Changing Social Conditions Research Articles

Papieża Franciszka inspiracje dla duszpasterstwa młodzieży

Duszpasterstwo młodzieży jest posługą zbawczą Kościoła wobec młodzieży szkolnej, pozaszkolnej, akademickiej i pracującej. Jak każde duszpasterstwo wymaga ono przystosowania do zmieniających się warunków społeczno­‑kulturowych. Poszukując odpowiedzi na pytanie o kształt duszpasterstwa młodzieży w obecnym czasie, warto zwrócić uwagę na sugestie papieża Franciszka, które znajdziemy w adhortacji apostolskiej Evangelii gaudium.Wspomniany dokument podkreśla konieczności cierpliwego i miłosiernego słuchania młodego człowieka oraz ofiarowania mu swojego czasu. Ponadto stawia postulat wypracowania i posługiwania się zrozumiałym językiem w pracy z młodzieżą oraz budowania środowiska chrześcijańskiego. Istotny jest także wysiłek na rzecz pogłębionej duchowości oraz odważne poszukiwania nowych dróg w duszpasterskiej pracy z młodymi ludźmi.

Advantage for the sex changer who retains the gonad of the nonfunctional sex

Many species of teleost fish live in coral reefs and change sex depending on their social status; some even demonstrate sex change in both directions. Typically, in the absence of a more dominant competitive individual, the fish functions as a male; however, when a more competitively superior individual arrives, the focal fish becomes a female. Among these bidirectional sex changers, there are species that retain the gonads of the currently nonfunctional sex, i.e., a male retains female reproductive tissues or a female retains male reproductive tissues. We construct a game-theoretic model and examine the conditions under which gonads of both the functional and the nonfunctional sex would be kept. We observe that a focal fish always retains both gonads when the social conditions change frequently in either direction, while it retains only the gonads of the currently functional sex when there is an infrequent change of social conditions. However, in order to explain the observed patterns of a monogamous goby Paragobiodon echinocephalus that undergoes a complete reconstruction of the entire gonad during sex change and a polygynous goby Trimma okinawae that retains the gonad of the nonfunctional sex, we need to assume that the cost of a male retaining the female gonad is much less than that of a female retaining a male gonad. We argue that this assumption is plausible given structural differences in male and female fitness payoffs. Among coral fish that exhibit bidirectional sex change, some retain the gonad of the nonfunctional sex as well as the current sex, while others exhibit the gonad of the current sex only. A game-theoretic model was developed to investigate under what conditions we might expect a bidirectional sex changer should keep the gonad of the nonfunctional sex. The frequency of sex change opportunity, the time required to reconstruct the gonad, and the maintenance cost all affect the evolution of gonad retention. A quantitative parameterization of the model for well-studied species concluded that the cost for a male to keep a female gonad must be much smaller than the cost for a female to retain a male gonad. The results demonstrated the importance of combining physiological and morphological aspects in the evolutionary ecology of sex changing fish.

Social Status-Dependent Shift in Neural Circuit Activation Affects Decision Making.

In a social group, animals make behavioral decisions that fit their social ranks. These behavioral choices are dependent on the various social cues experienced during social interactions. In vertebrates, little is known of how social status affects the underlying neural mechanisms regulating decision-making circuits that drive competing behaviors. Here, we demonstrate that social status in zebrafish (Danio rerio) influences behavioral decisions by shifting the balance in neural circuit activation between two competing networks (escape and swim). We show that socially dominant animals enhance activation of the swim circuit. Conversely, social subordinates display a decreased activation of the swim circuit, but an enhanced activation of the escape circuit. In an effort to understand how social status mediates these effects, we constructed a neurocomputational model of the escape and swim circuits. The model replicates our findings and suggests that social status-related shift in circuit dynamics could be mediated by changes in the relative excitability of the escape and swim networks. Together, our results reveal that changes in the excitabilities of the Mauthner command neuron for escape and the inhibitory interneurons that regulate swimming provide a cellular mechanism for the nervous system to adapt to changes in social conditions by permitting the animal to select a socially appropriate behavioral response.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Understanding how social factors influence nervous system function is of great importance. Using zebrafish as a model system, we demonstrate how social experience affects decision making to enable animals to produce socially appropriate behavior. Based on experimental evidence and computational modeling, we show that behavioral decisions reflect the interplay between competing neural circuits whose activation thresholds shift in accordance with social status. We demonstrate this through analysis of the behavior and neural circuit responses that drive escape and swim behaviors in fish. We show that socially subordinate animals favor escape over swimming, while socially dominants favor swimming over escape. We propose that these differences are mediated by shifts in relative circuit excitability.

PROBLEMS EXPERIENCED IN EVALUATING SUCCESS AND PERFORMANCE IN DISTANCE EDUCATION: A CASE STUDY

The need for distance education is increasing due to such reasons as keeping up with the changing social conditions, meeting the learning needs of the individuals and enabling them to be lifelong learners. In addition to many advantages distance education provides, it also has certain restrictions. One of these restrictions is the problems encountered in evaluating students’ success and performance. The purpose of this study is to examine the viewpoints of lecturers regarding the evaluation process of academic success and performance of those students who are attending to online distance education program and to compare lecturers’ views on assessment and evaluation practices carried out in face-to-face classroom environment with those online assessment and evaluation practices. The study was a case study and the data of the study were collected from the lecturers who lectured in a distant education program of a state university. Based on the findings of the study, the problems that lecturers have in evaluating the success and performance of the students in online distance education and possible solution suggestions for these problems are presented.

Design in Japan: Contemporary Perspectives on Design Practice

Design in Japan:Contemporary Perspectives on Design Practice Ignacio Adriasola (bio) The following translations complete the selection of texts by theorists, critics, and practitioners of design accompanying the Review of Japanese Culture and Society's special issue "Design and Society in Japan" (Vol. XXVIII, December 2016, guest edited by Ignacio Adriasola, Sarah Teasley, and Jilly Traganou). These texts—which were deferred due to difficulties with our timeline for publication—provide an important supplement to the critical essays by Yoko Akama and Christian Dimmer. The translations published here include an interview with graphic designer Sugiura Kōhei conducted in 2013; the minutes for a meeting of the Can Fashion Be Renewed? Study Group (Fasshon ga kōshin dekiruno ka? Kaigi gijiroku, 2012), which for the previous five years had engaged academics and practitioners in a debate on critical issues in apparel design; an editorial detailing the adjudication process for specialized magazine Nikkei Design's first Smart Design Award in 2012; and the epilogue to Kakei Yūsuke's book Practical Guide for Social Design (Sōsharu dezain jissen gaido, 2013). A key figure in the development of graphic design in postwar Japan, Sugiura Kōhei (b. 1932) spearheaded a revolution that quietly unfolded in the pages of some of the key journals of the period, ranging from specialized publications such as Shinkenchiku (known in its English-language edition as The Japan Architect) to the general cultural magazine Ginka (Silver Leaf). On the side, Sugiura was also involved in ambitious collaborations with avant-garde artists, producing lavish photobooks for Hosoe Eikoh (Barakei, 1963) and Kawada Kikuji (The Map [Chizu], 1965), and collaborating with architect Isozaki Arata in the proto-installation Electric Labyrinth, presented at the Milan Design Triennial of 1968, among other important projects. While not part of the Metabolist group, Sugiura was deeply influenced by some of the group's ideas. In the 2013 interview reproduced here (originally published in the journal Aidea; translated by Mycah Braxton), Sugiura reflects on some of the ideas informing his practice, which [End Page 285] he absorbed from the rich discussions that emerged from the crucible of the 1960s: new ideas concerning the nature of information, the international aspirations of Japan's emerging design scene, the biomorphic metaphors Sugiura introduced for approaching publications as objects, and how Metabolism's stress on the distinctiveness of an Asian viewpoint had allowed him to revisit and reframe the Bauhaus paradigms for design he had acquired as a student, and more directly engaged as a visiting lecturer at the Hochschule für Gestaltung Ulm, in Germany. The three remaining texts provide a sample of contemporary perspectives on design: from attempts to bridge academic discussion and practice; to corporate responses to social issues; and, finally, community-oriented design interventions. Directly informing these discussions we find important changes in Japan's social, economic, and political conditions. As is commonly known, following the crash of the asset price bubble in the early 1990s, Japan's economic growth rate slowed down significantly—a situation that has extended for over two decades. While some recent economic indicators appear to suggest a return to limited growth, there is still no consensus among economists and policymakers on the root causes of this slowdown, or clear ways to address it. Seeking a return to growth, successive governments implemented partial liberalization measures in finance, public spending, and the labor market; however, these measures brought with them a significant reduction of the social safety net that once characterized postwar Japan, and this has led in turn to heightened forms of social inequality.1 A broader historical view would suggest that the shifts currently being experienced by Japanese society and its economy—rather than signaling a new phenomenon—express in a more pronounced manner some of the basic features and contradictions inherent to Japan's model of modernization. For example, the shifts in economic production, population decline and ageing, and the environmental effects of industrialization are not equally distributed across Japan—the situation in the rural areas of the northeast and the transalpine regions differs dramatically from that in large metropolitan areas such as Tokyo or Osaka.2 And, like elsewhere, such inequalities become particularly evident at times of disaster...

HIV/AIDS and Academic Research Institutions-Consider a New Era.

HIV/AIDS and Academic Research Institutions—Consider a New Era Kim Dobson Sydnor, PhD (bio) HIV/AIDS has been a public health issue in the United States since 1981,1 and has been a global health concern even longer. From a very reductionist view of the epidemic in the United States, HIV/AIDS has evolved from a White, male, homosexual disease with a near certain prospect of mortality to a chronic disease prevalent among young men, specifically Black and Latino/Hispanic men, who have sex with other men. The global health goal seeks elimination of HIV/AIDS by 2030 with key targets by year 2020. The 90% targets include the following: 90% of those infected knowing their HIV status; 90% under treatment having suppressed viral loads; and 90% of young people living in high-prevalence settings having access to primary and secondary sexual and reproductive health services.2 Healthy People 2020 targets reflect, to some extent, the global agenda.3 Despite progress made in treatment and efforts at pharmaceutically-based prevention, the goals are not without challenge as infection rates have increased in some population sectors. The transition from a fatal illness to chronic disease may hold some insight into understanding why the disease is showing upticks or failing to show expected decreases in incidence and prevalence in particular segments of the population. The further complexity of changing times, social conditions and systems, and cultural norms may be in play as well. The current data show behaviorally the most at-risk groups contributing to the incidence and prevalence of HIV are men who have sex with men (MSM); the most at-risk age group are those between the ages of 13–24; and based on race/ethnicity, African Americans and Hispanics contribute to incidence and prevalence beyond the proportion of their representation in the general population. How this translates into the numbers: in 2014, 82% of new cases of HIV infection were among those aged 20–24; for ages 13–24, most of the newly diagnosed cases were males identifying as gay or bisexual males, and in this age group the proportion of new cases was disproportionately high among African Americans.4 Considering the age group most at risk, the current members of the cohort, and those coming behind them, did not witness the first waves of the epidemic where funerals and quilts with the names of loved ones who did not survive were the order of the day; where the stigma was so great the disease was discussed in hushed tones and only among a trusted few. Now celebrities announce their status looking fit and healthy, and messages of education and management of the disease abound. Not only is treatment available but pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEp)5 offers a pre-emptive option [End Page vi] against contracting the virus. It is within this environment that HIV/AIDS continues to have a stronghold that warrants focused public attention. In what is termed here the new era of HIV infection, a commensurate public health response is required; the challenge is made more difficult, especially with the developmental characteristics of a younger age group, the irony being that the perceived threat of the virus has been greatly reduced through public health advancements, including treatment and prevention options, and the experience of those living with HIV. What to do? Consider a Community-Centered Ecological Approach In an environment of rapid information dissemination, of social media for personal communications, of shifting sexual norms, of persistent racism, of structural economic inequities, and of persistent social injustices, the risk and consequences of infection for emerging adults have changed in profound ways, many not readily identified and measured. With the combination of decreased threat and shifting ecology of the disease, this is now a much more behaviorally complex issue. If viewed from a behavioral perspective, the options would be limited. Reviewing the current slate of programs and strategies to respond to the epidemic, a significant shift in dealing with HIV/AIDS seems to be in play demonstrating an ecological understanding and acknowledgment that the foundation that sustains the epidemic today is not simply/solely a matter of individualized risk factors (behavior, e.g.) and that the solution...

SENDİKALI KADINLAR VE YAŞADIKLARI SORUNLAR: KOCAELİ-GÖLCÜK’DE KAMU ÇALIŞANLARI SENDİKALARI ÜZERİNE NİTEL BİR ARAŞTIRMA

Trade Unions, resulted from revolutionary changes in social and working conditions caused by the industrial revolution, since the day they appeared, have developed in a male-dominant structure and in these structure problems of unionized women workers have always remained in the background. In the study, the problems of unionized women that they encounter in unions were studied by employing interview method as a qualitative research method. The obtained results were investigated by content analysis and various reasons for the problems were reached. These reasons include lack of attendance to union organizations owing to their role in the family, the fact that their responsibilities prevent them from participating in management and institutional/employer strictions regarding this participation, the fact that unions inadequately deal with sex-based problems of theirfemale members and that there’s a hidden gender apartheid in codetermination. By individual interviews and literature reviews, it was concluded in the study that unions may overcome these problems by addressing their female members’ problems and by enabling more women to take active roles in unions’ decision making bodies.

SEMBOLİK TÜKETİMİN LÜKS MARKALARA OLAN İZDÜŞÜMÜ: LOUIS VUITTON MARKASININ DERGİ REKLAMLARINA YÖNELİK BİR ANALİZ

The phenomenon of luxury has a long history. It is a phenomenon closely associated with the increases in consumption that depend on the changing social and technological conditions of our time. In today’s world, where people self-actualize through consumption and shape their lifestyle in a consumption-oriented way, the concept of luxury has profoundly influenced the brands that are the most conspicuous symbols of the marketing world. Located at the center of production and symbolic consumption network, with their symbolic component, luxury brands, have come to the forefront as one of the dimensions of value in the concept of luxury. The literature review showed that concepts of luxury, luxury brands and symbolic consumption have been investigated in numerous studies, but there is little research on the relationship between luxury brands and advertisements, the marketing and communication tool, within the context of symbolic consumption. Consequently, the purpose of this study is to delve into the luxury brand products that cover all aspects of human life within the context of symbolic consumption and to identify potential associations between the cues in advertisements for luxury brands and symbolic consumption. To that end, the magazine advertisements of Louis Vuitton, the label with the highest brand value in the luxury category according to the data of BrandZ and Bloomberg in 2015, were analyzed using semiotic analysis. If a general assessment is made of advertisements on the basis of the Freudian model, conspicuous consumption theory and pseudo individualism theory, it can be said that the main points sought to be conveyed through symbols are not about the functionality of the advertised product, but rather the codes that direct people to symbolic consumption, such as being different, privilege, worth, status, exclusivity, feeling special, vanity, indulgence and identity.

Privacy is an essentially contested concept: a multi-dimensional analytic for mapping privacy.

The meaning of privacy has been much disputed throughout its history in response to wave after wave of new technological capabilities and social configurations. The current round of disputes over privacy fuelled by data science has been a cause of despair for many commentators and a death knell for privacy itself for others. We argue that privacy's disputes are neither an accidental feature of the concept nor a lamentable condition of its applicability. Privacy is essentially contested. Because it is, privacy is transformable according to changing technological and social conditions. To make productive use of privacy's essential contestability, we argue for a new approach to privacy research and practical design, focused on the development of conceptual analytics that facilitate dissecting privacy's multiple uses across multiple contexts.This article is part of the themed issue 'The ethical impact of data science'.

Płynna tożsamość czy tożsamości wielorakie młodzieży?

Identity is commonly understood as the process of creating an image of oneself. It is, similarly to personality, a psychical disposition which is acquired in the course of experiencing reality. Unlike personality, identity is not passively shaped by the environment, but each individual has a significant impact on the development of his or her own identity, so that the person can consciously distinguish oneself from other people in the group. On the one hand, constructing identity is the way a pupil looks for the most optimal environment for one’s development, and on the other hand, acquired identity determines the logic of this person’s behaviour. The period of adolescence is especially crucial for the development of identity as it is then that a young person faces new ways to participate in the world. Experience of the world through new media has a huge impact on identity, which is formed on the basis of some points of reference. These points of reference are mainly role models popularized by media. The high speed of the changes in social life results in similarly rapid alteration of identity. In liquid reality we can observe also liquid identity, which is accommodated to current social needs. It is characteristic that participation in Internet communities is the impulse for the creation of many network identities, which are selectively used in various situation. A phenomenon that may be described as the existence of multiple identities results in the fact that young people have difficulties in being aware of their own identity as well as in understanding themselves and their personality. As a result, it causes frustration, uncertainty and a feeling of being lost. Consequently, it can lead to chaos in thinking and acting. Therefore, media education aims at preventing these alarming phenomena. Studies were conducted that aimed at placing identity in social and cultural context and they permitted the question of whether a contemporary pupil was able to define himself on his own and describe his own identity to be addressed. In other words, the question was: Can a pupil cope with the process of creating the picture of oneself through experiencing reality? The research goal of this article is to analyze the personality structure of identity and, based on its background, to answer the question what is its impact on possible identity changes in current social conditions. However, the answer, which is important for educators, is not explicit and it rather implies that changes of identity may occur in two ways: as slow and smooth or abrupt and multiple. Bearing in mind that current pedagogy goes beyond its own framework and it more and more often also uses psychological tools, the article follows such a perspective and presents all dissertations, which concern the problem of searching and creating liquid identity and multiple identities, in the broader context—as the digital intermediation of social structures.

Alternative stable states and the sustainability of forests, grasslands, and agriculture

Endangered forest–grassland mosaics interspersed with expanding agriculture and silviculture occur across many parts of the world, including the southern Brazilian highlands. This natural mosaic ecosystem is thought to reflect alternative stable states driven by threshold responses of recruitment to fire and moisture regimes. The role of adaptive human behavior in such systems remains understudied, despite its pervasiveness and the fact that such ecosystems can exhibit complex dynamics. We develop a nonlinear mathematical model of coupled human–environment dynamics in mosaic systems and social processes regarding conservation and economic land valuation. Our objective is to better understand how the coupled dynamics respond to changes in ecological and social conditions. The model is parameterized with southern Brazilian data on mosaic ecology, land-use profits, and questionnaire results concerning landowner preferences and conservation values. We find that the mosaic presently resides at a crucial juncture where relatively small changes in social conditions can generate a wide variety of possible outcomes, including complete loss of mosaics; large-amplitude, long-term oscillations between land states that preclude ecosystem stability; and conservation of the mosaic even to the exclusion of agriculture/silviculture. In general, increasing the time horizon used for conservation decision making is more likely to maintain mosaic stability. In contrast, increasing the inherent conservation value of either forests or grasslands is more likely to induce large oscillations—especially for forests—due to feedback from rarity-based conservation decisions. Given the potential for complex dynamics, empirically grounded nonlinear dynamical models should play a larger role in policy formulation for human–environment mosaic ecosystems.

The Drive for a Monolingual Order: Segregation and Democracy in Our Time

ABSTRACTThis paper explores the changing contours of politics and democracy in our times by examining the ways in which populations and privileges are increasingly being distributed in cities and countries across the globe. In the light of these changing demographic and social conditions, it asks what are the appropriate terms for analysis of such population groups and their political aspirations, and suggests that we are working with outmoded analytical frames, concepts and languages that belong to another time. It goes on to a brief examination of the kinds of fault-lines that remain and that allow for a range of political initiatives and possibilities.

Von der Unmöglichkeit nicht zu kommunizieren

Abstract The paper examines corporate communication after industrial accidents and the media reception of this communication. It compares the accident at BASF in 1921 with that of 1976 at Meda, better known as the Seveso disaster. The leading thesis is that patriarchal concepts of corporate governance marked the companies’ communications in both cases. They were instrumental, alongside strategic and legal considerations, to the communicative appropriation of actions taken, as well as for public activities of the managements. However, a different configuration of the patriarchal concept of communication on the one hand and changing social conditions on the other, effected a shift in the perception of communicative action in public media. The comparison shows two things. First, successful crisis communication in the sense of social acceptance requires that concepts of order, which define the communicative behavior of companies, match those that characterize societal expectations. And second, the comparison reveals that any kind of corporate activity after industrial accidents, even public restraint, is conceived as an act of communication in a mass media society.

It's Not About the Whales: The Continued Need for Protectionist Environmental Law

Environmental law is altering the understanding and practice of law. Environmental Law is a legal discipline derived from social movements during the 1960s and 1970s, and has progressively received social, political, cultural, and legal acceptance. But its legitimacy is derived from extra-legal evidence. Law experienced a similar shift during the Progressive Era of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Progressive legal scholars promoted the Law and Society Movement, which focused on the concept of "legal realism." Legal realism argued that courts consider legal and non-legal evidence in their decision-making processes. They preferred to base legal arguments on empirical research rather than traditional legal rules and institutions. In his 1881 work The Common Law, legal historian Oliver Wendell Holmes noted that experience should govern the creation and application of law, not solely logic. He argued that one had to be aware of all kinds of non-legal matters to develop a thorough understanding of law. In 1921, Judge Benjamin N. Cardozo's work The Nature of the Judicial Process continued Holmes's argument. He added that judges should not solely rely upon legal past precedent, but consider all branches of knowledge, experience, information, and their own intuition. Modern legal realists view law not as a fixed phenomenon, but in a state of constant flux, responding to changing social conditions.1 Environmental law challenges court justices to not only include procedural law and sociological jurisprudence in their decisions, but also to consider each case as unique and different from all others.

Let the earth forever remain! Landscape legacies and the materiality of history in the northern Basin of Mexico

This article examines the landscape as an enduring protagonist in the northern Basin of Mexico over the past 1,000 years in communities north of Mexico City. Viewing materiality as the mutual constitution between social and physical worlds, I discuss the production and inheritance of landscape legacies. The manner in which legacies are inherited is tied to changing political, economic, and social conditions. This project integrates multiple sources of information (archaeological, ethnographic, historical, and ecological) to understand transforming connections between people and the landscape in this region, from the ancient state of Xaltocan to the Aztec and Spanish empires, continuing into the struggle for a modern nation. It reveals relationships that are apparent only via a perspective in dialogue with the landscape's materiality over time. In so doing, this article asserts archaeologists' unique contribution to the study of not only long‐term change but also historical processes inherited by and relevant to the contemporary world.

Dinamika razvitiya materialno-tekhnicheskoy bazy selskogo khozyaystva v Krasnodarskom krae v 1960–1980 godakh

Currently the development of agriculture in Russia is prioritized due to the need to ensure food security. The Krasnodar region has considerable experience in agriculture in the preceding period. The article discusses the process of creating the material and technical base in the Kuban, and the reasons for insufficiently effective use of technology in 1960-1980. The main attention is paid to changes in the logistics that have influenced the production and processing of agricultural products. In this period covering four five-year plans, there had been a significant transformation in strengthening the material-technical base of agriculture, as well as observed changes in social conditions, created for mechanics and their families. Measures developed by the March Plenum of the CPSU Central Committee in 1965, contributed to the strengthening of material and technical base of collective and state farms. Comprehensive mechanization of grain production of cereal crops was completed in the eighth plan period. As a result, the cost of labour in the production of a hundredweight of grain in the kolkhozes was reduced. In the ninth five-year on Kuban the growth of equipment of the collective farms and state farms caused the increase of expenses on its maintenance. Therefore, the issues of radical improvement of machinery and equipment utilization occupied an important place in the decision of problems of agriculture efficiency increase. Significant increases in the cost of one tractor, the grain combine harvester and other agricultural machinery, and the cost of repair led to the fact that farms in the region raise steadily the cost of one conventional hectare of completed work. Various reasons for insufficiently effective use of technology in the country received coverage in a number of scientific publications, however, the organization of MTB use, maintenance and repair and storage of machinery in agriculture and the supply of collective and state farms in the Kuban region in 1960-1980 have not been studied. Therefore, the aim of this article is to explore them.

Analysing Social Relevance of Spatial Organisation: A Case Study of Traditional Pol Houses, Ahmedabad, India

<p>The spatial orgnisation of the domestic spaces is the manifestation of regional context. The differences in organisational quality of space reveal varied social structures. The paper aims at analysing the relationship of the prevailing social structure and the space organisation. This paper examines domestic spatial arrangements of the traditional <em>Pol</em> houses of Ahmedabad, India. In this paper, space syntax theory is used to examine the spatial morphology of the houses to map visibility, permeability, visual fields and movement pattern. Traditional <em>Pol </em>houses are distinctive in its character and generic in nature. The houses are evolved over the period of 400-500 years. After a sample of house layouts is analysed morphologically, the relationship of spatial organisation and social behavior is determined. Analysis results show that the traditional house layouts are evolved as per social conditions and offer better social interaction in present context. Hierarchy of spaces demarcates public to the private realm of the house. The flexible activity pattern makes the house more adaptable to the changing social conditions. The analysis will be valuable in the design process to safeguard the social fabric of the community.</p>

Time required for sex change in teleost fishes: Hormonal dynamics shaped by selection

Bidirectional sex change is observed in many teleost fish. When social conditions change, the sex transition may take place over a period of several days to a few months. To understand temporal differences for sex change in either direction, I propose a simple mathematical model for the hormone–enzyme dynamics. Aromatase (P450arom) catalyses the synthesis of estradiol from testosterone. I assume that a change in social conditions for individuals affects the rates of production and degradation of P450arom. I then consider the evolution of parameters in the dynamics. Optimal parameter values are those that minimize total fitness cost, defined as the sum of fitness losses due to delay in being a functional male or female, and the cost of accelerated degradation of P450arom in changing from female to male sex. The model predicts that, in haremic species, sex change promotes a faster degradation of P450arom, resulting in a faster female-to-male transition than male-to-female transition. In contrast, in monogamous species, or with a small number of females, there is no benefit in a faster degradation of P450arom when changing to male, resulting in approximately equal timespans for sex change in either direction.

Corporate Social Responsibility in Agribusiness: Literature Review and Future Research Directions

Changes in social framework conditions, accelerated by globalization or political inventions, have created new societal demands and requirements on companies. The concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR) is often considered a potential tool for meeting societal demands and criticism as a company voluntarily takes responsibility for society. The spotlight of public attention has only recently come to focus on agribusiness-related aspects of CSR. It is therefore the objective of this paper to provide an overview and a critical examination of the current state of research into CSR in agribusiness from different perspectives. Upon that this paper goals to define CSR special cases in agribusiness and derive implications for further research. CSR in agribusiness is a multi-dimensional and complex concept, which is sensitive to ongoing exchange processes between companies and stakeholders. We conclude with the special position of CSR in agribusiness and that future research should focus on adding value to industry-specific CSR aspects in the general CSR framework borrowed from management literature. Explorative fieldwork such as expert interviews with different stakeholders might be suitable for gaining insights into agribusiness-specific aspects of CSR in firms.

Prostytucja kobiet – świadomy wybór drogi życiowej czy przymus ekonomiczny

Aetiology of indecent behaviours is a multidimensional issue. It is impossible to explain the conditions of prostitution while only referring to mono-causal concepts. In the previous traditional aetiological approaches, the simultaneous perspective is dominating and this emphasises the interrelated systems of factors found in educational environments and resulting from the economic conditions and cultural changes which modify the attitudes towards mores, sexuality and morals. However, the changing image of contemporary prostitution requires other factors determining this phenomenon and being found beyond the traditional areas of analysis. Considering the fact that prostitution connected with the dysfunctionality of family environments and authentic poverty is only incidental to the phenomenon, the research interests were focused on the sphere of human temperament and, especially, needs of stimulation. Objective and method: The main objective of the article was analysing different factors that could accompany the decision on practising prostitution and showing the possibilities of counteracting the phenomenon. In order to obtain a complete picture of a life situation, the selected elements of the personality profile and level of reactivity were discussed. The research used the method of browsing through secondary sources. Results: The article introduced three perspectives related to different approaches to the aetiology of prostitution. The first one refers to the traditional system of factors determining the phenomenon of prostitution that could be found in educational environments and cultural conditions. The multi-causal syndromes of factors determining prostitution mainly include the symptoms of family dysfunctionality, objective poverty or a subjective feeling of neediness, as well as the strongly stimulating, yet, in some cases, also depraving, influence of peer groups and the mass media promoting consumerism. The last category of factors may especially influence the attitudes and behaviours of young people accepting unlimited consumerism. That part of the article mentioned research results representing the multi-causal model. Among others, those were the studies of J. Kurzepa, M. Kowalczyk-Jamnicka, and J. Moczydlowska. The second discussed aetiological perspective refers to the psychosexual approach, which indicates the importance of specific personality traits and sexual experiences as the factors predestining women to practise prostitution. Followers of this perspective emphasise the independence of psychosexual factors of the changing social and economic conditions; therefore, these factors become universal. To support this approach, the research studies of J. Sztobryn-Giercuszkiewicz, J. Pabian and Z. Izdebski were mentioned. The psychosexual perspective emphasises the role of traumatic sexual experiences and the distorted personality traits of prostituting women; these factors can be correlated. The last presented approach was the stimulation perspective. This constitutes an aetiological alternative to the previous traditional perspectives. It emphasises that people have different demands for stimulation; therefore, some need strong stimuli which will maintain their excitement level on a high level. Some people are more inclined towards trying risky things, including prostitution. The stimulation perspective enables one to explain the reasons for practising prostitution by people who do not come from families with upbringing inefficiency, and material advantages obtained thanks to prostitution are not the only inspiring factor to them. The article ends with a discussion concerning possibilities of preventive measures which should take cultural and social changes into consideration and go beyond traditional patterns connected with reorganisation of dysfunctional environments.