This thesis reaffirms the Celtic influence on Beowulf. The first chapter reevaluates past attempts to demonstrate a Celtic connection with particular emphasis on the work of Martin Puhvel and R. Mark Scowcroft. The second chapter compares Grendel’s Mother to the Lady of the Lake, from the Prose Lancelot, using the Celtic water hag motif. The third chapter analyzes how Grendel exemplifies the Celtic motifs of the violent child and the wild man by comparing him with Cu Chulainn, from the Táin Bó Cúailnge, Lancelot, from the Prose Lancelot, and the Celtic wild man tales surrounding Suibhne, Myrddin, and Lailoken. The final chapter uses Michael D. C. Drout’s Lexomic analysis and a network analysis by Pádraig Mac Carron and Ralph Kenna to problematize the assumed unity of the text. Therefore, this thesis provides both narrative and textual evidence to validate the Celtic influence on Beowulf.

We measure the prevalence and uses of Man-in-the-Middle TLS proxies using a Flash tool deployed with a Google AdWords campaign. We generate 15.2 million certificate tests across two large-scale measurement studies and find that 1 in 250 TLS connections are intercepted by proxies. The majority of these proxies appear to be benevolent, however we identify over 3,600 cases where eight malware products are using this technology nefariously. We also find thousands of instances of negligent, duplicitous, and suspicious behavior, some of which degrade security for users without their knowledge. Distinguishing these types of practices is challenging in practice, indicating a need for transparency and user awareness. We also report the results of a survey of 1,976 individuals regarding their opinions of TLS proxies. Responses indicate that participants hold nuanced opinions on security and privacy trade-offs, with most recognizing legitimate uses for the practice, but also concerned about threats from hackers or government surveillance. There is strong support for notification and consent when a system is intercepting their encrypted traffic, although this support varies depending on the situation. A significant concern about malicious uses of TLS inspection is identity theft, and many would react negatively and some would change their behavior if they discovered inspection occurring without their knowledge. We also find that a small but significant number of participants are jaded by the current state of affairs and have lost any expectation of privacy.

[pt] A preocupação do homem com bem-estar e beleza esteve sempre presente na história da humanidade; contudo, o uso de cosméticos e produtos de cuidados pessoais passou a ser sinônimo de práticas femininas, condenando por muito tempo aqueles que ousaram discordar dessa máxima. No entanto, o paradigma vem sendo transformado e nos últimos anos vemos crescer exponencialmente o consumo masculino de beleza. Diante desse contexto, o presente estudo teve por objetivo investigar o universo masculino no que tange aos seus cuidados pessoais, buscando entender quais são os motivadores de suas práticas de beleza e como tais motivadores influenciam seu comportamento de consumo relacionado à aparência. A partir de uma metodologia qualitativa baseada em entrevistas, foram obtidos os relatos de doze jovens adultos de classe econômica alta na cidade do Rio de Janeiro. Os resultados dividem-se em três blocos. O primeiro deles apresenta os motivadores internos, como auto-estima, auto-conceito e autoafirmação. Apresentamos em seguida os motivadores externos, onde a aceitação social e a pressão do ideal estético dividem espaço com a grande influência da mulher, que pode ser observada de diferentes formas, mas sobretudo como parâmetro de comparação, delimitando o que é razoável e o que é excessivo para o auto-denominado homem médio. Nesse contexto, avaliamos ainda as práticas e os hábitos de consumo masculino de produtos de cuidados pessoais. Finalmente, depreendemos que o cuidar da beleza para o homem pode ser descrito como uma prática funcional e até mesmo estratégica: a aparência é tida como uma verdadeira arma social, favorecendo a conquista dos benefícios decorrentes de uma boa apresentação. / [en] Man s concern with well being and beauty was always present in the history of humanity; however, the use of cosmetics and personal care products turned to be synonymous of feminine practices, condemning for a long time those who dared to disagree with this conception; however, the paradigm is being transformed and in recent years we can see an exponential growth of masculine consumption of beauty. Thus, the present study has for objective to investigate the masculine universe in what it refers to man’s personal care, better understanding which are the motivators of their beauty practices and how do these motivators influence man’s consumption behavior related to their appearance. Supported by a qualitative methodology based on interviews, we obtained the stories of twelve upper class young adults from Rio de Janeiro city. The results are divided in three blocks. The first one presents the internal motivators, as auto-esteem, autoconcept and auto-affirmation. Subsequently, we present the external motivators, where the social acceptance and the pressure of the aesthetic ideal share space with the great influence of woman, presented in three different ways, specially as a comparison parameter, delimiting what it is reasonable and what is excessive for the auto-called average man. In this context, we also evaluate the masculine practices and consumption habits of personal care products. Finally, we conclude that, for man, taking care of beauty can be described as a functional, and even strategical, practice: appearance is taken as a social weapon, favoring the conquest of the decurrent benefits of a good look.

Mark obviously says that all of the disciples of Jesus desert him and flee (Mark 14:50). Mark, however, introduces a young man as a new character who was following Jesus like other disciples and fled naked before Jesus’s suffering. This young man is the most enigmatic character in Mark. In particular, the young man never appears in other Gospels. For this reason, the young man’s identity and his conduct has been a topic of longstanding dispute among scholars. Some regard him as historical figures, one of Jesus’ own disciples like John the son of Zebedee, James the Lord’s brother, or John Mark. They consider him as witness of Jesus. Others take the young man to be symbolic figures like an angel, Jesus himself, Christian initiate, and a representative of disciples’ reality. In this work, I suggest that the young man is Mark’ literary creation by imitating Homeric model of Elpenor. Mark relies on a specific genetic model, not on historical reports of witness or symbolic interpretation. Mark’s literary intention by using Homer’s Elpenor is to substitute his own value for Homer’s. The idea of the afterlife in Homeric epics is replaced to Christianized the concept of the afterlife that is resurrection. In addition, the identity of the young man is Mark’s creation as a stand-in to substitute for Jesus and exculpate him from responsibility for not warning his disciples before the Jewish Temple destruction. According to Mark’s Gospel, Jesus himself told his disciples in advance. Moreover, the young man in Jesus’s empty tomb provides the three women with the message of Jesus to escape from the tragic incident. Therefore, nobody would blame Jesus for the suffering of the Jerusalem Church in Jewish war. The women’s failure to transmit the message doomed Jesus’ followers to the carnage of the war. The identity of the young man in Mark’s Gospel can be detected by considering Mark’s literary model and his mimetic achievement. As a creative and skillful author, Mark imitates well-known model in Greco-Roman literary world. Mark, however, does not just copy of the model; Mark emulates and transforms it to replace the concept of the afterlife. In addition, Mark’s mimetic achievement in the episode of the young man is to convey the supremacy of Jesus by exculpating him from responsibility not saving his followers from the catastrophe. Mark’s Gospel is the response for the issue. In sum, Mark’s dependence on Homer explains the most enigmatic character and scene in Mark.

After 30 plus years of research, clergy burnout is an ongoing concern; as such, it is important to identify the causes of this phenomenon. Researchers have already demonstrated that internal factors such as personality types, personal mastery, or conflict management and external factors such as role conflict, excessive activities, or unrealistic expectations, can lead to burnout. The problem that led to this study was that more exploration is needed about clergy's perceptions on leadership and burnout within the church. The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to explore clergy within the Wesleyan Church in the Midwest to discover their perceptions about leadership and burnout within the church. The conceptual framework was shaped by the great man theory of leadership and Maslach's burnout theory. The central research question for this study focused on clergy's perceptions about leadership and burnout within the church. Data were collected using face-to-face semistructured interviews with 23 pastors who are currently leading and experiencing burnout. Data collected included transcribed interviews, field notes, and observations. Data were hand-coded to find key concepts and themes. Two themes that emerged from the data were leadership is understood as hierarchical and leadership is understood as the work of solo actors, which were consistent with the great man theory of leadership. The results of this study may contribute to a better understanding of the factors that lead to clergy burnout. The results of this study will address a gap in literature and may result in positive social change for both the clergy and church congregants because the results can be used to come up with solutions for burnout. This study may also lead to new theories about clergy burnout.

A longstanding folk belief suggests that 'busy' people possess the ability to get more done than others. Busyness, defined as the demands of everyday life, has been shown to generate cognitive load, which has been called 'cognitive busyness.' Although most cognitive theory would deny the possibility that cognitive load may enhance performance, some recent research may support the possibility. Cowan's 1988 information-processing model was used to study how measures of everyday busyness correlated with performance on cognitive tasks. The research question addressed whether any combination of such measures, in combination with working memory, could predict performance on such tasks. 92 participants, paid workers with Amazon Mechanical Turk, engaged in an online process, starting with completion of a validated self-report instrument to measure busyness. They then participated in 2 activities, structured as games and designed to measure working memory and cognitive performance. Multiple regressions, linear and nonlinear, were used to identify significant predictors of performance. Results of the analyses did not reveal any evidence for significant relationships between the variables. Additionally, 'volitional busyness' did not appear to enhance, or even affect, performance on a planning task. Further research exploring the effect of these variables on a working memory-based task may be worthwhile, if only to confirm the present findings. This project might benefit linguists tracking semantic change, showing how a term may adopt an entirely different meaning and suggesting further refinement in identifying such shifts over the years; psychologists exploring cognitive load and its effects; and social psychologists interested in making corrections to popular perceptions of the value of tradition gender-associated tasks.

Numerous quantitative studies have assessed caregiver burden in multiple chronic diseases, but an identified gap and underrepresentation exists in the literature regarding studies using an inductive approach that allow informal caregivers to describe the lived experiences of caring for Black men receiving hemodialysis. The transactional model of stress and coping and the stress process model guided this study. The key research questions centered on the experiences, psychological, physical, and financial limitations associated with caregiving. This phenomenological study used a purposive sample of 15 unpaid primary caregivers over the age of 18 caring for a Black male on hemodialysis from Mecklenburg County. Semi-structured face-to-face interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed, and analyzed for significant themes. The findings indicated majority of the participants experienced psychological reactions, a decline in their physical health, and financial stressors. The participants noticed a change in their loved one and felt caregiving was hard work but found the experience meaningful from a cultural perspective. Although, majority of the participants had family and healthcare providers supported them, they reported the need for additional resources to assist with providing adequate care for their loved one. This study can contribute to social change by providing healthcare professionals with the knowledge to better identify changes in practice necessary to support the needs of informal caregivers. Further research should include implementing informal caregiver support programs, studies addressing the cultural differences and needs of informal caregivers, and the perceptions of Black male patients receiving hemodialysis to address the underrepresentation of Black men in research.

Despite the inherently multivalent nature of images of Napoleon Bonaparte created during the middle of the nineteenth century, scholars often employ only one lens to interpret them: the political context of the age in which they were created. In doing so, they effectively separate these images from the wider art historical narrative. A second—and equally fraught—effect of this tendency is the perpetuation of dominant assumptions that the popularity of his image was due to his status as a “Great Man.” This dissertation examines a subset of mid-century Napoleonic imagery that demonstrates the flawed nature of neglecting other approaches to interpreting these works: depictions of the Emperor’s resurrection. These images frequently portray the Emperor as an inherently democratic, republican, or Populist force that derives its power not from Napoleon’s identity, but from the creativity, commemorative work, or critical thinking of the audience and the French people. This dissertation closely examines these images in their artistic and cultural contexts, applying cultural art historical methodology and close iconographical analysis to works that are either absent from or marginalized in the art historical narrative. In doing so, it reveals Napoleonic resurrection imagery’s potential for commenting on changing social mores that privileged the cultural agency of the French people at mid-century. The underlying argument of this study is that Napoleon was a popular artistic subject not because of his status as a “Great Man,” but because of his endlessly mutable identity. This mutability facilitated the creation of new forms of art and knowledge while allowing the French people to reflect upon their place in the changing cultural and artistic milieu. By demonstrating that this admittedly narrow subset of Napoleonic representation is open to cultural analysis, this dissertation opens up new avenues of inquiry for scholars of the Napoleonic Revival. The first chapter of this study is a largely theoretical examination of Napoleonic “ghosts” and their connection to the strained relationship between fine art and popular culture as well as the masses and “Great Men.” Chapter two analyzes several images in which academically trained artists use Christ-like Napoleonic imagery to engage with the rising cultural and creative agency of the lower classes. The third chapter examines the political implications of the Napoleonic Revival. However, unlike earlier studies, it does so through the lens of the ongoing conflict between cultural narratives passed down from a centralized authority and popular culture that challenges these narratives. In particular, it contrasts the July Monarchy regime’s marginalization of the “real” Napoleon with public enthusiasm for the image of his corpse. Finally, the dissertation considers Paul Delaroche’s Napoleonic series in the context of the shifting locus of artistic production during the period.

A series of investigations were undertaken to determine whether physical or emotional stress, catecholamines or naloxone (B-endorphon blocker) would increase serum total cholesterol and LDL and HDL levels. Physical stress given daily over a period of time caused a steady increase in serum total cholesterol and LDL without a significantly altering high density lipoproteins (HDL) or serum triglycerides. Daily injections of epinerphrine in oil caused an increase in both serum total cholesterol and LDL levels while daily injections of norepinephrine did not. Reversal of the treatments caused a reversed response in both groups of rats. Similar increases in both total cholesterol and LDL levels occurred in graduate students during preparation for their comprehensive written or oral thesis/dissertation defense. Injection of eigher dichloroisoproterenol (M.W. = 248) or naloxone (M.W. = 346) in rats prior to stress inhibited the increase in total cholesterol and LDL levels, although naloxone at the dosage given was more effective, possibly due to its larger molecular weight. When naloxone plus epinephrine was injected into non-stressed rats, there was a significant increase in total cholesterol and LDL levels, but the increase was not as great as that of groups injected with epinephrine only. Stressed, adrenalectomized rats exhibited higher cholesterol and LDL levels than the normal reported range for rats of their age and weight, but their levels did not differ from those of stressed, sham-operated rats indicating that the adrenals per se are not needed for stress-induced elevation of blood LDL levels.

This study investigated the relationship between the Bender-Gestalt, Draw-a-Man, and the Wexler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence. Twenty-two children enrolled in the Logan, Utah Head-Start Program comprised the sample. Product-moment correlations indicated a significant relationship between these instruments. The following tentative conclusions were drawn: The Wexler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence bears a relationship to the Draw-a-Man and Bender-Gestalt tests similar to that between the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children and these instruments. The Bender-Gestalt test, using the Koppitz scoring system, and the Draw-a-Man test can serve a similar checking function with the Wexler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence as they do with the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children. Methodological shortcomings prohibit over-generalization of these findings. The results, however, are seen as indicative of the promise of these instruments, and further investigation was advocated.