bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The effect of human resource management practices on employee`s job satisfaction: A case study on Japanese agribusiness in Vietnam
Authors: Thu Tran Thi Hoai , Watanabe Rie , Sumita Tsuyoshi
Published: January 2021

This paper aims to study the relationship between human resource management practices (including work itself, training and development, supervisor support, co-workers ‘relation, salary, and working environment) and job satisfaction among employees in Japanese agri-businesses in Vietnam. The structured questionnaires were distributed to 200 employees to collect the primary data out of which 179 useable were returned to test the research hypotheses. Results shows that the work itself, training and development, co-workers’ relation, salary and working environment had positive effects on employees’ job satisfaction. However, there were no relationship found between supervisor support with job satisfaction. Finally, based on the results of qualitative and quantitative evidence as well of the comprehensive interview, some suggestions were given to human resource management practices in Japanese agricultural companies to achieve high level of job satisfaction.
Evaluation of factors affecting employee performance: The case of government employees in Oman
Authors: Saadouli Nasreddine , Al-Khanbashi Maryam Yousuf Obaid
Published: January 2021

There is a universal consensus that improving employee performance is a cornerstone for any organization’s path to success and prosperity. However, when it comes to identifying what factors trigger such an improvement, there is anything but consensus among researchers. In this paper, a sample of government employees in the Sultanate of Oman is studied to discern the factors that affect employee performance. A factor analysis is applied to validate the constructs used to measure the various variables. A correlation analysis and a corresponding multiple linear regression is carried out to test the hypotheses. In contrast to many research findings, the results indicate that the only significant factor is technology; whereas leadership and organizational structure are neutral. The results are analyzed and discussed in view of the socio-cultural context of the Sultanate of Oman and the GCC region.
Group Work and Peer Assessment in Optometry Higher Education.
Authors: Zeri Fabrizio , Cervio Riccardo , Mosci Marta , Tavazzi Silvia , Naroo Shehzad
Published: January 2021

In health-related professions, education has unique challenges. Problem-based learning can be extremely useful and driven by strategies such as group-work (GW) and peer assessment (PA), which are both used as formative and assessment tools. This study aimed to explore experience and perceptions about GW and PA held by educators and students in optometry. In a first survey, 45 Italian educators (43.8 ± 13.0 years old) of optometric clinical modules answered an email questionnaire investigating their attitudes towards GW and PA. In a second survey, 66 3rd-year undergraduates (22.5 ± 2.0 years old) answered a questionnaire investigating the perception and attitudes towards GW and PA at the beginning and at the end of a module of Advanced Optometry structured with a formative/summative GW activity with a final PA. Two-thirds of optometry educators declared they use GW, but not as a summative assessment tool. Only a quarter of the sample answered that they used PA at least once. Educators’ attitudes towards GW were more positive than PA (p < 0.001). About 60% and 80% of the interviewed students stated they have never participated in GW and PA, respectively. Students’ pre-course attitudes towards GW and PA resulted in values close to the middle of the scale with no significant differences and positive correlations between them (p < 0.001). When students’ GW attitudes were compared with educators’ GW attitudes, the latter were more positive. Students’ post-course attitudes towards GW and PA were enhanced. Although GW and PA are considered very good strategies to improve teaching, the results of the present study have demonstrated that the use of these strategies in Italian optometric higher education is limited. However, the study has also demonstrated that Italian optometry educators have positive attitudes towards “social” teaching strategies especially for GW. Furthermore, optometry students showed improved attitudes towards these strategies once exposed to them. Overall, the results of the study open the possibility to integrate “social” teaching strategies to improve the effectiveness of optometry education.
Refitting a patient with pellucid marginal degeneration from a corneal rigid gas permeable lens to scleral lens
Authors: Lundanes Eilin , Gustafsson Jörgen
Published: January 2021

This case report describes a 66 years old male patient with pellucid marginal degeneration (PMD). The patient had fallen out of a regular follow-up scheme and presented with a poorly fitting corneal rigid lens that he had worn for almost five years. Correction had failed to improve vision in the left eye, so the patient wears a contact lens in his right eye only. Scleral lenses vault over the cornea, the tear layer between the lens and the cornea masks corneal irregularities and are a good correction option for corneal ectasias. This patient was fitted with an Onefit scleral lens that provided good visual acuity and comfort. Lens handling was no obstacle to this patient. A heart surgery postponed the first follow-up examination. Follow-up examination 8 months after the refit resulted in no changes of lens parameters as the fitting was still acceptable and the patient was happy. Attention to the inferior limbal clearance will be the focus at the next follow-up in 6 months’ time.
Application, limits, scoring and improvements of Groffman Visual Tracing test
Authors: Facchin Alessio , Giordano Lavinia , Brebbia Giovanni , Maffioletti Silvio
Published: January 2021

The Groffman Visual Tracing (GVT) test is a psychometric oculomotor test comprising two cards with five contorted and intersected lines, and which is available for the clinical evaluation of ocular movements. The participant starts from the letter at the top, follows the line, and reports the corresponding number at the bottom of each line. The aim of this study is to evaluate two claims made when details of the GVT test were originally reported: whether it is a developmental test, and the feasibility of its application starting from primary school children up to adults. This was achieved by using the GVT test and a simplified version of it. In two consecutive experiments, we tested two groups of children and adults. In the first experiment, 75 children (1st, 3rd, and 5th grade) and 25 adults underwent the GVT test. In the second experiment, 115 children from 1st to 5th grade underwent a simplified version of the test. Total scoring, accuracy and time to complete the test were evaluated. In the first experiment, 24% of children in the 1st and 3rd grades did not follow any lines correctly due to the difficulty of the test. In the second experiment, all participants were able to perform the test with both cards, and the accuracy improved significantly with age (p<0.0001). The time required to follow the lines was found to decrease with age (p<0.0001), and the accuracy improves (p<0.0001) compared with the standard version. The standard version of the GVT test has proven to be too difficult for younger children and a modified version produced improved results. Children at or below the 5th grade should to be tested using the modified version. Older children and adults can be tested with the standard version. Specific norms based on execution times and accuracy should to be established.
Retinal and optic nerve functions in incontinentia pigmenti: long-term elctrophysiological follow-up
Authors: Janaky Márta , Jánossy Ágnes , Kovács Attila , Lőrincz Daniella , Nagy Dóra , Török Dóra , Benedek György
Published: January 2021

Incontinentia pigmenti (IP) is a rare, X-linked, dominantly inherited disease affecting mostly females, which is best characterized as an autoimmune disease. It is a multisystem disorder affecting ectodermal tissues. Ocular abnormalities usually occur early in childhood, with subsequent retinal detachment and vision loss. Vision rarely remains intact until adulthood. We present the 17-year visual electrophysiological follow-up of such a rare patient and her mother. The mother was only a carrier, but the daughter developed various manifestations of IP. The aim of our investigations was to obtain information on the progression of functional deterioration in IP. Electroretinography (ERG), multifocal electroretinography (mfERG), visual evoked potentials (VEP), ultrasound (US) and optical coherence tomography (OCT) were performed at regular intervals between the patient’s ages of 9 and 26 years (2003 to 2020). From 9 to 22 years of age, a characteristic picture of spared vision with minimal ophthalmoscopic alterations and fluctuating ERG anomalies were observed in the left eye. It was only between the ages of 22 and 23 that subjective symptoms developed, and then complete loss of vision in the affected eye ensued rapidly. The right eye remained clinically asymptomatic throughout the observation period. The mother remained completely asymptomatic, but she showed similar ERG alterations. Electroretinography is a sensitive indicator of the activity of the ocular immune or inflammatory reactions in IP, and it readily detects their functional effect even in the absence of clinical symptoms. Thus, it is recommendable not only for the longterm functional follow-up of these patients, but probably also for early disease-specific screening. ERG recordings from the presented case suggest that the characteristic, asymmetric pattern of retinal functional involvement may be traced back to the different degrees to which the two eyes were exposed to the intermittent reactivations of the disease.
Intention to Respond in a Special Way Protects against Forgetting Associations Even When Working Memory Is Occupied
Authors: Healy Alice F. , Schneider Vivian I. , Buck-Gengler Carolyn J. , Kole James A. , Barshi Immanuel
Published: January 2021

In 2 experiments, subjects engaged in 6 or 7 124-trial blocks of a continuous memory-updating paradigm with study and test trials intermixed. They studied name–location associations and were tested for the location most recently associated with a given name. On study trials, all responses were to be made on a right-hand map. On default test trials, responses were also to be made on the right-hand map, but on special test trials, designated as such during study (by showing the associations in green), responses were to be made on a left-hand map. Both default and special test trials occurred after short (2-back) and long (8-back) retention intervals. In the penultimate (Experiment 1) or last (Experiment 2) block, trials occurred under conditions in which working memory was occupied with a concurrent secondary counting backwards task. Memory for the name–location associations was better with short than with long retention intervals and was better when special (rather than default) responses were to be made, especially at the long retention interval, even with counting backwards. Thus, the intention to respond in a special way protects against forgetting associations, and this protection is not simply due to holding the information from the special trials in working memory.
Why Are Trial-by-Trial, Strength-Based Criterion Shifts Hard to Observe? Is the Difficulty in the Mental Process Itself or in the Typical Cued Criterion Method?
Authors: Jou Jerwen , Escamilla Eric E. , Torres Andy U. , Ortiz Alejandro , Matos Maria S.
Published: January 2021

In the cued criterion recognition paradigm (Stretch & Wixted, 1998b), trial-by-trial memory strength-based criterion shifts have been an elusive phenomenon. Often the criterion shifts do not occur. We suggest that the frequent failure in making criterion shifts in the literature is caused by participants’ failure to understand the rationale of the task as typically presented in an abstract format. In this study, participants studied words once or thrice and were asked at test to either classify the probes into “new,” “seen once,” or “seen 3 times” categories by pressing the corresponding keys or to make an old/new binary decision followed by an item presentation frequency, confidence, or a memory quality judgment. No memory strength cues were provided, and only one set of new items served as distractors for strong and weak targets. Robust trial-by-trial criterion shift was observed. We concluded that no cues distinguishing between strong and weak probes are necessary for obtaining this type of criterion shift when the tasks are designed to make good pragmatic sense for the participants. The reason why this type of criterion shift is typically hard to obtain in the cued criterion paradigm is not that the process itself is difficult but that the cued criterion method is hard for the participants to understand.
The Special Brain: Subclinical Grandiose Narcissism and Self-Face Recognition in the Right Prefrontal Cortex
Authors: Kramer Rachel , Duran Kelly , Soder Heather , Applegate Lisa , Youssef Amel , Criscione Matthew , Keenan Julian Paul
Published: January 2021

Though debated, it has been argued that self-face recognition is an indicator of consciousness of self typically called self-awareness. Evidence from behavioral and neuronal studies suggests that self-recognition is associated with activation in the right prefrontal cortex (PFC). Although previous studies have examined neurological correlates of deficits in self-recognition (e.g., autism, schizophrenia), the current study attempted to examine neurological correlates of inflated self-focus. Thus, this study used transcranial magnetic stimulation to assess neurological correlates of self-recognition in different regions of the PFC and to assess whether narcissistic personality traits would be correlated with reaction time (RT) among 11 healthy participants. It was found that RT for self-face identification was positively correlated with narcissistic personality traits (p = .034). It was also found that the interaction between brain region and RT for self-faces was significant after narcissism was controlled for, demonstrating an association between narcissistic traits and self-recognition (p = .036). The results support previous research indicating the right PFC is necessary for self-face recognition. Furthermore, increases in narcissistic traits decreased self-recognition RT, and self-recognition appeared to be mediated via right PFC regions.
Financial Openness and Economic Growth in Côte d’Ivoire: The Total Factor Productivity Channel
Authors: Kouadio Hugues Kouassi , Gakpa Landry Lewis
Published: January 2021

This study analyses the influence of financial openness on total factor productivity (TFP) in Cote d’Ivoire to examine one of the channels through which financial openness affects economic growth. To this end, the study uses data from the Penn World Table (PWT) 9.1 and the World Bank over the 1984-2018 periods. By using Dynamic Ordinary Least Squares (DOLS) and Fully Modified Ordinary Least Squares (FMOLS) methods, the paper shows that financial openness positively affects total factor productivity in Côte d’Ivoire. Therefore, total factor productivity is one of the channels through which financial openness affects economic growth. This result calls for a series of measures to strengthen the competitiveness of the country to attract a large inflow of foreign capital and to boost the level of the TFP which is an engine of economic growth. Moreover, the results reveal that financial development, macroeconomic stability (as measured by the inflation rate) and domestic investment are important determinants of total factor productivity growth.
The Impact of Corporate Governance on the Profitability of Insurance Firms in Syria
Authors: Kabbani Souzan M. , Zaneldin Essam K.
Published: January 2021

This paper investigates the impact of corporate governance on the profitability of joint-stock insurance firms listed and unlisted in the ‘Damascus Securities Exchange’ in Syria during the period from 2013 to 2019. Research data was collected from the financial reports of the insurance firms and the reports of the ‘Syrian Insurance Supervisory Commission’ and the ‘Syrian Commission of Financial Markets and Securities’. A model was then proposed for corporate governance of insurance firms. The proposed model considers eight independent variables (board size, independence of board members, non-executive board members, solvency, ownership, firm size, firm age, and joint-stock) and two dependent variables (return on equity and return on shares). Multi regression analysis for the ‘Balanced Panel Data’ is used to analyze the relationship between the governance of insurance firms and their profitability. The analysis of the results revealed that some independent variables (such as firm size, ownership, and none-executive members) have a significant positive impact on the return on equity while the ‘firm size’ and ‘ownership’ independent variables have a significant positive impact on the return on shares. The ‘solvency’ variable has a significant negative impact on the return on equity and return on shares. On the other hand, the ‘firm age’ variable has a significant negative impact on the return on equity while the ‘joint-stock’ variable is considered statistically significant with a positive impact on the return on shares. It was also observed that the ‘independence of board members’ variable has no impact on the dependent variables.
Third places in the home. The idea of cohousing
Authors: Markiewicz Ewa
Published: January 2021

The aim of this article is to analyse cohousing in the context of Ray Oldenburg’s theory of a third place. The author argues that cohousing, which promotes the idea of deep social relations in connection with respect for individualism and sustainable consumption and prosumption, can be viewed as a new form of socialization similar to Oldenburg’s concept of the third place. The first part outlines ideas underlying the concept of a third place, while the second part focuses on the assumptions of cohousing and demand conditions for its development. This theoretical article continues the author’s considerations about the concept of third places in the era of globalization.
Composition learning at a music school on the example of the School Composers’ Club at the K. Szymanowski Primary and Secondary Music Schools in Wrocław
Authors: Porębski Adam
Published: January 2021

It is no use looking for the educated musicians who were given a chance to come into longer contact with composition as a school subject being part of their formal education. Meanwhile, fascination with an act of creation and willingness to get familiar with music “from the inside” accompany school-age people. It is then that first, bashful compositional attempts are made. Over time, pupils search for new sounds on their instruments, improvise, experiment, get familiar with music literature. Such attempts should not go unnoticed – an observant pedagogue will easily notice creative predispositions in their pupils. In this article, the author shares his pedagogical experiences gained while giving composition classes at the K. Szymanowski Comprehensive Primary and Secondary Music Schools in Wrocław. The idea of promoting the art of composition was fully implemented in the form of the School Composers’ Club, founded in the school year of 2016/2017, the activity of which is based on the author’s original school curriculum, a system of individualized education and various forms of young composers’ presentations. The Club’s activity assumes, on the one hand, preparing pupils to take up compositional studies and, on the other one, fostering their general musical development enriched with creative competences.
Synchronous primary endometrial and ovarian cancers: how to diagnose, differentiate and treat in the light of recent available literature data
Authors: Afshari-Stasiak Susan , Wilczyński Jacek , Szubert Maria
Published: January 2021

SEO – synchronous endometrial ovarian cancer is a well-known phenomenon, which has for years been managed as two primary independent cancers. The results of recent molecular studies, especially next-generation sequencing, suggest that the condition should be regarded as a continuum, with its origin probably lying in the endometrium or endometrial foci. It has been found that 0.7% to 1.0% of endometriosis patients may develop malignant lesions. Although SEO is being increasingly studied, diagnostics and treatment still leave many questions. The most important thing is to improve the diagnosis with rapid and simple detection. A few molecular methods are already known, but genetic diagnostic, still remains unclear. Old criteria implemented by Scully in 1998 should be nowadays complemented by immunohistochemical staining of estrogen and progestin receptors, bcl2 antibodies and molecular analyses of genes: B-catenin, PTEN, KRAS, TP53, PIK3CA and microsatellite instability. Will genetic diagnostics preserve fertility in young patients with SEO? This paper reviews relevant literature to determine a strategy for distinguishing between SEO and metastatic cancers, and presents management options for patients with SEO.
INDOT Research Program Benefit Cost Analysis—Return on Investment for Projects Completed in FY 2019
Authors: McCullouch Bob
Published: January 2021

To demonstrate the value of research and its implementation, the Governor’s Office requested an annual financial analysis of the INDOT Research Program to determine the return on the research investment (ROI). This report is for the 35 research projects that completed in FY 2019. The ROI analysis will supplement the annual IMPACT report by adding a more rigorous quantitative benefit cost analysis (BCA) to the Research Program. Previous financial analyses used the approach of calculating net present values of cash flows to determine a benefit cost ratio and this report uses the same approach. Additionally, an overall program rate of return (ROI) is reported and will be accumulated over time into a rolling 5-year average. The ROI is expressed as a BCA ratio, which is commonly used by State DOTs and national transportation research agencies when expressing the return on the research investment. By using total program costs in the analysis, rather than just the individual project cost, a very conservative BCA ratio is obtained. Interestingly, the quantified cost savings from a single project frequently underwrites the cost of the entire research program in a fiscal year.
Saúde e ambiente na Amazônia brasileira
Authors: Couto Rosa Carmina de Sena
Published: January 2021

O artigo analisa aspectos relacionados aos problemas ambientais globais: mudança climática e perda da biodiversidade no contexto do desmatamento e da saúde na Amazônia brasileira. Ressaltamos que a Amazônia é o epicentro da crise da biodiversidade e que o encerramento do desmatamento é necessário para diminuir as emissões brasileiras de gases de efeito estufa. Com os objetivos propostos, fundamentamos nossa análise no debate recente sobre a questão. O Sistema Único de Saúde (SUS) foi problematizado no sentido de ampliar suas abordagens diante dos novos desafios para enfrentar as demandas ambientais para a saúde humana considerando as especificidades regionais: o fator amazônico, a diversidade étnica, características do território, regiões de saúde e novas abordagens. Concluímos sinalizando para o encerramento do desmatamento na Amazônia e a promulgação de um novo modelo de desenvolvimento bioeconômico, conciliando com os recursos da biodiversidade da floresta e os saberes ancestrais favorecendo as populações locais.
Processos de degradação socioambiental: os impactos das atividades produtivas desenvolvidas no perímetro irrigado de São Gonçalo - Paraíba/Brasil
Authors: Queiroz Jânesson Gomes , Alves Larissa Da Silva Ferreira , Silva Jairo Bezerra
Published: January 2021

O objetivo deste artigo é analisar os principais processos de degradação socioambiental desencadeados a partir da implementação do Perímetro Irrigado de São Gonçalo (PISG), ocorridos no início da década de 1970, no município de Sousa – Paraíba. Desde o referido período, algumas atividades produtivas vêm sendo praticadas no PISG mediante inadequações relativas às precauções ambientais devidas, como desmatamento desenfreado, uso excessivo de agrotóxico e fertilizantes químicos, queimadas desordenadas e irrigação inadequada. Quanto à abordagem, o estudo adentrou meandros qualitativos e quantitativos, e em relação aos procedimentos, englobou uma pesquisa bibliográfica, documental e de campo, que foram articuladas aos conceitos teóricos da Capitalização da Natureza. Esse aporte teórico-metodológico é a ‘corda’ que sustenta a análise acerca do objeto de estudo. Mediante essa discussão, concluímos que os processos de degradação socioambiental revelam um movimento oposto entre exploração dos recursos naturais e desenvolvimento sustentável, dinâmica essa marcante desde a origem do PISG.
Indígenas na cidade de Manaus (AM)
Authors: Pereira José Carlos Matos
Published: January 2021

Neste artigo tratamos dos mecanismos sociais que permitem aos indígenas manterem os laços sistemáticos com a aldeia e a afirmação de sua identidade étnica na cidade. Preservar aspectos do modo de vida apreendido na aldeia como o uso da língua e dos rituais; a socialização dos filhos com as narrativas e as danças; fazer o artesanato; praticar os hábitos alimentares; receber os parentes vindos para a cidade e manter contato sistemático com aqueles que ainda moram na aldeia são indicadores do pertencimento étnico – o que implica na organização indígena em torno das associações étnicas, multiétnicas e de gênero e na luta por políticas diferenciadas no contexto urbano. Estas situações contradizem o suposto desaparecimento indígena dos cômputos populacionais e revelam, em contrapartida, a necessidade de políticas públicas tomando por base suas reivindicações identitárias. São aspectos relevantes da análise das múltiplas etnias que vivem na cidade de Manaus (AM), na Amazônia brasileira.
O “buen vivir” e a construção de uma nova sociedade
Authors: Jacques Flávia Verônica Silva
Published: January 2021

De acordo com Acosta (2016) a filosofia do “Buen Vivir” (em português “Bem Viver”) é um caminho em construção, fundamentado na solidariedade entre os seres humanos e a natureza, o qual já é uma realidade em determinadas culturas ao redor do mundo. O Bem Viver, além de uma declaração constitucional e um conceito em construção, significa uma oportunidade para se desenvolver coletivamente uma nova forma de organizar o modo de viver no mundo. Sintetiza visões e práticas ancestrais andinas, debates e propostas atuais, pensamentos críticos e lutas sociais que representam a busca por alternativas em resposta ao modelo de desenvolvimento contemporâneo. O presente trabalho apresenta as perspectivas do “Buen Vivir” como alternativa para a construção de uma nova sociedade pautada na democracia e na sustentabilidade, baseada na obra “O Bem Viver”, do autor Alberto Acosta (um dos maiores responsáveis por colocar os Direitos da Natureza na Constituição do Equador).
Uma análise da dimensão "tipo de governança" em Unidades de Conservação da Natureza no Brasil
Authors: Jeronymo Carlos André Luz , Da Silva Elmo Rodrigues , Fonseca Kenny Tanizaki
Published: January 2021

Neste trabalho questiona-se o Sistema Nacional de Unidades de Conservação da Natureza (SNUC) e o Decreto nº 4.340/2000, que o regulamenta, possibilitando as UC de exercerem todas as combinações possíveis de tipos de governança de áreas protegidas, tal como orienta o Sistema Internacional de Áreas Protegidas (SIAP) da International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) para os Sistemas Nacionais de Áreas Protegidas (SNAPs) evitarem entraves à gestão e à promoção de conflitos. O objetivo deste artigo é analisar os tipos de governança de áreas protegidas que cada categoria de manejo de UC pode desempenhar. A metodologia envolveu o método hipotético-dedutivo e seus desdobramentos: pesquisa exploratória de gabinete, por meio de revisão de literatura e leitura crítica. Identificou-se que as diretrizes do SNUC e do Decreto nº 4.340/2002 não permitem que as categorias de manejo de UC exerçam todos os tipos de governança de áreas protegidas, o que causa entraves à gestão.
Efeitos das mudanças climáticas sobre a agropecuária de Minas Gerais: uma abordagem contemporânea
Authors: Braga Nilta Izabela , Montenegro Rosa Livia Gonçalves
Published: January 2021

As mudanças climáticas são uma das maiores preocupações das sociedades contemporâneas e há evidências de que elas já estão provocando severos impactos negativos no mundo. O principal objetivo deste artigo é discutir os efeitos das mudanças climáticas projetadas para os próximos anos na produção agropecuária do estado de Minas Gerais. Para tanto, aplicou-se a metodologia de análise exploratória de dados espaciais (AEDE), com a proposta de identificar a concentração espacial das principais atividades do setor na região. Os resultados comparam trabalhos importantes na área, evidenciando os efeitos das mudanças climáticas na agropecuária mineira. Ademais, confirma-se que o estado de Minas Gerais será fortemente impactado pelos prejuízos causados nas atividades agropecuárias, caso não forem tomadas medidas urgentes de mitigação e adaptação às mudanças climáticas.
The American Republic
Authors: Ellingsen Mark ,   Institute for Interdisciplinary Research
Published: January 2021

This article explores the often neglected impact on the American political system of Scottish Common Sense Realism and an Augustinian anthropology drawn from both this Scottish philosophy and the American culture's Puritan/Presbyterian roots. Such insights help us better understand the dynamics of the American system and its possible contribution as a paradigm or model for democratization in the communist world Significant differences between America and the communist world with respect to their distinct intellectual and cultural histories seem to preclude the applicability of the American system to post-communist nations in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, Yet theological convergences among the prevailing religious traditions of these nations and America suggest that the Augustinian anthropological realism of the American system may have relevance to communist world cultures after all.
A Cultural Analysis of the Fall of Communism
Authors: Meśtrovic Stjepan G. ,   Institute for Interdisciplinary Research
Published: January 2021

The dramatic fall of communism in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union is analyzed from such cultural theories and perspectives as Oswald Spengler, Pitirim Sorokin, Arnold Toynbee, Thorstein Veblen, and Alexis de Tocqueville. This approach is contrasted with the modem and postmodern approaches found in such works as Talcott Parsons, Francis Fukuyama, and Jean Baudrillard. The essay concludes that the dominant, boosterish view extant today, that Western democratic and free-market institutions can be transplanted onto Slavic culture, is unrealistic, and is itself a product of what Sorokin and Spengler called the "late" or autumnal phase of civilization.
Capitalist Aspirations and the Communist Legacy in Poland
Authors: Wrobel Janusz ,   Institute for Interdisciplinary Research
Published: January 2021

The social mentality of the Poles in the early 1990s reflects a fusion of Solidarity's heritage, understood in a broader, historical perspective, and the communist legacy of the last forty-five years which consists of five principal elements: the new work ethos; acceptance of a protective character of the state; changes in morality; lack of full acceptance of a free market economy; and adaptation of certain communist doctrines of social equality. The contradictions between these new features and historically-grounded, traditional Polish values manifest themselves in a basic conflict between the communist legacy still present in social mentality that expects the benefits offered by the former socialist system, and capitalist aspirations of Poles toward a new, higher, Western standard of living. From the perspective of the Polish historical, cultural, and religious heritage, a Christian political economy appears most suitable for overcoming the country's negative legacy.
Science and Theology
Authors: Bishop Robert C. ,   Institute for Interdisciplinary Research
Published: January 2021

The scientific and theological enterprises share many fundamental assumptions and have methodological similarities, though the two disciplines often have different focuses of investigation. Science seeks to unravel the detailed workings of nature by focusing on the quantitative aspects discemable in the universe. Theology strives to understand the essence, activity, and purposes of God in the universe. These two enterprises are partial views of the multi-faceted reality we call the world that occasionalfy overlap. Therefore, the data of science arui theology should be thought of as complementary streams of knowledge both of which are important to understaruiing life and the world.
The Art and Science of Medieval Manuscripts
Authors: Bair Lynda E. ,   Institute for Interdisciplinary Research
Published: January 2021

The University of Paris could lay claim to being the center of scholarship and theology in thirteenth-century Europe. Around this center, a community of craftsmen gathered to fulfill many needs of the University population. One of these needs was for a portable pocket Bible. This essay explores a preeminent craft associated with the University of Paris, that of the manuscript workshop. Exemplar leaves are examined with respect to the production steps of the Parisian pocket Bible. Conclusions reached concern the planned book layout and artist involvement in its production, including a reconstruction of such technical challenges as ruling the leaves, gathering systems, and epistle length.
Type-Antitype in Architecture
Authors: Carpov Victor V. ,   Institute for Interdisciplinary Research
Published: January 2021

This essay focuses on the typological dilemma in architecture in its theological aspect in an attempt to restore the vital, transcendental, universal method at the core of theological hermeneutics---the Biblical typological interpretation. Following this theological matrix, it is easier to comprehend the actual transformation of Alberti's Six Basic Principles of Architecture into Le Corbusier's Five Points of New Architecture. We thus trace the collective historical experience in architectural theory and practice, history and criticism. The metaphorical assumption of the theological dogma of the unity of Scripture expressed in terms of the type-antitype methodology helps one understand these processes in their religious, historical, cultural, and artistic totality.
Frank Lloyd Wright
Authors: Meyers Debra A. ,   Institute for Interdisciplinary Research
Published: January 2021

Frank Lloyd Wright is widely recognized as one of America's most creative architects. His influence continues around the world. Since Wright's death in 1959, his impact on architecture and social reform has remained an important topic for historians. Wright's genius has been attributed to his mentor Louis Sullivan, his father's love of classical music, or his preschool training with Froebel developmental toys. Although these factors may have played a part in Wright's development, his religious beliefs were central to his social theory and Organic Architecture. Wright's life and work was a concerted effort to convert the world to his strong Unitarian religious beliefs.
Civil Wrongs and Religious Liberty
Authors: Yates Steven ,   Institute for Interdisciplinary Research
Published: January 2021

The civil rights movement has broken away from its religious roots which once provided it firm support and, indeed, it has become a threat to those roots. In fact, the past thirty years evidence two civil rights movements. The original civil rights movement promoted equal opportunity and presupposed a constrained vision of human possibilities compatible with Christianity, The revised civil rights agenda, which had replaced it by 1971, promoted preferential policies dubbed "affirmative action" based on an unconstrained vision incompatible with both Christianity and the American founding. The most visible threat to religious liberty is the expansion of civil rights protections to include homosexuals despite the overwhelming rejection of homosexuality as a lifestyle by the majority of Americans, including Christians.
Twilight of the Idols in Russia
Authors: Carnes Tony ,   Institute for Interdisciplinary Research
Published: January 2021

Russia is a strategic research site for studying the deconstruction of idolatries. Idolatry remains a powerful social scientific and popular concept, more so than the modem, unified concept of ideology, Russians themselves have regularly invoked the vocabulary of idolatry. IRIVC public opinion surveys in Moscow, 1990-93, indicate that a majority believe that the Biblical commandments against idolatry are very important for contemporary man and would improve the world if obeyed. To Russians, idolatry means blindty either worshipping anything or believing in leaders. Between April 1990 and April 1991, there was a 183 percent increase in the number of people expressing certainty in the existence of God. Belief in a transcendent God is associated with a dramatic decrease in various idolatries such as obsessive concem with wealth and New Age cults such as astrology, EST, UFOism, and the like.
Beyond Liberation Theology?
Authors: Lynch Edward A. ,   Institute for Interdisciplinary Research
Published: January 2021

Liberation theology is in retreat. Once orthodox Catholics, starting with Pope John Paul II, recognized liberation theology's cultural challenge, they effectively countered it. They insisted on a traditional Catholic hierarchy of values. They undercut liberation theology's appeal by taking back key words and precepts that liberationists tried to appropriate. The Magisterium's sensus fidei included practical steps to demonstrate the weakness of liberation theology's hold, especially on poor people. Orthodox Catholics thus used the theological and practical weapons that the Church always had at her disposal. The response of many liberation theologians has been to change some of liberation theology's precepts.
U.S. Family Policy in Search of Values, 1965-1995
Authors: Fillingim David ,   Institute for Interdisciplinary Research
Published: January 2021

Since 1965, Daniel Patrick Moynihan has advocated a comprehensive national family policy for the United States. The ups and downs of efforts to advocate family policy initiatives over the last thirty years reveal an increasing polarization over family-related issues. Since public policy affects families, family policy is inevitable, whether purposeful or not. But the lack of public consensus over what values should guide family policy is a serious obstacle to meaningful efforts at improving conditions for American families. This essay proposes an approach to family policy drawing on the best insists of conservative and liberal advocates, based on the values of compassion and personal responsibility.
Housing Affordability for Families With Children
Authors: Einbinder Susan D. ,   Institute for Interdisciplinary Research
Published: January 2021

Researchers, housing program administrators, and others assume housing costs are affordable if they represent up to 30 percent of a household's income. This standard appears to be skewed against families with children. Michael Stone's "Shelter Poverty" offers a new, in some respects more precise, measure of housing affordability. Both measures were calculated to explore housing affordability among an estimated 30 million families with children, using the 1991 American Housing Survey. One-third of families had housing difficulties under either measure, but "Shelter Poverty," concentrated among lower-income families, provides a more realistic classification for families. Adopting "Shelter Poverty" would, thus, offer a more credible guide to "affordable" housing policies for America's families with children.
Homelessness in America
Authors: Fagan Ronald W. ,   Institute for Interdisciplinary Research
Published: January 2021

This essay examines the causes and consequences of poverty and homelessness in America. In comparing the homeless historically, research shows that the more recent homeless tend to be more visible, younger, more women with children, more ethnic minorities, fewer receiving economic benefits, and numerically there are more homeless. Major policies and programs directed at the problems associated with homelessness may be divided into legal approaches; housing health, economic, and social programs; and religious approaches. The essay concludes that a variety of programs and approaches are needed which provide meaningful short-term intervention and rehabilitation, while encouraging personal responsibility for recovery, and reforming the welfare system break the culture of dependency.
Science-Religion Dialogue
Authors: Gruenwald Oskar ,   Institute for Interdisciplinary Research
Published: January 2021

The Fifth European Conference on Science and Theology, held in Freising and Munich, Germany, 1994, exemplified the growing worldwide interest in science-religion dialogue. The keys to this dialogue care the emergmg linkages and interfaces among all the sciences, on the one hand, and the enigmatic complexity of questions concerning the origin, nature, and destiny of man and the universe, on the other. Both increasingly address issues of meaning values, and ultimate causes, which lie well beyond the ken of science as presently understood. Underlying the current science-religion dialogue is a sense of awe, humility, and wonder in the face of incomplete knowledge seeking understanding and transcendental faith seeking rational foundations.
The City Under Siege
Authors: Palermo George B. ,   Institute for Interdisciplinary Research
Published: January 2021

This essay explores the impact of alcohol and drug abuse on the individuars life, family, and community in a secularized society. The upsurge of crime in the city is the consequence of many variables, besides drugs and alcohol: lack of education, training, and jobs, the disintegration of the family, and inadequate administration of justice in the midst of a social climate of relativism. There is a need for the reintegration of the family, particularly the re-inclusion of a responsible father as a role model. In order to restore city life, there is an urgent need for a more active religious involvement at all levels, especially for teaching moral values in homes and schools. A new global evangelization of communities would highlight the importance of Judaeo-Christian values for the formation of character, and personal and community responsibility so necessary for a civil society.
The Moral Imperative
Authors: Wirls Stephen H. ,   Institute for Interdisciplinary Research
Published: January 2021

This essay explores the relationship between moral community and the principles and practices of liberal individualism. Insofar as these principles afford the widest latitude to the individual's judgment concerning the government of his life, they have contributed to a decay in the rigor and authority of moral and civic codes. Moreover, they and the way of life they foster seem to militate against any political or social solutions to problems of morality and civility, reflecting a disparity between liberal regime principles and the moral preconditions of a decent society. A moral revival may thus have to be founded on the recognition that healthy liberal democracies require policies and practices in tension with liberal principles.
Liberalism Without Transcendence
Authors: Marty William R. ,   Institute for Interdisciplinary Research
Published: January 2021

John Hallowell's seminal study, originally published in 1943, treats modem Western thought since the Renaissance and the Reformation as, in its core, liberal, and its foundations as based on an uneasy synthesis of potentially warring elements: On the one hand, the primacy of the will as embodied in the autonomous individual; on the other, the ability of these autonomous wills to bind themselves together freely, by contract and consent, on the basis of their acknowledgment of transcendent moral truths discoverable by reason. Conscience, then, enabled independent wills to acknowledge and submit to justice as found by reason or revelation. But Hallowell described also the gradual decline in the confidence in reason to find transcendent truths, and the subsequent decline in the ability of autonomous individuals to find grounds for genuine community. Where will alone reigns, all standards collapse, and increasingly the arbiter between wills becomes force. Western civiltation, even as it approaches becoming world civilization, increasingly manifests symptoms of dissolution and an inability to provide the foundation for genuine communities.
Christianity and Conceptual Transformation
Authors: Chang Kuk Won ,   Institute for Interdisciplinary Research
Published: January 2021

The modem age reflects a pluralistic mentality of norms and regularities assuming a dualistic polar character. Man lives in this dualistically conditioned time and space--topos gaios (earthly sphere). In ancient times, attempts were made to transcend this situation via distinct temple cultures involving colorful sacrificial systems. Eventually, there was a transition from empirical temple cultures to mental and metaphysical ones involving laws, norms, and ascetic practices. However, the human heart, the source of all contradictions and cravings, remained unchanged. There is a perennial impetus to overcome human bondage to all the laws of dualistic world structures and return to the original primeval state of the universe-topos ouranios (heavenly sphere). Yet there is no bridge between the earthly and heavenly spheres other than Jesus Christ Who was the first to proclaim the arrival of the Kingdom of Heaven. Christ removed the barrier between "above" and "below" by pacifying the wrath of the transcendent, and introducing the heavenly sphere to man whose heart is opened by the Holy Spirit and cleansed by grace. This represents Christianity's conceptual transformation.
Christians in the Academy
Authors: Marty William R. ,   Institute for Interdisciplinary Research
Published: January 2021

The academy in the United States is almost wholly silent about Christianity, at least in the sense of providing Christian perspectives on the various fields. This silence about Christianity, and often real hostility toward it, ripples outward from the universities all the great institutions of society---the courts, media, entertainment industry, elementary and secondary schools---affecting all of society and culture. Silence or hostility at this great center of the life of the mind affects all else. To accept this silence in higher education is to surrender control of the institutions, mind, and spirit of the culture to those either indifferent or hostile to Christianity. Christians should break the silence by reaching out to other Christians both on campus and professionally, by establishing the whole apparatus of intellectual life, using the stress upon openness, pluralism, tolerance, diversity, and multiculturalism to wedge open a place for a Christian voice, including existing professional organtations and forums, and developing organizational and legal strategies to protect that voice.