Saint Mary and the Dragon-Killer

The Christian expansion to the east coast of the Baltic Sea illustrates the diversity of the missionary movement in the Middle Ages. In some instances this religious expansion mingled with political expansions, for example in the Byzantine, Carolingian and Germanic kingdoms. Livonia (modern Latvia), the subject of the following article, received the Christian faith first through the Byzantine Church during the period of Kiev (which ended with the Mongol invasion c. 1240). In the 12th century, from the west, came the Augustinian canon Meinhard of Segeberg who evangelized the area, centering on Üxeküll from about 1180 on. After him, Albert, the first local bishop (consecrated in 1199) founded Riga, which became his episcopal city in 1201, and began to organize a crusade. He eventually founded the Military Order of the Knights of the Sword to assist him. Dr. Urban\u27s article gives us an indication of the complexity and historical difficulty involved in considering the history of marian devotion in the various Baltic countries (an almost untouched area of scholarship) especially with regard to Byzantine and Latin missionary activities

Sexuated Topology and the Suspension of Meaning: A Non-Hermeneutical Phenomenological Approach to Textual Analysis

This study assumes the subject's pursuit of meaning is generally incapacitating and should be suspended. It aims to demonstrate how such a suspension is theoretically accomplished by utilizing Lacan's formulae of sexuation integrated with his work in discourse theory and topology. Part I places this study into context by examining scholarship from the established fields of hermeneutics, phenomenology, (post)structuralism, aesthetic theory and psychoanalysis in order to extract out their respective theory of meaning. These theories reveal that an historical struggle with meaning has been underway since the Reformation and reaches near crisis proportions in the 20th century. On the one hand this crisis is mollified by the rise of Heideggerian-Gadamerian hermeneutical phenomenology which questions traditional epistemological approaches to the text using a new ontological conceptualization of meaning and a conscious rejection of methodology. On the other hand this crisis is exacerbated when the ubiquitous nature of meaning is itself challenged by (post)structuralism's discovery of the signifier which inscribes a limit to meaning, and by the domains of sense and nonsense newly opened up by aesthetic theory. These historical developments culminate in the field of psychoanalysis which most consequentially delimits a cause of meaning said to be closely linked to the core of subjectivity. Part II extends these findings by rigorously constructing out of the Lacanian sexuated formulae a decidedly non-hermeneutical phenomenological approach useful in demonstrating the sexual nature of meaning. Explicated in their static state by way of an account of their original derivation from the Aristotelian logical square, it is argued that these four formulae are relevant to basic concerns of textual theory inclusive of the hermeneutical circle of meaning. These formulae are then set into motion by integrating them with Lacan's four discourses to demonstrate the breakdown of meaning. Finally, the cuts and sutures of two-dimensional space that is topology as set down in L'étourdit are performed to confirm how the very field of meaning is ultimately suspended from a nonsensical singular point known in Lacanian psychoanalysis as objet a. The contention is that by occupying this point the subject frees himself from the debilitating grip of meaning

Genomic clues to an ancient asexual scandal

The bdelloid rotifers are a successful and diverse group of organisms, despite being entirely asexual. How do they do it

Weekly Versus Monthly Testosterone Administration On Fast and Slow Skeletal Muscle Fibers in Older Adult Males

Context: In older adults, loss of mobility due to sarcopenia is exacerbated in men with low serum T. T replacement therapy is known to increase muscle mass and strength, but the effect of weekly (WK) vs monthly (MO) administration on specific fiber types is unknown. Objective: To determine the efficacy of WK vs MO T replacement on the size and functional capacity of individual fast and slow skeletal muscle fiber types. Design, Setting, and Patients: Subjects were randomized into a 5-month, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. All subjects (ages, 61–71 y) were community-dwelling men who had T levels \u3c 500 ng/dL. Intervention: Subjects were dosed weekly for 5 months, receiving continuous T (WK, n = 5; 100 mg T enanthate, im injection), monthly cycled T (MO, n = 7; alternating months of T and placebo), or placebo (n = 7). Muscle biopsies of the vastus lateralis were obtained before and after treatment. Main Outcome Measures: Main outcomes for individual slow and fast fibers included fiber diameter, peak force (P0), rate of tension development, maximal shortening velocity, peak power, and Ca2+ sensitivity. Results: Both treatments increased fiber diameter and peak power, with WK treatment 5-fold more effective than MO in increasing type I fiber P0. WK effects on fiber diameter and force were 1.5-fold higher in slow fibers compared to fast fibers. In fast type II fibers, diameter and P0 increased similarly between treatments. The increased power was entirely due to increased fiber size and force. Conclusions: In conclusion, T replacement effects were fiber-type dependent, restricted to increases in cell size, P0, and peak power, and dependent on the paradigm selected (WK vs MO)

Bangor\u27s Housing Code Enforcement Program: August 1956 - December 1961

In May 1955, the Bangor City Planning Board received a report outlining Bangor\u27s housing problems and prospects, with a view toward establishing a local housing policy and program. Several of the recommendations of this report have been accomplished. A Housing Code was adopted. An Urban Renewal Authority was created. The City is about to execute its first redevelopment project. A section of this report is herewith quoted as a point of reference to evaluate the progress of housing, improvement in the past several years. If Bangor\u27s housing as a totality is to be kept from settling into a state or progressive degradation, means will have to be provided to assure; (1) the conversion of the precious existing supply of good dwellings and neighbornonds, (2) the rehabilitation of salvable dwellings and neighborhoods and (3) the studied elimination and redevelopment of certain cancer-like growths of blight and shums in existence in the community today.https://digicom.bpl.lib.me.us/city_bur_book/1003/thumbnail.jp

Evaluation of exposure doses resulting from scintilliation and ionization detector measurements of complex gamma-ray spectra

Call number: LD2668 .T4 1969 U72Master of Scienc

Isolation of Keratinophilic Fungi from Soil and Wild Animals in South Dakota

Very little is known of the ecology of keratinophilic fungi in animal populations and their habitats in South Dakota. Recent investigation of an outbreak of ringworm in blue foxes on a fur farm in South Dakota indicated that the source of infection may have been wild animals which had been captured and raised in the kennels previous to occupancy by the foxes. In recent years, a number of investigators have demonstrated that small and large mammals may carry keratinophilic fungi in their coats (13, 29-31, 52, 56-60, 63, 70, 77) and have postulated on the role of infected animals in the transmission of ringworm infections. Keratinophilic fungi are common in a wide range of soils from many areas of the world (3, 5, 37, 64, 78). In the United States keratinophilic fungi have been isolated from soils in Arizona (10), Alabama, Georgia, Michigan, Tennessee and Virginia (3). South Dakota is a state of infinite variety and affords the opportunity to detenrl.ne the ecology of keratinophilic fungi from semi-arid areas to areas of lush foliage. The eastern third of the state .is part of the Central Plains which covers most of Central United States. The middle portion is a pa1--t of the Great Plains, which covers a large area from Canada to Mexico. The third region is the Black Hills, which is a mountainous, forested area near the western border. The presence of buffalo (bison) herds, deer, antelope, prairie dogs, ferrets, skunks, woodchucks, coyotes, badgers, raccoons, ground squirrels, foxes and rabbits affords an unusual and varied source of specimens for examination of keratinophilic fungi. It was the intent of this investigation to determine the distribution of keratinophilic fungi among wild animals and their habitats in all sections of the state of South Dakota. Information gained in this study will provide data not previously available for this area of the United States. The specific objectives of this investigation were: (1) To determine the ecology of keratinophilic fungi in wild animal populations and their habitats in South Dakota. (2) To determine which fungi are the common causes of ringworm in wild animals in South Dakota

The Spacecraft Fire Experiment (Saffire) - Objectives, Development and Status

Since 2012, the Spacecraft Fire Experiment (Saffire) has been under development by the Spacecraft Fire Safety Demonstration (SFS Demo) project that is funded by NASA's Advanced Exploration Systems Division in the Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate. The overall objective of this project is to reduce the uncertainty and risk associated with the design of spacecraft fire safety systems for NASA's exploration missions. This is accomplished by defining, developing, and conducting experiments that address gaps in spacecraft fire safety knowledge and capabilities identified by NASA's Fire Safety System Maturation Team. This paper describes the three Spacecraft Fire Experiments (Saffire-I, -II, and -III) that were developed at NASA-GRC and that will conduct a series of material flammability tests in low-gravity and at length scales that are realistic for a spacecraft fire. The experiments will be conducted in Orbital ATK's Cygnus vehicle after it has unberthed from the International Space Station. The tests will be fully automated with the data downlinked at the conclusion of the test and before the Cygnus vehicle reenters the atmosphere. The objectives of these experiments are to (1) determine how rapidly a large scale fire grows in low-gravity and (2) investigate the low-g flammability limits compared to those obtained in NASA's normal gravity material flammability screening test. The hardware for these experiments has been completed and is awaiting their respective launches, all planned for 2016. This paper will review the objectives of these experiments and how they address several of the knowledge gaps for NASA's exploration missions. The hardware development will be discussed including several novel approaches that were taken for testing and evaluation of these series payloads. The status of the missions and operational status will also be presented