Ever-changing Phenomenon Research Articles

Reexploring the conception of heat-health risk: From the perspectives of dimensionality and spatiality.

Extreme heat events are more frequent and intense as a result of global climate change, thus posing tremendous threats to public health. However, extant literature exploring the multidimensional features of heat-health risks from a spatial perspective is limited. This study revisits extreme heat-health risk and decomposes this concept by integrating multi-sourced datasets, identifying compositional features, examining spatial patterns, and comparing classified characteristics based on local conditions. Using Maryland as the focal point, we found that the components of heat-health risk are different from traditional risk dimensions (i.e., vulnerability, hazards, and exposure). Through a local-level clustering analysis, heat-health risks were compared with areas having similar features, and among those with different features. The findings suggest a new perspective for understanding the socio-environmental and socio-spatial features of heat-health risks. They also offer an apt example of applying cross-disciplinary methods and tools for investigating an ever-changing phenomenon. Moreover, the spatial classification mechanism provides insights about the underlying causes of heat-health risk disparities and offers reference points for decision-makers regarding identification of vulnerable areas, resource allocation, and causal inferences when planning for and managing extreme heat disasters.

An Experimental Parametric Optimisation for Laser Engraving and Texturing to Integrate Zirconia Ceramic Blocks into Stainless Steel Cutlery: A State-of-the-Art Aesthetically Improved Perspective.

Cutlery and flatware designs are an everchanging phenomenon of the manufacturing industry. Worldwide hospitality businesses demand perpetual evolution in terms of aesthetics, designs, patterns, colours, and materials due to customers' demands, modernisation, and fierce competition. To thrive in this competitive market, modern fabrication techniques must be flexible, adoptive, fast, and cost effective. For decades, static designs and trademark patterns were achieved through moulds, limiting production to a single cutlery type per mould. However, with the advent of laser engraving and design systems, the whole business of cutlery production has been revolutionised. This study explores the possibility of creating diverse designs for stainless steel 304 flatware sets without changing the entire production process. The research analyses three key laser process parameters, power, scanning speed, and number of passes, and their impacts on the resulting geometry, depth of cut, surface roughness, and material removed. These parameters are comprehensively studied and analysed for steel and zirconia ceramic. The study details the effects of power, scanning speed, number of passages, and fluence on engraved geometry. Fluence (power*number of passages/scanning speed) positively influences outputs and presents a positive trend. Medium power settings and higher scanning speeds with the maximum number of passages produce high-quality, low-roughness optimised cavities with the ideal geometric accuracy for both materials.

Effects of silver nanoparticle and low-level laser on the immune response and healing of albino mice skin wounds

The structural integrity of the skin, which acts as a barrier to keep harmful external substances out of the body, is compromised by wounds. The process of wound healing is a multifaceted and ever-changing phenomenon that entails the replacement of bodily tissues or damaged skin. It has been demonstrated that nanoparticles, especially silver nanoparticles, have anti-microbial and anti-inflammatory qualities that encourage cell migration and proliferation. Low level laser therapy has the potential to accelerate wound healing by stimulating cell regeneration after injury, reducing pain, and modulating the immune system. The aim of our study is to evaluate the healing process after treatment with silver nanoparticle and/or low level laser by measuring the serum levels of some pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL1b, IL6, and TNF-α), wound healing rate and histological analysis. Wounds were inflicted into 63 adult male albino mice (Mus musculus) and randomly divided into nine groups (7 per each). Control was left to normal healing. Other groups received a different treatment with laser, silver nanoparticle or both for 21 days. Injured skin was sampled for histopathological examination. Quantitative determination of TNFα, IL1 beta and IL6 were carried out using the sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) twice (day 2 and day 21). One-way and two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used for statistical analysis. The results showed that the groups treated with silver nanoparticles and / or low-level laser promoted wound healing by reducing pro- inflammatory cytokines (IL1β, IL6 and TNFα) and showed significantly better wound closure with a significant reduction in wound size. At day 2 histopathological changes were very similar in different groups. When silver nanoparticles were applied, either alone or in combination with laser exposure, better granulation tissue and fibrosis also necrosis in the canter of the lesion and high score of re-epithelialization with less inflammation observed gradually till day 21. The results of this study suggested that silver nanoparticles and low-level laser have a wound healing potential, since topical treatment with silver nanoparticles and low-level leasers has effectively improved the wound healing process.

Enhancing plurilinguistic abilities through group work in an english first additional language context: teachers’ perspectives

Language is an ever-developing and ever-changing phenomenon, thus ways to teach a language also develop and undergo changes in the progress of time. To keep up with these developments, translanguaging was used in this study. Translanguaging is the most recent all-encompassing method in language planning and evaluation that is needed to replace past linguistic practices that viewed languages as separate entities in a globalised world. The study aims to determine why English first additional language teachers use group work in the Further Education and Training phase. For this qualitative study, only 8 English First Additional Language teachers teaching in the Further Education and Training phase were selected as participants in individual interviews. These participants were stationed at 4 high schools in South Africa. The results indicate that as the learners translanguage as they work in groups, they appreciate each other’s linguistic background. Communicative language teaching is one of the most effective methods of teaching and learning a second language because it provides opportunities for learners to practice and improve their communicative competence in pedagogic and real-life situations. Learners are largely content with linguistic concepts in a multilingual setting that dwells on the known to the unknown. Working in groups may make the learners improve their understanding of content and also language proficiency as the subject under discussion will be tackled using different languages apart from English First Additional Language. Besides, language and culture are interconnected; therefore, keeping up with one’s home language(s) allows for greater participation in the home culture and builds stronger ties between different languages.

Exploring the Popular Culture in the Works of Young Philippine Novelists

This research paper will discuss the manifestation of popular culture in the works of young Filipino novelists. It will focus on the novels of three young Filipino novelists in the Philippines. The three Filipino novels are Peksman (Mamatay Ka Man) Nagsisinungaling Ako (at Iba Pang Kuwentong Kasinungalingan na Di Dapat Paniwalaan) by Eros S. Atalia, published in 2007; Lumbay ng Dila by Genevieve L. Asenjo, published in 2010 and Sa Kasunod ng 909 by Edgar Calabia Samar, published in 2012. These three novels were prizewinners and received citations in the Philippines. All of the authors of these three novels became fellows of the International Writing Program (IWP) of the University of Iowa. The primary objectives of this research paper are: to explore the manifestations of popular culture in the selected three novels from the Philippines as works and practices of intellectual and incredibly artistic activity of young Filipino novelists and to build a new understanding and reading of the works of young novelists of the current generation in the Philippines. The methods in exploring and investigating the manifestations of popular culture will be based on the perspectives on popular culture of the Filipino scholar Rhoderick Nuncio that explains that the manifestation of popular culture is the enlivening with popular things, technology, images, symbols, signs, and commodities in people experiences to be awakened in the rapid changes of civilization. The presence of popular culture in the selected novels highlight their recurring nature and their impact on society. Finding showed that popular culture is a complex and ever-changing phenomenon that occurs uniquely in place and time, representing a complex of mutually interdependent perspectives and values. Selected Novels written by young Philippine novelists have a significant impact for both culture and language.

Sustainable Fashion Education: Future Design and Pedagogy

Fashion is an ever-changing phenomenon and as the world progresses in the post Covid scenario, the materials that would be used for making products would be given a more ecofriendly approach. The production processes to be adopted should be able to reduce the amount of carbon footprint on the Earth’s surface. Sustainable concepts of Recycling, Reuse and Redesign needs to be given preference in ideation of product so that we are able to put a check on the fast-depleting resources of the Earth. Research on development of more ecofriendly, biodegradable material should be undertaken. Frugal Innovation is also an area to be considered while designing products.
 As design is pervading into more avenues of communication and commutation which are the key aspect of life, so there is a need to incorporate sustainable features in these avenues also. Fashion and Lifestyle would undergo a sea change in materials and technology being used to create them.
 Therefore, the looking at the environmental concerns and the need for innovation, design curriculum of the fashion institutes needs to be relooked at. These premier design institutes of the world should focus on inclusion of sustainable design concepts, materials and production processes in their curriculum so that the design fraternity is able to contribute positively to the environment. The future professional should have multi-dimensional knowledge of “Everything and Everywhere” to meet the design challenges of “Environment and Life on Earth”. To meet these challenges of future in Design and Fashion, some Professional, Technologists and Academicians associated with design and technology would be interviewed to understand the changes in design pedagogy and strategy which needs to be adopted and incorporated to meet the sustainable design challenges in Fashion education in future.

Feeling and Thinking about It Are Two Different Things: How to Capture Momentary Emotions of Extreme Sports in the Field.

To learn about extreme sports and what motivates such activities, we need to understand the emotions embedded in the experience itself. However, how we go about assessing these emotions might provide us with very different answers. An experience is a fleeting and ever-changing phenomenon, rich in detail and filled with nuances. What we remember and, therefore, what we are able to report from our experience might, however, be strikingly different to what we experienced. Our memories are grained by time, impaired by arousal, and affected by context. Despite these limitations, the most common way to measure an experience is by self reporting. The current paper reviews some of the relevant theory on emotions and how this might impact different assessments. I also describe a new way of measuring momentary emotions in the field by use of video cameras and automatic coding of facially expressed emotions. Extreme sports may leave us with positive memories but may be anything but pleasant while in the midst of them. In the end, this paper may give some hints to why.

International students’ language socialization in an English-medium university

Abstract This article investigates second language socialization of three international students in a tertiary institute in New Zealand. To understand the experiences of international students, the article draws on the theoretical framework of the production of space to examine how the students experienced their new social space. The article uses multiple sources of data including video/audio recordings of the classroom interaction, field notes, interviews with the focal students/teachers/tutors/lecturers, diaries, and institutional documents to provide a thick description of students’ participation, language socialization, and identities. It does a within and across case analysis of the students’ experience to situate the learning experiences but at the same time to highlight the role of space as a participating social being in the socialization process. The concepts of language socialization and identities are reconceptualized as ever-evolving and ever-changing phenomena, whose production depends on the social conditions and relationships in the social space.

Morphogenesis – “The Riddles of Form” in Twenty-First Century Science

Morphogenesis – “The Riddles of Form” in Twenty-First Century Science

MODERN MODELS OF HYBRID WAR

As a result of large-scale processes and trends that have taken place in recent decades in the context of globalization and the information revolution, forms, methods, means and, accordingly, interpretations of national interests and national security are being more or less noticeably metamorphosed. Against this background, in recent years, the concept of "hybrid wars" has rapidly entered the military-political lexicon. It is not only firmly established in the scientific and journalistic literature, as well as in the media, but is also widely used in official documents determining the behavior of states in the international arena. New concepts and methods of conducting hybrid war are developing very rapidly today, which requires a revision of the classic military methods of forecasting and planning both offensive and defensive strategies. Like any other war, gybrid war is an area of unreliability and uncertainty. The inaccuracy of intelligence and the constant intervention of chance lead to the fact that the parties to the conflict actually face a completely different situation than expected, and this can not but affect the planning or at least the perceptions of the situation that formed the basis of strategic plans. The transformation of hybrid warfare into a new type of interstate confrontation raises the issue of the use of modern tools of support and decision-making as a priority. The use of the hybrid war model for this purpose is increasingly going beyond the purely scientific sphere, making it an effective factor in ensuring the national security of countries. The development of effective hybrid warfare strategies and counter-strategies requires the introduction of new technologies based on the modeling and application of AI. The symbiosis of modern scientific knowledge and approaches allows us to study, predict and plan modern hybrid military conflicts as nonlinear objects operating in conditions of high uncertainty. Model, created for this purpose, should be easily integrated into the political and military decision-making process and, given the complexity of this activity, be integrated. This approach will provide an adequate understanding of the complex, ever-changing phenomena of hybrid warfare and hybrid threads and take them into account in the system of national and global security.

The Social Media Neologisms: A Case Study of Facebook Users in Kenya.

This study sought to investigate the Kenyan generated neologisms as used in social media. This study was informed by the fact that human language is a dynamic and an ever-changing phenomenon only stable in performing its communicative function. The researcher conducted a Facebook survey as a representation of other social networking channels. The researcher purposely sampled 50 neologisms of Kenyan origin on Facebook and thereafter, using a descriptive qualitative data analysis approach, made a description of one of the commonest sites of social networking in Kenya, people from various walks of life engage on a litany of matters concerning their lives, be it political, socio-economic or even personal. Facebook was chosen explicitly for its wider outreach among Kenyans in comparison to other social networking channels. 50 neologisms belonging to Kenyan origin were purposively sampled on Facebook aftermath; a descriptive method of data analysis approach was used, to make a description of the word-formation processes, which are involved in their generation. A vast number of neologisms on Facebook belonging to Kenyan origin could be identified and documented by the study, most of them laced with a local flavour. Furthermore, the study analysed the word-formation processes that were involved in their development. Some of the neologisms with Kenyan origin documented in this study are; uhunye, saitan, isorait amongst others while some of the most common word formation processes employed include; loan translation, error, compounding and others. This study advocates for research on how words and expressions from indigenous Kenyan languages are being adopted in multicultural discourse among the diverse members of the Kenyan speech community through social media and general cross-cultural interactions.

From Data to Actions in Intelligent Transportation Systems: A Prescription of Functional Requirements for Model Actionability.

Advances in Data Science permeate every field of Transportation Science and Engineering, resulting in developments in the transportation sector that are data-driven. Nowadays, Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) could be arguably approached as a “story” intensively producing and consuming large amounts of data. A diversity of sensing devices densely spread over the infrastructure, vehicles or the travelers’ personal devices act as sources of data flows that are eventually fed into software running on automatic devices, actuators or control systems producing, in turn, complex information flows among users, traffic managers, data analysts, traffic modeling scientists, etc. These information flows provide enormous opportunities to improve model development and decision-making. This work aims to describe how data, coming from diverse ITS sources, can be used to learn and adapt data-driven models for efficiently operating ITS assets, systems and processes; in other words, for data-based models to fully become actionable. Grounded in this described data modeling pipeline for ITS, we define the characteristics, engineering requisites and challenges intrinsic to its three compounding stages, namely, data fusion, adaptive learning and model evaluation. We deliberately generalize model learning to be adaptive, since, in the core of our paper is the firm conviction that most learners will have to adapt to the ever-changing phenomenon scenario underlying the majority of ITS applications. Finally, we provide a prospect of current research lines within Data Science that can bring notable advances to data-based ITS modeling, which will eventually bridge the gap towards the practicality and actionability of such models.

Adaptiveness of Traditional Judicial Systems to Digital Forms of Evidence

“Digital India” scheme announced by current administration initially had many detractors. But with its finger on the correct pulse of Young, Emergent India, much facilitations were provided with the sole aim to bridge technology with the masses. Hence today smart phones, laptops and computers have become house-hold names even in previously inaccessible areas. But on the down-side we also see a severe increase in crimes committed using computers and internet. Technology is an ever-changing phenomenon. It keeps changing, updating and even reviving itself. Crime has parallelly evolved with the evolution of newer technologies and high-end equipments and tool. With the metamorphosis of criminal-activities from physical world to digital realm, a perpetrator can easily plan, execute and accomplish a crime without being actually physically present at the site of crime, thus making it difficult for investigators, law enforcement officials and traditional legal systems completely depending on physical evidence to recognize the real culprit or to determine guilt and decide the degree of punishment. Using a desktop system or a laptop or even a Smartphone, the criminal can exploit the power of internet, Bluetooth ,Wi-Fi technologies , 4G data-transfer speeds and web-servers to execute an unlawful act sitting miles away from the place where the actual crime happens thereafter leaving absolutely no physical trail of the execution of the offence. Under these conditions, it becomes imperative to utilize digital footprints as they are the only way to determine the factuality of execution of an unlawful act and to identify the real culprit. As the guiding principle of IPC goes "Innocent until proven guilty", digital footprints have to be given their rightful due in the existing Judicial system to help in confirming execution of an unlawful act, detecting the actual culprit and determining the amount of punishment. This paper attempts to highlight the significance of digital footprints and usage of the same by the existing Justice Systems to corroborate, attest and substantiate the execution of an unlawful act.

Колір і світло у «пейзажах відчуттів» у романах Мерилін Робінсон про Галаад

У статті проаналізовано особливості використання кольорів і світла в романах Мерилін Робінсон «Галаад» (2004) та «Дім» (2008) з точки зору теорії кольору Вітґенштайна та феноменології відчуттів як чинника атмосфери місця. Для персонажів Робінсон кольори й світло – це складові «пейзажу відчуттів», що формують концепцію дому та визначають підходи до моральних і соціальних дилем. Барви дерев, квітів і трав, кольори домашніх предметів, а також переливи сонячного й місячного світла творять атмосферу родинного життя та дають відчуття домашнього затишку, що має ключове значення для героїв романів. Вітґенштайн у «Нотатках про колір» стверджує, що в кольорі усе є унікальним, оскільки він презентує змінне явище, завдяки чому набуває ідентичності. В теорії атмосфери місця «пейзаж відчуттів» опредметнюється й візуалізується через описування кольорів, запахів та звуків і їх пов’язування з конкретними об'єктами. Для персонажів роману «Дім» кольори, як і інші елементи «пейзажу відчуттів», стають складовою досвіду і пам’яті. Переживання минулого відбувається за допомогою спогадів про сенсорні відчуття, пов’язані з батьківським домом, кольорами, звуками та запахами дитинства. Натомість у романі «Галаад» сонячне й місячне світло, що наповнює навколишній світ красою і божественною радістю, стає для старого Еймеса нагадуванням про наближення смерті. У «Домі» поняття кольору набуває політичного звучання: громадянська дружина Джека – темношкіра і його біла протестантська родина не прийме її у свій дім. Колір стає перешкодою, яку Джекові не подолати, оскільки батьківський дім закритий для інших кольорів. Таким чином, у романах Робінсон кольори і світло як складові «пейзажу відчуттів» стають засобами відображення досвіду персонажів та вираження затаєних емоцій і невисловлених думок.

A drifting phenomenon: organizational change failure in a becoming view

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to study the phenomenon of organizational change failure through an emic approach. Grounded in empirical examples, the paper unfolds why the phenomenon seems to be missing from the literature of the becoming view (e.g. Tsoukas and Chia, 2002).Design/methodology/approachInspired by the methodological strategy of “studying through,” organizational changes are followed through space and time within the setting of a Nordic bank, from where the empirical data have been collected via longitudinal study. The empirical data are generated through a combination of methods: shadowing, interviews, in situ observations and desk research in order to capture the ever-changing phenomenon of organizational change.FindingsThe paper finds that organizational changes drift away, either by slipping into the everyday practices of the organization, or by drifting away in time when history is reinterpreted. The paper concludes that organizational change failures suffer the same fate as organizational changes more generally and drift away in space and time.Originality/valueThe paper contributes to the becoming view by illustrating how methodologically an ever-changing phenomenon such as organizational change can be studied. Further, it contributes to the field of organizational change failure by unpacking the fate of organizational change failure when change is natural and slippery in nature. The paper includes reflections on what the consequences might be for praxis.

Gracias Mujer

Throughout my life, my relationship to womanhood has been an ever-changing phenomenon. In reflecting on the instances that have come to define this relationship, I wrote “Gracias Mujer,” an homage to the women who have shaped my womanhood and a simultaneous rejection of all that has burdened me. In light of the gendered dynamics within Latino culture, this piece reflects on my complex relationship with my parents and my desire to find healing from personal experiences. Incorporating themes of womanhood, memory, childhood, and family, “Gracias Mujer” is an acknowledgement of my traumas, a love letter to my mother, and a validation of my desires as a Latina woman within an often-confined space. In this poem, without romanticizing them, I try to honour the sacrifices the women and ancestors in my life have had to make, expressing a gratitude for their contribution to my personhood, but also explicitly stating that the trauma that has resulted stops within me.

Rural Settlement Expansion and its Effect on Food Security in Salanpur, West Bengal, India

The settlement may be viewed as the manifestation of delicate human-nature interaction and cultural impression of humanity in the landscape system. With the progress of civilisation, the perception of use of natural resources and cultural development become ever-changing phenomena that causes the changes in the rural settlement all over the world. Salanpur C.D. Block of Paschim Bardhhaman district has registered an unusual settlement arrangement and spatio-temporal changes. Using satellite imageries and competent GIS technologies it is observed that an unplanned growth of rural settlement has developed in this part of West Bengal. This paper examines the spatio-temporal dynamics of the rural settlement over ten years (2008-2018), employing PR index, and SI index. In doing so, it, analyses the dynamic change of rural settlement at Gram Panchayat Level and its relation with overall land-use in the study area. This paper also envisages how the rural settlement expansion affects the various dimension of food security in Salanpur C. D. Block. Along with this, the Spearman Rank-order Correlation Coefficient (rho=p) is also applied to comprehend the effect of the rural settlement expansion on regional food security. Growth of rural settlement towards productive agricultural land, unequal access to food, insufficiency in clean water, sanitation, and health care facility are also indicators of increasing threat to the long run food security of the people in the study area. The result shows a positive correlation between the rural settlement expansion index (SI) and food insecurity Index (FISI), it indicating that if the rural settlements expand, it would enhance the risk of food insecurity of the area. Development and growth are the buzz of the modern era, but the dark side of it is that destruction of agricultural lands would be ultimately responsible for food insecurity and uneven economic growth. The findings suggest that lopsided and unplanned growth of settlements is pose threats on food security of the study area. Therefore, sound planning is required to come out of these potential threats for the sake of the inhabitants.

Variation within Limits: An Evolutionary Approach to the Structure and Dynamics of the Multiform

Variation within Limits: An Evolutionary Approach to the Structure and Dynamics of the Multiform Michael D. C. Drout (bio) One1 of Albert Lord’s more surprising discoveries about living oral traditions was that no two oral performances of the South Slavic epic that he collected were precisely the same (1953).2 Scholars before Milman Parry and Lord seem to have assumed that any long performance must have been of a text that had been memorized verbatim. It took the Theory of Oral Composition as originally developed by Parry and Lord and elaborated and refined in the decades since3 to explain why in many traditions no two performances are the same at the level of the word and sentence even though the audiences and the performers state that the “same” story is being performed (cf. Foley 2002:12–20). Recent work has shown how the influence of the “performance arena” and the differing skill sets and tendencies of individual singers contribute to the significant variation in the exact words used in any given performance of a specific song (Foley 1995:8–11). But although individual performances vary, they do not vary infinitely, for if they did, there would be no tradition. Oral Theory has used the term “multiform” to describe verbal or textual entities that display this “variation within limits” (Foley 1991:6–8, 1998:149). Although use of “multiform” both as adjective and noun is widespread in scholarship, it remains difficult to find an agreed-upon definition. Lauri Honko’s description of multiforms as “repeatable and artistic expressions of variable length which are constitutive for narration and function as generic markers” (Honko 1998:100–05; cf. Foley 1995:102) is probably as close to a consensus as one can find, but the problem that Lord noted in The Singer of Tales remains: “unlike the oral poet, we are not accustomed to thinking in terms of fluidity. We find it difficult to grasp anything that is multiform. It seems to us necessary to construct an ideal text or seek an original, and we remain dissatisfied with an ever-changing phenomenon” (1960:100). Despite the efforts of many scholars to explain the phenomenon of multiformity (perhaps epitomized by Foley’s How to Read an Oral Poem [2002]), it remains difficult to think and talk about the multiform without collapsing it to a single, textual entity.4 Scholars do not even agree completely on the size of multiforms: Parry and Lord’s original approach limited varying formulas to circumstances with identical metrical conditions (although Lord also discussed “themes” that were groupings of ideas [1960:68]), but more recent work has identified much larger multiforms that extend well beyond sentence length (Honko 1998:102–14), and the scholarship seems to be moving in the direction of identifying as multiforms even complete songs (Foley 1998).5 The work of Gregory Nagy in developing an “evolutionary” model has been influential in this area, in particular his view that the multiform should be understood in relative rather than absolute terms, so that any particular composition could be more or less multiform “along a graded continuum” (Nagy 1996Nagy 2001:109–10). That multiforms vary at different levels from the micro to the macro is borne out by studies such as Honko’s of Siri epic or Foley’s work with the variants collected by Parry and Lord (Foley 1998). Nevertheless, significant disagreements among researchers remain, both in theoretical terms and, more specifically, about the relative multiformity—and attendant orality—of particular works (for example, the Homeric Iliad versus the Cypria [Finkelberg 2000; Nagy 2001]). This state of difficulty is not confined to purely oral, or even primarily oral, traditions, either. In medieval studies Paul Zumthor’s discussion of mouvance—most succinctly expressed by Bernard Cerquiglini’s assertion that (1989:111) “l’écriture médiévale ne produit pas de variantes, elle est variance” (“medieval writing does not produce variants, it is variance”)—brought about significant changes in both theoretical approaches and editorial practices (Zumthor 1972Zumthor 1987).6 Although Cerquiglini’s position is seen as extreme in contemporary medieval studies, the variable nature of texts—even when they are not considered to be particularly close to an...

Futurescaping Infinite Bandwidth, Zero Latency

In the 1990s Castells analysed ‘the rise of the network society’ but this remains an ever-changing phenomenon. It throws up new concepts and issues. For example, no one foresaw what Mark Zuckerberg would create in terms of on-line social networks with the FaceBook project. Predicting the functionality and utility of the Internet is a mug's game and yet it can be extremely profitable for those who ‘guess right’ and are able to influence the future applications and organisational forms of the network society. Next Generation Access (NGA) broadband is promoted strongly by policy makers as underpinning future economic growth. NGA can be thought of as a potential future placeholder, the content and structure of which, while remaining tantalizing, is occupying many contemporary minds. In this paper we describe a process (Imagine/Triple Task Method) and an event structure IBZL (or Infinite Bandwidth Zero Latency), which explores potentially novel applications of NGA and provide some ideas as to the key components of the future inter-networked landscape. In this paper we present the context of the IBZL initiative, review the ‘Imagine’ process as an effective method for ‘futurescaping’ and present some initial outcomes of the project.

Advanced nursing practice: an idea whose time has come

This paper aims to analyse the concept of advanced nursing practice critically and to demonstrate an appreciation of the development of the role of the advanced nurse practitioner in the Irish context. The concept of advanced nursing practice has existed in the US since the 1960s and in the UK since the early 1980s. The first signs of the advanced nurse practitioner began to emerge in Ireland in the late 1990s as a result of increasing demands and changes occurring within nursing and health care. Currently, there are 31 advanced nurse practitioners in the country, many of whom practice in the general setting. Strategies are in place to introduce advanced nursing practice into other nursing disciplines in the future. A literature review was conducted to address the various issues inherent within this concept. There is a body of evidence indicating that advanced nursing practice has brought about an improvement in patient outcomes. In light of this, the advanced nurse practitioner has a valuable role to play in providing a beneficial contribution and filling a gap in healthcare services. This paper has demonstrated that nursing continues to be a dynamic and ever-changing phenomenon where the onus is firmly on the advanced nurse practitioner as expert, leader and collaborator, to capture the hearts and minds of nurses and healthcare workers, so as to challenge traditional values and transform clinical practice. Failure to do so may allow medicine or other interested parties to shape the future of nursing or even absorb it. Nurses working at an advanced level are striving to develop their expertise, initiate nurse-led services and practice, in collaboration with other professionals in an effort to provide the highest quality care to the patient. Although the idea of the advanced nurse practitioner is relatively new to nursing in Ireland, it is the result of an idea whose time has come and there is nothing more powerful than an idea whose time has come.