bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Spondylolysis among Fast Bowlers: Approach to Management
Authors: Shah Kunal C , Kothari Manish Kundanmal , Prabhoo Tanay , Nene Abhay M
Published: December 2015

Fast bowlers are prone to stress lesions of the pars, especially the young players. The mixed type bowling action and excess bowling workloads are the risk factors associated with this injury. Other factors like adolescent age group, tight hamstrings, lordotic posture and lower limb mechanics have been implicated. Given the heavy cost of time away from play, efforts should be made to prevent these injuries at all levels of the game, across all age groups. Various cricketing boards have laid down guidelines to prevent excess bowling workloads during the match as well as during practice sessions. Coaching interventions are effective in changing the unsafe bowling actions without affecting the bowling speed or performance of the bowler. Spondylolysis may be asymptomatic or present with activity related back pain. A high level of suspicion is required for diagnosis. MRI now seems to be the first line of investigation due to the ability to detect stress reaction of the pars and adjoining pedicle as well as other causes of back pain. Localized CT scan may be required for further characterization of the lesion and to assess healing. Pars lesions have been classified on the basis of MRI picture. Initial stages show only stress reaction (early) followed by cortical breach (progressive) and later appearance of the defect (terminal). Conservative treatment includes rest from sporting activities followed by guided rehabilitation and risk factor analysis. In case of failure of conservative treatment, surgical repair of the pars gives satisfactory results and return to play.

How to cite this article

Kothari MK, Shah KC, Prabhoo T, Nene AM. Spondylolysis among Fast Bowlers: Approach to Management. J Postgrad Med Edu Res 2015;49(4):186-193.
Isolated Duodenal Trauma following Cricket Ball Injury
Authors: Krishnamurthy Gautham , Kumar Hemanth , Das Rinki , Gupta Rajesh
Published: December 2015

A fifteen years old boy presented to the emergency department with blunt trauma abdomen following cricket ball injury. At the time of presentation, patient was hemodynamically stable with diffuse abdominal tenderness and right hypochondrial guarding. On exploratory laparotomy, he was found to have isolated duodenal laceration and underwent pancreas preserving total duodenectomy with ampullojejunostomy. In the postoperative period, patient developed fever with respiratory tract infection and eventually succumbed to multiorgan dysfunction. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first case report describing isolated duodenal injury resulting from blunt abdominal trauma due to cricket ball.

How to cite this article

Krishnamurthy G, Kumar H, Das R, Gupta R. Isolated Duodenal Trauma following Cricket Ball Injury. J Postgrad Med Edu Res 2015;49(4):213-215.
Marine boundary layer structure as observed by space-based Lidar
Authors: Luo T. , Wang Z. , Zhang D.
Published: December 2015

Abstract. The marine boundary layer (MBL) structure is important to the exchange of heat, momentum, and moisture between oceans and the low atmosphere and to the marine low cloud processes. This paper explores MBL structure over the eastern Pacific region with a new 4 year satellite-based dataset. The MBL aerosol lidar backscattering from the CALIPSO (Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations) was used to identify the MBL top (BLH) and the mixing layer height (MLH). Results showed that MBL is generally decoupled with MLH / BLH ratio ranging from ∼ 0.5 to ∼ 0.8 and the MBL decoupling magnitude is mainly controlled by estimated inversion strength (EIS) that affects the cloud top entrainment process. The systematic differences between drizzling and non-drizzling stratocumulus tops, which may relate to the meso-scale circulations or gravity wave in MBL, also show dependence on EIS. Further analysis indicated that the MBL shows similar decoupled structure for clear sky and cumulus cloud-topped conditions, but is better mixed under stratiform cloud breakup and overcast conditions.
Biodegradability of dissolved organic carbon in permafrost soils and aquatic systems: a meta-analysis
Authors: Vonk J. E. , Tank S. E. , Mann P. J. , Spencer R. G. M. , Treat C. C. , Striegl R. G. , Abbott B. W. , Wickland K. P.
Published: December 2015

Abstract. As Arctic regions warm and frozen soils thaw, the large organic carbon pool stored in permafrost becomes increasingly vulnerable to decomposition or transport. The transfer of newly mobilized carbon to the atmosphere and its potential influence upon climate change will largely depend on the degradability of carbon delivered to aquatic ecosystems. Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) is a key regulator of aquatic metabolism, yet knowledge of the mechanistic controls on DOC biodegradability is currently poor due to a scarcity of long-term data sets, limited spatial coverage of available data, and methodological diversity. Here, we performed parallel biodegradable DOC (BDOC) experiments at six Arctic sites (16 experiments) using a standardized incubation protocol to examine the effect of methodological differences commonly used in the literature. We also synthesized results from 14 aquatic and soil leachate BDOC studies from across the circum-arctic permafrost region to examine pan-arctic trends in BDOC. An increasing extent of permafrost across the landscape resulted in higher DOC losses in both soil and aquatic systems. We hypothesize that the unique composition of (yedoma) permafrost-derived DOC combined with limited prior microbial processing due to low soil temperature and relatively short flow path lengths and transport times, contributed to a higher overall terrestrial and freshwater DOC loss. Additionally, we found that the fraction of BDOC decreased moving down the fluvial network in continuous permafrost regions, i.e. from streams to large rivers, suggesting that highly biodegradable DOC is lost in headwater streams. We also observed a seasonal (January–December) decrease in BDOC in large streams and rivers, but saw no apparent change in smaller streams or soil leachates. We attribute this seasonal change to a combination of factors including shifts in carbon source, changing DOC residence time related to increasing thaw-depth, increasing water temperatures later in the summer, as well as decreasing hydrologic connectivity between soils and surface water as the thaw season progresses. Our results suggest that future climate warming-induced shifts of continuous permafrost into discontinuous permafrost regions could affect the degradation potential of thaw-released DOC, the amount of BDOC, as well as its variability throughout the Arctic summer. We lastly recommend a standardized BDOC protocol to facilitate the comparison of future work and improve our knowledge of processing and transport of DOC in a changing Arctic.
Improving the WRF model's simulation over sea ice surface through coupling with a complex thermodynamic sea ice model
Authors: Yao Y. , Huang J. , Luo Y. , Zhao Z.
Published: December 2015

Abstract. Sea ice plays an important role in the air–ice–ocean interaction, but it is often represented simply in many regional atmospheric models. The Noah sea ice model, which has been widely used in the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model, exhibits cold bias in simulating the Arctic sea ice temperature when validated against the Surface Heat Budget of the Arctic Ocean (SHEBA) in situ observations. According to sensitivity tests, this bias is attributed not only to the simulation of snow depth and turbulent fluxes but also to the heat conduction within snow and ice. Compared with the Noah sea ice model, the high-resolution thermodynamic snow and ice model (HIGHTSI) has smaller bias in simulating the sea ice temperature. HIGHTSI is further coupled with the WRF model to evaluate the possible added value from better resolving the heat transport and solar penetration in sea ice from a complex thermodynamic sea ice model. The cold bias in simulating the surface temperature over sea ice in winter by the original Polar WRF is reduced when HIGHTSI rather than Noah is coupled with the WRF model, and this also leads to a better representation of surface upward longwave radiation and 2 m air temperature. A discussion on the impact of specifying sea ice thickness in the WRF model is presented. Consistent with previous research, prescribing the sea ice thickness with observational information would result in the best simulation among the available methods. If no observational information is available, using an empirical method based on the relationship between sea ice concentration and sea ice thickness could mimic the large-scale spatial feature of sea ice thickness. The potential application of a thermodynamic sea ice model in predicting the change in sea ice thickness in a RCM is limited by the lack of sea ice dynamic processes in the model and the coarse assumption on the initial value of sea ice thickness.
Water vapor mapping by fusing InSAR and GNSS remote sensing data and atmospheric simulations
Authors: Alshawaf F. , Fersch B. , Hinz S. , Kunstmann H. , Mayer M. , Meyer F. J.
Published: December 2015

Abstract. Data fusion aims at integrating multiple data sources that can be redundant or complementary to produce complete, accurate information of the parameter of interest. In this work, data fusion of precipitable water vapor (PWV) estimated from remote sensing observations and data from the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) modeling system are applied to provide complete grids of PWV with high quality. Our goal is to correctly infer PWV at spatially continuous, highly resolved grids from heterogeneous data sets. This is done by a geostatistical data fusion approach based on the method of fixed-rank kriging. The first data set contains absolute maps of atmospheric PWV produced by combining observations from the Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) and Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR). These PWV maps have a high spatial density and a millimeter accuracy; however, the data are missing in regions of low coherence (e.g., forests and vegetated areas). The PWV maps simulated by the WRF model represent the second data set. The model maps are available for wide areas, but they have a coarse spatial resolution and a still limited accuracy. The PWV maps inferred by the data fusion at any spatial resolution show better qualities than those inferred from single data sets. In addition, by using the fixed-rank kriging method, the computational burden is significantly lower than that for ordinary kriging.
Evaluation of soil moisture downscaling using a simple thermal-based proxy – the REMEDHUS network (Spain) example
Authors: Peng J. , Niesel J. , Loew A.
Published: December 2015

Abstract. Soil moisture retrieved from satellite microwave remote sensing normally has spatial resolution on the order of tens of kilometers, which are too coarse for many regional hydrological applications such as agriculture monitoring and drought prediction. Therefore, various downscaling methods have been proposed to enhance the spatial resolution of satellite soil moisture products. The aim of this study is to investigate the validity and robustness of the simple vegetation temperature condition index (VTCI) downscaling scheme over a dense soil moisture observational network (REMEDHUS) in Spain. First, the optimized VTCI was determined through sensitivity analyses of VTCI to surface temperature, vegetation index, cloud, topography, and land cover heterogeneity, using data from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer~(MODIS) and MSG SEVIRI (METEOSAT Second Generation – Spinning Enhanced Visible and Infrared Imager). Then the downscaling scheme was applied to improve the spatial resolution of the European Space Agency's Water Cycle Multi-mission Observation Strategy and Climate Change Initiative (ESA CCI) soil moisture, which is a merged product based on both active and passive microwave observations. The results from direct validation against soil moisture observations, spatial pattern comparison, as well as seasonal and land use analyses show that the downscaling method can significantly improve the spatial details of CCI soil moisture while maintaining the accuracy of CCI soil moisture. The accuracy level is comparable to other downscaling methods that were also validated against the REMEDHUS network. Furthermore, slightly better performance of MSG SEVIRI over MODIS was observed, which suggests the high potential of applying a geostationary satellite for downscaling soil moisture in the future. Overall, considering the simplicity, limited data requirements and comparable accuracy level to other complex methods, the VTCI downscaling method can facilitate relevant hydrological applications that require high spatial and temporal resolution soil moisture.
An ice core derived 1013-year catchment scale annual rainfall reconstruction in subtropical eastern Australia
Authors: Tozer C. R. , Vance T. R. , Roberts J. , Kiem A. S. , Curran M. A. J. , Moy A. D.
Published: December 2015

Abstract. Paleoclimate research indicates that the instrumental climate record (~100 years in Australia) does not cover the full range of hydroclimatic variability possible. To better understand the implications of this for catchment-scale water resources management, an annual rainfall reconstruction is produced for the Williams River catchment in coastal eastern Australia. No high resolution palaeoclimate proxies are located in the region and so a teleconnection between summer sea salt deposition recorded in ice cores from East Antarctica and rainfall variability in eastern Australia was exploited to reconstruct 1013 years of rainfall (AD 1000–2012). The reconstruction shows that significantly longer and more frequent wet and dry periods were experienced in the preinstrumental compared to the instrumental period. This suggests that existing drought and flood risk assessments underestimate the true risks due to the reliance on data and statistics obtained from only the instrumental record. This raises questions about the robustness of existing water security and flood protection measures and has serious implications for water resources management, infrastructure design, and catchment planning. The method used in this proof of concept study is transferable and enables similar insights into the true risk of flood/drought to be gained for other locations that are teleconnected to East Antarctica. This will lead to improved understanding and ability to deal with the impacts of multidecadal to centennial hydroclimatic variability.
Jason continuity of services: continuing the Jason altimeter data records as Copernicus Sentinel-6
Authors: Scharroo R. , Bonekamp H. , Ponsard C. , Parisot F. , von Engeln A. , Tahtadjiev M. , de Vriendt K. , Montagner F.
Published: December 2015

Abstract. The Sentinel-6 mission is proposed as a multi-partner programme to continue the Jason satellite altimeter data services beyond the Jason-2 and Jason-3 missions. The Sentinel-6 mission programme consists of two identical satellites flying in sequence to prolong the climate data record of sea level accumulated by the TOPEX/Poseidon, Jason-1, Jason-2, and Jason-3 missions from 2020 to beyond 2030. The Sentinel-6 mission intends to maintain these services in a fully operational manner. A key feature is the simultaneous pulse-limited and synthetic aperture radar processing allowing direct and continuous comparisons of the sea surface height measurements based on these processing methods and providing backward compatibility. The Sentinel-6 mission will also include Radio Occultation user services.
Knowledge on biodiversity in focus
Authors: Bakken Torkild
Published: December 2015

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Scandinavian amphibians: their aquatic habitat and tolerance
Authors: Dolmen Dag , Skei Jon K. , Blakar Inggard
Published: December 2015

To determine the impact that anthropogenic acidification has had on natural amphibian populations in Scandinavia and to trace the species’ tolerance limits, in 1988-89 four poorly buffered areas in Norway were investigated; three were anthropogenically acidified and the fourth was not. The increasing acidification from the coastal to inland/highland region of Southern and Southeastern Norway (pH 7.2-4.1) was accompanied by a decreasing frequency of amphibian (Rana temporaria, Bufo bufo and Triturus vulgaris) localities. In the (anthropogenically) non-acidified Central Norway region (pH 6.8-4.6), R. temporaria was very common at all pH levels. The data strongly suggest that acidification explains the absence of amphibians locally in the acidified areas, and has caused their extinction in the inland/highland region of Southern Norway. A pH of 4.5-4.6 is the critical minimum for R. temporaria populations in small, poorly buffered, boggy, water-bodies as were investigated here. For B. bufo, the lowest pH recorded was 4.7, and for T. vulgaris 4.8. We did not find any signs of successful reproduction in Rana arvalis and Triturus cristatus below a pH of 5.2 and 5.3, respectively. Increased contents of Ca2+, Na+ (NaCl) or humus (NOM) had an ameliorating effect on the amphibians in acidic water. The presence of Al was of only minor importance for the amphibians in humic waters. In a strategy for the conservation of amphibians in acidified or acidifying areas, liming (CaCO3) and/or NaCl treatment of the localities may work well in order to establish a satisfying aquatic environment for the species. The study may act as a baseline for further surveys in the future when acidic precipitation hopefully has decreased, looking for improvements of the habitats and possible recoveries of amphibian sites.
Restoration of European yew (Taxus baccata L.) in Mediterranean mountains: importance of seedling nursery fertilization and post-planting light levels
Authors: Nicolás Peragón Juan L. , Benito Matias Luis F. , Puértolas Simón Jaime
Published: December 2015

Aim of the study: We studied the influence of nursery fertilization and post-planting light environment on the growth and survival of out-planted two-year-old yew (Taxus baccata) seedlings.Area of study: Post-planting performance was assessed at two sites in the Valsain Forest (Central Mountain Range, Segovia, Spain).Materials and Methods: Seedlings were grown using the same seed-lot, container type and fertirrigation schedule. A soluble fertilizer with two contrasting doses resulting in 239 and 376 mg N per seedling was applied during the whole culture period. Seedlings grown under the highest level of fertilization had greater root collar diameter, height, shoot to root ratio, root and shoot mass, and root growth potential before planting. Post-planting performance was assessed at two sites in the Valsain Forest (Central Mountain Range, Segovia, Spain). In each site, seedlings from both fertilization treatments were planted in three plots with contrasting light environment (full sunlight, and under Pinus sylvestris stands with moderate and deep shade conditions). Survival, diameter and height growth were monitored for six years.Main results: Nursery fertilization did not affect survival, but high fertilization enhanced post-planting growth. Survival was highest under deep shade conditions but growth in this microsite was lower than in higher light sites, revealing a trade-off for survival and growth across light levels.Research highlights: The lower fertilization rate used in this study was suitable to produce seedlings with acceptable quality. Planting under shaded conditions (light availability<30%) is recommended to maximize the initial success of yew plantations in Mediterranean mountains.Keywords: Taxus baccata; plant quality; field growth; survival; reforestation.
Influence of anatomy and basic density on specific cutting force for wood from Corymbia citriodora Hill & Johnson
Authors: De L. Melo Luiz-E. , M. da Silva José-R. , Napoli Alfredo , Lima José-T. , R. Nascimento Débora-F.
Published: December 2015

Aim of the study: The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of xylem tissue cell structure, determined through biometry and basic density of the wood from Corymbia citriodora Hill & Johnson on consumption of specific 90º-0º longitudinal cutting force.Area of study: The study area was in the region of the Vale do Rio Doce - Minas Gerais, Brazil.Material and methods: A diametrical board with dimensions of 60 x 18 x 5 cm (length x width x thickness, respectively), with more than 1.3 m from the ground, was removed. In machining trials, a 400 mm diameter circular saw was used, with 24 “WZ” teeth, feed rate of 10 m.min-1, cutting speed of 61 m.s-1, and maximum instantaneous torque of 92.5 N.m. During cutting, test specimens were removed with alternated and parallel 1.5 cm edges in 6 radial positions, which were used for biometric determination of cell structure and basic density.Main results: It was observed that wood basic density, vessel diameter, fiber wall thickness, fiber wall fraction and fiber wall portion were directly proportional to the specific cutting force. In contrast, vessel frequency and fiber lumen diameter proved to be inversely proportional to cutting force.Research highlights: This work provides important values of quantification of influence of xylem tissue cell structure, determined through biometry and physical properties of the wood that may be used to prediction of consumption of specific cutting force.Keywords: wood machining; wood properties; optimization of the process.
An index for the assessment of degraded Mediterranean forest ecosystems
Authors: Modica Giuseppe , Merlino Angelo , Solano Francesco , Mercurio Roberto
Published: December 2015

Aim of study: Diagnosing the degradation degree of forest ecosystems is the basis for restoration strategies. However, there is no literature documenting how to quantify the forest degradation degree by using synthetic indicators, also because there is not a widely accepted definition for "forest degradation" and "degraded forest". Although there are many definitions of forest degradation that converge on the loss of ecosystem services, still today there are no largely accepted methods that give operational guidance to help in defining it. In the present research, with the aim to assess the degree of forest degradation, an integrated index - FDI, Forest Degradation Index - was developed.Area of study: In this first application, the FDI was applied and validated at stand level in two different Mediterranean forest types in two different case studies: Madonie and Nedrodi regional Parks (Sicily, Italy). The first dominated by sessile oak [Quercus petraea (Matt.) Liebl. subsp. austrotyrrhenica Brullo, Guarino & Siracusa], the second dominated by cork oak (Quercus suber L.).Material and methods: FDI is a synthetic index structured starting from representative and relatively easily detectable parameters. Here, we propose a set of six indicators that should be assessed to determine the forest degradation: Structural Index (SI), Canopy Cover (CC), Natural Regeneration Density (NRD), Focal Species of Degradation (FSD), Coarse Woody Debris (CWD), and Soil Depth (SD). FDI, here proposed and discussed, has been based on a MCDA (Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis) approach using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) technique, and implemented in order to contribute in finding simple indicators useful for forest restoration purposes that have an eco-functional basis.Main results: An integrated index of forest degradation has been defined. FDI values are comprised in the closed interval [0, 10], ranging from class I (Higher ecological functionality) to class IV (Lower ecological functionality). A forest fallen in the FDI-IV class can be defined degraded. In this first application, degradation occurs in SA-4 and in SB-4 where the lowest values (qualitative and quantitative) of the indicators were recorded and the FDI reach the minimum value.Research highlights: FDI has proved to be a useful tool at stand level in identifying a threshold value below which a forest can be termed as ‘degraded’. In turn, FDI assumes the meaning of descriptor of the ecological functionality. Future development of the FDI will provide an extension of the application at landscape scale exploiting the potential advantages in coupling MCDA and GIS (Geographical Information Systems) techniques.Keywords: Forest Degradation Index (FDI); Sustainable Forest Management (SFM); Mediterranean Forest Landscape; Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) approach; Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP).
The Complex Relation of Self-determination to Destiny in Oedipus Tyrannos
Authors: Li Ruoqi
Published: December 2015

Oedipus Rex, one of the three famed Theban tragedies by the Greek dramatist Sophocles, vividly portrays the complex and often troubling theme of humanity’s relationship to fate. By detailing the way in which Oedipus, king of Thebes, is reduced by the cruelty of predestination into a puppet with no semblance of control over the course of his own life, Sophocles seems to cast doubt on, not only the effectiveness, but also the meaning of self-control. Thus, freedom of choice, humanity’s final assertion of independence, appears to dissolve into hollow mockery. But even then, Sophocles confirms the fundamental significance of the self-knowledge and dignity that comes from struggling against tyrannical destiny. It is this dignity that sustains king Oedipus through his terrible ordeal so that he comes out of it tortured but not destroyed. It is also this elevation that adds to a tale of endless victimization a whole new dimension of complexity and imbues the words with a touch of tragic and transfiguring sublimity.
Purification as a To-Be: The Tempest and Shakespeare’s World of Imagery
Authors: Song Fengli
Published: December 2015

As the greatest playwright and poet in the English Renaissance, William Shakespeare, a pious Christian for a life-long time, laid in the rich symbolical Christian tone and religious implications his devout and personalized beliefs in Christianity bestowed upon his humanism ideal. In his play The Tempest, Shakespeare contains much deep meaning by using tempest as his title. The storm or tempest imagery, which appears in the beginning of the play, is entrenched within the ideological heritage of the Bible. In the Bible, the storm is associated with dichotomous extremes of hideousness and beauty, punishment and salvation. The tempest is not only destructive, but constructive as well. Through the tempest, the characters suffer from the purgatory and then achieved the regeneration and redemption. With the help of music, they reach the final fulfillment. Through the study of the tempest imagery, this essay confirms Shakespeare’s humanist concerns and the theme of love.
Discourse Study of Genre: Autobiography
Authors: Osman Mohammed
Published: December 2015

What arouses our interest is curiosity to know about others. What is an autobiography? The dictionary says: “A personal account of one’s own life especially for publication”. Autobiographies offer insight into the mode of consciousness of others especially in the case of men of notable achievement to know the personal story of well-known events, of motives and intentions that are hidden behind them. This type of knowledge is interesting and instructive.

Unlike novel we are won over by the hero, in the case of the real hero of the autobiography he is won over by his achievements. We admire him by knowing him intimately and by peeping into his privacy. Autobiographies are works of art that keep us spellbound and fascinating. Autobiography is a form in which a writer speaks of himself and events of his personal life which he had experienced.
The Semantic Shift of Some Arabic Lexemes in Egypt after January 25 Revolution
Authors: Mahfouz Adel Refaat
Published: December 2015

This study attempts to defend the claim that politics is a linguistically constituted activity, and to show that the terms that inform political beliefs and behavior have historically mutable meanings that have undergone changes related to real political events. Namely, these terms correspond to the experiences which package the semantic material into them .i.e. verbal and situational context yield the shift in meaning. This issue is, however, much more complex and it requires a truly integrating approach, where morphological and semantic criteria are all relevant, as well as psycholinguistic considerations (holistic storage and processing), and sociolinguistic and pragmatic factors.

To support the claim above, this study aims to explore the semantic change of some Arabic words after January 25 Revolution in Egypt. It is an attempt to trace evidences of semantic shift in words used during and after the January 25 Revolution through the Egyptian newspapers and social sites. It is concerned with terms used by the pro and anti-revolution activists to name themselves and their opponents. Through this study, the researcher expects that the findings may be useful to enrich the knowledge about the semantic change in Egyptian Arabic in general and to give a better understanding of the meaning shifts and changes that occurred to some lexemes as a result of January 25 Revolution in particular. Moreover, the result of this study is hoped to be used as reference and comparison to other studies in order to make better analysis for further research in semantic change (broadening, Narrowing, Amelioration, Pejoration, Weakening, and Semantic Shift). The study, then, is limited to the purpose of analyzing the semantic changes. The analysis of the collected data represents the semantic change in some Arabic words after January 25 Revolution.
Kazuo Ishiguro’s The Remains of the Day: A Historiographical Approach
Authors: Emara Maha Abdel Moneim
Published: December 2015

This paper attempts to analyze Kazuo Ishiguro’s The Remains of the Day, in the light of various ramifications of postmodern critical historiographical approaches. It investigates the different narrative strategies Ishiguro uses to narrate historical events and dismantle objectivity mainly; backshadowing, intermixing of historical and personal incidents, and first-person unreliable narrator. Great deal of Ishiguro’s text depth and complexity arises from the unreliability of the narrator whose narration presents several interpretive versions and controversial issues.
A Study on News Headline Translation from the Cognitive Perspective-Based on Conceptual Blending Theory
Authors: Ling Hong
Published: December 2015

In the light of cognitive linguistics, particularly the conceptual blending theory the author holds that translation is a cognitive activity closely related to human cognition and bodily experience. What the translator needs to do is re-experience the cognition and mental or physical experience of the source language writer and transfer it into the target language with reference to the target language readers’ cognition and experience. Translation is the blend of concepts concerned in the two language spaces vie the translator’s mental work. The same is true with the process of news translation. Combining the conceptual blending theory with the practice of news translation, the author aims at on-line exploring and investigating the process of translation and explains it from cognitive perspective.
Introducing Project-based Instruction in the Saudi ESP Classroom: A Study in Qassim University
Authors: Alsamani Abdul-Aziz Saleh , Daif-Allah Ayman Sabry
Published: December 2015

The aim of this paper is to study the impact of introducing an integrative pedagogical approach in the ESP classes on developing the English language vocabulary of Computer Science and Information Technology students in the College of Science, Qassim University. The study suggests a framework for an ESP course-design employing students’ project work based on the analysis of learners’ needs. The researchers made use of the experimental pre-test post-test control group design where the English vocabulary test was used as a pre and post test. The results reported from this study revealed the effectiveness of the suggested project-based ESP course on developing the English vocabulary for the target subjects. Also, the results show that project based instruction enhanced the teaching and learning of ESP and developed new study habits for learners by promoting self-directed, independent, cooperative learning as well as out-of-classroom learning. The study concluded with recommendations related to how projects can be incorporated into ESP classrooms to develop different language skills i.e. speaking, listening, reading, and writing.
Artistic Discourse and Rhetoric Means
Authors: Ilqar Mammedli Aysel
Published: December 2015

The article investigates the rhetoric means that are used to adorn the artistic discourse. Adorning of the speech means to delever the artistic discourse to a reader by using various rhetoric means. This problem involved the attention of the rhetorics in ancient Greek, Rome etc., and they have interesting thoughts about adorning the speech by using rhetoric means. In those times the stated problem was introduced on political, law-court, and other speeches. In modern times this problem is also in the air. As the cognitive linguitics developes the problem that was proposed by the Roma rhetorics are investigated basing on conscious, mind frames. The article deals with the three main factors that can be introduced by a speaker. They are admonition, evocation and inspiration. These three factors have special importance in the artistic discourse. So, to adorn the speech is the main rhetoric means. The author states that the adorned speech gives the reader a special kind of inspiration and attracts the reader’s attention more effectively. Different lexical and syntactical constructions (for example, word order, lexical repetitions, inversion, chiasm etc.) as well as colorful figurative can be used as rhetorical means. The author tries to explain the importance of rhetoric means in the artistic discourse using some of the rhetoric means in the article. Gesture, mimics and others can also help to increase the effectiveness of the speech.

Having investigated the problem the author comes to the conclusion using the figurative, rhetoric means the speaker tries to increase the effectiveness of the information. The author claims that if the artistic discourse is attractive, the listener listens to it attentively, believes in it and remembers it easily. To create the figurative speech means that not depending on the educational level everyone perceives the speech and enjoys listening to it.
The Scopes of Word Semantics
Authors: Bebir Alishova Ramila
Published: December 2015

The article investigates the scopes of word semantics. Firstly, the author gives general information about the term concept. The author investigates the thoughts of linguists about the concepts in different languages. For instance, A.Abdullayev writes: “Concepts are inside representatives of the aspects, fragments of the environment in a human’s psychology. We can say they are inside us” (Abdullayev, 2011). N. Chomiski writes: “The concepts that are created in the human’s minds define the form and the meaning of a great number of sentences, and it means that our knowledge and opinions are endless” (Bickerton, 2010). The author underlines the fact that concepts belong to human conscious, and they purely have typically mind characters.Investigating the article we observe that the author stands on the meanings of the wordsespecially on the meanings of the words denoting life and death. Saying literally, a man can be considred to be a walking dictionary created by God. Each of the individuals has its own word stock in its mind. There exist a lot of words with various meanings, and the article deals with the meanings of the words denoting death and life. The author gives their translations both in the English language and in the Azerbaijani language, and it helps us to catch the similar and different meanings that they form inside the contexts. The author comes to the conclusion that the meanings that the people want to express and the meaning that the words express are different. The article gives the list of the meanings of the words suggested by J. Lyons.
Analyzing Interpersonal Metafunction through Mood and Modality in Kaine Agary’s Yellow-Yellow from Critical Discourse and Womanist Perspective
Authors: Koussouhon Léonard A. , Dossoumou Ashani M.
Published: December 2015

The aim of this paper is to analyze mood, epistemic and deontic modality patterns in an extract culled from Yellow-Yellow (2006) by one of the Nigerian new millennium female writer, Kaine Agary. The findings data revealed by the interpersonal meaning analysis are discussed against the backdrop of critical discourse analysis and womanist theory. The discussion contended that, despite the blend of monologic and dialogic organization of the novel, Kaine Agary has tried to portray the sociological schisms making up the daily life of young girls in the oil-resourced region of Nigeria. More importantly, the authoress has shown women’s determination and commitment to support Zilayefa to succeed in achieving good results in education while the major male character goes against this developmental stream flow by impregnating her. The mood and modality choices operated show some kind of power and hierarchy relations and conflicting ideologies between Sisi, Lolo, Zilayefa and Admiral. The discursive interpretation eventually found out that the interpersonal meaning description and critical discussion can properly work together towards achieving consensus. It is agreed that the hidden authorial ideology behind Kaine Agary’s fictional text is geared towards a pro-women social change for a more balanced African society. This is, of course, the gist priorities and great topical issues calling for urgent response at this time.
Investigating Motivation among Libyan High School Students
Authors: Sase Amal Saleh , Abdelaal Noureldin Mohamed , Amhimmid Nahid Salih
Published: December 2015

There are many factors that are likely to affect the acquisition of English as a second or foreign language; among the most important affective factors is motivation. This study examined instrumental and integrative motivations among Libyan high school students in Kajang, Malaysia. It investigated whether EFL Libyan students are instrumentally or integratively motivated to study English, and the relationship between gender and type of motivation. This study adopted a qualitative approach through employing focus group interview. The findings of the study revealed that students are more integratively motivated than instrumentally. However, female students are more integratively motivated than male students are.
Competition, Cooperation, and Pricing: How Mobile Operators Respond to the Challenge of Over-The-Top
Authors: Xu Xiaobing , Chen Rong
Published: December 2015

Considering the threats from OTT (Over-The-Top) services, this paper examines whether the mobile operator should charge OTT services access fees and how to. By using a dynamic-gaming process, we find that: 1) under non-cooperative strategy, the mobile operator would charge OTT a mobile Internet access fee, which is positively correlated to OTT platform’s future commercial value and the price of direct communication service, and negatively correlated to the indirect communication service price. 2) under cooperative strategy, the OTT service price that the joint venture charges end users is negatively correlated to OTT platform’s future commercial value. 3) despite choosing cooperative or non-cooperative strategy, the pricing of mobile operator’s direct communication service has a negative correlation with OTT platform’s future value and a positive correlation with the platform’s quality; while the pricing of the indirect communication service is positively correlated to platform’s future value and negatively correlated with the platform quality.
Factors Analysis of the Electronics Industry Trade Imbalance between the US and China
Authors: Jin Jihong , Steffens Michael
Published: December 2015

The US and China trade imbalance is a highly debated topic, and cause of trade conflict between the US and China. One particularly strong area of the trade imbalance is the electronics industry, which as of the year 2013 represented more than 45% of the total trade balance, the largest subsection of any industry. In order to understand the macroeconomic factors influencing overall trade balance as well as trade balance in the Electronics Industry, this study uses Ordinary Least Squares Regression analysis model to examine how macroeconomic factors such as Exchange Rate, China GDP, US GDP, and CPI affect the trade balance. The results are then compared to an equivalent analysis on the electronics industry using factors such as China Electronics Industry Production, US Electronics Industry Production, Exchange Rate, and CPI. The findings are surprising, showing that the same factors that are traditionally strongly correlated with a change in the overall trade balance, actually have an opposite effect on the Electronics industry trade balance. This paper explores not only what macro economic factors cause the trade imbalances, but also why they happen.
An In-Depth Thematic Analysis of Customer Driven Factors Influencing the Purchase Decisions of Guests in Four and Five Star Hotels in Kenya
Authors: Njeri Antoneta , Odhuno Edwin , Kambona Oscar Ouma
Published: December 2015

It is apparent that Kenya’s tourism marketing strategies are not effective. One way for hospitality facilities in the country to stay ahead of competitors is by addressing the ever changing needs of their guests. Various factors also influence the purchase decisions of guests in four and five star hotels. These factors should nonetheless form the bases of the marketing strategies of the hotels. This study consequently explored the purchase decisions of guests in the hotels with a view of enhancing the tourism performance of the country. The guests, who were interviewed, identified the atmosphere, hospitality, food, facilities, amenities, location, accessibility, price, value, discounts and security as being the key factors behind their purchase decisions. These should subsequently be addressed by hospitality marketers in the country.
A Study of Tourism Motivation, Perceived Value and Destination Loyalty for Macao Cultural and Heritage Tourists
Authors: Wang Xin , Leou Chia Hsin
Published: December 2015

To enhance the understanding of tourists behavior and to provide some suggestions for a sustainable development of cultural and heritage tourism in Macao, data of this study were collected from Macao cultural and heritage tourists who are visiting famous attractions in the historic center of Macao, to observe the tourism motivation, perceived value, and destination loyalty of cultural and heritage tourists in Macao. In this study, the results of factor analysis of cultural and heritage tourism motivation show that tourists’ perceived value, which contains three dimensions: scenic value, knowledge value, and social value. These dimensions can be considered as the primary indicators of perceived value which positively influence tourists’ destination loyalty. It is worth noting that the direct effect value of cultural and heritage tourism motivation to destination loyalty through perceived value is greater than tourism motivation’s direct effect on destination loyalty. Therefore, some suggestions have been put forward for the sustainable development of cultural and heritage tourism in Macao. Firstly, attractiveness cultural heritage in Macao should be designed and highlighted according to tourists’ tourism motivation. Secondly, the unique value proposition should be proposed from different dimensions of tourists’ perceived value, allowing tourists to experience the differences of Macao from other destinations. Finally, great importance should also be attached to the management of tourists’ perceived value other than just continuously increasing the attractiveness of cultural heritage itself based on tourists’ tourism motivation, which has an indirect influence on destination loyalty to make publicity for the destination voluntarily of tourists.
Factors Influence on Packaging Design in an Impulse Consumer Purchasing Behavior: A Case Study of Doritos Pack
Authors: Ahmad Alaeddin Mohammad K. , Ahmad Qais Mohammad K.
Published: December 2015

The conventional role of packaging in buyer products has been to save and protect the product. In fact these days, buyer and manufacture trends propose a progressively significant part for packaging as a tactical tool as well as a marketing strategy. This research aims to investigate the impact of factors influence on packaging design in an impulse purchasing circumstances as a case study of Doritos pack in Manchester city-UK. This research consists of the independent variables represented by visual components and informational components namely (pack graphics, layout, color, photography and illustration, typography, pack size and shape; product information, and package technology) and dependent variable which represented by impulse purchasing behavior. In order to explore the relationship between independent and dependent variables the qualitative method was used to collect primary data through a social media, online, and face to face interviews, which was administered with customers and experts in product innovation. The research sample in this research consists of 34 participants and an expert in product innovation. The results confirm that for most participants in the interviews, the factors which influence on the bad image of current Doritos chips bags in the marketplace are; protection, communication, and information. The research concludes that there are many functions to packaging design in order to ease and communicate with customers; increasingly, there is important role of packaging as a strategic tool to attract consumers’ attention and their perception on the product quality. Brand has important role in identify layout, graphics, color, and typeface. The new packaging design mostly uses the brand in products. Mainly, the packaging design includes all printed information such as made it, where it was made, when it was made, what it contains, how to use it. Moreover, the printed information is given in the brand and its value has to be showed while promoting the product in the market.
Barriers to the Diffusion and Adoption of Green Buildings in Saudi Arabia
Authors: Mosly Ibrahim
Published: December 2015

Many countries around the globe have recently pursued sustainability. The public and governments are demanding sustainability due to worldwide environmental disasters caused by pollution and man-made activities that impact the ecological system. Green buildings represent a significant component of sustainability, as their construction is intended to reduce natural resources consumption through energy and water conservation. Saudi Arabia is one of the world’s richest countries, but its number of certified green buildings is notably low. In addition, all of these buildings are certified by the US Green Building Council LEED rating system and not by a national organization. It seems that numerous barriers exist, slowing the development and diffusion of green buildings in Saudi Arabia. Through a systematic qualitative research approach, this research aims to explore barriers to the diffusion and adoption of green buildings in Saudi Arabia, which will facilitate the development of green buildings in Saudi Arabia. This research concludes the identification of 14 green building barriers, with lack of skilled personal and unsupportive government policies and regulations being the most significant barriers.