Narratives of Holiness Identity: The "Sanctified Person" in the Church of the Nazarene

This dissertation is an exercise in practical theology, which investigates and responds to the problem of changing holiness identity in the Church of the Nazarene. The first part of the study is an empirical investigation into the social context of contemporary Nazarene holiness identity and practices among Nazarenes in three congregations located in the Northeast United States. Previous research relied too heavily on secularization and sect-church theory to understand the dynamics of religious identity change among Nazarenes. The theological result was a pessimistic appraisal of the future possibilities of holiness identity and practice in the Church of the Nazarene. This study employs an alternative theory—Nancy T. Ammerman's theory of narrative religious identity—to understand the dynamics of lived religious life within these congregations and to identify the various holiness narratives at play. Ammerman's theory facilitates an empirical description of the multiple holiness identities emerging out of the social contexts of these Nazarene congregations and offers a way to account for identity change. At the heart of this research is the theoretical notion that a particular religious identity, in the case of the Church of the Nazarene, the "sanctified person," emerges out of a particular ecclesial context characterized by religious narratives and practices that shape this identity. Chapter one reviews the problem of holiness identity in the Church of the Nazarene and offers an analysis of recent sociological attempts to understand the changing identity among Nazarenes. Chapter two draws on sociological research to describe and depict the range of views of holiness held by some contemporary Nazarenes. Chapter three identifies the varieties of holiness identity within the three Nazarene congregations that are part of the study. Chapter four investigates the social sources that shape the various holiness identities discovered in these congregations. Chapter five is a description of the many ways religious narratives are enacted and engaged within these congregations. The second part of the study is a theological critique of contemporary Nazarene holiness identity. Chapter six draws on the theory of narrative identity proposed by Nancy Ammerman and outlines a theoretical model which describes the social conditions necessary to shape holiness identity, "the sanctified person," within the context of the local congregation. Finally, chapter seven draws on the theological resources of Mennonite scholar and historian John Howard Yoder to propose a way of construing and facilitating holiness identity formation that takes the ecclesiality of hoilness more seriously, emphasizes a clearer relationship between Jesus and the "Christlikeness" that is central to holiness, and highlights the importance of religious practices in the formation of a holiness identity.

Ubuntu, Jesus, and Earth: Integrating African Religion and Christianity in Ecological Ethics

Africa faces problems of ecological devastation caused by economic exploitation, rapid population growth, and poverty. Capitalism, residual colonialism, and corruption undermine Africa's efforts to forge a better future. The dissertation describes how in Africa the mounting ecological crisis has religious, political, and economic roots that enable and promote social and environmental harm. It presents the thesis that religious traditions, including their ethical expressions, can effectively address the crisis, ameliorate its impacts, and advocate for social and environmental betterment, now and in the future. First, it examines African traditional religion and Christian teaching, which together provide the foundation for African Christianity. Critical examination of both religious worldviews uncovers their complementary emphases on human responsibility toward planet Earth and future generations. Second, an analysis of the Gwembe Tonga of Chief Simamba explores the interconnectedness of all elements of the universe in African cosmologies. In Africa, an interdependent, participatory relationship exists between the world of animals, the world of humans, and the Creator. In discussing the annual lwiindi (rain calling) ceremony of Simamba, the study explores ecological overtones of African religions. Such rituals illustrate the involvement of ancestors and high gods in maintaining ecological integrity. Third, the foundation of the African morality of abundant life is explored. Across Sub-Saharan Africa, ancestors' teachings are the foundation of morality; ancestors are guardians of the land. A complementary teaching that Christ is the ecological ancestor of all life can direct ethical responses to the ecological crisis. Fourth, the eco-social implications of ubuntu (what it means to be fully human) are examined. Some aspects of ubuntu are criticized in light of economic inequalities and corruption in Africa. However, ubuntu can be transformed to advocate for eco-social liberation. Fifth, the study recognizes that in some cases conflicts exist between ecological values and religious teachings. This conflict is examined in terms of the contrast between awareness of socioeconomic problems caused by population growth, on the one hand, and advocacy of a traditional African morality of abundant children, on the other hand. A change in the latter religious view is needed since overpopulation threatens sustainable living and the future of Earth. The dissertation concludes that the identification of Jesus with African ancestors and theological recognition of Jesus as the ecological ancestor, woven together with ubuntu, an ethic of interconnectedness, should characterize African consciousness and promote resolution of the socio-ecological crisis.

Betha Cholmáin maic Luacháin: an ecclesiastical microcosm of the twelfth-century Irish midlands

Betha Cholmáin maic Luacháin (BCh) is a key source of information about a small ecclesiastical community of the Irish midlands in the medieval period. BCh is one of the longest medieval Irish hagiographic texts. A sole copy exists. Scholarly concern with manuscript Rennes 598, and the Life of Colmán therein, diminished following the 1911 edition of BCh. The most attention paid to BCh in the following decades focused largely on its onomastic information. The necessary detailed study of the text has not been undertaken. The present work is an initial view of significant areas of interaction between the church of Lann and its ecclesiastical, social and political milieu. While social and cultural aspects of the text may constitute the focus of this study, linguistic data is also investigated, complementary to evidence regarding its social and political testimony. In this way, light is cast on a complex ecclesiastical microcosm in the twelfth-century Irish midlands. In keeping with recent methodological work in the field a variety of tools are used to aid investigation, and to show the Life within its genre and wider context. An interdisciplinary approach will bring together strands of literary, cultural, archaeological, onomastic, historical, geographical, genealogical and hagiographical information, with reference to linguistic evidence where appropriate. This thesis seeks to suggest a template for studies undertaken on smaller church communities, and is set out in two main sections. The first section investigates the figure of the saint, his life, church, the manuscript source and the combination of prose and verse in the text. The second section examines the testimony of the Life regarding the ecclesiastical and secular concerns of the community of Lann, and how these concerns are represented. Evidence regarding the members of this community and their interaction with the church and the wider world is also discussed.

First principles simulation of amorphous silicon bulk, interfaces, and nanowires for photovoltaics

Amorphous silicon has become the material of choice for many technologies, with major applications in large area electronics: displays, image sensing and thin film photovoltaic cells. This technology development has occurred because amorphous silicon is a thin film semiconductor that can be deposited on large, low cost substrates using low temperature. In this thesis, classical molecular dynamics and first principles DFT calculations have been performed to generate structural models of amorphous and hydrogenated amorphous silicon and interfaces of amorphous and crystalline silicon, with the ultimate aim of understanding the photovoltaic properties of core-shell crystalline amorphous Si nanowire structures. We have shown, unexpectedly, from the simulations, that our understanding of hydrogenated bulk a-Si needs to be revisited, with our robust finding that when fully saturated with hydrogen, bulk a-Si exhibits a constant optical energy gap, irrespective of the hydrogen concentration in the sample. Unsaturated a-Si:H, with a lower than optimum hydrogen content, shows a smaller optical gap, that increases with hydrogen content until saturation is reached. The mobility gaps obtained from an analysis of the electronic states show similar behavior. We also obtained that the optical and mobility gaps show a volcano curve as the H content is varied from 7% (undersaturation) to 18% (mild oversaturation). In the case of mild over saturation, the mid-gap states arise exclusively from an increase in the density of strained Si-Si bonds. Analysis of our structures shows the extra H atoms in this case form a bridge between neighboring silicon atoms which increases the corresponding Si-Si distance and promotes bond length disorder in the sample. That has the potential to enhance the Staebler-Wronski effect. Planar interface models of amorphous-crystalline silicon have been generated in Si (100), (110) and (111) surfaces. The interface models are characterized by structure, RDF, electronic density of states and optical absorption spectrum. We find that the least stable (100) surface will result in the formation of the thickest amorphous silicon layer, while the most stable (110) surface forms the smallest amorphous region. We calculated for the first time band offsets of a-Si:H/c-Si heterojunctions from first principles and examined the influence of different surface orientations and amorphous layer thickness on the offsets and implications for device performance. The band offsets depend on the amorphous layer thickness and increase with thickness. By controlling the amorphous layer thickness we can potentially optimise the solar cell parameters. Finally, we have successfully generated different amorphous layer thickness of the a-Si/c-Si and a-Si:H/c-Si 5 nm nanowires from heat and quench. We perform structural analysis of the a-Si-/c-Si nanowires. The RDF, Si-Si bond length distributions, and the coordination number distributions of amorphous regions of the nanowires reproduce similar behaviour compared to bulk amorphous silicon. In the final part of this thesis we examine different surface terminating chemical groups, -H, - OH and –NH2 in (001) GeNW. Our work shows that the diameter of Ge nanowires and the nature of surface terminating groups both play a significant role in both the magnitude and the nature of the nanowire band gaps, allowing tuning of the band gap by up to 1.1 eV. We also show for the first time how the nanowire diameter and surface termination shifts the absorption edge in the Ge nanowires to longer wavelengths. Thus, the combination of nanowire diameter and surface chemistry can be effectively utilised to tune the band gaps and thus light absorption properties of small diameter Ge nanowires.

Neurology and psychiatry: waking up to opportunities of sleep. State of the art and clinical/research priorities for the next decade.

In recent years, evidence has emerged for a bidirectional relationship between sleep and neurological and psychiatric disorders. First, sleep-wake disorders (SWDs) are very common and may be the first/main manifestation of underlying neurological and psychiatric disorders. Secondly, SWDs may represent an independent risk factor for neuropsychiatric morbidities. Thirdly, sleep-wake function (SWF) may influence the course and outcome of neurological and psychiatric disorders. This review summarizes the most important research and clinical findings in the fields of neuropsychiatric sleep and circadian research and medicine, and discusses the promise they bear for the next decade. The findings herein summarize discussions conducted in a workshop with 26 European experts in these fields, and formulate specific future priorities for clinical practice and translational research. More generally, the conclusion emerging from this workshop is the recognition of a tremendous opportunity offered by our knowledge of SWF and SWDs that has unfortunately not yet entered as an important key factor in clinical practice, particularly in Europe. Strengthening pre-graduate and postgraduate teaching, creating academic multidisciplinary sleep-wake centres and simplifying diagnostic approaches of SWDs coupled with targeted treatment strategies yield enormous clinical benefits for these diseases.

Structural changes in the hippocampus and amygdala at first episode of psychosis

Hippocampus and amygdala changes have been implicated in the pathophysiology and symptomatology of both schizophrenia (SCZ) and bipolar disorder (BD). However relationships between illness course, neuropathological changes and variations in symptomatology remain unclear. This investigation examined the associations between hippocampus and amygdala volumes and symptom dimensions in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder patients after their first episode of psychosis. Symptom severity was associated with decreases in hippocampus/amygdala complex volume across groups. In keeping with previous work bilateral hippocampus and amygdala volume reductions were also identified in the SCZ patients while in BD patients only evidence of amygdala inflation reached significance. The study concludes that there appear to be important relationships between volume changes in the hippocampus and amygdala and dimensions and severity of symptomatology in psychosis. Structural alterations are apparent in both SCZ and BD after first episode of psychosis but present differently in each illness and are more severe in SCZ.

Premorbid IQ in patients with functional psychosis and their first-degree relatives

Numerous studies have found deficits in premorbid IQ in schizophrenic patients, but it is not clear whether this deficit is shared by (a) patients with other functional psychoses, and (b) relatives of these patients. Ninety-one schizophrenic patients, 66 affective psychotic patients (29 schizoaffective and 37 manic or depressed), and 50 normal control subjects were administered the National Adult Reading Test (NART) which provides an estimate of premorbid IQ. The NART was also completed by 85 first-degree relatives of schizophrenic patients and by 65 first-degree relatives of affective psychotic patients. After adjustments were made for sex, social class, ethnicity and years of education, schizophrenic patients had significantly lower premorbid IQ than their relatives, the affective psychotic patients and controls. Manic and depressed patients had significantly lower NART scores than their first-degree relatives, but schizoaffective patients did not, and neither group differed significantly from controls. There was no significant difference in premorbid IQ between patients who had experienced obstetric complications (OC +) and those who had not (OC -). Both OC + and OC - schizophrenic patients differed significantly from their relatives, but the disparity was greatest between OC + patients and their relatives. Relatives of OC + schizophrenic patients had significantly higher IQ than relatives of OC - schizophrenic patients. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Persistent income poverty and deprivation in the European Union: An analysis of the first three waves of the European Community Household Panel

Poverty research has increasingly focused on persistent income poverty, both as a crucial social indicator and as a target for policy intervention. Such an approach can lead to an identification of a sub-set of poor individuals facing particularly adverse circumstances and/or distinctive problems in escaping from poverty. Here we seek to establish whether, in comparison with cross-sectional measures, persistent poverty measures also provide a better measure of exclusion from a minimally acceptable way of life and relate with other important variables in a logical fashion. Our analysis draws upon the first three waves of the ECHP and shows that a persistent poverty measure does constitute a significant improvement over its cross-sectional counterpart in the explanation of levels of deprivation. Persistent poverty is related to life-style deprivation in a manner that comes close to being uniform across countries. The measure of persistence also conforms to our expectations of how a poverty measure should behave in that, unlike relative income poverty lines, defining the threshold level more stringently enables us to identify progressively groups of increasingly deprived respondents. Overall the persistent poverty measure constitutes a significant advance on cross-sectional income measures. However, there is clearly a great deal relating to the process of accumulation and of erosion of resources, which is not fully captured in the persistent poverty measure. In the absence of such information, there is a great deal to be said for making use of both types of indictors in formulating and evaluating policies while we continue to improve our understanding of longer-term processes.

Challenges and Potentials for Keyword Extraction from Company Websites for the Development of Regional Knowledge Maps

Regional Innovation Systems describe the relations between actors, structures and infrastructures in a region in order to stimulate innovation and regional development. For these systems the collection and organization of information is crucial. In the present paper we investigate the possibilities to extract information from websites of companies. First we describe regional innovation systems and the information types that are necessary to create them. Then we discuss the possibilities of text mining and keyword extraction techniques to extract this information from company websites. Finally, we describe a small scale experiment in which keywords related to economic sectors and commodities are extracted from the websites of over 200 companies. This experiment shows what the main challenges are for information extraction from websites for regional innovation systems.

St. Catharines and District Council of Women fonds

The St. Catharines and District Council of Women was founded in 1918 and elected as its first president, Mary Malcolmson. In 1910 Mrs. Malcolmson founded North America’s first Girl Guide Association in St. Catharines. The aim of the organization was to work for the betterment of conditions pertaining to the family, community and state. The Council is an umbrella group for various women’s organizations in the area and functions at the provincial, national and international levels and is associated with the United Nations. In the early years the National Council brought in the Victorian Order of Nurses (VON) and started the Women’s Canadian Club. The St. Catharines Council initiated Child Welfare Centres in local churches that grew into the Well Baby Clinics. Women were encouraged to take political office and join committees with much success. In 1929, “Shop at Home” exhibition became an annual event highlighting the services of local merchants. Money raised by the Council was donated to local charities and in 1930 the Council assisted the local Armenian community in building the first Armenian Church in Canada. In 1932 the Council started the Maternal Welfare programme in which Mothers’ Meetings were held weekly with various speakers from the Public Health Department. In 1975 to celebrate International Women’s Year and the 1976 Centennial of the City of St. Catharines, the group sponsored the book Women of Action, 1876-1976, written by two of its members, Lily M. Bell and Kathleen E. Bray. Some time after 1976 the name of the organization changed from St. Catharines Local Council of Women to St. Catharines and District Council of Women. Today the organization functions as an advocacy and educational group.

Electrospinning and characterization of self-assembled inclusion complexies

L’électrofilage est une technique permettant de fabriquer des fibres polymériques dont le diamètre varie entre quelques nanomètres et quelques microns. Ces fibres ont donc un rapport surface/volume très élevé. Les fibres électrofilées pourraient trouver des applications dans le relargage de médicaments et le génie tissulaire, comme membranes et capteurs chimiques, ou dans les nanocomposites et dispositifs électroniques. L’électrofilage était initialement utilisé pour préparer des toiles de fibres désordonnées, mais il est maintenant possible d’aligner les fibres par l’usage de collecteurs spéciaux. Cependant, il est important de contrôler non seulement l’alignement macroscopique des fibres mais aussi leur orientation au niveau moléculaire puisque l’orientation influence les propriétés mécaniques, optiques et électriques des polymères. Les complexes moléculaires apparaissent comme une cible de choix pour produire des nanofibres fortement orientées. Dans les complexes d’inclusion d’urée, les chaînes polymères sont empilées dans des canaux unidimensionnels construits à partir d’un réseau tridimensionnel de molécules d’urée liées par des ponts hydrogène. Ainsi, les chaînes polymère sonts très allongées à l’échelle moléculaire. Des nanofibres du complexe PEO-urée ont été préparées pour la première fois par électrofilage de suspensions et de solutions. Tel qu’attendu, une orientation moléculaire inhabituellement élevée a été observée dans ces fibres. De tels complexes orientés pourraient être utilisés à la fois dans des études fondamentales et dans la préparation de matériaux hiérarchiquement structurés. La méthode d’électrofilage peut parfois aussi être utilisée pour préparer des matériaux polymériques métastables qui ne peuvent pas être préparés par des méthodes conventionnelles. Ici, l’électrofilage a été utilisé pour préparer des fibres des complexes stables (α) et "métastables" (β) entre le PEO et l’urée. La caractérisation du complexe β, qui était mal connu, révèle un rapport PEO:urée de 12:8 appartenant au système orthorhombique avec a = 1.907 nm, b = 0.862 nm et c = 0.773 nm. Les chaînes de PEO sont orientées selon l’axe de la fibre. Leur conformation est significativement affectée par les ponts hydrogène. Une structure en couches a été suggérée pour la forme β, plutôt que la structure conventionnelle en canaux adoptée par la forme α. Nos résultats indiquent que le complexe β est thermodynamiquement stable avant sa fonte et peut se transformer en forme α et en PEO liquide par un processus de fonte et recristallisation à 89 ºC. Ceci va dans le sens contraire aux observations faites avec le complexe β obtenu par trempe du complexe α fondu. En effet, le complexe β ainsi obtenu est métastable et contient des cristaux d’urée. Il peut subir une transition de phases cinétique solide-solide pour produire du complexe α dans une vaste gamme de températures. Cette transition est induite par un changement de conformation du PEO et par la formation de ponts hydrogène intermoléculaires entre l’urée et le PEO. Le diagramme de phases du système PEO-urée a été tracé sur toute la gamme de compositions, ce qui a permis d’interpréter la formation de plusieurs mélanges qui ne sont pas à l’équilibre mais qui sont été observés expérimentalement. La structure et le diagramme de phases du complexe PEO-thiourée, qui est aussi un complexe très mal connu, ont été étudiés en détail. Un rapport molaire PEO :thiourée de 3:2 a été déduit pour le complexe, et une cellule monoclinique avec a = 0.915 nm, b = 1.888 nm, c = 0.825 nm et β = 92.35º a été déterminée. Comme pour le complexe PEO-urée de forme β, une structure en couches a été suggérée pour le complexe PEO-thiourée, dans laquelle les molécules de thiourée seraient disposées en rubans intercalés entre deux couches de PEO. Cette structure en couches pourrait expliquer la température de fusion beaucoup plus faible des complexes PEO-thiourée (110 ºC) et PEO-urée de forme β (89 ºC) en comparaison aux structures en canaux du complexe PEO-urée de forme α (143 ºC).