2,026 research outputs found
Gradgrinding the Social Sciences: The Politics of Metrics of Political Science
No full textCopyright @ 2009 The AuthorThis article employs an interpretive approach, and in the light of contributions to this symposium by Butler and McAllister, and McLean et al., holds that metrics of research ‘quality’ are socially constructed and hence are as ‘subjective’ as peer review. Thus it rejects the use of stand-alone metrics as an ‘objective’ basis to inform funding allocations. Rather, the optimum method of ‘quality’ assessment is a panel-based exercise with expert judgement informed by a range of discipline-sensitive metrics and peer review of publications. The article maintains that the politics of metrics of political science conceals interests about the foundations of social scientific knowledge, and so the dispute over metrics and peer review is a metaphor for the conflicting epistemological preferences of UK political scientists. It is also argued that metrics-led assessment subjects political science to ‘Gradgrinding’ on two fronts: that political science departments amount to less than the sum of their parts, and the audit culture strips the discipline of its humanism
Lady Butler: The Reinvention of Military History
No full textTrès appréciées par les visiteurs des Royal Academy Shows de 1874 et 1876 et ensuite par le grand public, les représentations des guerres napoléoniennes et de la campagne de Crimée dans les tableaux d'Elizabeth Butler marquent un tournant décisif dans la peinture de guerre anglo-saxonne. Fortement influencée par les français Meissonier et de Neuville, Butler s'intéresse davantage aux simples soldats qu'aux généraux, aux scènes d'avant et d’après-bataille qu'au moment même du combat. Son regard, qui se veut direct et réaliste, se porte sur les acteurs ordinaires de la guerre, présentés à la fois en héros et en simples citoyens. Cette représentation trouve une profonde résonance auprès d'un public victorien ému par le courage et la souffrance des troupes et friand de cette version de l'histoire militaire qui place le citoyen britannique ordinaire au cœur de l'aventure politique du XIXe siècle
Recurrent haemoptysis, left-sided chest pain and an evolving left lower lobe cavity in a 50-year old smoker with prior high ethanol intake
No full textThe authors describe a case of pancreatico-pleural fistula that presented as recurrent pyogenic chest disease in a patient with underlying ethanol related pancreatic disease. The diagnosis was suspected, given the context of non-resolving chest sepsis despite repeated antibiotics in a patient with known pancreatic disease. Although not revealed by initial tests the diagnosis was confirmed by repeating imaging investigations. The fistula was repaired surgically with consequent resolution of chest disease without need for extensive thoracic surgery
Grasping at straws: a ratings downgrade for the emerging international financial architecture
No full textFollowing the Asia crisis of 1997-98, policymakers invested a great deal of energy in designing a new international financial architecture. However many of the policy proposals which have emerged from think tanks and the multilateral agencies have proven unworkable or politically unpalatable. The debate focuses on state-led initiatives. But the assumption that public policy is by definition an output of public institutions is difficult to sustain in an era of global change. This paper considers specialized forms of intelligence-gathering and judgment-determination which seem increasingly important as sources of governance in this era of financial market volatility. These agents - embedded knowledge networks (EKNs) - include the major bond rating agencies, Moody’s Investors Service and Standard and Poor’s, the focus of this paper. The Basel Committee has put forward a serious proposal to reform the existing capital adequacy framework which uses banks' own internal ratings and external bond ratings to calculate bank risk-weighted capital requirements. The paper shows that there are potentially unexpected consequences from using private rating agencies as a substitute for state-based regulation, due to the organizational incentives that shape the ratings industry. Cementing these organizational incentives into the emerging financial architecture will give rise to negative social and economic consequences
Tagging of Biomedical Articles on CiteULike: A Comparison of User, Author and Professional Indexing
No full textThis paper examines the context of online indexing from the viewpoint of three different groups: users, authors, and professional indexers. User tags, author keywords and descriptors were collected from academic journal articles, which were both indexed in Pubmed and tagged on CiteULike, and analysed. Descriptive statistics, informetric measures, and thesaural term comparison shows that there are important differences in the use of keywords between the three groups in addition to similarities which can be used to enhance support for search and browse. While tags and author keywords were found that matched descriptors exactly, other terms which did not match but provided important expansion to the indexing lexicon were found. These additional terms could be used to enhance support for searching and browsing in article databases as well as to provide invaluable data for entry vocabulary and emergent terminology for regular updates to indexing systems. Additionally, the study suggests that tags support organisation by association to task, projects and subject while making important connections to traditional systems which classify into subject categories
Thunder, Indians, and Mythological Birds: School Mascot Changes in Western Wisconsin
No full textIn American society, people identify themselves not just with their creed, race, or ethnicity, but also their sports teams. This tightly knit identity creates a culture within itself that presents the beliefs, norms, and way of life of the people intertwined within it. While most prominent at NCAA Division I and professional levels, this identification also occurs at the local level, such as at high schools and smaller colleges. In some situations schools are forced to change their mascot or team name. This paper will examine an identity crisis at three separate schools in western Wisconsin during the second half of the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries and explain how the schools went about choosing a new mascot or team name. The three different case studies will examine controversial identities, lack of an identity, and popularity creating an identity
Autobiographical memories and letters from Claire Lange: a phenomenological analysis
No full textEsta pesquisa se refere a documentos autobiográficos (cartas e memórias) acerca da experiência de imigração escritos por Claire Reuge Lange. Claire chegou ao Brasil em Agosto de 1887 e, enquanto aqui viveu, escreveu várias cartas para seus pais adotivos, que permaneceram na Alemanha. As memó-rias de Claire Reuge Lange tratam da instauração da colônia de Brüderthal no município de Joinville, em Santa Catarina. O objetivo desta pesquisa é o es-tudo das 13 cartas escritas por Claire e de suas memórias, nas quais procu-ramos analisar os impactos da mudança de contexto nas vivências da autora. Para tanto, realizamos uma análise das vivências por ela narradas nas cartas, levando em conta a função psicológica da correspondência epistolar enquanto vínculo do imigrante com o seu mundo de origem e seu passado. Focamos a dinâmica psicológica e as vivências relatadas pela autora, à luz do texto O Estrangeiro (2010) de Alfred Schutz, e à luz da fenomenologia de Edmund Husserl e de Edith Stein. Nos relatos de Claire foram encontradas vivências perceptivas, afetivas, vivências de temporalidade e vivências espirituais de fé, concomitante às categorias de análise do texto O Estrangeiro de Schutz. No que diz respeito a estas categorias, evidenciamos três grupos de vivências: as primeiras vivências do estrangeiro como recém-chegado; a crise: as vivên-cias de choque de confiança no pensar habitual e os mecanismos de supera-ção da crise - emergindo a vivência espiritual como recurso para superação desta. Conclui-se pela possibilidade de superação da crise através do com-partilhamento de vivências com a alteridade, que ocorre nas cartas ou nas memórias, seja ela a alteridade das relações sociais representadas pelos destinatários das cartas, seja ela a dimensão transcendente do divino.This research refers to autobiographical documents (letters and memories) about immigration experiences, written by Claire Reuge Lange. Claire arrived in Brazil in August 1887. While she lived here, she wrote many letters to her adoptive parents, who stayed in Germany. Claire Reuge Langes memories are about the Brüderthals colony settling in the city of Joinville, Santa Catari-na. The main objective of this research is the studying of the 13 letters written by Claire and her memories, in which we sought to analyze the impacts of the changes of context, lived by the author. In order to achieve it, we performed an analysis of her living experiences portrayed on her letters, taking into ac-count the psychological function of the epistolary correspondence as immi-grant bound with their original world and past. We focused on the authors psychological dynamics and living experiences based on the text The For-eigner (2010) by Alfred Schutz, and also on the phenomenology by Edmund Husserl and Edith Stein. On Claires stories, perceptive, affective, temporality and faith-spiritual living experiences were found, according to the categories of the analysis over The Foreigner by Schutz. Concerning these categories, we evidenced three groups of experiences: the first living experiences as a new-comer; the crisis: the living experiences of trust shock over the habitual think-ing and the tools of the crisis overcoming arising the spiritual experience as a resource to overcome it. It is concluded through the possibility of overcom-ing the crisis through the sharing of the living experiences with the otherness, which occurs on the letters or memories, either from the social relations rep-resented by the receivers of these letters, or the divine transcending dimen-sion
Achieving a person-centered approach to dialysis discontinuation: An historical perspective
No full textIn this essay, we describe the evolution of attitudes toward dialysis discontinuation in historical context, beginning with the birth of outpatient dialysis in the 1960s and continuing through the present. From the start, attitudes toward dialysis discontinuation have reflected the clinical context in which dialysis is initiated. In the 1960s and 1970s, dialysis was only available to select patients and concerns about distributive justice weighed heavily. Because there was strong enthusiasm for new technology and dialysis was regarded as a precious resource not to be wasted, stopping treatment had negative moral connotations and was generally viewed as something to be discouraged. More recently, dialysis has become the default treatment for advanced kidney disease in the United States, leading to concerns about overtreatment and whether patients' values, goals, and preferences are sufficiently integrated into treatment decisions. Despite the developments in palliative nephrology over the past 20 years, dialysis discontinuation remains a conundrum for patients, families, and professionals. While contemporary clinical practice guidelines support a person-centered approach toward stopping dialysis treatments, this often occurs in a crisis when all treatment options have been exhausted. Relatively little is known about the impact of dialysis discontinuation on the experiences of patients and families and there is a paucity of high-quality person-centered evidence to guide practice in this area. Clinicians need better insights into decision-making, symptom burden, and other palliative outcomes that patients might expect when they discontinue dialysis treatments to better support decision-making in this area.</p
The Life and Contribution of Robert Monroe Bell
No full textSince 1941, R. M. Bell has devoted his life to the training of ministers as the President of Johnson Bible College, Kimberlin Heights, Tennessee. During his tenure as president he has represented a point of view that has played both a distinctive and controversial role in the life of our Brotherhood. It is the purpose of this study to examine his life historically with emphasis on the events and influences that helped shape his life and thought. His theological positions will be surveyed and a critique given regarding the contribution his life and thought has had in the Christian church
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