North Central University

Global workers must work toward an appropriate ethic of communication both corporately and personally to effectively engage all recipients of the gospel. Further, an ethic of communication for missional engagement must be biblically faithful and culturally appropriate in order to create ‘bridging encounters’ with potential recipients of the gospel (Kraft and Gilliland, 2005: 53). ‘Bridging encounters’ consist of communicative pathways that build common ground for engagement regardless of the level of agreement; they demonstrate cultural consideration, engagement, and respect of participants’ ideas, which works well in a postmodern age that values conversation. Since the 1920s, missiological characterization has provided a rhetoric of the ‘unsaved’, ‘unincorporated’, and ‘unreached’1 when describing people groups. This rhetoric of ‘un-’ may unintentionally cause breaking encounters instead of bridging encounters. Designating people groups as ‘in’ or ‘out’ can create a sense of ‘othering’ between global workers and recipients of the gospel. The consequent psychological friction proves detrimental to creating personal bridging encounters where individuals communicate the gospel in a more fluid manner (Bhargava and Manoli, 2015).

Seven three dimensional (3D) uranyl organic frameworks (UOFs), formulated as [NH4 ][(UO2 )3 (HTTDS)(H2 O)] (1), [(UO2 )4 (HTTDS)2 ](HIM)6 (2, IM=imidazole), [(UO2 )4 (TTDS)(H2 O)2 (Phen)2 ] (3, Phen=1,10-phenanthroline), [Zn(H2 O)4 ]0.5 [(UO2 )3 (HTTDS)(H2 O)4 ] (4), and {(UO2 )2 [Zn(H2 O)3 ]2 (TTDS)} (5), {Zn(UO2 )2 (H2 O)(Dib)0.5 (HDib)(HTTDS)} (6, Dib=1,4-di(1H-imidazol-1-yl)benzene) and [Na]{(UO2 )4 [Cu3 (u3 -OH)(H2 O)7 ](TTDS)2 } (7) have been hydrothermally prepared using a rigid octadentate carboxylate ligand, tetrakis(3,5-dicarboxyphenyl)silicon(H8 TTDS). These UOFs have different 3D self-assembled structures as a function of co-ligands, structure-directing agents and transition metals. The structure of 1 has an infinite ribbon formed by the UO7 pentagonal bipyramid bridged by carboxylate groups. With further introduction of auxiliary N-donor ligands, different structure of 2 and 3 are formed, in 2 the imidazole serves as space filler, while in 3 the Phen are bound to [UO2 ]2+ units as co-ligands. The second metal centers were introduced in the syntheses of 4-7, and in all cases, they are part of the final structures, either as a counterion (4) or as a component of framework (5-7). Interesting, in 7, a rare polyoxometalate [Cu3 (μ3 -OH)O7 (O2 CR)4 ] cluster was found in the structure. It acts as an inorganic building unit together with the dimer [(UO2 )2 (O2 CR)4 ] unit. Those uranyl carboxylates were sufficiently determined by single crystal X-ray diffraction, and their topological structures and luminescence properties were analyzed in detail.

The lay length is one of the important parameters for the wire rope and its detection can indirectly characterize its stress and surface damage state. The eddy current testing (ECT) method is advantageous because of its easy operation, single-side detection, low requirement of surface preparation, applicability in harsh environment, and other properties. Hence the lay length of the wire ropes is measured by ECT in this paper. The eddy current (EC) response to the wire rope is simulated. The EC on the surface of the strand below the pancake coil forms a vortex, and the distribution of the EC on the curved surfaces on both sides of the strand is symmetrical. The spacing between the adjacent peaks or troughs of the scanning signal is the distance between the adjacent strands, and the number of peaks or troughs of the scanning signal in a range of the lay length is related to the number of strands of the wire rope. Finally, the experimental validation is performed. The relative error of the lay length of the wire rope assessed by the EC method is less than 0.28%.

This paper focuses on a deductive, participative, and iterative process for curricular revision at a public Midwestern university in the Merchandising and Fashion Design program. A systematic, nonlinear, organized process is presented and details specific components used in curricular review. The guiding framework for the redesign was that of Garner and Buckley (1988). That is, feedback was solicited and incorporated from educators, students, and employers. In each of the two-year process, the program was viewed as a whole, with input from faculty at every step, and also viewed from a micro-perspective by examining each course individually. The process included peer review, with each faculty member encouraged to review not only their own courses, but those of their colleagues as well. At times, the curricular review process seemed overwhelming with the significant amount of data and resource constraints to consider. The systematic process presented assisted in managing multiple considerations and constituents involved in the curriculum review. Besides maintaining a relevant and current curriculum, the process provided a multitude of benefits for the department. Significant changes were made to the curriculum, but more honest relationships were reestablished and an increased understanding among colleagues was an unexpected benefit of the lengthy, but necessary, examination of the program and resulting curricular changes in the department.

Compassion fatigue (CF), a combination of burnout (BO) and secondary traumatic stress (STS), is common among helpers who are exposed to indirect trauma; therefore, it affects their quality of life (QOL). Professional Quality of life (ProQOL) and Coping Orientation to Problems Experienced (COPE) are identified as essential constructs in understanding health or quality of life of helpers working with survivors of trauma. The purpose of this quantitative, correlation study was to investigate the relationship between professional quality of life and coping strategies of helpers who interact with individuals from the refugee background in resettlement. Data were collected via an online survey link distributed through gatekeepers of the refugee resettlement agencies to measure the relationship, if any, between QOL and coping strategies utilized by helpers working with people from a refugee background and to increase understanding of the types of coping strategies helpers can use to facilitate better work environment, better professional quality of life, and slower burnout rates so as to contribute to the theory of migration, traumatology, and professional quality of life. Participating helpers indicated their preferred coping strategies and their quality of life which were calculated using SPSS version 24 for Windows. There was a strong positive correlation (p>.05) among dimensions of the ProQOL and coping strategies. Most helpers reported average to high compassion satisfaction (CS) and low BO and STS. The findings suggest that teaching and increasing awareness of these predictors might positively influence the QOL of helpers of refugee background populations.

Israel’s venture capital market is one of the largest in terms of capital investing in the world. However, in 2014, 5 of 83 independent venture capital firms located in Israel invested in renewable energy portfolio companies. The result of investing in few renewable energy firms in Israel is a continued reliance on imported fossil fuels from geographically distant nations. The importation of fossil fuels creates an added security risk in an already hostile political environment. The gap in research addressed in this paper explored factors for the small number of renewable energy firms receiving venture capital funding in Israel. The research question guiding this study was what are the factors for the small number of renewable energy firms receiving funding in Israel. The lack of renewable energy firm funding appears to be as a result of three factors. First is low return on investment. Second is regulatory uncertainty from the Israeli government. Third is the lack of knowledge of renewable energy by independent venture capitalists.

Early weaning of calves to a high concentrate diet results in greater fat deposition and suggests early postnatal metabolic imprinting events may be exploited as a management tool to improve cattle value. Our objective was to implement a short, high energy dietary intervention before a typical grazing period to manipulate intramuscular fat deposition in finishing cattle. Fall-born, Angus-sired steer calves (n = 24) were stratified by sire and randomly assigned to normal weaned (NW) or metabolic-imprinted (MIP) treatments. At 105 ± 6d (135kg), MIP calves were transitioned to a diet containing 20% CP and 1.26 Mcal/kg NEg. Metabolic-imprinted calves were fed ad libitum as a group. Normal weaned calves remained on their dam until 253 ± 6 d of age. At this time, treatment groups were combined and grazed for 156 d on a mixed summer pasture. Following the grazing phase, steers were adapted to a corn silage-based feedlot diet and performance was monitored on 28-d intervals. Calves were staged for harvest based on backfat endpoint (target 1.0 to 1.2 cm). Metabolic-imprinted calves were heavier (P < 0.05) than NW calves (341 vs. 265 ± 4.2 kg) at normal weaning age. During the grazing phase, NW steers gained more weight than (P < 0.05) MIP steers (0.69 vs. 0.35 ± 0.03 kg/d). Feedlot performance and USDA yield grade were similar (P > 0.20) between treatments. However, MIP steers produced heavier (P < 0.05) carcasses (564 vs. 524 ± 5.6 kg) with higher (P < 0.001) marbling scores (645 vs. 517 ± 23). Therefore, calves consuming a high concentrate diet for 148 d after early weaning produced higher quality carcasses. This suggests early weaning and feeding a high concentrate before grazing is a viable strategy to increase marbling deposition compared with a traditional production system.

Pregnancy failure in livestock can result from failure to fertilize the oocyte or embryonic loss during gestation. The focus of this review is on cattle and factors affecting and mechanisms related to uterine insufficiency for pregnancy. A variety of factors contribute to embryonic loss and it may be exacerbated in certain animals, such as high-producing lactating dairy cows, and in some cattle in which estrous synchronization and timed AI was performed, due to reduced concentrations of reproductive steroids. Recent research in beef cattle induced to ovulate immature follicles and in lactating dairy cows indicates that deficient uterine function is a major factor responsible for infertility in these animals. Failure to provide adequate concentrations of estradiol before ovulation results in prolonged effects on expression and localization of uterine genes and proteins that participate in regulating uterine functions during early gestation. Furthermore, progesterone concentrations during early gestation affect embryonic growth, interferon-tau production, and uterine function. Therefore, an inadequate uterine environment induced by insufficient steroid concentrations before and after ovulation could cause early embryonic death either by failing to provide an adequate uterine environment for recognition of embryo signaling, adhesion, and implantation or by failing to support appropriate embryonic growth, which could lead to decreased conceptus size and failed maternal recognition of pregnancy.