Transformative deliberative moments among ex-combattants in Colombia

This dissertation presents the concept of Deliberative Transformative Moment and the instrument to identify it, in a further attempt to bridge the gap between deliberation theory and practice. A transformative moment in the deliberative process occurs when the level of deliberation is either lifted from low to high or drops from high to low. In order to identify such a moment, one has to look at the context and dynamics of the group discussion. This broadening of the unit of analysis is a big difference from other existing instruments to measure the level of deliberation, such as the Deliberative Quality Index –DQI, which focuses primarily on the individual speech acts. Consistent with the theoretical framework of consociational and deliberation approaches, the observed discussions took place among two deeply divided groups, Colombian ex-combatants from both the extreme left and the extreme right. Moving beyond a pure Habermasian perspective, this study finds that besides pure rational arguments, there are some contexts in which personal stories, jokes and self-interests, acting as justification of arguments, have either a positive or a negative impact on deliberative transformative moments. Although this research has a strongly qualitative orientation, reliability tests scored high, giving it strength as a reliable and valid research method that shedding some light on the sort of speech acts that enhance deliberation and those that detract from it.

Moments of tension and strain in psychotherapy and how they promote a good alliance and outcome

It is well established that the therapeutic relationship contributes about as much to therapy outcome as ‘technical’ intervention. Furthermore, it follows clear prescriptive concepts in the same manner as technical interventions do. ‘Motive Oriented Therapeutic Relationship’ is such a concept for establishing a solid basis for whatever therapeutic work the patients’ problems require (Grawe, 1980, 1992; Caspar, 1996). Yet, the therapeutic relationship doesn’t explain everything because other factors play a significant role too. Previous studies showed that outcome is clearly better when therapists achieved a generally high quality of a therapeutic relationship when they did not shy away from possibly threatening interventions such as confrontations. This ratio of a fruitful alliance and marginally present confrontations in the same session also showed significant correlations with patient’s assessment of alliance and progress in therapy (Figlioli et al., 2009). The current state of research in the field, however, does not give any answers to questions like how good and bad confrontations can be characterized or what role does the intensity, respectively frequency of confrontations play in the process of psychotherapy. Therefore, we analyzed a sample of 80 therapies of 3 sessions each representing either good or bad outcome. Independent raters judged moment by moment how therapists used confrontative interventions. 20 cases, which showed an excellent or a very poor outcome, as well as an unexpected pattern were analyzed in further quantitative details. We found that confrontations are correlated to good outcome when they are uttered implicitly, related to an important topic of the patient (e.g. one of the defined therapy goals), long but weak, embedded in prior complementarity and not in the first three sessions of a therapy, as well as not an interactional discrepancy between the patient and the therapist.

Shaping gender inequalities: critical moments and critical places

Purpose – There is much scientific interest in the connection between the emergence of gender-based inequalities and key biographical transition points of couples in long-term relationships. Little empirical research is available comparing the evolution of a couple’s respective professional careers over space and time. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to filling this gap by addressing the following questions: what are the critical biographical moments when gender (in)equalities within a relationship begin to arise and consolidate? Which biographical decisions precede and follow such critical moments? How does decision making at critical moments impact the opportunities of both relationship partners in gaining equal access to paid employment? Design/methodology/approach – These questions are addressed from the perspectives of intersectionality and economic citizenship. Biographical interviewing is used to collect the personal and professional narratives of Swiss-, bi-national and migrant couples. The case study of a Swiss-Norwegian couple illustrates typical processes by which many skilled migrant women end up absently or precariously employed. Findings – Analysis reveals that the Scandinavian woman’s migration to Switzerland is a primary and critical moment for emerging inequality, which is then reinforced by relocation (to a small town characterized by conservative gender values) and the subsequent births of their children. It is concluded that factors of traditional gender roles, ethnicity and age intersect to create a hierarchical situation which affords the male Swiss partner more weight in terms of decision making and career advancement. Practical implications – The paper’s findings are highly relevant to the formulation of policies regarding gender inequalities and the implementation of preventive programmes within this context. Originality/value – Little empirical research is available comparing the evolution of a couple’s respective professional careers over space and time. The originality of this paper is to fill this research gap; to include migration as a critical moment for gender inequalities; to use an intersectional and geographical perspective that have been given scant attention in the literature; to use the original concept of economic citizenship; and to examine the case of a bi-national couple, which has so far not been examined by the literature on couple relationships.

Legendre Polynomials, Dipole Moments, Generating Functions, etc..

A standard treatment of aspects of Legendre polynomials is treated here, including the dipole moment expansion, generating functions, etc..

The analysis of the basketball coach speech during the moments of game and pause in relation to the performance in competition

In the area of the professional competition, the coach is a fundamental part in the management of a team and more concretely in the game planning. During the competition, the management of the times of pause and times out as well as the conduct of the coach during the same ones is an aspect to analyze in the sports performance. It is for this that it becomes necessary to know some of the behaviors that turn out to be more frequent by the coach and that are more related to a positive performance of his players. For it there has been realized a study of 7 cases of expert coaches in those that his verbal behavior has observed during 4 games. It has focused on the content of the information only to verbal level, on his meaning. The information that have been obtained in the study shows a major quantity of information elaborated during the pauses of the games and a major tactical content with regard to the moments of game. On the other hand, a relation exists between a major number of questions and a minor number of psychological instructions when the score is adverse, whereas in case of victory, a direct relation does not exist with any category. The rest of categories of the speech do not meet influenced directly for the result, for what it is not possible to consider a direct and immediate relation between the coach verbal behavior during the pauses and the result of the game, except in punctual moments.

Qualitative analysis of critical moments in basketball

The aim of this paper was to know the coach point of view about the critical moment concept in basketball. The methodology used in our research is a qualitative methodology. The instrument used to obtain the data was the semi- structured interviews. There were interviewed 12 ACB league coaches during the 2011/12 season. Results show that incertitude is associated to the critical moment concept. Last minutes of close games and also overtime are identified as critical moment of the game. There is nott any variable in statistics considered by all coaches to determine the critical moment, and they were agree that respecting some game rules is basic to face up the critical moment.

Analysis of the critical moments in the League ACB 2007-2008

The aim of this paper was to identify the variables that determine winning or losing in the critical moments of the basketball games. A total of forty one critical moments were analyzed, corresponding to 30 games of the regular season from the Spanish Professional League (ACB, season 2007-2008). Games were selected according to the definition of critical moments (described in the available literature), which corresponded to overtime and the last 5 minutes of games with score differences equal or below to six points. The results revealed better values in the winners in defensive rebounds and successful free-throws.

Análisis cuantitativo y cualitativo de los momentos críticos en baloncesto = Quantitative and qualitative analysis of the critical moments in basketball

El MC en baloncesto es aquel fenómeno relacionado con el juego que presenta unas características particulares determinadas por la idiosincrasia de un equipo y puede afectar a los protagonistas y por ende al devenir del juego. En la presente Tesis se ha estudiado la incidencia del MC en Liga A.C.B. de baloncesto y para su desarrollo en profundidad se ha planteado dos investigaciones una cuantitativa y otra cualitativa cuya metodología se detalla a continuación: La investigación cuantitativa se ha basado en la técnica de estudio del “Performance analysis”, para ello se han estudiado cuatro temporadas de la Liga A.C.B. (del 2007/08 al 2010/11), tal y como refleja en la bibliografía consultada se han tomado como momentos críticos del juego a los últimos cinco minutos de partidos donde la diferencia de puntos fue de seis puntos y todos los Tiempos Extras disputados, de tal manera que se han estudiado 197 momentos críticos. La contextualización del estudio se ha hecho en función de la variables situacionales “game location” (local o visitante), “team quality” (mejores o peores clasificados) y “competition” (fases de LR y Playoff). Para la interpretación de los resultados se han realizado los siguientes análisis descriptivos: 1) Análisis Discriminante, 2) Regresión Lineal Múltiple; y 3) Análisis del Modelo Lineal General Multivariante. La investigación cualitativa se ha basado en la técnica de investigación de la entrevista semiestructurada. Se entrevistaron a 12 entrenadores que militaban en la Liga A.C.B. durante la temporada 2011/12, cuyo objetivo ha sido conocer el punto de vista que tiene el entrenador sobre el concepto del MC y que de esta forma pudiera dar un enfoque más práctico basado en su conocimiento y experiencia acerca de cómo actuar ante el MC en el baloncesto. Los resultados de ambas investigaciones coinciden en señalar la importancia del MC sobre el resultado final del juego. De igual forma, el concepto en sí entraña una gran complejidad por lo que se considera fundamental la visión científica de la observación del juego y la percepción subjetiva que presenta el entrenador ante el fenómeno, para la cual los aspectos psicológicos de sus protagonistas (jugadores y entrenadores) son determinantes. ABSTRACT The Critical Moment (CM) in basketball is a related phenomenon with the game that has particular features determined by the idiosyncrasies of a team and can affect the players and therefore the future of the game. In this Thesis we have studied the impact of CM in the A.C.B. League and from a profound development two investigations have been raised, quantitative and qualitative whose methodology is as follows: The quantitative research is based on the technique of study "Performance analysis", for this we have studied four seasons in the A.C.B. League (2007/08 to 2010/11), and as reflected in the literature the Critical Moments of the games were taken from the last five minutes of games where the point spread was six points and all overtimes disputed, such that 197 critical moments have been studied. The contextualization of the study has been based on the situational variables "game location" (home or away), "team quality" (better or lower classified) and "competition" (LR and Playoff phases). For the interpretation of the results the following descriptive analyzes were performed: 1) Discriminant Analysis, 2) Multiple Linear Regression Analysis; and 3) Analysis of Multivariate General Linear Model. Qualitative research is based on the technique of investigation of a semi-structured interview. 12 coaches who belonged to the A.C.B. League were interviewed in seasons 2011/12, which aimed to determine the point of view that the coach has on the CM concept and thus could give a more practical approach based on their knowledge and experience about how to deal with the CM in basketball. The results of both studies agree on the importance of the CM on the final outcome of the game. Similarly, the concept itself is highly complex so the scientific view of the observation of the game is considered essential as well as the subjective perception the coach presents before the phenomenon, for which the psychological aspects of their characters (players and coaches) are crucial.

Hydrophobic moments of protein structures: Spatially profiling the distribution

It is generally accepted that globular proteins fold with a hydrophobic core and a hydrophilic exterior. Might the spatial distribution of amino acid hydrophobicity exhibit common features? The hydrophobic profile detailing this distribution from the protein interior to exterior has been examined for 30 relatively diverse structures obtained from the Protein Data Bank, for 3 proteins of the 30S ribosomal subunit, and for a simple set of 14 decoys. A second-order hydrophobic moment has provided a simple measure of the spatial variation. Shapes of the calculated spatial profiles of all native structures have been found to be comparable. Consequently, profile shapes as well as particular profile features should assist in validating predicted protein structures and in discriminating between different protein-folding pathways. The spatial profiles of the 14 decoys are clearly distinguished from the profiles of their native structures.

Different moments in the participatory stage of the secondary students’ abstraction of mathematical conceptions

This study provides support to the characteristics of participatory and anticipatory stages in secondary school pupils’ abstraction of mathematical conceptions. We carried out clinical task-based interviews with 71 secondary-school pupils to obtain evidence of the different constructed mathematical conceptions (Participatory Stage) and how they were used (Anticipatory Stage). We distinguish two moments in the Participatory Stage based on the coordination of information from particular cases by activity-effect reflection which, in some cases, lead to a change of focus enabling secondary-school pupils to achieve a reorganization of their knowledge. We argue that (a) the capacity of perceiving regularities in sets of particular cases is a characteristic of activity-effect reflection in the abstraction of mathematical conceptions in secondary school, and (b) the coordination of information by pupils provides opportunities for changing the attention-focus from the particular results to the structure of properties.

A Defensive "stand-by reaction" at Critical Moments of the Reproductive Life Cycle

Investigation about the psychological experiences of the reproductive life cycle showed that in critical moments special reactions may happen. These reactions seem to be defensive in nature, are set in motion in order to promote some kind of emotional protection and are performed in two opposite directions: a) a decreasing of the contact with aggressive impulses and b) an increasing of the use of rationalization and denial of frustrating situations. Examples of those rearrangements were observed at samples of: 1) pregnant women in obstetric high-risk consultation, 2) infertile couples waiting for infertility consultations and 3) pregnant women waiting for amniocentesis results. These data seem to be in accordance with the classical psychological points of view: a) gestation should be considered as a period of protection, b) during pregnancy a “primary maternal preoccupation” (Winnicot, 1958) emerges leading to the mobilization of all resources available for pregnant women and c) along gestational development psychological changes show how flexible maternal functioning may become. What was not expected is that in the absence of pregnancy, infertile couples should behave very similarly to what it is observed when pregnancy is in danger or when medical problems about the mother’s or the baby’s health arise in the horizon. Due to its “freezing” consequences upon emotional development we propose that this kind of reaction will be designated as “stand-by reaction”.

Moments of Truth – A new neo-Gaullist Germany? EuropEos Commentary No. 3, 1 June 2010

The European process is based on compromises; when it comes to selling them to national electorates, countries behave differently. France feels compelled to declare victory; Germany has more often chosen to stress the concessions that it made, adding that they were painful but necessary for the sake of ‘Europe’. The reality is very different. In this new EuropEos Commentary, Riccardo Perissich, Executive Vice-President of the Council for the United States and Italy, describes that European reality, in unambiguous terms.