bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
TOPMELT 1.0: a topography-based distribution function approach to snowmelt simulation for hydrological modelling at basin scale
Authors: Zaramella Mattia , Borga Marco , Zoccatelli Davide , Carturan Luca
Published: December 2019

Abstract. Enhanced
temperature-index distributed models for snowpack simulation, incorporating
air temperature and a term for clear sky potential solar radiation, are
increasingly used to simulate the spatial variability of the snow water
equivalent. This paper presents a new snowpack model (termed TOPMELT) which
integrates an enhanced temperature-index model into the ICHYMOD
semi-distributed basin-scale hydrological model by exploiting a statistical
representation of the distribution of clear sky potential solar radiation.
This is obtained by discretizing the full spatial distribution of clear sky
potential solar radiation into a number of radiation classes. The computation
required to generate a spatially distributed water equivalent reduces to a
single calculation for each radiation class. This turns into a potentially
significant advantage when parameter sensitivity and uncertainty estimation
procedures are carried out. The radiation index may be also averaged in time
over given time periods. Thus, the model resembles a classical
temperature-index model when only one radiation class for each elevation band
and a temporal aggregation of 1 year is used, whereas it approximates a fully
distributed model by increasing the number of the radiation classes and
decreasing the temporal aggregation. TOPMELT is integrated within the
semi-distributed ICHYMOD model and is applied at an hourly time step over the
Aurino Basin (also known as the Ahr River) at San Giorgio (San Giorgio Aurino), a
614 km2 catchment in the Upper Adige River basin (eastern Alps, Italy) to
examine the sensitivity of the snowpack and runoff model results to the
spatial and temporal aggregation of the radiation fluxes. It is shown that
the spatial simulation of the snow water equivalent is strongly affected by
the aggregation scales. However, limited degradation of the snow simulations
is achieved when using 10 radiation classes and 4 weeks as spatial and
temporal aggregation scales respectively. Results highlight that the effects
of space–time aggregation of the solar radiation patterns on the runoff
response are scale dependent. They are minimal at the scale of the whole
Aurino Basin, while considerable impact is seen at a basin scale of
5 km2.
The influence of global climate and local hydrological variations over streamflow extremes: The tropical-mountain case
Authors: Contreras Juan , Mendoza Daniel , Pacheco Jheimy , Avilés Alex
Published: December 2019

Abstract. Hydrological extremes such as floods and droughts are the most common and threatening natural disasters worldwide. Particularly, tropical Andean headwaters systems are prone to hazards due to their complex climate conditions. However, little is known about the underlying mechanisms triggering such extremes events. In this study, the Generalized Additive Models for Location, Scale and Shape (GAMLSS) were used for investigating the relations between the Annual-Peak-Flows (APF) and Annual-Low-Flows (ALF), respecting to climate and land use/land cover (LULC) changes. Thirty years of daily streamflow data-sets taken from two Andean catchments of southern Ecuador are used for the experimental research. Global climate indices (CI), describing the large-scale climate variability were used as hypothetical drivers explaining the extreme's variations on streamflow measures. Additionally, the Antecedent-Cumulative-Precipitation (AP) and the Standardized-Precipitation-Index (SPI), and LULC percentages were also included as possible direct drivers – synthetizing local climate conditions and localized hydrological changes. The results indicate that AP and SPI clearly explain the extreme streamflow variability. Nonetheless, global variables play a significant role underneath the local climate. For instance, ENSO and CAR exert influence over the APF, while ENSO, TSA, PDO and AMO control ALF. Furthermore, it was found that LULC changes strongly influence both extremes; although this is particularly important for relative more disturbed catchments. These results provide valuable insights for future forecasting of floods and droughts based on precipitation and climate indices, and for the development of mitigation strategies for mountain catchments.
Lithological and geomorphological indicators of glacial genesis of the upper Quaternary strata in the lower courses of the Nadym River
Authors: Sizov Oleg , Volvakh Anna , Vishnevskiy Andrey , Soromotin Andrey , Abakumov Evgeny
Published: December 2019

Abstract. Analysing the genesis of Quaternary sediments is important for understanding the glaciation history and development of marine sediments in the northern part of the Western Siberia. The key features of sedimentation and landform formation have been characterized for the first time in an example of a lithological column from the lower sources of the Nadym River. A comprehensive analysis was performed on the lithological, petrographic, and geomorphological data from the upper stratum of Quaternary sediments of the column. Based on the shape and morphology of quartz grains, some features of glacial processes for some layers of the studied sections were identified and analysed with special attention to the environmental history. A petrographic study of the boulder samples was carried out, which showed that the majority of samples are boulders of glacial origin according to their shape and texture. For the first time, digital terrain models were applied to study of the key plot where the lithological column is situated, which made it possible to identify the specific terrain areas that were most likely formed by glaciation. It is suggested that extensive lacustrine-alluvial plains existed in the Nadym River Basin, which was represented by postglacial sites. Such a concept provides a lithological basis for understanding the reasons for the formation of the present and recently formed environments and landforms. Therefore, it could be possible that local glaciation in the region of the Nadym River's lower course had an effect on the formation of the stratification of the layers of Quaternary origin.
The role of snow and ice thickness on river ice process in
Songhua River basin, Northeast China
Authors: Yang Qian , Song Kaishan , Hao Xiaohua , Wen Zhidan , Tan Yue , Li Weibang
Published: December 2019

Abstract. Songhua River basin is a sensitive area to global warming in Northeast China that could be indicated by changes in lake and river ice development. The regional role and trends of ice characteristics of this area have been scarcely investigated, which are critical for aquatic ecosystem, climate variability, and human activities. Based on the ice record of hydrological stations, we examined the spatial variations of the ice phenology and ice thickness in Songhua River basin in Northeast China from 2010 to 2015 and explored the role of ice thickness, snow during ice-on and ice-off process. All five river ice phenology including freeze-up start, freeze-up end, break-up start, break-up end and complete frozen duration showed latitudinal distribution and a changing direction from southeast to northwest, and five typically geographic zones were identified based on rotated empirical orthogonal function. Maximum ice thickness had a higher correlation with five parameters than that of average snow depth and air temperature on bank. A linear regression function was established between ice thickness and snow depth on ice and indicated ice thickness was closely associated with snow depth on ice. The air temperature had higher correlation with ice phenology and influenced the lake ice phenology significantly, and snow cover did not show significant correlation with the ice phenology. However, snow cover correlated with ice thickness significantly and positively during the periods when the freshwater is completely frozen.
Formas de aparición. La carta fílmica como enigma
Authors: Català Domènech Josep M.
Published: December 2019

La complejidad fenomenológica de las formas epistolares se incrementa al trasladarse al ámbito de la cinematografía y convertirse en el particular género de la carta fílmica. El desplazamiento del eje del significado hacia lo visual establece la posibilidad de detectar nuevos fenómenos comunicativos que tienen su origen en la correspondencia escrita pero también en las tarjetas postales y las cartas visuales, y que guardan similitudes con algunas modalidades renovadas del documental como el film-ensayo. El artículo pretende poner de manifiesto las particularidades de la modalidad fílmica epistolar como dispositivo creador de subjetividades y formas expresivas relativas al pensamiento, a través de un proceder ensayístico por el que se descubre un territorio conceptual a medida que se va construyendo.
Varda's Gift of Postcards
Authors: Bluher Dominique
Published: December 2019

Postcards are prominent throughout Varda’s oeuvre and she has displayed parts of her postcard collections on several occasions in her films and video installations. Her movie in which postcards play the most important narrative role is One Sings, the Other Doesn’t (1976). As researchers in the field of postcard studies have pointed out, postcards are not only a means of communication, but also a sign of life or a confirmation of friendship, as well as a souvenir or a gift. The objective of this article is to reflect on how the self-contained episodes in some of Varda’s later non-fiction films, The Gleaners and I… Two Years Later (2002) and her five-part documentary Agnes Varda: From Here to There (2008-2011), can be regarded as a sign of friendship or as souvenir. And last but not least, whether and in what way could one also appreciate Varda’s films as a gift.
Epistolary Enunciation in Contemporary Fiction Films in Asia: A Typological Essay
Authors: Coppola Antoine
Published: December 2019

In Asia, the socio-linguistic history has sometimes made blossom the epistolary enunciation on the screen and has sometimes made it whiter. Melodramas developed the oralised destiny-letters as hinges of dramatic narration. Even a cinema under communist regime like that of North Korea maintains this model but by diverting it to the profit of his supreme epistolarian and leader. Starting from the 1990s, filmmakers like Shunji Iwai and Jeong Jae-eun screen the letters by assigning them a veridiction power in conflict: social/persona. Wong Kar-wai extends the epistolary enunciation to the whole narrative structure of the voices over of his films as memory interiorities. Finally, the transition to digital and virtual communication spaces has led filmmakers like Hideo Nakata and Jia Zhangke to underline the hauntological distance, spectral in Derrida’s sense; distance linked to the power of invisible big communicators which become inevitable thirds at the heart of all exchanges.
Friends in cinema. Correspondencias fílmicas: de la subjetividad a la intersubjetividad
Authors: Monterrubio Ibáñez Lourdes
Published: December 2019

El presente artículo analiza la práctica de la correspondencia fílmica a partir del concepto contemporáneo de intersubjetividad: el lugar donde confluyen y se comparten las subjetividades a fin de alcanzar nuevas perspectivas y resultados. El análisis de las correspondencias más relevantes, generadas a lo largo ya de más de tres décadas –desde Video Letter (Tanikawa y Terayama, 1983) a Life May Be (Cousins y Akbari, 2014)–, nos permitirá determinar cómo se produce este desplazamiento de la subjetividad a la intersubjetividad, mediante qué construcciones epistolares, en torno a qué prácticas fílmicas, espacios y temáticas, y con qué resultados. Concluiremos entonces cómo el ensayo intersubjetivo epistolar se materializa en diferentes dinámicas: punto de partida de una reflexión compartida; resultado del intercambio; búsqueda de un espacio creativo; dialéctica entre prácticas fílmicas diferentes; simulacro que aparenta una intersubjetividad que en realidad evita; e incluso su imposibilidad, cuando el intento intersubjetivo amenaza las subjetividades implicadas.
Epistolary Enunciation in Quebec and Indigenous Cinemas: The Letter as Identity Vector and Memory Tool
Authors: Bertrand Karine
Published: December 2019

This article focuses on the use of the letter in Canadian cinema, and more particularly in Quebec films featuring plural identities that further complexify this province’s relationship with its identity and those of others. This article explores how the letter becomes a means for Quebec migrants to communicate with their family history and with their host community. It also shows how the letter is a mediator and a symbol uniting minority cultures in search of roots, for filmmakers who stage immigrants or mixed-race protagonists. Finally, I explore how the letter serves the Indigenous peoples of Canada, victims of cultural genocide, by participating in decolonization through the re-establishment of family and community ties. In doing so, the article provides a general picture of the use of the letter as an object of memory and reconciliation in contemporary Quebec and Indigenous cinemas.
Epistolarity, Voice, and Reconciliation in Recent North African Documentaries
Authors: Petty Sheila
Published: December 2019

This essay takes as its starting point Laura Rascaroli’s notion of “epistolarity as argumentation” to probe how North African filmmakers Habiba Djahnine, Drifa Mezenner, and Jawad Rhalib deploy the letter in their documentary films as a strategy to come to terms with personal alienation at a specific point in their national histories. In Letter to my Sister (2006), I Lived in the Absence Twice (2011) and The Turtles’ Song: a Moroccan Revolution (2013), working within reflexive and performative modes of documentary, the filmmakers become protagonists of their own projects and find their personal voice after years of repression or exile. Thus, they ultimately connect their voice with others of the nation as strategy of reconciliation. The essay argues that these first-person documentaries use the epistolary device to allow the filmmakers to rediscover their own voices and place within their own national histories of Algeria and Morocco.
Adaptation, Allegory and the Archive: Contextualising Epistolary Narratives in Contemporary Portuguese Cinema
Authors: Barradas Jorge Nuno
Published: December 2019

Epistolarity in cinema is commonly understood as a narrative device either fitting the so-called essay film, or resulting from filmic adaptation of literary works. A more nuanced understanding of the workings of this device is observed in films of disparate contemporary Portuguese filmmakers which adapt, rephrase and remediate letters. This article centres its attention on possible tendencies concerning epistolarity in this context, examining films that make use of the personal archive and epistolary voice, or that adapt letters to screen. It also examines filmic works that use the epistolary device to negotiate between emotional expression and historical materiality. Among others, this article discusses films such as Yama No Anata (Aya Koretzy, 2011), Correspondences (Rita Azevedo Gomes, 2016), Letters from War (Ivo M. Ferreira, 2016) and works directed by Pedro Costa and Miguel Gomes.
History, Power, and Incomplete Epistolarity in Post-Soviet Cinema
Authors: Graham Seth
Published: December 2019

This article examines epistolary enunciation in the recent cinema of former Soviet republics (Russia, Ukraine, and Estonia), and in particular how filmmakers use the letter device in their engagements with their nations’ past, present, and future. After discussing the post-Soviet epistolary through the prism of the region’s history, with reference to Altman (1982) and Naficy (2001), the article analyses the device in specific films. Recent examples often follow the Soviet-era model of the letter as a medium for contact not only (or primarily) between individuals, but also for more abstract kinds of contact, between distinct realms of human existence and consciousness: East and West, Public and Private, Life and Death/Afterlife, Freedom and Captivity, Science and Superstition, Authenticity and Imposture, History and Contemporaneity. The meanings created via epistolary efforts to bridge such gaps – by the characters and the filmmakers – are central to the post-Soviet cinematic project of national and individual introspection.
Propuesta para la preservación digital y organización en archivos familiares. Estudio de caso: el fondo Kati
Authors: Martínez de Lahidalga Santillana Joseba , Marzal García-Quismondo Miguel Ángel
Published: December 2019

La principal finalidad del presente estudio está fundamentada en dar a conocer el Archivo Familiar Kati, o Fondo Kati, con el fin de evidenciar la importancia de su preservación. Puesto que, a causa del contenido de sus manuscritos es un archivo familiar singular que permite investigar la historia poco conocida de las minorías culturales de la Península Ibérica y de varias regiones del África Subsahariana. Sin embargo, si no se adoptan medidas que protejan el patrimonio documental familiar de su deterioro natural y de las acciones de los seres humanos, los manuscritos corren serio peligro de desaparecer. En consecuencia, una vez explicado el estado de la cuestión de los archivos familiares y haber resumido la historia de los miembros Kati y su archivo, se presentan las propiedades más significativas del Fondo Kati y su situación actual. Para después, reflexionar sobre las medidas que más garantías ofrecen para la preservación del Fondo y determinar que la digitalización y su posterior preservación en repositorios digitales es la opción más eficaz para la conservación del Fondo Kati. El estudio concluye con la propuesta para la organización física de los manuscritos que conforman el Fondo, centrando la atención en la clasificación, ordenación y descripción. Se estima conveniente emplear un cuadro de clasificación acorde con las características del fondo, una ordenación mixta (alfabética para las unidades documentales más genéricas y cronológica para los expedientes) y una descripción basada en las normas propuesta por el CIA.
Consecuencias de la crisis económica en la producción editorial en Extremadura (2007-2015)
Authors: Soto-Vázquez José , Jaraíz-Cabanillas Francisco Javier , Gutiérrez-Gallego José Antonio , Pérez-Parejo Ramón , Tena Fernández Ramón
Published: December 2019

Este estudio analiza la evolución de la producción editorial en la Comunidad Autónoma de Extremadura (España) en el periodo 2007-2015, esto es, en una etapa de grave crisis económica global. Tras presentar los objetivos e hipótesis, se muestran los datos editoriales realizando comparativas entre España y Extremadura prestando especial atención a variables como el tipo de soporte y el carácter de los agentes editoriales. Como conclusiones más destacadas, la crisis económica produce graves alteraciones en el tejido editorial de la región;  desde 2007 hasta 2010 continúa creciendo la producción, pero desde entonces hasta 2016 disminuye progresivamente; hay más empresas y se publican más libros en la provincia de Badajoz;  la producción de libros electrónicos es escaso; con la crisis económica aumentó el número de empresas editoriales privadas y perdieron peso las institucionales; la intervención de las instituciones resulta decisiva en el dinamismo de la industria editorial en la región.
Inventores al servicio de la publicidad. Patentes para la exhibición de anuncios (1859-1966)
Authors: Sánchez-Galán María Begoña
Published: December 2019

Las patentes de invención que se conservan en los archivos históricos son valiosas fuentes de información que permiten estudiar el desarrollo tecnológico de un sector industrial y, al mismo tiempo, el contexto histórico y sociocultural que dio lugar a los inventos. Este artículo presenta los resultados de una investigación cuyo objetivo ha sido identificar los registros de contenido publicitario que se conservan en el Archivo Histórico de la Oficina Española de Patentes y Marcas (OEPM). Con ello se pretende conocer qué aportaciones hicieron los inventores al sector publicitario y qué tipo de información específica se puede localizar en las memorias justificativas de las patentes. Como resultado se han obtenido 2658 registros de objetos y sistemas publicitarios presentados entre 1859 y 1966. Para gestionar estos registros se ha elaborado una base de datos que permite observar las patentes por sectores, soportes, año y lugar de presentación. Del total de elementos recuperados, se ha seleccionado una muestra de diez patentes que se han examinado en profundidad para conocer el tipo de información que contienen los expedientes. Su análisis confirma que, además de información tecnológica, las patentes ofrecen datos socio-culturales de interés para el estudio de la historia de la publicidad en España.
Visibilidad de las revistas españolas de Cine y Comunicación Audiovisual en bases de datos
Authors: Moreno-García Mª del Carmen , Martín Moreno Alba
Published: December 2019

El objetivo del trabajo consiste en analizar la visibilidad de las revistas científicas españolas de Cine y Comunicación audiovisual en las bases de datos de WoS, Scopus, Latindex, Cindoc-CSIC digital y Dialnet. La metodología seguida ha implicado el cálculo de los correspondientes índices de visibilidad de las 31 revistas analizadas. Los principales resultados señalan que están editadas mayoritariamente por Universidades en versión impresa y también en doble versión (impresa y electrónica). La periodicidad más frecuente es la semestral, seguida de la anual y el idioma preferente, el español. Los índices de visibilidad calculados son mayores en el caso de las bases de datos nacionales o de ámbito hispano, mientras que en las internacionales son nulos (Scopus) o muy bajos (WoS). Se remarca la necesidad de incrementar la visibilidad de las revistas analizadas en las diferentes bases de datos existentes, sobre todo, en las internacionales, con algunas propuestas de mejora.
Personal Entrepreneurial Attributes and Intentions to Start Business: The Moderating Role of Culture
Authors: Naqvi Syed Danish Haider , Siddiqui Danish Ahmed
Published: December 2019

Culture influence the entrepreneurial intentions, which make a contribution to entrepreneurial evolution. This study investigates that whether (Hofstede, Dimensionalizing Cultures: The Hofstede Model in Context, 2001) cultural dimensions has a moderating role in converting Personal Entrepreneurial Attributes into their Intention to Start a Business. To measure these attributes, we applied bounded multidimensional model of social entrepreneurship as proposed by (Weerawardena & Mort, 2006) and applied by (Richter, et al., 2016). The effect of three Entrepreneurial Attributes namely risk taking, innovativeness and pro-activeness along with other demographic variables were tested against entrepreneurial intensions (EI). Their effect was moderated by five cultural dimensions namely Masculinity, Power Distance, Long-Term Orientation, Collectivism, and Uncertainty Avoidance. Data of 272 respondents from Pakistan was collected using close ended questionnaire and was analysed using Confirmatory factor analysis and structured equation modelling by means of path model which specifies various constructs of this study. The results suggested that risk taking and pro-activeness had a positive and significant effect on EI, whereas innovativeness doesn’t seem to effect EI. This imply that risk takers and proactive individuals are more inclined towards entrepreneurship than innovators. With regards to cultural dimensions, Masculinity, Power Distance, and Collectivism seems to negatively affect EI, whereas Long-Term Orientation, and Uncertainty Avoidance seems to effect positively. Interestingly, Collectivism and Masculinity have positive and significant complementarities with innovativeness, whereas Uncertainty Avoidance have negative and significant effect. This means innovativeness does seem to effect EI in collective and masculine culture. This also suggested that innovators would be more inclined in converting their ideas into workable projects in collective decision making and hierarchical cultural settings. Conversely, Uncertainty Avoidance, seem to restrict Entrepreneurial aspirations in innovators. Cultural variable doesn’t seem to have a significant moderation effect with regards to risk taking, except of Long Term Orientation, that have significant negative complementarities. Surprisingly, Masculinity, and Collectivism had and significant negative moderating effect with pro-activeness and EI, whereas Long Term Orientation and Uncertainty Avoidance have a significant positive interaction. This suggested that hierarchical culture deter proactive people in fulfilling their EI, at the same time, encourage innovators. With regards to demographics, male seems to have more EI, whereas the coefficient of education and age found that advanced education and experienced individuals believes in development, increasingly slanted toward entrepreneurship. Frames of mind to completing the expectations are poor in entrepreneurship.
Displacing Fear from Education: Regaining Cognitive Compassion and Democracy
Authors: Tinnirello Maurizio , Samuels Michael
Published: December 2019

Critical globalization scholars argue that democracy is in crisis, negatively affecting political systems, social relations, and education. Most think education and democracy ought to play a progressive role in advancing the common good for humanity. We demonstrate that education has become a reflection of neoliberalism, replacing mutual concern and compassion with fear of uncertainty, which results in preserving global capitalism's negative processes. We propose that to achieve real democracy, education, and radical emancipatory processes that can overturn neoliberalism, we ought to make individuals aware of the role of freedom under capitalism, in warping the foundation of modern societies. To do this, education ought to be conceived as the pillar of cognitive compassion and not as a component of neoliberalism. Education must be directed at overcoming the capitalist ideology and promoting cognitive compassion. This is the path toward a good society and ultimately real democracy.
Overview and Context
Authors: Grönlund Kimmo
Published: December 2019

Can the people rule? This question has divided politicians and political scientists for decades, if not centuries. It is also the explicit topic of the second part of James Fishkin's new book, and the problem that infuses the first part's rich case studies with their significance. The arguments and the evidence he provides suggest that the answer is “yes”—assuming the existence of a carefully designed framework. In the process, Democracy When the People Are Thinking provides a defense of deliberative democracy and an empirically grounded plan for addressing its institutional realization that will shape all future research—and may shape actual practice.
Democracy in the Open
Authors: Chambers Simone
Published: December 2019

While acknowledging the monumental and important contribution James Fishkin has made to deliberative democracy theory, I argue that his very pessimistic view of citizen competency outside of Deliberative Polls limits his ability to develop a full theory of democracy. I also suggest that he is hampered by a narrow focus on the Deliberative Poll as the primary institution of democratic reform.
Deliberative Polls and the Systemic Democratization of Democracy
Authors: Sintomer Yves
Published: December 2019

James Fishkin has had a crucial role when linking the literature and experiments based on randomly selected mini-publics with the theory of deliberative democracy. He has been one of the major actors in the first wave of mini-publics, which were top-down one-shot devices, controlled by their inventors, embodying deliberative democracy, advisory and complementary to representative democracy. Fishkin's last book shows part of the evolution towards a second wave, where mini-publics are more open to hybridization, are articulated to direct and participatory democracy and not only to representative government, and begin to be institutionalized. However, it falls short of taking the structural power relations and the importance of social movements seriously, which makes more difficult to link randomly selected mini-publics with a systemic democratization of democracy.
Deliberative Polling and the Democratic Innovations Agenda
Authors: Warren Mark E.
Published: December 2019

James Fishkin's Democracy When the People Are Thinking (2018) is a comprehensive account of why Deliberative Polling is now the gold standard for a type of deliberative mini-public. Fishkin's book is nicely theorized, and counts as a major contribution to the empirical study of democratic innovations. The book does, however, leave a number of questions open that we need to frame and answer as we look forward to using innovative processes such as Deliberative Polling to deepen democracy. These include questions of (1) the democratic legitimacy of randomly selected bodies; (2) the boundaries of relevant publics, particularly when they do not correspond to established jurisdictions; (3) managing legitimate exclusions of special interests that are powerful enough to undermine deliberative mini-publics; (4) when and why political elites might have incentives to use deliberative mini-publics; (5) when and where divisions of labor among venues and activities deepen democracy, and (6) locating democratic possibilities outside of electoral democracy, particularly within governance systems.
Rendering Sensible Salient
Authors: Lessig Lawrence
Published: December 2019

In this essay, the author identifies the central challenge for democracy—crafting better ways to elicit a “we the people” that the people can respect. James Fishkin's work has pointed the way. This essay takes a few additional steps. First, the author discusses the influence of technology on democracy and the importance of building understanding of the need for Deliberative Polling in the “post-broadcast age.” He then suggests methods to make Deliberative Polling efficacious on a national level.
The World-Brain and the Watershed: The Spatiality of Steinbeck's Environmental Vision
Authors: Wyse Lowell
Published: December 2019

Steinbeck's To a God Unknown includes a provocative passage in which the “brain of the world” is imagined sitting on a high peak overlooking valleys filled with farms and houses. In this article, Lowell Wyse builds upon this image to analyze an underappreciated aspect of Steinbeck's environmental imagination: spatiality and geography. Through an examination of scenes in To a God Unknown and East of Eden, this article shows how an interpretive focus on the geographical construct of the watershed highlights the author's understanding of spatiality as a key component of a more holistic approach to representing place. In addition to placing these novels within the Salinas Watershed, Steinbeck portrays human settlement there as both an ongoing environmental negotiation and a set of spatial practices revolving around the crucial problem of water access. From cartographical and historical perspectives to headwaters and dowsing rods, Steinbeck creates a sense of place as geographically connected and dynamically alive, with water as the unifying element.
Business and Immigration: As Relevant Today as in Steinbeck's Times
Authors: Gladstein Mimi Reisel
Published: December 2019

This article explores immigration from the era of the Okies to the present, thus illustrating Steinbeck's ongoing significance. It also surveys Steinbeck's portrayal of businesspeople in several of his novels. Many are positive portrayals. It concludes that Steinbeck in both his presentation of immigration and business has continuing relevance for our own times.
John Steinbeck on East European Markets
Authors: Čerče Danica
Published: December 2019

The article examines the fortunes of Steinbeck's works in East European countries as they were in the grip of communist rule and as they are since the change in the political systems. In their struggle for working-class uniformity, these countries constituted an eager market for class-conscious works. Evaluated through an ideological lens, the sole value of literary works was seen to reside in their utility to oppressive political regimes. Given Steinbeck's international reputation in the 1940s and 1950s as an ardent advocate for the downtrodden, the writer inadvertently served as a political tool against the social order of capitalism. His works that largely conformed to the communist regime's ideology were critically acclaimed and widely translated, whereas several others were unjustifiably marginalized or consigned to oblivion.
On Teaching The Grapes of Wrath
Authors: Carr Beth Linder
Published: December 2019

This personal essay traces my experiences as both a reader and teacher of The Grapes of Wrath over the course of the last twenty-five years, in my capacity as a high school teacher of Advanced Placement English Literature. The opening line makes clear that the piece is not a lesson plan, nor a curriculum guide, but rather an attempt to show the degree to which the book has been important to me personally, and to show the ways I've found to make it accessible to my students. This essay includes scenes with my students, as well as research to provide background information about Steinbeck, about the censorship of the work, about the work of Dorothea Lange, about Frank Galati's adaptation of the novel for the stage, which I directed in my capacity as theater teacher.
Truth, Gender, and Black Sheep: Students on Steinbeck
Authors: Shillinglaw Susan , Hahs Ana , De Groot Megan , LaFrank Gabrielle
Published: December 2019

In her English 167 Steinbeck class, Susan Shillinglaw assigned a Steinbeck notebook, where students wrote fifteen or so short essays and reflective pieces: on Steinbeck biographies, on criticism, on letters, on films, on the Long Valley Ledger. First presented at an international Steinbeck conference, three of these reflective pieces are included here.
Steinbeck Today
Authors: Ray William
Published: December 2019

The acquisition of the S. J. Neighbors collection of John Steinbeck papers by the Special Collections department substantially expands Stanford University's holdings in Steinbeck while significantly increasing the opportunities for research on Steinbeck's life before, during, and after his enrollment at Stanford.
Limite à participação popular no processo legislativo como um obstáculo ao desenvolvimento no Brasil
Authors: Hecktheuer Pedro Abib , Schimidt Siqueira Garcia Denise
Published: December 2019

A pesquisa explora o desenvolvimento como forjado por Amartya Sen, para estabelecer a premissa de que o desenvolvimento depende da participação popular em decisões sobre questões relevantes. O desenvolvimento depende do exercício de liberdades, e a liberdade política é a premissa para o exercício de outras. Por isso, o texto discute se os mecanismos atualmente previstos de participação direta da população em nossa democracia são adequados para o controle popular do processo legislativo. Dessa análise extraíram-se considerações, como a importante narrativa que privilegia a participação popular na Constituição Federal, e o discrepante desprestígio dado aos mecanismos formais de participação por parte dos legisladores, excluindo o povo das deliberações sobre legislações que tratam dos direitos sociais. A conclusão é a de que a não utilização dos mecanismos formais de participação popular no Brasil é um entrave ao desenvolvimento. A metodologia utilizada foi a de revisão bibliográfica, documental e empírica.
Limites da jurisdição dos tribunais de contas sobre particulares
Authors: Sundfeld Carlos Ari , Câmara Jacintho Arruda
Published: December 2019

Com base em pesquisa sobre decisões do Tribunal de Contas da União (TCU), este artigo mostra que ele tem adotado medidas administrativas restritivas de direitos contra particulares, inovando em suas atribuições, sem que tenha havido alteração normativa. Entre as medidas contra empresas privadas e seus acionistas estão a decretação de indisponibilidade de bens, a condenação ao ressarcimento de danos e a desconsideração da personalidade jurídica. O artigo analisa os argumentos do TCU e discute se essa inovação é autorizada na Constituição Federal Brasileira ou na legislação ordinária, concluindo pela negativa. Também aponta os riscos da omissão do Supremo Tribunal Federal em enfrentar o tema.
A constitucionalização do direito penal: a força normativa do princípio ne bis in idem para uma adequada leitura epistêmica dos bens jurídicos
Authors: Dezan Sandro Lúcio
Published: December 2019

O artigo aborda o efeito implícito do princípio constitucional ne bis in idem impeditivo de mais de uma punição não sobre o mesmo fato, mas, sobre o mesmo objeto jurídico, a colocar em xeque a presunção de validade das variadas prescrições autônomas de ilícitos, em ramos distintos do direito. Demonstra-se um aspecto da Constitucionalização do Direito que vincula o legislador do direito penal, e dos demais ramos jurídico-punitivos estatais, ao escopo de justiça punitiva constitucional. Por meio do método hipotéticodedutivo conclui-se que a atividade não possui uma total liberdade de criar leis definidoras de ilícitos ao alvedrio de um juízo de justificação que atenda à adequada identificação da natureza ontológica dos valores dignos de proteção em cada ramo do direito.
Relación entre el “Recuerdo celeste” de Pitágoras y “La prisión corporal” de Rubén Darío en cantos de vida y esperanza
Authors: González Sequeira Dallana
Published: December 2019

Referirse a la influencia o concepción filosófica, religiosa o esotérica en Rubén Darío, es profundizar en un amplio canon, ya que, tal cual lo ha expresado frecuentemente la crítica literaria, posee un sincretismo ideológico que muta a lo largo de su obra y que algunos sectores lo interpretan como contradicciones y otros como eclecticismo. Darío no fue influenciado por una corriente en su totalidad, ya que retoma de diversas ramas puntos particulares, algunas veces de forma precisa,  otras contrarias o simplemente las elimina y evade. Sin embargo, este trabajo se centra en un punto que se hace constante en la obra y por ende se puede generalizar y afirmar que existe una relación entre el recuerdo celeste profesado por la escuela pitagórica y la obra Dariana, especialmente en Cantos de Vida y Esperanza.
Los Girasoles
Authors: Yang Emilia
Published: December 2019

La tarde de Managua se deshacía y los árboles de la vida iluminaban el camino amarillo detrás de la rotonda.
La deuda de Pablo
Authors: Hernández Ruiz Bosco
Published: December 2019

Bajó del taxi en la esquina del bulevar. La seguí sin que se diera cuenta. Prendió un cigarro y entró
Total Joint Arthroplasty Is Associated With a Decreased Risk of Traumatic Falls: An Analysis of 499,094 Cases
Authors: Driesman Adam , Paoli Albit R. , Wiznia Daniel H. , Oh Cheongeun , Mahure Siddharth A. , Long William J. , Schwarzkopf Ran
Published: December 2019

Introduction:

The rate of traumatic falls in the aging cohort is estimated to increase across the United States. We sought to determine whether patients with lower extremity osteoarthritis (OA) who underwent total joint arthroplasty (TJA) had a reduced risk of falling compared with those with OA who did not undergo TJA.

Methods:

The New York Statewide Planning and Research Cooperative System database was queried from 2000 to 2015 to identify 499,094 cases with primary diagnosis of hip or knee OA. Patients were stratified into 4 cohorts: group 1 (hip OA with total hip arthroplasty [THA] [N = 168,234]), group 2 (hip OA without THA [N = 22,482]), group 3 (knee OA with total knee arthroplasty [TKA] [N = 275,651]), and group 4 (knee OA without TKA [N = 32,826]). Patients were followed up longitudinally to evaluate the long-term risks of subsequent traumatic falls. Cox proportional hazards models were conducted to examine the relationship between patients' demographics and clinical characteristics and the risk of subsequent traumatic falls and reported as hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs).

Results:

Nineteen thousand seven hundred seventeen patients with hip OA underwent 168,234 primary THAs (88.2%), and 308,477 patients with knee OA underwent 275,651 primary TKAs (89.4%) during the period 2000 to 2015. Compared with patients without TJA, those who underwent TJA were at a decreased risk of falls (THA HR 0.56 [95% CI, 0.48 to 0.66]) and TKA HR 0.66 [95% CI, 0.57 to 0.76]). Compared with age 40 to 49 years, risk increases for ages 70 to 79 years (HR = 4.3, 95% CI: 2.8 to 6.6) and 80 years or older (HR = 5.5, 95% CI: 3.8 to 8.1).

Conclusion:

TJA is associated with a decreased risk of long-term traumatic falls in elderly patients with the primary diagnosis of hip or knee osteoarthritis.

Level of Evidence:

Level III Retrospective Case-control study
Assessment of Protein C Levels in Patients with Ischaemic Stroke in South-South Nigeria: A Study of Cases in University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Benin City
Authors: Nnachi Oluomachi Charity , Nnachi Robert Azu , Eze Chukwuemeka Okorie , Onwe Ogah Emeka , Okoye Augustine Ejike , Awodu Omolade Augustina , Ojo Matilda Adesuwa , Nnadozie Ugochukwu Uzodinma
Published: December 2019

Background/Objective: Protein C (PC) is a vitamin K – dependent coagulation inhibitor produced in the liver. Acting together with its cofactor, protein S (PS), activated PC inhibits activated factors V and VIII thus downregulating thrombin generation which may predispose to inappropriate clot formation. This study aimed to ascertain the role of protein C deficiency in the development of ischaemic stroke in order to establish its relevance in stroke management in our environment.

Materials and Methods: Sixty-five ischaemic stroke patients and controls matched for age and sex were recruited in the study, blood samples were taken for haematological indices, prothrombin and activated partial thromboplastin times (PT and APTT) and protein C. Functional and qualitative assessments of protein C were done by chromogenic and immunoassay methods respectively. Data were analyzed with SPSS version 18.

Results: A total of 130 subjects comprising 65 stroke subjects and 65 controls were recruited in the study. Mean age of the stroke group was 60.4±12.3yrs and the control is 59.0±14.1yrs. The mean difference in PC Ag level, PC Ag(%) and functional activity between the groups were not statistically significant (p<0.05). Total WBC count in the stroke subjects was significantly higher than the controls (p=0.001). The platelet count was also higher and haemoglobin concentrations lower in stroke patients though not statistically significant. The prothrombin and activated partial thromboplastin times (APTT) in test and control groups are not significant.

Conclusion: This study showed that protein C may not play a significant role in the development of ischaemic stroke in our population.
Gender Differences in Stress Perception among Special Education Students
Authors: Eskay Michael , Arumede Florence Ijeoma , Eneh Annastasia Uchenna , Aja Jane Ogoma
Published: December 2019

This study examined gender differences in stress perception among special education students in South-East Nigerian Universities. One research question and a null hypothesis guided the study. The study design was a descriptive survey. The study sampled 800 students enrolled in special education. The instrument for collection of data was a questionnaire which measures the perception of stress in students.  The research data were analyzed using mean, standard deviation and t-test. The finding of the study revealed that there was no significant between male and female academic stress. For affected students of special education to be stress-free, the collaboration of special education experts and educational stakeholders is necessary for assisting such students.
Predictive Impact of Resilience on Depressive Symptoms in Adolescents with High Functioning Autism Spectrum Disorders
Authors: Onyishi Charity N. , Sefotho Maximus M.
Published: December 2019

Adolescents with high functioning Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) are highly vulnerable to depressive symptoms (DS) and a range of mental health problems compared to their typically developing peers. It is not known whether resilience can influence DS in adolescents with high functioning ASD. This study sought to find out the link between resilience and DS in a sample of adolescents with high functioning ASD in Nigeria. The study is a quantitative correlation study of in-school adolescents with high functioning ASD. 68 adolescents with high functioning ASD from 20 inclusive education schools participated in the study. Data were collected using self report versions of Child and Youth resilience Measure (CYRM-SR) and Children’s Depression Inventory second edition (CDI-2: SR). Findings showed that total resilience score is a strong negative predictor of DS in adolescents with high functioning ASD (B=-.93; β=-.77; t=-4.20; p=.000). Specifically, individual capacities subscale (B=-2.20; β=-.77;t=-8.39;p=.000), Primary caregivers resources subscale (B=-1.98; β=-.69; t=-7.49; p=.000); and Contextual factors subscale (B=-2.02; β=-.62; t=-8.38; p=.000) predicted overall depressive symptoms (Total DS score) negatively and significantly. It was concluded that DS among adolescents with high functioning ASD can be reduced through developing resilience skills among them. Parents, special Educators and all stakeholders should intensify efforts in building resilience in adolescents with high functioning ASD.
Myeloid Sarcoma of the Orbit Preceding Acute Myeloid Leukaemia: A Diagnostic Challenge
Authors: Nnachi Oluomachi Charity , Nnachi Robert Azu , Ezenwenyi Innocent Paul , Onwe Ogah Emeka , Okoye Augustine Ejike , Eze Chukwuemeka Okorie , Ojo Matilda Adesuwa , Nnadozie Ugochukwu Uzodinma , Ezeanosike Edak , Uzoigwe Joseph Chukwuma
Published: December 2019

Objective: Myeloid sarcoma is a rare form of acute myeloid leukaemia characterized by extramedullary proliferation of myeloid blasts which can occur as an isolated lesion in any organ. Even rarer it may occur in the orbit as the initial presentation without a leukaemic phase and diagnosis may be challenging when it is not suspected.          

Methods: We report a case of orbital myeloid sarcoma as the initial presentation of acute myeloid leukaemia in an adult who was misdiagnosed and treated as a case of a pseudotumour with resultant significant disease progression and worsening of the clinical condition. There was a lag of four months from the onset of eye mass to the development of acute myeloid leukaemia.

Result: Due to patients worsening condition and tumour progression, a repeat biopsy for a second histology opinion at a different facility, immunophenotyping and immunohistochemistry were employed to arrive at the correct diagnosis. Following chemotherapy, the orbital mass reduced markedly and clinical condition improved. The patient was indigent and could not sustain further funding of his treatment because he had already spent much on for management of complications he developed before a definitive diagnosis could be made.

Conclusion: Myeloid sarcoma can present as an orbital mass without a leukemic disease. Therefore a high index of suspicion, meticulous examination of biopsy, immunohistochemistry and collaboration between oncologists and ophthalmologists, are required to arrive at an early accurate diagnosis.
Brazil: Chartering a New Economic Pathway
Authors: Gouvea Raul
Published: December 2019

The presidential elections of 2018 marked an inflection point in Brazil’s quest towards establishing a sustainable economic pathway. The “populist years” of Brazil’s hard left, has resulted in economic stagnations, losses of economic competitiveness, massive corruption, and high levels of unemployment. In 2019, Brazil’s new administration is introducing a private sector-led economic growth strategy, instead of the state-led growth strategy of previous decades. This paper will elaborate on the new economic paradigm being set in place and its likely impact on Brazil’s economy and business environment. 