RESEARCH STUDIES IN HIGHER EDUCATION: EDUCATING MULTICULTURAL COLLEGE STUDENTS-Ch 6

Book Chapte

Consolidation in times of overcapacity: strategic alliances vs. mergers and acquisitions in the liner shipping industry

As the world has witnessed in the recent past, the economic environment surrounding global trade has become increasingly dynamic and uncertain, with sudden and unexpected crises, trade imbalances and downturns of various nature. A sizeable number of companies have been forced out of business across different industries due to their lack of ability to continuously adapt to a rapidly changing environment; perhaps one of the most interesting industries to analyse in this context of uncertainty is that of the Liner Shipping, which has particularly suffered in the past 5 years. Indeed, the market for freight transportation of goods has been hit by a chronic issue of overcapacity, which carriers have failed to keep under control for different reasons that will be analysed later in this work. Many liners have entered into strategic alliances to try and reduce the losses triggered by increasing competition in the market, as well as by a growing number of available vessels that caused freight prices to drop significantly; others have recurred to mergers and acquisitions of competitors, in an effort to reduce the overall capacity of the market although, as we will see, the desired effects have been slow to appear. In this paper, I will conduct an in-depth analysis of the economic factors responsible for this excess capacity that has been so harmful to the shipping industry, but I will also develop an understanding of the effects that both strategic alliances and M&As have produced on the competitive environment; this will serve as a basis to outline possible future trends and develop some insights for the industry decision-makers. Starting with a literature review to present the main research question and hypotheses, I will mostly base my research on a quantitative methodology, using secondary data on freight rates variations over time and other economic indicators, and analysing them in order to verify the research question

Arsenic Contaminated Groundwater Has Serious Global Health Consequences: A Case Study from Bolivian Altiplano

There are many countries throughout the world where the local population’s water supply is exclusively obtained from groundwater and river discharge that is contaminated with arsenic. The Bolivian Altiplano which is a drainage basin within the Andes Mountains is an area of major concern; the arsenic levels are frequently well above The Environmental Protection Agency’s and The World Health Organizations minimum guidelines. Consumption of arsenic contaminated water can lead to a variety of minor to major health concerns. Mountainous areas are prime locations for identifying significantly high concentrations of arsenic in groundwater due to mountain building processes within their geologic past. Within the mountainous areas, drainage basins where contaminated water coverages, aquifers that are composed of arsenic rich minerals and hydrothermal springs seem to be the locations of the greatest aquatic arsenic concentrations. There is a strong need for public and private opinion to move toward working together so that global and regional challenges can be met with the proper skillsets. It is important for scientist of all disciplines, health professionals, educators and public servants to combat the issue of contaminated well water so that prolonged risky exposure can be mitigated to prevent serious health implications

Is postural stability compromised in women with urinary incontinence?

Women with urinary incontinence (UI) have an increased risk of falling compared to their age-matched peers without UI. Due to the anatomical location of the pelvic floor muscles, they are suspected to contribute to the maintenance of postural stability during everyday activities. Women with UI have weak or dysfunctional pelvic floor muscles. The purpose of this study was to determine if women with UI, specifically stress, urge, and mixed UI, have deficits in postural stability during static tasks and in response to postural perturbations of the support surface.;Methods: To measure static stability, 14 women (7 with UI: age 51.75 +/- 17.85 yrs, height 164.94 +/- 5.40 cm, mass 79.38 +/- 19.45 kg, number of falls 0.714 +/- 1.89, number of pregnancies 1.29 +/- 0.76 and 7 controls: age 51.71 +/- 18.20 yrs, height 163.29 +/- 6.64 cm, mass 60.47 +/- 8.32 kg, number of falls 0.00 +/- 0.00, number of pregnancies 1.29 +/- 0.76) stood quietly on a force plate with their eyes open and then eyes closed. These same women had their dynamic stability measured by undergoing perturbations of the force plate in both the toes up and toes down directions. A two-factor MANOVA (group x eyes open/closed) was performed on the following static variables: anterioposterior sway, mediolateral sway, length of the path of the center of pressure (COP), sway velocity in quiet stance, and elliptical sway area. Another two-factor MANOVA (group x toes up/down) was performed on the following dynamic variables: initial sway, total sway, and sway velocity. The alpha value for all statistical analyses was 0.05.;Results: No differences in the static stability variables of anterioposterior sway, mediolateral sway, length of the path of COP, sway velocity in quiet stance, and elliptical sway area were seen between groups. Results of the dynamic stability assessment revealed that the UI group had significantly less initial sway (p=0.006), total sway (p=0.008), and sway velocity (p=0.001) compared to the controls.;Conclusion: Women with UI have less COP movement in response to postural perturbations compared to an age and parity-matched control group. Further studies are needed to determine muscular compensations and co-contractions that may be contributing to this response

What Is Glocal? Conceptual systematization and new theoretical considerations on the most crucial techno-cultural invention of the media civilization

The article presents the glocalization phenomenon’s fundamental characteristics, from its most remote technological origins until its current digital manifestations. According to the proposal, Glocal – neither global nor local, but a mixture of both – refers to processes and tendencies observed in the irreversible track of electronic communication in real-time. Concerning epistemological and empirical dimensions, the argumentation apprehends the glocal and glocalization’s socio-historical significance, focusing on its modus operandi, internal diversification, and multilateral consequences. New authorial considerations enrich the thesis of glocalization as a civilizational process and a mode of reproduction of capitalism.O artigo apresenta as características fundamentais do fenômeno da glocalização, desde suas origens tecnológicas mais remotas até suas manifestações digitais atuais. Glocal – nem global, nem local, antes mescla de ambos, sem redução a nenhum – se refere, nesta reflexão, a processos e tendências observados no rastro irreversível da comunicação eletrônica em tempo real. Abarcando o tema por dupla dimensão – epistemológica e empírica –, a argumentação apreende a significação social-histórica do glocal e da glocalização, com foco em seu modus operandi, em sua diversificação interna e em suas consequências multilaterais. A reflexão soma novos aspectos a respeito para enriquecer a tese da glocalização como processo civilizatório e como modo de reprodução do capitalismo

Microarray Analyses of Genes Differentially Expressed by Diet (Black Beans and Soy Flour) during Azoxymethane-Induced Colon Carcinogenesis in Rats

We previously demonstrated that black bean (BB) and soy flour (SF)-based diets inhibit azoxymethane (AOM)-induced colon cancer. The objective of this study was to identify genes altered by carcinogen treatment in normal-appearing colonic mucosa and those attenuated by bean feeding. Ninety-five male F344 rats were fed control (AIN) diets upon arrival. At 4 and 5 weeks, rats were injected with AOM (15 mg/kg) or saline and one week later administered an AIN, BB-, or SF-based diet. Rats were sacrificed after 31 weeks, and microarrays were conducted on RNA isolated from the distal colonic mucosa. AOM treatment induced a number of genes involved in immunity, including several MHC II-associated antigens and innate defense genes (RatNP-3, Lyz2, Pla2g2a). BB- and SF-fed rats exhibited a higher expression of genes involved in energy metabolism and water and sodium absorption and lower expression of innate (RatNP-3, Pla2g2a, Tlr4, Dmbt1) and cell cycle-associated (Cdc2, Ccnb1, Top2a) genes. Genes involved in the extracellular matrix (Col1a1, Fn1) and innate immunity (RatNP-3, Pla2g2a) were induced by AOM in all diets, but to a lower extent in bean-fed animals. This profile suggests beans inhibit colon carcinogenesis by modulating cellular kinetics and reducing inflammation, potentially by preserving mucosal barrier function

Assessing PSS from a multi stakeholders' perspective: the application of the EVA method in the airport context

Abstract Recent economic developments and the spread of technology are pushing companies toward the provision of complex and innovative Product-Service System (PSS). On the other side, information and communication technologies are enabling the identification of a plethora of PSSs characterized by different levels of integration among products, services and infrastructure. In this context, many companies are experimenting difficulties in selecting the proper PSS to be developed, that is the one that concurrently considers the needs of multiple stakeholders and a good engagement of them in the value creation and engineering process. This paper exploits the Engineering Value Assessment (EVA) method to support the evaluation and the assessment of PSS solutions in a B2C context where the management of multiple stakeholders' perspectives is of utmost relevance. To demonstrate the EVA method applicability, the airport context was selected as an example of system complexity since it involves manifold actors: passengers, airport and airlines. Four different PSSs for the self-drop bag were identified and further analyzed through the EVA method in order to identify which is the best one to be adopted in the studied airport in the north of Italy considering the preferences of the three actors: the passengers, the airport and the airlines

La traduzione italiana di tenda dos milagres: uno sguardo agli aspetti religiosi

Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Centro de Comunicação e Expressão. Programa de Pós-graduação em Estudos da Tradução, Florianópolis, 2012A presente pesquisa se propõe analisar a tradução em italiano do romance de Jorge Amado Tenda dos milagres (2001 [1969]) (La bottega dei miracoli, 2006 [1978]) concentrando-se nos aspectos religiosos, transmitidos pelo léxico do candomblé. Parte-se da convicção de que a tradução de um texto literário para outra língua implica o movimento de levar um universo cultural para outro. De acordo com essa perspectiva, adota-se a visão de tradução cultural de Francis Henrik Aubert, que considera, obviamente, o aspecto linguístico dessa operação, mas também o aspecto extra-linguístico e destaca a importância que adquirem os marcadores culturais, que devem ser percebidos sempre no contexto em que aparecem, e constituem sinais de uma alteridade que deve ser apontada e respeitada, numa atitude e numa abordagem que remete ao "albergue do longínquo" de Antoine Berman. Tenda dos Milagres é um romance que contém inúmeros assuntos de interesse antropológico, social e cultural em sentido geral e, por isso, se estabeleceu uma comparação entre a tarefa do tradutor e a tarefa do antropólogo, ambos percebidos como mediadores culturais. A cultura, segundo Clifford Geertz, é um sistema de símbolos compartilhados por todos aqueles que contribuíram e contribuem para dar-lhe forma, sendo necessário portanto que o antropólogo e o tradutor se aproximem do ponto de vista do nativo que vive imerso num contexto muito bem definido culturalmente, embora ele não tenha consciência disso. Para poder dar conta dessa tarefa, o antropólogo e o tradutor deveriam ter conhecimento desse contexto. O romance escolhido foi, portanto, considerado exemplo de cultura como texto, de acordo com a abordagem proposta pela antropologia interpretativa, e o tradutor como tradutor de uma cultura, no presente caso, da cultura religiosa que permeia essa obra. As escolhas da tradutora Elena Grechi foram consideradas desse ponto de vista, buscando-se salientar, caso a caso, se elas possibilitam a compreensão do texto por parte do leitor italiano ou se, ao contrário, a impedem, e se, na pior das hipóteses, poderiam produzir uma tradução etnocêntrica. A partir das análises realizadas, a língua desse romance constitui um autêntico sincretismo linguístico - que não tem equivalente na língua de chegada -, assim como é sincrética a religião que ele narra e isso torna ainda mais complexa a operação da traduçãoAbstract : This dissertation is an analysis of the Italian translation of Jorge Amado's novel, Tenda dos Milagres (2001 [1969]) (La bottega dei miracoli, 2006 [1978]), focusing on its religious aspects as conveyed by the vocabulary of candomblé. The premise is that the translation of a literary text into another language involves moving a cultural universe. In support of this perspective Francis Henrik Aubert#s view of cultural translation is opted, which takes both the linguistic and the extralinguistic aspects of the process into consideration, focusing on the importance of cultural markers, which should always be perceived in relation to the context in which they appear, and which constitute signs of an otherness which should be noted and respected in an attitude and an approach that refers to Antoine Berman's "auberge du lointain". Tenda dos Milagres is a novel which contains innumerable topics of anthropological, social and cultural interest; for this reason the study establishes a comparison between the task of the translator and that of the anthropologist: both of whom are perceived as cultural mediators. According to Clifford Geertz, culture is a system of symbols shared by all those who have given and continue to give shape to it, making it necessary for the anthropologist and the translator to come as close as possible to the point of view of the native, who is immersed in a well-defined cultural context even if he/she is unaware of the fact. In order to do this the anthropologist and translator alike should have a full understanding of this context. The novel under scrutiny is considered to be an example of culture as text, in accordance with the interpretative anthropological approach, and the translator is viewed as the translator of a culture, in this case the religious culture that permeates the text. The choices made by the translator, Elena Grechi, have been analysed from this perspective, in an attempt to ascertain whether they assist or hinder the understanding of an Italian reader, or whether they result in an ethnocentric translation. According to our analysis the language used in the novel constitutes a genuine linguistic syncretism - , which has no equivalent in the target language -, just as the religion described in the novel is itself syncretic, which makes the translation process much more comple

Per una traduzione di immagini. Il Nordest degli anni Trenta in Italia. Jorge Amado, Graciliano Ramos e Jos\ue9 Lins Do Rego: il libro-archivio

Translation allows that literary works created in one cultural context circulate in another cultural system that welcomes them. Translated literature goes through a complex journey with important and sometimes necessary changes, in order to integrate a different literary horizon. Several are the protagonists that play a role in this delicate journey called \u201ctranslation\u201d and there are numerous elements which determine how foreign literature is presented in the realm of true cultural mediation. This research aims to analyse the proposal made for Italian readers of 1930s Northeastern Brazilian regional literature through the translation works by Jorge Amado, Graciliano Ramos e Jos\ue9 Lins do Rego. This reflection is based on the idea that book is an archive in constant change which opens itself up through its direct or indirect (and always relevant) paratexts, and which are, in some cases, instrumental to the creation of the image that this literature ended up having in Italian cultural landscape