The purpose of this study is to examine the way in which the earliest followers of Jesus experienced the rites of baptism and the Eucharist, which in turn could aid us to comprehend what kind of value baptism and the Eucharist might add to our lives today. My point of entry reflects that of current research which indicates that baptism and the Eucharist can be perceived as symbolic rites. Rites consist of rituals and ceremonies, and in this case baptism can be described as an initiation and status transformation ritual, while the Eucharist can be seen as a ceremony of integration and participation. As with other symbols, the earliest baptism and Eucharist carried meaning because they were performed for a reason and they added value to people’s lives. Extensive research has already been carried out on the origins of baptism and the Eucharist. However, it has not been investigated whether this ritual of initiation and ceremony of participation could be understood anew if one takes the contemporary knowledge of alternate states of consciousness into consideration. As a result of cross-cultural anthropological investigations we know that only ten percent of people all over the world today do not experience common alternate states of consciousness, while the rest of humanity do. The premodern mythical world of the biblical period displays continuity with this finding – people who lived in the first-century Mediterranean world experienced alternate states of consciousness as an ordinary part of life. Only in the Eurocentric world have we – the ten percent exception to the rule – attempted to interpret baptism and the Eucharist as cognitive dogmatic constructs. The hypothesis of this study aims to demonstrate that the initiation and participation ritually expressed by the two “sacraments” can be “better” explained against the background of alternate states of consciousness. However, a model is necessary to verify or falsify the legitimacy of this hypothesis. Research into alternate states of consciousness creates a theoretical problem because, even though these states can be experienced simultaneously by more than one person in a group, experiences of alternate states of consciousness represent individual mental and psychological states. Each experience is unique and in the first instance a personal experience. In other words, without empirical evidence of what an individual has really experienced during an alternate state of consciousness, some research findings may be jeopardized, because of the impossibility of ascertaining the religious meaning and value attributed to a specific alternate state of consciousness experience. Yet, we do have access to texts as well as archeological and paleontological findings which show that there is a correlation between alternate states of consciousness and certain rites. The study illustrates that these alternate states of consciousness were verbalized in “anti-language”, which is the model I employ. “Anti-language” constitutes the language that is used by an anti-society, which in turn can be described as a conscious alternative to another society. The earliest Jesus-followers formed such an anti-society, into which they were initiated by means of baptism and in which they participated by means of the Eucharist. Consequently, the purpose of the study is to indicate that the ritual initiation and ceremonial participation of the earliest Jesus-followers were the result of alternate states of consciousness as expressed in anti-language. The study aims at redirecting extant research concerning the origins of the “Christian” baptism and the Eucharist by means of a multidisciplinary methodological approach. One of the import and relevant issues addressed in this study can be found in the enhancement of social inclusivity as an ideal in the present day. / Thesis (DD (New Testament Studies))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / New Testament Studies / unrestricted

The relationship between nutrition and HIV is multifactorial. Nutrition counseling provided by a Registered Dietitian (RD) has the potential for improving disease risk outcomes for PLWH. To determine barriers to access nutritional counseling with an RD in PLWH, and evaluate the relationship of this counseling on dietary intake, nutritional status, cardiovascular disease (CVD), and HIV-disease outcomes. This is a cross-sectional study of a consecutive convenience sample of 130 PLWH on stable ART from the MASH cohort. After consenting, participants completed a survey on types and frequency of nutritional services received in the last 12 months, and on barriers to access these services. Participants were assigned to groups according to their responses. Demographics, anthropometries, dietary intake, medical history and laboratory information were obtained. The Alternative Healthy Eating Index (AHEI) scores were calculated after obtaining two 24-hour dietary recalls, and Nutribase and SPSS 20 were used for analyses. Mean age was 47.7 years, 62.0% were male and 77.0% were Black; 48% percent were seeing an RD, with 48.3% of those visiting an RD³4 times within the year. Frequently identified barriers to nutritional services were difficulty in keeping appointments (33.8%) location (24.6%) and lack of referrals (23.8%) by medical personnel. Lack of referral was associated with lower CD4 cell count (r=-0.2, P=0.029). Compared to those who did not visit an RD, participants who did had higher AHEI scores (34.7 vs. 29.2, P < 0.001), lower waist circumference (35.5 vs. 38.5 in., P=0.003), and BMI (26.0 vs. 28.8 kg/m2, P=0.019), with higher proportion of participants within the normal range of BMI (48% vs. 25%, P=0.017). The group consulting an RD had significantly lower risk factors for CVD, with better lipid profiles for all biomarkers, and lower waist circumference (35.5 vs. 38.5 inches, P = 0.003) and systolic blood pressure (114.8 vs. 127.9 mmHg, P < 0.001). Other CVD risk factors such as ART and substance abuse, common in this population, were not significantly different between the groups. Our findings suggest that consulting with an RD is associated with better nutritional status, dietary intake and lower risk factors for CVD.

Orientador: Carlos Alberto Mariotoni / Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Engenharia Civil, Arquitetura e Urbanismo / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-22T10:00:25Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Lucke_SergioAugusto_D.pdf: 6614948 bytes, checksum: f8ba740e5b15a21497a68bca07178980 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012 / Resumo: Nos últimos anos, a demanda total de energia continua a aumentar em escala mundial e a busca por fontes alternativas renováveis tem progressivamente deixado os aspectos teóricos para se transformar em atividade rotineira nos meios científicos e empresariais. O poder e a sobrevivência de nações são cada vez mais colocados em questionamento quando o fator energético passa a ter maior importância na geração de riquezas e no desenvolvimento. A geração de lixo acompanha o Homem ao longo de sua história. Em tempos mais recentes, o crescimento da população e a cultura de consumo e do descartável levaram a níveis críticos os problemas causados pelo enorme volume gerado. Foram estudados aspectos econômicos e sócio-ambientais da utilização de processamento completo tipo WPC do resíduo sólido urbano como fonte alternativa de energia renovável na geração de energia elétrica e da viabilidade de sua implantação pelos municípios nacionais, conforme a nova Política Nacional de Resíduos Sólidos / Abstract: Over the last years, the total demand of energy has increased on a global scale and the search for alternative renewable sources of energy has progressively switched from traditional theoretical aspects to a customary activity in scientific and entrepreneurial environments. Power and survival of nations are now more frequently questioned as the energy factor increases its importance at the generation of wealth and development. The production of waste follows mankind along its history. In more recent times population growth and the culture of consumption and discardable items have led the problems generated by such huge amounts to critical levels. Economic, social and environmental aspects of using WPC type plants for complete processing of municipal solid waste as alternative source of renewable energy at power generation were studied as well as the feasibility of their implantation by national municipalities, according to the new Solid Waste National Policy / Doutorado / Recursos Hidricos, Energeticos e Ambientais / Doutor em Engenharia Civil

ABSTRACT Theme of the thesis is the design method of anti-virus protection with the use of an alternative boot store. Processed is a related issue of viruses and the possibility of defenses against them. This thesis is focused on the design and selection of components solutions enabling the execution of antivirus test from the undistorted by the operating system. With selected components continues to realize an alternative booting the operating system from a Windows platform computer network with automatic virus checking of all local disks. The results of inspection are transmitted using signed files on a network server and typically give an overview of the results of the individual tests.

Orientador: José Ricardo de Arruda Miranda / Resumo: Nanopartículas magnéticas (NPMs) têm sido alvo de vários estudos por conta de sua versatilidade, que se destaca quando comparadas a outros materiais. NPMs apresentam tamanho reduzido, alta susceptibilidade magnética e devido a possibilidade de alteração química de revestimento, apresentam um alto poder teranóstico. Entretanto, antes de aplicá-los clinicamente é de extrema importância conhecer seus destinos e possibilidades de interação no organismo. A quantificação da biodistribuição de NPMs por meio de suas características intrínsecas ainda se mostra como um desafio. A Biosusceptometria de corrente alternada (BAC) é uma técnica biomagnética que atua detectando a quantidade de materiais magnéticos em ambientes biológicos. Essa técnica, em relação às demais presentes no mercado, apresenta baixo custo e portabilidade. Baseado na problemática em torno da detecção e quantificação de NPMs, nesse estudo foi analisada a biodistribuição e eliminação de NPMs de ferrita de manganês revestidas com citrato e albumina via sistema BAC. Para isso, foram utilizados 100 ratos Wistar, separados em 2 grupos experimentais (NPMs revestidas com albumina e citrato) e 10 subgrupos, variando o tempo de eutanásia dos animais (1, 4, 12, 24 e 48 horas e 5, 10, 15, 30 e 60 dias após a administração). Para análise da biodistribuição, foram coletados 5 órgãos de interesse: fígado, pulmão, baço, rins e coração, além do sangue e, para análise da eliminação, foram coletadas as fezes dos animais. Foi possível ... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: Magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) have been widely used in several studies due to their high versatility compared to other materials. MNPs presents small size, high magnetic susceptibility and, due to the possibility of biochemical alteration of its surface, enables a high level of theranostics applications. However, before applying them clinically, it is of paramount importance understand its destinations and possibilities of interaction in the organism. The biodistribution quantification of NPMs through their intrinsic characteristics still is a challenge. Alternating current biosusceptometry (ACB) is a biomagnetic technique that acts detecting a quantity of magnetic materials in biological samples. In comparison with the other techniques, ACB presents low cost and portability. Based on the lack of accessible techniques to study biodistribution and elimination process of MNPs, this work aimed to analyze the biodistribution and determine the elimination of manganese ferrite magnetic nanoparticles coated with citrate and albumin via BAC system. For this work, we used 100 Wistar rats, separated into 2 experimental groups (MNPs coated with albumin and citrate) and 10 subgroups, changing the euthanasia time point (1, 4, 12, 24 and 48 hours and 5, 10, 15, 30 and 60 days after administration). For biodistribution analysis, we collected the blood and 5 organs of interest: liver, lung, spleen, kidneys and heart, and, for elimination analysis, we collected the animal’s feces. It was poss... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Mestre

Dans ce travail, on s'intéresse à des outils mathématiques spéciaux appelés tenseurs qui sont formellement définis comme des tableaux multidimensionnels définis sur le produit tensoriel d'espaces vectoriels (chaque espace vectoriel étant muni de son système de coordonnées), le nombre d'espaces vectoriels impliqués dans ce produit étant l'ordre du tenseur. L'intérêt pour les tenseurs est motivé par certains travaux expérimentaux qui ont prouvé, dans divers contextes, que traiter des données multidimensionnelles avec des tenseurs plutôt que des matrices donne un meilleur résultat aussi bien pour des tâches de régression que de classification. Dans le cadre de la thèse, nous nous sommes focalisés sur une décomposition dite de Tucker et avons mis en place une méthode pour l'apprentissage de dictionnaires, une technique pour l'apprentissage en ligne de dictionnaires, une approche pour la décomposition d'un tenseur de grandes tailles et enfin une méthodologie pour la décomposition d'un tenseur qui croît par rapport à tous les modes. De nouveaux résultats théoriques concernant la convergence et la vitesse de convergence sont établis et l'efficacité des algorithmes proposés, reposant soit sur la minimisation alternée, soit sur la descente de gradients par coordonnées, est démontrée sur des problèmes réels / In this work, we are interested in special mathematical tools called tensors, that are multidimensional arrays defined on tensor product of some vector spaces, each of which has its own coordinate system and the number of spaces involved in this product is generally referred to as order. The interest for these tools stem from some empirical works (for a range of applications encompassing both classification and regression) that prove the superiority of tensor processing with respect to matrix decomposition techniques. In this thesis framework, we focused on specific tensor model named Tucker and established new approaches for miscellaneous tasks such as dictionary learning, online dictionary learning, large-scale processing as well as the decomposition of a tensor evolving with respect to each of its modes. New theoretical results are established and the efficiency of the different algorithms, which are based either on alternate minimization or coordinate gradient descent, is proven via real-world problems.

Title: The impact of technical exercise - alternating circling of the upper extremities - to technical part and performance of swimming style crawl, observed in Charles' University students of the Faculty of Physical Education and Sport Objectives: The aim of this thesis is to determine whether the exercise alternating circling of the upper extremities in standing applied during the swimming lessons has impact on improving technically swimming style crawl. Methods: The research involved 28 probands of the 1st degree of Faculty of Physical Education of Sport Charles University who have never taken part in swimming training. During the research was used only non-invasive methods. The measurement of height of body, upper extremity range and body composition on TANITA device. Testing was carried out in the laboratories of sports motorics at Faculty of Physical Education of Sport in Charles' University. Than testing in swimming pool was attended a swimming test at the distance of 25 and 50 m. Probands were testing in time and it was calculated number of strokes in a swimming test at the distance of 25 to 50 m. Results: Based on testing, we can say that intervention of the exercise alternating circling the upper extremities in probands of intervention group had a statistically significant reduction in...

Alternate Reality Games (ARG) have been one of the first and most prominent viral marketing tools. In a dynamic marketing world, where new practices appear every other day and seemingly ‘old’ practices lose their appeal very quickly, Blizzard Entertainment – a leading video game developer – gained much attention regarding its marketing strategy promoting the release of a new playable hero called ‘Sombra’ for their online game Overwatch, which is the third most-played game in the world with over 20 million unique users. For the campaign, the publisher used in-game hints as well as short clips with further hints (such as ASCII algorithms and hidden QR codes), which had to be decrypted by the users. This virtual scavenger hunt even included seemingly real websites of fictional companies with telephone numbers that could be called leading to further hints. In this paper we take a closer look at this particular campaign that has been praised internationally for its marketing both pre- and post-release. However, parts of the Overwatch community have complained on various online platforms about numerous aspects of the ARG experience. The paper serves two main purposes. Firstly, we explore the ARG participants’ experiences in terms of their customer satisfaction. Secondly, from a theoretical viewpoint, we investigate the applicability of the expectancy disconfirmation theory in this particular case. Thus, this paper may assist future ARG developers in creating engaging content by providing insights concerning the satisfaction of its participants. [... from the introduction]

Educational simulations can help mitigate the natural gap between traditional education styles and the current professional world. Researchers at BYU have developed an educational simulation solution called Playable Case Studies (PCSs). PCSs are simulations that expose the user to real world scenarios and problems within a pre-built environment. With rising demand and use of these educational simulations, there is a need for easy and inexpensive ways to develop these simulations or Playable Case Studies (PCSs). We propose a content management system (CMS) that is tied to a system that utilizes dynamic modules that make up these simulations. We present a basic design and identify core functionality of the system. We include our results from utilizing this system and what future developments can enable the goal of easy and inexpensive development of PCSs. In this study, we identify the design features needed for an easy to use, efficient content management system for educational playable case studies. We began by identifying both pain points in our old system and the features that would address these issues. We then designed and built a new system that included these features. In the testing of this new system, we primarily looked at the ease of building a new PCS with minimal technical knowledge. Although this project was a success overall, there are still points of failure due to the direct manipulation of JSON by content creators (who were not all developers), among other minor issues that need correcting. Overall, we found that our design was effective in providing an efficient platform for creating and maintaining PCSs.

Patients with Alzheimer's disease or other types of dementia often require long-term care in nursing facilities (NF) where they may display out-of-character behaviors complicating their care. While antipsychotic medications are sometimes prescribed for NF residents, their use is considered inappropriate for the control of dementia behaviors. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services have rated Texas the worst state in the country for the inappropriate use of antipsychotic medications for NF residents with dementia. This project was guided by the star model of knowledge transformation with the goal to reduce inappropriate use of antipsychotic medications through NF staff education. The purpose of this project was to develop an educational program for nurses, direct care staff, pharmacists, and prescribers regarding appropriate use of antipsychotic medications, reduction efforts, alternative non pharmacological interventions, and an associated toolkit of educational resources. The program development was accomplished in conjunction with a team of local experts who provided process evaluation regarding their satisfaction with the planning process through the completion of an anonymous, 10-question, Likert-type survey. All participants scored their results with a (5) strongly agree or (4) agree. A descriptive analysis of the survey data provided information that positively supported the development of the project. At the end of the project, the education program and resources were delivered to the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, with a plan for later implementation and outcome evaluation. This project has the potential to achieve positive social change through reducing the numbers of Texan NF residents with dementia who are inappropriately prescribed antipsychotic medications, which will result in an increase in their quality of life.