Fruit Color Properties of Different Cultivars of Dates (Phoenix dactylifera, L.)

Rosana G. Moreira, Editor-in-Chief; Texas A&M UniversityThis is a paper from International Commission of Agricultural Engineering (CIGR, Commission Internationale du Genie Rural) E-Journal Volume 8 (2006): Fruit Color Properties of Different Cultivars of Dates (Phoenix dactylifera, L.). Manuscript FP 05 005. Vol. VIII. March, 2006

From Powerlessness to Control: Psychosis, Spirit Possession and Recovery in the Western Desert of Egypt

This article explores an aspect of the cultural modulation of recovery in psychosis. It begins with the idea that recovery hinges on the ability of subjects to relate to their distressing experiences in ways that expand rather than diminish agency.  Based on fieldwork in the Dakhla oasis of Egypt and subsequent analysis, it is argued that interpretations of psychosis as spirit possession offer a broader range of intentionality than biomedical interpretations and therefore broader possibilities of relating to psychotic states. Modes of relating to spirits may take active or passive forms, the former consistent with the recovery goal of symptom control. Factors constitutive of the active, agency-expanding mode of relating include: the nature of spirits; the values and beliefs of the subject; the broader cultural/religious discourses which may make it either more or less likely for the subject to achieve the desired state of control over symptoms

The charged lepton mass matrix and non-zero θ13\theta_{13} with TeV scale New Physics

We provide an explicit structure of the charged lepton mass matrix which is 2-3 symmetric except for a single breaking of this symmetry by the muon mass. We identify a flavor symmetric limit for the mass matrices where the first generation is decoupled from the other two in the charged lepton sector while in the neutrino sector the third generation is decoupled from the first two generations. The leptonic mixing in the symmetric limit can be, among other structures, the bi-maximal (BM) or the tri-bimaximal (TBM) mixing. Symmetry breaking effects are included both in the charged lepton and the neutrino sector to produce corrections to the leptonic mixing and explain the recent $\theta_{13}$ measurements. A model that extends the SM by three right handed neutrinos, an extra Higgs doublet, and two singlet scalars is introduced to generate the leptonic mixing.Comment: 28 pages, 24 figures. arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:1111.307

Shared Epiphanies of My Constantly Challenged Linguistic Membership

The pluralization of English has enabled the use of its varieties in cultural contexts that are not traditionally associated with the language. Yet, the inequality of Englishes remains a main characteristic of globalizing and localizing the language. The spread of English use in Kuwait was a result of establishing reconfigured imperial relations during the British protectorate era. Mediated by language ideologies, the English language has ‘settled’ Kuwait’s local linguistic ecology, and its spread remains sustained by the imposition of colonial practices and ideologies through contemporary processes of capitalist globalization. I argue that the pluralization of English in Kuwait’s nuanced experience typifies a mechanism to (un)consciously enable globally-formed power relations between local ‘native’ and ‘nonnative’ speakers, rendering it unequal. In this article, I lay bare the impact of the phenomenon of Unequal Englishes on my life as a Kuwaiti English language teacher (KELT). Through writing two personal epiphanies, I conducted a critical autoethnographic study in response to my trajectory of English speaking and teaching. Anderson’s (1983, 2006) imagined community concept and Phillipson’s (1992) native speaker fallacy constituted the theoretical framework of the study, which ultimately explored the perpetuation of unequal power dynamics between ‘native’ and ‘nonnative’ English speaking teachers in Kuwait. Keywords: Unequal Englishes, power relations, Kuwait, KELT, imagined community, native-speakerism, autoethnography

The Effect of Using Mental Imagination Strategy on Developing Critical Reading Skills among Ninth Graders

The study aimed at showing the effect of using Mental Imagination strategy in developing critical reading skills for ninth grade students in Gaza. The study used the experimental method and suitable critical reading skills for nine grade were identified. The sample of the study consisted of 81 students (ninth grade) distributed to an experimental group (41 students) and a controlled group (40 student), reading subjects were taught to the experimental group by using the Mental Imagination strategy which was applied by a teacher who received training related to this strategy. The controlled group were taught by using traditional methods. After a test was implemented to measure the critical reading skills and conducting statistical treatments by using Ancova, the study revealed that there was an effect on using the Mental Imagination strategy in developing targeted critical reading skills. It also clarified that there were significant differences at a ≤ 0.01 between the experimental and controlled group grades in the post test of critical reading skills attributed to the experimental group

An investigation into cultural and demographic factors relating to leadership in vocational education and training institutions in Saudi Arabia

The importance of good leadership and management for educational institutions is well established among educational scholars and practitioners alike. It is reflected in a trend to incorporate generic theories from broader fields of leadership and management scholarship into educational settings. Among them, few have gained more acceptance and popularity than the transformational leadership (TL) model and, as a result, an extensive body of literature has emerged. Yet, despite considerable advancements in these studies, the understanding of how key antecedents such as important social and cultural determinants shape and influence these leadership styles has remained elusive. This thesis predominantly investigates the impact of sociocultural factors on educational leadership in vocational education and training (VET) institutions in Saudi Arabia. It also seeks to discover the dominant leadership styles in this specific context. Given that the focus of this study is on a specific educational setting (VETs), a further aim of this thesis is to understand better the development and current status of Saudi VET.To accomplish these aims, a two-phase mixed-method design was adopted. Quantitative data collection and analysis was applied in the first stage of data collection. A questionnaire incorporating Dorfman and Howell’s (1988) Cultural Values scale to measure the cultural values and Bass and Avolio’s (1995) Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ 5-x short form) instrument to explore the dominant leadership styles was distributed to Deans/Heads and Vice-Deans/Heads (n=173) and subordinates (n= 593) in 112 VET institutes. In the second stage of data collection and analysis, qualitative data were gathered by means of semi-structured interviews with a stratified purposive sample of 11 of the questionnaire respondents. A further analysis was undertaken to examine the extent to which the results of qualitative data corroborate culturally-sensitive leadership (CSL) models.The findings revealed that the perceived dominant leadership styles were transformational leadership, especially Inspirational Motivation, and the Contingent Reward dimension of transactional leadership. The interviews provided locally meaningful understanding of these leadership styles. Small to moderate effects were found for gender, education and work experience. Culture showed small impacts; Power Distance was the strongest predictor of transformational leadership and Uncertainty Avoidance contributed to certain dimensions of transactional and transformational leadership. Overlapping was found between transformational leadership dimensions and CSL models