The Representation of Cultural Content in Global Elementary Coursebook

This study was to find out the types of cultural content source found in the reading and listening texts presented in Global elementary coursebook (2012) and the similarities and differences of the types of cultural content source found in those texts. The data were analyzed using the theory of types of cultural content source proposed by Matsuda (2012). The findings of this study showed that the reading texts met 54.9% of global culture, 35.3% of target culture, and 9.8% of local culture while the listening texts met 72.5% of global culture, 25% of target culture, and 2.5% of local culture. All in all, as proposed by Matsuda (2012), a good coursebook is the one that has multiple sources of cultural content; and Global elementary coursebook fulfills this criterion as it has three types of cultural content source

An efficiency analysis of banking systems: a comparison of European and United States large commercial banks using different functional forms.

This paper aims at investigation the efficiency of European and U.S. commercial banks. Scale and scope economies indicators, as well as a measurement of X-efficiency are derived from three cost functions: Fourier flexible form, translog and Box-Cox. This allows checking the stability and the robustness of the evidence across the different specifications. Our results over the period 1995-98 show that overall the average cost curve is relatively flat with some evidence of scale efficiency gains. More puzzling are the results on the presence of scope economies.

Altered white matter structure in auditory tracts following early monocular enucleation

Purpose: Similar to early blindness, monocular enucleation (the removal of one eye) early in life results in crossmodal behavioral and morphological adaptations. Previously it has been shown that partial visual deprivation from early monocular enucleation results in structural white matter changes throughout the visual system (Wong et al., 2018). The current study investigated structural white matter of the auditory system in adults who have undergone early monocular enucleation compared to binocular control participants. Methods: We reconstructed four auditory and audiovisual tracts of interest using probabilistic tractography and compared microstructural properties of these tracts to binocularly intact controls using standard diffusion indices. Results: Although both groups demonstrated asymmetries in indices in intrahemispheric tracts, monocular enucleation participants showed asymmetries opposite to control participants in the auditory and A1-V1 tracts. Monocularenucleation participants also demonstrated significantly lower fractional anisotropy in the audiovisual projections contralateral to the enucleated eye relative to control participants. Conclusions: Partial vision loss from early monocular enucleation results in altered structuralYork University Librarie

Tacit knowing, moral development and pluralism: thoughts on mentoring, judgment and reform

The epistemology of tacit knowing in the ethics of mentoring is meant to be grounding for intelligent action. The structural and functional models delineated above provide a conceptual map for such action. The structure of tacit knowing consists of subsidiary awareness and focal awareness and the two poles of from-to knowing. Subsidiary awareness is on the internal (personal) pole, focal awareness is on the external (objective) pole. The function of tacit knowing has three aspects: selective, heuristic and persuasive, each having a conative and cognitive mode or trait. The driving force of this model is “intellectual passion” which in ethics is the judicial attitude, keeping the principle of justice in sight. Since the epistemology of tacit knowing presupposes free will, it must choose a duty bound ethics2. Specifically, the analysis of tacit knowing model presented here hones the awareness of the adult about his own processes of knowing, doing and persuasive acts, deliberately focusing on these processes and their grounding in free will. The adult’s understanding then serves his nurturing function, the training of the young to attain awareness of these same functions in him. The ethical aspect is the duty to pass on this knowledge to enable the child to become intelligently autonomous, to train him to develop the judicial attitude. Thus, both the morality of traits, that is being, and the morality of principles, that is doing, are fostered. However, the key is the fostering of the will to do right, that is fostering the “intellectual passion” grounded in the judicial attitude

Border Studies

In the last two decades, a novel interdisciplinary field of inquiry has emerged under the label of Border Studies. This area of research has mainly reflected on the nature and functionalities of borders and boundaries, bringing up discussions on space, politics, economics, and culture. In particular, Border Studies have significantly contributed to the understanding of the role of borders in shaping migratory movements. In order to map this very large field of investigation, numerous state of the art reviews have been published. However, none of the reviews encountered has addressed the following issues: first, the main assumptions informing different theoretical perspectives in Border Studies; second, the application of Border Studies to analyse human mobility in the Global South. Thus, in order to participate in producing a more complete understanding of the knowledge produced in this field, the present paper pursues a pair of objectives. One objective is to critically present the main theoretical approaches employed in the field of Border Studies, reflecting on their heuristic possibilities and limitations as well as their political implications. The other objective is to explore the intertwining of Border and Migration Studies with a specific focus on Africa, Asia and Latin America, devoting particular attention to the way this body of research has analysed the condition of migrant women workers. Overall, the essay generates suggestions for future significant investigations

Challenging women’s vulnerability

This paper considers explanations of rape related to perceptions of women’s vulnerability and of men’s violence and strength as problematic, because of the limitations they impose on women’s agency. Under the framework of poststructuralist feminist politics of rape and politics of representation, it analyses how to bring about change, in relation to these beliefs, at the level of discourses. The principal justification to focus on the production of discourses rests on the argument that ideas of women’s vulnerability and men’s strength participate in constructing discourses that legitimise and normalise rape. These reflections are then used to look at the experience of “Sexto Sentido,” a Nicaraguan feminist telenovela, produced to incite stimulating critical reflection and debate on different oppressive relations of power. More specifically, this study discursively analyses how this soap opera challenges dominant discourses on masculinity, femininity and rape in Nicaragua. Overall, the paper critically discusses the potentialities and challenges of fostering social change through discourses

Unveiling the Relationship Between Sea Surface Hydrographic Patterns and Tuna Larval Distribution in the Central Mediterranean Sea

Thunnus thynnus (Atlantic bluefin tuna, ABT) and other tuna species reproduce in the Mediterranean Sea during the summer period. Despite the Central Mediterranean Sea, the Strait of Sicily in particular, being a key spawning site for many tuna species, little is known on the effects of oceanographic variability on their larval distribution in this area. The abundance and presence-absence of larval specimens for three tuna species (ABT, bullet tuna and albacore) were modeled in order to examine their relationships with environmental factors, by analysing historical in situ information collected during seven annual surveys (2010–2016). The results revealed that most tuna larvae for the three species were found in the easternmost part of the study area, south of Capo Passero. This area is characterized by a stable saline front and warmer nutrient-poor water, and it has different environmental conditions, compared with the surrounding areas. Themodels used to investigate the presence-absence and abundance of the three species showed that ABT was the most abundant, followed by bullet tuna and albacore. The presence and abundance data collected are comparable with those of other spawning areas in the Mediterranean. Regarding biological and physical parameters, the results suggest that temperature, salinity, and day of the year are the key factors for understanding the ecologicalmechanisms and geographical distribution of these species in this area. Temperature affects the presence of ABT larvae and salinity, which, with a physical barrier effect, is a key factor for the presence-absence of bullet and albacore and for albacore abundance.En prens