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Prevailing Notions (prevailing + notion)

Distribution by Scientific Domains
Humanities and Social Sciences40%

Selected Abstracts

A call for Australian loess

AREA, Issue 2 2007
David Haberlah
The term ,loess' for silty terrestrial deposits of aeolian origin is widely avoided in the Australian context. This seems to be linked to a prevailing notion among Australian geoscientists that loess is an inherently periglacial late Pleistocene sediment and hence negligible on the mainland. Addressing this conception, loess is presented here as a product of both cold and hot semi-arid environments and therefore a widespread feature in Australia. The adoption of a non-prescriptive definition of loess will align the variety of local descriptions with overseas terminology. More importantly, it will relate hitherto only vaguely defined wind-blown dust occurrences to a broader palaeoenvironmental concept. [source]

Illness, power and prayer in Asser's Life of King Alfred

EARLY MEDIEVAL EUROPE, Issue 2 2001
Paul Kershaw
Asser's account of Alfred's mysterious illnesses is one of the most puzzling and most-discussed passages in his Life. This article attempts to place this account in its contemporary setting, analysing its devotional, intellectual and political contexts, in order to argue that, far from being an anomaly, it reflects the cultural interests of the Alfredian court and the influence upon it of contemporary Carolingian notions of rulership. In the process, Asser is shown to be an author with a keen sense of the prevailing notions of royal authority, but one equally aware of the potential dangers such notions could bring, particularly when one key royal attribute, humility, could be seen as indicative more of weakness than fitness to rule. Taken as a whole, the ideas, allusions and influences present in the work allow Asser's Life to be seen not merely as a descriptive but also as a thematic portrait of the king's intellectual interests. Above all, the Life emerges as a work with strong resonances with the cultural preoccupations of the late ninth century. [source]

The enigmatic primitive streak: prevailing notions and challenges concerning the body axis of mammals

BIOESSAYS, Issue 8 2009
Karen M. Downs
Abstract The primitive streak establishes the antero-posterior body axis in all amniote species. It is thought to be the conduit through which mesoderm and endoderm progenitors ingress and migrate to their ultimate destinations. Despite its importance, the streak remains poorly defined and one of the most enigmatic structures of the animal kingdom. In particular, the posterior end of the primitive streak has not been satisfactorily identified in any species. Unexpectedly, and contrary to prevailing notions, recent evidence suggests that the murine posterior primitive streak extends beyond the embryo proper. In its extraembryonic site, the streak creates a node-like cell reservoir from which the allantois, a universal caudal appendage of all amniotes and the future umbilical cord of placental mammals, emerges. This new insight into the fetal/umbilical relationship may explain the etiology of a large number of umbilical-associated birth defects, many of which are correlated with abnormalities of the embryonic midline. [source]

Inclusive education: a critical perspective

BRITISH JOURNAL OF SPECIAL EDUCATION, Issue 1 2003
Geoff Lindsay
The Gulliford Lecture 2002 was given by Professor Geoff Lindsay, Director of the Centre for Educational Development, Appraisal and Research (CEDAR) at the University of Warwick. Professor Lindsay's lecture, on which this paper is based, addressed a number of key topics, including the development of inclusion and inclusive practices; models of special educational needs and disability; and the values that underpin our thinking about these matters. Basing his argument on the research evidence, Professor Lindsay provides a searching critique of prevailing notions about inclusion and of current approaches to research. His conclusions will be of interest to everyone concerned with the education of children and young people with special educational needs. [source]