Lost in Narration: Applying Autoethnography

The authors convey a story of getting lost in narration, on an applied and collaborative research project in which they combined autoethnography (AE), mindfulness, and relational communication. They examine common criticisms of AE in an effort to more accurately narrate how the method operates communicatively and resonates with commitments of applied communication research. This tale ends with a few invitational morals that are directed to skeptics and practitioners of AE.     

Influences of politics and economics upon photographic content in Chinese newspapers

During the mid‐1980s political pressure upon Chinese journalists decreased, financial pressure upon their newspapers increased and photojournalism gained importance. This study compares the content of photographs in three ‘official’ and three hybrid ‘official‐commercial’ Chinese newspapers. Photographs were found to be less important in ‘official’ newspapers. Subjects and values of concern to government and Party leaders appeared more frequently in ‘official‐commercial’ papers. This study also shows that in a period of political and economic reform, diversity exists in photographic news content and that photographs frequently serve public interests.     

Convention on Cultural Diversity

UNESCO has given its Director General a mandate to draft a convention on protecting the diversity of cultural contents and artistic expressions by the fall of 2005. Proponents of the convention view commitments made by countries in trade agreements as weakening their ability to preserve and promote cultural diversity. We review the existing draft wording for a convention, developed before the official involvement of UNESCO, by the INCP, an association representing cultural ministries in favour of insulating their cultural policies from liberalization, and conclude that it fails to meet the necessary conditions for an enforceable rules-based international agreement. In the INCP text, countries are given rights to introduce policies that promote a self-defined cultural diversity. The only obligation is to balance their interests with those of others. No standard of adjudication for balance is offered nor any effective dispute resolution mechanism developed. The ultimate purpose of the initiative may be to form a negotiating bloc within the WTO, but the disparate interests of its members and the lack of tangible benefits from the Convention reduce the credibility of bargaining solidarity. In contrast, the WTO provides a flexible and effective forum for negotiating maintenance of current policy options at a cost of making concessions in other sectors.     

电动高尔夫球车的电池维护

如果你把高尔夫电动球车上的座位掀起来，就能看到一组用电缆链接的六节电池。这个矩形的电池组看上去很简单，无害并且没有任何威胁。电子马达运行时感觉相当安静，但这不代表没有问题。任何电池都需要常规的检测和维修。如果使用得当，维护得法，这些电池能提供可靠的性能并连续使用多年无需更换。随着金属价格的升高，一组电池的价钱可以轻易涨到五千元人民币以上。     

Macbeth: a poetry workshop on stage at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre

Keith Park, advisory teacher for Sense in the London Boroughs of Greenwich and Lewisham, has written a series of articles focused on the relationship between communication and access to literature for pupils with learning difficulties. In this article, he turns his attention to poetry. He explores the notion that all of us, to some extent, respond to great works of literature affectively. He describes his use of works by T. S. Eliot, James Joyce and Shakespeare in interactive and experiential sessions with pupils with severe and profound and multiple learning difficulties. In closing this article, Keith Park provides a case study in assessment by evaluating the responses of one student and showing how the Shakespeare workshop enabled her to become an active learner.     

Constraints on dynamic stability during forward,backward and lateral locomotion in skilled football players

The aim of this study was to investigate effects of speed and plane of motion on stability during locomotion in skilled football players. Ten male national-level football players participated in this study to run forward, backward and in lateral directions on a treadmill at 80%, 100% and 120% of their preferred running speeds. The coordinate data of passive reflective markers attached to body segments were recorded using motion capture systems. Time series data obtained from the ankle marker were used for further analyses. The largest finite-time Lyapunov exponent and maximum Floquet multiplier were adopted to quantify local and orbital dynamic stabilities, respectively. Results showed that speed did not significantly change local and orbital dynamic stabilities in any of running patterns. However, both local and orbital dynamic stability were significantly higher in the secondary plane of progression. Data revealed that in running, unlike walking, stability in the direction perpendicular to the direction of running is significantly higher, implying that less active control is required in the secondary plane of progression. The results of this study could be useful in sports training and rehabilitation programmes where development of fundamental exercise programmes that challenge both speed and the ability to maintain stability might produce a tangible enhancement of athletic skill level.