Usage Of Terminology Research Articles

Accuracy and reproducibility of conclusions by forensic bloodstain pattern analysts

Although the analysis of bloodstain pattern evidence left at crime scenes relies on the expert opinions of bloodstain pattern analysts, the accuracy and reproducibility of these conclusions have never been rigorously evaluated at a large scale. We investigated conclusions made by 75 practicing bloodstain pattern analysts on 192 bloodstain patterns selected to be broadly representative of operational casework, resulting in 33,005 responses to prompts and 1760 short text responses. Our results show that conclusions were often erroneous and often contradicted other analysts. On samples with known causes, 11.2% of responses were erroneous. The results show limited reproducibility of conclusions: 7.8% of responses contradicted other analysts. The disagreements with respect to the meaning and usage of BPA terminology and classifications suggest a need for improved standards. Both semantic differences and contradictory interpretations contributed to errors and disagreements, which could have serious implications if they occurred in casework.

Skull Base Angle Morphometry in South Indian Population with Review on Terminology

Abstract Introduction Basal angle, Boogaard’s angle, and clival angle are frequently used in diagnosing the craniometric angle malformations either on radiography or now more on MRI. But anatomic and clinical studies have used varied terms for these parameters. We aimed to look for these parameters among a normal south Indian adult population to standardize the measurements and their terminology. Materials and Methods One hundred MRI images (50 males and 50 female) were studied retrospectively. MRI images that were reported as normal by neuroradiologist were taken up for the study. Mean and the standard deviation of males and females were calculated for basal angle, Boogaard’s angle, and clival angle, separately. Unpaired t-test was used to analyze the significant difference (p < 0.05) between the genders. The intraclass coefficient correlation was used to analyze the interobserver variability. Results The mean value of basal angle in males and females are 113°and 114°, respectively. The mean value of Boogaard’s angle in males and females are 120°and 121°, respectively. The mean value of clival angle in males and females are 157°and 155°, respectively. There was no statistically significant difference (p > 0.05) between males and females in all three angles. Conclusion Knowledge about the normal angles will be an important tool in understanding the normal and abnormal skull base. Since the type of skull varies in accordance with race, the normal craniometric angle also varies in accordance with race. The present study tried to standardize the parameters of normal skull base angles for appropriate correction of the anomalies and uniform usage of terminology.

Manhaj al-Daraqutni dalam Menilai Periwayatan al-Tafarrud daripada Perawi Thiqa dalam Karya “Al-ʿIlal al-Warida fi al-Ahadith al-Nabawiyya”

Abstract The scholarship of al-Daraqutni in the discipline of hadith gains prominence through his work “al-ʿIlal al-Warida fi al-Ahadith al-Nabawiyya”. His evaluation of the al-tafarrud, narrated by a reliable transmitter, was alleged to be inconsistent, whereby some of the narrations were accepted by him, and some were not. As for the narration of al-tafarrud, which contained additional elements from a trustworthy transmitter, al-Daraqutni commented using the term “ziyada thiqa maqbula”. This lexicon implied that al-Daraqutni accepted the narrations in totality. However, Ibn Hajar objected by citing that al-Daraqutni did not accept ziyada thiqa unconditionally. There seemed to be a contradiction between al-Daraqutni’s usage of terminology in contrast to other scholars such as Ibn Hajar. Therefore, this article intends to analyze the methods employed by al-Daraqutni in evaluating al-tafarrud, transmitted by trustworthy transmitters as mentioned in his book “al-ʿIlal al-Warida”. This qualitative study was analyzed using content analysis by means of inductive and deductive methods. The research found that the method used by al-Daraqutni to evaluate the al-tafarrud transmission was consistent throughout and showed no contradiction. Not only did he emphasized the trustworthiness of the transmitters, he further scrutinized the reference to qarina, which accompanied the narration, before concluding his evaluation.

PARONYMS IN THE SCIENTIFIC DENTAL DISCOURSE: ABNORMALITIES AND VARIANTS OF THE NORMATIVE USE

This article focuses on the language of health care system, which is very important for modern society as its wellbeing and further development is impossible without the full and harmonious life of both an individual and a society as a whole is impossible without assistance and support of medical science and healthcare professionals. And dentistry is an inseparable part of the health care. The aim of the study is to highlight the linguistics phenomenon of paronymy in the dentistry discourse and to draw attention on the importance of correct selecting of language devices to express complex scientific thoughts, ideas and hypotheses. Therefore, the focus of this research has been shifted to the peculiarities of the development and potential of the scientific language. The peculiarities in using normative language when communicating in the dentistry domain have been studied. Special attention has been paid to misuse of modern Ukrainian literary language, especially at the lexical, grammatical and stylistic levels. It is also noted that the skilful usage of terminology is a daily duty of every qualified specialist. The theoretical and methodological bases of the dentist’s professional language in the context of language professional practices and discourse development have been identified. The article analyzes the causes and effects of misuse of the paronyms – words which are partially similar by the form but different by the meaning. The article has also provided detailed practical guidance for appropriate using of paronyms. The research has been done within the anthropocentric scientific paradigm. The methodology includes descriptive and analytical methods, general linguistic method of scientific description, comparative methods, special linguistic methods and techniques, including discourse analysis as well. The study material included the texts of original theses, articles, manuals, textbooks, monographs, abstracts.

Deconstructing the dominant narrative of Sophiatown: An Indian perspective of the 1950s

The cosmopolitan nature of Sophiatown is often revered as an exemplary case study for strives towards social cohesion within diverse communities. Rearticulating this notion, scholars who have written extensively on the history of Sophiatown have increasingly used lexicon such as ‘diverse’, ‘multicultural’ and ‘multiracial’ amongst a plethora of words describing Sophiatown. However, the usage of such terminologies and the acceptance of Sophiatown as a multiracial society often lack credible emphasis on the racial composition of the suburb, even amongst its prestigious writers. The historiography of Sophiatown has been, for many years, a victim of binary thinking and a tendency to view South African history as a black versus white trajectory. In the case of Sophiatown, the trajectory has been largely focused on the machinery of the state in removing black people from Sophiatown and relocating them to Meadowlands. Even more so, the stamina of the apartheid government in forcefully destroying Sophiatown was seen as victory over black people and the continuation of separate development and group areas. Consequently, the history of the Indian, mixed race and white population (who formed the minority population of Sophiatown) has received little if no attention. Having realised the existing vacuum in the history of Sophiatown, the onus of this article is deliberately aimed towards robustly diversifying and deconstructing the literature of Sophiatown through the inclusion of Indian perspectives on the socio-economic environment of the freehold township (the history of mixed race and white people needs extensive research). To achieve this objective, the article predominantly comprises perspectives derived from oral interviews conducted with former residents of the Sophiatown community. Contribution: The research critically unpacks the memories, experiences and agencies of Indian people in moulding a freehold township (Sophiatown) through formations of relationships and community networks. Furthermore, the research reveals the importance of oral history as a method of articulating pivotal trajectories and memories that fill lacunas in local histories.

Criminal TV report: assessment methodology (on the example of the Republic of Buryatia)

This article attempts to develop methodology for assessing criminal TV reports. The subject of this research is the criteria for assessing the quality of criminal TV report. For conducting detailed assessment of criminal TV report, all criteria were divided into four groups: compliance with legal norms; observance of ethical standards; usage of legal terminology; and adherence to technological parameters. For the assessment of first criterion, all legal norms in criminal TV report can be divided into the following categories: appropriate coverage of investigation, coverage trial, and coverage of situation when the offender or the victim is a minor. In assessment of the parameter “usage of legal terminology", it is emphasized that the journalist should apply such terms as “suspect” and “offender” properly. In analysis of the third parameter, we author relies on the criteria proposed by S. A. Muratov. The questions of improvement of TV content, specifically with regards to criminal journalism, remain relevant. This described methodology would help to improve the forms of submission of the materials and heighten the interest of target audience of mass media. The research was conducted in several steps. Firstly, the author examined the structure of criminal content of Arig Us TV channel. Secondly, , carried out classification of criminal TV reports by topic. Thirdly, developed parameters and criteria for quality assessment of criminal TV reports. And finally, at the stage of testing, analyzed the quality of criminal TV reports. The methods used in the course of this research include classification, analysis, and paperwork.

Mineral and mineralogy in late Qing China: translations and conceptualizations, 1860s–1910s

ABSTRACT This article critically examines the translations of two terms – mineral and mineralogy – in modern China. The last decades of the Qing dynasty (1860s–1910s) witnessed a transition in the terminological usage of the Chinese equivalents of mineral and mineralogy from jinshi (metals and rocks) and jinshi xue (a study of metals and rocks) to kuangwu and kuangwu xue. A scrutiny of this transition raises questions regarding not only the exchanges in scientific knowledge between China, the West, and Japan since the nineteenth century, but the changes in the understanding of natural things in China. This article locates the translation of the terms within the scope of cultural translation and the history of science. It sheds new light both on the confrontations between languages and knowledge systems, which led to the re-conceptualization of natural things in China and Japan, and on the interplay between various domestic and transnational forces that shaped the intellectual landscapes in China. Through the confrontations and interplay, mineralogy eventually projected minerals into the domain of science and modern science claimed the authority over understanding these natural things.

A tentative analysis of legal terminology diachronic changes and the problem of communication effectiveness in legal settings

Abstract The aim of the paper is to present the diachronic changes taking place in legal languages and discuss whether the translators, who for some reason use as an equivalent an obsolete term, may produce a target text which is communicatively ineffective. The research methods applied encompass: the parametric approach to the interlingual comparison of legal terminology for translation purposes, the analysis of pertinent literature on translation and translation errors, the analysis of comparable texts for the purpose of observing diachronic changes in terminology. The diachronic change in terminology most frequently is the result of the amendments of legislation or repealing one act and replacing it with a new one. The terminological changes are especially frequent when the change in the political system occurs and the need appears to adjust the legal system to the new political ideology and principles. For that reason, the authors have analysed in detail three Polish acts on copyright enacted under three different political regimes that is to say (i) after the First World War when Poland regained independence after 123 years of occupation (Act of 29 March 1926 on Copyrights [Ustawa z dnia 29 marca 1926 r. o prawie autorskiem]), (ii) under the communist rule in Poland that lasted from 1945 until 1989 (Act of 10 July 1952 on Copyrights [Ustawa z dnia 10 lipca 1952 r. o prawie autorskim]), and finally (iii) after the collapse of communism in Poland and the period of transition into the democratic and free market society (Act on Copyrights and Related Rights of 4 February 1994 [Ustawa o prawie autorskim i prawach pokrewnych z dnia 4 lutego 1994 roku]). Apart from the main Polish corpus of above-mentioned acts, the authors have also provided examples from some other languages to confirm that the diachronic changes take place everywhere and miscommunication problems resulting from using an obsolete term in translation may occur in any pair of languages. In the last part of the paper the problem of the scale of miscommunication resulting from the usage of obsolete terminology in the target text is discussed.

Antimicrobial stewardship in hospitals in Latin America and the Caribbean: a scoping review.

ABSTRACTObjectives.To examine published antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) initiatives in hospitals in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) in order to characterize AMS terminology usage, geotemporality, and elements of structure (human resources), process (interventions), and outcomes, and to set priority areas for improving AMS reporting.Methods.This was a scoping review that searched PubMed, LILACS, EMBASE, and 12 other databases, along with a manual search for academic and grey literature to identify documents on AMS initiatives in hospitals in 33 countries of LAC, up to August 2019. Keywords included ‘antibiotic’ or ‘antimicrobial’ AND ‘stewardship, policy, strategies, management, control, rational use, appropriate use, surveillance, or interventions’ and 33 country names.Results.Selected articles totalled 147 studies published in 1985 – 2019; of those, 22% used ‘antimicrobial stewardship’ in the title. Eighteen countries published AMS hospital initiatives, one-half of which were implemented in capital cities. Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Cuba, Mexico, and Chile, in descending frequency, made up > 59% of published initiatives. Educational interventions were the most frequently reported, followed by persuasive and restrictive strategies. Antimicrobial consumption was the most common outcome measure reported. About one-third of the studies (35%) referred to baseline measures-only in preparation for AMS interventions. Fifty-nine studies from 6 countries reported AMS comprehensively, using structure, process, and outcome (SPO) elements.Conclusions.Published hospital AMS initiatives have increased over time and have expanded across LAC. However, more programs need to be developed. Complete reporting of SPO elements is imperative to evaluating and replicating AMS actions.

Collaborative Digital Research: Case Study of Text Mining a Corpus of Academic Journals

More faculty are making the foray into digital scholarship as its tools offer novel and efficient approaches to answering research questions. However, faculty seeking to incorporate digital methods into their research may not have the necessary technical skills. Increasingly, libraries are adding digital scholarship support to the research support offered to faculty. In this article, we document the collaboration between a team of librarians and researchers to leverage each group’s unique skills to analyse and better understand the breadth and specific usage of social class and socioeconomic status terminology used in American Counselling Association (ACA) journal articles over a 17-year span. The work process and outcomes of this project are explained to offer an example of how such collaborative digital scholarship projects can be implemented.

Inconsistency in the use of the term "validation" in studies reporting the performance of deep learning algorithms in providing diagnosis from medical imaging.

The development of deep learning (DL) algorithms is a three-step process-training, tuning, and testing. Studies are inconsistent in the use of the term "validation", with some using it to refer to tuning and others testing, which hinders accurate delivery of information and may inadvertently exaggerate the performance of DL algorithms. We investigated the extent of inconsistency in usage of the term "validation" in studies on the accuracy of DL algorithms in providing diagnosis from medical imaging. We analyzed the full texts of research papers cited in two recent systematic reviews. The papers were categorized according to whether the term "validation" was used to refer to tuning alone, both tuning and testing, or testing alone. We analyzed whether paper characteristics (i.e., journal category, field of study, year of print publication, journal impact factor [JIF], and nature of test data) were associated with the usage of the terminology using multivariable logistic regression analysis with generalized estimating equations. Of 201 papers published in 125 journals, 118 (58.7%), 9 (4.5%), and 74 (36.8%) used the term to refer to tuning alone, both tuning and testing, and testing alone, respectively. A weak association was noted between higher JIF and using the term to refer to testing (i.e., testing alone or both tuning and testing) instead of tuning alone (vs. JIF <5; JIF 5 to 10: adjusted odds ratio 2.11, P = 0.042; JIF >10: adjusted odds ratio 2.41, P = 0.089). Journal category, field of study, year of print publication, and nature of test data were not significantly associated with the terminology usage. Existing literature has a significant degree of inconsistency in using the term "validation" when referring to the steps in DL algorithm development. Efforts are needed to improve the accuracy and clarity in the terminology usage.

Achieving Smarter Buildings and More Efficient Facilities Management

As buildings become more complex, smarter, interconnected, and self-reporting, can technologies be used to the advantage of the end-user and society? This study looks to determine if implementing big data can improve sustainability and increase efficiency in facilities management. Big data, the internet of things (IoT), their application in the construction industry, connection to sustainability, and impact on facilities management are researched. The research employs a mixed-methods approach with critical literature review, primary qualitative research by interviews, and quantitative data research by questionnaire with assessment through mind mapping and SPSS statistical analysis. Key findings identify an industry concept of big data, the IoT, BIM as a primary data contributor on AEC projects, with technology being most assistive to inception and design phases and improving decision making. Implications for industry arise from unrelated usage and misunderstanding of terminology. The study identifies space for further research into the topic.

Prospective Early Childhood and Elementary School Mathematics Teachers’ Concept Images and Concept Definitions of Triangles

This study presents a characterization of prospective early childhood teachers’ (ECEPTs) and prospective elementary school mathematics teachers’ (EMEPTs) concept images and concept definitions of triangles through a defining task and an example generation task. Data consisted of 62 EMEPTs’ and 72 ECEPTs’ written statements for the definition of a triangle, drawings for examples and non-examples of triangles, and written reasons for drawings. The results showed that most of the prospective teachers wrote inappropriate statements for the definitions of a triangle by using necessary but not sufficient conditions or using neither necessary nor sufficient conditions with frequent inaccurate terminology usage. The appropriate statements for the definition of a triangle included necessary and sufficient conditions, but were mostly considerably not minimal and/or included inappropriate mathematical terminology. A very large portion of the examples drawn by the prospective teachers consisted of acute triangles with typical positions rather than right and obtuse triangles, which can be evaluated as the indication of prototypical concept images. Drawings of non-triangles also revealed that the prospective teachers mostly drew non-triangular non-examples that can be immediately accepted as non-triangles with the lack of a relatively long list of missing critical attributes, but they provided a small number of triangular non-examples that bear significant similarity to valid examples of a triangle. This result indicates that the prospective teachers’ concept images regarding non-triangles also formed by intuitive non-examples which can be considered as prototypes for non-triangles.

تفسير سورة محمد صلى الله عليه وسلم: دراسة مقارنة بين الطبري وابن أبي حاتم الرازي

Since its emergence, the interpretation of the Quran had encountered complex phases throughout the history of Islamic literature. The Quran had been interpreted with various methods and tafsir bi al-ma’thur (traditional exegesis) and tafsir bi al-ra’y (reason-based exegesis) are among the famous approaches in Quranic exegesis. However, there is one method of interpretation referred to as tafsir muqaranah (comparative exegesis) which is a comparative-contrastive exegetical analysis in which the mufassir (exegete) compares and contrasts between verses with verses or verses with hadith or by various opinion or views of exegetes on an exegetical issue symbolized by a given verse. This method or approach is rarely given an exposure despite being a method formulated and utilized by the early exegetes of formative phase such as al-Tabari and Ibn Abi Hatim al-Razi. Therefore, this study aims to discuss the definition of comparative exegesis and depicting the similarities and differences of the interpretation of al-Tabari and Ibn Abi Hatim al-Razi in selected verses from surah Muhammad (peace be upon Him). It also aims to examine how these differences could be interacted and related to each other and to wider context of the arrival at conclusive interpretation. Data for this study was obtained through the literature review methodology as well as an analysis based on inductive and deductive methods. The paper concludes by saying that there are similarities in both methodologies of al-Tabari and Ibn Abi Hatim particularly in interpreting a verse through al-ma’thur technique. Yet the differences among them could be identified by distinct terminological usage of a word in the same verse. While the establishment of tarjih (preponderance) or selecting among differing opinions could be found in conflicting issue of surah Muhammad verses in order to get the best conclusion of the interpretation.

‘統制經濟’와 ‘計劃經濟’의 교차와 길항 –1930년대 중국 統制經濟論의 개념화–

The discourse on controlled economy in China was formulated in the 1930s when the fall of capitalism was intersected with the rise of socialism. Its formulation was closely connected with the Chinese perception on planned economy as an alternative to free economy in that its conceptualization process was largely influenced by the existing terminology of the planned economy. This study takes a multifaceted analysis on the dynamics of the conceptualization of the controlled economy. It pays attention to the fact that the theory on the controlled economy in China was developed along with a resonance of planned economy caused by a contemporary change, namely the transition of capitalism. The study first examines the political and intellectual context of the terminology “controlled economy” centering on the discourses by contemporary Chinese intellectuals. Then, it analyzes the practice of conceptualization of the theory of controlled economy in consideration with its relationships with the concept of planned economy. Finally, the study suggests the implication of the intellectual movement of conceptualizing controlled economy in grasping the contemporary practice of 1930s. In conceptualizing controlled economy, we can observe that it was often merged with the concept of planned economy. Its terminological usage, denotations and categories varied between disputants. It was basically because of the disagreements on commonness and disparities of the two theory, for instance, about the evaluation of socialistic modernization or the chances of its realization in China, etc. And yet, disputants largely consented in the conceptualization of controlled economy that they were commonly in favor of socialism; they regarded controlled economy as a harmonizing but temporarily adoptable model in minimizing the vice of capitalism and maximizing the virtue of planned economy. It requires to pay our attention as to understand the intellectual implication that the conceptualization of the theory of controlled economy was carried out as a critical reorganization of planned economy which had been suggested as an alternative to free economy, and as an independent interpretation of Chinese intellectuals which was lively attached to the semi-colonial circumstance of China.

Improving the resistance and resilience framework for aging and dementia studies

BackgroundThe "resistance vs resilience" to Alzheimer’s disease (AD) framework (coping vs avoiding) has gained interest in the field in the last year. In this viewpoint, our effort is (i) to provide clarity to the usage of the framework in the context of the ATN (amyloid/tau/neurodegeneration) system as well as in lifespan and cognitive aging studies and (ii) to discuss the challenges of matching these concepts to specific biological mechanisms.Main bodyIn the context of the ATN system, the main goal of the resistance vs resilience framework is to make a fundamental distinction between risk factors that may help halt the development of AD pathologies (AT) (“resistance”) vs delay processes downstream to AT, i.e., neurodegeneration (N) and the clinical expression of the disease (“resilience”). The process of resilience in dementia and aging research should be envisioned as a process that is developed over the lifespan. Greater neurobiological capital to start with (initial brain reserve), maintaining brain structure and function (brain maintenance), or greater adaptability of cognitive strategies to perform a task (cognitive reserve) could all contribute to higher resilience to pathologies later in life. Simply put, resilience is not only a response to pathological processes (i.e. increased brain function to compensate for increasing AD pathology) but also reflects individual differences in brain structure and function that can be built over the lifespan (e.g., through education, lifetime cognitive, and physical activities). Further, the resistance vs resilience terminology can be extended to study other pathological processes such as cerebrovascular lesions, Lewy body disease, or TDP-43. However, some challenges do exist: (i) when studying multiple neuropathologies, the study design and framework will drive the usage of terminology; (ii) it is unavoidable that the measurements of resilience (brain structure and function) will reflect both the effect of pathologies and the impact of several risk and protective factors throughout the lifespan. Therefore, identifying resilience brain markers across lifespan, aging, and dementia studies, notably with longitudinal study designs, will be an important step towards understanding mechanisms of action.ConclusionsWhile the field advances towards consensus definitions of existing concepts, the resistance vs resilience terminology may provide clarity in the communication of results in aging and dementia studies as well as provide a framework for the development of both hypotheses and study designs.

Terminological Usage Related to Dyspnea by Nursing Staff: A Cross-Sectional Questionnaire Survey.

In recent years, additional expressions such as ‘sensation of breathing discomfort’ and ‘discomfort of dyspnea’ are being used in daily nursing care in Japan. To better understand the current status of the use of these terms by nurses, and to ascertain what the term ‘dyspnea’ may not express, we designed an original questionnaire and conducted a study with all nurses at our hospital. The questionnaire included questions to determine if nurses used these terms, and in what context. Of the 279 nurses in our hospital, 225 (80.6%) responded. Three-quarters of nurses indicated that they use these terms in clinical nursing practice. There was no difference in the usage of these terms between nurses who had or had not worked in a respiratory outpatients/ward. However, the percentage of nurses using these terms was higher amongst those with 10 years or less nursing experience compared with those with more than 10 years’ experience. Open-ended questions revealed that these terms were used to communicate information between nurses and between nurses and patients’ families. Our observations need to be verified in large-scale studies to determine if these terms are meaningful for nursing practice in that they describe something not expressed with ‘dyspnea’. There is the possibility of confusion due to the use of inappropriate terms and a lack of education on the subject. Many nurses used these terms, and there may be things that the term ‘dyspnea’ could not express. The results of this study can be used to identify something that is lacking in communication about dyspnea between nurses, nurses and patients, and nurses and patients’ families.

Myofascial Pain Syndrome: A Narrative Review Identifying Inconsistencies in Nomenclature.

There is currently confusion surrounding the phenotype of and diagnostic criteria for myofascial pain syndrome (MPS) in the published literature. This narrative literature review investigated whether there is consensus regarding the descriptive terminology used for MPS and the trend of MPS publications over time. The phrase "myofascial pain syndrome" was used to search PubMed and Web of Science, returning 923 articles. Of these, we included only full-text, primary research articles containing "myofascial pain syndrome" in the title, reducing the total articles reviewed to 167. We identified 116 descriptors and categorized them under one of five clusters that shared similar findings and are commonly associated with MPS: "trigger points," "muscle," "pain," "nervous system," and "fascia." The frequency of the clinical criteria of Travell and Simons was tabulated. Terms pertaining to the clusters "trigger points," "muscle," or "pain" appeared in approximately 90% of the articles; "nervous system" in 46%; and "fascia" in 20%. Only 42% used the criteria of Travell and Simons. Most articles (122) included a combination of three or four clusters to describe MPS. In addition, MPS publications have doubled since 2010 compared to the prior decade. The publication patterns, determined by changes in which specialty journals articles on MPS have been published, have shifted from investigational to intervention studies. This may have been influenced by heterogeneity in the usage of MPS terminology. This underscores the lack of a reliable MPS diagnosis and limits human subjects research. Improved consistency in terminology is needed to establish consensus within the field and to inform future research studying the pathophysiology of MPS.

Disability in Spanish-speaking and US Chicano Contexts: Critical and Artistic Perspectives ed. by Dawn Slack, Karen L. Rauch

Reviewed by: Disability in Spanish-speaking and US Chicano Contexts: Critical and Artistic Perspectives ed. by Dawn Slack, Karen L. Rauch Laura Kanost Slack, Dawn, and Karen L. Rauch, editors. Disability in Spanish-speaking and US Chicano Contexts: Critical and Artistic Perspectives. Cambridge Scholars, 2019. Pp. 224. ISBN 978-1-52752-750-8. This sampling of essays examines representations of disability spanning some five centuries and three continents. Mixed-media visual and poetic works by Khédija Gadhoum are interwoven throughout the book, which is organized according to implicit thematic clusters. While the individual essays’ degree of engagement with the field of disability studies varies, unifying motifs include narrative prosthesis, subjectivity, normativity, social critique, and transgression. In the opening study of Disability in Spanish-speaking and US Chicano Contexts: Critical and Artistic Perspectives, Beth E. Jörgensen discusses the relationship between blindness and representation in “Blind Spot (Notes on Reading Blindness)” (trans. Jörgensen) and Seeing Red (trans. Megan McDowell) by contemporary New York-based Chilean writer Lina Meruane. María Esther Quintana Millamoto reads the portrayal of corporeal difference in contemporary Chicana novelist Ana Castillo’s Peel My Love Like an Onion as a challenge to societal expectations for Mexican American women. Jennifer Brady’s chapter addresses the interplay of impairment, language, and subjectivity in the novel La mujer loca by contemporary Spanish writer Juan José Millás. Dawn Slack highlights social criticism in the portrayal of characters with disabilities in short stories by contemporary Spanish American writers Cristina Pacheco, Fanny Buitrago, and Carmen Naranjo. Questions of biopolitics and prosthesis in the novel Perros héroes by contemporary Mexican-Peruvian writer Mario Bellatin are the focus of Jennifer Thorndike’s [End Page 432] chapter. Gloria Jeanne Bodtorf Clark explores the concept of body-shaming in portrayals of and works by seventeenth-century Spanish writer Juan Ruiz de Alarcón, highlighting the play Los favores del mundo. Carlos Rodríguez McGill’s contribution discusses Eduardo Gutiérrez’s El Jorobado series of detective novels within the context of xenophobic modernizing discourses in late nineteenth-century Argentina. Karen L. Rauch reads postcolonial themes in the stories “La pierna de M. Lavalette” and “Sand on the Sea” by contemporary Dominican writer Marco Veloz Maggiolo through the lens of narrative prosthesis. Lastly, Meredith L. Jeffers offers a close reading of two recent films from Spain that juxtapose autonomous protagonists’ disability with supporting characters’ “inability”: Yo, también (dir. Álvaro Pastor and Antonio Naharro) and El truco del manco (dir. Santiago Zannou). Brief concluding remarks by the editors signal shared and contrasting themes and link the book to existing scholarship (Jörgensen and Antebi, Fraser). The editors’ introduction provides an overview of key concepts such as the normate (Garland Thomson), passing (Siebers), narrative prosthesis (Mitchell and Snyder), and monstrosity (Antebi), making the book accessible to newcomers to disability studies. Likewise, the authors contextualize their discussions for a broad readership. Usage of terminology (able-bodied, impairment, incapacity, lameness, deformity, wheelchair-bound, etc.) is inconsistent across chapters, reflecting the book’s eclectic approach and perhaps owing in part to the influence of Spanish-language norms and connotations. Laura Kanost Kansas State University Copyright © 2020 American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese, Inc

Mego Kin Classification

This is the first published account of kin classification of Mego, a district in the extreme eastern part of the Lio region of Flores Island. Despite recent changes affecting marriage practices, the terminology survives as a classification of asymmetric alliance. Terminological usage is discussed with reference to traditional social forms and comparatively, in relation to several other Lio terminologies, cognate terms in other Ngadha-Lio languages, and Malayo-Polynesian and Austronesian protoforms. Needham’s (1984) blanket characterization of an implicitly unitary “Lio” terminology as revealing features of asymmetric alliance in the first ascending and descending levels, but symmetric features in ego’s level, is refuted by showing quite continuous variation among different parts of Lio, as well as symmetric indications in other levels. The latter are discussed both as features that ignore or supersede “wife-takers” subordination to “wife-givers” as receivers of brides, and as evidence for a historical transformation from symmetric to asymmetric alliance.