Element Of Daily Life Research Articles

Earthquakes and ghost towns in Sicily: from the Valle del Belìce in 1968 to the Val di Noto in 1693. The first stage of the virtual seismic itinerary through Italy

Destructive earthquakes leave traces not only on the physical landscape but also on human processes. Among the most devastating consequences is the abandoning of towns and villages, in favour of locations deemed safer. Abandoning a village and resettling in a new location, whether a gradual process or the result of a sudden traumatic situation, is an event of great historical, cultural and anthropological impact. It entails the loss of a piece of history or culture – local identity – and the more suddenly it happens, the more dramatic the after-effects. Italy has almost two hundred localities that have been abandoned for different causes (landslides, floods, volcanic eruptions, but also social or environmental reasons), some ninety of them owing to earthquakes. Sicily, a land of volcanoes and earthquakes, has several traces of former villages either in the form of fairly substantial ruins or even half-destroyed, which are usually located a few kilometres away from the new settlements. In this paper, we present the methodological approach developed in the framework of the EDURISK Project to enhance the awareness of seismic risk as an element of daily life; the case-study of the Valle del Belice after the 1968 earthquakes represents the richness and complexity of this approach well. Following this rationale, in 2006, we published the first multimedia product devoted to Sicily based on the tools available at that time: a DVD-Rom hosting the interactive Quick TimeTM Virtual Reality format. Today, multimedia technology is much more advanced and web- oriented, but the methodological approach is still valid.

Visual thinking on hierarchical illustrations of the structure of chromosome

Visual representations are a familiar element of daily life and particularly beneficial as illustrations in science textbooks. In this case, learners draw on human dimensions such as cognitive style (CS) and prior knowledge (PK) when engaging in visual thinking. This study aimed to compare and explore the relationships among the format aspect (e.g. searching process), the content aspect (e.g. comprehension and interpretation), and the subject aspect (CS and PK) as applied when viewing two given hierarchical chromosome structure illustrations: the Mami version and the miMa version. Interviews were conducted with 7th graders given the illustrations. Participants’ CS and PK were determined by Group Embedded Figures Test and Prior Knowledge Assessment. The results were consonant with the framework that most participants’ searching process was conducted from top to bottom for both illustrations. Second, participants from both CS groups and low PK score group (PKL) were more capable of comprehending the Mami version than the miMa version. Third, learners typically applied a decomposed strategy in interpreting the Mami version. Fourth, the field dependent group and PKL group require further guidance when interpreting the miMa version. The implications of this study will focus on curriculum design, textbook or instructional materials, and instruction.

Situación de tumbas con ajuares de objetos cotidianos en algunas necrópolis celtibéricas de los SS. IV a II a. c.

In some Hispanic Celtic cemeteries there are grave good with elements of daily life. Pieces related with home and productive and / or economic activities. They are objects in the tombs associated with weapons and / or items of clothing together into packages that accompanied the deceased to the afterlife. Among those related to home we include trivets, grills or barbecues, whose presence in funerary objects is interpreted in relation with the celebration of funeral feasts. They are elements still sporadic appearance in the Celtiberian territory. They are also documented tools to agricultural, livestock and craft economic activities, in Celtiberian areas. Their presence is also poor, but offers a varied repertoire, including sickles, pruning knives, axes, scissors and awls or punches. In this paper, its presence and spatial distribution within some Celtiberian necropolis is analyzed to see if it is possible to determine whether these objects in the graves provide information on the life and spirituality of the deceased. To do this, and as a test, is part of the known data from a selection of Celtiberian cementerian published floorplans of graves: Las Madrigueras, Riba de Saelices, La Yunta, El Altillo de Cerropozo of Atienza, La Mercadera and Numancia.

Female Language in Southern Region of Albania

The aim of this study is to give a modest presentation of sociolinguistic’state of the female speech in the South Parts of Albania. The difference of gender, as an important factor between people in global studies especially in the last 2 centuries, has risen a great interes. Although, the studies in Albanian language in this direction are fewer. For this study are exploited theoric materials in foreign languages and Albanian. The theoric datas are associated with concret examples taken from the Albanians speakers of this region. Through the extending of many social-linguistic’s issues that are related to the speaker with the communication’s situation, with social classes, with the semantic-lexical and morfo-syntactic selection have tried to describe the social-linguistic’s difference that happen during the organization of generally life (exp. the birth of a child, the wedding, the death, ect.) and the special elements of daily life (exp. The conversations in families, the games, the joking words, ect. Female sex adhere to certain norms, which in the course of cultural history, has become a discipline rather well protected by stringent sanctions. The repertoire of conduct norms in a feminine discourse, according to scales that exist in Albanian society which express respect, friendly or formal addressing enables the interlocutors. Apart from the theoretical research of the twentieth century, especially foreign and local people, this work is based on the elements of (South regions) and Albanian folk lyrics. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2015.v6n6s2p168

Exploring the Everyday Context of Chemical Elements: Discovering the Elements of Car Components

This paper presents a project about the chemical elements made by 15-year-old Spanish high school students of Chemistry. It focuses on contex-based teaching combined with the advantages of creating a large mural which subsequently is exposed in the school. The project consisted of researching the chemical elements in the different materials that make up a car, identifying the uses of some chemical elements in daily life, and remembering the names and symbols of the elements. Students’ response to the activity was evaluated through a survey in which progress can be seen in the pupils’ knowledge regarding the names, symbols, and uses of the chemical elements in daily life. An additional attitudes’ survey showed that students had enjoyed the project and the task had helped them understand how chemical elements are used to create materials.

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As far as electronic technology is concerned, we are living a real revolution. Two main factors that boost this revolution are: (a) 3D printing technologies and (b) printed electronics itself. This last one has enriched normal objects and turned them out into smart objects or intelligent textiles that include printed circuits in them; are flexible, washable and stretchable. Nowadays, those quotidian elements might include lights, photovoltaic cells, sensors and actuators integrated on the textile substrate. The mentioned revolution has produced a variety of objects prepared to give a response to different environment conditions, or, prepared to get and storage information from the individual. One of the success reasons for these products is the fact they are wireless, eco-friendly, cheap, and accomplish the established regulations. Smart objects are shaped out as useful elements in daily life, as well as an opportunity for firms interested in producing new intelligent products for a “ready-market”, focused on technology, Nevertheless, there exist clear macro-trends that point out the direction in which such textronic and smart objects are going to grow in the following years. These macro-trends are presented in this paper.

Prière de toucher!

ABSTRACTRecent technological developments such as touch screens have provided an enormous impetus to the use of tactile elements in daily life and art. Even at the beginning of the twentieth century, however, noted artists such as F.T. Marinetti and Marcel Duchamp created works of art in which touch played an essential role. In this article, a selection of examples will demonstrate the aesthetic qualities inherent to the sense of touch, ultimately leading to a provisional categorization of tactile art.

La búsqueda de una nueva verosimilitud. Literatura neofantástica e patafísica

El movimiento neofantástico surge como corriente literaria posterior a lo fantástico. Este nuevo movimiento promulga la aceptación de una verosimilitud nueva, de la incursión del elemento insólito en la vida cotidiana como apertura, como pasaje hacia nuevas realidades en las que lo cotidiano toma un rumbo distinto. Un giro más se da con la ‘Patafísica, que comparte esa misma búsqueda de una nueva verosimilitud, derivada de la angustia existencial. La ‘Patafísica no razona lo verosímil de un modo puramente estético, sino que es, además, una actitud interior, una disciplina, una ciencia y un arte que permite a cada individuo vivir como una excepción bajo su propia ley. Veremos cómo esta nueva “verdad”, esta nueva verosimilitud, se plasma en los juegos de lenguaje de las obras de Jarry, Kafka, Cortázar, Vian o Queneau, en la distancia irónica y el humor en todos sus planos, en el meta- ready-made y el “collage”.

Futebol... é preciso para viver!?

Este artigo apresenta uma reflexão sobre a relação entre futebol e criação/recriação de identidades. Ele tem por objetivo levantar aspectos sociais, culturais, políticos e individuais que tornam o futebol uma escolha que localiza o sujeito no grupo, posiciona-o socialmente e o investe de sentimentos e sentidos peculiares em torno da associação futebolística, da torcida e da paixão, revelando o porquê de se vestir a “camisa” do time. Futebol é mais do que mera diversão, e, ao pensá-lo como “válvula de escape”, coloca-se a questão do jogo de poder e das identidades presentes na produção e reprodução real e simbólica de seus elementos no cotidiano,ontem e hoje.

The role of mandates/philosophies in shaping interactions between disabled people and their support providers

Support provision is a personal and important element of daily life for many disabled people. This study examines the ways in which organisational mandates and philosophies shape interactions between disabled people and support providers at two unique organisations in Winnipeg, Canada: a L’Arche community for people with intellectual disabilities and an Independent Living Resource Centre. Data was collected through semi‐structured interviews with administrators at each location, disabled people using the services and support providers. The findings demonstrate that both organisations have strongly articulated philosophies that the participants are familiar with. The L’Arche model creates an environment that determines certain ways of interacting while the independent living participants amend the philosophy to reflect the daily reality of support provision.

Negotiating Landscapes, Survival, and Modernity: Goats, Migration, and Gender in the Arid Lands of Northern Peru

AbstractThis paper explores the role of gender, cultural change, and market dynamics affecting the resilience of adaptive livelihoods in arid landscapes in Northern Peru for families who lack access to irrigation and rely on goat herding in a context of cyclical droughts. Based on interviews conducted in the community of Salas in 1982, 1983, and 2007, the analysis shows that better access to formal education and/or migratory experience can facilitate cultural change that supports economic diversification and larger herds. However, market dynamics keeps “traditional” ways instrumental to reduce costs of goat herding and livelihoods, therefore it reinforces the persistence of “traditional” cultural elements in daily life. The article shows the structural limits of adaptation for established families and how access to high school for younger generations of men and women seem to accelerate their emigration as they cannot find stable employment in Salas.

The Moral Biography of Wealth: Philosophical Reflections on the Foundation of Philanthropy

Moral biography refers to the way all individuals conscientiously combine two elements in daily life: personal capacity and moral compass. Exploring the moral biography of wealth highlights the philosophical foundations of major gifts by major donors. First, the author provides several examples to elucidate his definition of moral biography. Second, he elaborates the elements of a moral biography. Third, he describes the characteristics that make one's moral biography a spiritual or religious biography. Fourth, he discusses the distinctive characteristics of a moral biography of wealth. Fifth, he suggests that implementing a process of discernment will enable development professionals to work more productively with donors. The author concludes by placing the notion of a moral biography of wealth in historical context and suggests how advancement professionals can deepen their own moral biography by working to deepen the moral biography of their donors.

Project GLEAN: Evaluation of a School-Based, Gleaned-Food Distribution Project

ABSTRACT Because hunger remains an element of daily life for many Americans, we proposed that a school-based program to distribute gleaned vegetables and fruits, most of which were locally and seasonally grown, would reduce barriers for consuming vegetables and fruits among a low-income school community. In addition to recording the tonnage of food distributed in the project, we collected a series of 3 blood samples from children's parents (n = 17) to assess serum concentrations of vitamin C, folate, and lipid hydroperoxides. Data were analyzed by a Friedman 2-way ANOVA, followed by a post hoc Wilcoxon signed-ranks test. Through this project, we distributed 79,095 pounds of fresh vegetables and fruits. Serum vitamin C (P = 0.02) and serum folate (P = 0.001) increased significantly following program initiation, while serum lipid hydroperoxides dropped numerically (P = 0.07). This food distribution program succeeded in distributing almost 40 tons of produce, with evidence of improvement in parental nutritional status. Given these positive findings, the project is being further investigated as it continues in its second year.

Food biosecurity

Food is an element of daily life, but, in our complex culture, we often overlook the role of food in basic survival. The threat of a bioterrorist attack on our food supply is an issue that we need to evaluate and analyze at every level of preparedness planning.

Screening of subclinical hepatic encephalopathy

Background/Aims: Subclinical hepatic encephalopathy adversely affects daily functioning. The aim of this study was to determine which elements of daily life have predictive value for subclinical hepatic encephalopathy. Methods: The study was performed in 179 outpatients with liver cirrhosis. Subclinical hepatic encephalopathy was diagnosed using psychometric tests with normal values corrected for age (Number Connection Test A and the Digit Symbol Test) and automated analysis of the electroencephalogram (EEG). Daily functioning was measured with the Sickness Impact Profile (SIP), a quality of life questionnaire, containing 136 statements. Patients with and without SHE were compared for differences in response to all statements by univariate analysis, and subsequently by multivariate analysis of potential discriminating statements. Results: SHE was diagnosed in 48 patients (27%). Thirty-six statements were significantly more often true for patients with subclinical hepatic encephalopathy. Multivariate analysis showed that five statements of the SIP, related to alertness, sleep and rest, fine motor skills and work, have independent predictive power for subclinical hepatic encephalopathy. Conclusion: Combining these statements predictive for subclinical hepatic encephalopathy with patient characteristics enables physicians to assess the probability of subclinical hepatic encephalopathy in the individual cirrhotic patient at the bedside or in the outpatient clinic.

The impossibility of resurrecting the past: Reconstructions on archaeological excavation sites

Since the beginnings of archaeological research, scientists have attempted to explain the past to a larger public. In the nineteenth century the quality of reconstruction drawings by architects was high but, after excavations were finished, the sites were left as they were, without conservation, while the movable finds were exhibited in the great museums of the European capitals. Today's mass tourism, however, demands attractions at the original ancient sites. The tourist industry, which brings by far the largest pool of visitors to the sites, sets the standards, but its interests centre on quick and simple ‘consumption’ of impressive ruins. Different methods have been employed in creating tourist attractions – from reconstructing ancient buildings to having museum staff in costume demonstrate elements of daily life in history. But it is the ruins on excavation sites, even in their damaged state, that are the irreplaceable, authentic records of the past. Archaeological preservation, therefore, has to mean uncompromising conservation of the damaged original remains. They should not be sacrificed for the sake of questionable ‘progress’ or popularization.

Southern furniture, 1680-1830: the Colonial Williamsburg collection

Southern Furniture 1680-1830: The Colonial Williamburg Collection goes beyond earlier aesthetic and stylistic analyses in providing the most recent information about the South's extensive cabinetmaking traditions. The book is divided into two parts. Three introductory essays explore the history, economy, ethnic and cultural diversity of the South's principal regions - the area around Chesapeake Bay, the backcountry, and the Carolina Low Country. Each essays draws a picture of the lifestyles and living conditions in these areas and examines work, leisure, architecture, and other elements of daily life, many of which are illustrated in drawings and engravings that portray people, houses, and a variety of activities of the period. A useful map leads off each of the three regional sections, enabling the reader to trace the sources of the furniture referred to later. This overview is followed by a catalogue of 183 entries, each of which examines in detail many of the important objects in the Colonial Williamsburg collection. The entries are divided into four sections based on type (seating furniture, tables, case furniture, and miscellaneous forms) and each section opens with meticulously labeled photographs of the object type that identify the key parts of the furniture referred to in the catalogue descriptions. This useful technical introduction serves as a visual glossary. Each entry begins with a full-page color photograph of the piece of furniture. These were made especially for this book, and following are additional color and black-and-white photographs of details of each object and of related pieces, totaling more than 800. In the readable and interesting entry texts, each artifactis examined in the historical context of its manufacture and use, along with a description of its aesthetic and symbolic functions.

Fieval is an engineer: Immigrant ideology and the absorption of Eastern European refugees

This paper explores the dialectic between ideology and daily practice through discussion of the role that immigration ideology plays in the placement of highly trained Eastern European refugees into the labor hierarchy of the United States. The film An American Tail is analyzed as an example of American hegemonic ideology. Modes of resistance and consent to this image of immigration history as applied by refugees’ potential employers and the various people who assist in the refugee resettlement process are then examined. Refugee reactions to Americans’ expectations are also outlined. The discussion illustrates ways that ideology and social structure are transformed and reproduced through the dynamic between these two elements in daily life.

A Preliminary Study of Kolkhoz Democracy and Its Improvement under Contemporary Conditions

The present stage in the building of communism is the stage of practical implementation of the Leninist general line of the party and of Lenin's principles for organization of social production on a scientific basis. Science must really become part of one's flesh and blood and become "a component element of daily life, genuinely and completely" (V. I. Lenin, Complete Works [Poln. sobr. soch.], Vol. 45, p. 391). The course taken by the Communist Party toward universal introduction of economic methods for the management of industry and agriculture was a real embodiment of Lenin's ideas. In connection with the improvement of economic techniques for the organization of collective-farm production, the question of further development of collective-farm democracy takes on special interest not only in terms of theory but as a practical matter.