Number Of Positive Features Research Articles

Differentia specifica mieszkalnictwa w Polsce na arenie międzynarodowej

The main purpose of the study presented in the article is the identification of the characteristics that distinguish the housing situation in Poland from other countries around the world. Additionally, the paper aims to indicate the limitations of conducting housing-related comparative analyses. The research was based on Eurostat and OECD data for 2020 and on the literature on the subject taking into account the historical context, essentially dating back to 1989. The study used the desk research method. The study showed that in many aspects the housing situation in Poland is below the EU and OECD average. On the other hand, it is also characterised by a number of positive features: a growing housing construction sector, a low percentage of homeless people, dominance of the apartment ownership sector, family support in satisfying housing needs and a relatively high level of satisfaction with one’s place of residence considering the relatively low values of the objective indicators describing housing conditions. The identified limitations to international housing comparative analyses included the lack of a consistent methodology for studying homelessness and a variation in the timeliness and availability of data in individual countries.

Agrobiological phenological characteristics of native grape varieties in the conditions of the coastal zone of the Republic of Dagestan

Dagestan is considered one of the centers of origin of cultural grapes. This is evidenced by a huge number of indigenous grape varieties of different ripening periods and directions of use. Native varieties have a number of positive features that are widely used in the breeding process. Among them medium ripening period (Ag raisins, Khatmi), late ripening period (Agadai, Goat raisins), etc. The purpose of the research is to study the influence of weather conditions on agrobiological indicators and the onset of phenological phases of the grape plant. The experiment included 14 native grape varieties of different ripening periods and directions of crop use in the conditions of the southern coastal zone of the Republic of Dagestan. The conducted studies have established: one variety of very early ripening period (Ag emchek); 5 varieties of early ripening period (Hotsatsibil, Budai Shuli, Ceaushnovy, Khatmi); 7 early-middle varieties (Ag chakrak, Ag raisin, Gimra, Dagestan, Dzhagar, Dokur, Dubut) and 1 late-ripening variety (Chili Gulabi). And also determined agrobiological indicators and indicators of crop quality. The number of inflorescences per one developed shoot (K1 is the fruiting coefficient) is the lowest in the Budai Shuli variety-0.55, and the highest in the Gimra variety-1.74. The remaining varieties range from 0.61 to 1.56. According to the coefficient of fruitfulness (K2), the varieties Gimra and Hotsacibil are also distinguished (1.90 and 1.71, respectively). For the rest of the varieties, this indicator ranges from 1, 23-1,68. The studied varieties in the conditions of southern coastal zone were divided into four groups: very early, early, early-middle and late. Varieties Ag Emchek, Gimra and Dokur were quite productive (28.1, 23.6 and 21.0 tons, respectively). In spite of the high yields, all the varieties provided quality corresponding to the required conditions (15-20 g/100cm3).is considered one of the centers of origin of cultural grapes. This is evidenced by a huge number of indigenous grape varieties of different ripening periods and directions of use. Native varieties have a number of positive features that are widely used in the breeding process. Among them are varieties of very early ripening period (Yay white raisins and Yay pink raisins), medium ripening period (Ag raisins, Khatmi), late ripening period (Agadai, Goat raisins), etc. The purpose of the research is to study the influence of weather conditions on agrobiological indicators and the onset of phenological phases of the grape plant. The experiment included 14 native grape varieties of different ripening periods and directions of crop use in the conditions of the southern coastal zone of the Republic of Dagestan. The conducted studies have established: one variety of very early ripening period (Ag emchek); 5 varieties of early ripening period (Hotsatsibil, Budai Shuli, Ceaushnovy, Khatmi); 7 early-middle varieties (Ag chakrak, Ag raisin, Gimra, Dagestan, Dzhagar, Dokur, Dubut) and 1 late-ripening variety (Chili Gulabi). And also determined agrobiological indicators and indicators of crop quality. The number of inflorescences per one developed shoot (K1 is the fruiting coefficient) is the lowest in the Budai Shuli variety-0.55, and the highest in the Gimra variety-1.74. The remaining varieties range from 0.61 to 1.56. According to the coefficient of fruitfulness (K2), the varieties Gimra and Hotsacibil are also distinguished (1.90 and 1.71, respectively). For the rest of the varieties, this indicator ranges from 1, 23-1,68. The studied varieties in the conditions of southern coastal zone were divided into four groups: very early, early, early-middle and late. Varieties Ag Emchek, Gimra and Dokur were quite productive (28.1, 23.6 and 21.0 tons, respectively). In spite of the high yields, all the varieties provided quality corresponding to the required conditions (15-20 g/100cm3).

Analysis of the pectin extraction process at recycling of secondary material resources

The object of research is the secondary material resources of processing plant and animal raw materials, namely fruit pomace and milk whey. One of the most problematic areas is that the waste of these industries has high rates of biological and chemical oxygen consumption of wastewater, which significantly impairs the operation of local and city treatment facilities. In addition, the parameters of extraction and determination of the quality indicators of the obtained product are not well defined. The processing of whey and pomace of fruit crops can reduce the environmental burden on the environment and increase the efficiency of technological processes through resource conservation and obtaining a surplus product. The problem is solved, in particular, by using the process of extracting plant waste using milk whey and the process of energy-saving membrane concentration. In the course of the study, let’s use pectin-containing plant waste from juice production, namely watermelon, pumpkin, quince, beetroot, apple and a mixture of orange and tangerine pomace. The results obtained indicate that the process of extracting apple pomace with milk whey is promising, since the highest pectin content in the extract is established for apple pomace. The main amount of pectin substances passes into the extract starting from 75 minutes to 90 minutes. Extraction-hydrolysis for 2 hours at a temperature of 85 °C, pH=2–2.5 units determines the best results. Ultrafiltration of the obtained extract makes it possible to increase the pectin content up to 3.0 % with a protein content of more than 6.0 %. The membranes used in the experiment are characterized by high selectivity for protein and pectin. The fact is established that diafiltration makes it possible to effectively purify whey-pectin concentrates from ballast impurities with simultaneous enrichment of the concentrate with high-molecular components of whey. A technological scheme for the production of pectin-whey concentrate with high organoleptic and detoxification characteristics is proposed. The proposed technological process has a number of positive features, in particular, a high content of pectin substances, high value indicators, a significant reduction in the burden on the environment, economic benefits through energy conservation and obtaining a surplus product.

Правові засади сільської гостинності в умовах інклюзивного сільського розвитку

The scientific and theoretical analysis of the legal basis of rural hospitality in Ukraine in terms of inclusive rural development is provided in this article. Particular attention is paid to justifying the necessity of developing and adopting a special law that would define the general legal, organizational and socio-economic principles of regulating the activities of citizens in this sphere. It is noted that the draft of Law of Ukraine «On Stimulating the Development of Rural Hospitality in Ukraine» is characterized by a number of positive features. There are: rural hospitality is defined as a diversified activity that can be carried out by each house hold located in the rural areas; the provision of rural hospitality services is not a business activity (Article 3 of theDraft). Thus, today a process of formation of the legislation in the sphere of rural hospitality takes place. Such legislation is aimed at creating the foundations for the broad involvement of the rural population in the provision of tourist services, improving its economic situation. This contributes to improving the level and quality of life in the rural areas, and ensuring inclusive rural development. Keywords: inclusive rural development, rural green tourism, rural hospitality, rural area, rural population, private peasant farm

Legal basis of rural hospitality in the context of inclusive rural development

The article provides a scientific and theoretical analysis of the legal framework of rural hospitality in Ukraine in the context of inclusive rural development. Special attention is paid to the justification of the expediency of developing and adopting a special law which would define the general legal, organizational, socio-economic principles of regulation of citizens’ activities in this area. It is noted that the draft Law of Ukraine “On Stimulating the Development of Rural Hospitality in Ukraine” is characterized by a number of positive features. These include the following: rural hospitality is defined as a diversified activity that can be carried out by any household located in rural areas; the provision of rural hospitality services is not an entrepreneurial activity (Article 3 of the draft). Thus, the process of establishing legislation in the field of rural hospitality is currently underway. It is aimed at creating a framework for broader involvement of the rural population in the provision of tourism services and improving their economic situation. This contributes to improving the level and quality of life in rural areas, and thus to ensuring inclusive rural development.

The use of plastic details to increase the contact surface of the substrate during the cultivation of attached species of algae

A series of experiments was carried out using strips (and nets) of synthetic polymers to increase the contact surface during the cultivation of attached forms of microphytes. We used bands of different composition, as well as with different microrelief surface areas, and a fine-mesh PLA network with an inhomogeneous surface. The experiments were performed on liquid nutrient media in accumulative cultures, and on solid nutrient medium in pure culture. The results showed a number of positive features of such cultivation, based on the selective isolation of individual species and their small combinations from the composition of accumulative cultures, as well as on the effective growth of individual species on specific elements of the microrelief of polymer surfaces. The polymers used were: PET, PP, LDPE, UHMWPE and PLA.

The 2019 Hong Kong Protests: A Role for Historical Sociology

Abstract This article responds to Stott et al.’s ‘Patterns of disorder in the 2019 protests in Hong Kong’. In that paper, they offer a social psychological analysis of the Hong Kong events and, in so doing, draw upon the ‘Elaborated Social Identity Model’, and deploy it as the basis for understanding the escalating tensions and violence that occurred through 2019. This model has a number of positive features, not least that it foregrounds rationality and the organized and purposive nature of collective conduct while also paying careful attention to the wider context in which identity within large groups is formed and reformed. The aim in this article is simply to point to the importance of situating such an account within a wider historical sociology, in particular, considering the longer-term ‘life-cycle’ of riot and violent protest. Utilizing Sewell’s notion of ‘events’, the article seeks to point to the ways in which such signal phenomena may be considered to have laid the foundations for at least elements of what occurred subsequently. Such an approach provides a basis within which the growth of Hong Kong’s localism may be situated, as well as offering a longer-term context for understanding the rapidly shifting position occupied by Hong Kong’s police.

PREVENTION OF TORTURE: NATIONAL PREVENTIVE MECHANISM IN UKRAINE AND SOME MEMBER STATES OF THE COUNCIL OF EUROPE

The purpose of the article is to reveal four existing models of the National Preventive Mechanism and to highlight the functioning of the National Preventive Mechanism in Ukraine and some other member states of The Council of Europe. On 18th of December 2002 UN General Assembly adopted a resolution # 57/199 which confirmed the Optional Protocol to the United Nations Convention Against Torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. This document was ratified by the twentieth country on 22nd of July 2006 and the same day entered into force. Majority of countries of the world are now trying to reduce the use of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment and to ratify the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture in order to achieve this goal. The authors highlighted four existing models of the National Preventive Mechanism in the world. Special attention is paid to the functioning of the National Preventive Mechanism in Ukraine and some other member states of the Council of Europe. They also paid attention to the fact that in majority of the countries the process of forming and giving functions to NPM is at the stage of formation. Currently, there are countries that have already ratified the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention Against Torture, but for some unspecified reasons have not established an NPM. Such kind of situation is being observed in Europe (Belgium, Finland), Latin America (Brazil, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay) and Africa (Congo, Guinea, Ghana, South Africa, Togo). In addition, there are countries that have not ratified the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention Against Torture at all, such as the United States of America. As for the existing NPM models, in the authors's opinion, the most successful model is "ombudsman+". This model has a number of positive features, one of which is the ability of the Commissioner for human rights (Ombudsman) to work closely with various organizations and attract specialists from various fields. This makes it possible to conduct more thorough monitoring of places of detention. The Commissioner for Human Rights also has the opportunity to assign certain functions of the NPM to non-governmental organizations that have their own certain authority in society. But this model cannot be considered as ideal, because it also has certain problems that need to be improved. For example, when choosing a non-governmental organization, it is necessary to evaluate the main range of activities of this organization. The organization's participation as a part of civil society in monitoring visits should not be formal, as such a fact may negatively affect the functioning of the NPM.

Current uses of Andean Roots and Tuber Crops in South American gourmet restaurants

The Andean Roots and Tuber Crops (ARTCs) are nine species of plants with edible tubers or roots domesticated and cultivated in the Andean region, considered underutilized or neglected. Currently, the South American gourmet scene offers a possibility to re-evaluate these products to improve i. diets, ii. agrobiodiversity conservation and iii. diversified incomes for small producers. The current study aimed at understanding to which extent prominent chefs of the Andean region are already familiar with these crops and what they consider their positive features and limitations according to their experience, as well as the actions needed to increase their availability and consumption.Consultations with fifteen chefs and five experts of the regional gastronomic sector were conducted through telephonic semi-structured interviews. They represented restaurants, foundations, private companies and regional development initiatives based in Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia and Chile.The interviews revealed that oca, mashua, olluco, arracacha and yacón were the best-known and used crops across the countries. In contrast, the use of ajipa was limited to Bolivia, maca to Bolivia and Peru, achira to Colombia and Ecuador with only one chef reporting its use in Peru. At the same time, mauka was unknown by all the interviewed chefs. The number of positive features and limitations mentioned were respectively for oca (21;15), mashua (18;11), olluco (22;12), arracacha (18:9), ajipa (5;8), yacón (10;9), achira (2;3), maca (6;3) and mauka (0;0).According to the chefs among the three most important actions needed to promote the ARTCs widely and ensure their general consumption were: 1. Training of the farmers in associativity, marketing and post-harvest transformation; 2. consumer education on their properties coupled with the valorization of the cultural background of the ARTCs; 3. the establishment of permanent markets where farmers offer native products.

Estimation of confidentiality of a communication system based on chaotic time-delay generator with switchable delay time

Introduction: Communication systems based on the use of dynamical chaos have a number of positive features. Dynamical chaoshas the properties of random processes, which allows systems based on it to ensure the information transmission confidentiality.However, a quantitative security assessment of such systems is a complicated problem, since the methods for evaluating cryptographicstrength are well developed only for the classical encryption algorithms. Purpose: Development of a method for quantitative estimationof confidentiality of a binary signal hidden transmission in a communication system based on a chaotic time-delay oscillator withswitchable delay time. Results: A method is proposed for estimating the confidentiality of a binary information signal transmissionin a communication system using a chaotic time-delay oscillator with switchable delay time as a transmitter. The method is based onestimating the power of the key space for the chaotic communication system under study. We have considered the cases when sometransmitter parameters are known, and the most general case when all the transmitter parameters are unknown. A communicationsystem based on dynamical chaos may have a much higher confidentiality than the classical cryptographic algorithm using a cipher witha key length of 56 bits, but is significantly inferior in terms of cryptographic strength to a cipher with a key length of 128 bits. Practicalrelevance: The proposed method allows us to obtain a quantitative estimation of confidentiality of communication systems based ondynamical chaos, and compare it with the known strength of classical cryptographic algorithms.

S. Boychenko, L. Horoshkova, L. Zharova, V. Кaramushka, I. Khlobystov, Management of sustainable development of natural-economic systems.

It is proved in the paper that Incorporated Territorial Communities can be considered a complex natural and economic nonlinear, dynamic system capable of self-organization. Its main properties are: infinity of knowledge; interaction with the environment; integrity (emergence); hierarchy; structuring; available items; has a certain state and behavior; continuity of functioning; developmental capacity; dynamism; complexity; homeostaticity; purposefulness; controllability; adaptability; inertia; stability (constancy); equilibrium state. It is shown that optimum for Territorial Communities is the state of dynamic equilibrium and instability, as the prerequisites for dynamic development.It is proved that the quantitative measurement of equilibrium is economic efficiency - Pareto-efficiency, which requires an optimal distribution among market participants resources for production, provided their rarity and limited goods with unlimited consumption.It was established that the management of the interconnection of internal opportunities and external influence creates conditions for the sustainable development of the Incorporated Territorial Communities. The main infrastructural components of the sustainable development of the Incorporated Territorial Communities are economic, environmental and social. It is shown that the economic component of sustainable development is provided at the expense of the current mechanism of formation of financial resources of the Incorporated Territorial Communities, which ensures the stability and self-sufficiency of territorial communities. From the standpoint of the ecological component, sustainable development must ensure the integrity of biological and physical natural systems, their viability, which depends on the global stability of the entire biosphere. The social component is focused on human development, on maintaining the stability of social and cultural systems, on reducing the number of conflicts. It is proved that an important factor of the environment, which significantly influences the parameters of the functioning of the natural-economic system of the Incorporated Territorial Communities, is modern climate change. A general analysis of the vulnerability of Ukraine's natural and economic systems to climate change has been conducted. It is proved that climate change affects different branches of management, but this impact is not unequivocal in various areas. The expediency of finding new innovative management and business technologies is substantiated. It is shown that the implementation of startups within the limits and interests of the Incorporated Territorial Communities has a number of positive features in the social, economic and ecological areas. Among the main ones are the following: the possibility of effective and quick search for solutions to local problems (implementation of one of the fundamental principles of sustainable development - think globally - actions locally), investment attraction, development of innovative ecological environment: organization of cooperation of all interested parties and infrastructure development, distribution of positive information on the success of the Territorial Communities, in the future, can contribute to economic development, in particular through increased investment attractiveness of the community, increased awareness of the community as to problems (including environmental), and opportunities for their solution in a profitable and effective way, active participation of the community in the realization of the goals of sustainable development and torment to the activities of international organizations.

Adrenal incidentaloma: machine learning-based quantitative texture analysis of unenhanced CT can effectively differentiate sPHEO from lipid-poor adrenal adenoma.

Objective: To evaluate the feasibility and accuracy of machine learning based texture analysis of unenhanced CT images in differentiating subclinical pheochromocytoma (sPHEO) from lipid-poor adenoma (LPA) in adrenal incidentaloma (AI).Methods: Seventy-nine patients with 80 LPA and 29 patients with 30 sPHEO were included in the study. Texture parameters were derived using imaging software (MaZda). Thirty texture features were selected and LPA was performed for the features selected. The number of positive features was used to predict results. Logistic multiple regression analysis was performed on the 30 texture features, and a predictive equation was created based on the coefficients obtained.Results: LPA yielded a misclassification rate of 19.39% in differentiating sPHEO from LPA. Our predictive model had an accuracy rate of 94.4% (102/108), with a sensitivity of 86.2% (25/29) and a specificity of 97.5% (77/79) for differentiation. When the number of positive features was greater than 8, the accuracy of prediction was 85.2% (92/108), with a sensitivity of 96.6% (28/29) and a specificity of 81% (64/79).Conclusions: Machine learning-based quantitative texture analysis of unenhanced CT may be a reliable quantitative method in differentiating sPHEO from LPA when AI is present.

A pragmatic approach to managing expensive therapies

Inflated drug prices necessarily raise the issue of rational allocation of health care resources. The system operated by the NICE agency in the UK attempts to do this by calculating the cost per quality-adjusted life year gained (QALY) and recommending funding only for drugs whose cost per QALY falls under a certain threshold. The whole process is documented in detail and easily accessible, and often results in significant discounts on drug prices. Given that some kind of rationing of health care is inevitable, the rational and transparent process followed by NICE has a number of positive features.

Free Burma: Transnational Legal Action and Corporate Accountability, John G. Dale

Writing in the social sciences on contemporary Burma/Myanmar is becoming an increasingly hazardous intellectual exercise. Given the speed of change within the country described—perhaps as an expression of hope—as a transition, anything written seems out of date, and therefore of mere historical interest, by the time it is published. This book is no exception, although as argued below, it has a number of positive features that help elucidate the ongoing changes in Myanmar itself. A preliminary...

The additive and interactive roles of aggression, prosocial behavior, and social preference in predicting resource control in young children

PurposeDistinguishing between physical and social aggression, this study aimed to examine whether the predictive effect of aggression on resource control is moderated by prosocial behavior and corresponds to a linear or a curvilinear trend. Moderating effects of children's social preference among peers and child sex in this context were also tested.Design/methodology/approachBased on a sample of 682 kindergarten children (348 girls; average age 72.7 months, 3.6 SD), multilevel regressions revealed additive linear effects of social preference and prosociality on resource control.FindingsModerate (but not high) levels of social aggression also facilitated resource control for disliked children. There was no such threshold effect for well‐liked children, who increasingly controlled the resource the more socially aggressive they were. In contrast, physical aggression hampered resource control unless used very modestly.Originality/valueThe present study has a number of positive features. First, the distinction between physical and social aggression improves our understanding of the relation between aggression and social competence and sketches a more differentiated picture of the role of different forms of aggression in resource control. Second, this study combines the concept of resource control with the concept of social preference and investigates curvilinear effects of aggression. Third, the direct observation of resource control in the Movie Viewer increases the internal validity of this study.

Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus and Community-Acquired Pneumonia: An Evolving Relationship

Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus and Community-Acquired Pneumonia: An Evolving Relationship

Capacity Building in the Voluntary and Community Sectors

The UK Government's National Strategy for Neighbourhood Renewal (2001) identified ways in which the voluntary and community sectors are to be supported in developing their `capacity'. We can begin to reflect on current practice and experience and identify early trends. This article will draw on a completed evaluation of the development of a community centre funded via the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). It had as its remit that of increasing local capacity in the community and supporting new employment opportunities. The initiative established a local partnership that had a significant number of local residents and tenants on the management board. The article will suggest that while both the model developed and the expertise of those involved have a number of positive features there are important policy and practice issues still to be resolved. In particular, we need to be clear about both the intended (and unstated) assumptions surrounding `capacity building' and the potential limits to local or neighbourhood partnerships, and the real conflicts of interests they contain. Specifically, we need to think more clearly about securing relative independence for such initiatives, and what this may mean for all parties involved.

A set of microsatellite markers with long core repeat optimized for grape (Vitis spp.) genotyping

BackgroundIndividual fingerprinting based on molecular markers has become a popular tool for studies of population genetics and analysis of genetic diversity in germplasm collections, including the solution of synonymy/homonymy and analysis of paternity and kinship.Genetic profiling of individuals is nowadays based on SSR (Simple Sequence Repeat) markers, which have a number of positive features that make them superior to any other molecular marker developed so far. In humans, SSRs with core repeats three to five nucleotides long are preferred because neighbour alleles are more easily separated and distinguished from each other; while in plants, SSRs with shorter repeats, namely two-nucleotides long, are still in use although they suffer lower separation of neighbour alleles and uncomfortable stuttering.ResultsNew microsatellite markers, containing tri-, tetra-, and penta-nucleotide repeats, were selected from a total of 26,962 perfect microsatellites in the genome sequence of nearly homozogous grapevine PN40024, assembled from reads covering 8.4 X genome equivalents.Long nucleotide repeats were selected for fingerprinting, as previously done in many species including humans. The new grape SSR markers were tested for their reproducibility and information content in a panel of 48 grape cultivars. Allelic segregation was tested in progenies derived from two controlled crosses.ConclusionA list of 38 markers with excellent quality of peaks, high power of discrimination, and uniform genome distribution (1–3 markers/chromosome), is proposed for grape genotyping. The reasons for exclusion are given for those that were discarded. The construction of marker-specific allelic ladders is also described, and their use is recommended to harmonise allelic calls and make the data obtained with different equipment and by different laboratories fully comparable.

Novel Hydrogels via Click Chemistry: Synthesis and Potential Biomedical Applications

A novel procedure for the in situ rapid chemical gelation of aqueous solutions of hyaluronan has been employed. In brief, water-soluble polysaccharide derivatives bearing side chains endowed with either azide or alkyne terminal functionality have been prepared. When the latter two types of derivatives are mixed together in aqueous solution they give rise to a 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reaction resulting in fast gelation (in the presence of catalytic amounts of Cu(I)) at room temperature. Gel formation has been characterized rheologically and could also be followed qualitatively by means of IR spectroscopy. The resulting gels have been studied in terms of swelling properties and, in particular, NMR spectral features. Carrying out the gelation process in aqueous solutions of benzidamine and doxorubicin, respectively, the polysaccharide networks acted as drug reservoirs. The doxorubicin release resulted in well controllable acting upon the gels degree of cross-linking. Finally, formation of the click-gels using aqueous suspensions of Saccharomices cerevisiae yeast cells allowed the obtainment of scaffolds inside which cells were homogeneously distributed and smoothly adhered to the inner pores surfaces, according to SEM analysis. After 24 h about 60% of the entrapped cells exhibited proliferating activity. Click-gels prepared as detailed herein do have a number of positive features that make them, in perspective, materials of choice for drug release and tissue engineering manipulations.

Balzac: La Littérature réfléchie. Discours et autoreprésentations by Françoise van Rossum-Guyon (review)

202 Reviews later nineteenth-century poets position themselves with respect to the mother text (Chapter i). This is developed in Chapter 2 in Hugo's figure of the echo. Boutin, in a finely tuned argument, here brings together a range of theoretical approaches to suggest that there is, in Hugo's notion of the echo, an implied interlocutor whom Lamartine seeks, only then to retreat into the self, whereas Desbordes-Valmore uses her poetic voice as a friendly echo of another, as a 'sonorous envelope' (p. 80). Boutin concludes that the Valmorean text creates a 'loving community of listeners', whereas 'the poetry of listening in Lamartine reveals a poetic subject listening to himself (p. 92). The heart ofthe book (Chapters 3 and 4) focuses on the maternal imagery of each poet to show, firstly,Lamartine's maternal landscape as a fatal regression, and then Desbordes-Valmore's as a contrastingly life-giving connection with past and fu? ture. In the concluding chapter, 'Towards a Maternal Society', Boutin makes the leap from imagery/the imaginary to a more historicized account of the significance of such maternal nostalgia. In this chapter she examines the nineteenth-century idealization of the mother figure (the emerging cult of motherhood and Marian devotion) and places Desbordes-Valmore's work in the context of Saint-Simonian utopian idealism and social advocacy. In contrast, Lamartine adopts the position ofthe Mater dolorosa 'forhis own purposes' (p. 172), seeking simultaneouslyto return to the maternal land? scape and to appropriate maternal (self-sacrificing and saintly) love. Boutin concludes her study with a positioning of this poetics of the maternal within the nineteenthcentury literary tradition and, perhaps more powerfully, within French and American feminist thought. Boutin's study is complex and persuasive. It opens up new critical perspectives on these two poets (also offering,in an appendix, prose translations of their poems for the anglophone reader), on the nineteenth century more generally, and on the maternal (and its paradoxes) in particular. Royal Holloway, London Sonya Stephens Balzac: La Litterature reflechie.Discours et autorepresentations. By Francoise van Rossum-Guyon. Montreal: Universite de Montreal, Departement d'Etudes francaises. 2002. xix + 2o6pp. $25. ISBN 2-921447-13-4. While the surge of activity around Balzac's birth and death centenaries is now fast receding, work on him continues apace. Alongside a number of noted collections and monographs published by Champion and SEDES (soon to be diverted to Christian Pirot in Saint-Cyr-sur-Loire) comes this welcome firstvolume of articles devoted entirely to Balzac in the Paragraphes series edited by Stephane Vachon. This book has a number of positive features: it gathers together updated and reworked chapters by a leading balzacienne; it includes new, unpublished material, notably on Illusions perdues; van Rossum-Guyon's enviable familiarity with Balzac and Balzac criticism is informed and illuminated by her work on narrative theory and the nouveau roman. The result is a volume which complements and develops recent research on the complexities of the Balzacian enonciation, on Balzac's contribution to the notion and development ofthe novel, and on the relationship between literature, ethics, and 'the real'. Although the volume is conveniently divided into two sections, with one, entitled 'L'Auteur dans le texte', treating works such as Le Cousin Pons, La Cousine Bette, Le Pere Goriot, Le Cure de village, and Beatrix, and the other, entitled ' Illusions perdues ou la representation de la litterature', van Rossum-Guyon's concerns remain constant throughout: what is the Balzacian metatext as opposed to the Balzacian text, and what does the interplay between text and metatext contribute to a Balzacian hermeneu? tics? For van Rossum-Guyon, the firstof these questions can only be answered by MLRy 99. i, 2004 203 comparing the status and the meaning of Balzac's 'hors-textes'?such as the prefaces and the correspondence?with Balzac's intratextual pronouncements as author, with those of his delegated narrators, and with his characters' polylogic discussions about the status of art, literature, and 'reality'. For according to Rossum-Guyon, there is a constant interplay between the textual and the metatextual, which may, depending on the context and situation, be self-reinforcing or self-contradictory: poiesis can, for example, reinforce and...