From the Periphery to Center Stage: The Effects and Exploitation of the Other in Titus Andronicus and Assassin’s Creed III

Aaron the Moor from Titus Andronicus and Ratonhnhaké:ton from Assassin’s Creed III are each aiding in a war against an international superpower, and both characters are plotting ways to advance and improve their respective culture. Aaron is seen as the villain and the antagonist, whereas Ratonhnhaké:ton is seen as an individual who fights for freedom. However, once both characters’ usefulness is exhausted, they are easily characterized as the Other and lose whatever benefits they may have earned. They are tossed aside by the factions they are trying to help. Even though Assassin’s Creed III is a video game, the same issues of colonialism and imperialism can be investigated in this 21st-century genre as in Shakespeare’s play.     

Determinants of Sleep Duration Among High School Students in Part‐Time Employment

Adolescents who work while attending school are reported to sleep less than those who do not. This study aimed to identify factors associated with short sleep duration in students who work during the school year. A cross‐sectional survey aiming to describe working conditions and occupational safety and health was completed by representative samples of Quebec high school students aged 12–19 years from three administrative regions (n = 3,871). A multiple stepwise regression analysis was performed with sleep duration as the dependent variable, and sociodemographic, school, occupational, and health factors as potential explanatory variables. Significant factors associated with shorter sleep duration were later bedtimes (p < .001), shorter weekend oversleep (p < .001), higher physical work factors related to handling efforts (p < .001), and female gender (p < .01). Addressing work conditions of student workers may help prevent sleep deprivation. Special efforts should also target girls combining work and study.     

Can antitrust law enforcement spur innovation? Antitrust regulation of patent consolidation and its impact on follow-on innovations

This study examines the effect of antitrust regulation of patent consolidation on the development of follow-on innovations. Our reconciliation of the various strains of literature hypothesizes that in sectors where cumulative innovation is crucial to firms’ market operations, a firm that consolidates patents for substituting technologies for its already-possessed technologies discourages market competitions and follow-on innovation by competitors. In this case, antitrust regulation of patent consolidation is anticipated to positively affect competitors’ follow-on innovation. We empirically test this hypothesis with the case of the US Department of Justice's regulation of Novell's software patent transfers to four large proprietary software companies (i.e., Microsoft, Oracle, EMC, and Apple) in 2011. Our analyses using US patent, trademark, and copyright data have found evidence corroborating our hypothesis. Our research provides policy and scholarly implications regarding how antitrust law can be a complementary institution to the patent law for promoting innovation.     

中国未来原油进口的多元化分析

本文从降低供应风险的角度,对2020年前我国原油进口结构的优化路径进行了定量分析。并且为应对伊朗原油出口的减少提出了数量化的政策建议。研究结论显示,由于我国对世界原油的需求将会持续旺盛,在未来几年内,我国需要大量增加从俄罗斯、科威特、阿联酋、卡塔尔、墨西哥及阿尔及利亚等传统产油国的进口,同时减少对沙特阿拉伯、安哥拉、苏丹和伊朗的原油依赖。从未来原油进口的地区分布上看,中东地区依然是我国原油进口的主要来源地,同时也是供应风险最大的地区。为应对伊朗石油禁运,我国应该增加从加拿大、墨西哥、尼日利亚和卡塔尔等国的原油进口来弥补供应缺口,并满足国内快速增长的原油消费需求。     

Manipulating particle trajectories with phase-control in surface acoustic wave microfluidics

We present a 91 MHz surface acoustic wave resonator with integrated microfluidics that includes a flow focus, an expansion region, and a binning region in order to manipulate particle trajectories. We demonstrate the ability to change the position of the acoustic nodes by varying the electronic phase of one of the transducers relative to the other in a pseudo-static manner. The measurements were performed at room temperature with 3 μm diameter latex beads dispersed in a water-based solution. We demonstrate the dependence of nodal position on pseudo-static phase and show simultaneous control of 9 bead streams with spatial control of −0.058 μm/deg ± 0.001 μm/deg. As a consequence of changing the position of bead streams perpendicular to their flow direction, we also show that the integrated acoustic-microfluidic device can be used to change the trajectory of a bead stream towards a selected bin with an angular control of 0.008 deg/deg ± 0.000(2) deg/deg.     

Ammonium oxalate treatment: Evaluation by μ-Raman mapping of the penetration depth in different plasters

This study is focused on the evaluation by μRaman mapping of the penetration depth achieved by ammonium oxalate treatment in different plaster specimens, a hot issue in the conservation field. The role of the carbonatic aggregate particles and the influence of the different variables of the treatment on the penetration depth and on the distribution of the newly-formed phase (whewellite) have been ascertained. Based on the results of μRaman mapping, analyses with Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy have been carried out in order to observe the whewellite crystals and the carbonatic aggregate particles involved in the reaction with ammonium oxalate.     

Child and partner abuse: self-reported prevalence and attitudes in the north of Portugal

OBJECTIVES: To determine the self-reported prevalence of child and partner physical and emotional abuse in the north of Portugal and to investigate attitudes about these forms of family violence. METHODS: Data were collected by questionnaire from a representative sample of parents in two-parent families with children under the age of 18 years. A total of 2,391 parents participated (1,057 males), aged 20-67 years. Four questionnaires were used, one behavioral and one attitudinal, for each of the forms of abuse: child and partner. RESULTS: At least one act of emotional or physical abuse towards a child during the previous year was reported by 25.9% of participants (12.3% reported physically abusive and 22.4% emotionally abusive acts). Abuse of a partner was reported by 26.2% of participants; at least one act of physical abuse during the previous year was reported by 12% and of emotional abuse by 23.7%. The attitudinal data, however, showed general disapproval of the use of violence, both for disciplining children and within marital relationships. The degree of self-reported support for physical punishment was higher in participants who reported using abusive behavior. Females more commonly reported acts of child abuse, and males reported acts of partner abuse. Both forms of self-reported abuse showed an association with low educational and socio-economic status. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first study in Portugal to analyze family violence through self-report using a representative sample. The findings indicate that child and partner abuse constitute a significant problem in the region of northern Portugal. The discrepancy between the self-reported behavioral and attitudinal data may reflect conflicts in Portuguese society, which is undergoing substantial cultural changes.     

Secondary students’ modelling conceptualisation in situations related to particle dynamics: a clinical perspective

This study investigates the modelling conceptualisation of secondary school students in two situations related to particle dynamics: pendulum’s motion and horizontal motion. We performed in-depth clinical interviews with secondary school students (N?=?10). Participants’ ideas about properties which are not ‘given’ in empirical observations were explored in order to investigate signs of abstractions and idealisations in their reasoning processes. We proposed contributions to modelling in science education based on Mario Bunge’s epistemology and we employed his basic concepts as the axis to analyse our results: (1) abstractions and idealisations, considered as thought processes required to build conceptual counterparts of concrete objects; (2) theoretical models, meaning hypothetico-deductive systems concerning those conceptual objects; and (3) general theoretical frameworks that allow us to derive those theoretical models. We developed our analysis viewing the ideas presented by participants as concepts-in-action and theorems-in-action as regarded by Gérard Vergnaud’s Theory of Conceptual Fields. Results indicated a gradation in the concepts-in-action mobilised in terms of levels of idealisation and showed that participants do not spontaneously recognise the use of a general theory as a possible way to obtain a theoretical model. These results suggest that science education practices must pay better attention to make abstractions and idealisations explicit in scientific concepts formation, as well as to the heuristic role of theories in model construction.     

Career adaptability and associations with personality traits and pathological traits utilizing network analysis

This study investigated relationships between career adaptability and personality and pathological traits using the network analysis approach. We administered CAAS, BFI-2-S, and IDCP-2 to 630 working adults. We observed positive associations between personality and career adaptability and negative associations between pathological traits and career adaptability. This paper contributes to the understanding of the associations between career adaptability and Big Five personality traits and pathological traits. We found stronger associations between career adaptability and personality traits as compared to pathological traits. Our findings suggest that Neuroticism and Conscientiousness contribute more to adaptation to professional development tasks than do pathological traits.

     

CONCEPT MAPPING: AN ALTERNATIVE STRATEGY FOR EVALUATION

Concept maps are proposed as an alternative tool for evaluation in higher education and examples of concept maps, drawn by college students performing evaluation tasks, are presented in the areas of physics and literature.