Thesis (D. Min.)--Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, 1991. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 236-242).

Thesis (Th. M.)--Dallas Theological Seminary, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves [52]-55).

Project (D. Min.)--Iliff School of Theology, 2006. / Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves [161-166]).

Over the past few decades, we have observed a transformation of the economy and a shift to more knowledge-based and fast paced work. Against the backdrop of complex organizational issues and multifaceted job demands, research has evolved to better integrate the social context into models of organizational stress and well-being. Stewardship has been proposed as an organizational approach that emphasizes a sense of purpose towards the common good through the sharing of power, resources and information across networks to work through complex issues. The main objective of this thesis is to develop and empirically test an analytical framework examining the role of stewardship in the relationship between organizational stress and well-being. A central premise of this research is that contextual factors of the work environment can play a key role in the mitigation of work stress. More specifically, stewardship is viewed as an organizational approach that helps executives to navigate their complex demands and be more resilient to organizational stress. The predictive power of this conceptual model was evaluated through the examination of senior executives from the public service of Canada. Using a mixed-methods approach this thesis is organized around three scientific articles. Using a large sample of public service executives (N = 2314), the first study developed and tested a questionnaire measure of organizational stewardship and used this measure to investigate the relationship between this construct and established measures of organizational stressors, work resources, perceived stress and well-being. Findings supported the validity of the instrument. In addition, results indicated that stewardship was negatively associated with work stressors and perceived stress and positively associated with traditional organizational resources and indicators of individual and organizational well-being. The second study furthered the conceptualization of organizational stewardship through a qualitative approach using interviews among senior executives (N = 15). Findings revealed that organizational stewardship was conceptualized with four key elements: i) service over self-interest, ii) sustainability of the public service beyond one’s career, iii) working with a collective orientation and iv) mission-focused management of resources. In addition, the barriers and facilitators of stewardship were centred on organizational processes and practices within the public service context. In the third study (N = 1996), a multi-level analysis of survey data demonstrated that organizational stewardship played a moderating role in the relationship between role ambiguity and distress among senior executives: departmental stewardship acted as a buffer against job stressors. Overall, the findings from this thesis support stewardship as an organizational resource in the relationship between organizational stress and well-being and emphasize the need to increase our current understanding of this concept as it relates to organizational health.

Background: Antimicrobial Stewardship Programs (ASPs) have been promoted to optimize antimicrobial usage and patient outcomes, and to reduce the emergence of antimicrobial-resistant organisms. However, the best strategies for an ASP are not definitively established and are likely to vary based on local culture, policy, and routine clinical practice, and probably limited resources in middle-income countries. The aim of this study is to evaluate structures and resources of antimicrobial stewardship teams (ASTs) in surgical departments from different regions of the world. Methods: A cross-sectional web-based survey was conducted in 2016 on 173 physicians who participated in the AGORA (Antimicrobials: A Global Alliance for Optimizing their Rational Use in Intra-Abdominal Infections) project and on 658 international experts in the fields of ASPs, infection control, and infections in surgery. Results: The response rate was 19.4%. One hundred fifty-six (98.7%) participants stated their hospital had a multidisciplinary AST. The median number of physicians working inside the team was five [interquartile range 4-6]. An infectious disease specialist, a microbiologist and an infection control specialist were, respectively, present in 80.1, 76.3, and 67.9% of the ASTs. A surgeon was a component in 59.0% of cases and was significantly more likely to be present in university hospitals (89.5%, p < 0.05) compared to community teaching (83.3%) and community hospitals (66.7%). Protocols for pre-operative prophylaxis and for antimicrobial treatment of surgical infections were respectively implemented in 96.2 and 82.3% of the hospitals. The majority of the surgical departments implemented both persuasive and restrictive interventions (72.8%). The most common types of interventions in surgical departments were dissemination of educational materials (62.5%), expert approval (61.0%), audit and feedback (55.1%), educational outreach (53.7%), and compulsory order forms (51.5%). Conclusion: The survey showed a heterogeneous organization of ASPs worldwide, demonstrating the necessity of a multidisciplinary and collaborative approach in the battle against antimicrobial resistance in surgical infections, and the importance of educational efforts towards this goal.

Living sustainability is a set of behaviors for the long-term functioning of society. Sustainability VALS provides the clothing and textiles industry distinctive insight into comprehending the phenomenon through the application of the appropriate theoretical platform. The objectives are to identify the dimensionality of sustainability value, sustainability practices and sustainability stewardship in consumers’ perceptive, and to examine the impacts of sustainability value and stewardship on sustainability practices. Analyzing data (n = 239) from a southwestern university reveals the critical dimensions of sustainability lifestyle practices, sustainability value and sustainability stewardship. 62 out of 64 hypotheses were confirmed the significant impacts of sustainability values and stewardship on sustainability lifestyle practices. The findings revealed that the altruistic, openness to change, anthropocentrism, and ecocentrism values are influential sustainability values affecting on sustainability lifestyle practices. Given the theoretical perspective of sustainability VALS, sustainability stewardships can facilitate the holistic idea to incur consumer’s sustainability lifestyle practices.

28 pp. / Arizona Watershed Stewardship Guide / Stream Processes for Watershed Stewards describes the basic concepts, processes and features of streams in Arizona and in general. The is designed as a tool for land owners, managers, and others to learn about the physical, chemical and biological attributes of streams as they evolve. These concepts can then be applied to better stream management.

ABSTRACT Current guidelines published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommend empiric antibiotics for all neonates born to mothers with a diagnosis of chorioamnionitis due to the risk of early onset sepsis (EOS). EOS is difficult to diagnose due to nonspecific symptoms and a lack of reliable tests, can progress quickly, and is potentially fatal or have neurodevelopmental consequences for survivors. Antibiotics are frequently prescribed in the hospital and are lifesaving in the setting of a serious infection. Conversely, overuse of antibiotics has potential negative effects to individuals and the population as a whole. Antibiotic resistant infections are a consequence of antibiotic misuse, are costly and difficult to treat, and pose a risk to patients hospitalized. To examine this problem at The University of Vermont Medical Center (UVMMC) a retrospective chart review was preformed. Data on the maternal risk factors associated with EOS were collected in addition to clinical characteristics of their neonates and entered into a neonatal early onset sepsis (NEOS) calculator to determine the specific risk of infection to each infant. Treatment of the infant was compared to the NEOS calculator and CDC recommendations. Using posterior probability to determine a more specific risk profile better targets antibiotic therapy to ensure all infants that need treatment receive it, while reducing the number of infants treated empirically. UVMMC currently treats 78% of infants according to CDC guidelines. Use of the NEOS calculator would reduce antibiotic treatment to 18% of term neonates born to mothers with a diagnosis of chorioamnionitis. Using a new tool to determine risk of EOS may safely reduce the number of infants receiving antibiotic treatment.

Thesis advisor: Brian D. Robinette / The proliferation in recent decades of “stewardship model” approaches for developing a theology of creation, which places human beings at the center of the cosmos as caretakers or managers of the divine oikos, is the result of an intentional effort to correct overtly problematic “dominion model” approaches that have contributed both to reifying a sense of human sovereignty and the resulting environmental degradation. However, the first part of this dissertation argues that the stewardship model of creation actually operates under many of the same problematic presuppositions as the dominion model, and therefore does not offer a correction but rather a tacit re-inscription of the very same pitfalls. After close consideration and analysis of the stewardship model, this dissertation identifies scriptural, theological, and philosophical sources to support the adoption of a “kinship” or “community of creation” model. Drawing on postcolonial theorists and theologians as key critical and constructive interlocutors, this project then proposes the concept of “planetarity” as a framework for conceiving of the relationship between human and other-than-human creation, as well as the relationship between the whole of creation and the Creator, in a new way. This theoretical framework invites a theological supplément, which, this dissertation argues, is found best in the writings of the medieval Franciscan tradition. Several distinctive characteristics of the Franciscan theological tradition offer key constructive contributions. Among these themes are the foundational sense of the interrelatedness, mutuality, and intended harmony of creation within the early spiritual texts and later Franciscan theological and philosophical writings; John Duns Scotus’s distinctive principle of individuation; the alternative appropriation of Peter John Olivi’s category of usus pauper for use in navigating the tension between creation’s intrinsic and instrumental value; and the application of a Franciscan understanding of the virtue of pietas as a proposal for environmental praxis. The result is what can be called a postcolonial Franciscan theology of creation imagined in terms of planetarity as reconceived in a theological key. It is a constructive and non-anthropocentric response to the need for a new conceptualization of the doctrine of creation. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2016. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Theology.

Critiques of the environmental ramifications of the early Genesis narrative by environmental thinkers such as Aldo Leopold, Ian McHarg, and Lynn White underscore a longstanding tension between the environmental movement and Western Christianity. The evangelical community (EC) especially, has been at odds with the environmental movement, as the EC grounds its theology regarding human relations to nature on the Genesis narrative—and especially the Genesis 1:26-28 dominion mandate— interpreted with a literal hermeneutic. The EC generally concludes in favor of either a dominionist interpretation, that mankind has dominion over nature, or a stewardship interpretation, that mankind’s dominion is more akin to tending or stewarding than to domination. Both interpretations trend toward the anthropocentrism that Leopold, McHarg, and White criticize. J. Baird Callicott postulates a third, less anthropocentric view: the citizenship interpretation, that humanity is co-citizen with nonhuman beings, rather than a superior. Callicott’s view, while commendable on key points, is incompatible with EC methodology because it is grounded only on Genesis 2 and subsequent passages, rejecting the legitimacy of Genesis 1:26-28 altogether. A fourth interpretation is proposed here, redacted dominionism, derived using EC methodology, and claiming that human relations to nature are based on theocentric themes. Redacted dominionism understands humanity as initially given dominion over nature by virtue of the imago Dei, but human disobedience to God, tarnished that image, and human qualification for dominion was lost. Post-fall, the dominion mandate is never repeated, and seems even to be replaced. In consideration of early Genesis and related passages, understood within EC methodology, redacted dominionism argues for theocentrism, thus grounding a biblical environmental ethic that escapes the indictments of Leopold, McHarg, and White. Such an ethic could be useful within the EC to motivate greater environmental consideration. It could likewise be beneficial to those within and without the EC, as a catalyst for dialogue between the environmental movement and the EC, and as a mechanism whereby the EC may be held accountable for attitudes and actions impacting nature.