No salvation without the Church: Interfaith praxes in the company of Pope Francis

This is the auhor's post-print pdf version of an article published in Practical Theology, 2014, 7(4), pp. 293-303, available at http://essential.metapress.com/openurl.asp?genre=article&id=doi:10.1179/1756073X14Z.00000000048 and http://www.maneypublishing.comExtra ecclesiam nulla salus has been central to Catholic understandings of salvation for centuries, but precisely what that means with regard to people of other Christian denominations, other faiths, and people of no faith, has been subject to re-interpretation. This paper argues that in the words and deeds of Pope Francis, he has suggested that people of any faith and none can and should be viewed as ‘valued allies’ to the Catholic Church, especially where anyone is willing to work cooperatively for the common good of all. I propose that this way of thinking about people outside of the Catholic Church constitutes a rethinking of the ancient mantra that recognizes the necessity of churches, people of other faiths and no faith, being willing to work together to realize the common goals of equality, peace and justice

A Hierarchical Framework for Estimating Heterogeneous Architecture-based Software Reliability

Problem. The composite model approach that follows a DTMC process with constant failure rate is not analytically tractable for improving its method of solution for estimating software reliability. In this case, a hierarchical approach is preferred to improve accuracy for the method of solution for estimating reliability. Very few studies have been conducted on heterogeneous architecture-based software reliability, and those that have been done use the composite model for reliability estimation. To my knowledge, no research has been done where a hierarchical approach is taken to estimate heterogeneous architecture-based software reliability. This paper explores the use and effectiveness of a hierarchical framework to estimate heterogeneous architecture-based software reliability. -- Method. Concepts of reliability and reliability prediction models for heterogeneous software architecture were surveyed. The different architectural styles were identified as batch-sequential, parallel filter, fault tolerance, and call and return. A method for evaluating these four styles solely on the basis of transition probability was proposed. Four case studies were selected from similar researches which have been done to test the effectiveness of the proposed hierarchical framework. The study assumes that the method of extracting the information about the software architecture was accurate and that the actual reliability of the systems used were free of software errors. -- Results. The percentage difference in results of the reliability estimated by the proposed hierarchical framework compared with the actual reliability was 5.12%, 11.09%, 0.82%, and 52.14% for Cases 1, 2, 3, and 4 respectively. The proposed hierarchical framework did not work for Case 4, which showed much higher values in component utilization and therefore higher interactions between components when compared with the other cases. -- Conclusions. The proposed hierarchical framework generally showed close comparison with the actual reliability of the software systems used in the case studies. However, the results obtained by the proposed hierarchical framework compared to the actual reliability were in disagreement for Case 4. This is due to the higher component interactions in Case 4 when compared with other cases and showed that there are limitations to the extent to which the proposed hierarchical framework can be applied. The reasoning for the limitations of the hierarchical approach has not been cited in any research on the subject matter. Even with the limitations, the hierarchical framework for estimating heterogeneous architecture-based software reliability can still be applied when high accuracy is not required and not too high interactions among components in the software system exist. Thesis (M.S.) -- Andrews University, College of Arts and Sciences, 201

The public health aspects of poultry inspection

Call number: LD2668 .T4 1952 M65Master of Scienc

A pedological investigation of catchment basins below late Minoan period archaeological sites in eastern Crete, Greece

A series of soil pedons were investigated in conjunction with the Kavousi Archaeological Expedition in Eastern Crete, Greece. These soils were located in sediment catchment basins in landscape positions that were topographically below archaeological sites known to have been inhabited in the Late Minoan IIIc Period (1100-900 B.C.). The objective of this investigation was to use soil information in concert with available archaeological and chronological data to reconstruct the Late Pleistocene and Holocene landscape history of Eastern Crete. Four soil pedons were located near the archaeological site of Karphi which is in the Diktean Range north of the Lasithi Plateau. These four pedons included two sinkholes, one alluvial fan deposit, and one buried agricultural terrace. Three soil pedons were also investigated near the archaeological sites of Vronda and Kastro, which are near the village of Kavousi in the Siteia Range. These soil pedons included one buried colluvial deposit, one alluvial fan deposit, and one sinkhole. The soil morphology was described for each pedon, and particular attention was paid to existence of buried soils, discontinuities, and presence of artifacts. Samples were collected from the horizons in each pedon and were subjected to laboratory analysis. These analyses included total carbon content, organic carbon content, pH, CEC, particle size, total element, citrate-dithionite iron, and weak acid extractable element, as well as some selective clay mineralogy. Results from this investigation show that stable soils with argillic horizons existed prior to 3,000 yr B.P. and that soils developed after 3,000 yr B.P. show little evidence of weathering. This pattern may be related to moister conditions which occurred on the island prior to 3,000 yr. B.P. The analyses also indicate that an erosional episode, which could be related to human-influenced landscape destabilization, occurred after 3,000 yr. B.P. at Karphi and Kavousi. Additional investigations revealed that an eolian component was deposited at Karphi approximately 1,700 yr. B.P., and clay rich sediments in the sinkhole at Kavousi exhibited vertic properties and translocated artifacts of Minoan age in the pedon

The Oklahoma fur trade, 1796-1845

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Oklahoma, 1967.Includes bibliographical references

A cognitive approach to discharge planning for offenders

The paper describes an application of cognitive psychological techniques to a program of discharge planning for offenders from a medium security Correctional Centre. It contains a review of alternative methods of discharge planning, outlines the development of cognitive treatment techniques, and explains the rationale for applying these techniques to incarcerated offenders. A quasi-experimental approach is utilized, comparing a group that experienced a combination of Interpersonal Cognitive Problem-Solving, an affective component, self-initiation and relapse prevention with no treatment comparison groups. A significant improvement was in the experiment group in their ability to solve problems as measured by the Means End Problem-Solving Inventory (Platt & Spivack, 1989). The groups were also compared in their ability to select alternatives as measured by the Social Insight Scale (Cassel, 1976) and their expression of anger and hostility as measured by the Buss-Durkee Scale (Buss, Fisher & Simmons, 1962). While significant results were observed, the results must be viewed with caution. When compared to the control group, the experimental group displayed promising results in terms of recidivism. The complications encountered conducting longitudinal research within a correctional facility are discussed

A review of the understatement penalty provisions of the Tax Administration Act 28 of 2011

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Commerce (specialising in Taxation). Johannesburg, 25 March 2015The research reviews the legislation pertaining to the understatement penalty provisions of the Tax Administration Act 28 of 2011. The problems associated with the levying of understatement penalties in the previous legislation are determined. A detailed evaluation is made of the understatement penalty provisions, with an emphasis on the determinants for the ‘behaviour’ and ‘case’ types, and the penalty percentages derived therefrom. The fiscus’s stated goals and intentions in respect of the understatement penalties are identified and reviewed to determine if they are aligned with those considered to be international best practice. The requirements of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa of 1996 are reviewed with respect to the understatement penalties. A comparative analysis of South Africa’s understatement penalties and those of tax authorities identified as having similar tax administration regimes is presented. The research suggests that while a more systematic and uniform approach, to understatement penalties, has been established under the new legislation, the subjective nature of the ‘behaviour’ and ‘case’ determinants applied is likely to result in disputes between the South African Revenue Service (SARS) and the taxpayer. The research indicates that while the categories and nature of understatement penalties levied are broadly aligned with those of comparable countries’ regimes, the penalty percentages applied in South Africa, are relatively high. Key words and terms: understatement penalties, international best practice, goals, uniform, systematic, ‘behaviour’, ‘case’, subjective, similar tax administration regimes, penalty percentages.MT201

Investigating Gluonic Operators in Coordinate Space

In this dissertation, a method of extracting gluon momentum distributions inside hadrons, and particularly nucleons, is developed. In general, the utility and application of performing calculations in coordinate space at the operator level is discussed, and its application to the method of pseudodistributions in the lattice extraction of parton distributions. An introduction to the background field method and other techniques used in the calculation of corrections to gluon operators are provided. Then, an outline of the calculation of the uncontracted gluon bilocal operator at one-loop is given, and the result thereof. Using the result for the gluon bilocal operator restricted to spacelike separations, z = (0, 0, 0, z3), various projections and contractions are discussed for the spin averaged case, and for the polarization dependent case in a forward nucleon matrix element. Finally, matching relations between pseudodistributions and lightcone distributions are given for the unpolarized gluon distribution and for the polarized gluon distribution. Application of the results in recent actual lattice extractions of gluon PDFs is discussed, and future applications are outlined

An Ontological (re)Thinking: Ubuntu and Buddhism in Higher Education

Institutions of higher education, the nation’s ideological filters, shape our world and our very being-in-the-world. Given the current anthro-cultural state of affairs around the globe, this investigation posits institutions of higher education’s complicity in the proliferation of societal dis-ease and its responsibility in assisting to recalibrate the global moral compass. Following these assertions this inquiry is focused on the other-than-ness of higher education, and re-imagines both humanity and higher education to be what it is not yet, but must become. More specifically, through Buddhism and Ubuntu, this investigation (re)thinks institutions of higher education as transformational educative environments of human becoming rather than factories of knowledge acquisition and workforce deployment. Exploring the shift in the aim of higher education beginning in the latter half of the 20th and intensifying in the 21st century, this study theorizes the necessitation of an ontological revolution—a (re)turn to the equanimous privileging of ontology and epistemology—which opens up to the possibility of being differently in the world. Utilizing two non-Western knowledges/philosophies, the South African philosophy of Ubuntu and Eastern Buddhism, this inquiry de-centers Western ontological and epistemological positionalities. Asserting the inseparability of ontology and epistemology, this inquiry embarks on a re-conceptualization of the Western subject. The newly re-conceptualized Being-West sets the inquiry on a futural line of flight, (re)imagining an absent present-future in higher education bolstered by a new conception of self, and an onto-educational philosophy of higher education, which engenders being-becoming more human and an understanding our shared humanity. Finally, this conceptual inquiry offers no solutions, but provokes, encourages new lines of flight, which generate rhizomatic nodes of becoming, pregnant with the possibility of catalyzing a revolutionary human becoming