Author Talks Research Articles

Phraseological False Equivalence in Upper-Sorbian and Polish

Abstract The paper discusses the phenomenon of phraseological false cognates on the example of Upper-Sorbian and Polish idioms. The author talks about the views on lexemic and phraseological false friends. The analysis examines the motivations of the differences in meaning between formal identical and similar phraseological units in Upper-Sorbian and Polish. It includes relevant examples to illustrate the categories of phraseological false friends within which dissimilarities are considered.

Response

The aim of our study was to show that epilepsy per se, and not necessarily catastrophic or progressive epilepsy, causes attention difficulties. Therefore, we included in this study primarily children with classical benign syndromes as well as a few children with cryptogenic epilepsies whose seizures were well controlled, attended regular school classes, and had a benign clinical course. Patients with cryptogenic epilepsies with a more complicated course were excluded. This selection policy was clearly stated in the article. Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder in Children With Benign Epilepsy and Their SiblingsPediatric NeurologyVol. 45Issue 3PreviewIn regard to the study by Bennett-Back et al. [1], there are some mistakes with respect to nomenclature that could mislead or confuse the readers. The authors talk about “benign epilepsy” and include both idiopathic and cryptogenic types. This is not the conventional idea of benign epilepsy. In the article’s Table 1, the authors mix epileptic seizures and electroclinical syndromes. They also use the term “idiopathic absence epilepsy” instead of “childhood absence epilepsy.” “Benign epilepsy” should have been properly explained. Full-Text PDF

Philosophical dialogue as a space for seeking a good life, identity and critical thinking

Abstract In recent years (since the 1980s) we have witnessed growth in the practical application of philosophy. Some authors talk about a so-called “shift in philosophical counselling” or “philosophical practice” taking place chiefly in western countries. Some Slovak authors also discuss the application of philosophy in practice but this issue is only in its infancy here. The author of this paper seeks to establish the boundaries of understanding the possibilities philosophy has to offer in practical life and to formulate an opinion on the competency of philosophy in this area. The author believes that it is the “good life” that is central to the agenda of philosophical practice. The aim of philosophical counselling is to advise people through their personal life philosophy. It is a conversational process that controls dialectic thinking and reflects the fears and questions that arise in everyday life as well as questions about the meaning of life as a whole. The author understands philosophical dialogue as a space for seeking a good life, identity and critical thinking.

A Eureka Moment [AP-S Turnstile

The author talks about his firsthand experience with magnetic-levitation technology and its application to density measurement.

Sleights of mind

Have you ever wondered how magicians are able to make things disappear in front of your eyes? It may come as little surprise to the readers of this journal that these feats are carried out without supernatural powers. Instead, magicians use a wide range of powerful psychological techniques to manipulate perception and awareness. Sleights of Mind: What the Neuroscience of Magic Reveals about Our Everyday Deceptions is written by Stephen Macknik and Susana Martinez-Conde, two well-established neuroscientists working at the Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix. Over the last three years, they have formed links with renowned magicians and have tried to explain magic tricks in terms of psychological and neurobiological processes. In this book, the authors describe their journey into the secretive world of magic. By describing some of the magicians’ techniques and revealing many (perhaps too many) of their secrets, the authors try to explain some of the psychological and neurobiological processes involved in everyday cognition. Sleights of Mind was preceded by journal publications in which the authors explored some of the links between magic and neuroscience (1). Their thesis is that scientists can learn much from magicians and that doing so may advance neuroscience by decades. Sleights of Mind is an extension of this, and in the book they declare themselves the founders of a new discipline they call neuromagic. This is a surprise, given that the authors, who head two large neuroscience research groups, have in fact not published any empirical work that has been inspired by magic. This presents the central flaw with this text: although the term neuromagic may be new, the authors’ claims of having founded this field of science do not reflect their own level of research in this area or pay due recognition to the established body of work that precedes this book (2). That said, the general topic of magic and neuroscience will be of interest to a fairly wide readership. The main substance of the book is based on interviews with some of the world’s most renowned magicians, who offer great insights into their rather secretive world. While some magicians will be perturbed by the way in which many well-kept secrets are revealed, the depths and details of these methods will provide an easy thrill for the nonmagician. For example, professional pickpocket Apollo Robbins offers intriguing insights into how he misdirects his marks’ attention in order to steal their possessions. Similarly, Teller describes one of the classics in magic, the “Miser’s Dream,” in which the magician plucks countless coins out of thin air and illustrates how magicians manipulate your assumptions about the world. Most of the examples are then followed by descriptions of everyday cognitive processes. The authors use the principle of misdirection to describe the way in which the visual system systematically selects the relevant information, resulting in a rather impoverished representation of the world, which leaves much scope for deception. While the book is valuable for its descriptions, many of the conclusions seem rather speculative and are rarely backed up by scientific evidence. The authors have immersed themselves in the world of magic and should be commended for their collaborations with eminent and insightful magicians. While the authors place themselves at the front of a “new” scientific field, they neglect both past and current research concerning the scientific study of magic. They fail to acknowledge that scientists as far back as the 1900s have explored the psychological mechanisms involved in conjuring (3). In addition, many of the concepts covered by this book are psychological rather than neurobiological, and the neuroscience used to describe magic often feels imposed. Given that the authors are active scientists, it is also perplexing that numerous recent scientific findings have been missed. For example, in the chapter on misdirection, the authors talk about how magicians use social cues (e.g., where they are looking) to misdirect people’s attention, but fail to mention research that has already investigated these issues (4). Similarly, they raise the possibility that individuals with autism who have difficulties in processing social information may be less readily misdirected and therefore more likely to detect the magician’s secret, without discussing work that has investigated these questions (5). Sleights of Mind offers interesting insights into the tricks and techniques used by magicians that will be of interest to many readers. Moreover, the use of magic as a vehicle to describe cognitive and neurological processes generally works well. However, I was disappointed by the presumptuous and unsubstantiated accounts and claims within the book. As the authors fail to propose a clear framework for their idea of a new “neuromagic” and do not present any of their own neuroscientific contributions to the field, this book should be taken as a personal account rather than the birth of a new scientific discipline.

Prison Libraries in Poland: Partners in Rehabilitation, Culture, and Education

This article describes the rehabilitation programs of the Polish Prison Service, which incorporate various types of cultural, educational, and library activities. The main focus is on the author's analysis of rehabilitation programs in existence between 1981 and the present. The changes in the laws that govern these activities are described, as well as how the organization of the Polish prison system and the current sentence structure determine how rehabilitation programs are provided in the correctional institutions. The goals and objectives of prison libraries are explored, as they relate to the rehabilitation process and activities. The library collections and access to library materials are discussed, as well as library premises and library staffing. The author's research data form the basis for the analysis of prison library development over the last thirty years. The article also discusses various innovative rehabilitation programs that have been implemented under the theme of "education through culture and art." These include, among others, cultural and educational programs to help substance abusers overcome their addition and readjust to society, assertiveness training, and participation in cultural activities. These programs are also designed to enhance the offenders' literacy skills and to encourage their creativity and potential talent in music and fine arts. Finally, the article describes prison theater activities, literary clubs, and activities that promote reading (e.g., book exhibits, author talks, and the reading of books over the prison broadcasting system).

Sociological Reading of the Palestinian Society in the Gaza Strip (Arabic)

The purpose of Alsakka paper is to present a sociological reading of Palestinian society in Gaza and the birth of Palestinian nationalism and the mechanisms for preparing fertile ground for the birth of the Palestinian entity. In his paper Sakka presents the particularity of the legal status of Gaza Strip, especially while it was under Egyptian rule until 1967. With the Israeli occupation, the Strip had been transformed into an example of the most severe type of colonialism, as it pushed both the social and the economic sectors out of balance. In the second section of the paper, the author talks about the reproduction of social conservatism through the mechanisms of production of institutionalized colonial speech and through internal mechanisms, concluding that Palestinian nationalism is fragile like any other nationalism, and hyperbolizing the scene of the Egyptian influence on the Strip, and many other conclusions.

The Relationship Between Multiple Intelligences, Culture And Diversity

The topic of intelligence, whether hereditary or acquired, has been the subject of discussion since the beginning of time and will probably keep researchers and authors talking for many years to come. However, one statement needs to be clarified that studies seem to indicate that people of all backgrounds and cultures have similar capacities of intelligences. Despite this fact, there seems to be widespread discrimination and stereotypes in todays workplace. Effective management and leadership require that our workplaces are free of biases so everyone can work synergistically. The paper provides some reflections on multiple intelligences, culture and diversity management and concludes by offering a discussion of social and emotional intelligences for diversity management as well as suggestions for tolerating, respecting and understanding each others differences.

Święci w kalendarzowej praktyce liturgicznej kościoła prawosławnego

The process of forming a church calendars in the context of placing the names of saints was an important part of the veneration of saints in the Orthodox Church. The establishment of the day or days of prayer to them was a long and complicated process. Despite of the general foreword, the article deals with initial part of that process, beginning from the edict of Milan of 313 up to 10th century. Author talks about the evaluation of the veneration of different types of the sanctity (holiness): martyrs, apostles, saint hierarchs of the Church, venerable (monastic), right-believing, unmercenary physicians, fool-for-Christ in calendar context. The placing of their names into so called diptychs initially was local. The lists of martyrs from diptychs (kind of ancients calendars) were presented during the service in the temples. Later, step by step, knowledge of these saints became wider and finally names of the saints found their place in calendar of whole Church. The article presents the best know ancient Church calendars, beginning from the lists of martyrs in the order of their death, i.e. Roman “Depositio martyrum” of the year of 354. Than it gives short outline of“ Chronograph” written by Furius Dionisius Filokalus, and wider review of “Syrian Martyrologium” of 362, which is sometimes called “the first all-Church calendar” and “Martyrologium Hieronimianum”, that was written in the middle of 5th century – a half of 6th century. The last calendar presented in the article is “Typicon of the Great Constantinople Church” written in 9th-10th century. Every next calendar had more and more names of saints in them. The author pay some attention to the differences between Western and Easter calendar of those times in the process of their development.

Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder in Children With Benign Epilepsy and Their Siblings

In regard to the study by Bennett-Back et al. [1], there are some mistakes with respect to nomenclature that could mislead or confuse the readers. The authors talk about “benign epilepsy” and include both idiopathic and cryptogenic types. This is not the conventional idea of benign epilepsy. In the article’s Table 1, the authors mix epileptic seizures and electroclinical syndromes. They also use the term “idiopathic absence epilepsy” instead of “childhood absence epilepsy.” “Benign epilepsy” should have been properly explained.

Les récits d’enfance lecléziens – entre autobiographie et fiction

Autobiographie et fiction se rencontrent dans les textes de J.M.G. Le Clézio pour former un tout cohérent. Parler de la création romanesque dans Le chercheur d’or, La Quarantaine ou Onitsha signifie à la fois mettre l’accent sur l’héritage reçu pendant les premières années de vie. La liaison inédite entre les souvenirs d’un “temps heureux” et les histoires familiales que nous apercevons derrière le parcours identitaire des personnages certifie l’ ”altération” des frontières génériques. La mémoire familiale dont parlait Ricœur met en scène un “nous” englobant ancêtres et héritiers, individus porteurs d’un trésor inestimable: une mythologie collective qui marque la redécouverte de l’origine. L’ “en-quête” que Le Clézio entreprend le rattache au passé. Pour recréer la magie de l’enfance, il ré-évoque le passé tout en s’appuyant sur des souvenirs ou des documents. Ces vrais “biographèmes” démontrent à quel point l’écriture de Le Clézio se trouve à la lisière de l’auto(bio)fiction.

Badinter in Macedonian Constitutional Court: Novum or requiem

In this paper author talks about Macedonian constitutional court and the possibility of adopting a new principle so called Badinter principle. This principle is already in use in Macedonian Parliament and his basic goal is protecting the national minorities from being over voted in the Parliament. Whit this Albanian minority wants to insure that the law's who are pass in the Parliament with this principle, would apply in the Constitutional court exactly the same. According the author this will only provide exception of constitutionality of law's who are past in the parliament with Badinter principle. National minorities can't get a bigger protection of their rights which they currently enjoy, without putting the majority in subordinate role and breaking the fundamental principles of rule of law. Constitutional court should keep the same competencies and the way of deciding who are well accepted in comparative practice. Only way out of these situations is electing judges who are professional and who would resist the political pressure, and would lead only by law.

Book Review: "Neuroelectrodynamics: Understanding the Brain Language" D. Aur and M. S. Jog (2010)

In this book, Neuroelectrodynamics: Understanding the Brain Language, the authors implicitly talk about a paradigm shift. They literally postulate that the central tenets of computational neuroscience and neural computation are bluntly wrong. On p. 76 the authors state: “the current theories of neural computation fail to mimic the power of the brain, new concepts regarding computation need to be developed.” The authors use the Against Method which would seem to me to be an anarchistic approach to science given that no alternative mathematical models are presented to support their view. However, the authors’ claim in the last chapter that the book is not meant to include detailed mathematical complexities as it is meant as an introductory book to lay the groundwork for what the authors call the “NED (neuro-electro-dynamics) model”. This contradicts the authors’ statement on p. 30: “The fundamental postulates of this book are based upon providing a mathematical formulation and an experimental base to understand brain computation.” In a nutshell, the book is all about as stated on p. 79 “considering charges as basic elements of neural computation in the brain.” It discusses about the need for those who study brain computations to move forward based on the presence of how the dynamics of charged particles interact in three-dimensional neurons. The method is designated as the “computational cube” paradigm allowing for the neurobiology of semantics to be developed through dynamics of charges “read” by neighboring neurons both synaptically and extrasynaptically. This is expanded in detail in chapter four, which is the main chapter of the book. A representation of an image is decoded i.e., “read” when a certain density of charges in a certain volume is evaluated through a repeated cycle of coding and decoding. However, no clear algorithms are postulated on how this is actually accomplished. The authors talk about the neurobiology of semantics as changes in the emergent dynamics of electrical charges and their interactions

Autism & the Transition to Adulthood: Success Beyond the Classroom

Autism & the Transition to Adulthood: Success Beyond the Classroom

Linguistic and Cultural Education for Bildung and Citizenship

The article discusses the relationship between linguistic and cultural education. The author looks at the German concept of Bilding, the interplay between the individual and the world that is the formation of the individual. The author talks about the purposes of language teaching in reaction to the First World War. The author explains that following the war, policymakers in Great Britain stated that a knowledge of other countries and their national cultures might have influenced the course of the war. The article also discusses attention to the linguistic competence needed in social action and intercultural citizenship.

To Our Authors

To Our Authors

Computational Epistemology and e-Science: A New Way of Thinking

Recent trends towards an e-Science offer us the opportunity to think about the specific epistemological changes created by computational empowerment in scientific practices. In fact, we can say that a computational epistemology exists that requires our attention. By `computational epistemology' I mean the computational processes implied or required to achieve human knowledge. In that category we can include AI, supercomputers, expert systems, distributed computation, imaging technologies, virtual instruments, middleware, robotics, grids or databases. Although several authors talk about the extended mind and computational extensions of the human body, most of these proposals don't analyze the deep epistemological implications of computer empowerment in scientific practices. At the same time, we must identify the principal concept for e-Science: Information. Why should we think about a new epistemology for e-Science? Because several processes exist around scientific information that require a good epistemological model to be understood.

Sydney Tar Ponds Remediation

The infamous “Sydney Tar Ponds” are well known as one of the largest toxic waste sites of Canada, due to almost 100 years of steelmaking in Sydney, a once beautiful and peaceful city located on the east side of Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia. This article begins with a contextual overview of the Tar Ponds issue including a brief introduction and history and summaries of the effects on the earth, the people, and the biotic community (animals and vegetation). Then the authors talk about the STS analysis approach, namely, a discussion of six systems to indicate what has been brought to the earth and mankind by technology and modern industry. The remaining part of the article describes the difficulties confronting China, some of which are similar to the ones Canada faces as a result of the Tar Ponds contamination, and summarizes some of the experiences at Tar Ponds and the lessons China can learn from Tar Ponds.

The Post-Recession Challenge of Innovation

At a time when the world is still in a heads-down crisis mode, R Gopalakrishnan sees the global economy looking up and hesitantly bidding farewell to the bottom of markets. At such a juncture, it is a challenge for the managers to find answers to the contradictions arising in an economy in transition. The author tells the story of Tata—how it navigated the different waves of capability at different times and is now preparing itself for the phase after meltdown—with an increased focus on its innovative capabilities. First clarifying the concept of Innovation—as a programmed implementation of an invention—something that is difficult to replicate, the author talks about the different variations of innovations, and how the Tata group is trying to align its aspirations and create an architecture that would enable the realization of its innovation objectives, finally admitting that the ultimate goal should be to liberate the innovative gene inside a person and the organization. Our challenge is to build on the legacy of creativity, he concludes.

Facilitadores y barreras para la sostenibilidad de la mejora continua: Un estudio cualitativo en proveedores del automóvil de la Comunidad Valenciana

In recent years it has been widely discussed the use of continuous improvement in all kind of business and particularly in companies belonging to the automotive industry. Many authors mention improvements, in key indicators of production through the use of continuous improvement tools. At the same time, different authors talk about how to sustain the continuous improvement over time, and try to identify inhibitors and enablers for the sustainability of continuous improvement. But despite this, one can still find first tier suppliers in the automotive industry which have not implemented systems of continuous improvement. This study aims to identify, classify, prioritize and discuss the different enablers and inhibitors which can be found in automotive suppliers companies. For that reason some interviews were conducted with first tier suppliers in the automotive industry that have succeeded or failed in implementing continuous improvement. We have tried to understand better the problems for the implementation and sustainability of continuous improvement.