This thesis was written with two purposes: first, to consider the practice of foot-washing as a sacrament/al; and, second, to apply what was learned in order to appropriate the practice of foot-washing for contemporary worship services. Several methodologies advanced the work. A theological approach enabled a comparison of the definitions of “sacrament,” “sacramental,” and “sacramentality,” which led to a demonstration of foot-washing as a “sacramental” insofar as it has the capacity to reveal the divine and possibly to be a means of grace. Historical and socio-contextual approaches undergirded the examination of three Christian traditions that regarded foot-washing as a sacrament or sacramental: the Johannine community of John 13; Ambrose of Milan’s community and its post-baptismal practice; and the Mennonites. With the tools of liturgical analysis, examination was made of foot-washing as it appears in liturgical texts for several current Christian denominations in the United States and Korea. The themes inherent in these newer uses of foot-washing were compared with those of the three historical Christian traditions. The research disclosed that, in terms of contemporary usage, foot-washing is primarily located in rites for Maundy Thursday, while marginalized or absent in other worship contexts. This limitation called for the development of a “sacramental” foot-washing rite for ordinary worship services. The proposed foot-washing rite not only provides an opportunity to meditate on Jesus’ death and sacrificial love in connection with the Triduum, but also accentuates themes such as Jesus’ humility, God’s reconciliation with humanity, forgiveness of sin, and the consolidation of the church community.

No description available.

No description available.

Graduation date: 1999

A laboratory was built at Prairie Swine Centre Inc. (PSCI) to study air quality in swine barns and its effect on pigs and people. The first focus of that research program was to design and test a manure handling system to control the air contamination from the excreta. The goal was to get close to zero air contamination from manure with these systems, in order to measure the contamination from other sources, and to also have a range of contamination levels for future health and productivity testing. Two manure handling systems were designed and tested: a washing gutter system with pressurized heated wash water periodically directed across the dunging area, and a washed inclined conveyor belt used directly as a dunging area. Ammonia emissions were used as a measure of the air contamination originating from the excreta in two experimental chambers. Ammonia originates only from the manure and is released quickly from any manure (especially urine) in contact with the air. Both systems were tested with 30 kg pigs at running time intervals of 30, 60 and 120 minutes. Trials lasted one week, with three trials completed at each frequency. The average ammonia emissions from the washing gutter and the conveyor belt systems were 48.7 mg day-1 kgpig-1 and 57.0 mg day-1 kgpig-1, respectively. Even though these emissions were 38% and 47% lower than previous observations from grower-finisher rooms with a pit plug design in the same swine building, both systems failed to give the desired close-to-zero contamination. This means another system will have to be found to totally eliminate air contamination from manure in the chambers when testing for the origin of the individual contaminants. There were no differences at a statistically significant level (P>0.05) between the ammonia emissions from the two manure handling systems or the three frequencies tested. However, the washing gutter system was simpler and easier to run, and is recommended for future studies dealing with the effects of different ranges of air quality on pigs and people.

A laboratory was built at Prairie Swine Centre Inc. (PSCI) to study air quality in swine barns and its effect on pigs and people. The first focus of that research program was to design and test a manure handling system to control the air contamination from the excreta. The goal was to get close to zero air contamination from manure with these systems, in order to measure the contamination from other sources, and to also have a range of contamination levels for future health and productivity testing. Two manure handling systems were designed and tested: a washing gutter system with pressurized heated wash water periodically directed across the dunging area, and a washed inclined conveyor belt used directly as a dunging area. Ammonia emissions were used as a measure of the air contamination originating from the excreta in two experimental chambers. Ammonia originates only from the manure and is released quickly from any manure (especially urine) in contact with the air. Both systems were tested with 30 kg pigs at running time intervals of 30, 60 and 120 minutes. Trials lasted one week, with three trials completed at each frequency. The average ammonia emissions from the washing gutter and the conveyor belt systems were 48.7 mg day-1 kgpig-1 and 57.0 mg day-1 kgpig-1, respectively. Even though these emissions were 38% and 47% lower than previous observations from grower-finisher rooms with a pit plug design in the same swine building, both systems failed to give the desired close-to-zero contamination. This means another system will have to be found to totally eliminate air contamination from manure in the chambers when testing for the origin of the individual contaminants. There were no differences at a statistically significant level (P>0.05) between the ammonia emissions from the two manure handling systems or the three frequencies tested. However, the washing gutter system was simpler and easier to run, and is recommended for future studies dealing with the effects of different ranges of air quality on pigs and people.

Thesis (M.S.)--West Virginia University, 2009. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains viii, 72 p. : ill. (some col.). Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 46-48).

BACKGROUND Influenza is a potential threat to life, economies and security in our globalized world. However, it is still unclear how efficacious non-pharmaceutical interventions are in reducing the virus’ transmission and how the underlying mechanisms of its transmission modes work. Since 2008, numbers of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) regarding the efficacy of hand hygiene interventions in reducing influenza transmission have been published, yet no metaanalysis has ever been performed. Besides, a guinea pig model in 2009 showed that the efficiency of aerosol transmission is adjusted by the ambient temperature and humidity. Therefore, further evidence is needed to confirm the hypothesis. OBJECTIVES To evaluate the efficacy of hand hygiene interventions alone or combined with facemasks in reducing influenza transmission in the community and to investigate the possible roles of latitude, temperature and humidity in relation to the efficacy of the interventions in controlling the spread of influenza. SEARCH METHODS This meta-analysis followed the PRISMA statement. I searched the MEDLINE, PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials and Cochrane Library databases. SELECTION CRITERIA I included all RCTs assessing the effect of hand hygiene interventions in preventing influenza spread in community settings with clear outcome definitions of laboratory confirmed influenza, clinically diagnosed influenza-like illness (ILI) and their related absenteeism. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS I ranked the methodological quality of each outcome with GRADEprofiler. I also assessed the heterogeneity across RCTs using I2 statistic and publication bias through visual inspection of Begg’s funnel plots and statistical assessment of regression and rank-correlation. I conducted the meta-analysis with random-effect models and further performed separate analyses for developed and developing countries data in case of a significant level of heterogeneity being noted across the studies. I also incorporated meta-regression to assess the association of latitude, temperature and humidity with the efficacy of hand hygiene interventions. RESULTS I identified 1,593 articles in the initial database search, excluded 1,535, included five from reference lists of review articles, retrieved full articles of 33 and included ten for analysis. The quality of evidence of both laboratory confirmed influenza and ILI were high while that of absenteeism was low. The combination of hand hygiene interventions and facemasks contributed to a significant 45% reduced risk of influenza-related absenteeism in the combined country data while it contributed a significant 23% to a reduced risk of both laboratory confirmed influenza and ILI in developed countries subgroup analysis. The metaregression revealed that the efficacy of the combination of hand hygiene interventions with facemasks increased in a less humid environment. CONCLUSIONS The combination of hand hygiene interventions with facemasks is an effective low-cost intervention to prevent influenza. Further studies to assess the association between humidity and mode of influenza transmission are critically important to support the international guideline on hand hygiene interventions and facemask use. / published_or_final_version / Public Health / Master / Master of Public Health

No description available.

Thesis (M.S.)--Oregon State University, 2005. / Printout. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 74-82). Also available online.