bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Quantifying the vertical transport of CHBr3 and CH2Br2 over the Western Pacific
Authors: Butler Robyn , Palmer Paul I. , Feng Liang , Andrews Stephen J. , Atlas Elliot L. , Carpenter Lucy J. , Donets Valeria , Harris Neil R. P. , Montzka Stephen A. , Pan Laura L. , Salawitch Ross J. , Schauffler Sue M.
Published: November 2016

Abstract. We use the GEOS-Chem global 3-D atmospheric chemistry transport model to interpret atmospheric observations of bromoform (CHBr3) and dibromomethane (CH2Br2) collected during the CAST and CONTRAST aircraft measurement campaigns over the Western Pacific, January–February, 2014. We use a new linearised, tagged version of CHBr3 and CH2Br2, allowing us to study the influence of emissions from specific geographical regions on observed atmospheric variations. The model describes 32 %–37 % of CHBr3 observed variability and 15 %–45 % of CH2Br2 observed variability during CAST and CONTRAST, reflecting errors in vertical model transport. The model has a mean positive bias of 30 % that is larger near the surface reflecting errors in the poorly constrained prior emission estimates. We find using the model that observed variability of CHBr3 and CH2Br2 is driven by ocean emissions, particularly by the open ocean above which there is deep convection. We find that contributions from coastal oceans and terrestrial sources over the Western Pacific are significant above altitudes > 6 km, but is still dominated by the open ocean emissions and by air masses transported over longer time lines than the campaign period. In the absence of reliable ocean emission estimates, we use a new physical age of air simulation to determine the relative abundance of halogens delivered by CHBr3 and CH2Br2 to the tropical transition layer (TTL). We find that 6 % (47 %) of air masses with halogen released by the ocean reach the TTL within two (three) atmospheric e-folding lifetimes of CHBr3 and almost all of them reach the TTL within one e-folding lifetime of CH2Br2. We find these gases are delivered to the TTL by a small number of rapid convection events during the study period. Over the duration of CAST and CONTRAST and over our study region, oceans delivered a mean (range) CHBr3 and CH2Br2 mole fraction of 0.46 (0.13–0.72) and 0.88 (0.71–1.01) pptv, respectively, to the TTL, and a mean (range) Bry mole fraction of 3.14 (1.81–4.18) pptv to the upper troposphere. Open ocean emissions are responsible for 75 % of these values, with only 8 % from coastal oceans.
Remote sensing of PM2.5 during cloudy and nighttime periods using
ceilometer backscatter
Authors: Li Siwei , Joseph Everette , Min Qilong , Yin Bangsheng , Sakai Ricardo , Payne Megan K.
Published: November 2016

Abstract. Monitoring PM2.5 (particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter d ≤ 2.5 μm) mass concentration is of more importance recently because of the negative impacts of fine particles on human health. However, monitoring PM2.5 during cloudy and nighttime periods is difficult since nearly all the passive instruments used for aerosol remote sensing are not able to measure aerosol optical depth (AOD) under either cloudy or nighttime conditions. In this study, an empirical model based on the regression between PM2.5 and the near surface backscatter measured by ceilometers was developed and tested using six years of data (2006 to 2011) from the Howard University Beltsville Campus (HUBC) site. The empirical model can explain ~ 56 %, ~ 34 %, and ~ 42 % of the variability in the hourly average PM2.5 during daytime clear, daytime cloudy and nighttime periods respectively. Meteorological conditions and seasons were found to influence the relationship between PM2.5 mass concentration and the surface backscatter. Overall the model can explain ~ 48 % of the variability in the hourly average PM2.5 at the HUBC site when considering the seasonal variation. The model also was tested on the four years of data (2012 to 2015) from the ARM SGP site which was geographically and climatologically different from the HUBC site. The results show that the empirical model can explain 67 % and 83 % of the variability in the daily average PM2.5 at the ARM SGP site and HUBC site respectively. The findings of this study illustrate the strong need for ceilometer data in air quality monitoring under cloudy and nighttime conditions. Since ceilometers are used broadly over the world, they may provide an important supplemental source of information of aerosols to determine surface PM2.5 concentrations.
Performance of post-processing algorithms for rainfall intensity using measurements from tipping-bucket rain gauges
Authors: Stagnaro Mattia , Colli Matteo , Lanza Luca Giovanni , Chan Pak Wai
Published: November 2016

Abstract. Eight rainfall events recorded from May to September 2013 at Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) have been selected to investigate the performance of post-processing algorithms used to calculate the rainfall intensity (RI) from tipping-bucket rain gauges (TBRGs). We assumed a drop-counter catching-type gauge as a working reference and compared rainfall intensity measurements with two calibrated TBRGs operated at a time resolution of 1 min. The two TBRGs differ in their internal mechanics, one being a traditional single-layer dual-bucket assembly, while the other has two layers of buckets. The drop-counter gauge operates at a time resolution of 10 s, while the time of tipping is recorded for the two TBRGs. The post-processing algorithms employed for the two TBRGs are based on the assumption that the tip volume is uniformly distributed over the inter-tip period. A series of data of an ideal TBRG is reconstructed using the virtual time of tipping derived from the drop-counter data. From the comparison between the ideal gauge and the measurements from the two real TBRGs, the performances of different post-processing and correction algorithms are statistically evaluated over the set of recorded rain events. The improvement obtained by adopting the inter-tip time algorithm in the calculation of the RI is confirmed. However, by comparing the performance of the real and ideal TBRGs, the beneficial effect of the inter-tip algorithm is shown to be relevant for the mid–low range (6–50 mmh−1) of rainfall intensity values (where the sampling errors prevail), while its role vanishes with increasing RI in the range where the mechanical errors prevail.
A high-altitude balloon platform for determining exchange of carbon dioxide over agricultural landscapes
Authors: Bouche Angie , Beck-Winchatz Bernhard , Potosnak Mark J.
Published: November 2016

Abstract. The exchange of carbon dioxide between the terrestrial biosphere and the atmosphere is a key process in the global carbon cycle. Given emissions from fossil fuel combustion and the appropriation of net primary productivity by human activities, understanding the carbon dioxide exchange of cropland agroecosystems is critical for evaluating future trajectories of climate change. In addition, human manipulation of agroecosystems has been proposed as a technique of removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere via practices such as no-tillage and cover crops. We propose a novel method of measuring the exchange of carbon dioxide over croplands using a high-altitude balloon (HAB) platform. The HAB methodology measures two sequential vertical profiles of carbon dioxide mixing ratio, and the surface exchange is calculated using a fixed-mass column approach. This methodology is relatively inexpensive, does not rely on any assumptions besides spatial homogeneity (no horizontal advection) and provides data over a spatial scale between stationary flux towers and satellite-based inversion calculations. The HAB methodology was employed during the 2014 and 2015 growing seasons in central Illinois, and the results are compared to satellite-based NDVI values and a flux tower located relatively near the launch site in Bondville, Illinois. These initial favorable results demonstrate the utility of the methodology for providing carbon dioxide exchange data over a large (10–100 km) spatial area. One drawback is its relatively limited temporal coverage. While recruiting citizen scientists to perform the launches could provide a more extensive dataset, the HAB methodology is not appropriate for providing estimates of net annual carbon dioxide exchange. Instead, a HAB dataset could provide an important check for upscaling flux tower results and verifying satellite-derived exchange estimates.
2-D tomography of volcanic CO2 from scanning hard-target differential absorption lidar: the case of Solfatara, Campi Flegrei (Italy)
Authors: Queißer Manuel , Granieri Domenico , Burton Mike
Published: November 2016

Abstract. Solfatara is part of the active volcanic zone of Campi Flegrei (Italy), a densely populated urban area where ground uplift and increasing ground temperature are observed, connected with rising rates of CO2 emission. A major pathway of CO2 release at Campi Flegrei is diffuse soil degassing, and therefore quantifying diffuse CO2 emission rates is of vital interest. Conventional in situ probing of soil gas emissions with accumulation chambers is accurate over a small footprint but requires significant time and effort to cover large areas. An alternative approach is differential absorption lidar, which allows for a fast and spatially integrated measurement. Here, a portable hard-target differential absorption lidar has been used to acquire horizontal 1-D profiles of column-integrated CO2 concentration at the Solfatara crater. To capture heterogenic features in the CO2 distribution, a 2-D tomographic map of the CO2 distribution has been inverted from the 1-D profiles. The scan was performed one-sided, which is unfavorable for the inverse problem. Nonetheless, the result is in agreement with independent measurements and furthermore confirms an area of anomalous CO2 degassing along the eastern edge as well as the center of the Solfatara crater. The method may have important implications for measurements of degassing features that can only be accessed from limited angles, such as airborne sensing of volcanic plumes. CO2 fluxes retrieved from the 2-D map are comparable, but modestly higher than emission rates from previous studies, perhaps reflecting an increase in CO2 flux or a more integrated measurement or both.
Spatial and temporal variation of total electron content as revealed by principal component analysis
Authors: Talaat Elsayed R. , Zhu Xun
Published: November 2016

Abstract. Eleven years of global total electron content (TEC) data derived from the assimilated thermosphere–ionosphere electrodynamics general circulation model are analyzed using empirical orthogonal function (EOF) decomposition and the corresponding principal component analysis (PCA) technique. For the daily averaged TEC field, the first EOF explains more than 89 % and the first four EOFs explain more than 98 % of the total variance of the TEC field, indicating an effective data compression and clear separation of different physical processes. The effectiveness of the PCA technique for TEC is nearly insensitive to the horizontal resolution and the length of the data records. When the PCA is applied to global TEC including local-time variations, the rich spatial and temporal variations of field can be represented by the first three EOFs that explain 88 % of the total variance. The spectral analysis of the time series of the EOF coefficients reveals how different mechanisms such as solar flux variation, change in the orbital declination, nonlinear mode coupling and geomagnetic activity are separated and expressed in different EOFs. This work demonstrates the usefulness of using the PCA technique to assimilate and monitor the global TEC field.
Technical note: An economical apparatus for the observation and harvesting of mineral precipitation experiments with light microscopy
Authors: Crosby Chris H. , Bailey Jake V.
Published: November 2016

Abstract. We describe a small-scale reusable and low-cost double diffusion setup that allows microscopic observation over time for use in mineral precipitation experiments that use organic polymers as a matrix. The setup uniquely accommodates changes in solution chemistry during the course of an experiment, and facilitates easy harvesting of the precipitates for subsequent analysis.
Influence of climate variability, fire and phosphorus limitation on the vegetation structure and dynamics in the Amazon-Cerrado border
Authors: da Silva Emily Ane Dionizio , Costa Marcos Heil , Castanho Andrea Almeida , Pires Gabrielle Ferreira , Schwantes Marimon Beatriz , Marimon-Junior Ben Hur , Lenza Eddie , Pimenta Fernando Martins
Published: November 2016

Abstract. Climate, fire and soil nutritional limitation are important elements that affect the vegetation dynamics in areas of forest-savanna transition. In this paper, we use the dynamic vegetation model INLAND to evaluate the influence of climate variability, fire and phosphorus limitation on the Amazon-Cerrado transitional vegetation structure and dynamics. We assess how each element affects the net primary production, leaf area index and biomass and compare the simulations of aboveground biomass to observed biomass map. We used two climate datasets – the 1960–1990 average seasonal climate and the 1948 to 2008 interannual climate variability, two regional datasets of total soil P content in soil, based on regional (field measurements) and global data and the INLAND fire module. Our results show that climate interannual variability, phosphorus limitation and fire occurrence gradually improve simulated vegetation types and these effects are not homogeneous along the latitudinal/longitudinal gradient showing a synergistic effect among them. In terms of magnitude, the effect of fire is stronger, and is the main driver of vegetation changes along the transition. The nutritional limitation, in turn, is stronger than the effect of climate variability acting on the transitional ecosystems dynamics. Overall, INLAND typically simulates more than 80 % of the biomass variability in the transition zone. However, in many places, the biomass is clearly not well simulated indicating that important soil and physiological factors in the Amazon-Cerrado border, such as lithology and water table depth, carbon allocation strategies and mortality rates, still need to be included in the model.
Modelled interglacial carbon cycle dynamics during the Holocene, the Eemian and Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 11
Authors: Kleinen Thomas , Brovkin Victor , Munhoven Guy
Published: November 2016

Abstract. Trends in the atmospheric concentration of CO2 during three recent interglacials – the Holocene, the Eemian and Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 11 – are investigated using an earth system model of intermediate complexity, which we extended with process-based modules to consider two slow carbon cycle processes – peat accumulation and shallow-water CaCO3 sedimentation (coral reef formation). For all three interglacials, model simulations considering peat accumulation and shallow-water CaCO3 sedimentation substantially improve the agreement between model results and ice core CO2 reconstructions in comparison to a carbon cycle set-up neglecting these processes. This enables us to model the trends in atmospheric CO2, with modelled trends similar to the ice core data, forcing the model only with orbital and sea level changes. During the Holocene, anthropogenic CO2 emissions are required to match the observed rise in atmospheric CO2 after 3 ka BP but are not relevant before this time. Our model experiments show a considerable improvement in the modelled CO2 trends by the inclusion of the slow carbon cycle processes, allowing us to explain the CO2 evolution during the Holocene and two recent interglacials consistently using an identical model set-up.
"We look similar and have the same geographical origin": translocal encounters of second-generation Eritreans with a new generation of refugees from Eritrea
Authors: Graf Samuel , Thieme Susan
Published: November 2016

Abstract. This article addresses the encounters of second-generation Eritreans with a new generation of refugees from Eritrea in Switzerland and identifies two main types of encounter: direct personal encounters and indirect in the public discourse. It suggests that the recently arrived Eritrean refugees present a new actor within the translocal social field with whom the second-generation Eritreans have to renegotiate their relation. We argue that these encounters frame the second-generation Eritreans' positionality within the translocal social field and influence their identity and their affiliation towards Eritrea and Eritreans. We find that encounters between second-generation Eritreans and new Eritrean arrivals are crucial moments through which second-generation Eritreans form their hybrid identity. Thus, the paper contributes to the debate on identity formation of the second generation by adopting a translocal perspective and provides insights into the diversity in the Eritrean diaspora in Switzerland.
Delineation of homogenous regions using hydrological variables predicted by projection pursuit regression
Authors: Durocher Martin , Chebana Fateh , Ouarda Taha B. M. J.
Published: November 2016

Abstract. This study investigates the utilization of hydrological information in regional flood frequency analysis (RFFA) to enforce desired properties for a group of gauged stations. Neighbourhoods are particular types of regions that are centred on target locations. A challenge for using neighbourhoods in RFFA is that hydrological information is not available at target locations and cannot be completely replaced by the available physiographical information. Instead of using the available physiographic characteristics to define the centre of a target location, this study proposes to introduce estimates of reference hydrological variables to ensure a better homogeneity. These reference variables represent nonlinear relations with the site characteristics obtained by projection pursuit regression, a nonparametric regression method. The resulting neighbourhoods are investigated in combination with commonly used regional models: the index-flood model and regression-based models. The complete approach is illustrated in a real-world case study with gauged sites from the southern part of the province of Québec, Canada, and is compared with the traditional approaches such as region of influence and canonical correlation analysis. The evaluation focuses on the neighbourhood properties as well as prediction performances, with special attention devoted to problematic stations. Results show clear improvements in neighbourhood definitions and quantile estimates.
Capillary rise affecting crop yields under different environmental conditions
Authors: Kroes Joop , Supit Iwan , Mulder Martin , Van Dam Jos , Van Walsum Paul
Published: November 2016

Abstract. This paper describes analyses of different soil water flow regimes on growth and yields of grass, maize and potato crops in the Dutch delta, with a focus on the role of capillary rise. Different flow regimes are characterised by differences in soil composition and structure are derived from a national soil database. Capillary rise and its influence on crop growth and resulting yields is simulated using Swap-Wofost with different boundary conditions. Case studies and model experiments are used to illustrate the impact of capillary rise. This impact is clearly present in situations where a groundwater level is present (85 % of NL) but also in other situations the impact of capillary rise on crop growth and production is considerable. When one compares situations with average groundwater levels with free drainage conditions without capillary rise yield-reductions of grassland, maize and potatoes are respectively 25, 4 and 15 % or respectively about 3.2, 0.5 and 1.6 ton dry Matter per ha. Neglecting capillary rise also has impact on the downward leaching water flux, the groundwater recharge. Impact can be considerable; for grassland and potatoes the reduction is 17 and 46 % or 64 and 34 mm. Modelling of soil water flow should consider capillary rise of soil water which will results in improved yield and downward leaching simulations.
Earthquake static stress transfer in the 2013 Valencia Gulf (Spain) seismic sequence
Authors: Salo Lluis , Frontera Tanit , Goula Xavier , Pujades Lluis , Ledesma Alberto
Published: November 2016

Abstract. On September 24th, 2013, a ML 3.6 earthquake struck in Valencia Gulf (Spain), near the Mediterranean coast of Castellon, roughly a week after the gas injections conducted in the area to develop an Underground Gas Storage had been halted. The event, felt by the nearby population, led to a sequence build-up of felt events which reached a maximum of ML 4.3 on October 2nd. Here, we study the role of static stress change as an earthquake triggering mechanism during the sequence, and provide quantitative assessment of the known faults final stress state. By means of the Coulomb Failure Function, the evolution of static stress is quantified both on fault planes derived from focal mechanism solutions (which act as source and receiver faults), and on the previously mapped structures in the area (receiver faults). Results show that static stress transfer could have acted as a partial trigger, and point towards an ESE-dipping structure as the most likely to have been activated during the sequence. Based on this approach, the influence of the studied events in the occurrence of future and potentially damaging earthquakes in the area would be, at most, of second order.
The Postmodern Nineteenth Century: “Sonnet—To Science” and the Case for Poe's Avant-Garde Poetics
Authors: Pollard Derek
Published: November 2016

Edgar Allan Poe's poetry has often suffered at the hands of critics. This is due in large part to the complicated relationship between the poems and Poe's theoretical writings. The indeterminate quality of these latter texts—do they map a legitimate poetics, or are they instead further instances of hoaxing?—has led to a body of criticism in the United States that tends to mistake innovation for infelicity and to dismiss the poems merely as scaffolding for Poe's prose writings. In this paper, I argue that Poe's poetry, far from being the dabbling of an exemplary short story writer and magazinist, is as important to the American poetic tradition as that of his near contemporaries, founding figures Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman. His poems, like theirs, not only entice and perplex us with what they have to say but also, as Jerome McGann has pointed out in The Poet Edgar Allan Poe: Alien Angel, with how they say it. Looking at “Sonnet—To Science” as one example, I show how Poe's poetry is able to remain out front of the very literary conventions—and accompanying evaluative criteria—it invokes by routinely teasing at the preferred reading those conventions are meant to authorize. The resulting disarray, calculated if at times vexing, is the hallmark of what I refer to as Poe's avant-gardism, that serious play that anticipates both the European and American avant-garde movements of the twentieth century and those wide-ranging poetries that continue to emerge in the twenty-first in response to the postmodern turn.
The Reform of the EU Data Protection Framework: Outlining Key Changes and Assessing Their Fitness for a Data-Driven Economy
Authors: Burri Mira , Schär Rahel
Published: November 2016

This article analyzes the recent data protection reform of the European Union (EU). It introduces the drivers of the reform, in particular by looking at a few seminal judgments of the Court of Justice of the EU. Against this backdrop, the article highlights the key changes that the new General Data Protection Regulation brings about, assesses their implications, and seeks to situate them in the wider context of the digital economy and its governance, in particular with regard to the free cross-border flow of data.
La paz en Colombia: decepción, controversia y esperanza
Authors: Magallón Carmen
Published: November 2016

Carmen Magallón, Directora de la Fundación Seminario de Investigación para la Paz, Presidenta de WILPF España y colaboradora de la revista Cultura de Paz, ha seguido de cerca el proceso de paz de Colombia, con visitas a distintos lugares del país desde 2010. Del 18 al 21 de septiembre de 2016, fue una de las cuatro panelistas internacionales que fueron invitadas a intervenir en la II Cumbre Nacional de Mujeres y Paz celebrada en Bogotá. Esta cumbre, que había sido convocada por nueve plataformas/redes de organizaciones, reunió a más de 600 mujeres, visualizó el importante papel jugado por ellas en el logro de los Acuerdos y trabajó en la preparación para colaborar en su puesta en práctica en los territorios. La Cumbre fue apoyada por ONU Mujeres y respaldada con su asistencia y participación por mandatarios nacionales e internacionales.
Desarme para el desarrollo humano: De una cultura de guerra a una cultura de Paz y no violencia
Authors: Mayor Zaragoza Federico
Published: November 2016

Federico Mayor Zaragoza afi rma en el presente texto, que es moralmente inaceptable que cada día mueran de hambre miles y miles de personas cuando se invierten en gastos militares y armamento millones de dólares. Advierte que la mejor solución es el desarme, incluyendo el nuclear y que actualmente, se está llegando a puntos de no retorno en cuestiones esenciales del legado intergeneracional.Señala lo urgente de un nuevo concepto de seguridad, dado a que los grandes poderes siguen pensando que la fuerza militar es la única expresión y referencia de “seguridad”. Las soluciones existen. La acción inmediata es necesaria para cumplir con nuestras responsabilidades intergeneracionales. Ahora, a través de la tecnología digital, la gente se puede expresar libremente, levantar su voz y reclamar no sólo seguridad territorial sino de alimentos, de acceso al agua potable, a los servicios de salud, a la acción rápida, coordinada y eficaz en situaciones de emergencia. Este, y no otro, es el tipo de seguridad que los seres humanos sueñan y merecen.Palabras clave: Desarme, desarrollo, gasto militar, paz, seguridad.
Homenaje al poeta nicaragüense Horacio Peña, en sus ochenta años
Authors: Silva Erwin
Published: November 2016

La muerte –tema inmanente de nuestra poesía- alcanza en este límpido texto, rigores aforísticos e impone verdades simples e inobjetables al lector. “Retrato de un desconocido” consta de nueve partes y es el último título del libro Ars Moriendi y otros poemas, premiado en el centenario del nacimiento de Rubén Darío, en 1967.
Vale la pena vivir II - Conversaciones en La Conquista
Authors: Serrano Caldera Alejandro
Published: November 2016

Vale la pena vivir II - Conversaciones en La Conquista- Más vivencias de Norberto Herrera Zúniga
Pobres por los pobres: Las Comunidades Eclesiales de Base de la Parroquia San Pablo Apóstol (1966-2016), de Félix Jiménez
Authors: Jiménez Felix
Published: November 2016

Obra publicada en conmemoración del 50 aniversario del nacimiento de las Comunidades eclesiales de Base, Parroquia San Pablo Apóstol. Managua, EDITARTE, 2016.
Ayotzinapa ¿Dónde están?
Authors: Núñez Denis
Published: November 2016

Título: Ayotzinapa ¿Dónde están?, de la serie Los desaparecidos. Técnica: Mixta (óleo, acrílico y tiza sobre papel).Medidas: 25 plgs. x 4 mts.Fotografía: Edward Dávila.
Management of chronic hepatitis C in 2017
Authors: von Köckritz Leona , Dufour Jean-François
Published: November 2016

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) represents one of the most common aetiologies of chronic liver disease and causes a major global health burden. Globally an estimated 80 million people are chronically infected, but the majority of whom is still undiagnosed. Prior to the discovery of the virus in 1989 a significant number of patients were exposed and consecutively infected with HCV via contaminated transfusions, as it is a blood-borne disease. Chronic HCV infection pursues a progressive course that ultimately results in the development of cirrhosis, liver failure and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), if left untreated. The efficiency and tolerability of therapeutical approaches improved considerably with the development of direct-acting antivirals (DAA). The majority of patients treated with the recommended DAA combinations can be cured, which is reflected in achievement of sustained virological response (SVR).

This review is intended to provide guidance in the management of patients with chronic hepatitis C, including recommendations for adequate screening, diagnostic procedures, clinical care, treatment and follow-up strategies.
The Value of Songs and Rhymes in Teaching English to Young Learners in Saudi Arabia
Authors: AlAfar Manahel
Published: November 2016

The study aimed to show the impact of using songs and rhymes in teaching English to young female learners in Saudi Arabia. It involved 20 Saudi teachers who were randomly selected from public and private schools in Riyadh city. The age of the female students ranged from 6 to 10 years. Forty parents volunteered to participate, Parents were asked to answer an online survey comprising ten different questions. Interview questionnaire and online survey were the tools used for data collection. About 9 of all teachers don’t use songs and rhymes activities in teaching English. 15 of teachers out of 20 said that it is not a mandatory part of the curriculum. 13 of the teachers believe that it is very important and 2 teachers believed in using songs and rhymes to facilitate remembering. 16 of teachers out of 20 noticed that their students are actually using the songs or their vocabularies outside the classroom and 17 of all teachers stated that songs and rhymes helped their young learners’ English language development. 82.50% of parents in Saudi Arabia support teaching English to their children, 47.50% of parents stated that their child is using English only in the classroom. Only 7.50% of the parents were not aware of this classroom activity while 92.50% of them are aware. 2.50% of parents expressed their disagreement. The study found out that songs and rhymes are rarely used in teaching English to young learners in the Saudi Arabia and curriculum was not rich enough with activities like songs and rhymes.
Facebook as a Mode of Communication among Jordanian University Students
Authors: Dawaghreh Abdullah
Published: November 2016

This study aims at investigating the Facebook language in terms of content and form as used by Jordanian university students from a sociolinguistic perspective. It also attempts to examine the effect of the sociolinguistic factors such as sex and religion. Moreover, this study seeks to throw light upon the types of linguistic choices employed by the students and to figure out the motivations behind using this form of writing. The data were collected by means of interviews. In addition, the researcher collected some data and messages from students’ profiles after taking their permission. The findings of this study showed that there are certain linguistic features and functions used in the Facebook language. Besides, the major argument developed in such a study is that the language used in the Facebook has some peculiarities which distinguish it from other forms of language. Furthermore, it was quite noticeable that the language of Facebook appears to be conditioned by sociological factors such as sex and religion.
The Untrodden Way: Unexplored Challenges in Poetry Translation
Authors: Zid Mounir , Belushi Aisha Al
Published: November 2016

While much ink has been spilled over the various issues involved in poetry translation by both Western and Eastern translation theorists, it seems no attention has been given to the unknown obstacles a translator may encounter in rendering Arabic literary texts in general and Omani poems in particular. To this end, the current paper sheds light on unknown and unfamiliar problems translators face in translating Omani poetry and maintains that—in addition to the linguistic, cultural, and aesthetic problems of poetry translation—literary translators also encounter difficulties in the translation of unnoticeable religious and cultural meanings and aspects in poems. For this purpose, an interview with an Omani translator and a questionnaire to 35 students with a Translation major (10 males and 25 females) at Sultan Qaboos University served as research instruments to identify unknown problems in translating Omani poetry. Given the results, the paper concludes with a recommendation that poetry translators provide footnotes to translate religious terms and explain unclear or unfamiliar religious phrases.
The Narrative Techniques in The Portrait of a Lady
Authors: Zhao Yu
Published: November 2016

The paper aims to analyze the narrative techniques in Henry James’ masterpiece The Portrait of a Lady. James is both a novelist and a literary critic. The narrative techniques that James puts forward are mixed well like milk and water with the theme of The Portrait of a Lady. James regards human heart as a closed book and is very interested in the obscurity in human relations. Isabel is eager to learn about the world, yet she is always haunted with the feeling of helplessness due to the isolation and estrangement with others. James’ three narrative techniques, i.e., the “central consciousness”; the “limited point of view” and the “organic form” are employed to effectively represent the theme in this novel.
Learners’ Perceptions of the Use of Mobile Technology in a Task-Based Language Teaching Experience
Authors: Calabrich Simone L.
Published: November 2016

This research explored perceptions of learners studying English in private language schools regarding the use of mobile technology to support language learning. Learners were first exposed to both a mobile assisted and a mobile unassisted language learning experience, and then asked to express their thoughts on the incorporation of mobile devices into the language classroom. The mobile assisted tasks involved learners posting a review online based on a real past experience, as well as using web-search engines to gather enough information to plan a hypothetical trip. Findings revealed overall positive attitudes amongst the students surveyed. Arguments in favour of the incorporation of mobile technology in the language classroom included: the possibility of having access to a range of materials superior in both quality and quantity when using mobile devices to access the Internet, among others. However, a significant amount of scepticism towards Mobile Assisted Language Learning emerged. Arguments against suggested that the format of presentation, rather than the type of task, seemed to constitute a motivational factor that played a psychologically significant role to some of the learners.
Explaining Ideal Teacher Competences in the Islamic Republic of Iran—Based on the Revolutionary Documentations of Its Education and Pedagogical System
Authors: Khorooshi Pooran , Isfahany Ahmad Reza Nasr , Mirshahjafari Sayed Ebrahim , Mosapour Nematollah
Published: November 2016

The roles of teachers and schools are changing, and so are expectations about them. Teachers must educate in progressively multicultural classrooms, coordinate students with particular needs, utilize ICT for teaching viably, engage in evaluation and accountability processes, and involve parents in schools. In such, this study aimed to identify and introduce ideal teacher competences in the Islamic Republic of Iran based on the revolutionary documentations of its education and pedagogical system. To do so, 544 pages of the texts of these documentations were meticulously studied and analyzed by qualitative content analysis using the inductive method in creating categories. Then, 138 items representing ideal teacher competences in the Islamic Republic of Iran were extracted and categorized. The results of the research showed 5 main domains of competences—including knowledge, skill, attitude, action, and ethics—as well as their sub-qualifications and related components. This analysis facilitates codification of special criteria for recruiting efficient and effective personnel; planning, predicting and designing a curriculum based on teacher competences; and attracting the attention of experts and macro curriculum planners of universities responsible for teacher training.
Assessment of Matrix Multiplication Learning with a Rule-Based Analytical Model–A Bayesian Network Representation
Authors: Zhang Zhidong
Published: November 2016

This study explored an alternative assessment procedure to examine learning trajectories of matrix multiplication. It took rule-based analytical and cognitive task analysis methods specifically to break down operation rules for a given matrix multiplication. Based on the analysis results, a hierarchical Bayesian network, an assessment model, comprising of 2 layers of explanatory variables-Matrix Multiplication, Performance and Semantic Explanations; and one layer of evidential variables containing 9 evidential variables-was developed. With the simulating data, 9 students’ Performance and Semantic Explanation evidences were recorded. The results indicated that the hierarchical Bayesian assessment effectively traced and recorded students’ learning trajectories; and assessed students’ learning dynamically and diagnostically.
Responding to the Need for Re-Conceptualizing Second Language Teacher Education: The Potential of a Sociocultural Perspective
Authors: Nguyen Minh Hue
Published: November 2016

This paper aims to engage with and respond to recent calls in the literature for a unifying theoretical framework to understand second language teacher education (SLTE). It critically reviews the major conceptualizations of SLTE in relation to the key conceptualizations of second language (L2) teaching. The review identifies shortcomings in traditional perspectives on L2 teaching and SLTE and the need to re-conceptualize SLTE as a field. A recent re-conceptualization of SLTE is seen through the shift towards a social constructivist perspective, a redefinition of the knowledge base, research that responds to the epistemological shift, and a sociocultural perspective on SLTE. The existing literature shows that although there is now a growing body of research that looks into the various dimensions of SLTE, few studies have gained a comprehensive and systematic view of the complexities of SLTE. The paper argues that a sociocultural perspective, especially a combination of Vygotsky’s genetic method and Engeström’s proposal of the third generation of activity theory, has become a powerful way of understanding L2 teacher learning, which corresponds to the need for a re-conceptualization of SLTE. This paper calls for more research using a sociocultural framework to enrich its knowledge base.
Development of Educational Management System in Small Primary School
Authors: Alsammarry Yupayao , Sirisuthi Chaiyuth , Duangcharthom Surat
Published: November 2016

The purposes of the research were: 1) to study the factors of Educational Management System in Small Primary School; 2) to investigate current situations problems and guidelines of developing educational management in small primary school, 3) to develop Educational Management System in Small Primary School and 4) to examine the results of usage Educational Management System in Small Primary School. The research was comprised of four phases: Phase1 studying the factors of educational system in small primary school; Phase 2 Investigating current situations problems and guidelines of developing Educational Management System in Small Primary School; Phase 3 Developing educational system in small primary school and Phase 4 Examining the results of usage educational system in small primary school. The instruments used for data collection in this study were a note- taking form, a questionnaire, an interview and an observation form. The statistics used for data analysis were mean, percentage, standard deviation and content analysis.

The results of the research found that:

1) The factors of educational system in small primary school comprised of 4 main aspects: (1) Input including with eight sub-factors; (2) Process including with two sub-factors; (3) Output including with two sub-factors; (4) Feedback including with one sub-factor.

2) The results of studying current situations and problems revealed that:

There are 10,877 small primaries.

The problems revealed that administrators lacked of supervision and did not followed up development of student’s quality, teachers did not clear about student-centered learning, parents and community lacked of cooperation in development of student’s quality and students’ quality were lower than benchmark.

The guidelines to develop found that both administrators and teachers needed to develop teachers in student-centered learning, curriculum in learning of teachers, media and technology, learning sources for learner’s learning and to ask for parents’ cooperation in development of student’s quality.

3) Educational Management System consisted of 4 main aspects, 13 sub-factors including with 42 indicators

4) Evaluating system factors by experts, the results revealed that there were the highest in every factor in 80%. The findings of evaluation system and manual of Educational Management System found that it was higher than 80%.

5) The examining of usage Educational Management System revealed that pre- treatment of usage educational management system was in the ‘least’ level. However, post- treatment of usage educational management system was in the ‘most’ level.
Inductive/Deductive Learning by Considering the Role of Gender—A Case Study of Iranian French-Learners
Authors: Rahmatian Rouhollah , Zarekar Fatemeh
Published: November 2016

This article defines the objective of discovering the first preferred styles of Iranian learners of French as a Foreign Language (FFL) as regards inductive or deductive learning; and secondly, the difference between gender-based learning tendencies. Considering these points as target variables, the questionnaire developed by Felder and Silverman in 1988 was applied to form the learning styles and consequently to associate them with inductive and deductive approaches. The results led the team to set the idea which is based on the choice of induction or deduction in language learning and the gender variable that follows different directions. Consequently, in terms of the inductive approach, we find ourselves facing a rather male solicitation. A proportion of the use of this approach is also associated with women whose motivation is seen rather noticeably. Moreover, the significance is relative rather than significant in all the relationships studied in this research: males and inductive (1)/deductive learning (2); females and inductive (3)/deductive learning (4); inductive (5)/deductive (6) among Iranians.
Reviewer Acknowledgements for International Education Studies, Vol. 9, No. 12
Authors: Lee Chris
Published: November 2016

Reviewer acknowledgements for International Education Studies, Vol. 9, No. 12, 2016.
Measuring Values Importance of Saudi Consumers
Authors: Badghish Saeed
Published: November 2016

This study examines the priority of values affecting the behaviour of local consumers in the Saudi Arabian hospitality industry. The sample consists of Saudi nationals who have stayed in a hotel in Saudi Arabia. A review of the literature provides studies of values and demographic factors that could lead to differences in behaviour between gender (male vs female) and education (educated vs less-educated). There is currently little understanding of whether, or how, Saudis from different socio-cultural environments, represented in this study with different demographic profiles, differ in their values. This study considers whether there are any such differences linked to these demographic differences. The research uses a quantitative online survey based on established constructs of Kahle’s List of Values. Data were analysed in SPSS using descriptive statistics, independent samples t-tests, and regression analysis. This quantitative study finds that there are significant differences in the value of excitement, warm relationships with others, and fun and enjoyment were noted according to education level; also the value of self-fulfillment according to gender.
Proliferation of Private Labels in Food Retailing: A Literature Overview
Authors: Olbrich Rainer , Hundt Michael , Jansen Hans Christian
Published: November 2016

This article provides an overview of private-label research by focusing on the food retailing sector. To explain the proliferation of private labels, we identify key drivers by reviewing the determinants discussed in prior literature. This article identifies the conditions that support the proliferation of private labels—retailer concentration and retailer pricing autonomy—and describes the nature of competition between private labels and national brands. It also highlights the drivers of private-label purchases by providing an overview of brand-related determinants, price and risk-related determinants, quality aspects, sociodemographics, and consumer purchasing behavior. The article concludes by proposing three areas for future private-label research.
Meaning and Values in the Consumption of Fashion by Men
Authors: De Miranda Ana Paula Celso , Maciel Eduardo Jorge Carvalho , Pepece Olga Maria Coutinho
Published: November 2016

The objective of this study was to analyze the discourse on fashion consumption and fashion brands by male inhabitants of Caruaru city, State of Pernambuco, Northeastern Brazil. The findings include the way men understand fashion consumption and the values that direct them to buy fashion brands. These men see fashion consumption as the act of buying and consuming fashion brands in order to acquire various levels of status and express their values. When their discourse leaves the domain of fashion, the act of dressing becomes functional, an expression of personality and occupation. By doing this, it becomes part of the male universe. The following symbolic associations were identified, which were related to the motivational types of values proposed by Tamayo and Schwartz: Self-Realization/Self-Esteem, Belonging/Compliance, Contemporaneity/Hedonism, Rationality/Confidence, Distinction/Self-Determination, and Ostentation/Social Power. It may be concluded that the consumption of fashion and fashion brands by the men in the studied context are directly related to the social group they belong to, or would like to belong to (aspiring group). Regarding the group they belong to, the participating men, while consuming fashion and fashion brands, choose items that reflect the values of their group in order to feel part of it. However, insatiable desires, inherent to all human beings, do not allow that the Caruaru men are satisfied with the feeling of belonging to a group only, driving them to seek in the consumption of fashion and fashion brands those items that will make them feel valued and recognized as being unique.
Revival of Hauz Khas Lake in Delhi: Approaches to Urban Water Resource Management in India
Authors: Roy Deya
Published: November 2016

The decline of urban water bodies in India needs to be arrested for sustainable water management in rapidly expanding Indian cities. Reuse of water after partial recycling can reduce environmental stress. Delhi, the Indian capital, has a number of surviving water storage structures built by successive rulers over centuries to tackle water shortage in the summer. In modern Delhi, a fourteen million plus city, water is supplied through technological networks, hastening the decline of the old water storage structures. The old lakes are choked with filth and the step-wells are heaps of rubble. The Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) and the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) have undertaken a project to revive a 700 year-old water body, lying dry for decades, the Hauz Khas Lake, with treated sewage water. The idea was to raise the groundwater table and restore the natural environment of the lake, a past habitat for water birds. This paper attempts to evaluate the immediate impact and the long-term sustainability of the effort through discussions with technical personnel, field observations and interviews with local residents. Manuals and progress reports of the concerned organizations are used as secondary sources. The paper also examines the views of government officials and NGOs regarding the role of other similar projects in alleviating Delhi’s water shortage.