Various Ways (various + way)

Distribution by Scientific Domains
Distribution within Humanities and Social Sciences


Selected Abstracts


The Stubbornness of Various Ways of Knowledge was not typically Dutch; the Statistical Mind in a Pre-Statistical Era

CENTAURUS, Issue 4 2004
Ida H. Stamhuis
First page of article [source]


Information Structure and Syntactic Structure

LINGUISTICS & LANGUAGE COMPASS (ELECTRONIC), Issue 4 2009
Betty J. Birner
This article explores the interface between syntactic structure and information structure , in particular, the broad generalizations that can be made between certain noncanonical word orders and information-structural constraints on their use. Various ways of implementing the distinction between ,given' and ,new' information are described, and several classes of word orders (such as preposings, postposings, argument reversals, and clefts) are discussed in terms of the information-status constraints to which they are sensitive. It is argued that classes of related word orders share related constraints but that , both cross-linguistically and within a single language , there are also construction-specific constraints on the correlation between word order and information status. [source]


Vapor-condensed phase processes in the early solar system

METEORITICS & PLANETARY SCIENCE, Issue 1 2010
Lawrence GROSSMAN
Many refractory inclusions in CM2 chondrites contain a relatively SiO2 -poor assemblage (spinel, hibonite, grossite, perovskite, corundum) that represents a high-temperature stage of condensation, and some may be pristine condensates that escaped later melting. Compact Type A and Type B refractory inclusions, consisting of spinel, melilite, perovskite, Ca-rich clinopyroxene ± anorthite, in CV3 chondrites are more SiO2 -rich and equilibrated with the solar nebular gas at a slightly lower temperature. Textures of many of these objects indicate that they underwent melting after condensation, crystallizing into the same phase assemblage as their precursors. The Ti3+/Ti4+ ratio of their pyroxene indicates that this process occurred in a gas whose oxygen fugacity () was approximately 8.5 log units below that of the iron-wüstite buffer, making them the only objects in chondrites known to have formed in a system whose composition was close to that of the sun. Relative to CI chondrites, these inclusions are uniformly enriched in a group of elements (e.g., Ca, REE, Zr, Ta, Ir) that are chemically diverse except for their high condensation temperatures in a system of solar composition. The enrichment factor, 17.5, can be interpreted to mean that these objects represent either the first 5.7 wt% of the condensable matter to condense during nebular cooling or the residue after vaporization of 94.3% of a CI chondrite precursor. The Mg and Si isotopic compositions of Types A and B inclusions are mass-fractionated by up to 10 and 4 ,/amu, respectively. When interpreted in terms of Rayleigh fractionation during evaporation of Mg and Si from the inclusions while they were molten, the isotopic compositions imply that up to 60% of the Mg and up to 25% of the Si were evaporated, and that approximately 80% of the enrichment in refractory (CaO+Al2O3) relative to more volatile (MgO+SiO2) in the average inclusion is due to initial condensation and approximately 20% due to subsequent evaporation. The mineralogical composition, including the Ti3+/Ti4+ ratio of the pyroxene, in Inti, a particle sampled from Comet Wild 2 by the Stardust spacecraft, is nearly identical to that of a Type B inclusion, indicating that comets contain not only the lowest-temperature condensates in the form of ices but the highest-temperature condensates as well. The FeO/(FeO+MgO) ratios of olivine and pyroxene in the matrix and chondrules of carbonaceous and ordinary chondrites are too high to be made in a system of solar composition, requiring s only 1 or 2 log units below iron-wüstite, more than 105 times higher than that of a solar gas. Various ways have been devised to generate cosmic gases sufficiently oxidizing to stabilize significant FeO in olivine at temperatures above those where Fe-Mg interdiffusion in olivine ceases. One is by vertical settling of dust toward the nebular midplane, enriching a region in dust relative to gas. Because dust is enriched in oxygen compared to carbon and hydrogen relative to solar composition, a higher results from total vaporization of the region, but the factor by which theoretical models have so far enriched the dust is 10 times too low. Another is by transporting icy bodies from the outer part of the nebula into the hot, inner part where vaporization of water ice occurs. Not only does this method fail to make the needed by a factor of 30,1000 but it also ignores simultaneous evaporation of carbon-bearing ices that would make the even lower. [source]


When Does Deliberation Begin?

POLITICAL STUDIES, Issue 4 2003
Internal Reflection versus Public Discussion in Deliberative Democracy
Political deliberation involves both internal reflection and public discussion. The former might be far more important than implied by deliberative democrats' heavy emphasis on the discursive component. Analysis of the deliberations of a citizen's jury on an Australian environmental issue shows jurors' attitudes changing more in response to the ,information' phase of the jury proceedings, involving a large degree of ,deliberation within', than during the formal ,discussion' phase. Various ways can be imagined for evoking internal reflection of that sort, even in mass-political settings. [source]


Animating Quadrupeds: Methods and Applications

COMPUTER GRAPHICS FORUM, Issue 6 2009
Ljiljana Skrba
I.3.7 [Computer Graphics]: 3D Graphics and Realism , Animation Abstract Films like Shrek, Madagascar, The Chronicles of Narnia and Charlotte's web all have something in common: realistic quadruped animations. While the animation of animals has been popular for a long time, the technical challenges associated with creating highly realistic, computer generated creatures have been receiving increasing attention recently. The entertainment, education and medical industries have increased the demand for simulation of realistic animals in the computer graphics area. In order to achieve this, several challenges need to be overcome: gathering and processing data that embodies the natural motion of an animal , which is made more difficult by the fact that most animals cannot be easily motion-captured; building accurate kinematic models for animals, with adapted animation skeletons in particular; and developing either kinematic or physically-based animation methods, either by embedding some a priori knowledge about the way that quadrupeds locomote and/or adopting examples of real motion. In this paper, we present an overview of the common techniques used to date for realistic quadruped animation. This includes an outline of the various ways that realistic quadruped motion can be achieved, through video-based acquisition, physics based models, inverse kinematics or some combination of the above. [source]


Crystal growth and magnetic properties of the copper coordination polymer [Cu(µ -C2O4)(4-aminopyridine)2(H2O)]n

CRYSTAL RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGY, Issue 4 2007
A. V. Prokofiev
Abstract In this paper, we consider various ways of crystal growth of the polymer [Cu(µ -C2O4)(4-aminopyridine)2(H2O)]n. Single crystals of the size of 1.5×1.5×0.2 mm3 have been grown by a slow diffusion technique from solutions of the monoammine copper complex and of the mixture of potassium oxalate and aminopyridine with the stoichiometric ratio. Magnetic susceptibility and ESR measurements have been performed on single crystals large enough for investigating anisotropic properties. The susceptibility can be well described within the model of a Heisenberg antiferromagnetic spin chain. The magnetic measurements reveal a small concentration of paramagnetic moments reflecting the high quality of the single crystals. (© 2007 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim) [source]


Teaching Techniques in the Clinical Setting: the Emergency Medicine Perspective

ACADEMIC EMERGENCY MEDICINE, Issue 10 2004
David A. Wald DO
Abstract The emergency department (ED) provides a unique educational experience that is distinct from both inpatient and ambulatory care settings. Because of the high acuity, interesting pathology, and rapid patient turnover, the ED is an ideal location to train medical students. Numerous teaching opportunities exist within the domain of the ED. In the preclinical years, the ED setting provides medical students with an introduction to clinical medicine and may serve as a venue for teaching basic history and physical examination skills. In the clinical years, medical students are exposed to a wide range of undifferentiated patients. Besides common medical and surgical complaints, many medical students will encounter clinical scenarios that they otherwise would have little direct contact with. Encounters such as the acutely poisoned or intoxicated patient, environmental emergencies, interaction with out-of-hospital providers, and patients requiring emergency procedures are just a few situations that make emergency medicine a distinct clinical specialty. These and other student,patient encounters can provide the teaching physician an opportunity to focus case-based teaching on a number of elements including complaint-directed medical interviewing and physical examination skills, development of case-specific differential diagnosis, diagnostic evaluation, implementation of patient management plans, and patient disposition. In this review article, the authors discuss various ways to approach and improve clinical teaching of medical students, including: opportunities for teaching in the ED, teaching procedural skills, student case presentations, clinical teaching styles, qualities of an effective clinical teacher, and barriers to effective clinical teaching. [source]


Indoctrination, Moral Instruction, and Nonrational Beliefs: A Place for Autonomy?

EDUCATIONAL THEORY, Issue 4 2005
Michael S. Merry
The manner in which individuals hold various nonevidentiary beliefs is critical to making any evaluative claim regarding an individual's autonomy. In this essay, I argue that one may be both justified in holding nonrational beliefs of a nonevidentiary sort while also being capable of leading an autonomous life. I defend the idea that moral instruction, including that which concerns explicitly religious content, may justifiably constitute a set of commitments upon which rationality and autonomy are dependent. I situate this discussion against the backdrop of a minimalist notion of autonomy. I then consider the case for nonrational beliefs, examining the difference between those whose content is objectionable on evidentiary grounds and those that are immune to verification. Next, I consider the indoctrination/moral instruction distinction through examining the various ways in which indoctrination is defined. I also consider the role that value coherence plays in shaping our identities, paying particular attention to fundamental commitments as defined by our respective families, cultures, and communities. Finally, I argue that individual psychology is central to our ability to assess the outcome of an upbringing purported to be indoctrinatory, and I emphasize the important role that experience and agency play in enabling us to evaluate our beliefs. [source]


Tillage affects the activity-density, absolute density, and feeding damage of the pea leaf weevil in spring pea

ENTOMOLOGIA EXPERIMENTALIS ET APPLICATA, Issue 3 2010
Timothy D. Hatten
Abstract Conversion from conventional-tillage (CT) to no-tillage (NT) agriculture can affect pests and beneficial organisms in various ways. NT has been shown to reduce the relative abundance and feeding damage of pea leaf weevil (PLW), Sitona lineatus L. (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) in spring pea, especially during the early-season colonization period in the Palouse region of northwest Idaho. Pitfall traps were used to quantify tillage effects on activity-density of PLW in field experiments conducted during 2001 and 2002. As capture rate of pitfall traps for PLW might be influenced by effects of tillage treatment, two mark-recapture studies were employed to compare trapping rates in NT and CT spring pea during 2003. Also in 2003, direct sampling was used to estimate PLW densities during the colonization period, and to assess PLW feeding damage on pea. PLW activity-density was significantly lower in NT relative to CT during the early colonization period (May) of 2001 and 2002, and during the late colonization period (June) of 2002. Activity-density was not different between treatments during the early emergence (July) or late emergence (August) periods in either year of the study. Trap capture rates did not differ between tillage systems in the mark-recapture studies, suggesting that pitfall trapping provided unbiased estimates of PLW relative abundances. PLW absolute densities and feeding damage were significantly lower in NT than in CT. These results indicate that NT provides a pest suppression benefit in spring pea. [source]


Providing support for problem-based learning in dentistry: the Manchester experience

EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF DENTAL EDUCATION, Issue 1 2003
Gillian Hoad-Reddick
The introduction of problem-based learning (PBL) into any programme demands a period of adjustment on the part of faculty. Similarly, students new to PBL take time to adapt to what is, for the majority of them, an unfamiliar mode of learning. At Manchester, closed loop PBL is used throughout the first and second years of the dental programme; the method is interdisciplinary; there are no subject boundaries. Dental students work in groups of between 10 and 15, facilitated by a tutor from the Department of Biological Sciences, to research topics and share information in a mutually supportive environment. Each week a different problem forms the focus for learning. In this paper, we seek to describe the measures introduced in response to student feedback collected via routine meetings with the senior tutor, after meetings with their academic or personal tutors and through discussion at the staff students' committee, which we at Manchester have taken to facilitate the process of adaptation to PBL. Changes have been made in the areas of recruitment, pre-admission interviewing, induction (development of an induction booklet and communication skills module) and tutorial support (overhaul of personal tutor system and introduction of peer-assisted study (PAS) and personal and academic development programmes (PADPs)). Feedback on these changes, gathered via the routes described above, has been positive and continues to be central to our processes of development in these areas. Although the various ways in which PBL has been implemented worldwide may place limits on the transferability of our methods, this paper serves to illustrate some of the means available to support students in the transition to self-directed learning. The latter is not only an essential component of PBL but also something we should be seeking to foster in all students, no matter what philosophy and method of course delivery are utilized. [source]


Cross-presentation of a human tumor antigen delivered to dendritic cells by HSV VP22-mediated protein translocation

EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF IMMUNOLOGY, Issue 10 2004
Arvind Chhabra
Abstract Dendritic cells (DC) capture antigens from apoptotic and/or necrotic tumor cells and cross-present them to T,cells, and various ways of delivering tumor antigens to DC in vitro and in vivo are being pursued. Since fusions of antigenic proteins with the HSV integument protein VP22 are capable of intercellular trafficking, this approach has been exploited for delivery of antigens to antigen-presenting cells. Adenoviral vectors were used to express the tumor-associated-but-self-antigen MART-1 fused to HSV VP22 in MART-1-negative A375 melanoma cells and in DC. When expressed in A375 cells and allowed to spread to DC across a transwell barrier, the VP22-MART-1 fusion protein localized to both early and late endosomal structures of the DC. The DC loaded with the VP22-MART-1 fusion by intercellular trafficking efficiently presented the MART-127,35 epitope to MART-127,35 -specific CTL. Furthermore, transloaded DC were capable of expanding the population of MART-127,35 -specific CTL. Thus, a tumor antigen acquired by intercellular trafficking can be cross-presented by DC. This experimental approach should therefore be useful not only for studying the mechanism of cross-presentation but also for vaccine development. [source]


The Free Movement of Goods as a Possible ,Community' Limitation on Industrial Conflict

EUROPEAN LAW JOURNAL, Issue 4 2000
Giovanni Orlandini
The aim of this essay is to underline the fact that the process of achieving single market integration is very likely to influence the regulation of industrial conflict. In this perspective, the Commission v France judgment is analysed, in which the ECJ,through a combined interpretation of Article 30 (now 28) and Article 5 (now 10) of the Treaty,states that a Member State is obliged to adopt all ,appropriate measures' to remove any ,obstacles' impeding the free circulation of goods caused by private persons. A new Regulation (n. 2679/98) has followed the ECJ decision, instituting a system of notification of such obstacles arising, or the threat of them, and the right of the Commission to demand a formal reply from a State on whether it has taken, or will be taking the necessary and proportionate measures. The analysis of the principles adopted by the ECJ and of the Regulation shows that, at Community level, pressure is exerted on States to prevent the exercise of collective action as effectively as possible, if this damages inter-State trade. A transnational limit on industrial conflict thus emerges in the Community order, which may well affect the equilibria of national industrial relations in various ways. [source]


Thermal habitat experienced by Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.) kelts in coastal Newfoundland waters

FISHERIES OCEANOGRAPHY, Issue 1 2004
David G. Reddin
Abstract Thermal habitat was recorded by data storage tags (DSTs) applied to Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.) kelts during their seaward migration in the spring of 1998 at enumeration facilities in Highlands River, Humber River, Western Arm Brook, and Campbellton River, Newfoundland. In total, 139 DSTs were applied and data were downloaded from eleven of the recovered tags. The recovered tags had been applied at Highlands, Campbellton and Western Arm rivers and recovered in the coastal waters of Newfoundland and Québec and at the enumeration facilities at Highlands and Campbellton rivers. Water temperatures experienced by the fish were recorded for periods of 62,118 days at resolutions of 15,30 min. The data from the sea record on the DSTs were analysed for temperature patterns in relation to migration behaviour and diurnal movement of the fish. A variety of patterns were exhibited on the temperature records suggesting that the fish were behaving in various ways at different times. For Campbellton and Highlands fish over the course of some 24 h periods, night-time temperatures changed little and were among the highest daily temperatures experienced by the fish, whereas daytime temperatures often showed dramatic and frequent shifts in temperature presumably as the fish rapidly and frequently changed depth. For the Western Arm Brook fish, rapid fluctuations in temperature occurred sometimes during the day and night without a consistent diurnal pattern. We also considered large-scale aspects of the data by examining oceanographic conditions in relation to the temperatures recorded by the tags. [source]


The Effects of Native Language vs.

FOREIGN LANGUAGE ANNALS, Issue 5 2001
Target Language Captions on Foreign Language Students' DVD Video Comprehension
A total of 169 intermediate (fourth-semester)students predicated as intact groups in the study. The passage material consisted of a 7-minute DVD episode about preparation for the Apollo 13 space-exploration mission. The students viewed only one of three passage treatment conditions: Spanish captions, English captions, or no captions. The English-language-dependent measures consisted of a written summary generated by the students and a 10-item multiple-choice test. The statistically significant results revealed that the English captions group performed at a substantially higher level than the Spanish captions group, which in turn performed at a considerably higher level than the no captions group on both dependent measures. The pedagogical value of using multilingual soundtracks and multilingual captions in various ways to enhance second language reading and listening comprehension is discussed. [source]


Pronounced drought tolerance characterizes the early life stages of the epiphytic bromeliad Tillandsia flexuosa

FUNCTIONAL ECOLOGY, Issue 3 2009
Maaike Y. Bader
Summary 1Germination and seedling performance may set the limits for plant distributions, particularly in stressful habitats. Stressful conditions at these early stages may be avoided by opportunistic germination and growth, or may be tolerated. Many epiphytic plants are frequently exposed to severe drought. Adult epiphytes endure such dry periods in various ways, but little is known about strategies employed during germination and early life. 2Epiphyte seedlings could show either opportunistic fast growth to quickly attain the benefits of being larger or inherently slow growth and early drought tolerance. Here we address the question: which of these strategies characterizes the early life stages of the epiphytic bromeliad Tillandsia flexuosa, a species typical for dry tropical habitats? 3We studied growth and drought tolerance of germinating seeds, of the emerging seedlings and of 2-month-old seedlings under controlled conditions. Additionally, we studied drought hardening in 6-month-old seedlings. 4Germination of T. flexuosa was reduced by intermittent dry periods. However, compared to the congeneric T. fasciculata, which typically occurs in wetter habitats, the depression of germination by drought was small. Seedling growth was fastest at intermediate moisture levels: both prolonged drought and continuous moisture depressed growth. Prolonged drought had a less negative effect on drought-hardened seedlings than on previously well-watered seedlings. After a 3-week drought treatment the previously well-watered seedlings had lost their growth advantage entirely. Had drought continued, they would have probably been starved, indicated by the low level of their non-structural carbohydrate pool. 5Tillandsia flexuosa employs a stress-tolerance strategy both during germination and during the seedling stage. In its epiphytic habitat this strategy is clearly adaptive, considering the predictable briefness of moisture availability throughout the year and the low competition pressure that allows the very slow growth typically seen in adults and seedlings. These conditions characterize not only the dry-forest habitat of T. flexuosa, but all exposed epiphytic growing sites, so we expect this early stress-tolerance to be common among epiphytes in general. Still, a lower stress tolerance in species from wetter habitats may at least partly explain why T. flexuosa shares its dry-forest habitat with so few other vascular epiphytes. [source]


,The Worst Thing is the Screwing' (2): Context and Career in Sex Work

GENDER, WORK & ORGANISATION, Issue 3 2000
Joanna Brewis
This article, and an earlier linked one, focus on the labour process of the modern Western female prostitute. Drawing on available qualitative research from the United Kingdom and Australia, and research undertaken by one of the authors in New South Wales, we argue here that the ways in which individual prostitutes understand themselves, the work that they do and their relationships with clients are at least partly informed by the discursive context of their labour. We seek to highlight the variety of discourses which currently give shape to prostitution in the modern West, and in so doing discuss the ways in which individual workers may engage with these discourses to make sense of their life-world , for example, whether they understand themselves as victims of patriarchy or as feminist activists. In this second article, then, our focus moves from the encounter between the client and the prostitute to the prostitute's career, and we provide a discussion of the various ways of understanding how and why prostitutes enter the profession, how and why they stay in it, how and why they exit this occupational field and how and why they understand themselves in particular ways following such an exit. [source]


NETWORKING, KNOWLEDGE ORGANIZATIONS AND AEROMOBILITY

GEOGRAFISKA ANNALER SERIES B: HUMAN GEOGRAPHY, Issue 3 2009
Claus Lassen
ABSTRACT. This article explores networking and travel in two international knowledge organizations located in Denmark. It shows that these knowledge organizations are organized in various ways through different types of network on different scales. Therefore the individual employees in both organizations are dependent on their ability to create and maintain relations within networks. The article argues that such networking activities cannot be understood separately from air travel. However, work and travel decisions are also highly individualized, meaning that a number of more individual and non-work rationalities are also significant in employees deciding whether to travel or not. Therefore the article concludes that, in a number of social situations, individual rationalities function as a barrier to the increased use of video technology. It is therefore necessary to create new mechanisms to support the increased use of virtual communications in order to reduce the environmental impact of air travel in knowledge organizations. [source]


To whom, and for whom, must I respond?

GEOGRAFISKA ANNALER SERIES B: HUMAN GEOGRAPHY, Issue 1 2002
Negotiating responsibility during the last years of East German state socialism
This paper reconsiders the practice of responsibility during the last years of East German state socialism. It treats the matter of responsibility as a kind of dialogue, attending to the various ways in which people were called upon to respond to and account for their actions and those of others across a range of circumstances and predicaments. It addresses several basic questions, among them: What did the ordinary practice of responsibility look like in the East? How did this requirement to respond to and for others affect the arrangements of ordinary living? More specifically, how did the practice of responsibility work out geographically? The approach taken here is both practical and analytic. It attends to the practical and constitutive aspects of dilemmas of responsibility across a range of situations. It is also historical and ethnographic, based on the city and district of Rostock, and drawing upon a range of primary source materials, from security reports to interviews to sermons delivered during the 1980s. The paper shows some of the ways in which the practice of responsibility played itself out in relation to place. For example, residents themselves invoked a rhetoric of responsibility, criticizing local officials for being unresponsive or indifferent to their concerns. Others found ways to generate ambiguity about how the rules of the state were to be applied in particular circumstances. Finally, some residents simply refused to socialize and otherwise assume responsibility for certain others both at work and at home. [source]


Private Actors and the State: Internationalization and Changing Patterns of Governance

GOVERNANCE, Issue 1 2002
Christoph Knill
This article investigates the implications of political and economic internationalization on patterns of governance from a statecentric perspective. The actual patterns of governance in internationalized environments can be related to the respective governance capacity of public and private actors, which hinges in turn on the strategic constellation underlying the provision of a public good. The specific strategic constellation varies in three dimensions: the congruence between the scope of the underlying problem and the organizational structures of the related actors, the type of problem, and the institutional context, all of which involve a number of factors. With this concept in mind, we identify four ideal-typed patterns of governance, enabled by different configurations of public and private capacities to formally or factually influence in various ways the social, economic, and political processes by which certain goods are provided. [source]


Creating and sustaining disadvantage: the relevance of a social exclusion framework

HEALTH & SOCIAL CARE IN THE COMMUNITY, Issue 2 2009
Amanda M. Grenier PhD MSW BSW
Abstract Over the last decade, public home-care services for elderly people have been subject to increased rationing and changes in resource allocation. We argue that a social exclusion framework can be used to explain the impacts of current policy priorities and organisational practices. In this paper, we use the framework of social exclusion to highlight the disadvantages experienced by elderly people, particularly those who cannot afford to supplement public care with private services. We illustrate our argument by drawing on examples from previous studies with persons giving and receiving care in the province of Québec. Our focus is on seven forms of exclusion: symbolic, identity, socio-political, institutional, economic, exclusion from meaningful relations, and territorial exclusion. These illustrations suggest that policy-makers, practitioners and researchers must address the various ways in which current policy priorities can create and sustain various types of exclusion of elderly people. They also highlight the need to reconsider the current decisions made regarding the allocation of services for elderly people. [source]


Determining the impact of health library services on patient care: a review of the literature

HEALTH INFORMATION & LIBRARIES JOURNAL, Issue 1 2002
Patrick O'Connor
The impact of health library information has been studied in a number of settings and populations. This review examines both the methods employed and the outcomes reported in a series of impact studies conducted in four countries since the late 1980's. It demonstrates that health library information can affect patient care outcomes in various ways and has high cognitive and clinical value in diagnosing and treating patients. But there remains no agreed technique or methodology for determining the level of this impact. In many cases evaluation of the health library's impact will be located within a central process of evaluation of the greater organization to which the library belongs. Consequently, local ad hoc evaluation is rarely reported outside an organization. The author considers the question of whether it is worthwhile doing an impact study and what form it might take. The author concludes by identifying seminal papers on the topic. [source]


Markers of ,Authentic Place'?

HIGHER EDUCATION QUARTERLY, Issue 2 2001
Awards, Qualifications in the Analysis of Higher Education Systems, The Significance of Degrees
Although the power to award degrees lies at the heart of the concept of a university, neither it nor degrees themselves have attracted much scholarly attention. The paper contends that award-conferment provides an interface of major importance between higher education and its environment; and that the awards themselves can serve as rich and informative (yet often coded) indicators of the relationship between the two. For awards to be seen in this way, the paper argues, two conditions are required: the conceptual independence of awards in their own right has to be recognised as entities distinct from courses of study; and instrumentalist views have to be sufficiently prevalent to make it meaningful to treat an award as specifying a set of purposes and intended outcomes (that is to say, as an ,end'potentially achievable by various ,means'). These conditions, it is suggested, only tend to arise in particular social circumstances, specifically those of mass higher education. Having illustrated these points by considering certain changes of usage in the terms used for higher education awards (degree, qualification, etc), the paper concludes with a tentative sketch of a framework by which to analyse the various ways in which awards might contribute to the workings of HE as a system. [source]


The comital military retinue in the reign of Edward I,

HISTORICAL RESEARCH, Issue 219 2010
Andrew Spencer
This article offers a detailed examination of the military retinues of the earls during Edward I's wars in the twelve-nineties and early thirteen-hundreds. While work has been done on the English armies in the Hundred Years' War, military retinues in Edward I's reign, the first for which voluminous records survive, have been largely neglected. The article discusses the sources available, analyses the various ways in which the earls created their military followings and argues that continuity of service was much greater than has previously been imagined. Such findings have important implications both for studies of the nobility in the late thirteenth century and for work on military retinues in the Hundred Years' War. [source]


How Historians Begin: Openings in Historical Discourse

HISTORY, Issue 320 2010
TREVOR DEAN
Why is the problem of beginning , much discussed in literary scholarship , not dealt with in similar depth by historians? This article attempts an answer to this question, and does so in three ways. First, it examines literary scholarship on textual openings, showing the various ways in which the beginning is given significance. Then, it examines and challenges the common presentation of historical discourse as distinct from fiction. Finally, it examines two sets of data: the openings of 100 historical monographs are analysed for their ,fictionality', and the openings of 200 research articles are analysed for their rhetorical structures. [source]


1. NARRATIVE EXPLANATION AND ITS MALCONTENTS

HISTORY AND THEORY, Issue 1 2008
DAVID CARR
ABSTRACT In this paper I look at narrative as a mode of explanation and at various ways in which the explanatory value of narrative has been criticized. I begin with the roots of narrative explanation in everyday action, experience, and discourse, illustrating it with the help of a simple example. I try to show how narrative explanation is transformed and complicated by circumstances that take us beyond the everyday into such realms as jurisprudence, journalism, and history. I give an account of why narrative explanation normally satisfies us, and how or in what sense it actually explains. Then I consider how narrative is challenged and rejected as a mode of explanation in many scientific and other contexts and why attempts are made to replace it with something else. I try to evaluate the nature and sources of these challenges, and I describe this controversy over narrative against the historical background of its emergence. My paper ends with a pragmatic defense of narrative explanation against these challenges. [source]


Shades of Orientalism: Paradoxes and Problems in Indian Historiography

HISTORY AND THEORY, Issue 2 2003
Peter Heehs
In Orientalism, Edward Said attempts to show that all European discourse about the Orient is the same, and all European scholars of the Orient complicit in the aims of European imperialism. There may be "manifest" differences in discourse, but the underlying "latent" orientalism is "more or less constant." This does not do justice to the marked differences in approach, attitude, presentation, and conclusions found in the works of various orientalists. I distinguish six different styles of colonial and postcolonial discourse about India (heuristic categories, not essential types), and note the existence of numerous precolonial discourses. I then examine the multiple ways exponents of these styles interact with one another by focusing on the early-twentieth-century nationalist orientalist, Sri Aurobindo. Aurobindo's thought took form in a colonial framework and has been used in various ways by postcolonial writers. An anti-British nationalist, he was by no means complicit in British imperialism. Neither can it be said, as some Saidians do, that the nationalist style of orientalism was just an imitative indigenous reversal of European discourse, using terms like "Hinduism" that had been invented by Europeans. Five problems that Aurobindo dealt with are still of interest to historians: the significance of the Vedas, the date of the vedic texts, the Aryan invasion theory, the Aryan-Dravidian distinction, and the idea that spirituality is the essence of India. His views on these topics have been criticized by Leftist and Saidian orientalists, and appropriated by reactionary "Hindutva" writers. Such critics concentrate on that portion of Aurobindo's work which stands in opposition to or supports their own views. A more balanced approach to the nationalist orientalism of Aurobindo and others would take account of their religious and political assumptions, but view their project as an attempt to create an alternative language of discourse. Although in need of criticism in the light of modern scholarship, their work offers a way to recognize cultural particularity while keeping the channels of intercultural dialogue open. [source]


Application of devices for safe laparoscopic hepatectomy

HPB, Issue 4 2008
H. KANEKO
Abstract The continuing evolution of a variety of laparoscopic instrument and device has been gradually applied to the laparoscopic hepatectomy in many countries. Recent experience has persuaded us that there are great potential benefits derived from laparoscopic hepatectomy and much has been learned about patient selection, the grade of surgical difficulty with respect to tumor location, and the required instrumentation. Among these efforts, various ways of hepatic parenchymal transection with mechanical devices have been attempted and continuing to innovate to perform safe laparoscopic hepatectomy Important technologic developments and improved endoscopic procedures are being established equipment modifications. For safe laparoscopic hepatectomy, it is important to have all necessary equipment. The intraoperative laparoscopic ultrasonography, microwave coagulators, ultrasonic dissection, argon beam coagulators, laparoscopic coagulation shears, endolinear staplers and TissueLink monopolar sealer are essential. This procedure is in need that well experienced endoscopic surgeon and well-experienced liver surgeon should be collaborated in laparoscopic hepatectomy and the indications are strictly followed based upon the location and size of tumors. Finally critical determinant for success and safe laparoscopic hepatectomy is through familiarity with the relevant laparoscopic instruments and equipments. Laparoscopic hepatectomy is expected to develop further in the future as a new surgical instrument, equipment and method, which improves patients' quality of life. [source]


Unravelling the complexities of high commitment: an employee-level analysis

HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT JOURNAL, Issue 2 2009
Edel Conway
Research within HRM has faced criticism for failing to focus adequately on employee experiences of HR practice. In particular, the ,high-commitment' models fail to recognise employee perspectives on HRM, the complexities of the commitment construct and the possibility that organisations configure HR systems in various ways. This paper explores the impact of employee attitudes towards HR practices on affective, continuance and normative commitment, and intention to leave in three organisational contexts. The findings suggest that different HR systems can yield different attitudes towards HR practices, which in turn can impact on different forms of commitment and levels of intention to leave. The findings provide insights into the ways in which organisations manage the commitment process through HR practices and the response by employees to these interventions. [source]


Internet-based information systems use in organizations: an information studies perspective

INFORMATION SYSTEMS JOURNAL, Issue 2 2003
Brian Detlor
Abstract. This case study investigates various ways in which different internet-based information systems (IS) are used by organizational participants. Borrowing theoretical insights on information behaviour accumulated over 50 years of information studies research, a conceptual framework is presented to help understand and assess the social and organizational impacts of internet-based IS. The framework describes the use of internet-based IS as a dynamic cycle of information needs,seeking,use activity situated in the context of a firm's information environment. Research questions pertain to the process of how individuals in organizations seek and use information from internet-based IS to satisfy information needs. In terms of information needs, this involves understanding the problem situations that lead participants to use internet-based IS, as well as the characteristics of those problems beyond subject matter. With respect to information seeking, this involves analysing how information from internet-based systems is displayed and formatted to signal their potential usefulness. In terms of information use, this involves how information obtained from internet-based systems is used in practice to resolve or redefine problems. Both quantitative and qualitative research methods are used. Data collection involves web tracking to identify significant episodes of internet-based IS activity, as well as one-on-one interviews to explore the context behind these episodes. Results suggest that it is possible and valuable to identify scenarios of internet-based IS use dominant in an organizational work setting. Doing so can help to identify ways to improve the situated use of internet-based IS that ameliorate the information needs,seeking,use cycle in firms. [source]


Cohesive-zone models, higher-order continuum theories and reliability methods for computational failure analysis,

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR NUMERICAL METHODS IN ENGINEERING, Issue 1 2004
René de Borst
Abstract A concise overview is given of various numerical methods that can be used to analyse localization and failure in engineering materials. The importance of the cohesive-zone approach is emphasized and various ways to incorporate the cohesive-zone methodology in discretization methods are discussed. Numerical representations of cohesive-zone models suffer from a certain mesh bias. For discrete representations this is caused by the initial mesh design, while for smeared representations it is rooted in the ill-posedness of the rate boundary value problem that arises upon the introduction of decohesion. A proper representation of the discrete character of cohesive-zone formulations which avoids any mesh bias can be obtained elegantly when exploiting the partition-of-unity property of finite element shape functions. The effectiveness of the approach is demonstrated for some examples at different scales. Moreover, examples are shown how this concept can be used to obtain a proper transition from a plastifying or damaging continuum to a shear band with gross sliding or to a fully open crack (true discontinuum). When adhering to a continuum description of failure, higher-order continuum models must be used. Meshless methods are ideally suited to assess the importance of the higher-order gradient terms, as will be shown. Finally, regularized strain-softening models are used in finite element reliability analyses to quantify the probability of the emergence of various possible failure modes. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]