Thesis advisor: Brian D. Robinette / This dissertation seeks to develop the theological method operative within James Alison's growing theological corpus, which he describes concisely as a "theology in the order of the discovery." I will argue that the value and contribution of his method lies in the careful and consistent attention that he pays to the ongoing, reciprocal relationship that exists between persons' experiences of receiving faith (that is, experiences of conversion) and persons' attempts to understand the content of that faith through a process of self-reflexive appropriation of it (that is, through engagement in the activity of theological reflection). In the introductory chapter, after defining the key terms of the project, I situate my investigation into Alison's method within the context of several twentieth and twenty-first century Christian theological movements: experiential/transcendental theology, dialectical theology, narrative or postliberal theology, and a theology of proclamation. These comparisons allow for an initial articulation of the characteristics of what I will present increasingly more explicitly throughout the dissertation as Alison's "inductive" theology. Part I of the dissertation, consisting of chapter two, presents the mimetic anthropology of René Girard as the primary intellectual influence on Alison's conception of theology. It considers Girard's gradual development of the terminology that he has employed to express his deepening understanding of the operation of mimetic desire, rivalry, and conversion in order to show that Girard's attempt to develop "a Gospel anthropology" requires a systematic theological perspective to give it greater coherence. With this context in place, Part II proceeds with my study of Alison's theological method. Chapter three develops Alison's implicit understanding of one movement in the reciprocal relationship between the experience of conversion and the activity of theological reflection, namely, the movement from conversion to theological reflection, and it presents theology as a fruit of conversion. The primary aim of the chapter is to show that Alison's view of the New Testament accounts of the resurrection appearances leads him to begin to understand the reciprocal relationship between conversion and theology that has guided his theological performance throughout his career. Chapter four develops Alison's implicit view of the reciprocal movement from theological expression to the potential conversion experiences of others, that is, it presents theology as an occasion for conversion. It draws out Alison's implicit understanding of theology as an act of witness which can provide an occasion for the Spirit of Christ to make the crucified and risen Christ present both to the one giving witness and to those that receive that witness. I conclude in chapter five by demonstrating Alison's inductive theological approach as it is operative in several excerpts from his writings. I then begin to demonstrate the fruitfulness of Alison's inductive method by exploring how this method might contribute to three theological and ministerial questions in need of renewed consideration. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2015. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Theology.

Effects of biomimetic micro-patterning of polymeric materials on their interfacial properties were studied experimentally. Micropillars of PDMS and SU-8 epoxy were fabricated through soft lithography and UV lithography techniques, respectively. PDMS pillars were topped by thin terminal films of the same material through dipping method with different thicknesses and viscosities. Adhesion and frictional properties of biomimetic microstructures were examined in two modes of contact, i.e. laid and conformal contact. In the first mode of contact, i.e. laid contact, the contact between adhesive and adherent is laid on top of the micro-protrusions or is in contact with side wall of micropillars. Adhesion properties of the smooth and patterned PDMS were characterized through micro-indentation test. Moreover, the friction properties of the smooth PDMS sample and PDMS micropillars with different aspect ratios were examined in unidirectional friction testing. JKR theory of continuum contact mechanics was utilized to interpret the obtained data. To study the effect of second mode of contact, peeling behaviour of a conformal contact between solidified liquid PDMS and SU-8 micropillars was monitored. Kendall’s model of elastic peeling was used to interpret the peeling data. It was found that patterning of the materials would decrease the real area of contact and accordingly adhesion and friction to the mating surface. Termination of the micropillars with a thin layer of the same material result in increment of adhesion as reduction of the real contact area could be compensated and the compliance of the near surface increases. Elastic energy dissipation as a result of enhanced compliance and crack trapping and crack propagation instabilities are the main reasons behind increment of adhesion of thin film terminated structures. Viscoelasticity of the terminal thin film remarkably increased the adhesion as a result of coupling mentioned mechanisms and viscoelastic loss on the surface. Decline of the overall friction could be tailored through use of different aspect ratios. Higher aspect ratios pillars show higher friction comparing to lower aspect ratio pillars. 550 folds enhancement of adhesion was observed for peeling of the PDMS tape from rigid micropillars with aspect ratio ranging from 0 to 6. It is concluded that for the lower aspect ratio micropillars, the elastic energy dissipation is playing the key role in adhesion enhancement. This role shifts toward side-wall friction during separation by increase in aspect ratio. These all give in hand a versatile tool to control and fine tune the interfacial properties of materials, whether they are concerned with adhesion or friction.

Effects of biomimetic micro-patterning of polymeric materials on their interfacial properties were studied experimentally. Micropillars of PDMS and SU-8 epoxy were fabricated through soft lithography and UV lithography techniques, respectively. PDMS pillars were topped by thin terminal films of the same material through dipping method with different thicknesses and viscosities. Adhesion and frictional properties of biomimetic microstructures were examined in two modes of contact, i.e. laid and conformal contact. In the first mode of contact, i.e. laid contact, the contact between adhesive and adherent is laid on top of the micro-protrusions or is in contact with side wall of micropillars. Adhesion properties of the smooth and patterned PDMS were characterized through micro-indentation test. Moreover, the friction properties of the smooth PDMS sample and PDMS micropillars with different aspect ratios were examined in unidirectional friction testing. JKR theory of continuum contact mechanics was utilized to interpret the obtained data. To study the effect of second mode of contact, peeling behaviour of a conformal contact between solidified liquid PDMS and SU-8 micropillars was monitored. Kendall’s model of elastic peeling was used to interpret the peeling data. It was found that patterning of the materials would decrease the real area of contact and accordingly adhesion and friction to the mating surface. Termination of the micropillars with a thin layer of the same material result in increment of adhesion as reduction of the real contact area could be compensated and the compliance of the near surface increases. Elastic energy dissipation as a result of enhanced compliance and crack trapping and crack propagation instabilities are the main reasons behind increment of adhesion of thin film terminated structures. Viscoelasticity of the terminal thin film remarkably increased the adhesion as a result of coupling mentioned mechanisms and viscoelastic loss on the surface. Decline of the overall friction could be tailored through use of different aspect ratios. Higher aspect ratios pillars show higher friction comparing to lower aspect ratio pillars. 550 folds enhancement of adhesion was observed for peeling of the PDMS tape from rigid micropillars with aspect ratio ranging from 0 to 6. It is concluded that for the lower aspect ratio micropillars, the elastic energy dissipation is playing the key role in adhesion enhancement. This role shifts toward side-wall friction during separation by increase in aspect ratio. These all give in hand a versatile tool to control and fine tune the interfacial properties of materials, whether they are concerned with adhesion or friction.

This dissertation explores how Christian faith affected the hope and resistance of an oppressed people in their response to violence orchestrated against them. It undertakes this task through stories collected from the people of East Timor, a half-island nation located in South-East Asia that was brutally ruled by Indonesia from 1975 to 1999. The nature of Christian faith is a vexed question for the modern world particularly when this faith has grown in countries like East Timor where suffering, violence and oppression were inflicted on the people. This lack of understanding of the nature and development of Christian faith is evident in academic studies of East Timor. Moreover, the difficult nature of this question is compounded by the fact that the violence and oppression, such as that inflicted on the East Timorese, is often orchestrated by the nation-state, which itself is a creation of the modern West. Faith in these circumstances of violence is often explained away as a circumstantial reaction after which the people will return to the path of reason. Yet, this attitude is problematic in the way it juxtaposes reason and faith. It ultimately exposes an unsound anthropological understanding of the human person as well as a view of reason that is narrow and insufficient as it sees reason as unable to cope with the circumstances of violence. This dissertation argues for an understanding of faith and violence through an analysis of the experiences of the East Timorese. This analysis is undertaken from an anthropological and theological understanding of the human person, primarily based on the insights of René Girard which provide clarity in understanding the relationship between human being, reason and faith. This dissertation argues that Christian faith helped the East Timorese people confront the existential and anthropological challenges posed by violence, and so, enabled them to overcome the illusions and false transcendence of violence, which Girard (1977, 31) says “…is the heart and secret soul of the sacred”. The dissertation shows that Christian faith helped form purpose, hope and non-violent resistance to state-sanctioned violence in East Timor through the anthropological, existential and imaginative resources fostered in relationship with Christ. The dissertation proposes an explanation of the experiences of the East Timorese recounted in this dissertation that posits that relationship with and faith in Christ, as the self-giving and victimised “Other”, had a discernible and plausible effect on the East Timorese particularly in the circumstances of violence. This faith commitment seemed to change and free persons and cultural structures in East Timor from the violent transcendence imposed by the dictatorial state that presents itself as “sacred”. This freedom emerged as the oppressed and victimised East Timorese, through their experience of the violent depths of human relations, were directed toward the pacific transcendence located around the victim, Christ, the substance of which is Christ’s self-giving love originating from and shared with the Father through the Spirit. East Timorese people were directed and responded to Christ in faith as they encountered the self-giving mimesis of the Trinity sacramentally and through the martyrs. This faith formed a new ontological way, or direction, which fostered resistance to the sacred violence of the state and their supporters. Through the enactment of their faith in this new and pacific way of being in self-giving mimesis, the Christian community in East Timor sought to resist and transform the state into a more benign and responsive entity by exposing and removing its ability to arbitrarily and indiscriminately victimise and oppress. This ecclesiological stance sought to expose the truth in the midst of the lies of sacred violence through a pacific way of being that was learnt from communion with the risen Christ as self-giving victim.

This dissertation explores how Christian faith affected the hope and resistance of an oppressed people in their response to violence orchestrated against them. It undertakes this task through stories collected from the people of East Timor, a half-island nation located in South-East Asia that was brutally ruled by Indonesia from 1975 to 1999. The nature of Christian faith is a vexed question for the modern world particularly when this faith has grown in countries like East Timor where suffering, violence and oppression were inflicted on the people. This lack of understanding of the nature and development of Christian faith is evident in academic studies of East Timor. Moreover, the difficult nature of this question is compounded by the fact that the violence and oppression, such as that inflicted on the East Timorese, is often orchestrated by the nation-state, which itself is a creation of the modern West. Faith in these circumstances of violence is often explained away as a circumstantial reaction after which the people will return to the path of reason. Yet, this attitude is problematic in the way it juxtaposes reason and faith. It ultimately exposes an unsound anthropological understanding of the human person as well as a view of reason that is narrow and insufficient as it sees reason as unable to cope with the circumstances of violence. This dissertation argues for an understanding of faith and violence through an analysis of the experiences of the East Timorese. This analysis is undertaken from an anthropological and theological understanding of the human person, primarily based on the insights of René Girard which provide clarity in understanding the relationship between human being, reason and faith. This dissertation argues that Christian faith helped the East Timorese people confront the existential and anthropological challenges posed by violence, and so, enabled them to overcome the illusions and false transcendence of violence, which Girard (1977, 31) says “…is the heart and secret soul of the sacred”. The dissertation shows that Christian faith helped form purpose, hope and non-violent resistance to state-sanctioned violence in East Timor through the anthropological, existential and imaginative resources fostered in relationship with Christ. The dissertation proposes an explanation of the experiences of the East Timorese recounted in this dissertation that posits that relationship with and faith in Christ, as the self-giving and victimised “Other”, had a discernible and plausible effect on the East Timorese particularly in the circumstances of violence. This faith commitment seemed to change and free persons and cultural structures in East Timor from the violent transcendence imposed by the dictatorial state that presents itself as “sacred”. This freedom emerged as the oppressed and victimised East Timorese, through their experience of the violent depths of human relations, were directed toward the pacific transcendence located around the victim, Christ, the substance of which is Christ’s self-giving love originating from and shared with the Father through the Spirit. East Timorese people were directed and responded to Christ in faith as they encountered the self-giving mimesis of the Trinity sacramentally and through the martyrs. This faith formed a new ontological way, or direction, which fostered resistance to the sacred violence of the state and their supporters. Through the enactment of their faith in this new and pacific way of being in self-giving mimesis, the Christian community in East Timor sought to resist and transform the state into a more benign and responsive entity by exposing and removing its ability to arbitrarily and indiscriminately victimise and oppress. This ecclesiological stance sought to expose the truth in the midst of the lies of sacred violence through a pacific way of being that was learnt from communion with the risen Christ as self-giving victim.

This dissertation explores how Christian faith affected the hope and resistance of an oppressed people in their response to violence orchestrated against them. It undertakes this task through stories collected from the people of East Timor, a half-island nation located in South-East Asia that was brutally ruled by Indonesia from 1975 to 1999. The nature of Christian faith is a vexed question for the modern world particularly when this faith has grown in countries like East Timor where suffering, violence and oppression were inflicted on the people. This lack of understanding of the nature and development of Christian faith is evident in academic studies of East Timor. Moreover, the difficult nature of this question is compounded by the fact that the violence and oppression, such as that inflicted on the East Timorese, is often orchestrated by the nation-state, which itself is a creation of the modern West. Faith in these circumstances of violence is often explained away as a circumstantial reaction after which the people will return to the path of reason. Yet, this attitude is problematic in the way it juxtaposes reason and faith. It ultimately exposes an unsound anthropological understanding of the human person as well as a view of reason that is narrow and insufficient as it sees reason as unable to cope with the circumstances of violence. This dissertation argues for an understanding of faith and violence through an analysis of the experiences of the East Timorese. This analysis is undertaken from an anthropological and theological understanding of the human person, primarily based on the insights of René Girard which provide clarity in understanding the relationship between human being, reason and faith. This dissertation argues that Christian faith helped the East Timorese people confront the existential and anthropological challenges posed by violence, and so, enabled them to overcome the illusions and false transcendence of violence, which Girard (1977, 31) says “…is the heart and secret soul of the sacred”. The dissertation shows that Christian faith helped form purpose, hope and non-violent resistance to state-sanctioned violence in East Timor through the anthropological, existential and imaginative resources fostered in relationship with Christ. The dissertation proposes an explanation of the experiences of the East Timorese recounted in this dissertation that posits that relationship with and faith in Christ, as the self-giving and victimised “Other”, had a discernible and plausible effect on the East Timorese particularly in the circumstances of violence. This faith commitment seemed to change and free persons and cultural structures in East Timor from the violent transcendence imposed by the dictatorial state that presents itself as “sacred”. This freedom emerged as the oppressed and victimised East Timorese, through their experience of the violent depths of human relations, were directed toward the pacific transcendence located around the victim, Christ, the substance of which is Christ’s self-giving love originating from and shared with the Father through the Spirit. East Timorese people were directed and responded to Christ in faith as they encountered the self-giving mimesis of the Trinity sacramentally and through the martyrs. This faith formed a new ontological way, or direction, which fostered resistance to the sacred violence of the state and their supporters. Through the enactment of their faith in this new and pacific way of being in self-giving mimesis, the Christian community in East Timor sought to resist and transform the state into a more benign and responsive entity by exposing and removing its ability to arbitrarily and indiscriminately victimise and oppress. This ecclesiological stance sought to expose the truth in the midst of the lies of sacred violence through a pacific way of being that was learnt from communion with the risen Christ as self-giving victim.

Of all of the cancer patients throughout the world, approximately 50% of them are affected to some degree by cachexia. This syndrome involves significant skeletal muscle wasting, loss of adipose tissue and overall decrease in body weight in patients, particularly those with lung, pancreatic and gastric cancers. Cancer-induced cachexia is characterized by the presence of increased cytokines, notably TNF-α, IL-1β and IL-6. Most patients suffering of cancer-induced cachexia experience increased toxicity in response to chemotherapy, leading to fewer rounds of treatment and thus impeding the patients’ chances for recovery. More research into effective treatments for cancer-induced cachexia would therefore be indispensable. The inhibitor of apoptosis proteins (IAPs) have emerged as important cancer targets, primarily because of their roles as caspase inhibitors and regulators of NF-κB signalling. Small molecule IAP antagonists known as Smac mimetic compounds (SMCs) are currently in stage I/II clinical trials. They function by targeting cIAP1 and cIAP2 (and to a lesser extent, XIAP) resulting in a cytokine mediated death response in cancer cells. SMCs induce the production of TNF-α, a cytokine with which SMCs can potently synergize. However, limited efficacy occurs in some cancer cell lines (presumably because TNF-α cannot be induced in an autocrine fashion) and an exogenous source of the cytokine, such as that induced by using an oncolytic virus, is required. Notably, TNF-α (initially known as “cachectin”) is known to play a significant role in the induction of skeletal muscle atrophy. We therefore wanted to examine the effects of TNF-α induction by SMC and oncolytic virus co-treatment on both tumour regression and skeletal muscle in tumour bearing mice. We investigated the effects of SMC treatment on Lewis Lung Carcinoma (LLC) and B16F10 melanoma cell lines, both of which have been shown to be established cachectic cancer cell lines. Our in-vitro analysis of LLC and B16F10 cells revealed that LLC cells are sensitive to SMC and TNF-α co-treatment whereas B16F10 cancer cells remain resistant. SMC treatment, in combination with an oncolytic virus, VSVΔ51, increased tumour regression and survival time in LLC tumour bearing mice. Based on findings from previous studies, we investigated the role of cellular FLICE-like inhibitory protein (c-FLIP) in the resistance of the B16F10 melanoma cell line to SMC treatment. We were able to determine that the down-regulation of c-FLIP sensitizes the B16F10 cells to SMC and TNF-α induced cell death. In extending these findings, we found that SMC treatment alone can cause skeletal muscle wasting in the tibialis anterior muscle of LLC tumour bearing mice. However, the atrophic response was observed to be minimal as documented by a slight but significant decrease (approximately 10%) in muscle fibre cross-sectional area. Moreover, no biochemical evidence of muscle atrophy, as visualized by changes in the expression of myosin heavy chain (MHC) and Muscle RING Finger protein 1 (MuRF1), was found. Regardless, we speculate that the impact of SMC treatment on muscle wasting would be transient and reversible, and propose that the benefits of such a combination immunotherapy would greatly outweigh the risks.

Guatemala City is a city of contrasts, a city that meshes beauty and affliction. The beauty is reflected in the landscape and its people; affliction, however, is woven throughout Guatemalan history and expressed through the collective woundedness of Guatemalan society. After more than five hundred years of colonialism and coloniality, and twenty-four years after the signing of the peace accords between the army and the revolutionary movement in 1996, Guatemalans still carry their collective woundedness into all areas of personal and public life. For that reason, this dissertation responds to the question, what will a practical theology of peacebuilding look like in Guatemala City in response to the collective woundedness of Guatemalan society? In order to respond to the question presented above, I use the paradigms of practical theology, liberation theology, and mimetic theory in dialogue with each other to provide a relevant, contextual, and liberative response. In the search for an answer, I interviewed fourteen grassroots leaders from the CMT Guatemala network, and I explored their faith practices in relation to the Guatemalan collective woundedness. The process follows three steps. Firstly, I provide a description of the Guatemalan context, and the theory-laden practices of the interviewed grassroots leaders. Secondly, I framed the dissertation within contextual theology in order to develop a practical theology of liberation that is contextually relevant and cross-contextually applicable. Finally, the theory-laden practices that the interviews and focus groups called forth helped me propose a practical theology of liberation that responds to the Guatemalan collective woundedness through the ethics of what I call Human Catechism. Human Catechism is a term conceived in community, though proposed for the first time in this dissertation. Human Catechism begins with the ethics of love. It is the process of developing faith practices that help us reimagine each other’s humanity in the midst of global sacrificial theology. In this dissertation, I propose that Human Catechism is a practical theology of peacebuilding and liberation that seeks to heal the collective woundedness of not only the Guatemalan context, but also other environments around the world. This dissertation contributes in three ways to the field of practical theology. Firstly, it applies René Girard’s mimetic theory to field of practical theology. Secondly, it provides a tool that could be used for contextual analysis. I developed interdependent categories for contextual analysis that can easily be translated to other developing countries of the global south. Finally, it contributes at the local level empowering grassroots leaders to begin conversations that will allow them to decolonise their faith practices, and hermeneutics. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2020. / Practical Theology / PhD / Unrestricted

The area around a plant’s roots hosts a complex and diverse microbial community. This environment can include a large number of bacteria that live on the surface of the root and benefit from the nutrients that the roots exude into the soil. These microbes can in turn be beneficial to the plant by protecting the roots from harmful fungi or stressful environmental conditions such as drought. In this thesis, several root-mimetic systems (RMSs) were developed for the study and growth of plant-beneficial bacteria in the laboratory environment. The RMS uses a porous hollow fiber used in hemodialysis as a surface for microbial growth. This fiber can either be draped into liquid nutrients or nutrients can be pumped through the hollow fiber with seepage through pores in the fiber to the outside. These systems are simple but well-controlled models of how a root would feed a bacterial community. The RMSs can be used to study how bacteria receiving nutrients through the RMS react to external factors, and if the bacterial response varies with nutrients received through the fiber. One such application is to study how plant colonizing microbes react to stressors like nanoparticle technology, a growing part of the fertilizer industry. Several different commercial hollow fiber membranes were explored as possible surfaces for microbe attachment. A synthetic polysulfone / polyvinylpyrrolidone hollow fiber membrane, treated with bleach to change the surface properties, was found to be a favorable surface for attachment of the beneficial root-colonizing microbe Pseudomonas chlororaphis O6 (PcO6). In addition to hollow fiber membrane chemistry, the nutrient composition delivered to the bacteria strongly influenced surface colonization and biofilm formation. Thus, using the hollow fiber root model, bacteria can be studied with respect to their responses to changes in nutrient composition as well as their response to stressors such as nanoparticles. Contrasted with studying bacteria on a living root, the model systems developed in this thesis allow microbes to be investigated without the added complexity of unknown variations in the nutrients that the roots pump into the soil.

There is an under-developed scale of research conducted on sustainable production and consumption of environmentally friendly packaging Tanzania. Using the main concepts from institutional theory along with the diffusion of innovation model, this paper will examine the environmentally friendly packaging innovations in the Tanzanian food and beverage industry. The purpose of this research is to understand the factors that enable adoption. It suggests that mimetic, coercive and normative pressures exist within manufacturing firms that can regulate and coordinate solutions. A level of understanding of perceived fidelity and perceived effort required were established to develop conditions where firms can create strategies for the adoption environmentally sustainable packaging. The research setting is in the manufacturing industry. The data gathered for this study was collected by distributing a survey to respondents using convenience and snow-balling technique. Manufacturing businesses and packaging suppliers of the food and beverage industry participated. The respondents were requested to forward the survey by passing on the google form link to business owners, company CEOs, CFOs, COOs. 29 firm responses from the target population were measured to establish the pressures that they face and their intention to adopt. After applying regression analysis to the data, coercive pressure and intention to adopt with perceived fidelity as a moderator suggested a significant relationship. Similarly, perceived effort required positively moderated the relationship between mimetic pressure and intention to adopt. However, the results showed that no significant relationship from each of the three isomorphic constructs namely normative, mimetic and coercive and intention to adopt. This was contradictory to previous researchers of isomorphic pressures and should be subjected to future research. / Mini Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2021. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / MBA / Unrestricted