bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Biometric differences in Ucides cordatus (LINNAEUS, 1763) (Crustacea; Brachyura; Ocypodidae) as an indicative of environmental stress
Authors: Rocha Carmen Hellen da Silva , Santos Ricardo Luvizotto , Lima Thamires Barroso , Jorge Marianna Basso , Silva Iranaldo Santos da
Published: March 2020

Growing urban development, port expansion, and the deployment of industries along the northeast coast of Brazil are some of the major threats to crustacean fauna that depend directly on the mangrove ecosystem to survive. In response to these environmental changes, the swamp ghost crab (Ucides cordatus) presents biological dysfunctions in body size to invest in mechanisms that regulate homeostasis. The present study aimed to evaluate the size and condition factor of crabs from two distinct mangrove areas, being an impacted area and a reference area. Male crabs were collected through the braking technique, weighed with an analytical balance and the width and length of the carapace were measured with a digital caliper. We used a t test to observe differences between two areas and different periods, and the power function (y = axb) for the ratio between the weight and width of the carapace of each individual was used in order to observe the type of growth. There were significant differences between the weight and length of the individuals between the two sample areas and the growth classified as negative allometric.
Sustentabilidade da pecuária leiteira do semiárido brasileiro com base em vulnerabilidade e resiliência socioecológica
Authors: Aguiar Sara Camelo , Lima Vera Lucia Antunes de , Silva Patrícia Ferreira da , Dantas Neto José , Farias Maria Sallydelândia Sobral de
Published: March 2020

A pecuária leiteira possui estreita relação com os fatores que conduzem a vulnerabilidade e a resiliência dessa atividade, fatores estes que determinam a sustentabilidade desse sistema socioecológico. Assim, objetivou-se com o presente estudo avaliar a sustentabilidade da pecuária leiteira no semiárido brasileiro com base em vulnerabilidade e resiliência socioecológica. O levantamento de dados foi realizado em 2018 através de questionários para uma amostra de 204 estabelecimentos agropecuários, dividida igualmente entre os municípios paraibanos de Barra de Santana, Boqueirão e Caturité. Considerou-se as variáveis: média do efetivo bovino; o tipo de sistema de produção se intensivo, semi-intensivo ou extensivo; raças mais utilizadas;  produção leiteira;  forma de comercialização do leite e de aquisição de ração; número de produtores que recebem assistência técnica; área de palma cultivada; área sob ataque e resistentes à Cochonilha-do-carmim. Os dados obtidos foram submetidos a uma análise estatística. A vulnerabilidade da pecuária leiteira nos municípios estudados se deve principalmente à falta de assistência técnica aos produtores e a deficiência na utilização de técnicas de manejo visando o controle da Cochonilha-do-carmim, Dactylopius sp e uso de raças com aptidão leiteira. O município de Caturité foi considerado mais resiliente em função da presença de tecnologias de manejo adotadas que resultam no aumento da produtividade e renda dos produtores refletindo na sustentabilidade da atividade. Já Barra de Santana está mais vulnerável devido à baixa produtividade leiteira e à forte presença de intermediários no escoamento da produção comprometendo a sustentabilidade da atividade no município.
Citogenotoxicidade de águas fluviais urbanas em Presidente Prudente (SP), Brasil, através do teste Allium cepa
Authors: Malaman Ana Carolina Preto , Fluminhan Junior Antonio , Silva Wellynton de Lima , Santos Iago Fernandes , Silva Paulo Antonio da
Published: March 2020

Vários problemas de saúde podem surgir em decorrência da interação das pessoas com o meio ambiente poluído. Muitos dos contaminantes lançados no meio podem ter propriedades tóxicas e mutagênicas. A detecção desses agentes pode ser realizada através de bioensaios com plantas superiores, como a cebola comum (Allium cepa L.), que é amplamente utilizada devido ao seu baixo custo e sua alta sensibilidade. O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar a qualidade da água do córrego do Limoeiro em Presidente Prudente (SP), Brasil, através da análise do potencial citotóxico e mutagênico, por meio do sistema teste Allium cepa em cinco pontos diferentes do córrego e em dois períodos do ano (chuvoso e seco). Através do cálculo e comparação do índice mitótico e anomalias cromossômicas com um controle negativo, observou-se que todos os pontos avaliados apresentaram algum nível de contaminação. Esses dados foram analisados em conjunto com os resultados da análises físico-químicas e biológicas, que também foram realizadas nos mesmo locais. A nascente foi o único local que não apresentou citotoxicidade ou genotoxicidade, mas alguns valores químicos foram relevantes. O Balneário da Amizade (uma área recreativa localizada dentro da área urbana) e o local de lançamento de Estação de Tratamento de Esgoto (ETE) do Limoeiro foram os pontos que foram mais impactados pela poluição, pois apresentaram valores significativos em vários parâmetros analisados e em ambos períodos do ano. Os demais pontos de coleta de amostras apresentaram valores significativos, porém, em menor número de parâmetros ou menor frequência. Outros fatores devem ser avaliados para que tenhamos melhor compreensão dos agentes causadores dessas alterações, sendo que a obtenção de mais dados sobre as fontes poluidoras possibilitará a identificação de outros compostos que possam ter influenciado os resultados obtidos.
Design parameters of the rotor of a tilling and separating machine
Authors: Syromyatnikov Yuriy Nikolaevich
Published: March 2020

The subject of the research is the operation process of the rotor of a tilling and separating machine which changes the structure and solidity of the cultivated soil layer according to the agricultural requirements. The author considers the design of the blade of the rotor of a tilling and separating machine. The research object is the blade of the rotor whose form allows it to rotate with a minimum expenditure of energy. The topicality of the research is determined by the fact that the theoretically justified design of the blade of the rotor of a tilling and separating machine will help improve the methods of secondary tillage aimed at the improvement of its agrotechnical characteristics with a minimum expenditure of energy. To define the value of a relative speed of a soil element movement along the blade, the author derives an equation using the method described in P.M. Vasilenko’s theory of soil particles movement along rough surfaces, but the author considers soil particles movement along the blade. The article is based on theoretical research using mechanical and mathematical modeling of working tools interaction with soil. The initial data was collected via the analysis of literary sources. The author substantiates the design of the blade of the rotor of a tilling and separating machine which guarantees its rotation with a minimum expenditure of energy owing to the lesser dispersion of soil particles and the prevention of their building-up on the separating grill. The research results can be used by constructors and specialists developing tillage tools.
On the procedure for calculating the time periods of non-exploitation of agricultural lands at their withdrawal from users
Authors: Zemlyakova Galina Leonidovna
Published: March 2020

The subject of the research is the legal norms regulating the procedure for calculating the terms of non-use of agricultural lands, which allow state authorities to apply the procedure for their withdrawal from unscrupulous owners. In this regard, the author performs a retrospective analysis of the law regulating the turnover of agricultural land, taking into account all the changes and amendments, and identifies the shortcomings in the legal regulation of this sphere which prevent the involvement of land plots in agricultural turnover.The study is based on such general scientific methods as analysis, synthesis, generalization, comparison, as well as the following special scientific methods: historical-legal, formal-legal.The author concludes that repeatedly introduced amendments to article 6 of the Federal law of July 24, 2002 No. 101-FZ "on the turnover of agricultural land" have specified the rules governing the procedure for the withdrawal of unused land plots from owners. However, it has not solved the problem of non-use of land suitable for agricultural production.
Problems of teaching the discipline “Agricultural Law” in institutions of higher education
Authors: Kasprova Yuliya Aleksandrovna
Published: March 2020

The subject of the research is the peculiarities of teaching the discipline “Agricultural Law” in institutions of higher education oriented towards the training of bachelors in the field of agriculture and agro-industrial complex. The author analyzes the Federal Educational Standard in Jurisprudence (bachelor degree course), educational standards of institutions of higher education authorized to develop them, and the curricula of some institutions of higher education for the presence of the discipline “Agricultural Law”. The author also gives attention to the up-to-date scientific literature in this discipline.   The research is based on the methods of analysis, observation, description, the formal-legal method and sociological method. The author arrives at the following conclusions: 1) in specialized agricultural universities, even if they have the faculty of law, the discipline “Agricultural law” is often not taught in bachelor degree courses. The author suggests introducing the compulsory discipline “Agricultural Law” in field-oriented educational institutions (primarily those under the Ministry of Agriculture). 2) the author notes students’ low motivation for studying this discipline. 3) there’s a lack of up-to-date agricultural law textbooks.   
Agricultural cooperation: problems of legal regulation
Authors: Voronina Natal'ya Pavlovna
Published: March 2020

In modern conditions of import substitution and increased export of agricultural products, it is important to ensure proper legal support for agricultural cooperation as a mechanism that allows combining economic opportunities and sharing risks of agricultural entities. Foreign experience shows that agricultural cooperation is a complex socio-economic mechanism that solves not only economic but also social problems. Legislative regulation of agricultural cooperation has many legal approaches. But in most countries, legal regulation is of a special nature. This makes it possible to reflect the legal features of agricultural cooperatives and form a mechanism for state support. In modern conditions of the proposed unification of legislation on cooperatives, the conclusion that there are objective prerequisites for the preservation of the Federal law "On agricultural cooperation" is justified.   In this article, through the prism of the analysis of Russian pre-revolutionary and Soviet legislation, as well as Russian and foreign doctrines of agricultural cooperation, the author reveals the problems of legal regulation of agricultural cooperation and formulates suggestions about the improvement of legal regulation of agricultural cooperation.   This led to the conclusion that it is possible to reflect the features of the legal status of agricultural cooperatives as subjects of agricultural activity only through differentiated legal regulation of agricultural cooperation. However, shortcomings of legal regulation require a new version of Federal law "Оn agricultural cooperation".
Letters, Power Lines, and Other Dangerous Things
Authors: Ellis Ryan
Published: March 2020

An examination of how post-9/11 security concerns have transformed the public view and governance of infrastructure.

After September 11, 2001, infrastructures—the mundane systems that undergird much of modern life—were suddenly considered “soft targets” that required immediate security enhancements. Infrastructure protection quickly became the multibillion dollar core of a new and expansive homeland security mission. In this book, Ryan Ellis examines how the long shadow of post-9/11 security concerns have remade and reordered infrastructure, arguing that it has been a stunning transformation. Ellis describes the way workers, civic groups, city councils, bureaucrats, and others used the threat of terrorism as a political resource, taking the opportunity not only to address security vulnerabilities but also to reassert a degree of public control over infrastructure.

Nearly two decades after September 11, the threat of terrorism remains etched into the inner workings of infrastructures through new laws, regulations, technologies, and practices. Ellis maps these changes through an examination of three U.S. infrastructures: the postal system, the freight rail network, and the electric power grid. He describes, for example, how debates about protecting the mail from anthrax and other biological hazards spiraled into larger arguments over worker rights, the power of large-volume mailers, and the fortunes of old media in a new media world; how environmental activists leveraged post-9/11 security fears over shipments of hazardous materials to take on the rail industry and the chemical lobby; and how otherwise marginal federal regulators parlayed new mandatory cybersecurity standards for the electric power industry into a robust system of accountability.

The open access edition of this book was made possible by generous funding from Arcadia – a charitable fund of Lisbet Rausing and Peter Baldwin.
The Future of Brain Repair
Authors: Price Jack
Published: March 2020

A scientist assesses the potential of stem cell therapies for treating such brain disorders as stroke, Alzheimer's disease, and Parkinson's disease.

Stem cell therapies are the subject of enormous hype, endowed by the media with almost magical qualities and imagined by the public to bring about miracle cures. Stem cells have the potential to generate new cells of different types, and have been shown to do so in certain cases. Could stem cell transplants repair the damaged brain? In this book, neurobiologist Jack Price assesses the potential of stem cell therapies to treat such brain disorders as stroke, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and spinal cord injuries.

Certainly brain disorders are in need of effective treatments. These disorders don't just kill, they disable, and conventional drug therapies have not had much success in treating them. Price explains that repairing the human brain is difficult, largely because of its structural, functional, and developmental complexity. He examines the self-repairing capacity of blood and gut cells—and the lack of such capacity in the brain; describes the limitations of early brain stem cell therapies for neurodegenerative disorders; and discusses current clinical trials that may lead to the first licensed stem cell therapies for stroke, Parkinson's and macular degeneration. And he describes the real promise of pluripotential stem cells, which can make all the cell types that constitute the body.

New technologies, Price reports, challenge the very notion of cell transplantation, instead seeking to convince the brain itself to manufacture the new cells it needs. Could this be the true future of brain repair?
Beyond Bakelite
Authors: Mercelis Joris
Published: March 2020

The changing relationships between science and industry in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, illustrated by the career of the “father of plastics.”

The Belgian-born American chemist, inventor, and entrepreneur Leo Baekeland (1863–1944) is best known for his invention of the first synthetic plastic—his near-namesake Bakelite—which had applications ranging from electrical insulators to Art Deco jewelry. Toward the end of his career, Baekeland was called the “father of plastics”—given credit for the establishment of a sector to which many other researchers, inventors, and firms inside and outside the United States had also made significant contributions. In Beyond Bakelite, Joris Mercelis examines Baekeland's career, using it as a lens through which to view the changing relationships between science and industry on both sides of the Atlantic in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. He gives special attention to the intellectual property strategies and scientific entrepreneurship of the period, making clear their relevance to contemporary concerns.

Mercelis describes the growth of what he terms the “science-industry nexus” and the developing interdependence of science and industry. After examining Baekeland's emergence as a pragmatic innovator and leader in scientific circles, Mercelis analyzes Baekeland's international and domestic IP strategies and his efforts to reform the US patent system; his dual roles as scientist and industrialist; the importance of theoretical knowledge to the science-industry nexus; and the American Bakelite companies' research and development practices, technically oriented sales approach, and remuneration schemes. Mercelis argues that the expansion and transformation of the science-industry nexus shaped the careers and legacies of Baekeland and many of his contemporaries.
Macroeconomics
Authors: Larraín B. Felipe
Published: March 2020

An accessible introduction to the basics of macroeconomics and how it affects the local and global economies.

Macroeconomics takes a broad perspective on the economy of a country or region; it studies economic changes in the aggregate, collecting data on production, unemployment, inflation, consumption, investment, trade, and other aspects of national and international economic life. Policymakers depend on macroeconomists' knowledge when making decisions about such issues as taxes and the public budget, monetary and exchange rate policies, and trade policies—all of which, in turn, affect decisions made by individuals and businesses. This volume in the MIT Press Essential Knowledge series offers an introduction to the basics of macroeconomics accessible to the noneconomist. Readers will gain the tools to interpret such economic events as the 2008 financial meltdown, the subsequent euro crisis, and the current protectionist dynamics seen in some developed countries.

The author, an academic economist and two-time Chilean Finance Minister, devotes a substantial part of his analysis to economic development, explaining why some countries achieve continuing economic growth while others become stagnant. He discusses the links between economic activity and employment; employment and unemployment rates; factors behind economic growth; money, inflation, and exchange rate systems; fiscal deficits; balance of payment crises; consumption and savings; investment decisions; fiscal policy; and the process of globalization and its macroeconomic implications.
Data Feminism
Authors: D'Ignazio Catherine , Klein Lauren F.
Published: March 2020

A new way of thinking about data science and data ethics that is informed by the ideas of intersectional feminism.

Today, data science is a form of power. It has been used to expose injustice, improve health outcomes, and topple governments. But it has also been used to discriminate, police, and surveil. This potential for good, on the one hand, and harm, on the other, makes it essential to ask: Data science by whom? Data science for whom? Data science with whose interests in mind? The narratives around big data and data science are overwhelmingly white, male, and techno-heroic. In Data Feminism, Catherine D'Ignazio and Lauren Klein present a new way of thinking about data science and data ethics—one that is informed by intersectional feminist thought.

Illustrating data feminism in action, D'Ignazio and Klein show how challenges to the male/female binary can help challenge other hierarchical (and empirically wrong) classification systems. They explain how, for example, an understanding of emotion can expand our ideas about effective data visualization, and how the concept of invisible labor can expose the significant human efforts required by our automated systems. And they show why the data never, ever “speak for themselves.”

Data Feminism offers strategies for data scientists seeking to learn how feminism can help them work toward justice, and for feminists who want to focus their efforts on the growing field of data science. But Data Feminism is about much more than gender. It is about power, about who has it and who doesn't, and about how those differentials of power can be challenged and changed.

The open access edition of this book was made possible by generous funding from the MIT Libraries.
Playful Visions
Authors: Bak Meredith A.
Published: March 2020

The kaleidoscope, the stereoscope, and other nineteenth-century optical toys analyzed as “new media” of their era, provoking anxieties similar to our own about children and screens.

In the nineteenth century, the kaleidoscope, the thaumatrope, the zoetrope, the stereoscope, and other optical toys were standard accessories of a middle-class childhood, used both at home and at school. In Playful Visions, Meredith Bak argues that the optical toys of the nineteenth century were the “new media” of their era, teaching children to be discerning consumers of media—and also provoking anxieties similar to contemporary worries about children's screen time. Bak shows that optical toys—which produced visual effects ranging from a moving image to the illusion of depth—established and reinforced a new understanding of vision as an interpretive process. At the same time, the expansion of the middle class as well as education and labor reforms contributed to a new notion of childhood as a time of innocence and play. Modern media culture and the emergence of modern Western childhood are thus deeply interconnected.

Drawing on extensive archival research, Bak discusses, among other things, the circulation of optical toys, and the wide visibility gained by their appearance as printed templates and textual descriptions in periodicals; expanding conceptions of literacy, which came to include visual acuity; and how optical play allowed children to exercise a sense of visual mastery. She examines optical toys alongside related visual technologies including chromolithography—which inspired both chromatic delight and chromophobia. Finally, considering the contemporary use of optical toys in advertising, education, and art, Bak analyzes the endurance of nineteenth-century visual paradigms.
Greening through Trade
Authors: Jinnah Sikina , Morin Jean-Frédéric
Published: March 2020

How the environmental provisions in US preferential trade agreements affect both the environmental policies of trading partners and the effectiveness of multilateral environmental agreements.

As trade negotiations within the World Trade Organization seem permanently stalled, countries turn increasingly to preferential trade agreements (PTAs) between smaller groups of nations. Many of these PTAs incorporate environmental provisions, some of which require trading partners to enact new domestic environmental laws, and use the enforcement mechanisms available within trade agreements as tools for environmental protection. In Greening through Trade, Sikina Jinnah and Jean-Frédéric Morin provide the first detailed examination of how the environmental provisions in US preferential trade agreements affect both the environmental policies of trading partners and the effectiveness of multilateral environmental agreements. They do so through a combination of in-depth qualitative case studies and quantitative analysis of an original dataset of 688 global PTAs.

Jinnah and Morin explore the effects of linkages between PTAs and environmental treaties and the diffusion of environmental norms and policy through PTAs. Centrally, they argue that US trade agreements can serve as mechanisms both to export environmental policies to trading partner nations and third-party countries and to enhance the effectiveness of multilateral environmental agreements by strengthening their enforcement capacity. They caution that PTAs are not a panacea for environmental governance; deeper problems of unsustainable consumption and differential power dynamics between trading partners must be carefully navigated in deploying trade agreements for environmental protection.
Leading in the Digital World
Authors: Mukherjee Amit S.
Published: March 2020

The definitive book on leadership in the digital era: why digital technologies call for leadership that emphasizes creativity, collaboration, and inclusivity.

Certain ideas about business leadership are held to be timeless, and certain characteristics of leaders—often including a square jaw, a deep voice, and extroversion—are said to be universal. In Leading in the Digital World, Amit Mukherjee argues that since digital technologies are changing everything else, how could they not change leadership ideologies and styles? As more people worldwide participate equally in business, those assumptions of a leader's ideal profile have become irrelevant. Offering a radical rethinking of leadership, Mukherjee shows why digital technologies call for a new kind of leader—one who emphasizes creativity, collaboration, and inclusivity.

Drawing on a global survey of 700 mid-tier to senior executives and interviews with C-level executives from around the world, Mukherjee explains how digital technologies are already reshaping organizations and work and what this means for leaders. For example, globally dispersed businesses can't reserve key leadership roles for people from exclusive groups; leadership must become inclusive, or fail. Leaders must learn to collaborate in a multipolar world of networked organizations, working with co-located and non-co-located colleagues. Leaders must lead for creativity rather than productivity. Focusing on practice, Mukherjee outlines goals and strategies, warns against unthinking assumptions, and explains how leaders can identify the mindsets, behaviors, and actions they need to pursue. With Leading in the Digital World, Mukherjee offers the definitive book on leadership for the digital era.
Our Moral Fate
Authors: Buchanan Allen
Published: March 2020

A provocative and probing argument showing how human beings can for the first time in history take charge of their moral fate.

Is tribalism—the political and cultural divisions between Us and Them—an inherent part of our basic moral psychology? Many scientists link tribalism and morality, arguing that the evolved “moral mind” is tribalistic. Any escape from tribalism, according to this thinking, would be partial and fragile, because it goes against the grain of our nature. In this book, Allen Buchanan offers a counterargument: the moral mind is highly flexible, capable of both tribalism and deeply inclusive moralities, depending on the social environment in which the moral mind operates.

We can't be morally tribalistic by nature, Buchanan explains, because quite recently there has been a remarkable shift away from tribalism and toward inclusiveness, as growing numbers of people acknowledge that all human beings have equal moral status, and that at least some nonhumans also have moral standing. These are what Buchanan terms the Two Great Expansions of moral regard. And yet, he argues, moral progress is not inevitable but depends partly on whether we have the good fortune to develop as moral agents in a society that provides the right conditions for realizing our moral potential. But morality need not depend on luck. We can take charge of our moral fate by deliberately shaping our social environment—by engaging in scientifically informed “moral institutional design.” For the first time in human history, human beings can determine what sort of morality is predominant in their societies and what kinds of moral agents they are.
Predictors of Intershift Fatigue Recovery Among Doctors
Authors: Mohd Fauzi Mohd Fadhli , Mohd Yusoff Hanizah , Abdul Manaf Mohd Rizal , Mat Saruan Nur Adibah , Muhamad Robat Rosnawati
Published: March 2020

Introduction: Doctors are exposed to various psychosocial hazards such as high task demands and demanding work schedule which may influence fatigue, recovery, stress, job satisfaction, wellbeing, and work-family interface. This research generally aims to examine the interrelationship between work-home domain variables with outcomes of fatigue, its recovery, and others related outcomes such as work-to-family conflict, general wellbeing, and perceived stress level among doctors working at public hospital at general and day-level on-call duty.

Methods: This is a multicenter analytical mix cross sectional (general) and longitudinal (day-level) research among proposed 390 randomly-sampled on-call doctors working at seven core clinical disciplines from seven public tertiary hospitals in Malaysia. Data will be collected three times: (a) any days after obtaining informed consent (cross sectional), (b) at the end of on-call duty (first wave longitudinal), and (c) at the beginning of subsequent work period (second wave longitudinal). Data will be modelled by covariance-based structural equation modelling (SEM).

Conclusion: This research is well justifiable in view of limited available research on complex interrelationship of work domain, home domain and work-home boundary control with fatigue, recovery and other psychological health consequences (e.g. stress, wellbeing, work-home conflict) among doctors, particularly in Asia and developed countries, including Malaysia. This research is expected to provide strong evidence to policy makers in developing prevention and management policy related to fatigue, recovery and other psychological health consequences among doctors.

Keywords: doctor, fatigue, recovery, on-call, intershift, wellbeing, stress,
Crying for my Father’s Home: Poetics of Loss of the Father’s Land and Mourning in John Edgar Wideman’s The Cattle Killing
Authors: Fortuné Azon Sènakpon Adelphe
Published: March 2020

In a disjointed narrative drunkenness that straddles oneiric language, apocalyptic vaticinations, and alcoholic delirium, the narrative of the young itinerant preacher in John Edgar Wideman’s Cattle Killing unfurls. The narrative purports to be clear in launching the young lover into an asymptotic search for his soul mate who is nothing but a spirit akin to ogbanji, successively incarnated in deified women who experience an elusive existence and a tragic death. However, it fails to dispel, in readers, a deep doubt as to the intrinsic symbolism of this soul mate, and, finally, dissuades them that it is an ordinary love story. The Cattle Killing quilts the story of the deadly prophecy of Nongqawuse, decisive in the colonial conquest of the Xhosas in Southern Africa, into that of the epidemic yellow fever in Philadephia, and plunges the protagonist into a melancholic quest on which African people’s awakening is premised. Voudoun esthetics, Lacan’s theory of desire, and Genettian narratology constitute the major paradigm on which the textual analysis of this paper proceeds. Its aim is to highlight the narrative devices by which the poetics of affliction, melancholy and regret is activated in the work, with the aim of echoing its call for the improvement of the black people’s condition in the United States and all over the world.
Women and Men in Writing Science Fiction Short Stories
Authors: Alkhalaf Shatha
Published: March 2020

No one can deny the role that short stories have played in the life of humans since time immemorial. They do not only keep family members close, but also strengthen the bond of those who share the same interest and happen to exchange them with each other. The current study discusses the significance of short stories in general and investigates the impact of writer’s gender on the writing of science fiction short stories. To do so, eight short stories were analysed.
New Perspectives in the Israel-Palestine Conflict: Righting the Wrong through metaphor in Mornings in Jenin
Authors: Abkar Alkodimi Khaled
Published: March 2020

Majority of world opinion today is critical of Israel’s role in the current standoff with Palestine fueled by the illegitimate occupation of the West Bank, depriving millions of Palestinians of their homeland. Yet, almost all non-Islamic countries maintain diplomatic relations with Israel, recognizing it as a country. The plight of the Palestinians, especially the children uprooted from their homes and forced to lead lives of depravation as refugees as a result of Israeli occupation has become a subject for insightful writings by many writers and critics, including Abulhawa who in Mornings in Jenin, skillfully employs language to showcase not the political tragedy (though it operates as the background) but the personal one. This paper textually analyzes Abulhawa’s Mornings in Jenin to explore the author’s use of the literary metaphor to expose not only the reality in Palestine, but more importantly, the horror of Israeli violence against Palestinians, trauma both physical and psychological. The study further highlights how the author raises a significant question: Who is the real terrorist in Palestine? The findings show that the novel utilizes several literary techniques to bring forth Israeli terrorism and Palestinian agony under Israeli occupation. Via language use, Abulhawa concludes that it’s the Israeli occupation, brutality and aggression that leads to Palestinian resistance/terrorism. Mornings in Jenin, in other words, is an attempt by Susan Abulhawa to justify the means of resistance concluding that Israel is the actual terrorist and not the Palestinians who have a ‘just cause’ to resist Zionist colonization. What is remarkable is her ingenuous use of literary devices to achieve the desired effect on the readers.
Translating Humorous Expressions into Arabic with Reference to Loss, Gain, and Compensation
Authors: Ali Mohammed Siddig Ahmed
Published: March 2020

This study is concerned with translating humorous expressions from English into the Arabic Language with reference to Loss, Gain, and Compensation. The idea of the research developed from an observation by the researcher that when the target audience watches a drama of funny episodes, it is hard to interact, laugh or even smile, although the drama may be accompanied by subtitles in Arabic language. The study aims to illustrate the causes of untanslatability and loss, gain, and compensation in humor translation. To achieve the aims of the study, the researcher selected a sample of 10 humorous quotes and jokes from different hilarious resources, including episodes, movies, and sitcoms and other plays. The study was conducted qualitatively and descriptively by meticulously analyzing the translated quotes to probe the causes of loss in humor translation. The study results showed that humorous expressions encounter loss, gain and compensation which require a deep understanding of context and require a sense of humor from the audience and translators besides SL culture involvement. Moreover, the overall findings showed that many humorous expressions have no counterparts in Arabic Language, therefore, loss and gain and compensations are inevitable. Based on the findings, the study concluded that humorous expressions are more frequent and with multi-version and lack the equivalence in Arabic language. It also concluded that the types of humor are an essential element in reducing the sharp difference between the SL quote and its equivalent in the TL and the loss of humor in many cases is inevitable. Finally, the study explicated the main causes and the necessary strategies of loss, gain and compensation to transfer humor into Arabic Language.
Patterns of English Consonant Clusters in E. M. Forster’s ‘‘The Road From Colonus’’
Authors: Nayif Hasan Abd Ali
Published: March 2020

A consonant cluster (henceforth CC) is a combination of two or more consonants without a vowel between them. There can be initial, medial and final CCs. Additionally, there are initial CCs with medial or final ones, and medial CCs with final ones. To the best knowledge of the researcher, patterns of English consonant clusters in Forster’s ‘The Road from Colonus’’ has not been handled previously.The present study aims at analyzing CCs in such a short story and finding out patterns of such clusters. Those consonant sequences are statistically investigated in order to show their most prominent patterns and their frequency. Accordingly, it can be hypothesised that medial patterns of CCs are more prominent and commonly used than initial and final ones whereas the frequency of final patterns of CCs is higher than that of initial and medial ones. The results of analyzing CCs in the short story under investigation indicate that there are (31) patterns of two and three – initial CCs whose frequency is (335), (79) patterns of two, three and four – final CCs which are repeated (552) times and (122) patterns of two and three– medial CCs whose frequency is (355). Such results lead to the conclusions that medial patterns of CCs are more than initial and final ones but the frequency of the patterns of final CCs exceeds that of initial and medial ones.
Bernard Malamud Revisited: Portrait of the Post-Holocaust Jewish Hero in the Fixer
Authors: Mahboobi Sajjad
Published: March 2020

The primary focus of this article is concept of Jewish heroism in Bernard Malamud’s most celebrated novel, The Fixer (1966). In light of a truth-oriented historicist approach, my underlying argument is that Malamud’s protagonists are Jewish heroes who befit the post-Holocaust era. They are not schlemiels, unlike what many critics believe, and have three main missions: first, to remind the world of the suffering the Jews have endured throughout history, especially during the alleged Holocaust; second, to revive the qualities of Jewishness and Jewish tradition that no longer existed among the younger Jewish generation of the postwar America; and third, to help the Jews free themselves from their victim mentality, intensified after the Holocaust, through heroic acts of resistance and acceptance of responsibility toward their people. These protagonists neither share America’s postwar upheavals, nor resemble the least to the affluent Wall Street Jew financers. They are typical post-Holocaust Jewish heroes.
A Survey of Issues, Practices and Views Related to Corpus-based Word Lists for English Language Teaching and Learning
Authors: Thompson Paul , Nasser Alzeer Sarah
Published: March 2020

Word lists have been recognized as a valuable pedagogical resource that can be used by language teachers and learners, materials developers and syllabus designers to identify vocabulary that needs attention. The increase in the accessibility of electronic corpora and the recent advances in corpus software tools has led to a proliferation of various types of corpus-based word lists informed by frequency counts, in some cases combined with other measures. However, there is a lack of research into how word lists are used in real pedagogical contexts. This exploratory study explores current practices and views related to the exploitation, construction, and evaluation of corpus-based word lists for English language teaching and learning purposes. The survey results indicate that word lists are used for a variety of purposes and in different settings, and that the context and goals for use of the word list should determine the nature of the list. Furthermore, while word lists are thought to be useful, several factors need to be considered to ensure successful implementation of lists into pedagogical contexts. Finally, the survey captured misuses and misconceptions of word lists that practitioners need to be aware of.
Increasing Investment and Autonomy in Second-language Learners – an Empirical Study Looking for the L2 Self
Authors: Bacquet Gaston
Published: March 2020

Inspired by years of research into the areas of motivation and learner autonomy, this empirical study aimed at investigating ways of developing both of these dimensions in a Myanmar classroom; most current research output show results of what has been done mostly in Western context or in countries with strong ties to Western culture, such as China, South Korea or Japan.  To the best of my knowledge, none of the literature or studies related to Myanmar, a country that presents a very unique set of circumstances for English-language teachers: not only had English been banned in all of its forms for nearly 40 years after the military government came to power (closing down libraries, English-language publications and eradicating the English curriculum from schools), but the country follows a Confucian system of education, which places greater value in memorization than understanding and in strict obedience rather than the development of critical thought (Purdie et al 1996; Han and Yang, 2001). Because of the Confucian belief in the importance of unequal relations in education (Guo ,2016) students are not only discouraged from asking questions but according to their own testimony, even physically punished. With these considerations in mind, the purpose of this study was to investigate the degree to which both autonomy and intrinsic motivation could be developed in Burmese, thus breaking away from the educational model they have followed so far, and to ascertain whether or not such dimensions had an impact in their learning outcomes. Nineteen Intermediate-level Burmese students, enrolled in the General English program at the British Council Myanmar, worked for six weeks twice a week carrying out tasks designed to boost their intrinsic motivation and develop a greater sense of autonomy, to assess if these dimensions had an impact in the students’ learning outcomes and to determine the degree and type of pedagogical interventions needed to facilitate that. Students answered three questionnaires, wrote three journal entries reflecting on their experience as learners and as subjects in the project, and engaged in a variety of tasks which will be described. Additionally, three students were interviewed in person to delve deeper into the issues described above. The first questionnaire was designed to help learners reflect on their own role as learners, The second one was based on Dörnyei’s Ten Commandments for Motivating Language. The final questionnaire was a reflection on the entirety of the course and changes students had experienced throughout. It asked questions concerning motivation, autonomy and identity and it serves as the final data–collection instrument by which to ascertain if any changes occurred in their behaviour, attitude or thinking patterns.
Conversational Implicature, Humour Theory and the Emergence of Humour: A Pragmatic Analysis of Udurawana’s Stories in Sri Lanka
Authors: Priyantha Gamage Upul , Sadi Makangila Patrick
Published: March 2020

‘Humour’ in the stories has been investigated in many ways while the prominence of the studies has been captured by the pragmatic analyses. The emergence of humour through language is an interesting conversational implicature that has attracted the academic interest in the recent past. This phenomenon is closely looked at using randomly selected ten stories of Udurawana in this article by applying the Grice’s theory of Conversational Implicature (CI) and the Conventional Theory of Humour in order to examine the ways of generating humour in the context of Grice’s theory by revealing the types of maxims flouted in the selected sample. The study concludes that the maxim mostly flouted in these joke stories is quality and sometimes two or three maxims flouted in a single-story on the surface level but at the deep level quality is the only maxim flouted in all stories under consideration while no evidence found to prove any violation of maxims. The previous conclusions made by the researchers in terms of maxim flouting and violation in the jokes are also not so certain in comparing with the findings of the present study. The study has found out that the humour aspect of almost all the stories under consideration is incongruity while all the stories have associated the particularized conversational implicature to produce the humour aspects. The study has further established that the Udurawana’s humour stories as intended humour stories in which the humour emerges by flouting maxims but not by violating maxims as previous researchers have concluded.
A Corpus-based Study on the use of Phrasal Verbs in Malaysian Secondary School Textbooks
Authors: Azmin Md Zamin Ainul , Elfeky Mahmoud , Kamarudin Rafidah , Majid Faizah Abd
Published: March 2020

Phrasal verbs (PVs) are one of the most notoriously puzzling aspects of English language instruction. Despite their difficulty and idiosyncrasies, they are of high relevance for ESL/EFL learners because mastery of PVs is often equated with language proficiency. Different from prior researches, this content analysis study seeks to identify the PVs used in the Malaysian upper secondary school textbooks and the frequency count of each PV in each textbook using a corpus linguistic approach. The most frequently PVs in each textbook were compared to the list provided by Biber et al (1999)’s Longman Grammar of Spoken and Written English corpus. Findings from this study revealed that the selection and presentation of these combinations in the secondary school textbooks used in Malaysia depended more on authors’ intuition rather than on empirical findings and pedagogical principles. There were no clear explanations of Phrasal Verbs in both textbooks that were analysed. Despite the large number of PVs in the corpus, their presentation in the textbooks was far from satisfactory with some being over-repeated at the expense of some others. This paper makes a few suggestions to further improve the present treatment of PVs in the textbooks used at upper secondary schools in Malaysia. It is suggested that accurate definitions and appropriate selection and presentation of PVs should be considered. Rather than relying on intuition, Malaysian textbook writers must consider integrating the use of corpus into their selection of PVs to be presented to students.
Language Choice by Bilingual Speech Community of Acehnese in Family Domain in Medan: A Case Study
Authors: Nuzwaty - , Pawiro Muhammad Ali , Andriany Liesna , Risnawaty -
Published: March 2020

This study is a case study that covers the presentation formats for language choice on the speech community of Acehnese based upon family domains in bilingual Indonesian speech behavior. The sources of variance are between Aceh and Indonesian languages in Medan. The parameters that are being used first through language choice between Indonesian, Indonesian/Acehnese, and Acehnese relating to the role relationship between husband to wife; father, mother and their sons and daughters. The second one is related to speech situation such as arguing, advising, chatting, and persuading. The method approach is quantitative descriptive and was employed by the samples of 200 persons. The result shows that the average persentage of the language choice in every single speech situation among the husbands to the wives was 86% and the wives to the husbands was 82% dominantly Acehnese. The average percentage of the language choice among sons and daughters to their parents or vice versa was 76 % constantly mixing language; Acehnese/Indonesian in all of speech situations. The result of this study showed that mostly the husbands and the wives maintain their tribe language well. The result found that most of the children of Acehnese never totally leave their tribe language, even they live in Medan as a big city.
On the Topp Leone Exponentiated-G Family of Distributions: Properties and Applications
Authors: Ibrahim Sule , Doguwa Sani Ibrahim , Audu Isah , Muhammad Jibril Haruna
Published: April 2020

We proposed a new family of distributions called the Topp Leone exponentiated-G family of distributions with two extra positive shape parameters, which generalizes and also extends the Topp Leone-G family of distributions. We derived some mathematical properties of the proposed family including explicit expressions for the quantile function, ordinary and incomplete moments, generating function and reliability. Some sub-models in the new family were discussed. The method of maximum likelihood was used to estimate the parameters of the sub-model. Further, the potentiality of the family was illustrated by fitting two real data sets to the mentioned sub-models.