Topical Discourse Research Articles

Implications of a Climate-Smart Approach to Food and Income Security for Urban Sub-Saharan Africa: A Systematic Review

Climate change presents a significant threat to humanity. It affects agriculture, food supply, and economic development. Urban agriculture (UA) is an alternate climate-smart approach to enhancing food and income security. The climate-smart agriculture (CSA) concept promises to lessen the effects of climate change. Nuanced research is critical to warrant food and income security. This review paper synthesises evidence through a systematic literature search to analyse the implications of CSA practices and climate adaptation strategies for food and income prospects. We also employed bibliometric analysis to show emerging trends and identify knowledge gaps in the ongoing topical discourse. The review elucidates insights into how CSA practices boost urban food production, accessibility, and dietary diversity, ultimately enhancing urban farmers’ food security. The economic benefits of CSA and climate adaptation strategies highlight that UA is vital for improving urban farmers’ income. Despite the opportunities created by UA, the review recognises the critical challenges and trade-offs that call for transforming UA to safeguard food and income security in the face of increasing climate change. The review calls for an all-round UA transformation encompassing urban community-based efforts, capacity building, and policy support mechanisms aimed at advancing climate-resilient UA and ensuring food and income security in an ever-changing environment.

Attention and Locality: On Clause-Boundedness and Its Exceptions in Multiple Sluicing

We provide an account of clause-boundedness in multiple sluicing that also captures its exceptions. Clause-boundedness arises whenever an embedded clause’s subject is not coreferential with a topical discourse referent in the embedding clause. Our account ties clause-boundedness to discourse factors. We discuss implementations that import sensitivity to information structure into the syntax, and compare our approach with recent work—in particular, Grano and Lasnik 2018 and “short source” accounts (most recently, Abels and Dayal 2017, 2021)—and demonstrate that these accounts both under- and overgenerate. The empirical coverage of our account argues against purely syntacticized agreement-based approaches to clause-boundedness.

Resilience of Buildings at the Operational Stage: Understanding Property Managers' Perceptions of Barriers to the Installation of Vertical Greenery Systems

Heat generation and carbon emission have been identified as major elements of climate change reality that pose a threat to humanity through activities in the built environment. Thus, a topical discourse in the built environment research agenda is adopting building resilience as an adaptive measure against vulnerabilities. Recent studies indicate the incorporation of vertical greenery systems (VGSs) as a potential approach for minimising the effect of heat generation and energy moderation. Consequently, using a mixed-method approach, this study examines barriers to the installation of VGSs at the operational stage (property management stage) in Lagos. Preliminary interview sessions were held with eleven (11) estate surveyors and valuers (ESVs), followed by the administration of a research questionnaire to 282 ESVs. Analysis showed that lack of building regulations, low awareness about green walls and their benefits, poor knowledge of the construction industry and emphasis on sustainability were the main barriers to the installation of VGSs. It was concluded that policy plays a crucial role in ensuring use of the technology in the drive for a paradigm shift in property management practice.

Examining the role of quality performance and entrepreneurial orientation on green manufacturing and financial performance

The concept of green manufacturing is a topical discourse in sustainability studies, but its adoption seems to be lagging due to an unclear link to financial performance. The study aims to test the relationship between green manufacturing and financial performance, with quality performance as a mediator and entrepreneurial orientation as a moderator. The partial least square (PLS) method was applied for hypotheses testing. Data were randomly obtained from 116 managerial staff in manufacturing firms operating in the polymer industry in Southern Nigeria. From the PLS results, green manufacturing is positively related to financial performance (β = 0.167, p = 0.027), and this relationship is mediated by quality performance (β = 0.194, p = 0.000) and moderated by entrepreneurial orientation (β = 0.115, p = 0.000). The results demonstrated that green manufacturing spurs financial performance directly. However, optimality can be achieved indirectly through quality performance and under generative conditions or behaviors effectuated by entrepreneurial orientation. In conclusion, quality performance and entrepreneurial orientation may account for the ways in which green manufacturing enhances financial performance significantly and positively.

Family support, psychological capital, and start-up formation

The influence of family support and psychological capital (PsyCap) is a topical discourse in entrepreneurship studies due to the unsupportive and turbulent environments most entrepreneurs operate in. However, studies concluding on the nature and direction of family support and PsyCap effects on start-up formation appear scant. This study aims to empirically examine family support effects on start-up formation with psychological capital (PsyCap) as a mediation factor. Specific emphasis was given to extended family support. The study utilized the partial least square (PLS) method for hypotheses testing with cross-sectional data collected from 261 randomly sampled trainees in an entrepreneurship training program organized by the Delta State Ministry of Youth Development. The PLS analysis showed that family support (β = 0.317, p = 0.000) and PsyCap (β = 0.202, p = 0.000) have a significant positive effect on start-up formation. The results proved that family support and PsyCap are valuable antecedent factors for positioning entrepreneurs to engage and thrive productively in the start-up formation process. Furthermore, PsyCap did not mediate the significant positive effect of family support on start-up formation (β = 0.235, p = 0.000; β = 0.103, p = 0.052). This result demonstrates that family support may not be enough for PsyCap to transmit its significant positive effect on start-up formation. Hence, there is a need to procure other alternate support from formal or informal settings.

The well: the deep VS the obvious

An ancient belief, dating back to Pliny and Aristotle, claims: if you look from the bottom of a deep well, you can see the stars during the day. Numerous empirical contradictions are worthless, since it is obviously not about the retinal effect. The ancient evidence of the well as an optical clairvoyance device hints at its place in the mythopoetics of inhabited space, and this role is not merely reduced to water delivery. The article attempts to “capture” in a topical but generalized discourse the mythopoetics of wells as they are known in the history of architecture and civilization.

Criminal Proceedings: At the Intersection of Law and Economics

The paper demonstrates the connection between law and economics. The criminal procedure is considered from new positions of economic regulation. The main narrative of the work is the possibility and necessity of perceiving criminal proceedings as a system that exists not only according to the laws of jurisprudence. The importance of the synthesis of criminal procedural law and economics is dictated by the modern level of development of scientific knowledge, technologies and ideas. The traditional division of sciences is gradually giving way to complex, interdisciplinary research. The activity of subjects of criminal proceedings is no exception. The existing reality dictates: the investigation of criminal cases is a criminal procedural services provided by the investigation, prosecutor’s office and court on behalf of the state. Interaction with the consumers of these services in the person of citizens and the organization, the order and mechanism of cooperation of the competent authorities themselves with each other — this understanding makes the use of economic laws justified for the most effective criminal proceedings. The presented study makes it possible to re-evaluate the qualitative volume of criminal proceedings and offers a topical discourse on the role of seemingly completely different sciences in solving the problems of criminal justice. A distinctive feature of the work is the use of modern opinions, sources and materials in the preparation of the theses outlined in it.

Demonstrative Pronouns as Anti-Logophoric Pronouns: An Experimental Investigation

In this paper we report the results of two experimental studies in which we tested the claim of Hinterwimmer and Bosch (2017) that German demonstrative pronouns are anti-logophoric pronouns: They avoid discourse referents as antecedents that function as perspectival centers. In both experiments we tested the interpretative options of demonstrative pronouns in text segments which were either perspectivally neutral or in which the narrator’s or a topical protagonist’s perspective was foregrounded. Taken together, the experimental results are most compatible with a slightly modified version of the analysis argued for in Hinterwimmer and Bosch (2017) according to which topical discourse referents in neutral narration automatically become perspectival centers.

“Dada South? Experimentation, Radicalism and Resistance”: Dada’s Legacies from South African Perspectives

In 2016, the art world celebrated the Dada centenary with festivities all over the globe; the interest in the European avant-garde movement appears stronger than ever. As long as six years ago, the exhibition “Dada South? Experimentation, Radicalism and Resistance” took place in the Iziko South African National Gallery in Cape Town and made a significant contribution to the discourse on Dada in the global context. “Dada South?” opened up an intriguing position in a highly topical discourse. The show engaged in central issues of the current discussions on global art practice and opened the view to the North-South axis of Dadaist practice. The exhibition considered Dada’s legacies in relation to performance, counter-rational strategies, collectivity, deconstruction, and resistance in South African art practice and discursively engaged in the discussion of a global understanding of art and art history. However, the show was barely noticed in the international context. Especially regarding the current interest in Dada, and in the context of the discourse on global art and exhibition practice, “Dada South?” must be brought into focus. In this paper, the exhibition design and objective are analysed and the significance of the exhibition in the global context is addressed.

The Structure and Theme of First Corinthians in Recent Scholarship

There is currently no consensus on the arrangement or central theme of Paul’s First Epistle to the Corinthians. However, numerous suggestions have been put forward in the last three decades, including a number of very recent contributions. The approaches taken include regarding the letter primarily as compilation, Hellenistic epistle, rhetorical speech-letter, theological critique, Jewish argumentation, ring composition, gospel exhortation, and topical discourse. A number of these perspectives overlap. This article surveys these approaches, provides tabulated summaries of their analyses, and indicates areas of broad agreement in current research.

Markers of topical discourse in child-directed speech.

Although the language we encounter is typically embedded in rich discourse contexts, many existing models of processing focus largely on phenomena that occur sentence-internally. Similarly, most work on children's language learning does not consider how information can accumulate as a discourse progresses. Research in pragmatics, however, points to ways in which each subsequent utterance provides new opportunities for listeners to infer speaker meaning. Such inferences allow the listener to build up a representation of the speakers' intended topic and more generally to identify relationships, structures, and messages that extend across multiple utterances. We address this issue by analyzing a video corpus of child-caregiver interactions. We use topic continuity as an index of discourse structure, examining how caregivers introduce and discuss objects across utterances. For the analysis, utterances are grouped into topical discourse sequences using three annotation strategies: raw annotations of speakers' referents, the output of a model that groups utterances based on those annotations, and the judgments of human coders. We analyze how the lexical, syntactic, and social properties of caregiver-child interaction change over the course of a sequence of topically related utterances. Our findings suggest that many cues used to signal topicality in adult discourse are also available in child-directed speech.

Hollywood don't skate: US production trends, industry analysis, and the roller disco movie

Through an analysis of the American film industry's fleeting 1979 foray into the production of roller disco movies, this paper counters prevailing notions about the conditions underwriting production trends. Scholars and commentators usually suggest that upsurges of a given type of film are either by-products of preoccupation with topical discourse or a response to a single hit. These conditions, I argue, do not account for production trends because they bypass the logic undergirding green-lighting, thereby failing to explain why only certain topical discourses are articulated in trends and why only some hits appear to spawn trends. I suggest instead that production trends are determined by industry decision-makers' perceptions of the profit potential of a given type of film, of its profit potential relative to that of other pictures, and of its capacity to maintain the profitability of the supply chain that links producers to consumers. The production of roller disco movies was not determined either by the success of roller disco rinks or solely the disco-centred film Saturday Night Fever (1977). Its onset was instead ultimately determined by shifts in the perceived profit potential of youth-oriented films and its decline precipitated by an inability to support the cost of distribution.

Foreword from the Editor-in-Chief

International Review of Law seeks to promote positive and rational legal developments across borders and cultures, seeking to develop the law and improve legal scholarship. 2013 was a year that saw much change internationally and the need for constructive dialogue was clear. From our base in Qatar, we are well-placed to help build bridges and debate new ideas. Being a bilingual and open-access general law journal allows us to be a venue where readers can learn from one another. Indeed, the development of law in particular fields today happens simultaneously in different nations and is not isolated. Distinguished authors from around the globe have thus contributed in varying fields of law. We receive articles on an array of topical matters concerning legal developments that are of relevance to certain jurisdictions, and from which all jurisdictions can learn. The journal has been noted for its high quality and far-reaching ambition. Much of this results from its stringent peer reviewing process to ensure that each article reaches its full potential to be included. We rely on the most respected scholars in particular fields in this process. We are grateful for the vast support network that helps us achieve our goals. In continuation of our project, we present the latest volume of the International Review of Law covering the Summer and Winter 2013 issues. The Summer 2013 issue has articles on construction law and dispute resolution, developments in Islamic law, medical law, corporate law and criminal law. Meanwhile the Winter 2013 issue covers topics including admiralty law, corporate law, energy law, international law, medical law and telecommunications law. We are delighted with the quality and diversity of authors who have contributed important pieces from across the world International Review of Law has tens of thousands of readers, with its topical multi-jurisdictional discourse prompting wide-scale global attention. Thousands of hard copies of the journal are shipped to the far corners of the world. It is freely available online. It has been indexed in major systems, cited and referenced to an impressive level. We make every effort to maximise its potential and ensure its recognition. To achieve all we have done and ensure authors can continue to publish without cost, we are thankful for the continual support we have received from our university management, and particularly Qatar University’s President, Professor Sheikha Abdulla Al-Misnad as well as the leadership of the College of Law. We are also grateful for the daily support we receive from our publishers Bloomsbury Qatar Foundation/QScience.com. We are always grateful for the leadership of his Highness the Emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, whose vision has enabled Qatar University and our journal to achieve success.

The Severed Hand in Webster's Duchess of Malfi

This essay adduces a new source for John Webster's The Duchess of Malfi—Henry Boguet's extremely popular Discourse exécrable des sorciers. Boguet's chapter "Of the Metamorphosis of Men into Beasts" provides a strong link to the dead-man's hand episode in The Duchess and to Webster's representation of lycanthropic possession throughout the play. This finding places Webster's tragedy firmly within an intensely felt topical discourse on witchcraft and also reveals the logic behind Ferdinand's mad attempt to sever the marital bond between the Duchess and her husband by presenting her with a severed hand bearing a marriage ring.

Reviews

The theme of this year's International Simulation and Gaming Yearbook - 'Transition and Change' - addresses the topical discourse on the improvement of pedagogy by the introduction of active and student-centred learning in UK higher education. Although the value of 'learning-by-doing' and experiential learning is well recognized by researchers in education, many subjects and university courses continue to employ teaching methods (such as lectures) that favour a passive reproduction of information rather than the fostering of student understanding. In this regard, simulations and games are powerful tools that not only promote an active, student-centred approach to learning but have the potential to help realize government policies to improve the quality of teaching and learning in higher education institutions in the UK.DOI:10.1080/0968776010090208

A Chesapeake Family and Their Slaves: A Study in Historical Archaeology.

Foreword Acknowledgements Permissions Preface Part I. Starting Points: Region, Town and Site: 1. Transforming space into place 2. Beginning the research Part II. Ruling the Province: 3. On behalf of his lordship 4. Governor Benedict Leonard Calvert Part II. Big Features and Topological Dimensions: 5. 'A house well built and with much strength' 6. Ordering nature: the Calvert orangery, garden and vista Part IV. Mosaics Built From Little Artifacts: 7. Touches of Chinese elegance: pottery and porcelain 8. Social distinctions in daily food Part V. Building Black Identities 9. The face of urban slavery 10. West African women, food and cultural values Part VI. Artifacts In Motion: 11. Putting meat on the bones 12. Hunting, fishing, and market trading Part VII. Time Markers and Social History: 13. Generations of change 14. Charisma and the symbolics of power Part VIII. The Vitality Of Cultural Context: 15. Archaeology as anthropological history 16. Archaeology, a topical discourse Bibliography Endnotes Appendix.

THE EDUCATION MARKET, QUALIFICATIONS, AND EUROPEAN INTEGRATION

This article examines the relationship between the development of the education market and the demand for qualified personnel in the context of European integration. To begin with, a model portraying the relationships between the education and the labour market is introduced, following which the old but still topical qualification discourse with its theses with regard to overqualification and underutilization, is discussed. Despite the modern European Communities’ educational ideology of technological progress and of the thesis of increasing qualifications, questions which are still worth asking are what kinds of demands actually exist in the labour market for increasingly highly trained labour and what kinds of educational policy the new United States of Europe should have.