Visuo-spatial cognition in Williams syndrome: Reviewing and accounting for the strengths and weaknesses in performance

Individuals with Williams syndrome typically show relatively poor visuo-spatial abilities in comparison to stronger verbal skills. However, individuals' level of performance is not consistent across all visuo-spatial tasks. The studies assessing visuo-spatial functioning in Williams syndrome are critically reviewed, in order to provide a clear pattern of the relative difficulty of these tasks. This prompts a possible explanation of the variability in performance seen which focuses on the processing demands of some of these tasks. Individuals with Williams syndrome show an atypical processing style on tests of construction, which does not affect tests of perception

Energy applications of magnetocaloric materials

The need for energy-efficient and environmentally friendly refrigeration, heat pumping, air conditioning, and thermal energy harvesting systems is currently more urgent than ever. Magnetocaloric energy conversion is among the best available alternatives for achieving these technological goals and has been the subject of substantial basic and applied research over the last two decades. The subject is strongly interdisciplinary, requiring proper understanding and efficient integration of knowledge in different specialized fields. This review article presents a historical and up-to-date account of the energy-related applications of magnetocaloric materials and information about their processing and magnetic fields, thermodynamics, heat transfer, and other relevant characteristics. The article also discusses the conceptual design of magnetocaloric refrigeration and power generation systems and some guidelines for future research in the field

Legitimising amateur celebrity chefs’ advice and the discursive transformation of the Slovene national culinary identity

This article seeks to discuss the legitimation strategies of the two Slovene amateur\ud celebrity chefs Luka Novaks and Valentina Smej Novak and the consequent call\ud for a discursive transformation of the Slovene culinary identity. Using as a tool\ud Van Leeuwen’s legitimation strategies, it seeks to understand the discursive\ud construction of the chefs’ authority, that is, how do they legitimise their call\ud for a change in Slovene eating habits, focusing on the introductory texts found\ud in their cookbooks. Second, it concludes that by doing this, they have not only\ud constructed themselves as the new authorities in Slovene cooking but also\ud advocated the new middle-class taste as the only acceptable taste in Slovenia,\ud that is, the contemporary Slovene national cuisine. Their call for transformation,\ud however, seems contradictory, as they, on the one hand, draw on tradition and\ud expert authority and, on the other hand, refute this in order to be able to position\ud themselves as equal to these authorities