Recent southern writing in a postmodern context

Es posible rechazar la palabra postmodernismo a nivel teórico porque tiende a representar una "bolsa de etiquetas" dentro de la cual se vierte toda la literatura producida alrededor de la última década. La estética del postmodernismo está asegurada en los trabajos de las escritoras sureñas contemporáneas por las técnicas de yuxtaposición, arbitrariedad, producción literaria entre géneros, multiplicación de perspectivas en un "collage", fetichización en los fragmentos, etc. Las actitudes establecidas, las suposiciones y los valores que fueron el instrumento utilizado durante\ud el Renacimiento Sureño han cambiado gradualmente, y las escritoras Bobbie Ann\ud Mason, Anne Tyler y Lee Smith, aquí estudiadas, muestran, en contraste, una falta\ud relativa de auto-conciencia sureña aunque, por otro lado, hacen uso de las técnicas\ud literarias postmodernistas. Reexaminan la tradición sureña americana en un sentido\ud postmodernista al introducir a sus personajes dentro de una cultura no específícamente\ud sureña (televisiónn, música rock, cine), estos personajes desafían la percepción sureña tradicionaly sus mitos

Virtual reality in the service of user participation in architecture

The issue of user participation in the processes of building and urban design is enjoying renewed attention following its relative neglect over the last 20 years due, in large measure, to significant advances in emerging information technologies, particularly multimedia, virtual reality and internet technologies. This paper re-established the theoretical framework for participatory design evolved in the late sixties and early seventies as part of the movement towards a more explicit design methodology and attempts an explanation of why the concept failed to gain commitment from the architectural and urban design professionals. The paper then gives an account of two significant developments in the evolution of the application of information technologies with which the authors have been engaged. These are: i. a responsive and interactive interface to wholly immersive and realistic virtual reality representations of proposed buildings and urban neighbourhoods. ii. an intuitive and platform-independent VR modelling environment allowing collaborative evolution of the scheme from within the virtual world. The impact of these IT developments is demonstrated in the context of the design of a leisure facility for a community of users with physical impairment

Recent southern writing in a postmodern context

Es posible rechazar la palabra postmodernismo a nivel teórico porque tiende a representar una "bolsa de etiquetas" dentro de la cual se vierte toda la literatura producida alrededor de la última década. La estética del postmodernismo está asegurada en los trabajos de las escritoras sureñas contemporáneas por las técnicas de yuxtaposición, arbitrariedad, producción literaria entre géneros, multiplicación de perspectivas en un "collage", fetichización en los fragmentos, etc. Las actitudes establecidas, las suposiciones y los valores que fueron el instrumento utilizado durante el Renacimiento Sureño han cambiado gradualmente, y las escritoras Bobbie Ann Mason, Anne Tyler y Lee Smith, aquí estudiadas, muestran, en contraste, una falta relativa de auto-conciencia sureña aunque, por otro lado, hacen uso de las técnicas literarias postmodernistas. Reexaminan la tradición sureña americana en un sentido postmodernista al introducir a sus personajes dentro de una cultura no específícamente sureña (televisiónn, música rock, cine), estos personajes desafían la percepción sureña tradicionaly sus mitos

How CAAD is changing society's role in architecture

It is a modest four decades since the potential for the application of computers to the design of buildings was first realized by a few academics who are still alive. The author is one such! This presentation provides an outline of these four decades but with an emphasis, not on the technology facilitated the "production" of the architectural process, more upon the "product" ie the quality of the designed artefact. Specifically, the relationship between the OBJECTIVE criteria - the cost and performance - and the SUBJECTIVE criteria - aesthetic, cultural significance, etc. on the relationship between design decisions and their consequences

In memoriam: Janez Stanonik (1922-2014)

In memoriam: Janez Stanonik (1922-2014)In memoriam: Janez Stanonik (1922-2014

JOŽE ŽOHAR, IZSELJENSKI PESNIK IZ AVSTRALIJE IN NJEGOVA NOVA PESNIŠKA ZBIRKA OBIRANJE LIMON (2004)

Jože Žohar migrated »down under« to Australia in 1968 and struggles to pacify inside him the two homelands, Slovenia and Australia. In his three published collections of verse in the Slovene language (1990, 1995, 2004) the poet remains torn between the two countries, between Eros and Thanatos, between a unique erotic experiencing of the homeland and the wish for physical and spiritual ending and closeness of death, which brings deliverance. The article contextualizes his recently published book of verse Obiranje limon (2004) within recent theories of diasporic writing.Jože Žohar je emigriral v Avstralijo leta 1968 in je doslej v Sloveniji objavil tri samostojne pesniške zbirke, Aurora australis (1990), Veku bukev (1995) in Obiranje limon (2004). Članek opredeljuje pesnikovo značilno jezikovno eksperimentiranje, tematiko njegovih pesmi in ugotavlja, da je v vseh treh zbirkah najti močno prisotno specifično geografsko okolje, tako Prekmurja kot tudi avstralske pokrajine. Posebej v zadnji zbirki, ki je podrobneje obravnavana, se že kaže avtorjeva razpetost na dvoje »domov«, a ta obenem tudi ostaja brez prave pripetosti na katerega od njiju, kar je nasploh značilno za sodobno diasporično književnost

A geometry without angles: the case for a functional geometry of spatial prepositions

This thesis develops the view that the semantics of spatial prepositions are more fully realised within a framework of functionality, incorporating knowledge of the world, than within the spatial, geometrical framework more often used to analyse prepositions. It is argued that previous approaches which support full specification of lexical entries through the use of polysemy and prototype notions are not satisfactory or psychologically valid. It will also be shown that the minimal specification Classical approaches fail to account for all uses of the locatives described. It is suggested that minimal specification of lexical entries can be achieved by means of functional controls that can provide a more psychologically valid account of the semantics of spatial prepositions. Functional geometric control relations of fContainment, fSupport and fSuperiority are proposed for IN, ON and OVER respectively. These focus on the importance of location control in prepositional choice. It is argued that such controls underlie the use of spatial prepositions. The controls are suggested to be inherently dynamic and state that the relatum object is some way able to control the location of the referent object. For example, the use of the preposition IN is guided by the principle of fContainment which operates on the basic premise that the relatum (y) controls the location of the referent (x) such that when y moves there will be a correlated movement in x (or uncorrelated movement within the convex hull of y) by virtue of some degree of enclosure. The control relation that guides the use of OVER is fSuperiority and it operates on the basic premise that x threatens to come into contact with y as a consequence of gravitational force. Finally, the use of the preposition ON is suggested to be guided by notions of fSupport which operates on the premise that the relatum protects the referent from the force of gravity

Health For Achievement: Greater Health Assets Associated With Better Standards-Based Assessment Scores Among Eighth Grade Students

Purpose: Improving adolescent health and educational attainment remain national priorities. However, major gaps remain in coordination of these efforts. Study objectives were to: (1) document associations between health assets and academic achievement, (2) examine cumulative effects of health assets on academic achievement, and (3) identify health assets most strongly associated with academic achievement. Methods: Participants include 8th grade students attending 12 randomly selected schools (N=517, 75% of all eligible students). Data include physical measurements, student surveys, and school records, including standards-based assessment scores in literacy and mathematics. We assessed 20 health indicators covering three related domains of health as proposed by the Institute of Medicine: health conditions, functioning, and health potential. Health assets were measured in the Fall of 2014, preceding standardized testing which was conducted in the Spring of 2015. Results: Students averaged 12 out of 20 possible health assets. Having more health assets was associated with greater likelihood of achieving goal on literacy and mathematics assessments (p Conclusions: Health assets are associated with academic achievement among middle school students. Overall diet quality appears to be a prime candidate for intervention. Promoting health equity may contribute to closing the achievement gap. Implications and Contribution: To date, limited research has examined the association between multiple health risk/protective factors and academic achievement. We found middle school students with more health assets are significantly more likely to achieve goal on standards-based literacy and mathematics assessments. Health promoting interventions may improve both health and academic outcomes