Mosaic Program Research Articles

Exploring Intervention Sustainment and Intervention Spread Following a Randomized Clinical Trial of the MOSAIC Program.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12310-022-09555-w.

A Church and Its Charms

Meletios was exiled for 13 of his 20 years as bishop of Antioch, and at times as many as three other bishops claimed the Antiochene episcopacy during his tenure. Still, in an encomium for Meletios delivered in 386, his protegé John Chrysostom claimed that Meletios managed to enchant the whole city: “Blessed is that man, because he was strong enough to cast such a love charm (ϕίλτρον) on all of you.” John delivered this encomium in a large cruciform church that Meletios campaigned to build. In the church were burials: probably Babylas, a martyr bishop who had died in the Decian persecution about 150 years before, and Meletios himself, interred either in the same grave or a neighboring one. The next year, Dorys the presbyter would fund the pavement of the church’s floors, carpeting them in rich geometric designs and clean black-and-white dedicatory inscriptions. Using Sara Ahmed’s work on “the cultural politics of emotion,” this article analyzes the cruciform church through three different modes: its architecture, an encomium delivered there, and its mosaic program. The Meletian faction forged alliances with material and space to produce and manage affects of security, love, and pleasure in their communities. These spatial, discursive, and material enchantments encouraged the more decisive affiliation of fourth-century Antiochene Christians with Meletios’s community instead of with his competitors’ communities.

The artistic program of the Baptistery of San Giovanni in Dante’s liturgical imagination

This paper 1 re-examines the relationship between Dante’s Commedia and the Baptistery of San Giovanni from an art historical perspective. Drawing on –– and then departing from –– earlier work by Dante scholars who described figurative echoes between the Commedia and the Baptistery’s mosaic program, this article reconceptualizes the relationship between the two as not only figurative, but also liturgical. Using the texts of two extant medieval Florentine libri ordinales to reconstruct the liturgy of Holy Saturday, I document the ways in which the decorative mosaic imagery of the Baptistery is reflected in and reinforced by the multisensory performance of the baptismal rite. I argue further that Dante ekphrastically reimagines this rite in cantos 1–2 and 29–33 of Purgatorio. By exploring Dante’s liturgical imagination vis-à-vis the multivalent space of the Baptistery, this paper articulates and illuminates the profound interconnections that can exist between medieval art, architecture, liturgy, and poetry.

Promoting Classroom Social and Academic Functioning among Children at Risk for ADHD: The MOSAIC Program

ABSTRACT Objective: Social and academic functioning are linked in elementary school, and both are frequently impaired in children with elevated symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). This study evaluated the Making Socially Accepting Inclusive Classrooms (MOSAIC) program, a classroom intervention to support children’s social and academic functioning, especially for children at risk for ADHD. Teachers delivered MOSAIC practices to the whole class and applied some strategies more frequently to target children selected for elevated ADHD symptoms and peer impairment. Method: Participants were 34 general education teachers (grades K-5) and 558 children in their classrooms, randomized to MOSAIC or to a typical practice control group for one academic year. In the fall and spring, we assessed (a) peers’ sociometric judgments of children, (b) children’s self-report of supportive relationships with teachers and peers, and (c) teachers’ report of children’s social and academic competencies and impairments. Results: Regarding whole class effects, relative to control group children, children in MOSAIC classrooms (target and non-target children) were rated by teachers in spring as having better competencies and lower impairment, after controlling for fall functioning. There were no main effects of MOSAIC on peer sociometrics or child perceptions of supportive relationships. Target status moderated some effects such that, in spring, target children in MOSAIC perceived greater support from their teachers but received poorer sociometrics than did target children in control classrooms. Conclusions: We discuss the difficulty in changing peers’ perceptions of children with ADHD symptoms, even in the presence of improvements in other aspects of social and academic functioning.

Discover ways to support students with ASD during the pandemic

When classes went online this spring, programs for students on the spectrum had to quickly move to remote operations as well. Review what officials at the Autism Initiative at Mercyhurst and the Mosaic Program at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga did to keep student support at a high level during the pandemic. Whether your institution has a program for students with autism spectrum disorder or not, their strategies could work for you.

Consider ways to support students with ASD during the pandemic

When classes went online this spring, programs for students on the spectrum had to quickly move to remote operations as well. Review what officials at the Autism Initiative at Mercyhurst and the Mosaic Program at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga did to keep student support at a high level during the pandemic. Whether your institution has a program for students with ASD or not, their strategies could work for you.

Classroom Strategies Designed to Reduce Child Problem Behavior and Increase Peer Inclusiveness: Does Teacher Use Predict Students’ Sociometric Ratings?

Establishing a positive peer climate in the elementary school classroom is an important goal for educators. This pilot study examined if children’s liking and disliking of their classroom peers are predicted by teachers’ use of practices designed to address child disruptive behaviors that are off-putting to peers, and practices designed to enhance peer inclusivity. Whereas teacher practices to foster good peer relationships are useful for all students, they are particularly important for those with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms, as these children are often poorly regarded by classmates. Thus, we explored the moderating effect of child ADHD symptom status. Participants were 194 children (grades K-4) in the classrooms of 12 teachers. The teachers were helping our study team revise the Making Socially Accepting Inclusive Classrooms (MOSAIC) program for use in general education classrooms. The MOSAIC program contains a set of teacher strategies to encourage students’ increased liking and decreased disliking of one another, which was measured by sociometric ratings. Teachers’ use of MOSAIC strategies was observed and self-reported over a school year. Results indicated that teacher practices designed to improve children’s classroom behaviors, as well as practices that encouraged peers to be more inclusive, each predicted children receiving better sociometric ratings at the end of the year after accounting for ratings at the beginning of the year. Some practices appeared uniquely efficacious for children with elevated ADHD symptoms, whereas others were useful for all children but had accentuated benefits for typical children. Implications for practitioners are discussed.

Offer a reverse career fair to support students with ASD

Jaime Butler, campus coordinator for the Mosaic Program at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, answered questions about the program's Reverse Career Fair, an event designed to help students with autism spectrum disorder find jobs.

Add these tools to your ASD toolbox

ST. PAUL, MINN. — Chances are you're seeing a lot more students with autism spectrum disorder on your campus than you did in years past. Among the age group of students entering college now, the prevalence of individuals with ASD is about one in 110 people, said Michelle Rigler, director of the Disability Resource Center and the MoSAIC program at the University of Tennessee‐Chattanooga. Building a toolbox can help you serve students with ASD from their adjustment to college to their successful job hunt.

The Mosaics of the Eastern Arch of Hagia Sophia in Constantinople: Program and Liturgy

The mosaics of the eastern arch of Hagia Sophia in Constantinople were known only from drawings and watercolors until 1989, when two of these images—the Virgin and St. John the Baptist—were uncovered by conservators working for the Istanbul Archaeological Museum. The images confirm the accuracy of the nineteenth-century drawings by the Fossati brothers, who had covered them with plaster. The eastern arch mosaic program was planned during the reigns of the Byzantine patriarch Philotheos Kokkinos (1353–54, 1364–76) and the emperors John VI Kantakouzenos (1347–54) and John V Palaiologos (1341–91) by a circle of intellectuals who were well aware of new trends in both theology and art. This article—the first publication of these mosaics—addresses how liturgical changes at Hagia Sophia, including the introduction of a new monastic-oriented typikon and the establishment of a Royal Office, affected the program of the eastern arch. Especially noteworthy is the depiction of the emperor below the Virgin of the Magnificat. Representing the emperor as part of the Royal Office in such a prominent location reinforced his political and symbolic role, underscoring imperial authority and dynastic legitimacy sanctioned by Christ. The figure of John Prodromos pointing toward the hetoimasia refers to Christ and his Second Coming, which guarantees worshippers eternal salvation. This message was especially important during the political instability and economic devastation of the late Byzantine Empire.

Improving Image Alignment in Aerial Image Mosaics via Error Estimation of Flight Attitude Parameters

A means of flight attitude parameter error estimation preprocessing is presented for the assembly of overlapping aerial image mosaics, via image registration using a pattern search method, mapped onto a GIS grid. The method presented first predicts which images will not align well from a data set, then it uses a correlation function as an optimiser within a modified Hooke and Jeeves algorithm to find a more optimal transformation function input for each image to the Mosaic program. Using this improved input, the Mosaic program will generate mosaics whose constituent images are better aligned. We demonstrate that creating more area based regions for alignment within the images, filtering them for disqualifying parameters, and using the good ones to optimise the above transformation input will improve the quality of mosaics produced by improving the alignment of these error estimate selected, difficult images. The process has been shown to group the misaligned images into the worst roughly 12% of the data. The worst case image is followed as the process takes it from an RMS error of approximately 12 pixels to within one or two pixels of perfect alignment.

International Perspectives

Regionalized level III perinatal care was implemented in Poland in 1998, but no comparative analyses of neonatal mortality and morbidity between other European regions and Poland are yet available. Given the large differences in policy and organization of health care between European countries, studying clinical outcomes within this context provides an opportunity to explore the effectiveness of regionalized care. The aim of this analysis was to compare the specific position of neonatal care in Poland with that of other European regions participating in the Models of OrganiSing Access to Intensive Care for very preterm babies (MOSAIC) project. In 1988, there were 18,798 live births in the 11 neonatal units in the Wielkopolska region; in 2003, there were 42,619 live births in the MOSAIC program from 53 neonatal units in the Wielkopolska and Lubuskie regions. There was no change in the rate of very preterm live births between 1988 and 2003, but the mortality rate among infants between 27 and 31 weeks of gestation differed significantly. The in-hospital mortality rate in the two Polish regions was higher in 2003 compared with other MOSAIC participants (35.3%and 17.3%, respectively). There was also a higher rate of congenital malformations, intraventricular hemorrhage, and periventricular leukomalacia. There were also clear differences in organization of perinatal care, with fewer level III centers per 10,000 deliveries in Polish regions compared with other European regions (0.25 and 1.33, respectively) and longer distances of neonatal transport (97 km and 29 km, respectively).

Research and application of flow visualization technique in large-scale hydraulic models

With the rapid development of computer and optical technique, as a powerful measuring method in hydrodynamics, flow visualization technique is able to get much flow field information in practical engineering. It also has an important meaning to projects and environmental areas. The image processing is the key to flow visualization for gaining flow field information. In terms of the PIV principles, the algorithm of PIV based on Fast Fourier Transformation (FFT) is studied, and the image mosaic program based on genetic algorithm has been compiled. The flow field of seabuckthorn flexible dam has been calculated and analyzed by using those methods as above-mentioned, and in the meanwhile, the application of flow visualization technique to measure the outdoor flow field has been studied exploringly, which proves that it is feasible to apply this technique to measure the large-scale outdoor flow field.

The main Chapel of the Durres Amphitheater. Decoration and chronology

This article presents the results of a 2002-3 program of excavation and survey in the Roman amphitheater of Dyrrachium (Durres, Albania), focused on the amphitheater’s main Christian chapel. Most famous for its wall mosaics, including an enigmatic depiction of the Maria Regina, the chapel has rarely been studied as a whole, within its amphitheater context. The article presents new evidence on this chapel’s architecture, painted and mosaic program, chronology and function. Typically assigned a late antique date, the chapel and its decoration, both frescoes and mosaics, may date in its entirety to the Middle Byzantine period, with significant moments of rebuilding and reoccupation through the 16th century. It is further suggested that the chapel may be a private funerary chapel, rather than a martyr’s memoria.

Empire and Apocalypse in Thessaloniki: Interpreting the Early Christian Rotunda

The monumental Rotunda in Thessaloniki was originally part of the palace complex of the emperor Galerius, who so famously persecuted Christians in the early fourth century. It was converted to a Christian church by the late fourth or early fifth century, a conversion which included the addition of a magnificent mosaic program within the dome of the Rotunda. This article both addresses the question of what this conversion meant and seeks to articulate a method for interpreting the Rotunda's archaeological remains within a local context, broadly construed. Texts produced in Thessaloniki or which were known to be objects of civic pride, such as 1 Thessalonians, an account of local fourth-century martyrdoms, and the triumphal Arch of Galerius, are used to interpret the Rotunda's conversion. This article concludes that the production and early interpretations and use of the early Christian Rotunda are revolutionary in that Christians reused monumental space built by a Roman emperor who persecuted Christians. Even more, a revolution in meaning occurred because the early Christian Rotunda can be interpreted as having borrowed from an apocalyptic rhetoric that formerly subverted empire, turning this around in order to articulate a Christian Roman identity continuous with and supportive of the Roman Empire.

Dostoyevsky's Critique of the West (review)

Reviews133 the great gulf fixed between the Christian poet and his pagan "maestro." While both stress the necessity of sacrifice in the face of Mars/mors—and while both have their epic protagonists afforded a glimpse ofeternity on the brink of their fullest engagement with the works of time—Virgil finally can offer nothing more substantial than the prospect of fame. He cannot imagine any force powerful enough "to convert history's tragic signs into comic ones, history's temporary losses into eternal gains" (p. 35). What Virgil could not imagine was the sign which Dante superimposes upon Mars in order to mark not so much the transcendence of death as its total transfiguration: the Cross. Schnapp draws upon a dazzling array of patristic and medieval sources to elucidate the synthetic achievementofwhat the poet has created in the "Elysium" of his Paradiso. His fourth chapter, "Unica Spes Hominum," is a scholar's gold mine and a literary critic's tour de force where he elaborates upon the traditional exegetical and iconographie resources Dante drew on to forge his poem's response to Virgil's "darkness visible." Schnapp's erudition is exceptional, yet throughout his careful reconstruction of tradition he never loses sight of the hermeneutical concerns that drive the scholarship forward and present a compelling reading of the whole Commedia. For what the "transfiguration of history" finally means for the Christian Aeneas of Dante's poem is, according to Schnapp, an invitation to take up the cross and follow in Christ's steps—a charge delivered by Cacciaguida in the central canto (17) of the Paradiso. This entails nothing less than accepting the call to be a martyr: to live a life of sacrifice, bearing witness to a cross that signifies both God'sjudgment and redemption. In particular, it means accepting the task of writing the Commedia as a personal act of martyrdom, thus transforming a poet's words "into literary crosses, into heroic acts of public testimony and confession" (p. 11). Among the most innovative sections of Schnapp's book is the concluding chapter, in which he suggests that one model for the "architecture" of Paradise's heaven of Mars is the mosaic program found in the apse of Ravenna's Sant' Appolinare in Classe. What Dante might well have discovered in those sixthcentury mosaics, Schnapp speculates, is the symbolic form he needed to undergird the particularities of his own narrative: an iconographie meditation not only on the Transfiguration of Christ as the Exaltation of the Cross, but on the figure of the martyred bishop of Ravenna, Apollinarius, as a repraesentatio Christi. It is that figure who, to turn to the setting of Paradiso 15-18, suggests the crusader Cacciaguida, appearing to Dante at the foot of the celestial cross of Mars as a Christian warrior and calling the pilgrim to embark upon his own spiritual combat: the writing of the poem. Yale UniversityPeter S. Hawkins Dostoyevsky's Critique of the West, by Bruce K. Ward; xiv & 202 pp. Waterloo, Ontario: Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 1986, $34.00. 134Philosophy and Literature Dostoyevsky critics commonly draw a genius/ratbag distinction (ratbag being an Australian term for a tiresome and unbalanced fanatic). As a novelist Dostoyevsky was a genius, gifted with profound insights into human nature, religious belief, and so forth. As a journalist he was a ratbag, the purveyor of a villainous stew ofreactionary Russian chauvinistideas spiced with an unpalatable mysticism. Ward challenges this distinction. If Dostoyevsky was a ratbag (Ward thinks), he was no genius. He was a genius. Therefore he was not a ratbag. Accordingly, Ward sets out to rehabilitate Dostoyevsky's ratbaggery—his "critique of the West"—and demonstrate its connections with his "teaching" concerning "the crisis of the human spirit." The word "teaching" is significant. The supposed doctrines of the prophet are presented with a flat hagiographie pedantry —though Dostoyevsky's "extremism" is mildly censured. The Roman Church (according to Dostoyevsky's "critique") fell away from Christ by accepting "Caesar's sword," the "third temptation," and establishing a rule of "miracle, mystery, and authority," rather than a truly Christian community . Protestantism was a merely negative rebellion which petered out. In its place arose the "Geneva idea" of...

Ritual and Reconstructed Meaning: The Neonian Baptistery in Ravenna

The pre-modern work of art, which gained authority through its extension in ritual action, could function as a social integrator. This essay investigates the figural decoration of the Orthodox Baptistery in Ravenna, in an effort to explain certain features of the mosaic program. If the initiation ritual is reenacted and the civic centrality of the rite and its executant, the bishop, is restored, the apparent “iconographic mistakes” in the mosaics reveal themselves as signs of the mimetic responsiveness of the icon. By acknowledging their unmediated character, it may be possible to re-empower both pre-modern images and our own interpretative strategy.

“The Promised Blessing”: The Iconography of the Mosaics of S. Maria Maggiore

Built and decorated primarily during the pontificate of Sixtus III (432–440), S. Maria Maggiore in Rome preserves the oldest program of mosaic decoration in a Christian church.1 Old Testament scenes occupy panels on the walls of the nave, and on the triumphal arch the story of Christ's advent and recognition is depicted in scenes distributed in three registers (Figs. 1, 2).2 The original apse, destroyed in the last years of the thirteenth century, once presented an image of the enthroned Virgin. The bibliography on the mosaics is lengthy but it is encumbered by three widely held misconceptions which have impeded understanding of the meaning of the mosaic program.3 The first of these concerns the role of Christian apocrypha. Whereas the nave panels are based almost exclusively on the Old Testament narrative, the triumphal arch mosaics depart from scriptural accounts.4 The interpretations of some of the scenes have been sought in the apocryphal gospels. An analysis of the popular “Aphrodosius” interpretatio...