Double Focus Research Articles

Constructed Identities and Dueling Ideologies: Reading Ancient Israelite Foreign Oracles as Ideological Critique

Abstract This article aims to advance understanding of foreign nation oracles in the hb/ot by analyzing how many such oracles focus, more precisely, on subgroups within the polities named and direct their critique against that group’s articulation and enactment of imperialistic or nationalistic ideologies. The article first draws upon sociology and critical discourse analysis to sketch a theoretical perspective in which to analyze such oracles, then heuristically explores nation oracles in several prophetic books to illuminate the significance of their double focus on subgroups associated with ideologies which, as discourses of power, definitively validate and vindicate their proponents over against the Other. The article concludes with reflections on the value of ideologically-sensitive interpretation of prophetic oracles concerning foreign groups in light of this phenomenon’s overlap with sociology, imperialism, ideological critique, and justice.

Structural alterations in scales of Capoeta capoeta (Güldenstädt, 1773) from heavy metal-contaminated river water.

Heavy metal pollution, especially in freshwater, is a serious problem for aquatic organisms and human health. In this study, the scales of Capoeta capoeta living in the Karasu River (Turkey), which is estimated to be contaminated with pollutants, especially heavy metals, were examined for structural anomalies. Two stations on the river were selected for this purpose. Fish and surface water samples were taken at the stations. The heavy metal analyses were carried out in the water and the fish tissue. Heavy metal pollution was detected in the surface water. It was also observed that some heavy metals (As, Cu, Cd, Cr, Mn, Pb, Ni, Zn) accumulate in the fish tissue. Significant structural differences were observed on the dorsal surface of the scales, such as interrupted primary radii, damaged circuli, damaged focus, damaged anterior scale margin, broken focus, deformed scale structure, scattered chromatophores, dilatation of primary radii, loss of focus, damaged annuli, symmetry shift in the lateral line canal, eroded circuli, damaged posterior scale margin, double focus, branching in the primary radii, asymmetric circuli, incomplete annuli and interrupted secondary radii in each of the fish collected from the contaminated site. Heavy metals are suspected to be responsible for the structural anomalies in the scales. Based on these observations, it can be said that fish scales can be used as an effective indicator of water quality.

Personalized peritoneal dialysis prescription—beyond clinical or analytical values

ABSTRACT Traditionally, dialysis adequacy has been assessed primarily by determining the clearance of a single small solute, urea. Nevertheless, it has become increasingly evident that numerous other factors play a crucial role in the overall well-being, outcomes and quality of life of dialysis patients. Consequently, in recent years, there has been a notable paradigm shift in guidelines and recommendations regarding dialysis adequacy. This shift represents a departure from a narrow focus only on the removal of specific toxins, embracing a more holistic, person-centered approach. This new perspective underscores the critical importance of improving the well-being of individuals undergoing dialysis while simultaneously minimizing the overall treatment burden. It is based on a double focus on both clinical outcomes and a comprehensive patient experience. To achieve this, a person-centered approach must be embraced when devising care strategies for each individual. This requires a close collaboration between the healthcare team and the patient, facilitating an in-depth understanding of the patient's unique goals, priorities and preferences while striving for the highest quality of care during treatment. The aim of this publication is to address the existing evidence on this all-encompassing approach to treatment care for patients undergoing peritoneal dialysis and provide a concise overview to promote a deeper understanding of this person-centered approach.

The image of the non-Jew in the responsa of David Zvi Hoffmann

This article has a double focus. First, it sheds new light on David Zvi Hoffmann (1843–1931), an important rabbinic scholar, born in the Austrian Empire but who eventually moved westwards to become, at the turn of the century, the rector of the Orthodox Rabbinical Seminary in Berlin and an important halakhic decisor. Taking up the topic of interfaith encounters in nineteenth-century Germany, I demonstrate that Hoffmann held a nuanced and unique perception of Christian–Jewish encounters. The article also offers methodological insights on the analytical tools used in historical and philosophical research into Jewish law. More than half a century ago, Haym Soloveitchik proposed an evidentiary criterion, which he called ‘measurable deflection’, for gauging when medieval social historians may infer historical realia from halakhic sources. This article contends, however, that the usefulness of measurable deflection is limited. It suggests replacing it with alternative benchmarks, called ‘proximity indicators’, and uses them to provide a novel understanding of Hoffmann’s position towards non-Jews. As a conclusion, the article advances that Hoffmann exemplifies the tension of living as a religious Jew in nineteenth-century Germany.

Realization of double uniform line self-focusing of elliptical Airyprime beams

Double line self-focusing characteristics of elliptical Airyprime beams (EAPBs) with different elliptical vertical-axis factor β are investigated by varying the main ring radius r0. Overly large or small r0 results in the inhomogeneous distribution of light intensity at one linear focus of the double line self-focusing. Only when r0 is appropriate and β is within a certain range, can double uniform line self-focusing happen to the EAPB. Moreover, the self-focusing ability of the second line self-focusing is weaken than that of the first line self-focusing. Under the premise of our selected values of beam parameters, the EAPB can achieve double uniform line self-focusing when r0 = 0.3 mm and β = 0.58∼0.71. The focal length of the first line self-focusing, the lengths of double linear focus, and the self-focusing abilities of the double uniform line self-focusing can be regulated by varying β within the range of 0.58∼0.71. If β is smaller than 0.58 or larger than 0.71, it will lead to nonuniform line self-focusing. An explanation of the physical mechanism behind the double uniform line self-focusing of the EAPB is proposed. Finally, the experimental measurements of the line self-focusing of the EAPB confirm the validity of the above conclusions. This research provides a new solution on how to generate double uniform line self-focusing and new insights into the practical application of elliptical self-focusing beams.

Touch and Voice inAbsalom, Absalom!

AbstractWilliam Faulkner constructed Absalom, Absalom! with techniques that allowed him to reach beyond his time and place to a historical grasp of problems that arise from a long past and that continue to shape our world nearly a century after the novel's publication. This essay explores that achievement through a double focus: touch and the intricate phenomenology of human sensory experience, combined with voice and the interplay of writing, speaking, and thinking in language.

Visual Performance of Two Designs of Myopia Management Soft Contact Lenses Compared with a Monofocal One in Young Adults.

To compare the visual performance of two distinct types of soft contact lenses (CL) aimed at slowing down myopia progression with the performance of a monofocal soft CL. In a prospective double-masked, crossover trial, 18 myopic adults (aged 18-30 years old) were fitted in a randomized order with three types of disposable CL: MiSight (dual-focus), Mylo (extended depth of focus -EDOF-), and Clariti (single distance vision). Measurements were taken after wearing the CL for five days with five days off in between at two different optometry centers. High contrast distance visual acuity (VA) with spectacles and for each of the different CL, subjective refraction, slit lamp exam, aberrometry, stereopsis, monocular and binocular amplitude of accommodation and accommodative facility, and horizontal phorias were measured. The high contrast distance VAwas better for the single vision CL compared to the myopia control CL. No significant differences were observed between the r two myopia control CL. The overall root mean square (RMS) was higher for the double focus CL (RMS = 1.18 0.29 µm), followed by the EDOF CL (RMS = 0.76 0.35 µm) and then the single vision CL (RMS = 0.50 0.19 µm). The primary spherical aberration (SA) mean value was low for all of the three CL, without statistical differences among them. No other significant differences were detected. The overall RMS resulted in a higher value for the dual-focus than the EDOF CL, but no differences in high contrast distance VA and binocularity were detected between them. The monofocal CL's performance was better than the myopia control CL.

Decolonization and Theatre History

‘Decolonization’ has superseded ‘postcolonial’ as the most compelling catchword of the present moment. Broadly speaking, the term possesses two parallel genealogies: African decolonization and Latin American decoloniality. But where are Asian territories such as India and Hong Kong, and, more specifically, fields such as theatre history, located in the debate? This article analyzes the stakes and struggles, inner contradictions and blind spots, involved in decolonizing or decentring the curriculum. It asks whether the decolonial temporalities of our time constitute an adequate lens to theorize theatre history by firstly examining the term’s misuse by popular historians, media, and government; and, second, by interrogating a spectrum of positions on ‘Indian Theatre’ from the nineteenth century onwards. Through this double focus, the article probes the scholarly possibilities for undoing the dominant mode when the ‘decolonization trope itself becomes a tool for colonization’.

:Album Verses and Romantic Literary Culture: Poetry, Manuscript, Print, 1780–1850

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Adventure in times of terror

This article follows the history of the idea of adventure in the Soviet Union, which started as a dream of the great communist adventure but two decades into the revolution turned into the nightmare of the Great Terror. Adventure was implicated in the violent realities of Stalinism through tropes of the adventure genre, such as the loneliness of the adventurer in a precarious world impenetrable by reason. Understanding this situation requires a focus on philosophies of both adventure and terror. For instance, Hegel’s philosophy of adventure will help us to reveal features of the lived experience in times of terror, whilst Mikhail Ryklin’s philosophy of terror sheds light on the significance of the adventure genre in the Soviet 1930s. This double focus allows articulation of a primary feature of violence that is often overlooked, namely, the fundamental reciprocity that structures it. In the Soviet context, we find historically neglected but critically important reflections on the relation between violence and adventure in the life and works of Lev Kopelev. We also find a unique deliberation on the dialectics of violence (and counter-violence) in Evgeni Shvarc’s adventure tale The Dragon (1943) which can be fruitfully read in dialogue with Arendt’s vital distinction between violence and power. Reconsidering these sources is an important task for today given that Russian politics has once again, 30 years after perestroika, regressed into mass violence.

Repercussions of COVID-19 on psychiatric inpatient care in Latin America and the Caribbean

ObjetiveTo characterise the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on psychiatric hospitalisations in the Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) region. MethodsDescriptive study. 85 semi-structured interviews were conducted with health workers involved with psychiatric hospitalisations in general hospitals (GHs) and specialised psychiatric hospitals (SHs) from 18 LAC countries. The interviews were done between 8 May and 30 June 2020. The data were analysed quantitatively and qualitatively. ResultsAn initial decrease in the demand for hospitalisation is reported, attributed to the population’s fear of approaching health services as well as restrictions on mobility. Stricter criteria for hospitalisation were reported with a double focus on the acute within the acute. The length of hospitalisations were mixed, with both increases and decreases in GHs and SHs. The therapeutic offer was drastically reduced, and interaction between hospitalised people and their support networks was restricted. ConclusionsIn the COVID-19 context, hospitalisation seems to be not the last but the only alternative for psychiatric treatment. The decrease in the number of beds in SHs could be a positive aspect for the reform of psychiatric care, but it is questioned since this reduction also occurs in GHs.

Debunking Concepts

Genealogies of belief have dominated recent philosophical discussions of genealogical debunking at the expense of genealogies of concepts, which has in turn focused attention on genealogical debunking in an epistemological key. As I argue in this paper, however, this double focus encourages an overly narrow understanding of genealogical debunking. First, not all genealogical debunking can be reduced to the debunking of beliefs—concepts can be debunked without debunking any particular belief, just as beliefs can be debunked without debunking the concepts in terms of which they are articulated. Second, not all genealogical debunking is epistemological debunking. Focusing on concepts rather than beliefs brings distinct forms of genealogical debunking to the fore that cannot be comprehensively captured in terms of epistemological debunking. We thus need a broader understanding of genealogical debunking, which encompasses not just epistemological debunking, but also what I shall refer to as metaphysical debunking and ethical debunking.

Transformative innovation policy – lessons from the innovation system literature

ABSTRACT This paper criticizes attempts to present narrow perspectives on innovation policy as reflecting the use of the concept innovation system. While it is correct that innovation policy, at least until recently, has given higher priority to economic growth than to global challenges such as climate change and income inequality this is in no way immanent in the innovation system concept. To illustrate, the author introduces concepts and perspectives related to the innovation system approach which are particularly useful, when it comes to develop innovation policies aiming at system transformation. It is concluded that there is a need to combine different theoretical framings as inspiration for transformative innovation policy. In addition, all framings need to have a double focus on climate change and global income inequality, and they need to go beyond national perspectives and consider policies aiming at system transformation at the global level. While the paper refers to empirical illustrations it is principally conceptual.

Network analyses unveil ageing-associated pathways evolutionarily conserved from fungi to animals.

The genetic roots of the diverse paces and shapes of ageing and of the large variations in longevity observed across the tree of life are poorly understood. Indeed, pathways associated with ageing/longevity are incompletely known, both in terms of their constitutive genes/proteins and of their molecular interactions. Moreover, there is limited overlap between the genes constituting these pathways across mammals. Yet, dedicated comparative analyses might still unravel evolutionarily conserved, important pathways associated with longevity or ageing. Here, we used an original strategy with a double evolutionary and systemic focus to analyse protein interactions associated with ageing or longevity during the evolution of five species of Opisthokonta. We ranked these proteins and interactions based on their evolutionary conservation and centrality in past and present protein-protein interaction (PPI) networks, providing a big systemic picture of the evolution of ageing and longevity pathways that identified which pathways emerged in which Opisthokonta lineages, were conserved, and/or central. We confirmed that longevity/ageing-associated proteins (LAPs), be they pro- or anti-longevity, are highly central in extant PPI, consistently with the antagonistic pleiotropy theory of ageing, and identified key antagonistic regulators of ageing/longevity, 52 of which with homologues in humans. While some highly central LAPs were evolutionarily conserved for over a billion years, we report a clear transition in the functionally important components of ageing/longevity within bilaterians. We also predicted 487 novel evolutionarily conserved LAPs in humans, 54% of which are more central than mTOR, and 138 of which are druggable, defining new potential targets for anti-ageing treatments in humans.

FACTORES DE ÉXITO DE UN PROYECTO DE TELECOLABORACIÓN EN EL CONTEXTO DE LA ENSEÑANZA Y APRENDIZAJE DE SEGUNDAS LENGUAS. SUCCESS FACTORS OF A TELECOLLABORATION PROJECT IN THE CONTEXT OF SECOND LANGUAGE TEACHING AND LEARNING

Telecollaboration projects between higher education institutions have been focusing mainly on the development of L2, intercultural and digital skills of the learner [Dooly &amp; O’Dowd 2012]. In spite of the increasing number of studies investigating this type of projects, there is still little research on telecollaborative practices that connect L2 Spanish learners with student teachers with a double focus on (1) how reciprocity between learners with different learning goals is met, and (2) what success factors guarantee the sustainability of the exchange over time. This article presents the RUG-UB telecollaboration project that was implemented over 4 academic years (2013–2017) in the University of Groningen and the University of Barcelona, and which laid the foundations for another telecollaboration project that continues to be developed between the University of Barcelona and the University of Iceland at the time of writing this article. After describing the academic context and task design, the results of the experience are presented and analyzed. Finally, the factors that have contributed to the consolidation of this project are discussed, such as the design of tasks which address the reciprocity between learners with different learning objectives, or the ability of students, teachers or institutions to adapt to change.

From The Editors

The articles in the second section of our double issue focus on art practices from Eastern Europe, the former Soviet Union, and Palestine. Each in their own way, these authors discuss art and film practices that complicate the process by which we establish genealogies, trace histories, and narrate historical developments, intervening in linear trajectories and pointing to possible alternatives.In his article, Branislav Jakovljević reviews the richly illustrated 1926 book Creativity of the Mentally III (Tvorchestvo dushevnobol'nikh) by Russian psychiatrist Pavel Ivanovich Karpov as an outstanding, if largely forgotten, example of the rich collaborative, transdisciplinary research culture that existed in the Soviet Union during the early 1920s for the study of creativity from what we might today refer to as “outsider” positions: from nonacademic folk art to art produced by children and the mentally ill.Mary A. Nicholas devotes her contribution to an alternative genealogy of Moscow Conceptualism as it evolved in the mid-1970s and early 1980s, with a special focus on the performance art group Gnezdo (“The Nest,” active 1974-79). Accounts of Moscow Conceptualism tend to privilege Ilya Kabakov and the group Collective Actions as the phenomenon's progenitors, without considering the contributions—foundational in Nicholas's estimate—made by Sots artists Vitaly Komar and Alexander Melamid and their exploration of the communicative role of official speech. It is to the latter artist duo and their broadened understanding of their audience that the members of Gnezdo turned for their own actions.Adair Rounthwhaite examines in her article performative aspects in photographs by Yugoslav artist Željko Jerman. Specifically, she argues that in his experimental work of the 1970s, Jerman turned the photographic development process into a performative act, with far-ranging ramifications for his self-enactment as a creative subject. According to Rounthwhaite, Jerman viewed photography not as a linear process whose upshot and endpoint was a positive representation, but as a performative space that exploits the photograph's material properties, to varied and broadly unpredictable results.Greg Burris's investigation of contemporary Palestinian cinema focuses on two documentaries, from the 1980s and 2000s, respectively. Burris argues that both films carve out a space in the Palestinian imaginary that is not fully consumed by the logic of resistance, a logic that understandably has tended to dominate Palestinian filmmaking over the decades. Not coincidentally, dreams, in particular, can serve to represent the “unoccupied spaces” that offer themselves to imagining a future in which Palestine and Palestinians can finally be free to determine their own destiny.

AN ANALYSIS OF INTEGRATION OF BUSINESS CONTENT AND SKILLS IN ENGLISH FOR SPECIFIC ACADEMIC PURPOSES (ESAP) COURSE AT A HIGHER VOCATIONAL COLLEGE VIA CONTENT AND LANGUAGE INTEGRATED LEARNING (CLIL) PERSPECTIVE

Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) theory emphasizes the mutually integrated and symbiotic relations between language and disciplinary knowledge. Based on this perspective, this study analyses the “Double Focus” teaching mode implementation that combined business knowledge with English language skills. This is implemented in a Business English course at higher vocational college to enable talent cultivation focus to shift to the internalization of business knowledge while continuing to improve English proficiency. The “Double Focus” teaching strategy adapted authentic business tasks simulation and practice from actual Foreign Reception Training Course like airport pick-up task via a plan, do, check, action (PDCA) approach. This study found that the integrative element promoted better association between language and business knowledge, raise awareness of using English in situational contexts and foster effective internalization of content knowledge among students. The successful implementation of such integrated CLIL can serve as a reference for the cultivation of language as well as business skills among undergraduates of English at higher vocational colleges

"Te:mos o serra cura::do, temos o ni:sa, temos o serpa do:p." Suggesting products to buy, shaping materiality and multisensoriality in shop encounters

Adopting the perspective of multimodal conversation analysis, the paper shows the methodic organization of an action, making suggestions, achieved by sellers in response to customers’ requests for recommendations in shop encounters, and involving the showing and listing of available products. This focus on a specific sequential environment and institutional ecology, enables an exemplary discussion of how this action is multimodally formatted, embedded in its context, and shaped in relation to objects as discursive referents as well as materialities to be pointed at, looked at, touched and sensed in multiple ways. More generally, this focus enables to address two sets of issues: on the one hand, it elucidates the nexus between action, institutionality and materiality, including the role of multisensoriality in engaging with the qualities of buyable objects. On the other hand, it addresses the nexus between action and referential practices for introducing and presenting new referents, within an interactional perspective locating these grammatical practices and their systematic features within their praxeological context. On the basis of video data recorded in a gourmet shop in Lisbon, Portugal, this double focus targets issues of sensoriality and socialization in food culture, as well as issues of grammar in interaction, casting some light on situated uses of the verb ter for introducing new referents. Keywords: Social Interaction; Shop Encounters; Multimodality and Multisensoriality.

‘When housing is provided, but you have only the closet’. Sexual orientation and family housing support in Athens, Greece

ABSTRACT This article explores the impact of sexual orientation on the housing practices of individuals self-identified as LGB+ in Athens, Greece. In Greece, welfare state was always inadequate to cover people’s social needs. On the contrary, the family proved to be resilient as a welfare agent covering also the housing needs of its members by employing related strategies. The support comes ‘with strings attached’, and this includes parents’ demands and wishes upon the lifestyle of the dependent children. These demands have strong gender and sexual connotations imposing a heteronormative life trajectory, which may clash with the desires of LGB+ family members. In order for them to continue receiving support they are ‘pushed’ to employ strategies regarding their ‘coming out’ or sexual identity’s concealment process. In this paper, 16 semi-structured, in-depth interviews were conducted with a double focus: a. the housing pathway of the respondents, and b. the strategic decision of coming out or staying in the closet to benefit from the family welfare.

Double focus in the modelling of anti-influenza properties of 2-iminobenzimidazolines: pharmacology and toxicology

ABSTRACT Influenza affects millions of people globally and the appearance of drug-resistant strains is an ongoing problem. Therefore, this work reports the development of quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) models to predict some biological properties of new 2-iminobenzimidazoline candidates for the treatment of the flu. A series of 2-iminobenzimidazoline derivatives with experimentally available values for cytotoxicity (pCC50) and anti-influenza activity (pIC50) was used for multivariate image analysis applied to QSAR (MIA-QSAR). The models were vigorously validated according to the best practices in QSAR and the chemical features responsible for the response variables were analysed based on MIA-plots, which assess the PLS regression coefficients and variable importance in projection scores. MIA descriptors encoding atomic properties (van der Waals radius and electronegativity) were capable of properly modelling the pCC50 and pIC50 data. The internally and externally validated models were used to predict the selectivity indexes (SI = pCC50/pIC50) of unprecedented analogues, which were designed upon analysis of the MIA-plots that show the substituent groups most affecting the biological data and by the combination of substructures of selected molecules. At least three promising anti-influenza candidates could be proposed from the predictive MIA-QSAR models.