Finding a reflexive voice : -- researching the problems of implementing new learning practices within a New Zealand manufacturing organisation : a 100pt thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Management in Human Resources Management at Massey University

This study explored the social forces mediating manager's participation in a new reflexive participative learning practice designed to improve profitability within a New Zealand manufacturing organisation. Despite a large theoretical and managerial body of literature on organisational learning there has been little empirical investigation of how people experience and engage their reflexivity towards challenging the status-quo to create high level learning and new knowledge. Power was identified as a potential moderator of the reflexive learning experience and the variable relations of power and learning were constructed from a review of literature and these relationships were explored and investigated within the case study. Two prevailing discourses were identified as powerful moderators of public reflexivity, the traditionalist discourse which constructed managers actions and conversations towards insularism and survivalist concerns and the productionist discourse in which institutionalised production practices encircled and mediated managers actions and what constituted legitimacy in conversations. This study used a critical action research method to place the reflexive experience of managers and the researcher at the centre of the study and provide data representative of the social discourses that constructed variable freedoms and constraints upon the reflexive voice

Europe’s next headache: Italy’s banking crisis

Italy’s distressed banking sector is quickly becoming a source of great concern throughout Europe’s financial markets. Angelo Baglioni breaks down the crisis as an outcome of two factors: bank mismanagement and the insolvency generated by a deep recession, which have caused bad loans to soar to unprecedented levels. He concludes it is reasonable to expect that the EU institutions will allow Italy to support its banking sector with the European regulatory frameworks

The Devil's Charter

OBJECTIVES: Medical education research is thriving. In recent decades, numbers of journals and publications have increased enormously, as have the number and size of medical education meetings around the world. The aim of this paper is to shed some light on the origins of this success. My central argument is that dialogue between education practice (and its teachers) and education research (and its researchers) is indispensable. REFLECTIONS: To illustrate how I have come to this perspective, I discuss two crucial developments of personal import to myself. The first is the development of assessment theory informed by both research findings and insights emerging from implementations conducted in collaboration with teachers and learners. The second is the establishment of a department of education that includes many members from the medical domain. CONCLUSIONS: Medical education is thriving because it is shaped and nourished within a community of practice of collaborating teachers, practitioners and researchers. This obviates the threat of a fissure between education research and education practice. The values of this community of practice - inclusiveness, openness, supportiveness, nurture and mentorship - are key elements for its sustainability. In pacing the development of our research in a manner that maintains this synergy, we should be mindful of the zone of proximal development of our community of practice

Le battaglie date a Faienza dal duca Valentino

Català: Edició del poema anònim Le battaglie date a Faienza dal duca Valentino. Aquest imprès és custodiat a la Biblioteca Colombina de Sevilla amb la signatura 6-3-30 (28). Escrit en octaves a l'Emília oriental, segons els trets lingüístics. Tracta de la batalla de Faenza de 1501. English: Edition of the anonymous poem Le battaglie date a Faienza dal duca Valentino. This printed publication is kept in the Biblioteca Colombina (Seville), signature 6-3-30 (28). Composed in octosyllables, linguistic evidence points to it having been written in the eastern Emiglia. It narrates the battle of Faenza (1501). Italiano: In questo articolo si presenta l'edizione del poema anonimo Le battaglie date a Faenza dal duca Valentino, custodito nella Biblioteca Colombina di Siviglia con la segnatura: 6-3-30 (28). Si tratta di una composizione in ottave scritta, secondo i risultati di un'analisi dei tratti linguistici, molto probabilmente in Emilia orientale. L'argomento del poema è la battaglia di Faenza del 1501

THE EFFECT OF MOZART’S MUSIC IN SEVERE EPILEPSY: FUNCTIONAL AND MORPHOLOGICAL FEATURES

Music is a very important factor in everyday life, involving mood, emotions and memories. The effect of music on the brain is very debated. Certainly, music activates a complex network of neurones in auditory areas, mesolimbic areas, cerebellum and multisensory areas. In particular, music exerts its effects on the brain of patients with epilepsy, having a dichotomous influence: it can either be seizure-promoting in musicogenic epilepsy or antiepileptic. Several studies have shown that seizure-prone neural networks may be stimulated by certain periodicities while other frequencies may prevent seizure activity. There are a lot of data in the literature about the so-called "Mozart effect" (Rauscher et al. 1993). In previous studies we observed that in institutionalized subjects with severe/profound intellectual disability and drug-resistant epilepsy, a systematic music listening protocol reduced the frequency of seizures in about 50% of the cases. In this study we are conducting a survey on the observation of what happens to the brain of patients suffering from drug-resistant epilepsy through electroencephalographic investigations, brain MRI and behavioural analysis before and after six months of listening to Mozart music (Sonata K.448). The first step is to present the data of the first patient under investigation

Evaluation of contamination for extraneous materials in “sun meat” sold in the “houses of the north” in the municipality of Diadema (SP, Brazil)

The “sun meat” is a handmade product, combining surface techniques of salting and dehydration, commonly used by people from the North and Northeast regions of Brazil. The sun meat cooking process lacks in sophisticated technology and official standards of procedure and quality. Thus, production, sale and distribution under unsatisfactory sanitary conditions are risky to the consumers’ health. This paper is aimed at evaluating the sanitary conditions of “sun meat” sold at the “houses of the north” for the presence of extraneous materials. Analysis of 44 samples of “sun meat” from 22 “houses of the north” located in “Diadema District” (SP, Brazil) had been carried out. The product conditions of exposure and sale in the “houses of the north” were evaluated and provided additional information to assess the degree of food safety of this product. In 44 samples were found various types of extraneous materials such as whole insects and debris, larvae, exuvia, mites, rodent hairs, bird feather pieces, fungi, and sharp  objects. Mechanical vectors were observed at 11 locations of the sale area. The results indicated that 90.9% of the “sun meat” has unsatisfactory sanitary conditions, caused by the presence of physical hazards of contamination. These results, associated with conditions found in the “houses of the north”, indicated that these products can put the health of consumers at risk. Keywords: Sun meat, Sanitary Conditions, Food security