Cultural, British and global turns in the history of Early Modern Scotland

Assesses the state of the historiography of early modern Scotland, focusing on the effects of the cultural turn, New British History and global history. Based on a paper delivered at a conference sponsored by the Scottish Historical Review Trust 29-30 October 2010, The State of Scottish History: Past, Present and Future

Metal shearing energy absorber

A metal shearing energy absorber is described. The absorber is composed of a flat thin strip of metal which is pulled through a slot in a cutter member of a metal, harder than the metal of the strip. The slot's length, in the direction perpendicular to the pull direction, is less than the strip's width so that as the strip is pulled through the slot, its edges are sheared off, thereby absorbing some of the pulling energy. In one embodiment the cutter member is a flat plate of steel, while in another embodiment the cutter member is U-shaped with the slot at its base

Localization economies and the sensitivity of firm foundations to changes in taxation and public expenditure

This paper investigates the influence of tax rates and public expenditures on the number of firm foundations in West German municipalities in the presence of localization economies. Brülhart et al. (2012) use Swiss data to show that localization economies can mitigate the negative effects of taxation on firm foundation rates. Firms are more willing to accept higher tax rates if ocalization economies within their industry exist that generate beneficial spillover effects. These agglomeration rents can be taxed by municipalities (see Koh et al. 2013) and localities can use additional revenues for public spending. This work exploits information on the localization of German industries on a 2 digit level based on work by Koh and Riedel (2014). It is combined with detailed data on the number of firm foundations, the local business tax rate and public expenditures in West German municipalities to analyze the sensitivity of firm foundations to changes in the local tax rate and public spending with respect to localization economies. Similar to Brülhart et al. (2012) the results for Germany imply that increasing localization of an industry diminishes the negative effect of business taxation at a given location. On top, the results show that the positive effect of public expenditures (namely economic promotion and municipalities total capital stock) is mitigated by localization economies

Jewish Fidelity to the Law in the New Testament

This paper aims to demonstrate Jewish fidelity to the Law in the New Testament. The evidence presented in this paper makes it evident that the Jews clung to their laws, ceremonies, and traditions with great tenacity

Pauline Teaching of the Future

This treatise on Paul\u27s view of the future life is an exegetical study. The importance of such an exegetical study cannot be minimized; in a way it must take precedence over against the dogmatical approach. It has been aptly stated, For all true dogmatics rests wholly on true exegesis; it is wholly dependent, never independent.

Best Practice for Developmentally Appropriate Kindergarten Handwriting Instruction

Handwriting is a significant component of literacy development in young children. It is a foundational skill that will influence students’ reading, writing, language use, and critical thinking. A review of the literature finds the following themes of high importance when presenting writing instruction in an early childhood classroom: automaticity of transcription skills through repeated practice, letter writing fluency before compositional fluency, writing as a critical step in overall literacy development, the role of explicit instruction as intervention for writing difficulties, and the lack of proper preservice training or professional development for teachers to integrate appropriate early writing practices into kindergarten classrooms. In this document, best teaching practices for handwriting instruction in kindergarten are offered and recommended as part of a balanced age-appropriate early childhood literacy program

Chaotic Topography in Contemporary French and Francophone Literature

Chaos theory proposed by Ilya Prigogine and Isabelle Stengers illuminates new conclusions about narrative structures in contemporary French and Francophone literature. Espousing an order-out-of-chaos paradigm, my tutor texts by Annie Ernaux, Frankétienne, and Jean-Philippe Toussaint demonstrate how the contemporary notions of identity, gender and genre are innately chaotic but simultaneously offer innovative insights into how these entities are being (re)conceived and (re)presented. Scientific, philosophical, and cultural models of chaos described by Prigogine, Deleuze and Glissant respectively, offer a means to understand the world in order to frame a contemporary cultural topography. Liberated limits of the novel, poetry, and diary genre, viewed through the concept of chaotic "noise", represent richness of information rather than a dearth in order. With Prigogine's Arrow of Time, identity is found in the future not in the past suggesting a non-linear development that is plagued with uncertainty but possibilities. Consequently, identity in contemporary literature is located in others and not in the self challenging traditional notions of this concept. Bifurcation points serve as nodes of "textual instability" revealing themes and trends questioning the function of language, identity and generic transitions in contemporary literature. Through the concept of strange attractors, women, men, language and places within these chaotic tutor texts serve as points of order to which chaotic narratives consistently return advocating the creative force of non-gendered chaos. Accordingly not only can the notion of identity, love and language be viewed as fractal within their own textual space, but the texts themselves transcend generic boundaries. Finally, the contemporary cultural topography is expanding to include electronic literature as an area of critical study. Due to the medium of transmission, i.e., the computer code, electronic literature presents chaotic form and content and challenges traditional notions of `reading' a text. Consequently, the reader interacts with the computer code causing the `narrative' to bifurcate resulting in multiple, unpredictable reading experiences. Chaos theory thus offers a pertinent tool through which to read and interpret this genre. Electronic literature's literariness, viewed through chaos theory, is defined as what changes instead of what remains constant