Fuzzy Coherence: Making Sense of Continuity in Hypertext Narratives

Hypertexts are digital texts characterized by interactive hyperlinking and a fragmented textual organization. Increasingly prominent since the early 1990s, hypertexts have become a common text type both on the Internet and in a variety of other digital contexts. Although studied widely in disciplines like hypertext theory and media studies, formal linguistic approaches to hypertext continue to be relatively rare. This study examines coherence negotiation in hypertext with particularly reference to hypertext fiction. Coherence, or the quality of making sense, is a fundamental property of textness. Proceeding from the premise that coherence is a subjectively evaluated property rather than an objective quality arising directly from textual cues, the study focuses on the processes through which readers interact with hyperlinks and negotiate continuity between hypertextual fragments. The study begins with a typological discussion of textuality and an overview of the historical and technological precedents of modern hypertexts. Then, making use of text linguistic, discourse analytical, pragmatic, and narratological approaches to textual coherence, the study takes established models developed for analyzing and describing conventional texts, and examines their applicability to hypertext. Primary data derived from a collection of hyperfictions is used throughout to illustrate the mechanisms in practice. Hypertextual coherence negotiation is shown to require the ability to cognitively operate between local and global coherence by means of processing lexical cohesion, discourse topical continuities, inferences and implications, and shifting cognitive frames. The main conclusion of the study is that the style of reading required by hypertextuality fosters a new paradigm of coherence. Defined as fuzzy coherence, this new approach to textual sensemaking is predicated on an acceptance of the coherence challenges readers experience when the act of reading comes to involve repeated encounters with referentially imprecise hyperlinks and discourse topical shifts. A practical application of fuzzy coherence is shown to be in effect in the way coherence is actively manipulated in hypertext narratives.

Applying hedonic property models in the planning and evaluation of shoreline management

According to the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment’s chapter “Coastal Systems” (Agardy and Alder 2005), 40% of the world population falls within 100 km of the coast. Agardy and Alder report that population densities in coastal regions are three times those of inland regions and demographic forecasts suggest a continued rise in coastal populations. These high population levels can be partially traced to the abundance of ecosystem services provided in the coastal zone. While populations benefit from an abundance of services, population pressure also degrades existing services and leads to increased susceptibility of property and human life to natural hazards. In the face of these challenges, environmental administrators on the coast must pursue agendas which reflect the difficult balance between private and public interests. These decisions include maintaining economic prosperity and personal freedoms, protecting or enhancing the existing flow of ecosystem services to society, and mitigating potential losses from natural hazards. (PDF contains 5 pages)

Synthesis, crystal structure, and thermal property of a novel supramolecular assembly: (NH42810424)(CHNO) O-[H(V)O(]2H)4(10)28(2), constructed from decavanadate and caffeine

A novel 3D supramolecular assembly constructed from decavanadate and caffeine building blocks, (NH4)(2)(C8H10N4O2)(4)[H4V10O28].2H(2)O (1), has been synthesized in aqueous solution and characterized by elemental analysis, IR, H-1 NMR, V-51 NMR, TG-DTA, and single crystal X-Ray diffraction. The compound 1 crystallizes in monoclinic system, space group P2(1)/n, a = 15.801(1) Angstrom, b = 12.914(1) Angstrom, c = 15.913(2) Angstrom, beta = 113.55degrees, V = 2976.4 (5) Angstrom(3), Z = 2, R = 0.0498 with 6818 reflections. Water molecules, ammonium ions, and caffeine act as "cement" linking the polyanions into 1D chain along the c-axis by hydrogen bonding. In compound 1, extensive hydrogen-bond contacts and strong pi-pi interactions lead to an ordered 3D supramolecular framework. TG-DTA curves indicate that the weight loss of the complex can be divided into three stages.

Morphology, structure, and rheological property of linear low-density polyethylene grafted with acrylic acid

The chain structure, spherulite morphology, and theological property of LL-DPE-g-AA were studied by using electronspray mass spectroscopy, C-13-NMR, and rheometer. Experimental evidence proved that AA monomers grafted onto the LLDPE backbone formed multiunit AA branch chains. It was found that AA branch chains could hinder movement of the LLDPE main chain during crystallization. Spherulites of LLDPE became more anomalous because of the presence of AA branch chains. Rheological behavior showed that AA branch chains could act as an inner plasticizer at the temperature range of 170-200 degreesC, which made LLDPE-g-AA easy to further process. (C) 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

One Careful Owner: An exploration and critique of the licensing provisions of the Housing Act 2004

One careful owner ? an exploration and critique of the licensing provisions of the Housing Act 2004. [2006] The Coneyancer and Property Lawyer 123-136. RAE2008

Personal and proprietary tenancies

Examines the Chancery Division ruling in London Development Agency v Nidai on whether a number of agreements providing for the construction of a bridge and shop premises on the retaining walls of a river resulted in a binding legal lease or a series of bare licences. Comments on the failure of the judgment to mention the House of Lords ruling in Bruton v London & Quadrant Housing Trust and discusses whether a Bruton tenancy is capable of binding third parties.

''Setting 'Em Up'': Personal, Familial and Institutional Grooming in the Sexual Abuse of Children

The term ‘grooming’ has been used to describe the offender’s actions during the preparatory stage of sexual abuse. This paper will argue that current discourses on grooming have created ambiguities and misunderstandings about child sexual abuse. In particular, the popular focus on ‘stranger danger’ belies the fact that the majority of children are abused by someone well known to them, where grooming can also occur. Current discourses also neglect other important facets of the sex offending pattern. They fail to consider that offenders may groom not only the child but also their family and even the local community who may act as the gatekeepers of access. They also ignore what can be termed ‘institutional grooming’ – that sex offenders may groom criminal justice and other institutions into believing that they present no risk to children. A key variable in the grooming process is the creation and subsequent abuse of trust. Given that the criminal law may be somewhat limited in its response to this type of behaviour, ultimately concerted efforts must be made to foster social and organisational awareness of such processes in order to reduce the offender’s opportunity for abuse.

Discourses on Modernization in the Employment Public Services: Towards a New Form of Governance?

The “crisis of the social issue” in the EU has led to a certain consensus in the need to renew the organizational and institutional model of public administration. The core of the reform implies important administrative changes in most of the European welfare states. Those changes are inspired on theories such as the new public management, management by objectives or partnership. Such changes involve both semantic (“sharing responsibilities”, “effective costs”, or the substitution of “citizen under an administration” by “consumer”) and political (predominance of scattered forms of power and the individualization of responsibilities) transformations which operate in the framework of individuals and State relations. The paradigms of activation and flexicurity have been central in this public administration modernization project. This commitment with new forms of governance of social issues has important consequences for the political and moral foundations of social cohesion, and the Spanish case is not an exception. This paper aims at looking at those representations of “modernization” (as they appear in debates about the employment services restructuring policies) in detail as well as providing references to the trajectory of such reforms of public services since the early eighties to the beginning of the crisis.

Prueba de inmigración y márgenes legales del desencuentro. Políticas públicas, prácticas sociales y construcción de la persona

La redacción de las directrices y los procedimientos administrativos que hacen virtualmente posible la inmigración, contribuye a construir no sólo los itinerarios sino también el imaginario social sobre la alteridad. El principal objetivo del artículo es poner de relieve –mediante el análisis discursivo de las Hojas informativas publicadas en la WEB del Ministerio de Empleo y Seguridad Social- cómo la construcción social del emigrante/inmigrante y el proyecto migratorio topan con unas representaciones y envites, instituidos y refrendados  en y por la propia formulación de la reglamentación, pero no del todo explícitos. Entendiendo el texto como una acción que genera otras acciones, se examinan las consecuencias que tiene sobre la practica social de los inmigrantes. En suma, se trata  de vislumbrar los elementos (terminología, fórmulas, esquemas y prácticas inducidas) que van constituyendo al inmigrante como agente social subordinado a micro-procesos y relaciones que se le escapan en gran parte (en contra de las apariencias que parecieran sugerir lo contrario) y van marcando su propia capacidad de acción. En conclusión y retomando la distinción entre principio de diferencia y principio de indiferencia sugerida por Foucault, se muestra que mientras el primero rige las clausulas generales, el segundo articula las específicas.

Leopoldo Panero and his antology of the Spanish American Poetry. A “personal” reading of America

El presente artículo trata de ofrecer una lectura estética y política de la Antología de la poesía hispanoamericana que publicara Leopoldo Panero entre 1944 y 1945 bajo protección gubernamental. Para ello se parte de la particular biografía del escritor astorgano, su relación en los años treinta con los poetas hispanoamericanos –especialmente Vallejo y Neruda– y su gira por América ya como supuesto prohombre del régimen franquista en 1949 y 1954. La lectura sistemática de sus prólogos y selección de poetas revela la particular visión de Panero sobre Hispanoamérica, mediatizada por el concepto imperial de Falange pero formulada bajo su propia visión de lo que la lírica americana representa para la lengua castellana. Se sostiene así en estas líneas la tesis de que los postulados de Panero representan, a pesar de todo, una opción mucho más compleja de lo que se suele considerar.

A Delicate Balancing Act: Negotiating with Gatekeepers for Ethical Research When Researching Minority Communities

Research and processes of knowledge production are often based on racialised and imperialistic frameworks that have either led to the exclusion or pathologisation of minority groups. Researchers address issues of exclusion by adopting recruitment strategies that involve negotiating with gatekeepers to ensure the inclusion of minority or marginalised groups. This often involves in-depth scrutiny of gatekeepers and requires the researchers to negotiate deals and to make personal disclosures. However, there remains relatively little discussion on the pragmatic ethical issues facing researchers in the field as a result of these interactions.
This paper suggests that interactions with gatekeepers present ethical issues that can be effectively addressed and managed by researchers through the exercise of phronesis. This allows researchers to make critical ethical decisions based on the specific characteristics of the research sites and subjects, not least of which are those issues that emerge as a consequence of researcher positionality. Such decisions are not necessarily identified or accommodated through bureaucratic processes which govern research ethics. We advance the notion of research ethics as an ongoing process that requires researcher skills and engagement, rather than one where it is a one off bureaucratic exercise.

Personal and Public Involvement and its impact - Monitoring, measuring and evaluating the impact of Personal and Public Involvement (PPI) in Health and Social Care in Northern Ireland.

Introduction
This report details the findings from research conducted across Northern Ireland’s Health and Social Care Trusts during 2015 which examines the current state of Personal and Public Involvement (PPI). This is about how service users, carers and patients engage with staff, management and directors of statutory health and social care organisations. Most statutory health and social care organisations must, under legislation, meet the requirements of PPI. PPI has been part of health and social care policy in Northern Ireland since 2007 and became law two years later with the introduction of the Health and Social Care Reform Act (2009). It is, therefore, timely that PPI is now assessed in this systematic way in order to both examine the aspects which are working well and to highlight those areas where improvements need to be made. As far as possible, this Summary Report is written in an accessible way, avoiding jargon and explaining key research terms, so as to ensure it is widely understood. This is in keeping with established good practice in service user involvement research. This summary, therefore, gives a picture of PPI in Northern Ireland currently. There is also a fuller report which gives a lot more details about the research and findings. Information on this is available from the Public Health Agency and/or the Patient and Client Council.

The Pine Wood Nematode: a personal view

The first report of the disease (“pine wilt disease”) associated with the pinewood nematode, goes back to 1905, when Yano reported an unusual decline of pines from Nagasaki. For a long time thereafter, the cause of he disease was sought, but without success. Because of the large number of insect species that were usually seen around and on infected trees, it had always been assumed that the causal agent would prove to be one of these. However, in 1971, Kiyohara and Tokushike found a nematode of the genus Bursaphelenchus in infected trees. The nematode found was multiplied on fungal culture, inoculated into healthy trees and then re-isolated from the resulting wilted trees. The subsequent published reports were impressive: this Bursaphelenchus species could kill fully-grown trees within a few months in the warmer areas of Japan, and could destroy complete forests of susceptible pine species within a few years. Pinus densiflora, P. thunbergii und P. luchuensis were particularly affected. In 1972, Mamiya and Kiyohara described the new species of nematode extracted from the wood of diseased pines; it was a named Bursaphelenchus lignicolus. Since 1975, the species has spread to the north of Japan, with the exception of the most northerly prefectures. In 1977, the loss of wood in the west of the country reached 80%. Probably as a result of unusually high summer temperatures and reduced rainfall in the years 1978 and 1979, the losses were more than 2 million m3 per year. From the beginning, B. lignicolus was always considered by Japanese scientists to be an exotic pest. But where did it come from? That this nematode could also cause damage in the USA became clear in 1979 when B. lignicolus was isolated in great numbers from wood of a 39 year-old pine tree (Pinus nigra) in Missouri which had suddenly died after the colour of its needles changed to a reddish-brown colour (Dropkin und Foudin, 2 1979). In 1981, B. lignicolus was synonymised by Nickle et al. with B. xylophilus which had been found for the first time in the USA as far back as 1929, and reported by Steiner and Buhrer in 1934. It had originally been named Aphelenchoides xylophilus, the wood-inhabiting Aphelenchoides but was recognised by Nickle, in 1970,to belong in the genus Bursaphelenchus. Its common name in the USA was the "pine wood nematode" (PWN. After its detection in Missouri, it became known that B. xylophilus was widespread throughout the USA and Canada. It occurred there on native species of conifers where, as a rule, it did not show the symptoms of pine wilt disease unless susceptible species were stressed eg., by high temperature. This fact was an illuminating piece of evidence that North America could be the homeland of PWN. Dwinell (1993) later reported the presence of B. xylophilus in Mexico. The main vector of the PWN in Japan was shown to be the long-horned beetle Monochamus alternatus, belonging to the family Cerambycidae. This beetle lays its eggs in dead or dying trees where the developing larvae then feed in the cambium layer. It was already known in Japan in the 19th century but in the 1930s, it was said to be present in most areas of Japan, but was generally uncommon. However, with the spread of the pine wilt disease, and the resulting increase of weakened trees that could act as breeding sites for beetles, the populations of Monochamus spp. increased significantly In North America, other Monochamus species transmit PWN, and the main vector is M. carolinensis. In Japan, there are also other, less efficient vectors in the genus Monochamus. Possibly, all Monochamus species that breed in conifers can transmit the PWN. The occasional transmission by less efficient species of Monochamus or by some of the many other beetle genera in the bark or wood is of little significance. In Europe, M. galloprovincialis and M. sutor transmits the closely related species B. mucronatus. Some speculate that these two insect species are “standing by” and waiting for the arrival of B. xylophilus. In 1982, the nematode was detected and China. It was first found in dead pines near the Zhongshan Monument of Nanjing (CHENG et. al. 1983); 265 trees were then killed by pine wilt disease. Despite great efforts at eradication in China, the nematode spread further and pine wilt disease has been 3 reported from parts of the provinces of Jiangsu, Anhui, Guangdong, Shandong, Zhejiang and Hubei (YANG, 2003). In 1986, the spread of the PWN to Taiwan was discovered and in 1989, the nematode was reported to be present in the Republic of Korea where it had first been detected in Pinus thunbergii and P. densiflora. It was though to have been introduced with packing material from Japan. PWN was advancing. In 1984, B. xylophilus was found in wood chips imported into Finland from the USA and Canada, and this was the impetus to establish phytosanitary measures to prevent any possible spread into Europe. Finland prohibited the import of coniferous wood chips from these sources, and the other Nordic countries soon followed suit. EPPO (the European and Mediterranean Plant Protection Organization) made a recommendation to its member countries in 1986 to refuse wood imports from infested countries. With its Directive of 1989 (77/93 EEC), the European Community (later called the European Union or EU) recognised the potential danger of B. xylophilus for European forests and imposed restrictions on imports into the Europe. PWN was placed on the quarantine list of the EU and also of other European countries. Later, in 1991, a dispensation was allowed by the Commission of the EU(92/13 EEC) for coniferous wood from North America provided that certain specified requirements were fulfilled that would prevent introduction.

Personal statement in PhD applications: Gatekeepers' evaluative perspectives

This paper explores academic readers’ views of the doctoral Personal Statements (PSs) written by student applicants across institutional contexts. The analysis was based on in-depth semi-structured interviews with 19 faculty members involved in evaluating the PhD applications within Education at one UK-based and one US-based university. Data were coded by NVivo software and then analysed using methods drawn from critical discourse analysis and conversation analysis to unravel participant intended meaning. Results suggest that the situated knowledge of institutional settings where these academics are based will affect the ways in which they act and think in relation to particular forms of discourse. Specifically, the UK and US academics’ interpretations of PSs and its associated evaluation practices are related to their conceptual understanding of the culture of doctoral level study and the structure of the admissions process in their own particular academic community. The paper concludes with some pedagogical implications and a discussion of potential areas for further study to investigate the ‘academic’ and ‘rhetorical’ aspects of the PS and to understand the different and often implicit features of the PS across different disciplines, programmes, and institutional contexts.