Includes bibliographical references (leaves 303-325) / The topic of God’s beauty, while receiving attention in theological aesthetics, is not often a focused pursuit in Christian spirituality. The study attempts to answer the question of what the nature would be of an Evangelical Protestant Christian spirituality predicated upon seeking and apprehending God’s beauty. The study establishes the relevance of beauty to Christian spirituality. It then develops a definition of God’s beauty from Jonathan Edwards. God’s beauty is found to be his love for his own being. Examining Scripture and Christian history, the study establishes that God’s beauty was regarded as an objective reality until the Enlightenment. The focus of the research then turns to the subjective apprehension of beauty, and examines the methodology of pursuing beauty in art, and finds parallels in spirituality. The study considers the epistemological dichotomy of subject and object with reference to beauty, and considers Christian proposals for a form of correspondence theory for transcendentals. The findings are united in a model of spirituality. Apprehension of God’s beauty occurs through the subject possessing a correspondent form of God’s love. Findings from the aesthetic and epistemological study are united with theology to suggest that this love can be cultivated through four areas: Christian imagination, an implanted new nature, the exposure to communion with God, and the nurture of spiritual disciplines. Each of these areas is explained and justified as means to cultivate correspondent love. The postures and approaches found in the study of art and epistemology are used for explaining the nature of correspondent love. Evangelical Protestant Christian spirituality predicated upon seeking and finding God’s beauty is one which cultivates love for God that corresponds with God’s own love. / Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / D. Th. (Christian Spirituality)

The archaeological literature warns against trusting the context of artifacts found within a vertisol due to the constant mixing of sediments caused by the shrink/swell properties of clays. These churning processes were thought to be the defining characteristic of vertisols until only the past few decades. It is now apparent that vertisols vary drastically based on a wide spectrum of variables and are fully capable of forming without churning processes. The Buttermilk Creek Site, Block A represents a prime example of a minimally developed vertisol. In addition, the site itself is a heavily occupied lithic quarry that has been almost continuously inhabited since Clovis and possibly Pre-Clovis times. This thesis takes a detailed look at the sediments and distribution of lithic artifacts from Block A of the Buttermilk Creek site to address the two following research objectives: 1) to determine if the archaeological context within the floodplain sediments at Block A has been disturbed by post-depositional processes, and 2) to identify discrete occupation surfaces within the vertic floodplain sediments at the site. These objectives are addressed using a variety of methods, including: 1) plotting the stratigraphic position of diagnostic artifacts, 2) determining the size distribution of debitage and artifact quantities throughout the floodplain deposits, 3) examining the distribution of cultural versus non-cultural lithic material, 4) recording the presence or absence of heat alteration in the deposits, 5) creating maps showing the degree of fissuring across the site, 6) analyzing differences in patination on artifacts, and 7) analyzing the presence of calcium carbonate on artifacts from all levels. Results from these analyses show that, despite the classification of sediments at Block A as a vertisol, vertical displacement of artifacts is largely absent. Chronologically ordered diagnostic points, consistently size sorted artifacts, and a lack of constant mixing of calcium carbonate throughout the profile suggest that artifacts found as deep as 20 cm below the Clovis-aged horizon represent intact cultural horizons. These oldest components found in Block A may represent some of the earliest known evidence of people in the New World.

Abstract The steel industry has been known as 'The mother of all industries '. With the emerging incidents such as Asian financial meltdown, industrialization of the China, and the policy of macro economic controls by the China government, the stock index of the steel industry has fluctuated violently. Despite the economy of China is to be adjusted upwards, in the foreseen future, the global steel supply will be probably exceed the demand. Such phenomenon definitely causes the pressure on the market that it also attracts much attention of the relevant stockholders. Current research investigates the most suitable model for valuating the stock price of the steel industry that would provide valuating methods to the corporate management and investors for decision making and investment. This research has studied 19 companies of steel industry of Taiwan listing companies with 6 approaches including the ¡¥Discounted Free Cash Flow Models¡¦, ¡¥Price to Earning Ratio¡¦, ¡¥Price to EBITDA Ratio¡¦, ¡¥Price to Sales Ratio¡¦, ¡¥Price to Book Value Ratio¡¦ and ¡¥Edwards-Bell-Ohlson Model¡¦ to valuate their reasonable intrinsic value from 2000 to 2005. The test of Theil¡¦s U is then applied to evaluate the approaches in order to justify the best valuation model. This study indicates the following results¡GThe Price to Book Value Ratio is the best valuation model since its smallest Theil¡¦s U value. The Price to Earning Ratio is the most unsuitable model for this evaluation purpose with a highest Theil¡¦s U value.

In this thesis we design and develop algorithms for predicting the rheological behavior of polymer melts based on the results of detailed atomistic simulations and guided by theories of the Dynamics of Polymers and fundamental Principles of Science of the Non-Equilibrium Thermodynamics. More specifically: 1) We propose a new rheological constitutive model for the time evolution of the tensor conformation tensor C of chains in a polymer melt (and hence the stress tensor τ) using the generalized bracket formalism of Beris and Edwards. The new constitutive model includes terms that describe a whole range of phenomena and are successfully used to describe the rheological properties of commercial polyethylene resins. 2) We developed a new methodology that allows direct connection of the results of atomistic simulations with molecular reptation theory for entangled polymers. The final result of the methodology is the calculation of the function ψ(s,t) which expresses the probability that the segment s along the contour of the primitive path remain in the original tube after time t. 3) We extended the Rouse theory for systems without polymer chain ends, as the polymer rings. While there have been previous theoretical work, a comprehensive analysis of the Rouse model of cyclic polymers was still lacking; here we develop the theory in its entirety. / Στα πλαίσια της παρούσας διατριβής σχεδιάσαμε και αναπτύξαμε αλγορίθμους πρόβλεψης της ρεολογικής συμπεριφοράς πολυμερικών τηγμάτων βασιζόμενοι στα αποτελέσματα λεπτομερών ατομιστικών προσομοιώσεων, καθοδηγούμενοι όμως από Θεωρίες της Δυναμικής των Πολυμερών αλλά και από θεμελιώδεις αρχές της Επιστήμης της Θερμοδυναμικής Εκτός Ισορροπίας. Πιο συγκεκριμένα: 1) Προτείνουμε αρχικά ένα νέο ρεολογικό καταστατικό μοντέλο για τη χρονική εξέλιξη του τανυστή διαμορφώσεων C των αλυσίδων σε ένα πολυμερικό τήγμα (και κατ’ επέκταση για τον τανυστή των τάσεων τ) κάνοντας χρήση του φορμαλισμού των γενικευμένων αγκυλών των Beris και Edwards. Το νέο καταστατικό μοντέλο περιλαμβάνει όρους που περιγράφουν ένα ολόκληρο φάσμα φαινομένων και χρησιμοποιήθηκε με επιτυχία για την περιγραφή των ρεολογικών ιδιοτήτων εμπορικών ρητινών πολυαιθυλενίου. 2) Αναπτύξαμε μια καινούργια μεθοδολογία που επιτρέπει την άμεση σύνδεση των αποτελεσμάτων των ατομιστικών προσομοιώσεων με τη μοριακή θεωρία του ερπυσμού για διαπλεγμένα πολυμερή. Το τελικό αποτέλεσμα της μεθοδολογίας είναι ο υπολογισμός της συνάρτησης ψ(s,t) που εκφράζει την πιθανότητα το σημείο s κατά μήκος του περιγράμματος του πρωτογενούς δρόμου των αλυσίδων να παραμένει στον αρχικό σωλήνα μετά από χρόνο t. Επεκτείναμε τη θεωρία Rouse και για συστήματα πολυμερικών αλυσίδων δίχως άκρα, όπως αυτά των πολυμερικών δακτυλίων. Παρότι στίγματα της θεωρίας είχαν παρουσιαστεί και σε προηγούμενες εργασίες από άλλους ερευνητές, στην παρούσα διατριβή αναπτύξαμε τη θεωρία στην ολότητά της.

Modern cities are often perceived as the antithesis of nature; the built environment is understood as the transformation of raw and untamed nature into a rationalized human landscape. However, a variety of scholars since the nineteenth century have noted the persistence of nature in cities, not only in providing essential services but also resisting human control. Most recently, urban geographers and environmental historians have argued that processes of urbanization do not entail the replacement of natural with artificial environments, but are more accurately understood as a reconfiguration of human/nature relations. In this dissertation, I employ this relational perspective to study a specific form of urban nature: stormwater flows. Urban drainage or stormwater management activities in US cities are a vivid example of the tensions between nature, society, and technology. In this study, I present a comparative case study of two US cities--Austin, Texas and Seattle, Washington--where stormwater issues have been a central focus of public debate over the last four decades. Using textual analysis, in-depth interviews, and experiential research methods, I argue that stormwater management practices involve not only the rational management of technological networks but also implicate a wide range of seemingly unrelated issues, such as local governance, environmental protection, land use decisionmaking, community development, aesthetics, and social equity. To describe the relational implications of urban nature, I present a framework of ecological politics to characterize drainage activities as rational, populist, or civic. I argue that the latter form of politics has the greatest potential to relieve the tensions between urban residents and their material surroundings by embracing a systems perspective of human/nonhuman relations and engaging local residents in the hands-on management of environmental flows. It is through the development of deliberative and grounded forms of civic politics that urban residents can forge new relationships between technology and nature, and in the process, understand their place in the world. / text

This study addresses eighteenth-century English-speaking evangelicals' understandings of church history, through the lens of published attempts to represent preceding Christian centuries panoramically or comprehensively. Sources entail several short reflections on history emerging in the early years of the transatlantic Revival (1730s-1740s) and subsequent, more substantial efforts by evangelical leaders John Gillies, Jonathan Edwards, John Wesley, Joseph and Isaac Milner, and Thomas Haweis. Little scholarly analysis exists on these sources, aside from the renaissance of interest in recent decades in Edwards. This is surprising, considering the acknowledged prominence of history-writing in the eighteenth century and the influence attributed, then and now, to the works of authors such as Gibbon, Hume, and Robertson. The aim is, first, to elucidate each of the above evangelicals' interpretations of the Christian past, both in overview and according to what they said on a roster of particular historical events, people and movements, and then to consider shared and divergent aspects. These aspects range from points of detail to paradigmatic theological convictions. Secondarily, evangelical church histories are analyzed in relation to earlier Protestant as well as eighteenth-century 'enlightened' historiography, in part through attention to evangelical authors' explicit engagement with these currents. This contextualization assists in determining the unique qualities of evangelical interpretations. Is there, then, evidence of a characteristically 'evangelical' perspective on church history? An examination of this neglected area illumines patterns and particulars of evangelicals' historical thought, and these in turn communicate the self-perceptions and the defining features of evangelicalism itself. Findings support the primary contention that evangelical leaders made use of a dynamic pattern of revival and declension as a means of accounting for the full history of Christianity. Beyond displaying the central place of 'revival' for evangelicals, these church histories demonstrate evangelicalism‘s complex relationship—involving both receptivity and critique—with Protestant and Enlightenment currents of historical inquiry.

La présente thèse par articles aborde différentes facettes du dépistage prénatal de certaines aneuploïdies au premier trimestre de la grossesse. L’introduction retrace l’historique du dépistage prénatal et énonce les différents marqueurs biochimiques et échographiques associés aux aneuploïdies. La première publication démontre que le tabagisme maternel abaisse significativement les niveaux sanguins maternels de PAPP-A et de la fraction libre de la β-hCG et augmente significativement la clarté nucale, confirmant la nécessité de contrôler cette co-variable dans le calcul de risque final, du moins pour la trisomie 18. Le deuxième article identifie des seuils de clarté nucale au-delà desquels la biochimie génétique n’apporte aucune valeur additionnelle au dépistage prénatal de la trisomie 21 et de la trisomie 18. Pour les fœtus avec clarté nucale supérieure aux seuils établis, un diagnostic prénatal intrusif devrait être offert sans délai. Le troisième et dernier article porte sur la première détermination des niveaux plasmatiques maternels de la protéine FLRG (follistatin-related gene) au premier trimestre de grossesse et sur son rôle potentiel à titre de marqueur biochimique dans le dépistage prénatal de la trisomie 21. Bien que détectables, les niveaux plasmatiques maternels de FLRG ne sont pas significativement altérés en présence de fœtus avec syndrome de Down. Dans la discussion générale, les trois articles sont abordés sous un angle plus spécifique au Québec. Des données complémentaires et originales y sont présentées. Une discussion sur l’évolution future du dépistage prénatal est entamée et des axes de recherche sont proposés. / In this thesis by articles, we explore different facets of first trimester prenatal screening of aneuploidy. Introduction retraces the origin of prenatal screening and enunciates current biochemical and ultrasound markers associated with aneuploidy. In the first article, impact of maternal smoking on first-trimester prenatal screening results is assessed for Down syndrome and trisomy 18. Both maternal blood levels of PAPP-A and free β-hCG are significantly decreased by maternal smoking while fetal nuchal translucency (NT) thickness is significantly increased. Without adjustment, this results in an increase of false positives, at least for trisomy 18. Based on these results, adjustment for smoking should be mandatory in first-trimester prenatal screening. In the second article, we identify NT threshold values above which biochemical screening provides no additional benefit. In pregnancies in which NT is above the proposed upper cut-offs, invasive prenatal screening should be offered without undue delay. In the third and last article, maternal plasma levels of follistatin- related gene protein (FLRG) are determined for the first time in first trimester of pregnancy. Its potential role as a new marker for Down syndrome is assessed. Although FLRG can be successfully detected in maternal plasma, its levels are not significantly altered by the presence of Down syndrome fetuses. In the general discussion, articles are mainly addressed under a Quebec standpoint. Additional and complementary original data are presented and different clinical research avenues are proposed.

Les principaux objets étudiés dans cette thèse sont les équations décrivant le morphisme de groupe sur une variété abélienne, plongée dans un espace projectif, et leurs applications en cryptographie. Notons g sa dimension et k son corps de définition. Ce mémoire est composé de deux parties. La première porte sur l'étude des courbes d'Edwards, un modèle pour les courbes elliptiques possédant un sous-groupe de points k-rationnels cyclique d'ordre 4, connues en cryptographie pour l'efficacité de leur loi d'addition et la possibilité qu'elle soit définie pour toute paire de points k-rationnels (loi d'addition k-complète). Nous en donnons une interprétation géométrique et en déduisons des formules explicites pour le calcul du couplage de Tate réduit sur courbes d'Edwards tordues, dont l'efficacité rivalise avec les modèles elliptiques couramment utilisés. Cette partie se conclut par la génération, spécifique au calcul de couplages, de courbes d'Edwards dont les tailles correspondent aux standards cryptographiques actuellement en vigueur. Dans la seconde partie nous nous intéressons à la notion de complétude introduite ci-dessus. Cette propriété est cryptographiquement importante car elle permet d'éviter des attaques physiques, comme les attaques par canaux cachés, sur des cryptosystèmes basés sur les courbes elliptiques ou hyperelliptiques. Un précédent travail de Lange et Ruppert, basé sur la cohomologie des fibrés en droite, permet une approche théorique des lois d'addition. Nous présentons trois résultats importants : tout d'abord nous généralisons un résultat de Bosma et Lenstra en démontrant que le morphisme de groupe ne peut être décrit par strictement moins de g+1 lois d'addition sur la clôture algébrique de k. Ensuite nous démontrons que si le groupe de Galois absolu de k est infini, alors toute variété abélienne peut être plongée dans un espace projectif de manière à ce qu'il existe une loi d'addition k-complète. De plus, l'utilisation des variétés abéliennes nous limitant à celles de dimension un ou deux, nous démontrons qu'une telle loi existe pour leur plongement projectif usuel. Finalement, nous développons un algorithme, basé sur la théorie des fonctions thêta, calculant celle-ci dans P^15 sur la jacobienne d'une courbe de genre deux donnée par sa forme de Rosenhain. Il est désormais intégré au package AVIsogenies de Magma. / The main objects we study in this PhD thesis are the equations describing the group morphism on an abelian variety, embedded in a projective space, and their applications in cryptograhy. We denote by g its dimension and k its field of definition. This thesis is built in two parts. The first one is concerned by the study of Edwards curves, a model for elliptic curves having a cyclic subgroup of k-rational points of order 4, known in cryptography for the efficiency of their addition law and the fact that it can be defined for any couple of k-rational points (k-complete addition law). We give the corresponding geometric interpretation and deduce explicit formulae to calculate the reduced Tate pairing on twisted Edwards curves, whose efficiency compete with currently used elliptic models. The part ends with the generation, specific to pairing computation, of Edwards curves with today's cryptographic standard sizes. In the second part, we are interested in the notion of completeness introduced above. This property is cryptographically significant, indeed it permits to avoid physical attacks as side channel attacks, on elliptic -- or hyperelliptic -- curves cryptosystems. A preceeding work of Lange and Ruppert, based on cohomology of line bundles, brings a theoretic approach of addition laws. We present three important results: first of all we generalize a result of Bosma and Lenstra by proving that the group morphism can not be described by less than g+1 addition laws on the algebraic closure of k. Next, we prove that if the absolute Galois group of k is infinite, then any abelian variety can be projectively embedded together with a k-complete addition law. Moreover, a cryptographic use of abelian varieties restricting us to the dimension one and two cases, we prove that such a law exists for their classical projective embedding. Finally, we develop an algorithm, based on the theory of theta functions, computing this addition law in P^15 on the Jacobian of a genus two curve given in Rosenhain form. It is now included in AVIsogenies, a Magma package.

Between July 2009 and October 2011, a new habitat was found for a rarely reported freshwater dinoflagellate species, Thompsodinium intermedium - Comal Springs (Comal County), Texas. In 2011, diel in-situ monitoring in monospecific blooms of this species revealed previously undetected negative impacts on endangered species habitat availability associated with conditions of low flow levels, recorded at the U.S. Geological Survey gage # 08169000 on Texas Commission on Environmental Quality river segment 1811 station 12655. During a period of low springflow in the summer of 2011, late afternoon and early morning measurements of dissolved oxygen and temperature and presence of dinoflagellate blooms were monitored at six sites. Significant differences in diel fluctuations were found in all of these parameters among sites with and without the planktonic blooms. These fluctuations increased risk of hypoxia and hyperthermia conditions at sites of planktonic bloom events. Arrays of in-situ continuous monitoring temperature/light probes were used inside and outside of blooms. Wildlife and human health implications are that hypoxia and hyperthermia are known to promote conditions favorable to harmful microbes which may be transported from springs to coastal bays. In-situ data demonstrated that T. intermedium blooms, hypoxia, and hyperthermia occurred in the upper Comal headwaters. These natural environmental stressors may be avoidable if adequate springflows are maintained to buffer against these impacts.

La présente thèse par articles aborde différentes facettes du dépistage prénatal de certaines aneuploïdies au premier trimestre de la grossesse. L’introduction retrace l’historique du dépistage prénatal et énonce les différents marqueurs biochimiques et échographiques associés aux aneuploïdies. La première publication démontre que le tabagisme maternel abaisse significativement les niveaux sanguins maternels de PAPP-A et de la fraction libre de la β-hCG et augmente significativement la clarté nucale, confirmant la nécessité de contrôler cette co-variable dans le calcul de risque final, du moins pour la trisomie 18. Le deuxième article identifie des seuils de clarté nucale au-delà desquels la biochimie génétique n’apporte aucune valeur additionnelle au dépistage prénatal de la trisomie 21 et de la trisomie 18. Pour les fœtus avec clarté nucale supérieure aux seuils établis, un diagnostic prénatal intrusif devrait être offert sans délai. Le troisième et dernier article porte sur la première détermination des niveaux plasmatiques maternels de la protéine FLRG (follistatin-related gene) au premier trimestre de grossesse et sur son rôle potentiel à titre de marqueur biochimique dans le dépistage prénatal de la trisomie 21. Bien que détectables, les niveaux plasmatiques maternels de FLRG ne sont pas significativement altérés en présence de fœtus avec syndrome de Down. Dans la discussion générale, les trois articles sont abordés sous un angle plus spécifique au Québec. Des données complémentaires et originales y sont présentées. Une discussion sur l’évolution future du dépistage prénatal est entamée et des axes de recherche sont proposés. / In this thesis by articles, we explore different facets of first trimester prenatal screening of aneuploidy. Introduction retraces the origin of prenatal screening and enunciates current biochemical and ultrasound markers associated with aneuploidy. In the first article, impact of maternal smoking on first-trimester prenatal screening results is assessed for Down syndrome and trisomy 18. Both maternal blood levels of PAPP-A and free β-hCG are significantly decreased by maternal smoking while fetal nuchal translucency (NT) thickness is significantly increased. Without adjustment, this results in an increase of false positives, at least for trisomy 18. Based on these results, adjustment for smoking should be mandatory in first-trimester prenatal screening. In the second article, we identify NT threshold values above which biochemical screening provides no additional benefit. In pregnancies in which NT is above the proposed upper cut-offs, invasive prenatal screening should be offered without undue delay. In the third and last article, maternal plasma levels of follistatin- related gene protein (FLRG) are determined for the first time in first trimester of pregnancy. Its potential role as a new marker for Down syndrome is assessed. Although FLRG can be successfully detected in maternal plasma, its levels are not significantly altered by the presence of Down syndrome fetuses. In the general discussion, articles are mainly addressed under a Quebec standpoint. Additional and complementary original data are presented and different clinical research avenues are proposed.