9 research outputs found
Constructing the eastern european other: The horsemeat scandal and the migrant other
The Horsemeat scandal in the UK in 2013 ignited a furore about
consumer deception and the bodily transgression of consuming
something so alien to the British psyche. The imagination of the
horse as a noble and mythic figure in British history and sociological
imagination was invoked to construct the consumption of horsemeat
as a social taboo and an immoral proposition in the British media
debates. This paper traces the horsemeat scandal and its media framing
in the UK. Much of the aversion to horsemeat was intertextually
bound with discourses of immigration, the expansion of the EU and
the threat in tandem to the UK. Food as a social and cultural artefact
laden with symbolic meaning and national pride became a platform
to construct the ‘Other’ – in this case the Eastern European Other. The
media debates on the horsemeat scandal interwove the opening up of
the EU and particularly UK to the influx of Eastern European migration.
The horsemeat controversy in implicating the Eastern Europeans for
the contamination of the supply chain became a means to not just
construct the ‘Other’ but also to entwine contemporary policy debates
about immigration. This temporal framing of contemporary debates
enables a nation to renew and contemporise its notions of ‘otherness’
while sustaining an historic social imaginary of itself
Ordering Finite Variable Types with Generalized Quantifiers
Let Q be a finite set of generalized quantifiers. By (Q) we denote the k-variable fragment of FO(Q), first order logic extended with Q. We show that for each k, there is a PFP(Q)-definable linear pre-order whose equivalence classes in any finite structure A are (Q)-types in A. For some special classes of generalized quantifiers Q, we show that such an ordering (Q)-types is already definable in IFP(Q). As applications of the above results, we prove some generalizations of the Abiteboul-Vianu theorem. For instance, we show that for any finite set Q of modular counting quantifiers, P = PSPACE if, and only if, IFP(Q) = PFP(Q) over finite structures
Effect of laser annealing on the structural, electrical and optical properties of CdTe thin films
Field effect studies on MIS structures and effect of laser annealing on the structural, electrical and optical properties of Pb0,8Sn0.2Te thin films
Seed Dormancy Dynamics and Germination Characteristics of <i>Malva parviflora</i> L.
Little mallow (Malva parviflora L.) is a notorious weed that causes substantial yield losses in winter crops. For effective weed management and seed testing, a deeper understanding of seed dormancy, germination behavior, and dormancy-breaking methods is necessary. Experiments were conducted to determine the effect of seed treatments, i.e., mechanical scarification, acid scarification, hot water treatment, and different germinating temperatures, i.e., 15 °C, 20 °C, or alternating 15–20 °C (16/8 h), on the seed dormancy in M.parviflora. A large proportion of M. parviflora seeds were physically dormant, with just 10.90% germination. Seed treatments had a significant influence on seed germination, seedling dry weight, vigor index, and water absorption (p ≤ 0.01). Among the various treatments, mechanical scarification enhanced germination by 32%, the vigor index by 487% and water uptake by 34%, and decreased percent hard seeds by 34%. Among the various germination temperatures, alternating 15–20 °C temperatures (16/8 h) gave the most significant result for germination and the lowest percent hard seeds. The findings of this study will serve as a valuable reference for seed testing and the development of suitable weed control strategies for M. parviflora