphere model that can account for the largest sources of line variability with S-index. Then we apply this model to HARPS spectra of {\alpha} Cen B to explain Fe I line depth changes in terms of a disk-averaged temperature difference between active and quiet regions on the visible hemisphere of the star. This work helps establish a physical basis for understanding how stellar activity manifests differently in each spectral line, and may help future work mitigating the impact of stellar activity on exoplanet RV surveys.Comment: 13 pages, 7 figures, submitted to The Astrophysical Journal, August 202

Date of planting and nitrogen management for malt barley production in the Northeast USA

There is an increasing market for locally grown malting barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) in the Northeast US. Malting barley must meet certain quality standards for acceptability in the brewing market. Up-to-date recommendations are needed regionally for adaptation to ongoing climate change. A two-year field experiment was conducted to assess the interactive influence of three dates of planting (5 Sept., 15 Sept, and 25 Sept.), two levels of fall N (0 or 28 kg ha-1), and three levels of spring N (28, 50.5, and 73 kg ha-1). No significant difference was detected in grain yield amongst the treatments. The date of planting and fall N application mainly affected crop growth while spring N impacted grain quality. Delayed planting led to better winter survival and reduced lodging and foliar disease. Fall N application reduced winter survival for the early September planting but had minimal other agronomic impacts. Increased spring N application rate increased grain protein and lowered falling number but there were no treatment differences in other quality parameters. Results indicated that late September planting, application of no fall N, and moderate spring N (28 kg ha-1) resulted in highest agronomic N efficiency and grain quality for malting barley in Northeast.https://scholarworks.umass.edu/data/1138/thumbnail.jp

Kempsey, New South Wales : How social and political divisions in Kempsey’s early history impacted the town’s economic and environmental development to 1865, and its ongoing susceptibility to disaster

This study addresses the question: how did social and political divisions influence the
 economic and environmental development of Kempsey during the colonial period up
 to 1865? Primary documents including personal letters, journals, memoirs, political
 and governmental papers, along with a range of colonial newspapers have been
 studied and interpreted to form a social historical solution to the question. Due to the
 range of sources available for this investigation, a variation of methodologies has been
 employed, with particular emphasis on an empirical qualitative analysis. In addition to
 considering existing non-scholarly thematic histories of the Macleay Valley, this
 thesis draws existing scholarly investigations together and builds upon them, looking
 into the interdependence between society and environment, politics and geographical
 developments, culture and social movements to piece together the story of Kempsey
 and uncover the key events which have led to long lasting impacts on the town. No
 other scholarly study of this kind has been undertaken to bring the entire complex and
 multifaceted story of Kempsey’s early years into one scholarly investigation.
 Implications for this study highlight the important factor that powerful social and
 political divisions in a community have when important decisions about town
 planning, environmental protection, and issues of social justice need to be addressed.
 These divisions can lead to catastrophic outcomes that could impact generations to
 follow, as shown in the tumultuous history of Kempsey, New South Wales

Investigating the Role of Hypothalamic Tumor Involvement in Sleep and Cognitive Outcomes Among Children Treated for Craniopharyngioma

Objective: Despite excellent survival prognosis, children treated for craniopharyngioma experience significant morbidity. We examined the role of hypothalamic involvement (HI) in excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) and attention regulation in children enrolled on a Phase II trial of limited surgery and proton therapy. Methods: Participants completed a sleep evaluation (N = 62) and a continuous performance test (CPT) during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI; n = 29) prior to proton therapy. Results: EDS was identified in 76% of the patients and was significantly related to increased HI extent (p = .04). There was no relationship between CPT performance during fMRI and HI or EDS. Visual examination of group composite fMRI images revealed greater spatial extent of activation in frontal cortical regions in patients with EDS, consistent with a compensatory activation hypothesis. Conclusion: Routine screening for sleep problems during therapy is indicated for children with craniopharyngioma, to optimize the timing of interventions and reduce long-term morbidity

Paracetamol reduces influenza-induced immunopathology in a mouse model of infection without compromising virus clearance or the generation of protective immunity

Background: Seasonal influenza A infection affects a significant cohort of the global population annually, resulting in considerable morbidity and mortality. Therapeutic strategies are of limited efficacy, and during a pandemic outbreak would only be available to a minority of the global population. Over-the-counter medicines are routinely taken by individuals suffering from influenza, but few studies have been conducted to determine their effectiveness in reducing pulmonary immunopathology or the influence they exert upon the generation of protective immunity. Methods: A mouse model of influenza infection was utilised to assess the efficacy of paracetamol (acetaminophen) in reducing influenza-induced pathology and to examine whether paracetamol affects generation of protective immunity. Results: Administration (intraperitoneal) of paracetamol significantly decreased the infiltration of inflammatory cells into the airway spaces, reduced pulmonary immunopathology associated with acute infection and improved the overall lung function of mice, without adversely affecting the induction of virus-specific adaptive responses. Mice treated with paracetamol exhibited an ability to resist a second infection with heterologous virus comparable with that of untreated mice. Conclusions: Our results demonstrate that paracetamol dramatically reduces the morbidity associated with influenza but does not compromise the development of adaptive immune responses. Overall, these data support the utility of paracetamol for reducing the clinical symptoms associated with influenza virus infection