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The Effects Of Acute And Chronic Nicotine On Gaba And Dopamine Neurons In The Midbrain Ventral Tegmental Area, Devin Hardy Taylor Mar 2011

The Effects Of Acute And Chronic Nicotine On Gaba And Dopamine Neurons In The Midbrain Ventral Tegmental Area, Devin Hardy Taylor

Theses and Dissertations

Nicotine (NIC) abuse involves activation of midbrain dopamine (DA) neurons and NIC addiction involves neuroadaptive changes in the mesolimbic DA reward system. GABA neurons in the midbrain ventral tegmental area (VTA) express α4β2-containing nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs), whose activation increases GABAergic input to DA neurons. However, this initial effect is decreased after chronic NIC treatment (as in the case of smokers) by inducing nAChR desensitization. Thus, GABA neuron inhibition results in increased DA release in limbic structures such as the nucleus accumbens. To support this hypothesis, we evaluated the effects of acute and chronic NIC on GAD-67 positive neurons in …

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Super Collision Energy Transfer Studies In Single Collisions Between Vibrationally Hot Benzene Like Molecules And Ground State Bath Molecules: The Effect Of Physical Properties Of Donor And Bath Molecules On Super Collision Energy Transfer, Kilyoung Kim Mar 2011

Super Collision Energy Transfer Studies In Single Collisions Between Vibrationally Hot Benzene Like Molecules And Ground State Bath Molecules: The Effect Of Physical Properties Of Donor And Bath Molecules On Super Collision Energy Transfer, Kilyoung Kim

Theses and Dissertations

This research is focused on single-collision energy transfer events between highly vibrationally excited benzene-like donor molecules and small bath molecules, CO2 and N2O in the vibrational ground level. Measuring how much energy is transferred from donors to bath molecules was accomplished by probing bath molecules scattered into specific-rotational states using a tunable Δv=0.0003 cm-1 solid state diode laser. The normalized energy transfer probability distribution function, P(E,E'), determined from energy gain information, is very useful in comparing collisional energy transfer efficiency between various collision systems. P(E,E') is also used to investigate the effects of donor and bath physical properties on collisional …

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Sawdust Pyrolysis And Petroleum Coke Co2 Gasification At High Heating Rates, Aaron D. Lewis Mar 2011

Sawdust Pyrolysis And Petroleum Coke Co2 Gasification At High Heating Rates, Aaron D. Lewis

Theses and Dissertations

Clean and efficient electricity can be generated using an Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC). Although IGCC is typically used with coal, it can also be used to gasify other carbonaceous species like biomass and petroleum coke. It is important to understand the pyrolysis and gasification of these species in order to design commercial gasifiers and also to determine optimal conditions for operation. High heating-rate (100,000 K/s) pyrolysis experiments were performed with biomass (sawdust) in BYU's atmospheric flat-flame burner reactor at conditions ranging from 1163 to 1433 K with particle residence times ranging from 23 to 102 ms. Volatile yields and …

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Role Of Wnt5a And Possible Pathway Of Action Through Ror2 In Proximodistal Outgrowth Of The Limb, Tiffanie M. Dahl Mar 2011

Role Of Wnt5a And Possible Pathway Of Action Through Ror2 In Proximodistal Outgrowth Of The Limb, Tiffanie M. Dahl

Theses and Dissertations

Despite over 60 years of study, the molecular pathways and mechanisms governing limb outgrowth and patterning remain poorly understood. Fgfs expressed in the AER are known to be necessary and sufficient for proximodistal limb outgrowth and have been proposed to have a chemoattractive role. Wnt5a is a secreted factor which is expressed in a gradient in the distal limb with the highest concentration next to the AER. The presence of the AER is necessary to establish this gradient. Expression of Wnt5a in a concentration dependant manner can be induced in the limb through the implantation of a bead soaked in …

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A Novel Use Of Digoxin Immune Fab Fragment In Identification And Isolation Of An Endogenous Digitalis-Like Factor Found In Preeclampsia, Moana Lee Hopoate-Sitake Mar 2011

A Novel Use Of Digoxin Immune Fab Fragment In Identification And Isolation Of An Endogenous Digitalis-Like Factor Found In Preeclampsia, Moana Lee Hopoate-Sitake

Theses and Dissertations

The mechanisms mediating the hypertension of preeclampsia (PE) are unclear. Endogenous digitalis-like factors (EDLFs) are specific sodium pump (SP) inhibitors implicated in essential and experimental hypertension, but they have not been fully explored in the setting of PE. This study uses a digoxin antibody Fab fragment to address the question of whether such factors are present and increased in PE, to investigate a possible treatment of PE, and to isolate and characterize all EDLFs present in PE. Sera and placenta from women with PE did show a significant increase in SP inhibition in comparison to women with normal pregnancy and …

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Somatoform Disorder: Treatment Utilization And Cost By Mental Health Professions, Lori Barker Morton Mar 2011

Somatoform Disorder: Treatment Utilization And Cost By Mental Health Professions, Lori Barker Morton

Theses and Dissertations

Somatoform disorder is a prevalent mental health disorder in the United States. This disorder costs the United States one billion dollars annually. Medical providers report somatoform disorder is difficult to treat. Previous studies have shown that Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is effective at reducing symptoms of somatoform disorder. Unfortunately, little research has been done on treatment outcomes and cost of somatoform disorder, particularly by profession to reduce health care costs for somatoform patients and providers. Administrative data from CIGNA for 149 somatoform disorder cases were analyzed to determine the cost, number of sessions, dropout rates, and recidivism rates for somatoform …

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The Effects Of Parental Support, Best Friend Support, And Parental Psychological Control On Loneliness In Latino Adolescents, Denhi Hortensia Chaney Mar 2011

The Effects Of Parental Support, Best Friend Support, And Parental Psychological Control On Loneliness In Latino Adolescents, Denhi Hortensia Chaney

Theses and Dissertations

The current study examined the relationship of parental support, parental psychological control, and best friend support among Latino adolescents and loneliness using self-esteem as a mediating variable. The sample included 839 Hispanic (primarily Mexican) 9th – 12th graders from west Texas area school districts who were given a self-reported survey to assess parental behaviors and adolescent depression. Using structural equation modeling (SEM), findings indicated that neither maternal nor paternal support was found to be significantly related to loneliness in girls. Only maternal support was found to be significantly related to loneliness in boys. On the other hand, neither maternal nor …

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The Functions Of Guilt And Shame In Juan José Millás' El Mundo And My Olive-Green Fridge And I: The Posthuman Identity In El Púgil, Constantin Cristian Icleanu Mar 2011

The Functions Of Guilt And Shame In Juan José Millás' El Mundo And My Olive-Green Fridge And I: The Posthuman Identity In El Púgil, Constantin Cristian Icleanu

Theses and Dissertations

In his celebrated 2007 novel El mundo, Juan José Millás tells the story of the development of Juanjo, a simulacrum of himself, and describes a series of negative developments that the protagonist faces in his childhood. While much has been written about Millás and the “testimonial realism” of his literary generation, little has been written about the psychological factors that influence his characters. In this paper I analyze Juanjo's development as understood from the gradation of guilt to shame, depression, and later suicidal thoughts. Because Juanjo is not able to find an appropriate mechanism of release for his guilt, …

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Surface Modification, Fabrication, And Characterization Of Silicon, Polymer, And Nanotube Composite Materials, Lei Pei Mar 2011

Surface Modification, Fabrication, And Characterization Of Silicon, Polymer, And Nanotube Composite Materials, Lei Pei

Theses and Dissertations

In my research, I have performed many characterization and fabrication experiments that are based on tools of analytical chemistry, materials chemistry, and surface science. My research projects are as follows. (1) Fabrication of transparent polymer templates for nanostructured amorphous silicon photovoltaics was done using low-cost nanoimprint lithography of polydimethylsiloxane. This approach provides a test bed for absorption studies in nanostructured film geometries and should result in improved light capturing designs in thin-film solar cells. Nanopatterned polymer films were characterized by scanning electron microscopy and optical measurements. (2) A straightforward method for fabricating freely suspended, thin, carbon nanotube (CNT) membranes infiltrated …

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Reciprocal Communication As A Form Of Nonverbal Communication: A Qualitative Approach, John Christian Penrod Mar 2011

Reciprocal Communication As A Form Of Nonverbal Communication: A Qualitative Approach, John Christian Penrod

Theses and Dissertations

The current state of psychological research in nonverbal communication is briefly summarized and several problems are noted. Reciprocal communication (RC) is suggested, defined, and qualitatively investigated as a way of describing the experience of emotional compatibility in communication, with an emphasis on form, degree, and timing as fundamental aspects of nonverbal communication. Support for three different levels of emotional compatibility (fully, partially, and nonreciprocal) is found. Variation in the interpretation of nonverbal communication when communication is perceived as either intentional or unintentional is noted, and a system of categorizing reciprocal communication is suggested. Further patterns in nonverbal communication are observed, …

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Utilizing Universal Probability Of Expression Code (Upc) To Identify Disrupted Pathways In Cancer Samples, Michelle Rachel Withers Mar 2011

Utilizing Universal Probability Of Expression Code (Upc) To Identify Disrupted Pathways In Cancer Samples, Michelle Rachel Withers

Theses and Dissertations

Understanding the role of deregulated biological pathways in cancer samples has the potential to improve cancer treatment, making it more effective by selecting treatments that reverse the biological cause of the cancer. One of the challenges with pathway analysis is identifying a deregulated pathway in a given sample. This project develops the Universal Probability of Expression Code (UPC), a profile of a single deregulated biological path- way, and projects it into a cancer cell to determine if it is present. One of the benefits of this method is that rather than use information from a single over-expressed gene, it pro- …

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The Decline Of Civlizations: W.B. Yeats' And Oswald Spengler's New Historiography Of Civilization, Stephen M. Borthwick Mar 2011

The Decline Of Civlizations: W.B. Yeats' And Oswald Spengler's New Historiography Of Civilization, Stephen M. Borthwick

Comparative Civilizations Review

No abstract provided.

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The Origins Of Brazil: A Focus On Two Religions- Judaism And Candombl¹;, Pedro P. Geiger Mar 2011

The Origins Of Brazil: A Focus On Two Religions- Judaism And Candombl¹;, Pedro P. Geiger

Comparative Civilizations Review

No abstract provided.

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From Minsk To Vladivostok—Is It An East Slavic Civilization?, Bertil Haggman Mar 2011

From Minsk To Vladivostok—Is It An East Slavic Civilization?, Bertil Haggman

Comparative Civilizations Review

No abstract provided.

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Civilizational Science: The Evolution Of A New Field, Vladimir Alaykin-Izvekov Mar 2011

Civilizational Science: The Evolution Of A New Field, Vladimir Alaykin-Izvekov

Comparative Civilizations Review

This publication addresses a paradigm shift in civilizational studies by describing an emerging interdisciplinary field-Civilizational Science. A Model of Civilizational Science and a number of macrosciences and macrostudies are introduced, as well as their Matrix. Macrosociology and Macroculturology are discussed as examples of macrosciences. A number of macrosociological theories are visualized with the help of an Integrated Model of Societies and Civilizations-Societies Evolution. Conclusions highlight theoretical and practical applications for Civilizational Science.

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Civilization And Religion: The Dance Of Shape-Shifters, Anthony M. Stevens-Arroyo Mar 2011

Civilization And Religion: The Dance Of Shape-Shifters, Anthony M. Stevens-Arroyo

Comparative Civilizations Review

No abstract provided.

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Students Studying Students: An Assessment Of Using Undergraduate Student Researchers In An Ethnographic Study Of Library Use, Allyson Washburn, Sheila C. Bibb Feb 2011

Students Studying Students: An Assessment Of Using Undergraduate Student Researchers In An Ethnographic Study Of Library Use, Allyson Washburn, Sheila C. Bibb

Faculty Publications

This paper reports on the use of undergraduate students enrolled in an Applied Anthropology course as researcher for a library use study at Brigham Young University's (BYU) Harold B. Lee Library (HBLL). This is a common practice at BYU, but has not been reported extensively in the literature. The study was carried out by the authors with the assistance of undergraduate students, the students being the researchers and was conducted in order that the HBLL could determine student ideas for reconfiguring some newly opened space in the Periodicals room. Using students assisted the library as well as met a curricular …

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Development Of Monolithic Stationary Phases For Cation-Exchange Capillary Liquid Chromatography Of Peptides And Proteins, Xin Chen Feb 2011

Development Of Monolithic Stationary Phases For Cation-Exchange Capillary Liquid Chromatography Of Peptides And Proteins, Xin Chen

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation focuses on the preparation of polymeric monolithic capillaries for ion exchange chromatography of peptides and proteins, since polymeric monoliths have shown promise for providing improved protein separations. Characteristics of monolithic columns include low back pressure, simplicity of fabrication and biocompatibility. Preparation of strong and weak cation-exchange monolithic stationary phases in 75 μm I.D. capillaries by direct in situ copolymerization was achieved using various functional monomers including sulfopropyl methacrylate, phosphoric acid 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate, bis[2-(methacryloyloxy)ethyl] phosphate and 2-carboxyethyl acrylate with polyethylene glycol diacrylate and other PEG materials. The resulting monoliths provided excellent ion exchange capillary LC of peptides and proteins …

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Thermodynamic, Sulfide, Redox Potential, And Ph Effects On Syngas Fermentation, Peng Hu Feb 2011

Thermodynamic, Sulfide, Redox Potential, And Ph Effects On Syngas Fermentation, Peng Hu

Theses and Dissertations

Recently, work in ethanol production is exploring the fermentation of syngas (primarily CO, CO2, and H2) following gasification of cellulosic biomass. The syngas fermentation by clostridium microbes utilizes the Wood-Ljungdahl metabolic pathway. Along this pathway, the intermediate Acetyl-CoA typically diverges to produce ethanol, acetic acid, and/or cell mass. To develop strategies for process optimization, a thermodynamic analysis was conducted that provided a detailed understanding of the favorability of the reactions along the metabolic pathway. Thermodynamic analysis provided identification of potentially limiting steps. Once these limiting reactions were identified, further thermodynamic analysis provided additional insights into the ways in which reaction …

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Species Trees And Species Delimitation With Multilocus Data And Coalescent-Based Methods: Resolving The Speciation History Of The Liolaemus Darwinii Group (Squamata, Tropiduridae), Arley Camargo Bentaberry Feb 2011

Species Trees And Species Delimitation With Multilocus Data And Coalescent-Based Methods: Resolving The Speciation History Of The Liolaemus Darwinii Group (Squamata, Tropiduridae), Arley Camargo Bentaberry

Theses and Dissertations

The inference of species boundaries and phylogenetic relationships are fundamental for evolutionary, ecological, and conservation studies. The resolution of species boundaries and the inference of phylogenetic relationships among species are required to define the units of analysis and to find the most closely related units for evaluating alternative models of speciation. I highlight lizards as model organisms for ecological and evolutionary studies, emphasizing their contributions to advances in understanding linkages between phylogeography and speciation. In this dissertation, I focus on the phylogenetic relationships of the lizards in the Liolaemus darwinii group, and the species boundaries of a nested clade within …

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Bats Of Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado: Composition, Reproduction, And Roosting Habits, Thomas J. O'Shea, Paul M. Cryan, E. Apple Snider, Ernest W. Valdez, Laura E. Ellison, Daniel J. Neubaum Jan 2011

Bats Of Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado: Composition, Reproduction, And Roosting Habits, Thomas J. O'Shea, Paul M. Cryan, E. Apple Snider, Ernest W. Valdez, Laura E. Ellison, Daniel J. Neubaum

Monographs of the Western North American Naturalist

We determined the bat fauna at Mesa Verde National Park (Mesa Verde) in 2006 and 2007, characterized bat elevational distribution and reproduction, and investigated roosting habits of selected species. We captured 1996 bats of 15 species in mist nets set over water during 120 nights of sampling and recorded echolocation calls of an additional species. The bat fauna at Mesa Verde included every species of bat known west of the Great Plains in Colorado, except the little brown bat (Myotis lucifugus). Some species showed skewed sex ratios, primarily due to a preponderance of males. Thirteen species of bats …

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Examining A Misapplication Of Nearest Shrucnken Centroid Classification To Investigate Book Of Mormon Authorship, Paul J. Fields, G. Bruce Schaalje, Matthew Roper Jan 2011

Examining A Misapplication Of Nearest Shrucnken Centroid Classification To Investigate Book Of Mormon Authorship, Paul J. Fields, G. Bruce Schaalje, Matthew Roper

Review of Books on the Book of Mormon 1989–2011

Review of Matthew L. Jockers, Daniela M. Witten, and Craig S. Criddle. “Reassessing authorship of the Book of Mormon using delta and nearest shrunken centroid classification.”

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A Text-Critical Comparison Of The King James New Testament With Certain Modern Translations, Lincoln H. Blumell Jan 2011

A Text-Critical Comparison Of The King James New Testament With Certain Modern Translations, Lincoln H. Blumell

Studies in the Bible and Antiquity

This article renders a text-critical comparison of the King James New Testament and select modern translations of the New Testament. Specifically, it surveys twenty-two passages in the King James New Testament that have been omitted in most modern translations. The article then clarifies and explains why these verses have been omitted and asks whether such omissions ought to be accepted. While this study demonstrates that in most cases the readings in the King James Version are inferior in a text-critical sense and that they likely represent interpolations into the biblical text, there are a few cases where the King James …

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Peripheral Wonders: Nature, Knowledge, And Enlightenment In The Eighteenth~Century Orinoco: Book Review, Laura Miller Jan 2011

Peripheral Wonders: Nature, Knowledge, And Enlightenment In The Eighteenth~Century Orinoco: Book Review, Laura Miller

Religion in the Age of Enlightenment

Margaret R. Ewalt's Peripheral Wonders: Nature, Knowledge, and Enlightenment in the Eighteenth-Century Orinoco responds to several essential topics in eighteenth-century studies, including the connections between scientific work and socioeconomic forces, the interpenetration of colonial powers and Amerindian populations, the recasting of the Enlightenment, and the variable uses of rhetoric to address print audiences. Peripheral Wonders centers on Jesuit missionary Joseph Gumilla's El Orinoco ilustrado ( 17 41, 17 45), a natural history that offers a narrative in which Catholicism and scientific inquiry mutually engage. In El Orinoco ilustrado, natural history remains informed by religious beliefs as well as local …

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Accounting For Instream Lakes When Interpolating Stream Water Chemistry Observations Jan 2011

Accounting For Instream Lakes When Interpolating Stream Water Chemistry Observations

Journal of Spatial Hydrology

Direct monitoring of stream water chemistry is an increasingly important tool for securing stream water quality and assessing stream ecological functioning as it relates to overall ecosystem health. Such monitoring is often discontinuous in spatial extent and, thus, needs to be interpolated at unsampled locations if the desired end product is a continuous map of stream water chemistry. Recently there have been major advances in the use and development of geostatistical methods (such as kriging) for interpolating between observations of stream water chemistry within stream networks. This study investigated the influence of distance definition on interpolation of synoptically collected stream …

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Spatial And Tidal Variations Of Physico-Chemical Parameters In The Lower Gangetic Delta Region, West Bengal, India Jan 2011

Spatial And Tidal Variations Of Physico-Chemical Parameters In The Lower Gangetic Delta Region, West Bengal, India

Journal of Spatial Hydrology

The lower stretch of Gangetic delta in the Indian sub-continent is noted for its rich mangrove biodiversity, natural calamities, and livelihood-supporting matrix of millions of people and is the only mangrove base of Royal Bengal tiger (Panthera tigris tigris) in the planet Earth. The present trend of industrialization, urbanization and construction of barrage in the upstream zone has changed the landscape of the deltaic complex and the characteristics of the aquatic sub-system have also changed accordingly. This ecosystem offers an ideal site to study a number of physico-chemical parameters in relation to changing scenario of the region. The presence of …

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More Light? Biblical Criticism And Enlightenment Attitudes, Norman Vance Jan 2011

More Light? Biblical Criticism And Enlightenment Attitudes, Norman Vance

Religion in the Age of Enlightenment

Goethe's dying words-his request for Mehr Licht, more light in the darkened sickroom-were meant literally, but they were immediately given metaphorical significance. What did they signify? Did they imply Olympian confidence that more intellectual light would keep flooding in-or frustration and despair at the lack of it? A similar ambiguity is reflected in the history of biblical criticism, an archetypal Enlightenment enterprise that somehow failed to obey the rules and deliver as hoped and failed to obey the rules, despite all the dry light shed upon it. When Jurgen Habermas responded to the award of the Adorno Prize in …

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"This Interesting Female Shone As The Morning Star": Protestant Missions, American Indian Schoolgirls, And The Rhetoric Of True Womanhood, Elizabeth J. Thompson Jan 2011

"This Interesting Female Shone As The Morning Star": Protestant Missions, American Indian Schoolgirls, And The Rhetoric Of True Womanhood, Elizabeth J. Thompson

Religion in the Age of Enlightenment

During the settlement era of the English colonies in North America, narratives that expressed hopefulness about the assimilation of Indians often did so through tropes of intermarriage. From William Byrd to Thomas Jefferson, writers fantasized that the most obvious, effective, and nonviolent solution to the ongoing Indian problem could have been-even should have been-intermarriage. Writers, however, seldom suggested their contemporary readers actually seize on this solution. Instead, the overwhelming majority cast such panaceas in the distant past, while a few imagined them taking place in the remote future. Almost all of them ignored actual intermarriage taking place between white men …

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“Mutual Comfort”: Courtly Love And Companionate Marriage In The Poetry Of Sir Philip Sidney And Edmund Spenser, Amanda Taylor Jan 2011

“Mutual Comfort”: Courtly Love And Companionate Marriage In The Poetry Of Sir Philip Sidney And Edmund Spenser, Amanda Taylor

Quidditas

The interaction between courtly love poetry and the development of companionate marriage has received little critical attention. Rather, critics of courtly love poetry focus on authorial ambition and self-presentation. This paper explores how the revision of the courtly love genre in the poetry of Sir Philip Sidney and Edmund Spenser participated within the societal transformation toward companionate marriage. The individualized female characters in their poetry shatter courtly stereotypes, but the relationship options presented either fragment the sequence, as in Sidney’s Astrophil and Stella, or enable it to drive forward to completion, as in Spenser’s Amoretti and Epithalamion. I …

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The Primitive Church, The Primitive Mind, And Methodism In The Eighteenth Century, Kathryn Stasio, Micheal J. Stasio Jan 2011

The Primitive Church, The Primitive Mind, And Methodism In The Eighteenth Century, Kathryn Stasio, Micheal J. Stasio

Religion in the Age of Enlightenment

In The Evangelist of Desire: John Wesley and the Methodists, Henry Abelove reminds his readers that Methodism was part of a larger evangelical movement that began in the 1730s but, while it grew, other sects barely sustained their numbers or disappeared entirely. Citing Frank Baker, Abelove notes that when Wesley died in 1791, Methodists owned 558 preaching houses in the British Isles, and membership totaled 72,476.1 Abelove then chronicles Wesley's ability to lead the Methodist movement, crediting much of its success to the force of Wesley's personality. Yet not all of Wesley's contemporaries found him so charming, as the anti-Methodist …

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