Mountain meadows in the western USA are experiencing increased rates of conifer encroachment due to climate change and land management practices. Past research has focused on conifer removal as a meadow restoration strategy, but there has been limited work on conifer transpiration in a pre-restoration state. Meadow restoration by conifer removal has the primary goal of recovering sufficient growing season soil moisture necessary for endemic, herbaceous meadow vegetation. Therefore, conifer water use represents an important hydrologic output toward evaluating the efficacy of this active management approach. This study quantified and evaluated transpiration of encroached conifers in a mountain meadow using sap flow prior to restoration by tree removal. We report results of lodgepole pine transpiration estimates for an approximate 1-year period and an evaluation of key environmental variables influencing water use during a dry growing season. The study was conducted at Rock Creek Meadow (RCM) in the southern Cascade Range near Chester, CA, USA. Sap flow data were collected in a sample of lodgepole pine and scaled on a per-plot basis to the larger meadow using tree survey data within a stratified random sampling design (simple scaling). These estimates were compared to a MODIS evapotranspiration (ET) estimate for the meadow. The 1-year period for transpiration estimates overlapped each of the 2019 and 2020 growing seasons partially. The response of lodgepole pine transpiration to solar radiation, air temperature, vapor pressure deficit, and volumetric soil water content was investigated by calibrating a modified Jarvis-Stewart (MJS) model to hourly sap flow data collected during the 2020 growing season, which experienced below average antecedent winter precipitation. The model was validated using spatially different sap flow data in the meadow from the 2021 growing season, also part of a dry year. Calibration and validation were completed using a MCMC approach via the DREAM(ZS) algorithm and a generalized likelihood (GL) function, enabling model parameter and total uncertainty assessment. We also used the model to inform transpiration scaling for the calibration period in select plots in the meadow, which allowed comparison with simple scaling transpiration estimates. Average total lodgepole pine transpiration at RCM was estimated between 220.57 ± 25.28 and 393.39 ± 45.65 mm for the entire campaign (mid-July 2019 to mid-August 2020) and between 100.22 ± 11.49 and 178.75 ± 20.74 mm for the 2020 partial growing season (April to mid-August). The magnitude and seasonal timing were similar to MODIS ET. The model showed good agreement between observed and predicted sap velocity for the 2020 partial growing season (RMSE = 1.25 cm h-1), with meteorological variables modulating early growing season sap flow and volumetric soil water content decline imposing transpiration decrease in the late growing season. The model validation performed similarly to calibration in terms of performance metrics and the influence of meteorological variables. The consistency of the declining volumetric soil water content effect during the late growing season between periods could not be evaluated due to an abridged validation period. Overall, the implementation GL-DREAM(ZS) showed promise for future use in MJS models. Lastly, the model derived transpiration estimates for the 2020 partial growing season showed some of the potential utility in using the MJS model to scale sap flow at the study locale. It also highlights some of the key limitations of this approach as it is executed in the present study.

This project challenges the practice of preaching shamanistic prosperity-focused messages to Korean immigrant churches in the United States in order to construct a more liberative theological foundation for sermons and eventually offer an alternative form of immigrant preaching: “a psalmic-theological homiletic.” A shamanistic-prosperity gospel reinforces a mostly success-oriented way of life, owing to its heavy emphasis on God’s promises about individuals’ material rewards. Such a prosperity gospel syncretizes shamanistic beliefs with the American Dream in that it implicitly advises believers to “make it” in the capitalist economy and uphold the prevailing values created by the dominant group. Accordingly, the project not only examines the prosperity gospel and its problematic syncretism with the American Dream ideology, this project also offers a more appropriate immigrant theology for preaching by reclaiming the priorities of God’s future in our lives and confirming God’s active identification with Korean immigrant congregations in the depth of their predicament as immigrants. After offering a practical-theological construction, this project provides “a psalmic-theological homiletic,” critically adopting features from psalmic theology and its theological-rhetorical movement. My proposed homiletic relies on Claus Westermann who argued that the Psalms are honest public speeches about a realistic faith that can be practiced in the midst of suffering. Along with a critical reading of Westermann’s theoretical approach to the Psalms, my homiletic engages in dialogue with Eunjoo Mary Kim’s sermon. As a result, a psalmic-theological homiletic has a four-fold rhetorical movement inspired by and intended for Korean immigrant contexts: (a) lament, (b) retelling the biblical story, (c) confessional doxology, and (d) vow of obedience. This project gives its attention to the theological significance of these four rhetorical steps from the perspective of marginalized people. Its theological-rhetorical strategy intends to transform the immigrant congregation’s habitus of living in faith and to enhance their hope-filled life through communal anticipation of God’s coming future. The project concludes with homiletical-dialogical analyses of two Korean immigrant sermons. Examining their homiletical strengths and weaknesses, the analysis provides guidance for future Korean immigrant preaching to prompt a more faithful and transformative way of life for hearers.

This duo of meta-analyses explored relationships between creativity and sleep quality [Study 1], and creativity and dream recall [Study 2]. Studies on these topics noted personality influences in both creativity and sleep quality, as well as dream recall. Studies also identified potential connections between creativity, sleep, and dreaming by investigating the stage of sleep from which creative thinking could emerge. Twenty studies were eligible to code and analyze in Study 1 and 16 in Study 2. Analyses using two-level multivariate analyses showed a small and positive correlation between creativity and sleep (r = .147, 95% CI = [0.033, 0.257]), p = .012 [Study 1] as well as creativity and dream recall (r = 0.173, 95% CI = [0.089, 0.257]), p = .001) [Study 2]. Both Study 1 and Study 2 tested moderator variables via a meta-regression. Moderators were identified based on the nature of assessments used, sample characteristics, and study characteristics. Study 1 results indicated that the relationship between sleep and creativity was higher when creativity test modality was verbal than figural. Study 2 also found that test modality was a significant moderator, and conversely, the relationship was larger when creativity was measured by figural tests compared to the verbal measures. Additionally, the relationship between the two was smaller among undergraduates compared to other adults. The findings are discussed in relation to their overlap with individual findings from primary studies.

The purpose of this study is to analyze how female athletes are constructed in advertising that uses femvertising. This is done through a multimodal critical discourse analysis of Nike´s commercial “Dream Crazier” to understand which signs, in the form of participants, language, attributes and color which acts as semiotic resources to create meaning. The study also puts this in relation to intersectional perspectives to see how femvertising challenges socially constructed femininity. The questions that the study aims to answer are how are female athletes constructed in Nike´s commercial and what semiotic resources are used in the construction? And what intersectional categories can be identified in the commercial and what significance might they have in challenging socially constructed femininity? The results show that multiple themes about femininity are visible in the commercial. These are “women as emotional”, “gender norm-breaking, and “these female athletes break barriers, so you can do too”. These themes are reinforced by the commercial utilizing semiotic resources that show different participants with various attributes and how these are polarized as feminine and masculine. The different intersectional categories that were identified can all be seen challenging socially constructed femininity by deviating from stereotypical norms of what femininity is. The study also concluded that several intersectional categories are shown, but there is an underrepresentation of marginalized groups.

The role of infinity as an antagonist in Jorge Luis Borges's oeuvre is undeniable. His stories in El jardi­n de senderos que se bifurcan (1941), Ficciones (1944), and El Aleph (1949) exhibit Borges's tendency to evoke dreams, labyrinths, mirrors, and libraries as both conduits for infinity and sources of conflict. Oftentimes, Borges's characters experience discomfort upon encountering the limitations of secular temporal succession. This discomfort is rooted in Borges's pessimism about the subject which is explored in Borges's most comprehensive essay on the issue of time: "A New Refutation of Time." Consequently, this thesis considers Borges's attitude towards the issue of time as postulated in "A New Refutation of Time" and exhibited in his early fiction, continues to acknowledge infinity as a fundamental conflict in Borges's work, and proceeds to search for a solution to this conflict. The analysis in this thesis relies heavily on a comparative study of the themes and symbols in Borges's fiction in order to establish a pattern wherein infinity is portrayed negatively. More importantly, the use of interviews, biographies, and Borges's own fiction, facilitates the construction of cohesive conception of time in his work. Subsequently, this study looks to establish a solution to the problem of infinity and establish a new pattern wherein there is a positive resolution to the narrative. Ultimately, the goal of this thesis is to acknowledge the problem of infinity in Borges's work and then propose a way to escape it.

The American Dream Ideology is defined by Sociologist, Jennifer Hochschild as, "All persons in the United States can achieve the American Dream, which is defined as the achievement of success however that is defined to oneself, through hard work and one's own efforts." Filipino Americans have a unique history with the United States and much of Filipino culture has roots within its history of colonization by Spain and the United States. Previous research has shown a high consistent rate of immigration into the United States, and high rates of social mobility among second-generation Asian immigrants compared to first-generation Asian immigrants. A study also has shown that college students predominately mentioned wealth and material goods when discussing the American Dream Ideology. Inquiry on Filipinos and their perceptions of the American Dream have yet to be completed. Using the framework of culture as a "tool kit," this qualitative study investigates if Filipino college students that attend the University of Central Florida buy into the "American Dream Ideology," as defined by Sociologist, Jennifer Hochschild. This was done by analyzing 3 interviews with Filipino college students that attend the University of Central Florida. Based on the data, there are many factors that can attribute to a student's understanding of the American Dream Ideology. This study lays the groundwork for further research on the processes that create one's definition of the American Dream Ideology within Filipino communities.

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