Linear Perspectives Research Articles

Contextual and Structural Factors, Project Modelling and Sustainability of Entrepreneurial Development Projects: A Conceptual Framework

Projects emanate from ideas to solve an underlying need. Ideally, a project aims to solve a problem among beneficiaries. Notwithstanding the imperative role of entrepreneurship in socioeconomic prosperity, sustainability of development projects focusing on the empowerment of entrepreneurs is gaining attention on the wheels of research. Of interest are entrepreneurial development projects that fail to attain the desired impacts despite huge capital investments. Ineffective decision-making associated with unrealistic expectations often implicates sustainable delivery of outcomes. Hoverers, foundations for sustainable delivery of entrepreneurship development projects are elusively theorized. Lack of theoretical consent and standardized practice of modelling project intervention relative to attaining sustainable deliverables deprives us of essential knowledge for decision-making. Failure to align project implementation models to the prevailing reality of entrepreneurship is believed to contribute to this dismal. Against the background, this paper presents a theoretical and conceptual framework for the interaction between contextual and structural factors, project modelling and sustainability of entrepreneurial development project interventions. 21 peer-reviewed articles were selected through screening. Meta-analysis was used to review the converging and diverging issues while identifying and synthesizing research gaps that connect with the research problem identified. While project modelling was found to be critical in achieving sustainable impacts, the findings were based on linear perspectives and ignored the prevailing structural and contextual dynamics. Hence, the proposition that structural and contextual factors mediate and moderate the sustainability of entrepreneurial development projects, respectively.

Exploring the effects of market-oriented reforms on industrial land use eco-efficiency in China: Evidence from a spatial and non-linear analysis

The abundant supply of industrial land has played an important role in China's large-scale urbanization and industrialization. A large amount of industrial land is characterized by low-efficiency use and high industrial-pollution emissions. To improve industrial land use eco-efficiency (ILUE), the Chinese government is continuously strengthening the market-oriented reforms of industrial land transactions. Different from previous studies that assess the effectiveness of such an effort based on non-spatial and linear perspectives, this study explores the spatial and non-linear effects of the market-oriented reforms on ILUE, using data of 99 cities in China collected from 2009 to 2020. We evaluate the market-oriented reforms with two indicators of industrial land premium rate (ILPR) and the ratio of bidding, auction, and listing (RBAL) in industrial land transactions, then measure the spatial and non-linear effects using the spatial panel data model. The results show that the rising ILPR in adjacent cities negatively affected local ILUE, but the RBAL had no obvious spatial effects. The relationship between ILPR and ILUE showed a U-shaped curve; that between RBAL and ILUE was an inverted U-shape. The effects were heterogeneous across regions. The rising ILPR of adjacent cities positively affected local ILUE in the east, while negatively in the central region. The increasing RBAL had no noticeable spatial effects except in the central region. The western region did not show significant spatial effects. The relationships between ILUE and the two indicators showed U-shaped curves of different shapes in the three regions. The findings help to improve future ILUE by managing the industrial land markets in better ways.

DO SABER COMUM A EPISTEMOLOGIA, DOS SIGNIFICADOS CONSTITUTIVOS DA DOCÊNCIA E DAS MARCAS DA PROFESSORALIDADE: ESPELHO DE SI MESMO

Starting from an inspiration in the models of doing research that break with linear perspectives in the field of human and social sciences, this study aims to present an analysis of the teaching establishment trajectory and professoralidade brands produced in the school of experience, taking as object analysis of the 'mirror of himself' and at the same time, seeks to establish a relationship between the autobiographical research and training processes and construction of teacher identity. For the development of such a proposal, if embarked-the theoretical and methodological ways of autobiographical research, qualitative and dialogical character of Bakhtin approach (BAKHTIN, 2011), together with the theoretical basis mainly proposed by Behrens (2013), Day (2001) Dominicé (1990), Freire (1996), Foucault (1996/2009), Novoa (2000/2001), Santos (2010), Passeggi (2011), Pereira (2001/2008/2013), among others, that light construction and text of scripture, in which it sought to link the ideas, to make them consistent, pointing to the teaching and the construction of professoralidade the senses; and the subject and its historicity, as a writing itself counted on a path trodden paths that were ‘common knowledge epistemology’ (FREIRE, 1996). This theoretical articulation, combined with first-person accounts made by the author (perspective of Foucault's authorship), it can be concluded that this research approach challenges the teacher to be a researcher yourself and take ownership of a discourse that carries the
 social dimension of his practice in the world. This subject, which proposes to take as a research object to his own life story - a
 ‘writing itself ’ - brings out in his speech, some clues that enable to identify as ‘being a teacher’ permeates the question of subjectivity
 and how each subject throughout his life trajectory, though unpretentiously, it makes available to teach and learn in an interactive
 and dialogical way with the world.

EVOLUTIONARY PERSPECTIVES ON BIPOLAR TECHNOLOGY

Our introduction to this special edition of Lithic Technology Exploring Variability in Bipolar Technology does not attempt to summarize the papers found in the volume. This is done succinctly and accurately by Tostevin and Shott in this volume’s concluding section (Tostevin & Shott ). Here we briefly discuss a theme recurring in most of the volume’s papers, the importance of simple technologies for exploring the evolution of human behavioral variability (Shea ). Bipolar technology is important for studying the evolution of human behavioral variability because of its ubiquity in the archaeological record. Over and again, humans and their ancestors chose to deploy bipolar techniques in varying social and ecological settings. From the earliest flake production and block modification using hammers and anvils (e.g. Mora and de la Torre ) to late Pleistocene bipolar bladelet production (e.g. Brantingham et al. ), bipolar technology was useful for many different purposes. Bipolar reduction can therefore be considered an example of an exapted technology (sensu Gould and Vrba ), that is, technologies re-introduced for purposes other than those associated with their origins. The ubiquity of bipolar technology in the Stone Age gives it less utility as an “Age” or “Industry” marker (e.g. de la Pena and Wadley ). Its importance lies rather in what it can tell us about the evolution of human behavioral variability and its responsiveness to ecological and social changes. Archaeologists have made considerable strides towards accurately identifying and quantifying traces of bipolar technology on a wide variety of rock types (e.g. de la Pena ; Diez-Martin et al. ; Kuijt et al. ; Leaf ; Verges and Olle ). This has made bipolar technology more visible and thereby more accessible for comparative studies examining the role of simple technologies across the entire archaeological record. Bipolar technology remains unique in this regard. The papers in this volume define, identify, and explain strategic variation in bipolar technology, as they examine the social (e.g. skill [Duke and Pargeter ]), situational (e.g. raw material availability [Gurtov and Eren ] and functional variability [Jeske and Sterner-Miller ]), and structural (e.g. core size [Hiscock ]) variables that place selective pressures on these simple technologies. Together, they join a growing movement in lithic studies away from purely descriptive studies of lithic patterning, towards understanding the behavioral processes that underpin these patterns (e.g. Eren et al. ; Kuhn :; Lewis et al. ; Tostevin ). Human mobility patterns, settlement dynamics and the cultural transmission of technological knowledge are other examples of behavioral and organizational questions that can be suitably investigated using context-specific studies of bipolar technology. Similar questions about human strategic behavioral variability have led to an increased incorporation of evolutionary methods and theory into lithic studies (e.g. Lycett and von CramonTaubadel ; Mackay et al. ). These studies show that “evolution” in archaeology describes more than developmental sequences, straight lines, or ladders (see Langbroek ). These traditional, linear perspectives more accurately referred to as cultural evolutionism (see Dunnell ), underplay the importance of simple technologies in human behavioral evolution. Evolutionary perspectives, on the other hand, aim to understand strategic variation in human behavior and its material manifestations with accommodations for the co-occurrence and reoccurrence of simple and complex technologies (see Prentiss et al. ).

Nonlinear Impact of the Marketing Mix on Brand Sales Performance

The pattern of the impact that marketing activities exert on sales has not been widely examined in the literature. Many studies have adopted restricted linear perspectives, disregarding the empirical evidence. We investigated the nonlinear impact of the marketing mix on the volume of sales, volume of consumers and level of purchasing by each consumer, through a longitudinal study with panel data of brands and consumers simultaneously. We analyzed 121 brands during 13 months, with 793 purchases/month by consumers, through application of three generalized estimating equations. The results indicate that the marketing mix, especially branding and pricing, have a strong impact on all the dependent variables in nonlinear form, with good fits of the parameters. The joint effect generates economies of scale for the brands, while for each consumer the joint effect stimulates the gradual purchase of larger quantities. The study demonstrates eight impacting patterns of the marketing mix on the indicators investigated, with alterations in their order and weight for brands and consumers.

Perspective with Six Vanishing Points - an Alternative Method

The purpose of this paper is to describe perspective with six vanishing points. The line opened by axonometry and continued by one, two, three vanishing points and spherical perspectives, one became complete with the sixth vanishing point. Linear perspectives are often used, well known systems. Introducing new vanishing points doubles the represented part of space. The question of representing the half-space, hence the definition of the first five vanishing points can be found in literature. However, there was no useful solution for the representation of the whole space for a long time. This paper introduces a new definition of the sixth vanishing point that resulted a well applicable system. A short historical introduction looks at some of the interactions between mathematics and arts of western culture. Afterwards we formulate the new alternative perspective and give some methods of construction for notable lines and planes. Finally we write about possible applications.

Advancing the application of systems thinking in health: provider payment and service supply behaviour and incentives in the Ghana National Health Insurance Scheme--a systems approach.

BackgroundAssuring equitable universal access to essential health services without exposure to undue financial hardship requires adequate resource mobilization, efficient use of resources, and attention to quality and responsiveness of services. The way providers are paid is a critical part of this process because it can create incentives and patterns of behaviour related to supply. The objective of this work was to describe provider behaviour related to supply of health services to insured clients in Ghana and the influence of provider payment methods on incentives and behaviour.MethodsA mixed methods study involving grey and published literature reviews, as well as health management information system and primary data collection and analysis was used. Primary data collection involved in-depth interviews, observations of time spent obtaining service, prescription analysis, and exit interviews with clients. Qualitative data was analysed manually to draw out themes, commonalities, and contrasts. Quantitative data was analysed in Excel and Stata. Causal loop and cause tree diagrams were used to develop a qualitative explanatory model of provider supply incentives and behaviour related to payment method in context.ResultsThere are multiple provider payment methods in the Ghanaian health system. National Health Insurance provider payment methods are the most recent additions. At the time of the study, the methods used nationwide were the Ghana Diagnostic Related Groupings payment for services and an itemized and standardized fee schedule for medicines. The influence of provider payment method on supply behaviour was sometimes intuitive and sometimes counter intuitive. It appeared to be related to context and the interaction of the methods with context and each other rather than linearly to any given method.ConclusionsAs countries work towards Universal Health Coverage, there is a need to holistically design, implement, and manage provider payment methods reforms from systems rather than linear perspectives, since the latter fail to recognize the effects of context and the between-methods and context interactions in producing net effects.

The waves of containerization: shifts in global maritime transportation

This paper provides evidence of the cyclic behavior of containerization through an analysis of the phases of a Kondratieff wave (K-wave) of global container ports development. The container, like any technical innovation, has a functional (within transport chains) and geographical diffusion potential where a phase of maturity is eventually reached. Evidence from the global container port system suggests five main successive waves of containerization with a shift of the momentum from advanced economies to developing economies, but also within specific regions. These waves are illustrative of major macroeconomic, technological and sometimes political shifts within the global economy. They do not explain the causes, but simply the consequences in the distribution in container traffic and growth (or decline). Yet, they provide strong evidence that containerization has a cyclic behavior and that inflection points are eventually reached, marking the end of the diffusion of containerization in a specific port or port range. Future expectations about the growth of containerization thus need to be assessed within an economic cycle perspective instead of the rather linear perspectives.

Advancing policy makers’ expertise in evidence-use: A new approach to enhancing the role research can have in aiding educational policy development

This paper explores the notion of evidence-informed policy making and the factors that have hindered its development in the UK to date. It then explores Flyvbjerg’s notion of phronetic expertise and hypothesises that the learning that accrues from engaging with multiple cases could also lead to policy-makers developing competency in relation to evidence use. As a result, I contend that, given the issues that abound with current attempts to embed and enact evidence informed policy making, the phronetic approach presents an alternative and viable way of establishing enhanced levels of evidence use within educational policy development. As such, the paper not only proposes educational change but as a consequence, it also puts forward suggestions for ways of facilitating more effective educational change in terms of the development of educational policy. In particular, the paper spotlights a need for current thought in this area to move away from rational and linear perspectives, to ones where policy makers are continuously incorporating the most up to date evidence into their thinking, enabling it to be intuitively conjoined with other pertinent and salient factors in order to provide a holistic and well-rounded decision in relation to given issues. I argue that this could occur most effectively via the establishment of policy learning communities and processes to facilitate the creation of knowledge within them. I also suggest that expectations of individuals and organizational cultures will need to change to accommodate participation by policy officials within such communities.

Phronetic expertise in evidence use: a new perspective on how research can aid educational policy development

The notion of evidence-informed policy making and the arguments in its favour are well established. At the same time, however, regular evidence use is yet to become a routine way of life for educational policy makers, particularly within the UK. This paper engages with the notion of expertise in evidence use, and with Flyvbjerg’s idea of phronesis. It also details how the phronetic approach can be adopted by policy makers and the potential implications for the policy development process. Given the issues that abound with current attempts to embed and enact evidence-informed policy making, the phronetic approach presents an alternative and viable way of both perceiving how evidence is currently used and also establishing enhanced levels of evidence use. In particular, the paper spotlights a need for current thought in this area to move away from rational and linear perspectives to encourage policy makers continuously to incorporate the most recent evidence into their thinking, and to make well-rounded decisions. The mechanisms required to facilitate phronetic expertise are examined as are the cultural issues that need to be addressed.

O ESPAÇO, O TEMPO E A (DES)CONSTRUÇÃO DE UMA REALIDADE INTEGRADA

Geography has assisted the dialogue between man and the world since classical antiquity. Investigationsfocusing on relationships that take place between unity and diversity, as revealed by the world, are amongthe classical subjects of this knowledge transformed into modern science. Modern science was accomplishedby the ability of the bourgeois revolutions in ensuring the triumph of human reason against myths and beliefsthat, for centuries, condemned man to a condition of servitude. To this end, there was a series of scientificimprovements to meet the demands of a bourgeoisie in need of knowledge, essential to the domination of natureas well as to its transformation into commodities. In this process of adaptation of reality to the demands ofproduction, time and environment were decanted and classified according to virtues and faults attributed tothem previously. The environment was classified as an immobilizer of social dynamics. This category ofanalysis has been linked to studies which are prone to linear perspectives, as time took on a mediating conceptualrole in which the contradiction was present. To break this mistaken perspective, the environment isbeing reinserted into critical social theories in order to overcome the reductionism of such arbitrary separation.

A photographic forensic case study: Myths, principles and techniques

This paper introduces new approaches for photography forensic techniques. The first approach is on a referenced 3D photography forensic study. Two controversial photos taken by Alice and Bob are precisely analyzed based on claims from both sides. Using Google Map and these two given photos, we generate a 3D model to figure out whose claim is closer to the truth. Through thorough 3D simulations, one perceptual error made by Alice is corrected. Wrong presumptions based on false perceptual errors are corrected using referenced 3D simulations. Second, an optical aberration problem is analyzed. This paper points out that not all vanishing points can be available by drawing straight lines since distorted photos due to lens aberration can cause curvilinear perspectives which are different from linear perspectives. Third, the possibility of composite photos is also studied. Re-sampling and its technical solution is provided. As a case study, this paper presents two principles for forensic analysis and provides technical solutions.

Cheonggyecheon: Streaming Currere

In this paper I share my personal journey into rhizomatic thinking. Here I illustrate how a rhizome opened new possibilites to my previously confusing learning process. As a vehicle I ask the question, when considering the pedagogical nature of place, how does the new facilitate currere? I am also taking the opportunity to write in a way that is new and unfamiliar to me because the conventional and acceptable have been unable to help me understand the meanings I am seeking. I felt uninspired among traditional styles of academic writing until I encountered the doctoral thesis of Warren Sellers where another way of seeing and writing is explored. This generative experience gave me the momentum to link past learnings in new rhizomatic ways and begin a discussion within this journal about how place and pedagogy connect. My visit to Cheonggyecheon Stream in Seoul provided me the place and my reading of the texts of Warren Sellers, Noel Gough, Chaim Soutine, Margaret Sommerville and Lloyd Rees gave me examples of others who have searched. As I remember my physical experience of this new place, the stream becomes the search, the bridges spanning it, the new understandings and scattered along the banks, the rhizomes grow. A new place facilitates currere. This journal provides a forum where possibilities are viewed as exciting (Doll, 2009, p. 71). Tentative steps into new spaces are welcomed. Above all, conversation oils the machine, here I can share my thoughts with others who are exploring learning in diverse ways and from non linear perspectives.

Multivariant System of Perspectives

The article describes a patented method of displaying objects that secures natural visual perception of the objects displayed without distortions in their scaling relation and the dimensional depth. The author considers a group of linear perspectives with homographic function to display/map 3D visual scenes. The article also describes matrices for projective transformation.

One method for displaying objects and a group of linear perspectives

This paper considers a group of linear perspectives for transformation of three-dimensional visual scenes based on a patented method of displaying objects. Projective transformation matrices, including those for three-dimensional graphics application programs, are given.

Nonperspective Image Generation Based on the Compositional Arrangement of Local Linear Perspectives

Nonperspective Image Generation Based on the Compositional Arrangement of Local Linear Perspectives

The many forms of research‐informed practice: a framework for mapping diversity

Much of the discussion of research‐informed practice in education has centred on two perspectives: the rational–linear and interactive perspectives on research use. This paper examines two initiatives aimed at delivering research‐informed practice in schools that appear to represent these two perspectives, Peer‐Assisted Learning Strategies and the School‐Based Research Consortia Initiative. This examination reveals that both initiatives contain rational–linear and interactive elements. It also highlights other features of the initiatives not captured by the rational–linear and interactive perspectives. The paper argues that in order to capture the cross‐cutting and multifaceted nature of initiatives on the ground, it is helpful to overlay the rational–linear and interactive perspectives with three models of research use developed in social care field: the research‐based practitioner model, the embedded research model and the organisational excellence model. The resulting matrix provides a framework for considering whether, when and how these different approaches to increasing research use might be combined.

Baudelaire devant l'innombrable by Antoine Compagnon (review)

508 Reviews with a critical relationship to his predecessors, to the genres they represent, and to the status of his own texts. Ellenore is both model and counter-model forBalzac's critique of historical realism; faire inevitably involves a measure of contre(-)faire in the sense of both distortion and disavowal. As a result, a number of other Balzacian texts critique the values they supposedly endorse, from the gold standard in Melmoth reconcilie (Emeline Dhommee) to marital fidelity in Honorine, a mixture of essay and fiction (DominiqueLaporte)and, once again, T illusion realiste' in Modes teMignon (Andrew Oliver). Apart from being internally self-aware and even self-contradictory, Balzac's texts are furthercomplicated when compared with the formal and ideological contexts in which they appeared or against which they are now appraised: Le Cousin Pons ioregroundinggourmandisewhen serialized in Le Constitutionnelagainst a background of widespread famine (Gabriel Moyal); the tension between Balzac's fictions and his many justificatory prefaces (Roland Le Huenen); critics' over-easy adoption of Balzac's own architectural metaphors (Rachel Sauve). In all these cases, Balzac's own self-conscious, multifaceted language betrays what Marie-Christine Aubin calls Balzac's 'illusionnisme social', as illustrated not only by i'importance primordiale du paraitre' in Cesar Birotteau (Graham Falconer), but also by his effortto chart spatial and temporal signpostingin La Maison du Chat qui pelote (Paul Perron) and, particularly interestingly, by possibly further linguistic play with Tours (city and maternal origin) and tours (in the sense of both twists and towers), which may well operate as 'le trope-maitre, le signifiant phallique qui genere du recit' (p. 186) in the Contes drolatiques (Scott Lee). Although somewhat uneven in length, interest, and engagement with the central theme, these papers make an important and highly promising addition to the growing body of work on Balzac's textual hermeneutics or, perhaps more accurately, on the textual hermeneutics that is 'Balzac'. University of Bradford Owen Heathcote Baudelaire devant Vinnombrable. By Antoine Compagnon. Paris: Presses de l'Uni? versite de Paris-Sorbonne. 2003. 207 pp. ?14. ISBN 2-84050-263-1. Antoine Compagnon is a commentator who is sensitive to the nuances of language. For example, his discussion of the adjective 'enorme' (in 'le rire enorme de la mer' in the poem 'Obsession') shows how Baudelaire uses it in a translation of a Greek phrase from Aeschylus, so that 'enorme' stands for the adjective anarithmos (poetical anerithmos), which actually means 'innombrable' or 'immense'. The adjective can thus be read as having its full etymological force of going beyond the bounds. In this way, the laughter of the sea assumes a proportion such that it is no longer something that, as critics usually have it, is generous and therefore welcoming?a glimpse of something eternal. Instead, it takes on an aspect that threatens to overwhelm: the sea becomes a horizontal abyss. Compagnon sets out to challenge and enlarge our appreciation of Baudelaire. He complains of the way the poet has been limited on the basis of a selection or selective reading of his poems. In this way we have Baudelaire the decadent, Baudelaire the symbolist, etc. Another version of this misrepresentation is what Compagnon sees as anachronistic criticism, presenting him either as following a tradition or more usually as the origin of one. In the former case, we are presented with a decadent Baudelaire unable to match or surpass past achievements (and aware of it). In the second case, Baudelaire is valued not for what he wrote but because he showed the way for his successors. Compagnon seeks to free Baudelaire's writings from such static or linear perspectives. One result of this is a reorientation of our view of Baudelaire's relation to time. Interrupted time ('Paris change') is an important feature of his poetic world, and MLR, 100.2, 2005 509 indeed, according to Compagnon, rupture and discontinuity are a key feature of his poetry as a whole. Compagnon demonstrates that at the heart of the poet's use of allegory is the non sequitur, the interruption. In fact, this fracturing, the fall from unity (the entry into number), is what constitutes the fallen nature of creation, forhow else can the singular conceive of...

Generic and Rhetorical Structures of Texts: Two Sides of the Same Coin?

Two major approaches to textual macro-structures have been developed during the last decades: Register & Genre Theory (R&GT) and Rhetorical Structure Theory (RST). Both stress that textual structures co-occur with contextual relations involving social action and subject matter, role structure and symbolic organization. The approaches, however, significantly differ in their conceptions of textual organization. Whereas R&GT conceives of texts as goal-oriented staged (i.e. linearly progressing, while still allowing for prosodic and recursive realizations of stages) interactions, RST conceptualises them as hierarchically structured entities in which certain elements are foregrounded (nuclei) and others are backgrounded (satellites). Based on empirical analyses of Viennese university students? essays, we will discuss in what ways generic and rhetorical organizations of texts relate to each other and what advances a combination of these two approaches may offer for text analysis and text linguistics. Through such a combinatory approach to analyzing texts, it becomes possible to identify systematic patterns of textual features in context (using R&GT) and culturally influenced, semantic coherence relations (using RST). Central to our discussion are issues involving the relation between hierarchical versus linear perspectives on text organization and the relation between cohesion and coherence.

Achieving clinical behaviour change: a case of becoming indeterminate

This paper is based on an empirical study of attempts to achieve change in clinical behaviour across a United Kingdom National Health Service (NHS) Health Authority (HA). We suggest that the evidence based medicine (EBM) movement underpinning such attempts is premised upon a highly rationalistic conception of change. Here the generation and implementation of research findings into clinical practice is understood as movement between discrete entities. Drawing upon poststructural philosophy, social studies of science and technology, social anthropology, and gender studies, we challenge such linear perspectives through a more immanent alternative. We conceive of change as movement within indeterminate or ambiguous relationships. We then proceed to discuss the implications of this modality for the management of clinical behaviour change.