Resources for a Restoration Theology of Religions

This essay argues for scholars from Churches of Christ (a cappella) to further their theological engagement with the reality of religious pluralism. It also puts the literature of theologies of religions (and, to a lesser degree, comparative theology and interreligious dialogue) into conversation with the theologies of the Churches of Christ. The essay articulates the salient resources—theological foci and hermeneutical principles—already in use in the literature and thought of the Stone-Campbell Movement regarding non-Christian religions. The essay also sketches several other previously neglected resources that Churches of Christ might use in shaping a unique "restoration" theology of religions

On Schools of Preaching

This essay is intended to (re)introduce schools of preaching to the academic and ministerial communities within Churches of Christ (a cappella). It makes a call for more rigorous and sustained engagement with these schools and their theologies. In doing so, this essay is intended to shed light on a neglected topic and provide an extensive bibliography to lay the groundwork for future research and writing. The essay presents these schools as educational institutions under three broad headings: locating the schools of preaching within a specific historical context (that of the United States in the mid-late 20th century); defining the schools and describing their status as educational institutions affiliated with Churches of Christ today; and providing a framework for their philosophies of education. The essay concludes with general observations and questions about these schools and the impact their witness continues to have on Churches of Christ

Review of Paul D. Spears and Steven R. Loomis, Education for Human Flourishing: A Christian Perspective, Christian Worldview Integration Series

This is a book review of Paul D. Spears and Steven R. Loomis, "Education for Human Flourishing: A Christian Perspective." As a theologically trained educator working in the public school system, I often struggle to integrate my theological convictions into my professional life. It was, therefore, refreshing to see that Paul Spears and Steven Loomis have given Christian educators a framework within which to address that integration in their new Education for Human Flourishing: A Christian Perspective.Their goal was to articulate a robust and apologetically Christian philosophy of education that seeks to lay a foundation for teaching within the K-16 context. The book discusses both public and private academic institutions, but my review focuses mainly on its theses for public education. Series editors Francis J. Beckwith and J.P. Moreland begin the volume with a preface to The Christian Worldview Integration Series (Education for Human Flourishing is the first volume in that series). In this provocative essay, they challenge some of the traditional methods by which faith interacts with varying academic contexts. The preface argues for a bold integration of religious ideals into academic enterprises, articulating seven "reasons why integration matters." Structurally, the six chapters of Education for Human Flourishing are essentially divided into two major sections. In chapters 1-3, Spears and Loomis establish the ontological, historical, and epistemological framework upon which they build the theses of chapters 4-6. They devote these last chapters to the more tangible aspects of economics, ethics, and policy

Thin Films Containing Heavy Group V Elements as Systems for Topological Materials

This thesis looks at growing thin films of heavy group V elements as well as using Pt to study high spin-orbit coupling for topological materials. We start with Bi/Ni bilayers that had been claimed to exhibit an usual form for superconductivity at the interface, instead we found that Bi will diffuse across the interface at room temperature over a timescale of days. The Bi would then alloy with the Ni to create the superconducting alloy NiBi3 and that elevated temperatures would accelerate this process even faster. After this we continued on to heavy half Heusler alloys, growing epitaxial thin films of YPtSb and YbPtBi on c-plane sapphire. The YPtSb thin films grew as smooth continuous layers with high quality crystallinity, but without any transport properties to point to a topological state. YbPtBi on the other hand, grew as aligned triangular islands and we observed a negative longitudinal magnetoresistance that may originate from the chiral anomaly. The chiral anomaly is an expected property of a topological Weyl semimetal. Both YPtSb and YbPtBi were matched well with the c-plane sapphire surface with induced strain and so this process could be used for other half Heusler alloys in the future

Seasonality of Prescribed Fire in the Southern Appalachians

There has been growing interest in recent decades in using prescribed fire for hazardous fuels reduction and ecological restoration in the southern Appalachian Mountains. The application of prescribed fire in forests of this region has typically occurred in the dormant season, but with managers often looking for more opportunities to burn. In this study, we compared the effects of dormant season and early growing season burn treatments on fire behavior, fuel consumption, and the structure and composition of plant communities in relation to topographic and meteorological influences on fire behavior. Replicated treatments were analyzed using univariate, bivariate, and multivariate methods to quantify and evaluate effects on response variables. Our results indicated that fuel moisture was lower and temperatures were higher in early growing season burns than in dormant season burns. This pattern likely contributed to the greater proportion of plot area burned in the early growing season, reflecting fire spread into parts of the landscape that would remain unburned in the dormant season. Season of burn had few significant effects on understory plant abundance and diversity. In the midstory, early growing season burns were most effective among treatments in reducing shrub density, with the greatest differences concentrated in the smallest size classes. Early growing season burns reduced midstory red maple (Acer rubrum L.) density to a greater extent than dormant season burns, though other mesophytic hardwood species may have responded differently. The combination of environmental gradients of elevation, burn severity, and change in canopy cover best explained changes in midstory community composition. In conclusion, early growing season prescribed burns may result in more variable fire behavior yet can still be expected to achieve a similar level of fuel consumption in comparison to dormant season burns. Burning in the early growing season can expand opportunities for meeting management objectives with prescribed fire and be at least as effective as burning in the dormant season in reducing the abundance of mesophytic hardwoods. Season of burn has implications for fuel consumption and response of vegetation that managers can incorporate in using prescribed fire for restoration of fire-excluded forest communities in the southern Appalachians

Shining light on the storm: Using high-frequency optical water quality sensors to characterize and interpret storm nutrient and carbon dynamics among contrasting land uses

Elevated nutrient concentrations present significant challenges to surface water quality management globally, and dissolved organic matter mediates several key biogeochemical processes. Storm events often dominate riverine loads of nitrate, phosphorus, and dissolved organic matter, and are expected to increase in frequency and intensity in many regions due to climate change. The recent development of in situ optical sensors has revolutionized water quality monitoring and has highlighted the important role storms play in water quality. This dissertation focuses on improving the application of in situ optical water quality sensors and interpreting the high-frequency data they produce to better understand biogeochemical and watershed processes that are critical for resource management. We deployed in situ sensors to monitor water quality in three watersheds with contrasting land use / land cover, including agricultural, urban, and forested landscapes. The sensors measured absorbance of ultraviolet-visible light through the water column at 2.5 nanometer wavelength increments at 15-minute intervals for three years. These deployments provided a testbed to evaluate the sensors and improve models to predict concentrations of nitrate, three phosphorus fractions, and dissolved organic carbon using absorbance spectra and laboratory analyses through multivariate statistical techniques. In addition, an improved hysteresis calculation method was used to determine short-timescale storm dynamics for several parameters during 220 storm events. Goals of each dissertation chapter were to: (1) examine the influences of seasonality, storm size, and dominant land use / land cover on storm dissolved organic carbon and nitrate hysteresis and loads; (2) evaluate the utility of the sensors to determine total, dissolved, and soluble reactive phosphorus concentrations in streams draining different land use / land covers, and perform the first statistically robust validation technique applied to optical water quality sensor calibration models; and (3) analyze storm event dissolved organic matter quantity and character dynamics by calculating hysteresis indices for DOC concentration and spectral slope ratio, and develop a novel analytical framework that leverages these high frequency measurements to infer biogeochemical and watershed processes. Each chapter includes key lessons and future recommendations for using in situ optical sensors to monitor water quality

Effects of dormant season soil flooding and soil temperature on pin oak (Quercus palustris) seedlings

Bottomland forests are the dominant forest cover along the Mississippi Alluvial Valley. Changes in land use and hydrologic regimes have reduced the area of bottomland forest, putting pressure on the remaining area to meet multiple objectives. To maintain migratory waterfowl habitat, some forests are managed as greentree reservoirs and artificially flooded during the fall and winter. Red oaks are a desirable component of these forests for their acorn production, but oak decline and inadequate recruitment pose problems for maintaining quality habitat. Artificial flooding regimes may be a driving factor in oak decline, as flood timing and duration may be outside of historic conditions. Previous studies have shown growing season floods can inhibit root growth, but the impacts of dormant season flooding are not as well studied. We conducted a greenhouse study to determine how winter flooding at different soil temperatures affects the growth and development of Quercus palustris (pin oak) seedlings. We examined the effects of soil temperature and dormant season flooding on Q. palustris seedlings using insulated water baths at 5, 10, and 15 degrees C. Half of the seedlings received soil flooding for 60 days from January to March, after which floodwater was drained for the remainder of the study. Seedlings were harvested before, during, and after flooding. Root length was determined using scanned images and WinRHIZO (Regent Instruments, Inc), after which samples were oven-dried to determine mass. During soil flooding, root mass was significantly less in flooded seedlings than those that were not flooded. However, following drainage this difference was no longer present. By the end of the experiment, seedlings that received flooding exhibited greater lateral root mass and length than those that had not been flooded. Flooding had minor positive impacts on aboveground variables, such as increased stem area, but did not significantly impact aboveground seedling biomass. These findings suggest that Q. palustris may experience temporary stress during dormant season flooding but can recover without lasting effects. While these results seem promising for current greentree reservoir management practices, care should be taken in applying them to field conditions.Includes bibliographical references

Turbulent Wing-Leading-Edge Correlation Assessment for the Shuttle Orbiter

This study was conducted in support of the Orbiter damage assessment activity that takes place for each Shuttle mission since STS-107 (STS - Space Transportation System). As part of the damage assessment activity, the state of boundary layer (laminar or turbulent) during reentry needs to be estimated in order to define the aerothermal environment on the Orbiter. Premature turbulence on the wing leading edge (WLE) is possible if a surface irregularity promotes early transition and the resulting turbulent wedge flow contaminates the WLE flow. The objective of this analysis is to develop a criterion to determine if and when the flow along the WLE experiences turbulent heating given an incoming turbulent boundary layer that contaminates the attachment line. The data to be analyzed were all obtained as part of the MH-13 Space Shuttle Orbiter Aerothermodynamic Test conducted on a 1.8%-scale Orbiter model at Calspan/University of Buffalo Research Center in the Large Energy National Shock Tunnels facility. A rational framework was used to develop a means to assess the state of the WLE flow on the Orbiter during reentry given a contaminated attachment-line flow. Evidence of turbulent flow on the WLE has been recently documented for a few STS missions during the Orbiter s flight history, albeit late in the reentry trajectory. The criterion developed herein will be compared to these flight results

Enhancing the Strength and Formability of Magnesium Alloys for Lightweight Structural Applications

Given their low density and high specific strength, magnesium alloys show excellent potential for use in lightweight structural applications. Current challenges facing these materials are poor strength levels and limited low temperature formability in comparison to the conventionally used steel and aluminum alloys. As such, the focus of this thesis is twofold. First, the effects of different deformation mechanisms on the ductility of a magnesium alloy are systematically investigated, in order to ultimately shed light on potential strategies for enhancing low temperature formability. Second, the need for higher strength magnesium alloys is addressed. With this in mind, this thesis first investigates deformation and failure mechanisms at low and elevated temperatures, from 25°C to 200°C, under different favored deformation modes (basal slip, prismatic slip, and tension twinning) on the most commonly wrought magnesium alloy, Mg-AZ31. Here, a main finding was that ductility and strength levels can be simultaneously optimized when prismatic slip is the most active deformation mechanism. In addition, dynamic recrystallization (DRX) was found to be most active under basal and prismatic slip at elevated temperatures and positively enhanced ductility. In contrast, tension twinning suppressed DRX and was correlated with comparatively poor ductility. In the second part of this thesis, a precipitation hardenable alloy, Mg-ZKQX6000, was processed via Equal Channel Angular Processing (ECAP) in the attempt to obtain ultra-high strength levels via grain refinement. Here, ECAP produced ultra-fine grain sizes with ultra-high strength levels approaching ~400 MPa along several orientations. The roles of precipitation, grain size, and texture were investigated, where it was determined that ductility for ECAP processed samples was limited due to a high volume fraction of precipitates after ECAP. In addition, prismatic slip could be correlated with optimal strength and ductility, confirming findings from the first part of this thesis