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Assessing Biblical Spirituality In The Culture Of The Master Of Divinity Program: Implications For The Seventh-Day Adventist Theological Seminary, Jon Michael Harris

Doctor of Ministry Projects

Problem. A significant number of students in the Master of Divinity program, covering a time span from the years 2002 – 2013, have reported that they perceive that their relationship with God has either remained the same or has decreased while enrolled in the MDiv program. This academic program is sponsored by a number of employing conferences of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. A study identifying what factors are contributing to this perception of stagnant or diminished spirituality among a significant number of MDiv students would provide a basis for determining what steps can be implemented to effectively address this concern. …

Del Estacionamiento A La Plataforma: Como Integrar A Los Jovenes Adventistas De Hialeah Al Culto De Adoracion De La Iglesia, Carlos Allan Machado

Doctor of Ministry Projects

Problem. The purpose of this study was to uncover the main factors that contributed to the apathy of youth to the regular services in the Hialeah Spanish Church. The congregation was established in the late 1960’s, more than 50 years before this project. Several generations have been born and grown in the church since; yet, the church had never faced the generational challenges it was facing at the moment this project was implemented. There was a clear disconnection between the younger generations and the church activities, including Sabbath divine services. They frequently met in the church’s parking lot during the …

Toward A Biblical Model Of Culturally Appropriate Persuasion For The Evangelistic Mission Of The Seventh-Day Adventist Church In Imo State, Nigeria, Aloysius Ntiwunka

Doctor of Ministry Projects

Problem. The Seventh-day Adventist Church is a worldwide denomination, but it is one of the smallest in Imo State, Nigeria, even though 90% of the population is Christian, Protestant and Catholic, with only 2% Muslim. Since most of the population of Imo State is Christian, the common belief in God should open the opportunity to present the unique teachings of the Seventh-day Adventist Church; namely, the message of the Three Angels of Revelation. However, numerous approaches to evangelism do not seem to have been successful in producing changes in the lives of the citizens.

Method. This project document followed a …

Plant Community Composition Of Camp Grafton Training Center (South Unit) From 1998-2013, Peter O'Brien

Natural Resources Management

A vegetation monitoring study was conducted from 1998 to 2013 at Camp Grafton South (CGS) in Eddy County, North Dakota to assess how climatic, grazing, and military training disturbance affects plant community composition. The objectives of this study were to 1) describe the prairie vegetation at CGS across three topographic positions and 2) explore any shifts in plant community composition in correlation with time. Frequency data was collected at 45 randomly selected transects on lowland, midland, and upland grassland plant communities on native prairie. Plant communities were compared using non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMS) ordination. NMS ordination showed that the three …

A Comparison Of Rangeland Monitoring Techniques For Relative Species Abundance In Northern Mixed Grass Prairie, Aaron Field

Natural Resources Management

Clipping by species is one of the most accurate methods available for determining species composition. However, cost and time constraints often make clipping by species impractical on any large scale. Our objective was to determine whether either of two less labor intensive methods (line point intercept, quadrat frequency frame) could provide suitable alternatives to clipping. Data was collected as part of a rangeland monitoring project on the Dakota Prairie Grasslands. Each method was used to inventory grassland plant species within the same plots, which allowed us to analyze the results for each method side by side. Our findings indicate that …

Drying And Pretreatments Affect The Nutritional And Sensory Quality Of Oyster Mushrooms, Itai Mutukwa

Natural Resources Management

The effect two drying treatments (solar and oven), three blanching treatments (no blanching, water and steam), and four chemical treatments (no chemical, lemon juice, vinegar and potassium bisulfite) on oyster mushroom quality was investigated. Sensory quality, total phenolics, total flavonoids, ergothioneine, oxygen radical absorbance capacity, moisture, mold infestation, mineral content and protein were evaluated. Among the un-blanched samples, those that were treated with lemon juice and those without any chemical pretreatment before drying had better appearance, flavor and were more generally acceptable than those with vinegar and potassium bisulfite treatments. However, when blanching was done, samples treated with potassium bisulfite …

Winter Wheat Management For Improving Soil Quality And Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Gabriel Garang Aher

Natural Resources Management

Carbon dioxide (CO2) and nitrous oxide (N2O) concentrations in the atmosphere have greatly increased in recent times. Intensive agricultural practices, combustion of fossil fuels, deforestation, and wetland drainage have been linked to increased greenhouse gases (GHG) levels. Although scientists are not unanimous in their belief that the increases in GHG is a cause behind recent global temperature rise, there is evidence that increases in GHG might directly increase global temperatures and unpredictable weather occurrences. Since human activity may be partially behind the rise in GHG emissions, it follows that changes in agricultural management might reduce the rate of GHG increases …

Leadership Strategies In Visioning And Strategic Planning For Members In Ministry In The Hamilton Seventh-Day Adventist Church, Kenneth Manders

Doctor of Ministry Projects

Problem

The Hamilton Seventh-day Adventist Church in Bermuda has over 800 church members and 170 church officers, yet only one ministry has been actively engaged in interfacing with the community. The gospel commission calls us to return to the united ministry given to our first parents, to populate the earth with children of God. It requires ministry to be conducted by all believers without distinction, from the entire world, to the entire world. Pastoral leaders are called to cast this vision and strategically plan how to develop and how to deploy church members into the community, according to their spiritual …

Optical Properties And Ensemble Characteristics Of Size Purified Silicon Nanocrystals, Joseph Bradley Miller

Materials and Nanotechnology

Nanotechnology is at the forefront of current scienti c research and nanocrystals are being hailed as the `arti cial' atoms of the 21st century. Semiconducting silicon nanocrystals (SiNCs) are prime candidates for potential commercial applications because of silicon's already ubiquitous presence in the semiconductor industry, nontoxicity and abundance in nature. For realization of these potential applications, the properties and behavior of SiNCs need to be understood and enhanced. In this report, some of the main SiNC synthesis schemes are discussed, including those we are currently experimenting with to create our own SiNCs and the one utilized to create the SiNCs …

Biomimetic Nanoclay Scaffolds For Bone Tissue Engineering, Avinash Harishchandra Ambre

Materials and Nanotechnology

Tissue engineering offers a significant potential alternative to conventional methods for rectifying tissue defects by evoking natural regeneration process via interactions between cells and 3D porous scaffolds. Imparting adequate mechanical properties to biodegradable scaffolds for bone tissue engineering is an important challenge and extends from molecular to macroscale. This work focuses on the use of sodium montmorillonite (Na-MMT) to design polymer composite scaffolds having enhanced mechanical properties along with multiple interdependent properties. Materials design beginning at the molecular level was used in which Na-MMT clay was modified with three different unnatural amino acids and further characterized using Fourier Transform Infrared …

Synthesis And Characterization Of Novel Hierarchically Functionalized Carbon Nanofibers For Energy Conversion And Storage Applications, Zhengping Zhou

Materials and Nanotechnology

Among various energy conversion and storage devices available in the market, supercapacitors are deemed as an effective, competitive solution to the increasing demand for high-power density energy-storage devices. Yet, supercapacitors usually carry relatively low energy density compared to batteries. Nanostructured electrode materials are expected being able to greatly enhance the electrochemical performance of supercapacitors. This research aims at rational synthesis and electrochemical characterization of novel hierarchically functionalized carbon nanofibers (CNFs) for use as advanced electrode materials of supercapacitors. These novel CNFs [(i.e., graphene-beaded CNFs (G/CNFs) and carbon nanotube (CNT)-grown CNFs (CNT/CNFs)] were successfully synthesized. The unique synthesis routes consist of …

Experimental Evaluation Of Multiscale Behavior Of Human Bone, Chunju Gu

Materials and Nanotechnology

Bone is the most important structural member of the human body. It has a unique hierarchical structure and its primary constituents, collagen molecules and hydroxyapatite, are arranged in a staggered pattern at nanometer scale. Osteogenesis imperfecta (OI) is an inheritable disease characterized by the fragility of bones and other tissues rich in the type I collagen. OI provides an interesting platform for investigating how alterations of collagen at the molecular level cause changes in the structure of bone. In this dissertation, multi-scale-, particularly nanometer and sub-micro scale-, behaviors of both normal and OI (putative type I) human bones have been …

New Referral Hepatitis C Protocol: The New Standard, Toby Lynn Redden

Nursing

The Gastroenterology (GI) clinic at Sanford Health anticipates an increase in patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV) based on the 2012 Centers for Disease Control (CDC) screening recommendations. With a disproportionately high prevalence in the baby-boomer population, 75% of all documented HCV cases, the CDC recommended a “one-time testing of all persons born during 1945-1965 without prior ascertainment of HCV risk” (CDC, 2012a). The purpose of this practice improvement project was to refine the existing workflow of the GI clinic when caring for and managing patients with HCV. The Plan, Do, Study, Act method was followed to improve the processes …

Implementing Clinical Practice Guidelines In Family Practice: Caring For Children With Adhd, Jason Bentley Nupdal

Nursing

The purpose of this Practice Improvement Project was to promote evidence-based practice in caring for children ages 4-18 with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in the family practice setting. The American Academy of Pediatric Clinical Practice Guidelines (CPG) and the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Health Conditions, 5th Ed. (DSM-V) diagnostic criteria for ADHD were embedded in the electronic health record (EHR) in the form of an evaluation tool/template to guide the Primary Care Providers (PCPs) in documenting evidence-based practice in the assessment, diagnosis and treatment of ADHD. Primary stakeholders are PCPs of Riverview Clinic who care for children …

Implementation Of The Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test To Improve Practice In A Rural Primary Care Clinic, Kayla Joy Thompson

Nursing

The purpose of the project was to improve patient care and the clinical practice at the Barnesville Area Clinic (BAC) by introducing the providers to a guided method of evidence-based alcohol screening and brief intervention (SBI) for primary care patients. Previously, less formal methods for alcohol screening were utilized. The AUDIT with AUDIT-C modification screening form, which was created by the World Health Organization (WHO), was implemented. AUDIT is supported as an appropriate evidence-based method by the U.S. Preventative Services Task Force. Interventions were guided by the WHO's Brief Intervention Manual. The project was implemented in the Barnesville Area Clinic …

Flow Accelerated Organic Coating Degradation, Qixin Zhou

Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics

Applying organic coatings is a common and the most cost effective way to protect metallic objects and structures from corrosion. Water entry into coating-metal interface is usually the main cause for the deterioration of organic coatings, which leads to coating delamination and underfilm corrosion. Recently, flowing fluids over sample surface have received attention due to their capability to accelerate material degradation. A plethora of works has focused on the flow induced metal corrosion, while few studies have investigated the flow accelerated organic coating degradation. Flowing fluids above coating surface affect corrosion by enhancing the water transport and abrading the surface …

Characterizing The Operation Of A Dual-Fuel Diesel-Hydrogen Engine Near The Knock Limit, Lee Kersting

Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics

A CAT C6.6 turbocharged diesel engine was operated in dual-fuel diesel-hydrogen mode. Hydrogen was inducted into the intake and replaced a portion of the diesel fuel. Hydrogen was added across multiple engine speeds and loads until reaching the knock limit, identified by a threshold on the rate of in-cylinder pressure rise. In-cylinder pressure and emissions data were recorded and compared to diesel-only operation. Up to 74% H2 substitution for diesel fuel was achieved. Hydrogen addition increased thermal efficiency up to 32.4%, increased peak in-cylinder pressure up to 40.0%, increased the maximum rate of pressure rise up to 281%, advanced injection …

Ultra-Violet Degradation Behavior Of Polymeric Backsheets Of Photovoltaic Modules, Fei Liu

Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics

This study is designed to understand the ultra-violet (UV) degradation of polymeric backsheets used in PV modules. Commercial photovoltaic backsheets from four suppliers were UV-aged for up to 3000 hours. The aged samples were tested using optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), shrinkage rate test, color measurements, UV-Vis-NIR, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and dielectrical tests to study the microstructural, color, chemical and electrical properties. Yellowness Index (YI) and Delta E were used to quantify the color changes which were found in strong correlation with FTIR results. The characters of the surface cracks generated were found to be affected by …

Modeling And Optimal Control Of Curvatures In Ipmc's, Smriti Tripathi

Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics

There has been a growing number of research activities in the area of using smart materials in day to day lives because of their ability to serve both as sensors and actuators. Ionic Polymer Metal Composites (IPMCs) are one of such materials which have been extensively studied in the past few decades to not only understand its working principles but to also model and control their curvature. The problem of building an electromechanical model in order to explain the functioning of IPMCs under favorable and unfavorable conditions is still unsolved. This work proposes a control oriented electromechanical model for induced …

Simulation Of A Sudden Expansion Using Axis Symmetric Modeling For Newtonian Blood Flow, Christopher Schmit

Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics

This paper examines the flow of a Newtonian modeled blood through axisymmetric sudden expansion geometry. Reynolds number of 500, 2000, 3500, 5000, and 6500 are examined using laminar, shear stress transport, and base line analysis solvers using ANSYS 14.0. Simulation data sets are then examined against experimental data sets provided by the FDA. Results of the solution sets indicate that the laminar case set (Re = 500) is well predicted by the laminar solution set, while the fully turbulent flow (Re = 6500) is well predicted by the shear stress transport solver. Simulation and comparison of transitional cases lead to …

Evaluation Of Mechanical Properties Of Al-Cu Cold Sprayed And Alloy 625 Wire Arc Sprayed Coatings, Milad Bashirzadeh

Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics

This study examines microstructural-based mechanical properties of Al-Cu composite deposited by cold spraying and wire arc sprayed nickel-based Alloy 625 coating using numerical modeling and experimental techniques. The microhardness and elastic modulus of samples were determined using the Knoop hardness technique. Hardness in both transverse and longitudinal directions on the sample cross-sections has been measured. An image-based finite element simulation algorithm was employed to determine the mechanical properties through an inverse analysis. In addition mechanical tests including, tensile, bending, and nano-indentation tests were performed on Alloy 625 wire arc sprayed samples. Overall, results from the experimental tests are in relatively …

Numerical Simulations Of Incompressible And Compressible Transitional Turbine Flows, Jamison Jared Huber

Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics

Accurate and reliable turbulence and transition models are needed for prediction heating loads in the hot section of the turbine, and predicting aerodynamic losses when designing new blade profiles. Two dimensional compressible flow simulations were conducted at North Dakota State University on a first stage turbine vane design. Surface pressure results were compared with experimental data collected at the University of North Dakota. Results showed an under prediction of the surface pressure on the suction surface of the vane. Two and three dimensional compressible flow simulations were also conducted at NDSU on an incident tolerant blade design to look at …

Equipping Church Members For Contextualized Discipleship In Osaka-Central Seventh-Day Adventist Church, West Conference, Japan, Jong Hyun Ryu

Doctor of Ministry Projects

Problem. The Seventh-day Adventist church in Japan has been on a steady decline in recent decades, at best maintaining the status quo. Although several factors may be responsible for this condition, a major factor for this is the failure of the church and its message in connecting with the Japanese culture and people in a relevant, meaningful way. The church seems not to be listening and observing the trends as she continues to apply evangelistic models designed by and for the Western nations to the Japanese. Consequently, despite the enormous funds and good programs, the church in Japan is not …

Discipleship Process As A Catalyst For Mission Orientation In Chestnut Hill Seventh-Day Adventist Church, Tara J. Vincross

Doctor of Ministry Projects

Problem. A lack of discipleship of members in the local church contributes to insufficient spiritual vitality for missional involvement. This in turn plays a part in the plateau or decline of the church. The wide-spread problem of plateaued and declining churches in North America indicates that correct beliefs may not be enough for people to realize spiritual growth. This has been true of the Chestnut Hill Seventh-day Adventist Church, which was plateaued and at times declining, over the last six decades since moving to its current location. An accessible discipleship curriculum focused on individual transformation in devotional life and missional …

Applying The Biblical Practice Of Meditation Among Adventist Frontier Mission Employees, Conrad Vine

Doctor of Ministry Projects

Problem. Personal feedback from AFM personnel indicated deep uncertainty as to the legitimate basis for, and practice of, meditation within the Bible in general and the counsels of White in particular. The ongoing debates within the SDA Church concerning meditation and the lack of formal denominational guidance on how to meditate exacerbated the uncertainty. As a consequence, primary devotional habits for many employees primarily revolved around to prayer, Bible study and corporate worship. Yet there remained a reported hunger on the part of many employees for a more meaningful sense of God’s presence in their lives. The problem therefore was …

Faith Development Within The Campus-Based Youth Ministry Model Of The English Oaks Adventist Church, Scott R. Ward

Doctor of Ministry Projects

Problem. Experts have stated that youth ministry for the past 25 years has revolved around a fun and games methodology which did not result in the youths continued participation in ministry activities. During this same time period under the fun and games ministry orientation, more than half of evangelical youth involved in youth ministries have left or are leaving the church once they graduate from high school, including those of the Seventh-day Adventist denomination.

Method. A faith development program was implemented that involved analyzing the spirituality of the youth leader and its impact on his ability to lead youths spiritually …

Longitudinal Plasmonic Detection Of Glucose Using Gold Nanorods, Ching An Peng, Sushil Pachpinde

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 1

Gold nanorod-based affinity sensors were developed utilizing concanavalin-A/dextran/glucose chemistry to detect glucose. The gold nanorods, synthesized using the seed-mediated method, were first coated with dextran sulfate. The dextran sulfate coating changed the local refractive index, which was observed as a red shift in the longitudinal plasmon band. After the addition of 8 μM concanavalin-A, gold nanorod aggregates were formed as shown by TEM analysis. The corresponding UV-Vis spectrum peak wavelength showed a red shift from 701 nm of dextran sulfate coated gold nanorods to 718 nm of concanavalin-A promoted gold nanorod aggregates. The gold nanorod aggregates were dissociated when 12 …

Taxonomy Of The Allium Cernuum Complex In Appalachia, Rodney David Dever

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This study incorporates morphological, anatomical, common garden and breeding system research to investigate whether Allium allegheniense and A. oxyphilum merit species status distinct from A. cernuum. Herbarium label information was recorded for 1,065 specimens and twelve quantitative and qualitative morphological traits were analyzed using univariate and multivariate techniques. The number and arrangement of scape vascular bundles was observed from nine populations (three from each species). Scapes were sectioned freehand, stained, and examined via light microscopy.;Forty-five plants of the Allium cernuum complex were collected in West Virginia and North Carolina for a common garden study to observe trait variation and phenology. …

A Recofigurable Tri-Band Interconnect For Future Network-On-Chip, Alexander Todd Dilello

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The scaling of CMOS feature sizes has yielded the capability of integrating heterogeneous intellectual properties (IPs) like graphics processing units (GPUs), digital signal processors (DSPs) and central processing units (CPUs) on a single die. The collection of multiple IPs on a single die presents a problem of reliable communication due to congestion. The infrastructure that facilitates and manages communication among IPs is referred to as a network-on-chip (NoC). Its ultimate goal should be low latency with negligible power and area consumption. Unfortunately, as CMOS feature sizes have been scaling smaller, this has exacerbated latency and signal degradation due to increasing …

Legal Origin Theory [Book Review], Dana Neacsu

Law Faculty Publications

In this volume, Simon Deakin, Professor of Law at the University of Cambridge and Katharina Pistor, the Michael I Sovem Professor of Law at Columbia Law School, considered the merits of Legal Origin Theory (LOT) in three fields of inquiry: the study of comparative law, the analysis of the relation between law and markets, and the understanding of the role of legal systems in social ordering. In their succinct and provocative introduction, Deakin and Pistor discuss the evolution of this legal theory without shying away from its controversial nature.