The God-World Relationship Between Joseph Bracken, Philip Clayton, and the Open Theism

This dissertation investigates the God-world relationship between Joseph Bracken as a process theologian, Philip Clayton as a panentheist, and the open theism. They have affinities and differences as conversational partners in their multilayered relations. Their common question must be as follows: “What does it mean to believe in God today?” In this dissertation I compare their respectively theological perspectives and explore their affinities and differences. Many scholars have already noted more affinities than untenable differences among Bracken’s theology, Clayton’s panentheism, and the open theism. On the one hand, even though theological perspectives of Bracken and Clayton are obviously different from each other, they are both influenced in specific ways by Whitehead. On the other hand, open theism is a movement that emphasizes “the openness of God,” from within evangelical theism. The fact that there is even within classical theism the pursuit of new models of God such as revised classical theism or modified classical theism might suggest the need for contemporary models of God in philosophical theology. This dissertation will thus explore philosophical theologies that are proper both to the biblical faith and intellectual earnestness, that is, 居敬窮理 (geo (to live) kyeong (piety) kung (to acknowledge) li (reason)) in Eastern philosophy, which means distinctions but not separation between piety and intelligence, and that stand between classical theism and “orthodox” process theism. If there is no consistency among biblical, rational and existential descriptions of God, how can we establish philosophical theologies? Our theological task is to frame a new constructive theology whose primary aspect must synthesize both classical theism and process theology in the hermeneutical circle. For example, this new theism admits an infinitely qualitative difference between God and the world, as well as a really radical relation between God and the world. Aspects and domains do not encroach upon each other

Thermoeconomic Analysis of Organic Rankine Cycle Using Zeotropic Mixtures

The selection of the working fluid is an important part of design and optimization of ORC system as it effects the systems efficiency, design of ORC components, stability, safety and environmental impact. Present study aims to investigate the performance of ORC system using pure working fluids and zeotropic mixtures for low temperature geothermal heat source on the basis of thermodynamic and economic parameters of ORC system. Evaporator, expander, condenser and feed pump models are developed in MATLAB. The control volume approach is adopted for evaporator and condenser model with appropriate database of heat transfer and pressure drop correlations. For comparison, pure working fluids are taken as the base case. The ORC system with pure working fluid and zeotropic mixture under same heat and sink source conditions are optimized using multi objective genetic algorithm for maximum exergy efficiency and minimum specific investment cost. The exergy efficiency of ORC system with zeotropic mixture is improved by 14.33% compared to pure working fluid. The exergy destruction in evaporator and condenser is reduced by 24~30%. The fraction of more volatile component in zeotropic mixture effected the thermal and economic performance of ORC system, for current study the mass fraction of 40% of R245fa corresponds to optimum exergy efficiency and specific investment cost. For same condensing pressure and expander power, area of evaporator for pure working fluids and zeotropic mixture is also calculated. The required heat transfer area for zeotropic mixture is approximately 13% less than required for pure working fluid

Study on the Immunomodulation Effect of Isodon japonicus Extract via Splenocyte Function and NK Anti-Tumor Activity

Here we investigated the potential immune-enhancing activity of Isodon japonicus on murine splenocyte and natural-killer (NK) cells in vitro. The ethanol extract of I. japonicus significantly enhanced the proliferation of splenocyte and induced the significant enhancement of NK cells’ activity against tumor cells (YAC-1). In addition, I. japonicus increased the production of interferon (IFN)-γ and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, suggesting that the increase in NK cell cytotoxicity could be due to the enhancement of the NK cell production of both cytokines. Taken together, I. japonicus extract inhibited the growth of human leukemia cells (K562) by 74%. Our observation indicated that the anti-tumor effects of I. japonicus may be attributed to its ability to serve as a stimulant of NK anti-tumor activity. In addition, our results support the development of functional food studies on I. japonicus