Seventh-Day Adventist Clergy’s Perceptions of Dealing with Parishioners’ Mental and Emotional Health Challenges

The issue of how Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) clergy perceive and address parishioners’ mental health challenges is critical. Clergy perceptions are significant because they can greatly influence parishioners’ quality of life and choices regarding mental health care. However, there is limited literature on SDA clergy’s perspectives on these matters. Thus, the purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to explore the perceptions of SDA clergy regarding how to assist parishioners with emotional and mental health challenges. The theoretical framework was the mental health literacy theory, developed in the mid-1990s. Data were collected from semistructured interviews with 10 clergy of African American and Caribbean backgrounds (eight males and two females) from the Lake Region Conference of the SDA organization. Coding analysis involved manual coding to identify eight themes: inability to function, personal challenges, limited training, willingness to address mental and emotional health challenges, perception, willingness to refer to mental health professionals, and continuing education. Findings revealed that clergy’s perceptions were shaped by the psychological or spiritual model of mental health intervention, and their assistance was based on these two models, which reflect their perception. This study’s implications for positive social change include an increase in religious leaders’ awareness of mental health issues while highlighting their influence in encouraging parishioners to attend secular and Christian counseling. Other positive social change implications include encouraging stakeholders to continue investing in clergy continuing education on mental health since a perception of training inadequacy can have consequences on clergy’s personal lives and families

Laser ablation modelling of aluminium, silver and crystalline silicon for applications in photovoltaic technologies

Laser material processing is being extensively used in photovoltaic applications for both the fabrication of thin film modules and the enhancement of the crystalline silicon solar cells. The two temperature model for thermal diffusion was numerically solved in this paper. Laser pulses of 1064, 532 or 248 nm with duration of 35, 26 or 10 ns were considered as the thermal source leading to the material ablation. Considering high irradiance levels (108–109 W cm−2), a total absorption of the energy during the ablation process was assumed in the model. The materials analysed in the simulation were aluminium (Al) and silver (Ag), which are commonly used as metallic electrodes in photovoltaic devices. Moreover, thermal diffusion was also simulated for crystalline silicon (c-Si). A similar trend of temperature as a function of depth and time was found for both metals and c-Si regardless of the employed wavelength. For each material, the ablation depth dependence on laser pulse parameters was determined by means of an ablation criterion. Thus, after the laser pulse, the maximum depth for which the total energy stored in the material is equal to the vaporisation enthalpy was considered as the ablation depth. For all cases, the ablation depth increased with the laser pulse fluence and did not exhibit a clear correlation with the radiation wavelength. Finally, the experimental validation of the simulation results was carried out and the ability of the model with the initial hypothesis of total energy absorption to closely fit experimental results was confirmed

Identidade visual para o Museu da Imagem e do Som do Paraná

Orientador: Sergio KirdjiefTrabalho de gradução apresentado ao Curso de Comunicação Visual da Universidade Federal do ParanaInclui bibliografiaResumo: Este Projeto de Graduação em Comunicação Visual elabora e desenvolve uma identidade visual para o Museu da Imagem e do Som do Paraná - MIS/PR - buscando uma forma de organizar as mensagens visuais da instituição através desta identidade. Tem como objetivo facilitar a maior difusão dos bens culturais que a instituição oferece, contribuindo para seu reconhecimento público e fazendo-a receber mais atenção por parte das autoridades governamentais, responsáveis pela preservação de sua existência. Assim, o museu apresenta uma imagem distinta diante de seu público e traduz o seu perfil utilizando-se da logomarca proposta, que resgata a importância do homem nas atividades museológicas. Para estabelecer a identidade institucional, a logomarca é aplicada em papelaria (fichas de catalogação, papel carta e envelope), em equipamentos e em divulgação (cartaz e "folder"). A equipe, ao executar este trabalho, procura resgatar a função social do "designer" e apresentar uma identidade visual que transmita uma idéia de museu diferente, mais atrativa e dinâmica, obtida por meio de um tratamento visual espec1fico, que desperte o interesse da populaçãoAbstract: This Graduation Projetct in Visual Communication elaborates and develops a visual identity to the Sound and Image Museum of Paraná - MIS/PR - reachting one way to organize the visual messages of the institution through this identity. The main objective is to facilitate a better difusion of cultural property that the institution offers, contributing for its public recognition and overdrawing it to receive more attention from the governament autorities, responsables for the preservation of its existence. So, the museum shows an individual image for its public and shows its way through an graphic unit made by its proprosed mark, that rescue the human being importance in museologic ativities, in arder to establish an institutional identity the mark is aplied in papershops (catalog index-card, letter paper and envelope), in equipments (stamp) and in advertasing (poster and folder). The tiam, when executing this work, tried to rescue the social image of the designer and to present an visual identity that shows up an idea of a different museum, more attractive and dynamic, got through an specific visual treatment, that woke up the population interes

Identidade visual para o Museu da Imagem e do Som do Paraná

Orientador: Sergio KirdjiefTrabalho de gradução apresentado ao Curso de Comunicação Visual da Universidade Federal do ParanaInclui bibliografiaResumo: Este Projeto de Graduação em Comunicação Visual elabora e desenvolve uma identidade visual para o Museu da Imagem e do Som do Paraná - MIS/PR - buscando uma forma de organizar as mensagens visuais da instituição através desta identidade. Tem como objetivo facilitar a maior difusão dos bens culturais que a instituição oferece, contribuindo para seu reconhecimento público e fazendo-a receber mais atenção por parte das autoridades governamentais, responsáveis pela preservação de sua existência. Assim, o museu apresenta uma imagem distinta diante de seu público e traduz o seu perfil utilizando-se da logomarca proposta, que resgata a importância do homem nas atividades museológicas. Para estabelecer a identidade institucional, a logomarca é aplicada em papelaria (fichas de catalogação, papel carta e envelope), em equipamentos e em divulgação (cartaz e "folder"). A equipe, ao executar este trabalho, procura resgatar a função social do "designer" e apresentar uma identidade visual que transmita uma idéia de museu diferente, mais atrativa e dinâmica, obtida por meio de um tratamento visual espec1fico, que desperte o interesse da populaçãoAbstract: This Graduation Projetct in Visual Communication elaborates and develops a visual identity to the Sound and Image Museum of Paraná - MIS/PR - reachting one way to organize the visual messages of the institution through this identity. The main objective is to facilitate a better difusion of cultural property that the institution offers, contributing for its public recognition and overdrawing it to receive more attention from the governament autorities, responsables for the preservation of its existence. So, the museum shows an individual image for its public and shows its way through an graphic unit made by its proprosed mark, that rescue the human being importance in museologic ativities, in arder to establish an institutional identity the mark is aplied in papershops (catalog index-card, letter paper and envelope), in equipments (stamp) and in advertasing (poster and folder). The tiam, when executing this work, tried to rescue the social image of the designer and to present an visual identity that shows up an idea of a different museum, more attractive and dynamic, got through an specific visual treatment, that woke up the population interes

Componente de indexación de huellas dactilares basado en características globales

The fingerprint orientation field is a widely used feature for developing indexing strategies. Such feature brings stability and decreases the response times during the identification process. The use of attribute relational graphs and dynamic masks can exploit the features provided by the partitioning scheme. The penetration index and the error rate for each of the proposed strategies were determined. To verify the results obtained were used the databases provided by the Fingerprint Verification Competition. Both search schemes reveal the facilities offered by the orientation field for guiding the searching process; reducing the number of comparisons in 53.24%; proving its stability against different fingerprint image qualities. Based on the results, it was proven that the adoption of such indexing strategies will reduce the response time in the identification module proposed by the Identification and Digital Security Center at the University of Informatics Sciences.El campo de orientación de la huella dactilar como característica global es fundamental para el desarrollo de una estrategia de indexación, aportando estabilidad y disminuyendo los tiempos de respuesta durante el proceso de búsqueda de un sistema de identificación basado en huellas dactilares. El empleo de grafos relacionales de atributos y máscaras dinámicas permite explotar las características brindadas por el esquema de particionado para la búsqueda. De cada una de las estrategias propuestas se determinó el índice de penetración de la base de datos, así como el error en que incurren los algoritmos de indexación implementados. Para corroborar los resultados obtenidos fueron empleados los bancos de datos aportados por la Competencia de verificación de huellas dactilares. La implementación computacional de las estrategias de búsquedas propuestas demuestra las virtudes que ofrece el campo de orientación para dirigir el proceso de búsqueda, logrando reducir el número de comparaciones en un 53.24% como promedio, comportándose de manera estable ante imágenes de huellas dactilares de diferente calidad. Basado en los resultados del estudio se concluyó que la adopción de dichas estrategias de indexación permitirá reducir el tiempo de respuesta en el módulo de identificación de individuos basado en patrones de la huella dactilar propuesto por el Centro de Identificación y Seguridad Digital de la Universidad de las Ciencias Informáticas

Dependency, White Privilege, and Transnational Hegemonic Reconfiguration: Investigating Systems of Power and Identity Privilege in The Bahamas

White cultural hegemony has been used as a determinant of identity privilege in The Bahamas since the beginning of British colonialism. This ideal justifies and confers the dominance of whiteness while also including a moral responsibility to enforce the racial hierarchy as a part of a "global cognitive dysfunction" (Mills 18) that sees non-white actors as intrinsically lesser; an understanding Charles Mills argues is needed to uphold a racialized social contract. This “grammar of racial difference” inculcates the need for whiteness to act as savior through the subjugation and cultural integration of the “other” (Mahmud). However, beyond its role as a dysfunction, this conception of a moral obligation—or colloquially, a ‘white savior complex’—guides understandings of why colonial leaders forged hegemonic relationships with the U.S. despite the country’s apparent intent to achieve independence. These relationships were a strategic part of a colonial-savior complex and adherence to a global system that values 'whiteness.'  This paper suggests that despite independence, The Bahamas remains subjected to the dependency role under a system of white privilege, resulting from colonial agreements made with the United States, and multi-national agencies, and regulatory bodies that enforce a hegemonic reconstruction of influence. Ergo, the cultural hegemony of the United States as an industrialized giant merely filled the void that the British rule left behind

Conceptions of Race Beyond North America: The Subversion of the Colonial Racial Contract in The Bahamas

In his work Ethnic groups and boundaries, Frederick Barth argues that applying definitions to group of peoples has less to do with emphasizing a shared culture than with defining the sentiments of communality in opposition to the perceived identity of an ‘other’ (Barth). In applying Barth’s framework, modern Bahamian identity has developed—and is largely understood—in comparison to a Haitian ‘other.' Therefore, this essay will argue that, having gone through multiple iterations of the racial contract, policies of subjugation initially intended for black colonial subjects (e.g. uneven development and colonially encouraged distrust) have been subverted for use by The Bahamas’ post-independence government against those with Haitian ancestry. It will demonstrate that Bahamian sentiments towards Haitians are contextualized historically and based on a long-standing colonial tradition of discrimination and social control that pitted West Indian immigrants against them. While this subjugation is no longer enforced along phenotypical lines, elements of privilege connected to the racial contract are now adjudicated along different lines that may prove harder to distinguish, perhaps making the privileges attached to the dominant identity different from a North American context.</jats:p