The First Year at School: A Perspective from a Personal Standpoint

This study clarifies whether a specific type of role play supports upper secondary school students’ collaborative argumentation. Data consist of 12 dyadic face-to-face and 12 chat debates. Data analysis focused on the quality of students’ argumentation. Comparisons were made between students who defended standpoints at variance with their personal opinions on the topics, between the two study modes and topics, and by gender. When the students defended a standpoint differing from their personal opinion, the male students engaged in counterargumentation more often than the female students. When, in turn, the students defended their personal standpoint, they produced both counterargumentative and non-argumentative speech turns equally often, and their arguments were more poorly elaborated than when they defended an assigned standpoint. The study suggests that role play in which both counterargumentation and students’ personal standpoints on an issue are taken into account is a viable means to support students’ high quality argumentation.

Metaethics from a First Person Standpoint addresses in a novel format the major topics and themes of contemporary metaethics, the study of the analysis of moral thought and judgement. Metathetics is less concerned with what practices are right or wrong than with what we mean by ‘right’ and ‘wrong.’ Looking at a wide spectrum of topics including moral language, realism and anti-realism, reasons and motives, relativism, and moral progress, this book engages students and general readers in order to enhance their understanding of morality and moral discourse as cultural practices. Catherine Wilson innovatively employs a first-person narrator to report step-by-step an individual’s reflections, beginning from a position of radical scepticism, on the possibility of objective moral knowledge. The reader is invited to follow along with this reasoning, and to challenge or agree with each major point. Incrementally, the narrator is led to certain definite conclusions about ‘oughts’ and norms in connection with self-interest, prudence, social norms, and finally morality. Scepticism is overcome, and the narrator arrives at a good understanding of how moral knowledge and moral progress are possible, though frequently long in coming. Accessibly written, Metaethics from a First Person Standpoint presupposes no prior training in philosophy and is a must-read for philosophers, students and general readers interested in gaining a better understanding of morality as a personal philosophical quest.

The question of how disability should be defined is fraught with political, ethical and philosophical complexities. The social model of disability, which posits that disability is socially and politically constructed...

In a research career that exceeds 40 years there have been continuous changes in my research methodology on a number of dimensions. The most salient differences involved changes in the theoretical framework that began with logical positivism and gradually changed to embrace sociological and cultural frameworks such as hermeneutic phenomenology, reflexivity, culture, and ethics. A necessity to include multiple voices to obtain participants’ perspectives catalyzed ontological issues, including how to deal with difference and embrace polysemia. As well as researching patterns of coherence I adapted methodologies to build understanding based on research on contradictions, which defined events. Thus event-oriented inquiry sought to understand social life through intensive research on spikes in coherence trajectories. Authentic inquiry drew attention to priorities given to theory and improvement of practice on the one hand and multilectical relationships that considered authenticity holistically – recursively considering goals associated with changing ontologies while learning from others, teaching others about personal standpoints and practices, and ensuring that institutions and all individuals benefit from participating in research. I conclude with cautions about the transcendent nature of social inquiry and a reminder of obligations researchers have to participate ethically in research dialogues, listen to learn, and enact right speech to foster social justice for all.

In this essay, I explore psychosis, pain, and time from a personal standpoint. I do not do a study, nor even review the literature. Rather, I reflect on my own experiences. As someone who has experienced psychosis, pain, and the passage of time, I can indeed speak from personal experience. Of course, I am an “n” of only one and others may have different experiences. So this is an opening of dialogue, and not an endpoint.

This issue of the Journal represents the 13th installment of what initially was a challenging and exciting task. It began much like the life of an infant with exploration, missteps, and learning the foundation of one's existence. It has now become more like a young adolescent, still learning, but beginning to mature and transform itself into adulthood. What then have we accomplished in the past 2½ years? From a logistical standpoint, there were many hurdles to overcome. These included finding the right electronic submission system (Rapid Review), manuscript flow issues, layout concerns, adequate copy-editing, and other issues, the absence of which readers and authors accept as the norm for a well-managed journal. However, they are considerable concerns in starting a new journal. Fortunately, with the help of our hardworking staff, most of these have been resolved. Of course, the editorial content of a journal is its lifeblood. Without interesting and useful content, a journal is of little use, especially one that represents its professional society. As noted in a previous communication with you, the Journal is now indexed in Medline, PubMed, Embase, and Google Scholar, representing the majority of the leading scientific indexing services.1 The number of original research and case report submissions has increased considerably, as shown in Figure 1. The editorial staff and I have tried to make the timeline from submission to 1st notification as short as possible. As an author myself, I know that waiting for weeks or months for a journal to decide whether to accept a manuscript is potentially quite frustrating. Currently, the time from submission to first notification is 3.9 and 5.6 weeks for case reports and original manuscripts, respectively, averaged over the past 18 months. We are striving to improve these statistics. However, some of this delay relates to manuscripts that are submitted with incomplete documentation, such as conflict of interest documents. My goal is to have all manuscripts reviewed within 3 weeks of being available for editorial review. Figure 1 Submissions of original manuscripts and case reports to the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine by year. 2007 data extrapolated based on data from January through June 2007. Currently, the Journal publishes an eclectic mixture of “hard” clinical science, reviews and “case” type material. The latter includes our “Board Review” and “Sleep Pearl” series. These are especially designed for the sleep practitioner and may be quite useful in reviewing the upcoming American Board of Medical Specialties Certification Examination in Sleep Medicine. I would like to personally thank Drs. Sairam Parthasarathy and Richard Berry, respectively, for their roles as editors of the “Board Review” and “Sleep Pearls” section of the Journal. The Journal also publishes papers related to socioeconomic aspects of medicine, particularly sleep medicine. Hopefully, sleep medicine practitioners will find these informative in their practices. In this issue, the Journal is introducing 2 new sections which will appear intermittently as appropriate contributions are submitted. The first section is “Images in Sleep Medicine” which will publish interesting and informative pictures or charts related to our field. The second section is entitled “The Literature of Sleep.” Submissions can include reviews of lay literature with content relating to sleep or, for those of us who fancy ourselves as poets or writers, original poems or short essays. From a personal standpoint, being your editor has been a rewarding experience over the past 2½ years. For those of you who have expressed their personal appreciation to me, I thank you. However, this has been just a start. The field of Sleep Medicine is young, vibrant, and maturing. As the field develops, the Journal will be there to record the progress. Many more issues of the Journal will be forthcoming.

Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary defines "essay" first as "an effort to do something; attempt; trial." Only second it is defined as "a literary composition, analytical or interpretative, dealing with its subject from a more or less limited or personal standpoint." This article is an essay (second meaning) about a few essays (first meaning) that have been made to understand color. Genesis, Aristotle, Plato, Newton, Palmer, Young, Helmholtz, Maxwell and Frederic Ives are represented.

Undertaking research on individuals who have experienced social traumas, such as being a victim or perpetrator of genocides and wars, presents difficult decisions for qualitative researchers. Deciding how to deal with these issues becomes more problematic when the researcher is a member of the society in conflict. To do this work, and to work collaboratively with researchers from the other side, sensitive ways to collect data have to be chosen. Interpretations of the materials can be no less difficult: Analyses often lead to information and understandings that may be difficult for the researcher to deal with from ethical, moral, and personal standpoints, especially when he or she is a member of the society and culture under study. In this keynote address, the author explores methodological and ethical issues connected to these topics. She brings examples from her work on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and focuses on use of the life story methodology.

The 2023 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to Alexei Ekimov, Louis Brus, and Moungi Bawendi for the discovery and development of quantum dots, an area of research ripe with exciting results in terms of both fundamental science and present and forthcoming applications. Quantum dots, with their colors and their intriguing properties, have fascinated and engaged generations of scientists over the last 40 years, including myself. I present here a brief historical perspective of the field, from my personal standpoint and with insights from my own career, along with an outlook on what I believe will be the most interesting future developments in the field.

: Graphene based co-polymeric Nano-composites explored and trending in various applications as ascribing to its enhanced conductivity and controlled modification with wide specific surface areas. With the number of advantages of co-polymeric coating on Graphene or Graphene sheets and their derivatives, Graphene based co-polymeric Nano-composites fabricated by various techniques (deposition, ink jet, electro spinning, spin coating, in-situ techniques, etc.) and different conducting co-polymers show its exceptional chemical, mechanical, electrical and optical properties. Therefore, in the today’s world with greater quantities of various properties of co-polymer with Graphene based Nano-composites with enhanced stability, selectivity and sensitivity have been formed. In this review paper, we have particularly focused on recent advancing in fabrication of different technologies with the help of Graphene based co-polymeric Nano-composites and its various trending and future applications. Finally, on the personal standpoint; the key challenges of Graphene based co-polymeric Nano-composites are mentioned in hope to shed a light on their potential future prospects.

In this brief review I summarise recent progress in the area of stellar dynamics, focusing on the dynamics of bound, self-gravitating stellar associations in isolation and (approximate) equilibrium. The basics of stellar dynamics are first outlined and the importance of stellar evolution is stressed. Subsequently, I argue that the evolution of anisotropic clusters of stars still holds solutions to current outstanding problems, such as the dynamics of galactic nuclei. I take a more personal standpoint when discussing the role of stellar evolution in the dynamics on relaxation timescales and draw from several recent models to underscore that a major step forward has been made in coupling stellar evolution and dynamics. I then briefly visit the issue of multiple stars and highlight some as yet unsolved problems.

This paper presents the results of a pilot study done to establish the characteristics and organizational impact of an emerging breed of managers, who are referred to in this paper as “Super Image Managers” (SIMs). The study shows that there is a remarkable degree of agreement between the patterns of behavior of these managers and also in the responses they elicit from their superiors and their subordinates. While they do serve as clearinghouses for information that is often fragmentary and diffuse in mega‐organizations, their effects on the organizational environment are found to be, on the whole, dysfunctional. The paper goes on to provide clues for identifying SIMs and presents ways of dealing with them both from an organizational and a personal standpoint.

José Maria Fernando Medina, diretor da Diretoria de Planejamento Social e Urbano da Fundação João Pinheiro (DPSU/FJP).

1. Life care or continuing care retirement communities (CCRCs) offer numerous services and financial options from which to choose. 2. Advantages of CCRCs include continuity of living, quality of life factors, close proximity of social and health care services, and formal and informal support systems. 3. Problems of CCRCs include lack of uniform standards, fiscal lack of accountability, and fragmentation. 4. Nurses must be knowledgeable about CCRCs, both from the stand-point of counseling older persons on the benefits and pitfalls of residing in a CCRC and to influence health care policy regarding these communities.

This study explores: (a) previous conceptions of parents/professionals about the quality of life of youth with special needs, and their fit with the Schalock and Verdugo’s core dimensions; (b) possible differences in its pattern throughout development. The participants responded to a collective, semi-structured questionnaire that provided a sort of characteristics or aspects related to the quality of life (from the participant standpoint) of young persons with special education needs. The obtained characteristics were content analyzed, and developmental phases were compared. The results were discussed according to the existing literature, as well as some implications to research, training and practice.