The Spirituality of Addictions: A Christian Patristic Model and Procedure for Assessment

Addiction theory has focused on the debilitating effects that drug addicts and alcoholics face. However, addiction can permeate much further into our lives than just through drugs and alcohol. Evagrius of Ponticus presented eight tempting thoughts that comprised all the beliefs, behaviors, items, and emotions that an individual can be disorderly attached to. These disordered attachments can have enslaving effects on an individual that constrains the person’s will and desire for freedom from these preoccupations. We also include a measure that assesses spiritual involvement and locus of control. The purpose of this study is to compile a psychological measurement that will assess the many domains of disordered attachment an individual can encounter and the degree to which it constrains their lives. This measure will consist of approximately 75 Likert scale items that include questions pertaining to pride, emotions, relations, sexuality, avarice, power/control, and problems of desire. The factors we have derived through factor analysis allow for each participant to be scored on various subscales. These scores will indicate the specific nature of the addictive tendencies. Lastly, individuals who are found to be more spiritually involved are presumed to be less attached to the constructs mentioned above

Demanding by Design: Supporting Effortful Communication Practices in Close Personal Relationships

The investment of effort into personal communication can be highly meaningful to people, and has particular significance for the mediation of close relationships. This paper presents qualities of effort investment that are seen to be valuable. Furthermore, we consider how these qualities might sensitise designers of communication technologies to the meaningfulness of effort. We report a qualitative study focusing on individual descriptions of meaningful effort invested into everyday correspondence. We encapsulate our findings in the form of five qualities that characterise valued effort: discretionary investment, personal craft, focused time, responsiveness to the recipient, and challenge to a sender’s capacities. Drawing on ideas generated in brainstorming sessions, we present two illustrative concepts for new communication technologies, highlighting how our findings can guide the creation of designed artefacts

Impact of Home Field Advantage: Analyzed Across Three Professional Sports

We examined the impact of home-field advantage in the NFL, NBA, and MLB. We defined home-field advantage as winning more than 50% of the home games. Additionally, we took into consideration how season length could act as a moderator and influence the impact of home-field advantage. We collected data from the 2015 NBA and MLB seasons and the 2015 and 2016 NFL seasons to determine statistical significance. In total, we got data from 4,141 games to analyze. We found that there is statistical significance that the home team has a better chance of winning than the away team across the NFL, NBA, and MLB. We also found that season length has a significant impact on home team winning percentage

Assessing the geomorphological effects of ungulate exclosures on high elevation streams in the Valles Caldera National Preserve, New Mexico

A catchment-scale approach to the connection between the terrestrial environment and aquatic ecosystems is important because of the context that it provides into stream form and function. A streams physical and chemical qualities are often delineated, in large part, by the surrounding catchment\u27s terrestrial properties and features, such as geology, soils, vegetation and topography (Van Horn et al. 2012). For example, losses in catchment vegetation can result in a change in terrestrial organic carbon inputs into streams (Bunn et al. 1999). Four important dimensions of connection exist when describing the physical, chemical, and energetic interactions between the stream itself and its surrounding catchment: 1) Longitudinal interactions that connect upstream and downstream, 2) lateral interactions which connect the terrestrial, riparian and aquatic portions of the catchment, 3) vertical interactions connecting groundwater and surface water, and 4) a temporal dimension, meaning these interactions are subject to a change in magnitude and scale over time on a catchment by catchment and stream by stream basis (Stanford et al. 2005). Abiotic reach-scale stream traits, like nutrient cycling rates and stream geomorphology, coupled with in-stream and riparian biota, are heavily influenced by local catchment characteristics including parent geology, soil chemistry, and both natural and anthropogenic disturbance regimes (Van Horn et al. 2012). Ungulate grazing, for example, is a disturbance that can change in intensity both spatially and temporally, and have varying impacts on watershed dynamics (Nipper et al. 2013, Laine et al. 2015). Similarly, human activity and land-use practices, such as cattle grazing, can alter a watershed as well. Impacts can include physical and chemical effects to streams (Beschta et al. 2013, Hough-Snee et al. 2013, Batchelor et al. 2015). In the United States, nearly one million square kilometers of public land are used for livestock grazing (Batchelor et al. 2015). Included in this statistic is nearly 80% of the land under control by the Bureau of Land Management and 60% of land controlled by United States Forest Service (Batchelor et al. 2015). Livestock grazing on managed lands tend to convene in and around riparian areas, because of accessibility to water, as well as the availability of riparian forage (Kovalchik and Elmore 1992)

ASSESSMENT OF DRINKING WATER/AQUIFER VULNERABILITY TO CONTAMINATION BY NATURAL MANGANESE AND ANTHROPOGENIC CHEMICALS IN THE U.S.

Aquifers in the U.S. store groundwater used by many Americans every day for drinking eating, bathing and cleaning. These underground sources of water are vital to life and may be subject to contamination from both natural and anthropogenic pollution, including manganese (Mn) – especially shallow aquifers (\u3c100 feet to bedrock). Natural sources of Mn are found in soils, surficial deposits, and bedrock, while anthropogenic contamination derives from landfills, waste facilities, or industries that use toxic materials. Pollutants like Mn raise concern because there is no policy in place to enforce regulation of Mn levels in water supplies based on limited information about health effects. Yet studies have shown elevated levels of Mn intake can lead to adverse human health effects. This study uses ArcMap to identify potential sources of Mn and/or toxics contamination in shallow U.S. aquifers based on geologic characteristics of a given aquifer source and proximity to waste sites. The results show approximately 2 million Americans may be at risk of consuming water with natural Mn contamination, and of those 2 million, close to 1.7 million are also vulnerable to additional toxics from anthropogenic waste. These data are alarming since they are based on populations directly within aquifer boundaries for natural contamination and because only a small fraction of anthropogenic waste sites were considered based on Trichloroethylene (TCE) release sites, Mn release sites, and CIRCLA (Superfund) sites. This study provides useful information to identify potential areas of oral Mn exposure, but there are still many unknowns. A more comprehensive assessment of aquifer vulnerability as well as continued research into human health effects from oral exposure are recommended

The Use and Safety of Vascular Occlusion Techniques: A Survey of Practicing Surgeons

Vascular occlusion techniques can be divided into two categories ¡V transfixion and non-transfixion. Transfixion techniques are defined by the passage of suture material or staples through the vascular tissue. Non-transfixion techniques are defined as suture, metal, or polymer material placed solely around the vascular tissue. The purpose of this study was to survey surgeons in various specialties to determine which vascular control technique they believe is safest and most appropriate to manage medium-sized arteries 6-10mm in diameter. A survey was distributed to surgeons in the following specialties: general surgery, urology, thoracic surgery, vascular surgery, obstetrics and gynecology, and colon and rectal surgery. Survey recipients were all members of the American College of Surgeons practicing in New York and New England. The survey asked questions focused on the use, perceived safety, and technical failure of vascular occlusion techniques applied to the renal, splenic, and cystic arteries. The smaller cystic artery was included as a control. 506 surgeons completed the survey. The survey found that more surgeons chose transfixion techniques vs. non-transfixion techniques to occlude the renal artery in both open and laparoscopic operations (open = 72% vs. 28%, p\u3c0.0001; laparoscopic = 55% vs. 45%, p\u3c0.01). More surgeons chose transfixion techniques vs. non-transfixion techniques to occlude the splenic artery (open = 68% vs. 32%, p\u3c0.0001; laparoscopic = 60% vs. 40%, p\u3c0.0001). In contrast, fewer surgeons chose transfixion techniques vs. non-transfixion techniques to occlude the cystic artery (open = 15% vs. 85%, p\u3c0.0001; laparoscopic = 4% vs. 96%, p\u3c0.0001). Respondents were asked to rate the safety of vascular occlusion techniques on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 ¡§unsafe¡¨ to 5 ¡§extremely safe¡¨. Transfixion techniques were considered safer than non-transfixion techniques to occlude the renal artery (mean safety rating: 3.9 b 0.5 vs. 2.6 b 0.7). Transfixion techniques were considered safer than non-transfixion techniques to occlude the splenic artery (mean safety rating: 3.9 b 0.4 vs. 2.6 b 0.6). Transfixion and non-transfixion techniques were considered equally safe to occlude the cystic artery (mean safety rating: 3.9 b 0.5 vs. 3.8 b 0.5). Respondents reported more cases of technical failure and severe hemorrhage associated with non-transfixion techniques than transfixion techniques for all three arteries. Renal artery: 44 cases (89% non-transfixion, 11% transfixion; p\u3c0.0001); splenic artery: 50 cases (74% non-transfixion, 26% transfixion; p\u3c0.0001); cystic artery: 68 cases (96% non-transfixion, 4% transfixion; p\u3c0.0001). In conclusion, to occlude blood vessels 6-10mm in diameter, surgeons chose transfixion techniques more frequently than non-transfixion techniques for both open and laparoscopic operations, considered transfixion techniques safer than non-transfixion techniques, and reported fewer cases of technical failure and severe hemorrhage associated with transfixion techniques than non-transfixion techniques

Preventing Obesity: A Social Ecological Exploration of Centers for Disease Control Prevention Strategies and Guidance toward Healthy Eating, Physical Activity, and Communities

Abstract Obesity has reached nearly 40% of the adult public in the United States, costing the citizen taxpayer over $200 billion annually in healthcare costs. Those suffering from obesity deal with multiple physical and mental repercussions. Through a content analysis of four Centers for Disease Control (CDC) documents and guided by the conceptual framework of the social ecological model, this research explores the federal approach to preventing obesity. The analysis finds that CDC solutions to obesity involve connecting people to each other and healthier choices, an orientation toward local public administration, and an emphasis on environmental and infrastructure improvements. The research makes multiple public policy recommendations to improve upon the current CDC guidance, chief among them, promoting tactics and strategies in a comprehensive manner where multiple social ecological levels of influence are engaged simultaneously. Ultimately, according to the CDC prevention strategies, it is the public policy level of influence, particularly at the local level, that must prompt prevention of and solutions to obesity

Distribution Free Prediction Intervals for Multiple Functional Regression

My research aims to establish a method of constructing prediction intervals for a scalar response of interest when predictors are functional data, with minimal distributional and modeling assumptions. To accommodate flexible regression relationships, we integrated nonparametric functional regression based on functional principal component analysis into our conformal prediction method, and we developed nonparametric functional regression approaches based on the signature method, which is a mathematical tool to represent the information contained in the functions by a collection of iterated integrals. The prediction intervals constructed by the conformal method have guaranteed coverage (confidence) without the heavy restrictions on the error distribution and on the regression function, while the efficiency (implied by the length of the intervals) will depend on the representation and information compression of the functional predictors. Conditions necessary for efficiency and contiguity of the prediction set are discussed. Finally, our methods are illustrated using simulated and real data examples