King's College - Pennsylvania

This introduction frames the entire project, the purpose of which is to excavate a sense of erotic striving from the Neoplatonic commentaries on the Platonic Alcibiades I and to argue that its arousal is the beginning of the philosophical life. Proclus and Olympiodorus, inheritors of the commentary tradition that begins with Iamblichus and traces its roots even further back to Plotinus, insisted that their students read the Alcibiades I first of all of Plato's dialogues because of its emphasis on self-knowledge. They themselves, modelling what they witnessed in Plato, awakened their own students to what it is to be human and directed them accordingly. Self-knowledge, which by the end of the dialogue becomes identification of self with soul, is, in the hands of the commentators, the beginning of psychoerotic metamorphosis, a conversion of initiation that, when properly channelled, seeks wisdom as its sole desideratum.

Chapter 3 takes up the Elenctic section of the dialogue, in which Socrates begins to chisel away at Alcibiades' hubris in an effort to expose his double ignorance, that is, his ignorance of his ignorance. The young man hastens to the Athenian bema, eager to give a speech about justice, but estranged from justice beyond the level of ethical virtue. Without self-knowledge, he desires nothing other than the accolades of the many and asks not even the simplest question about justice, to say nothing of ascending to contemplate it as intelligible reality. Socrates refutes him in order to remove his arrogant pretension, not only that he knows justice, but that he knows himself. Generally, the Elenctic section removes the obstacles that stand in the way of Alcibiades' conversion, and the Neoplatonic student learns that he must undergo a similar cleansing to that of Socrates' interlocutor – Alcibiades' purification is that of any philosophical initiate.

The purpose of the Protreptic section – the subject of this chapter – is to ensure that Alcibiades will not abandon his newly manifest sense of self and its correlative longing sparked in the previous section; it is to continue his transformation so that he might actively seek the desiderata to which he has been awakened. Revealed to himself imbued with a yearning for desiderata he is unable to comprehend much less pursue, the young man remains hesitant. Socrates challenges Alcibiades with the story about the King of Persia and the kings of Sparta in order to argue it is peculiar to Athenians to pursue wisdom. The Neoplatonic student's interpretation for the entirety of this middle section of the dialogue is framed accordingly: attempting to intensify the young man's newly awakened eros, Socrates replaces honour with wisdom as the ultimate goal for which philosophical initiates must strive.

The seven ABET Student Outcomes are guidance from industry on the abilities that engineering graduates should have and are central to accreditation of engineering programs in the United States. To address the breadth of engineering abilities, some capstone design courses assess all of these outcomes. The recent revision of the 11 "a-k" outcomes into the current seven makes this approach more tractable; however, the change in scope for some of these outcomes requires a corresponding revision to assessment instruments. This paper reviews assessment tools for each of these outcomes. It also shares a comprehensive set of tools for assessing these outcomes, especially for use in capstone design. These tools are described in the context of the known benefits and limitations of assessment. In particular, they are designed to give students experience with the breadth of engineering competency in authentic settings, and to clearly demonstrate compliance with requirements of ABET and other accrediting bodies. Some notable features include a phase-gate product development process, a project management system inspired by agile scrum, and several assignments that call for individual students to make signature contributions to their project. Taken together, these tools are a model assessment system that can be adopted and modified by other programs. In the long run, we envision the engineering education community developing a shared set of assessment tools that are psychometrically sound and that clearly meet accreditor requirements.

Background: Significant adverse health outcomes in children are related to elevated blood lead levels (BLL). Exposure to lead remains a significant public health issue in the United States, yet screening rates remain low. This study assessed lead screening rates in a rural tertiary teaching hospital serving a bi-state area to determine if opportunities exist to improve care. Methods: The study performed a retrospective review of 5,016 electronic medical records for children who turned 30 months old between January 1, 2017, and December 31, 2021, and received care from ages 9 through 30 months. Chi-square tests assessed differences between groups. Logistic regression examined state-by-provider interaction. Results: No significant difference ( P = 0.734) was found between states in the first BLL completion rate. There was a statistically higher ( P < 0.001) difference between states for a second BLL test completion. In the state with a universal screening requirement, the health system was below standard but performed equivalently or better than research studies. In the state requiring only children benefiting from Medicaid to undergo screening, compliance could not be definitively established. However, proxy statistics concluded that screening rate improvements could be made. Pediatric offices were more likely to realize first and second BLL test results. State-by-provider interaction provided mixed results. Conclusion: This health care system aims to provide the highest evidence-based care to each patient, regardless of provider type or service location. The study shows opportunities exist to improve BLL screening and proposes education, electronic reminders, and in-office blood collection solutions.

Cracking due to restrained shrinkage is a recurring issue with concrete bridge decks, impacting durability and ultimately service life. Several scholars' research has proven that the incorporation of fibers in concrete mitigates restrained shrinkage cracking when utilizing high (0.5-3%) fiber volumes. This often presents a mixing and placement issue when used for ready-mixed concretes, which discourages their use in bridge decks. This study aims to optimize the incorporation of fibers for their benefits while producing concrete that is conducive to ready-mix, jobsite use. A series of tests were performed on a high-performance concrete (HPC) mix which incorporated blended, multiple fiber types (steel crimped, macro polypropylene, and micro polypropylene) while maintaining low total fiber (0.19-0.37%) volume. These "hybrid" fiber mixes were tested for multiple mechanical properties and durability aspects, with a focus on the AASHTO T334 ring test, to evaluate fiber efficiency under restrained conditions. Promising results indicate the use of a low-volume hybrid fiber addition, incorporating a macro and micro polypropylene fiber (0.35% by volume) blend, reduced the cracking area by 16.6% when compared to HPC incorporating a single fiber type, and 39% when compared to nonfibrous HPC control mixture.