2,075 research outputs found
The construction of Karen Karnak: The multi-author-function
No full textThis thesis is situated within the comparatively recent developments of Web 2.0 and the emergence of interactive WikiMedia, and explores the mode of authorship within a Read/Write culture compared to that of a Read/Only tradition. The hypothesis of this study is that the role of the audience has become merged with the author, and as such, represents new functions and attributes, distinct from a more conventional concept of authorship, in which the roles of audience and author are more separate. Read/Write and participatory culture, as defined by this study, is focused on collaboration, and includes the influences of D.I.Y. culture, Open-Source practices and the production of text by multiple authors. Multi-authorship presents a re-thinking of several concepts which support the notion of the individual author, since the focus of multi-authorship is not on attribution and ownership of a finished text, but on the continued malleability of a text. Modes of multi-authorship, demonstrated in the use of the pseudonyms Alan Smithee and Karen Eliot, represent declarative authors whose names signify multiple origins, whilst concurrently indicating a distinct body of work. The function of these names form an important context to this study, since primary research involves the construction of an experimental mode of multi-authorship utilising WikiMedia technology and the interaction of thirty nine participants, who are invited to create a body of work under the collective pseudonym Karen Karnak. The data generated by this experiment is analysed using aspects of Michel Foucault's author-function to identify and determine power structures inherent in the WikiMedia context. The interplay of power structures, including concepts such as identity, ownership and the body of work, affect the resulting mode of authorship and contribute to the construction of Karen Karnak, suggesting further areas of research into the emerging multi-author
Mothers and Children of the International Drug War: A View from a Women’s Prison in Quito, Ecuador
No full textThis chapter looks at Ecuador where the number of women imprisoned has soared since 1991. The chapter draws on ethnographic research conducted by both authors in the largest women’s prison, located in Quito, the capital city of Ecuador. The first section looks at the supply-side interdiction policies implemented in Ecuador and demonstrates that women are not collateral damage but intended targets. Next, it describes how the war on drugs has changed prison and the profile of inmates as a result of interdiction efforts. The second section describes the effects of these policies from the perspective of two groups of women imprisoned in Quito: Ecuadorians and foreign nationals. We conclude that while these women’s experience as mothers/prisoners differs greatly, the war on drugs produces a number of outcomes that disproportionately punish women and their families
Neural correlates of processing valence and arousal in affective words
No full textPsychological frameworks conceptualize emotion along 2 dimensions, "valence" and "arousal." Arousal invokes a single axis of intensity increasing from neutral to maximally arousing. Valence can be described variously as a bipolar continuum, as independent positive and negative dimensions, or as hedonic value (distance from neutral). In this study, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging to characterize neural activity correlating with arousal and with distinct models of valence during presentation of affective word stimuli. Our results extend observations in the chemosensory domain suggesting a double dissociation in which subregions of orbitofrontal cortex process valence, whereas amygdala preferentially processes arousal. In addition, our data support the physiological validity of descriptions of valence along independent axes or as absolute distance from neutral but fail to support the validity of descriptions of valence along a bipolar continuum
Whose Voice Gets Heard? Shareholder Value vs. Stakeholder Value in International Modern Public Corporations
No full textCycling on the Verge? Exploring the Place of Utility Cycling in Contemporary New Zealand Transport Policy
No full textEfforts to increase cycling as a mode of transport (utility cycling) occur at central, regional and local levels of government through a range of supportive strategies, research, and guidelines. Despite these efforts, utility cycling levels in New Zealand have remained persistently low. This thesis examines the apparent disparity between policy intent and policy result, using a discourse analytical approach. It examines how cycling is positioned in contemporary New Zealand transport policy documents, and explores whose priorities are shaping transport policy with what implications for utility cycling.
This study uses a critical discourse analysis (CDA) approach to analyse the land transport documents from across the institutions of government. The CDA approach, grounded in the work of van Dijk and Fairclough, draws on ideas from the interpretive tradition of discourse analysis, inspired by Foucault’s concepts of knowledge and power. This approach reveals the position of utility cycling by exposing the framing, dominant discourses, and discursive strategies that privilege certain transport objectives and activities over others.
The findings show transport is promoted almost exclusively by central government as an activity to facilitate economic growth and efficiency, despite its potential (and actual) impacts on health and well-being, social justice, and environmental sustainability. The discursive practices of the government privilege private motor vehicle use, helping to both legitimate and maintain that privilege at all levels of government, while positioning utility cycling as a marginalised mode of transport.
This thesis contributes to scholarship on utility cycling and land transport policy in New Zealand by identifying how the discursive strategies of government control the position of utility cycling in New Zealand. This study underscores the need for a central government-led, long-term strategic vision for a genuinely integrated, multi-modal transport system, in order for the benefits of utility cycling to be fully maximised
The Influence of Literature in 1960s British Popular Music: Approaches to Popular Composition
No full textThere is a noticeable influence of literature and literary techniques in the popular music songs of the countercultural period in Britain (1965-71). These dates, as noted by Jonathon Green, characterize the beginning of the UK countercultural movement of the 1960s, culminating with the 1971 trial of the OZ magazine, which Green regards as marking the end of the period (1999).
There are three main questions that this project explores. In what ways did songwriters of the era use literature as an inspiration in the compositional process? How can literary influenced songwriting techniques be used and extended in contemporary popular composition? How useful are these techniques and the extensions of these techniques in the compositional process?
This project investigates the influence of literature on the songwriters of the era by analysing relevant song examples and subsequently inventing systematic forms that songwriters today can use as a basis for composition. A portfolio of original compositions is included, which demonstrates various approaches to composition that abide by the systematic forms, which stem from the literary influence of the 1960s songwriters. This project makes a contribution to our knowledge and understanding of popular music, as the influence of literature, especially the application of literary techniques in the compositional process, is a subject that has not been researched previously in any great depth. The abundance of available literary techniques and the possibilities for the invention of techniques is an exciting prospect when applied to popular composition.
After highlighting certain issues such as the homogeneity of songwriters and poets, a brief contextual background is given concerning 1960s counterculture and popular music. A taxonomy of systematic forms is created, into which are placed literary influenced techniques used by songwriters such as Syd Barrett and John Lennon, illustrated by a number of examples. Explanations of the original compositions included in the portfolio highlight the attributes of various songwriting approaches and conclusions are drawn that look into the differing levels of constraint and artistic intuition and how these factors affect the compositional process
H-2B Visa. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
No full textabstract: For my thesis project I decided to research the H-2B visa program that is run by the United States Department of State. The program allows U.S employers who meet strict requirements to bring foreign nationals to the U.S in order to fill the jobs that are not being taken by American citizens. The yearly cap for the visas is set at 66,000 workers. 33,000 workers begin their employment the first half of the fiscal year from October 1 to March 31. The second 33,000 workers begin working from April 1 through September 30. I had the chance to speak with an employer and a worker to get a feel for what it was like to be a part of the H-2B visa program. I found out that hiring foreign workers through this program it is not an easy way out of hiring U.S citizens to fill jobs. The cost to hire a worker through the program costs $3,500, plus at least a state required minimum wage. The employer also said that he has to buy ad space in the paper for two weeks, as a pre-requirement to enter the visa program. He says that he will receive one call if he is lucky. The research I did revolves around talking about the myths that surround the visa, such as taking away American jobs, as well as the processing hardships that the employer and worker have to go through before being able to work. YouTube Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYveMApCml8&feature=em-upload_owne
Community-based risk management arrangements : an overview and implications for social fund programs
No full textRisk and its consequences pose a formidable threat to poverty reduction efforts. This study reviews a plethora of community-based risk management arrangements across the developing world. These types of arrangements are garnering greater interest in light of the growing recognition of the relative prominence of household or individual-specific idiosyncratic risk as well as the increasing shift towards community-based development funding. The study discusses potential advantages (such as targeting, cost, and informational) and disadvantages (such as exclusion and inability to manage correlated risk) of these arrangements, and their implications for the design of innovative social fund programs.Rural Poverty Reduction,Labor Policies,Insurance&Risk Mitigation,Currencies and Exchange Rates,Debt Markets
At limits of life: multidisciplinary insights reveal environmental constraints on biotic diversity in continental Antarctica
No full textData source: Supporting information, http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0044578#s5Multitrophic communities that maintain the functionality of the extreme Antarctic terrestrial ecosystems, while the simplest of any natural community, are still challenging our knowledge about the limits to life on earth. In this study, we describe and interpret the linkage between the diversity of different trophic level communities to the geological morphology and soil geochemistry in the remote Transantarctic Mountains (Darwin Mountains, 80uS). We examined the distribution and diversity of biota (bacteria, cyanobacteria, lichens, algae, invertebrates) with respect to elevation, age of glacial drift sheets, and soil physicochemistry. Results showed an abiotic spatial gradient with respect to the diversity of the organisms across different trophic levels. More complex communities, in terms of trophic level diversity, were related to the weakly developed younger drifts (Hatherton and Britannia) with higher soil C/N ratio and lower total soluble salts content (thus lower conductivity). Our results indicate that an increase of ion concentration from younger to older drift regions drives a succession of complex to more simple communities, in terms of number of trophic levels and diversity within each group of organisms analysed. This study revealed that integrating diversity across multi-trophic levels of biotic communities with abiotic spatial heterogeneity and geological history is fundamental to understand environmental constraints influencing biological distribution in Antarctic soil ecosystems.Catarina Magalhães, Mark I. Stevens, S. Craig Cary, Becky A. Ball, Bryan C. Storey, Diana H. Wall, Roman Tűrk and Ulrike Ruprech
Supplemental material for Canadian Stroke Best Practice Consensus Statement: <i>Acute Stroke Management during pregnancy</i>
No full textSupplemental material for Canadian Stroke Best Practice Consensus Statement: Acute Stroke Management during pregnancy by Noor Niyar N Ladhani, Richard H Swartz, Norine Foley, Kara Nerenberg, Eric E Smith, Gord Gubitz, Dariush Dowlatshahi, Jayson Potts, Joel G Ray, Jon Barrett, Cheryl Bushnell, Simerpreet Bal, Wee-Shian Chan, Radha Chari, Meryem El Amrani, Shital Gandhi, Michael D Hill, Andra James, Thomas Jeerakathil, Albert Jin, Adam Kirton, Sylvain Lanthier, Andrea Lausman, Lisa Rae Leffert, Jennifer Mandzia, Bijoy Menon, Aleksandra Pikula, Alexandre Poppe, Gustavo Saposnik, Mukul Sharma, Sanjit Bhogal, Elisabeth Smitko and M Patrice Lindsay; on behalf of the Heart and Stroke Foundation Canadian Stroke Best Practice and Quality Advisory Committees; in collaboration with the Canadian Stroke Consortium in International Journal of Stroke</p
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