Broad Foundation Research Articles

Developing one-to-one contemporary trumpet teaching strategies through peer observation and collaborative reflection

Generally, one-to-one music lessons in tertiary settings are delivered by practicing professional musicians. While contemporary musicians draw upon a broad foundation of musical skills, they tend to develop highly specialized skills in a narrow area of performance. This may not be ideal for the one-to-one teaching studio, a situation that calls for a broad repertoire of teaching strategies tailored to individual student needs. This tension is exacerbated, as one-to-one tertiary performer-teachers are often employed on a sessional basis, and as such are offered limited opportunity to receive feedback or professional learning related to their one-to-one teaching practice. This article presents findings from a pilot study employing a peer observation and collaborative reflection approach to professional learning conducted by two contemporary trumpet performer-teachers. Similarities and differences between teaching strategies were identified in order to develop a broader range of teaching strategies that the participants might draw on in the future. In turn, the efficacy of a peer observation and collaborative reflection approach to professional learning for the participants is discussed.

Embedding built heritage values in architectural design education

Continuity and change have become crucial themes for the built environment and heritage buildings; also in the education and practice of architects. Embedding built heritage values into studio-based design education is a daunting new challenge that demands new didactic perspectives and tools. To address the dilemmas that come with design assignments for adaptive reuse, an experiment with new didactic analytical tools has been conducted in the Heritage & Architecture (H&A) architectural design studios at the Delft University of Technology. The analysis attempts to connect matter—physical structures—and meaning in a structured graphical process through predefined mapping exercises. Our aim is to introduce a step-by-step method for exploration that can form the foundation of values-based design from built heritage. Central to our multifaceted approach is a specially developed matrix that is meant to support design-oriented analysis of heritage buildings. This paper situates the H&A perspective on the adaptive reuse of valorised buildings within the heritage discourse and architectural design education in general and further gives insight into the didactics, the tools, their uses and initial results. After a critical reflection on our points of departure, based in an evaluation of results, peer discussion and student evaluation, we conclude that the applied methodology is instructive to the educational goals but also merits further development. One of the lessons learnt for future teaching includes allowing students freedom to discover values themselves. An important conclusion is that an earlier and broader foundation that engages the continuation of tangible and intangible heritage values in the ever-changing built environment is required in architectural educational practice.

Reliable safety characteristics of flammable gases and liquids – The database CHEMSAFE

The safety characteristics of flammable gases and liquids are required when identifying potentially explosive mixtures and taking appropriate actions concerning explosion protection. Examples are given here of the safe handling and evaluation of hazards during the processing, storage, transport, and disposal of flammable liquids and gases. The CHEMSAFE database is presented as a reliable source of safety characteristic data, and its new open-access version is introduced. CHEMSAFE currently contains assessed properties for about 3000 liquids, gases and mixtures. The lack of a broad experimental foundation in the extensive field of non-atmospheric conditions shows the need for further investigation and standardization. This article summarizes experimental evidence and estimation methods for safety characteristic data under non-atmospheric conditions pointing out current limitations. Suggestions for pre-normative research on safety data under non-atmospheric conditions are given.

Understanding firms’ relative strategic emphases: An entrepreneurial orientation explanation

Top management’s choices regarding strategic emphases (e.g., value-creation versus value-appropriation) are an important component of firms’ success. While extant research has explored the effects of strategic emphasis on firm performance, few studies have examined the factors that affect top management’s strategic emphasis choices. The study addresses this gap by examining the relationship between management’s entrepreneurial orientation and its relative strategic emphasis on value-creation versus value-appropriation. In addition, it investigates the moderating roles of relative performance, compensation strategy, and capital market patience, on the above relationship. Using a multi-source dataset of 337 Standard & Poor (S&P) 500 companies from 2007-2015, we find that entrepreneurially oriented managers tend to focus more on value-creation (e.g., new product development) over value-appropriation (e.g., advertising), but this influence is contingent on, at least, three factors: (1) relative firm performance, (2) compensation strategy, and (3) capital market patience. The study provides a broad theoretical foundation that explicates key factors that influence firms’ resource allocation decisions.

A Comprehensive Feature Comparison Study of Open-Source Container Orchestration Frameworks

(1) Background: Container orchestration frameworks provide support for management of complex distributed applications. Different frameworks have emerged only recently, and they have been in constant evolution as new features are being introduced. This reality makes it difficult for practitioners and researchers to maintain a clear view of the technology space. (2) Methods: we present a descriptive feature comparison study of the three most prominent orchestration frameworks: Docker Swarm, Kubernetes, and Mesos, which can be combined with Marathon, Aurora or DC/OS. This study aims at (i) identifying the common and unique features of all frameworks, (ii) comparing these frameworks qualitatively and quantitatively with respect to genericity in terms of supported features, and (iii) investigating the maturity and stability of the frameworks as well as the pioneering nature of each framework by studying the historical evolution of the frameworks on GitHub. (3) Results: (i) we have identified 124 common features and 54 unique features that we divided into a taxonomy of 9 functional aspects and 27 functional sub-aspects. (ii) Kubernetes supports the highest number of accumulated common and unique features for all 9 functional aspects; however, no evidence has been found for significant differences in genericity with Docker Swarm and DC/OS. (iii) Very little feature deprecations have been found and 15 out of 27 sub-aspects have been identified as mature and stable. These are pioneered in descending order by Kubernetes, Mesos, and Marathon. (4) Conclusion: there is a broad and mature foundation that underpins all container orchestration frameworks. Likely areas for further evolution and innovation include system support for improved cluster security and container security, performance isolation of GPU, disk and network resources, and network plugin architectures.

The Great Delusion: Liberal Dreams and International Realities by John J. Mearsheimer

Reviewed by: The Great Delusion: Liberal Dreams and International Realities by John J. Mearsheimer Jude P. Dougherty MEARSHEIMER, John J. The Great Delusion: Liberal Dreams and International Realities. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 2018. xi + 313 pp. John J. Mearsheimer is a political theorist and international relations scholar who holds the Wendell Harrison Distinguished Service Professorship at the University of Chicago. The book is an indictment of post-Cold War United States foreign policy. Mearsheimer tells us, “When I began this book ten years ago, I was interested in why United States foreign policy in the post-Cold War period was so prone to failure. I was especially interested in explaining America’s fiascoes in the greater Middle East.” He finds that in the aftermath of the Cold War, the U.S. adopted a profoundly liberal foreign policy dedicated to turning as many countries as possible into liberal democracies, that is, [End Page 609] to remake the world in its own image. It was driven by an idealistic assumption: “The freedom we prize is not for us alone but is the right of all mankind.” Unfortunately, in implementing that policy under Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, Washington has played a key role in sowing death and destruction throughout the Middle East. Far from promoting cooperation and peace, liberal policy has brought instability and conflict. Exploring the foundations of liberalism, Mearsheimer contrasts liberalism and its assumptions with what he calls nationalism, the recognition that there are nations each with its own culture. First principles are important. It matters how one understands nature and human nature. Rhetorically, he asks, “Are men and women social beings above all else, or does it make more sense to emphasize their individuality? Nation states, [he answers,] reflect the fact that human beings are primarily social beings who have fundamental views on what constitutes the good life. Liberalism plays down that social nature to the point of almost ignoring it by treating individuals as atomistic players.” Furthermore, liberals ignore the geographic element, which creates a social milieu that is foreign to others. Jeremy Bentham may have called natural rights “rhetorical nonsense,” but nationalists, embracing the concept of “natural rights,” are skeptical of positive rights, which can be both conferred and taken away by a rudderless state. Nationalists, perhaps better called realists, maintain that the state should involve itself as little as possible in personal and family life. In common, they resist government attempts at social engineering in contrast to the liberal propensity to do so. Mearsheimer presents himself as personally committed to liberal democracy. He writes, “I define democracy as a form of government with a broad foundation in which citizens get to choose their leaders in periodic elections. Those leaders then write and implement the rules that govern the polity. A liberal state thus defined privileges the rights of citizens and protects them through laws.” Mearsheimer pursues his analysis under titles such as “The Limits and Perils of Social Engineering,” “The Costs of Ignoring Geopolitics,” and “Liberal Blindness.” He shows that the liberal worldview dominated the thinking of the Bush and Obama administrations, under which U.S. foreign policy supported the expansion of the European Union and NATO into Eastern Europe. The United States and its allies, he finds, are mainly responsible for the ongoing crisis in the Ukraine. “The taproot of the trouble is NATO’s expansion, and its larger strategy to move all of Eastern Europe, including Ukraine, out of Russia’s orbit and integrate that territory into the West.” After the collapse of the Soviet Union, historian and diplomat George Kennan, who supported so-called containment policy during the Cold War, advised against the expansion of NATO to Russia’s frontiers. In a 1998 interview, as quoted by Mearsheimer, he said, “I think it is a tragic [End Page 610] mistake. There is no reason for it whatsoever. No one is threatening anyone else.” In short, in Mearsheimer’s view, Russia and the West have been operating with totally different handbooks. Putin and his compatriots have been thinking and acting as realists, whereas Washington remains adhered to progressive liberal ideas about United States hegemony. It is clear that the liberal...

Thomas Aquinas's Presentation of Christ as Teacher

Thomas Aquinas's Presentation of Christ as Teacher Michael S. Hahn THE PRESENT STUDY examines Thomas Aquinas's presentation of Christ as teacher, as outlined in his treatise on Christ in the Tertia pars of the Summa theologiae. In comparison with other aspects of his theology, this theme could appear to be of negligible significance. Thomas himself devotes only a handful of articles to its consideration,1 and insofar as none of these has proven controversial, they have garnered scant attention in Aquinas scholarship.2 The topic has been profitably explored in a recent monograph by Paweł [End Page 57] Klimczak, but there the Summa's treatment is largely set aside in favor of the commentary lectures on Matthew and John.3 There is much to recommend about Klimczak's approach, as Thomas's com-mentaries are indeed rich and insightful, closely engaging with and illuminating the biblical text. Nonetheless, there is validity to the concern, implicit in the observation of Richard Schenk, that the questions devoted to the mysteries of Christ's life in the Tertia pars—and by extension, certain doctrinal considerations that underlie these questions—have been too long passed over by commentators and Aquinas scholars alike.4 The situation has improved in the past few decades, led in part by Schenk and his fellow Dominicans, especially Jean-Pierre Torrell;5 yet on the subject of the Summa's treatment of the doctrina Christi, there remains a clear need for further focused scholarly attention. From the outset, acknowledgment must be made of the relative unremarkability of this material, if taken in isolation from its surrounding context. It does provide a concise [End Page 58] overview of an important office exercised by Christ, as teacher or rabbi, against the broader background of the Old Testament prophetic heritage. And, in doing so, it shows a profound attentiveness to the witness of Scripture concerning Christ's preaching activity, and its relation to his larger mission as the savior, God incarnate. However, the chief value of these reflections ultimately lies in their embeddedness within Thomas's broader Christology, which they reprise and refract, capturing his distinctive emphases on the person and work of Christ, while at the same time advancing them according to a particular trajectory. Indeed, what holds for this material holds for the treatise on Christ at large. One finds Thomas closely engaging with Scripture, especially the Gospels; one finds him focused on soteriological concerns, based on the conviction that Christ's teaching and his work of salvation are inextricably linked; one finds him attending to the wisdom of what God has done in Christ; finally, one finds him honing an incarnational grammar that elucidates the importance of who and what Christ is, as God, as Word, as human, and as savior. In light of these features, Thomas's presentation of Christ as teacher serves as a useful vantage for his reflections in the Summa on the person and work of Christ, which is the broader compass of this study. Before addressing the details of Thomas's presentation of Christ as teacher, there is need for some clarification about the scope and focus of this inquiry, which is, at least initially, fairly specific. Beyond this, there is need for contextualization of this presentation, with regard both to Thomas's larger treatise on Christ, and to some earlier material in the Summa that it presupposes and builds upon, pertaining to the prerequisites for Christ's success as teacher. With this broader foundation in place, a more focused analysis of Thomas's presentation of Christ's teaching can proceed, leading finally to a consideration of several salient ways in which this presentation serves to illuminate the interests and goals of Thomas's Christology, and of his theology more broadly. [End Page 59] I. What "Christ as Teacher" Could Be, and What It Is for Thomas Within medieval theology, the theme of Christ as teacher is most often associated with Thomas's contemporary Bonaventure6 and, in turn, with the early Augustine,7 both of whom were concerned to provide an account of human knowing that is centered on Christ, as God...

Molecular phylogeny and evolution of world Tachinidae (Diptera)

We reconstructed phylogenetic relationships within the diverse parasitoid fly family Tachinidae using four nuclear loci (7800 bp) and including an exceptionally large sample of more than 500 taxa from around the world. The position of the earthworm-parasitizing Polleniinae (Calliphoridae s.l.) as sister to Tachinidae is strongly supported. Our analyses recovered each of the four tachinid subfamilies and most recognized tribes, with some important exceptions in the Dexiinae and Tachininae. Most notably, the tachinine tribes Macquartiini and Myiophasiini form a clade sister to all other Tachinidae, and a clade of Palpostomatini is reconstructed as sister to Dexiinae + Phasiinae. Although most nodes are well-supported, relationships within several lineages that appear to have undergone rapid episodes of diversification (basal Dexiinae and Tachininae, Blondeliini) were poorly resolved. Reconstructions of host use evolution are equivocal, but generally support the hypothesis that the ancestral host of tachinids was a beetle and that subsequent host shifts to caterpillars may coincide with accelerated diversification. Evolutionary reconstructions of reproductive strategy using alternative methods were incongruent, however it is most likely that ancestral tachinids possessed unincubated, thick shelled eggs from which incubated eggs evolved repeatedly, potentially expanding available host niches. These results provide a broad foundation for understanding the phylogeny and evolution of this important family of parasitoid insects. We hope it will serve as a framework to be used in concert with morphology and other sources of evidence to revise the higher taxonomic classification of Tachinidae and further explore their evolutionary history and diversification.

The First Annual Meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, 1971: Reflections Approaching the 50th Anniversary of the Society's Formation.

The formation of the Society for Neuroscience in 1969 was a scientific landmark, remarkable for the conceptual transformation it represented by uniting all fields touching on the nervous system. The scientific program of the first annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, held in Washington, DC in 1971, is summarized here. By reviewing the scientific program from the vantage point of the 50th anniversary of the Society for Neuroscience, the trajectory of research now and into the future can be tracked to its origins, and the impact that the founding of the Society has had on basic and biomedical science is evident. The broad foundation of the Society was firmly cast at this first meeting, which embraced the full spectrum of science related to the nervous system, emphasized the importance of public education, and attracted the most renowned scientists of the day who were drawn together by a common purpose and eagerness to share research and ideas. Some intriguing areas of investigation discussed at this first meeting blossomed into new branches of research that flourish today, but others dwindled and have been largely forgotten. Technological developments and advances in understanding of brain function have been profound since 1971, but the success of the first meeting demonstrates how uniting scientists across diversity fueled prosperity of the Society and propelled the vigorous advancement of science.

Дорогие дети, бедные матери

Новая книга Анны Шадриной «Дорогие дети. Сокращение рождаемости и рост «цены» материнства в XXI веке», опубликованная издательством «Новое литературное обозрение» в мае 2018 г. была награждена премией «ЛибМиссия» в номинации «Аналитика». Эта книга не является строго научной, академической, хотя базируется на большом теоретическом материале, автор хорошо знакома с научной литературой. Она не является и публицистической, хотя может быть интересна широкому кругу читателей. Как и в своей предыдущей книге, Анна Шадрина пытается осмыслить свой личный опыт: на этот раз сложных отношений с матерью и рефлексию по поводу того, хочет ли она сама стать матерью. В рецензии анализируются основные идеи автора книги по поводу того, насколько в современном мире высоки требования к матерям, как они переживают это давление, как понимается сегодня понятие «ответственного материнства». При этом большое внимание уделяется описанию соотношения биологического и социального в материнстве. Кроме научной литературы автор книги использует метод самонаблюдения, она подробно иллюстрирует свои соображения, базируясь на художественных фильмах, сериалах, художественной литературе. Не все главы книги представляются одинаково убедительными, тем не менее, «Дорогие дети» представляют существенный интерес для социологов, психологов, демографов, специалистов в области гендерных исследований.

Far-infrared synchrotron-based spectroscopy of CH3SH from 50 to 560 cm−1: Near-free-rotor torsion-rotation structure and torsion-vibration interactions

Analysis of torsion-rotation structure in the far-infrared Fourier transform synchrotron spectrum of CH332SH recorded from 50 to 560 cm−1 at the Far-Infrared Beamline of the Canadian Light Source has been extended to higher near-free rotor torsional states reaching up into the region of the small-amplitude vibrations. A variety of sub-bands has been assigned for torsional quantum number up to vt = 5, expanding the database of ground-state energy term values to higher K and vt levels to provide a broad foundation for associated investigations of the vibrational spectrum. The origins of the high-vt sub-states fit quite well to a pattern of free-rotor parabolic curves as a function of K, but with a lower value of the torsional constant F than obtained from previous global analysis of lower-vt data. Numerous resonances perturbing and mixing coupled near-degenerate sub-states have been observed, arising from interactions both within the ground state and between ground and excited vibrational levels.

‘To the Nomadic State’: riding the rails to globalisation in Hawthorne’s The House of the Seven Gables

ABSTRACTIn this artice, I explore how Hawthorne addresses the relationship between spatial and social mobility in his depictions of railroads, and I partly focus on the chapter in The House of the Seven Gables in which Clifford and Hepzibah travel by train. Clifford’s reaction to the new spatialisation the railroad augured encapsulates one of the novels’ central concerns – how travel and mobility will eviscerate, or emancipate us from, social bonds. For Hawthorne, the not so celestial railroad is an emblem not only of modernity, but secularisation, class destabilisation, and what we might see as a form of proto-nomadisation. By nomadisation, I refer to some of the spatial effects of globalisation at this stage of its development, in which local homes, traditions, economies, and identities are increasingly supplanted by interconnected, uprooted, and transient identities, and space and time become increasingly entangled and compressed. Toward the end of the article, I address the connection between nomadism and the loss of home – emblematised by the railroad – and the annihilation of space through time.I propose that in House Hawthorne stages a series of contests that gauge the material and ontological implications of rail travel in ways that display his ambivalence about both progress and tradition. At stake is whether the railroad, which connects all places at once (replacing nature), undermines the fixity of real property (houses that should be homes). Partly because land is neither fungible nor movable, Clifford avers that ‘what we call real estate – the solid ground to build a house on – is the broad foundation on which nearly all the guilt in the world rests.’ By the end of the 1840s, however, that solid ground or immovable object had begun to meet the unstoppable forces that the railroad represented.

Woman-centered care 2.0: Bringing the concept into focus.

INTRODUCTIONWoman-centered care has become a midwifery concept with implied meaning. In this paper we aim to provide a clear conceptual foundation of woman-centered care for midwifery science and practice.METHODSAn advanced concept analysis was undertaken. At the outset, a systematic search of the literature was conducted in PubMed, OVID and EBSCO. This was followed by an assessment of maturity of the retrieved data. Principle-based evaluation was done to reveal epistemological, pragmatic, linguistic and logic principles, that attribute to the concept. Summative conclusions of each respective component and a detailed analysis of conceptual components (antecedents, attributes, outcomes, boundaries) resulted in a definition of woman-centered care.RESULTSEight studies were selected for analyses. In midwifery, woman-centered care has both a philosophical and a pragmatic meaning. There is strong emphasis on the woman-midwife relationship during the childbearing period. The concept demonstrates a dual and equal focus on physical parameters of pregnancy and birth, and on humanistic dimensions in an interpersonal context. The concept is epistemological, dynamic and multidimensional. The results reveal the concept’s boundaries and fluctuations regarding equity and control. The role of the unborn child is not incorporated in the concept.CONCLUSIONAn in-depth understanding and a broad conceptual foundation of womancentered care has evolved. Now, the concept is ready for research and educational purposes as well as for practical utility.

Transcription Factor Activities Enhance Markers of Drug Sensitivity in Cancer

Transcriptional dysregulation induced by aberrant transcription factors (TF) is a key feature of cancer, but its global influence on drug sensitivity has not been examined. Here, we infer the transcriptional activity of 127 TFs through analysis of RNA-seq gene expression data newly generated for 448 cancer cell lines, combined with publicly available datasets to survey a total of 1,056 cancer cell lines and 9,250 primary tumors. Predicted TF activities are supported by their agreement with independent shRNA essentiality profiles and homozygous gene deletions, and recapitulate mutant-specific mechanisms of transcriptional dysregulation in cancer. By analyzing cell line responses to 265 compounds, we uncovered numerous TFs whose activity interacts with anticancer drugs. Importantly, combining existing pharmacogenomic markers with TF activities often improves the stratification of cell lines in response to drug treatment. Our results, which can be queried freely at dorothea.opentargets.io, offer a broad foundation for discovering opportunities to refine personalized cancer therapies.Significance: Systematic analysis of transcriptional dysregulation in cancer cell lines and patient tumor specimens offers a publicly searchable foundation to discover new opportunities to refine personalized cancer therapies. Cancer Res; 78(3); 769-80. ©2017 AACR.

Assessment the effect of pile intervals on settlement and bending moment raft analysis of piled raft foundations

Application the pile group foundation to reduce overall settlement of the foundation and also avoid a very fruitful settlement of foundations, inconsistent was carried out. In such a case, in event that the Foundation, not as a mere pile group, which as a system consisting of a broad foundation with pile Group, economic design criteria will be provided in spite of high safety. A new approach in the design of the Foundation can be introduced as the piles are just a tool to improve the parameters of soil hardness; that it can work with detachable piles from raft. Centralized arrangement of piles as the most optimal layout of piles in reducing inconsistent settlement, which is the lowest value of resulting layout in this differential settlement. Using the combination of piles connected and disconnected to form the raft, bending moment created in the raft is reduced. It also concentrated arrangements have greatest effect in reducing amount of moment applied to the raft.

Innovation and Practice Guidance and Training Pattern of the Modern Economic Management Specialty

In the face of the increasingly prominent problems in the practice of economic management, as well as the urgent employment situation, we explore a practical approach to the cultivation of entrepreneurial oriented talents in the field of economic management. In this paper, the author analyzes the characteristics and requirements of innovative and entrepreneurial talents with broad and solid theoretical foundation, multiple thinking ability, entrepreneurial spirit, and puts forward the mode of cultivating innovative talents. The traditional teaching evaluation of economic management emphasizes on the screening function of evaluation, leading to the evaluation of the content of knowledge, quantitative evaluation methods, evaluation of the subject and object simplification. To construct the teaching evaluation mode of economic management specialty, we must first establish the concept of evaluation focusing on the development of students.

Benefiting from Bertram Kinzey's legacy

In 1991, when I rolled into Gainesville, FL, to begin doctoral studies at the University of Florida's Department of Architecture, I did not know who Bertram Kinzey was. I did not realize that he was actually the reason that I, and a first wave of doctoral students, could study architectural acoustics in the United States. I entered an academic environment that had a solid and broad foundation in architectural acoustics ~ scale models, instrumentation, custom acquisition software, room acoustic measurement and subjective survey databases and faculty relationships throughout the university. This platform was part of Bertram Kinzey's legacy. I will review how I, and many others, benefited from it during our studies at the University of Florida and since then in our careers.

Engineering Microphysiological Models of Human Cardiac and Skeletal Muscle Disease

Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death in the United States. Furthermore, unforeseen cardiotoxicity is a prevalent reason for market withdrawal of pharmaceuticals. These two statistics highlight our limited mechanistic understanding of heart disease and our inadequate ability to predict the function of the human heart. One reason for these shortcomings is that researchers in academia and industry have been forced to rely on experimental models, such as rodents or basic cell culture systems, that lack relevance to native human heart tissue. In this talk, I will describe our efforts in engineering microphysiological models of human cardiac tissue as next‐generation platforms for cardiac disease modeling and drug screening. To build these platforms, our research group is focused on maturing and integrating three core technologies: (1) Enhancing the differentiation of human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) into cardiac myocytes. Because mammalian cardiac myocytes are post‐mitotic, hiPSC‐derived cardiac myocytes are the only renewable source of human cardiac myocytes that are patient‐specific, which is especially important for modeling inherited cardiomyopathies. However, current cardiac differentiation protocols rely primarily on soluble factors and have limited efficiency and consistency. Thus, we are microfabricating cellular microenvironments designed to enhance the differentiation efficiency of cardiac myocytes from hiPSCs to expand the utility of these cells. (2) Engineering cellular microenvironments that mimic key features of native cardiac tissue. Native cardiac tissue is uniaxially aligned and surrounded by a compliant extracellular matrix. We are utilizing photolithography and tunable hydrogels to mimic key physical features of native cardiac tissue and determine their independent and synergistic effects on cardiac tissue structure and function. (3) Developing quantitative assays for characterizing essential functional outputs, such as contractility. The primary function of cardiac tissue is to contract to pump blood. Cardiac myocytes contract due to the release of calcium from the sarcoplasmic reticulum, which is triggered by depolarization of the plasma membrane. We have developed quantitative assays to measure both contractility and action potential propagation to determine how these parameters are affected by different pathological stimuli. In addition to cardiac tissue, I will also describe our recent efforts in extending our technologies to skeletal muscle tissue as new platforms for modeling human skeletal myopathies. Together, these microphysiological models of human striated muscle tissue have many applications in establishing human disease mechanisms and screening the functional effects of drugs with disease and patient specificity.Support or Funding InformationThis work is funded by the American Heart Association Scientist Development Grant 16SDG29950005, the Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation Innovation Award, the USC Viterbi School of Engineering, and the USC Women in Science and Engineering.

Theory-Guided Self-Care for Mitigating Emotional Strain in Nursing: Watson’s Caring Science

Abstract Stubin's definition of Emotional Strain in nursing was clear, compelling, and based on a broad foundation of knowledge development in multiple disciplines. Emotional Strain in nurses is often evident in professional and academic settings. Approaches and interventions to address emotional strain are needed and should be readily available to nurses and nursing students in all settings. Watson's Human Caring Theory stresses self-care as foundational in maintaining the ability to effectively care for others. Conscious cultivation of theory-guided self-care within Watson's theoretical framework is one way to address emotional strain in nursing.

’n Hermeneutiek vir Teologiese interpretasie van die Bybel: Metodologiese besinning

The publication of several series of theological commentaries since the year 2000 marked theentrance of the discipline Theological interpretation of the Bible on the hermeneutical front. Alack of well-developed methodological considerations, underlying the practice of Theologicalinterpretation of the Bible has, however, handicapped the theological interpretation of Bibletexts. It is the aim of this article to contribute to the development thereof. Three meta-hermeneutical aspects that make up the broad methodological foundation of Theologicalinterpretation of the Bible, namely metaphysics, epistemology and ethics are explored.