Clergy ethics in a changing society: mapping the terrain

Reviewed Book: Wind, James P. Clergy ethics in a changing society: mapping the terrain. Louisville, Ky: Westminster/John Knox Press, 1991

Primordial Nucleosynthesis: A Cosmological Probe

During its early evolution the Universe provided a laboratory to probe fundamental physics at high energies. Relics from those early epochs, such as the light elements synthesized during primordial nucleosynthesis when the Universe was only a few minutes old, and the cosmic background photons, last scattered when the protons (and alphas) and electrons (re)combined some 400 thousand years later, may be used to probe the standard models of cosmology and of particle physics. The internal consistency of primordial nucleosynthesis is tested by comparing the predicted and observed abundances of the light elements, and the consistency of the standard models is explored by comparing the values of the cosmological parameters inferred from primordial nucleosynthesis with those determined by studying the cosmic background radiation.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures, version appearing in the Proceedings of IAU Symposium No. 268, Light Elements in the Universe (C. Charbonnel, M. Tosi, F. Primas, C. Chiappini, eds.; Cambridge Univ. Press

Role Strain of Nursing Students in Obstetrical Clinical Rotations: Is Role Strain Greater for Male Students?

As increasing numbers of men enter the career of nursing, it is important that nursing educators identify areas of role strain and learning needs that may be different from their female counterparts This research project examined the role strain factors of nursing students who have completed the maternaVnewbom (obstetrical) clinical experience in a baccalaureate nursing program. The research question addressed in this research project was: Do male nursing students experience greater role strain than female nursing students in the matemaVnewbom setting? A convenience sample of male students (N=23) and a random sampling of female students (N=23) participated in this study. The Junior and Senior level nursing students who had completed the obstetrical rotation within the last 3 semesters were recruited to complete the Sherrod Role Strain Scale ( 40 question Likert scale survey tool) at specified times during fall semester 2008. Data was analyzed as grouped data and female/male responses were also compared. The overall score showed no gender differences in role strain (p value= 0.917). The four subcategories (Overload, Conflict, Incongruity, and Ambiguity) also did not reflect gender differences in this sample. The findings of this study did not support the concept of male students experiencing greater role strain than their female counterparts. Further studies examining role strain factors, student perceptions of role strain, and comparing men students in various nursing programs are recommended

Undefining Man: A Case for Symbolic Animal Communication via Refutation of Kenneth Burke\u27s Definition of Man

There have been tendencies in various fields to use communication as a way of differentiating humans and other species. Even when individuals are confronted with empirical evidence to the contrary, many still hold onto the notion that humans are in a communicative position clearly divergent in all ways from animals. This thesis will utilize Kenneth Burke\u27s Definition of Man as a launching point to support a claim that animals utilize their conscious cognitive abilities to communicate symbolically

Episodic memory and episodic future thinking in adults with autism.

The ability to remember past experiences (episodic memory) is thought to be related to the ability to imagine possible future experiences (episodic future thinking). Although previous research has established that individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have diminished episodic memory, episodic future thinking has not previously been investigated within this population. In the present study, high-functioning adults with ASD were compared to closely matched typical adults on a task requiring participants to report a series of events that happened to them in the past and a series of events that might happen to them in the future. For each event described, participants completed two modified Memory Characteristics Questionnaire items to assess self-reported phenomenal qualities associated with remembering and imagining, including self-perspective and degree of autonoetic awareness. Participants also completed letter, category, and ideational fluency tasks. Results indicated that participants with ASD recalled/imagined significantly fewer specific events than did comparison participants and that participants with ASD demonstrated impaired episodic memory and episodic future thinking. In line with this finding, participants with ASD were less likely than comparison participants to report taking a field (first-person) perspective and were more likely to report taking an observer (third-person) perspective during retrieval of past events (but not during simulation of future events), highlighting that they were less likely to mentally reexperience past events from their own point of view. There were no group differences in self-reported levels of autonoetic awareness or fluency task performance