Cycles and Change in Beowulf

This essay argues that a fuller understanding of some cultural systems contributing to medieval spirituality in the early middle ages, transmitted to us for the most part through patristic writings, opens up different possibilities for late 20th-century readers\u27 interpretation of the cycles and change in Beowulf, especially the poem\u27s ending. Competing with the apocalyptic view is the possibility that dramatic reversals continue--for better and for worse--beyond Beowulf\u27s death, beyond the end of the poem, beyond the poet\u27s death, the audience\u27s death, and the reader\u27s death--until the end of time--in ways that seem meaningless unless readers provide their own understanding of the patterns

Hrotsvit\u27s Apostolic Mission: Prefaces, Dedications, and Other Addresses to Readers

The most complete manuscript of Hrotsvit\u27s writings, Bavarian State Library Clm 14485 (the Munich codex), includes prefaces, dedications, and other addresses to readers in which Hrotsvit names herself and provides information about her education, writing practices, and purposes. If this manuscript had not survived, we might have some of her plays and poems extant in other manuscripts, but we would know little or nothing about Hrotsvit, and we would likely not be able to imagine that such a scholar and writer could have existed. By naming and identifying herself as an author and addressing readers in the first-person, not only in the prefatory texts but also within the poems, Hrotsvit presents herself as an important actor throughout the manuscript and creates significant parallels between her actions and those of the characters in her poems and plays. She also invites readers to see parallels between herself, her characters, Christ\u27s apostles, and John the Baptizer. Furthermore, in the world created by Hrotsvit\u27s writings, all words and actions are always relevant to one of the main themes of her poems and plays: conversion. Readers, writers, and characters in her writing have two choices (which in a sense is one choice): they can turn toward God and be saved by grace, or they can turn away from God. Some, like the apostles, choose in response to Christ\u27s mandate; others, like John the Baptizer, are pre-cursors of Christ. For all, whether already Christian or pagan, conversion involves the Augustinian turning of the mind and will toward God. And all have a shared responsibility not only to welcome grace as a free gift that elevates us to a new and unmerited level of existence but also to use their God-given talents to contribute to the redemption of the world

On Convergence of Development Costs and Cost Models for Complex Spaceflight Instrument Electronics

Development costs of a few recent spaceflight instrument electrical and electronics subsystems have diverged from respective heritage cost model predictions. The cost models used are Grass Roots, Price-H and Parametric Model. These cost models originated in the military and industry around 1970 and were successfully adopted and patched by NASA on a mission-by-mission basis for years. However, the complexity of new instruments recently changed rapidly by orders of magnitude. This is most obvious in the complexity of representative spaceflight instrument electronics' data system. It is now required to perform intermediate processing of digitized data apart from conventional processing of science phenomenon signals from multiple detectors. This involves on-board instrument formatting of computational operands from row data for example, images), multi-million operations per second on large volumes of data in reconfigurable hardware (in addition to processing on a general purpose imbedded or standalone instrument flight computer), as well as making decisions for on-board system adaptation and resource reconfiguration. The instrument data system is now tasked to perform more functions, such as forming packets and instrument-level data compression of more than one data stream, which are traditionally performed by the spacecraft command and data handling system. It is furthermore required that the electronics box for new complex instruments is developed for one-digit watt power consumption, small size and that it is light-weight, and delivers super-computing capabilities. The conflict between the actual development cost of newer complex instruments and its electronics components' heritage cost model predictions seems to be irreconcilable. This conflict and an approach to its resolution are addressed in this paper by determining the complexity parameters, complexity index, and their use in enhanced cost model

A Mixed Method Study: Assessing Critical Thinking, Metacognition, and Motivation in a Flipped Classroom Instructional Model

Technology has changed pedagogical methods in higher education. Educators are using technology more and integrating more active learning techniques. One pedagogical method, the flipped classroom, is suitable for integrating technology and active learning techniques. The pedagogical efficacy of the flipped classroom has not been determined despite being a potential solution for technology savvy millennial students. This mixed method study assessed critical thinking, metacognition, and motivation in higher education flipped classrooms in the United States. Human Anatomy and Physiology Society (HAPS) members teaching traditional and flipped format science courses were purposefully selected to participate in the study. A sample of 14 HAPS educators recruited 426 students enrolled in their science courses to complete the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ), a five-point Likert scale instrument used to measure critical thinking, metacognition, and motivation. The study was a pre-test/post-test non-equivalent control group design with semi-structured interviews for flipped classroom educators. The MSLQ was administered at the beginning and end of the fall semester (16 weeks) or the summer semester (8 weeks). A multivariate analysis of variance was used to estimate relationships between classroom format (flipped or traditional) and outcome variables (critical thinking, metacognition and motivation). The results were not statistically significant, meaning the flipped classroom was not more effective than the traditional classroom format for the outcome variables. The semi-structured interviews with flipped classroom instructors addressed the limitations and challenges of implementing a flipped classroom instructional model (FCIM). The most common limitations and challenges were preparation, in-class activities, student attitudes, and classroom space. The findings from this study will help those making pedagogical decisions in higher education as well as educators interested in implementing FCIM

Association of Regional Variation in Primary Care Physicians’ Colorectal Cancer Screening Recommendations with Individual Use of Colorectal Cancer Screening

Introduction: Studies show that the recommendations of a primary care physician for colorectal cancer screening may be one important influence on an individual's use of screening. However, another possible influence, the effect of regional differences in physicians' beliefs and recommendations on screening use, has not been assessed. Methods: We linked data from the National Health Interview Survey on the use of colorectal cancer screening by respondents aged 50 years or older, by hospital-referral region, with data from the Survey of Colorectal Cancer Screening Practices on the colorectal cancer screening recommendations of primary care physicians, by region. Our principal independent variables were the proportion of physicians in a region who recommended screening at age 50 and continuing screening at the recommended frequency. Results: On average, 53.3% of physicians in a region correctly recommended initiating colorectal cancer screening, and 64.8% advised screening at the recommended frequency. Of adults who lived in regions where less than 30% of physicians correctly recommended initiating screening, 47.3% had been screened, in contrast to 54.8% in areas where 70% or more of physicians made correct recommendations. Seventy-one percent of respondents living in regions where less than 30% of physicians advised screening at the recommended frequency were current on screening, in contrast to 79.9% of respondents living in regions where 70% or more of physicians made this recommendation. These differences were statistically significant after adjustment for individual characteristics. Conclusion: Strategies to improve colorectal cancer screening recommendations of primary care physicians may improve the use of screening for millions of Americans.Version of Recor

Bone mineral density and risk of heart failure in older adults: The Cardiovascular Health Study

Background Despite increasing evidence of a common link between bone and heart health, the relationship between bone mineral density ( BMD ) and heart failure ( HF ) risk remains insufficiently studied. Methods and Results We investigated whether BMD measured by dual‐energy x‐ray absorptiometry was associated with incident HF in an older cohort. Cox models were stratified by sex and interactions of BMD with race assessed. BMD was examined at the total hip and femoral neck separately, both continuously and by World Health Organization categories. Of 1250 participants, 442 (55% women) developed HF during the median follow‐up of 10.5 years. In both black and nonblack women, neither total hip nor femoral neck BMD was significantly associated with HF ; there was no significant interaction by race. In black and nonblack men, total hip, but not femoral neck, BMD was significantly associated with HF , with evidence of an interaction by race. In nonblack men, lower total hip BMD was associated with higher HF risk (hazard ratio, 1.13 [95% CI, 1.01–1.26] per 0.1 g/cm 2 decrement), whereas in black men, lower total hip BMD was associated with lower HF risk (hazard ratio, 0.74 [95% CI, 0.59–0.94]). There were no black men with total hip osteoporosis. Among nonblack men, total hip osteoporosis was associated with higher HF risk (hazard ratio, 2.83 [95% CI, 1.39–5.74]) compared with normal BMD . Conclusions Among older adults, lower total hip BMD was associated with higher HF risk in nonblack men but lower risk in black men, with no evidence of an association in women. Further research is needed to replicate these findings and to study potential underlying pathways. </jats:sec

Waking up the children so they can wake up America : a case study of cultural identity groups.

This study focuses on understanding the impact of the Cultural Identity Group (CIG) program on the racial/ethnic identity development of students who were involved in a sixteen-week program in an ethnically diverse middle school in New England. The program began in October 1996 and ended in May 1997. The cultural identity groups met once a week except during school holidays and vacation. This study was part of a larger project funded by the Carnegie Corporation of New York. The Cultural Identity Group model on which this study is based was jointly developed and piloted in a Western Massachusetts Elementary School by Phyllis C. Brown, MMHS, Ernest Washington, Ed.D., Allen Ivey, Ed. D. and Mary Bradford-Ivey, Ed.D. Qualitative and quantitative measures were used to gather information about the impact of the Cultural Identity Group on the racial/ethnic identity development of the students as well as on their attitudes toward people from different racial/ethnic backgrounds. The Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure developed by Jean Phinney (1989) was used to assess students\u27 ethnic awareness. Interviews conducted with a racially/ethnically diverse sample from the Cultural Identity Group provided evidence of the impact of CIG on the racial/ethnic identity of participants. The findings in this study demonstrated that students who participated in CIG gained a heightened sense of their racial/ethnic self as well as an increase in interethnic awareness. There was an emerging awareness of the pervasiveness of racism among participants in this study. Participants also gained skills to help them deal with and interrupt injustice. These skills included recognizing ethnic jokes and developing constructive, practical solutions for confronting racist behavior directed toward adolescents. The implications of this study concern students, and educators, as well as theories of adolescent development and racial identity development. Providing students structured environments in which to talk and learn about their own ethnic background, race and racism may have a positive impact on their racial/ethnic development which may promote better interethnic relationships in school. Any study of adolescent development must consider differences as well as similarities in adolescent development based on racial/ethnic factors. Future and current educators need to learn about theories of racial/ethnic identity and understand how it plays out in adolescents\u27 lives and in school, in order to create school culture that affirms all students