The use of stories in research helps us better understand the world of teaching and learning since teachers and learners, like any other human being, are storytellers who engage in narrative acts to make sense of their and others’ knowledge and experiences. Even so, narrative research is a path not widely walked in the Colombian language teaching and learning context. This article is therefore an attempt to review some of the epistemological and methodological underpinnings underlying this approach to qualitative research so as to add to the local knowledge of our ELT community. It discusses the role of the researcher, the different orientations narrative studies can take, and the processes involved in narrative analysis. Some of the challenges narrative researchers face in their work, as well as the contributions of this method of inquiry to both the general education and TESOL fields are also considered.

In the first quarter of 2016, Colombia faced a scenario that may looks impossible for some experts of the Colombian electricity market. Colombia should implement energy rationing as consequence of El Niño event. The Colombian Government should see these events as an opportunity to increase the investment in more sustainable sources of energy to reduce the dependency of energy generation form Hydro-electric power plants without increase the use of non-renewable sources. Therefore, this document contains a description of the current electricity Market in Colombia (MEM), as well as the analysis of the Australian Electricity Market (AEMO). At the same time, the comparison of the current Colombian context with the Australian context is important to understand the effectiveness of polices already implemented in Australia that will improve the creation of residential photo-voltaic projects in Colombia. Finally, findings and recommendation are given in regards polices and institutions involved on the implementation of the solar market in Colombia.

Complexity science and its methodological applications have increased in popularity in social science during the last two decades. One key concept within complexity science is that of self-organization. Self-organization is used to refer to the emergence of stable patterns through autonomous and self-reinforcing dynamics at the micro-level. In spite of its potential relevance for the study of social dynamics, the articulation and use of the concept of self-organization has been kept within the boundaries of complexity science and links to and from mainstream social science are scarce. These links can be difficult to establish, even for researchers working in social complexity with a background in social science, because of the theoretical and conceptual diversity and fragmentation in traditional social science. This article is meant to serve as a first step in the process of overcoming this lack of cross-fertilization between complexity and mainstream social science. A systematic review of the concept of self-organization and a critical discussion of similar notions in mainstream social science is presented, in an effort to help practitioners within subareas of complexity science to identify literature from traditional social science that could potentially inform their research.

The development of excess pore pressure (pw) and consequent reduction in effective stress leads to the softening of a liquefiable soil deposit that can alter ground motions in terms of amplitude, frequency content, and duration. To assess these effects in a 1D medium to loose sand model, two analyses were made: (1) A BIOT hydraulic and mechanical computation of a saturated soil deposit and (2) a mechanical computation of a dry soil with equivalent behavior. The results regarding the profile of maximum accelerations and shear strains, the surface accelerations and their corresponding response spectra ratio are analyzed. The mean values of the normalized response spectra ratio between the wet and dry surface acceleration show a deamplification of high frequencies (i.e. f > 1.0Hz) and an amplification of low ones that tend to increase with the liquefaction zone size. Coupling of pw and soil deformation is therefore of great importance to accurately model the ground motion response. On the contrary, while peak acceleration predictions could be conservative, the amplification on the low frequencies could be largely underestimated which would be highly prejudicial for tall buildings.

This paper is a critical review of the most relevant studies about the Levinasian concept of passivity. The purpose is to follow the way in which Levinas’s scholars have dealt with the following aspects: the relation between ethical passivity and the possibility of effective ethical agency, the origin of passivity, and the validity of ethical passivity in the public sphere. As a starting point for future research, i finally argue that the best way to read Levinas’s passive ethics is through the dynamism between maximums and minimums present within it. This means that without sacrificing the omni comprehensive view of divine revelation and Jewish tradition, Levinas presents ethics as rationally understandable by everyone and philosophically defensible. Despite being biblically based, Levinas does not appeal to authority in supporting his view, he is confident in arguing rationally. This account could place Levinas in the way of public ethics, which consists in an ethos shared by all members of democratic societies. These minimums of justice could be the way to universalize Levinas’s ethics.

The DNA binding protein WhiA is conserved in Gram-positive bacteria and is present in the genetically simple cell wall-lacking mycoplasmas. The protein shows homology to eukaryotic homing endonucleases but lacks nuclease activity. WhiA was first characterized in streptomycetes, where it regulates the expression of key differentiation genes, including the cell division gene ftsZ, which is essential for sporulation. For Bacillus subtilis, it was shown that WhiA is essential when certain cell division genes are deleted. However, in B. subtilis, WhiA is not required for sporulation, and it does not seem to function as a transcription factor, despite its DNA binding activity. The exact function of B. subtilis WhiA remains elusive. We noticed that whiA mutants show an increased space between their nucleoids, and here, we describe the results of fluorescence microscopy, genetic, and transcriptional experiments to further investigate this phenomenon. It appeared that the deletion of whiA is synthetic lethal when either the DNA replication and segregation regulator ParB or the DNA replication inhibitor YabA is absent. However, WhiA does not seem to affect replication initiation. We found that a whiA mutant is highly sensitive for DNA-damaging agents. Further tests revealed that the deletion of parAB induces the SOS response, including the cell division inhibitor YneA. When yneA was inactivated, the viability of the synthetic lethal whiA parAB mutant was restored. However, the nucleoid segregation phenotype remained. These findings underline the importance of WhiA for cell division and indicate that the protein also plays a role in DNA segregation.

Colombia is one of the world’s most important producers of Arabica coffee (Coffea arabica), whose coffee-growing zone coincides with a biogeographic hotspot of biodiversity. Given that coffee agroecosystems are grown by both organic and conventional schemes of management in Santander, a region which produces coffees with specialist distinctive flavours, this study aims to better understand the factors that influence the adoption of these different schemes of management. A combination of ethnographic techniques and quantitative methods were used to examine the predominant drivers of adoption and revealed farmer perceptions associated with coffee farming, and the complexity of interacting factors, that surround their decision making. The results of qualitative analysis suggests that social identity of coffee growers, the existence of farming spaces (lived, perceived, rationalized), the influence of coffee institutions, attitudes about management practices, and social relations of production, all play an important role in the process of decision making. In quantitative terms, we identified 18 socioeconomic drivers, some with interacting effects that had significant influence on the decision to adopt either organic or conventional practices. In particular, at local scale, important factors were technology availability, the type of landowner, formal education of farmers, the role of institutions, membership of community organizations, farm size, coffee productivity and the number of coffee plots per farm. Likewise, economic drivers, such as crop profitability, determined how farmers are involved in trade and market networks at broad regional, national, and international spatial scales. Identifying influential behavioural drivers provides policy with opportunities to better support farmer livelihoods.

Introduction and objectives: Subclinical systolic dysfunction is one of the proposed mechanisms for increased cardiovascular risk associated with metabolic syndrome (MS). This study investigated the association between MS and impaired left ventricular global longitudinal strain (GLS) and the role of each MS criteria in this association. Methods: We analyzed a random sample of the Brazilian Longitudinal Study of Adult Health (ELSA-Brasil) after excluding participants with prevalent heart disease. Results: Among the 1055 participants fulfilling the inclusion criteria (53% women; 52 ± 9 years), 444 (42%) had MS. Those with MS had worse GLS (–18.0% ± 2.5%) than those without (–19.0% ± 2.4%; P < .0001). In multiple linear regression models, MS was associated with worse GLS after adjustment for various risk factors (GLS difference = 0.86%; P < .0001), even after inclusion of body mass index. Adjusted PR for impaired GLS as assessed by 3 cutoffs (1, 1.5, and 2 standard deviations) were higher among participants with than without MS: GLS –16.1% (PR, 1.76; 95%CI, 1.30-2.39); GLS –14.8% (PR, 2.35; 95%CI, 1.45-3.81); and GLS –13.5% (PR, 2.07; 95%CI, 0.97-4.41). After inclusion of body mass index in the models, these associations were attenuated, suggesting that they may, at least in part, be mediated by obesity. In quantile regression analyses, elevated waist circumference was the only MS component found to be independently associated with GLS across the whole range of values. Conclusions: Metabolic syndrome is independently associated with impaired GLS. Among the MS criteria, central obesity best depicted the link between metabolic derangement and cardiac function. Introducción y objetivos: La disfunción sistólica subclínica es uno de los mecanismos propuestos para el aumento del riesgo cardiovascular asociado con el síndrome metabólico (SM). Este estudio investigó la asociación entre SM y deterioro del strain longitudinal global (SLG) del ventrículo izquierdo y el papel de cada criterio de SM en esta asociación. Métodos: Se analizó una muestra aleatoria del Estudo Longitudinal da Saúde do Adulto (ELSA-Brasil) después de excluir a aquellos con cardiopatía prevalente. Resultados: De los 1.055 participantes que cumplían los criterios de inclusión (el 53% mujeres; edad, 52 ± 9 años), 444 (42%) reunían criterios de SM. Aquellos con SM presentaron un SLG más reducido (–18,0 ± 2,5%) que aquellos sin SM (–19,0 ± 2,4%; p < 0,0001). En los modelos de regresión lineal múltiple, el SM se asoció con SLG más reducido después de ajustar por varios factores de riesgo (diferencia de SLG, 0,86%; p < 0,0001), incluso después de incluir el índice de masa corporal. Las TP ajustadas para los participantes con SLG reducido evaluados con 3 puntos de corte (1, 1,5 y 2 desviaciones estándar) fueron más altas entre aquellos con SM que sin este: SLG –16,1% (TP = 1,76; IC95%, 1,30-2,39); SLG –14,8% (TP = 2,35; IC95%, 1,45-3,81), y SLG –13,5% (TP = 2,07; IC95%, 0,97-4,41). Después de incluir el índice de masa corporal en los modelos, estas asociaciones se atenuaron; lo que indica que la obesidad puede mediar, al menos en parte, estas asociaciones. En los análisis de regresión cuantílica, la circunferencia de cintura aumentada fue el único componente del SM que se halló independientemente asociado con el SLG a lo largo de todo el rango de valores. Conclusiones: El SM se asocia de manera independiente con alteración del SLG. Entre los criterios de SM, la obesidad central describe mejor la relación entre el trastorno metabólico y la función cardiaca.

This paper presents the conclusions of an empirical study aimed at (1) identifying educational practices in the academic design studio intended to promote empathy in industrial design students, and (2) identifying a broad range of expressions of student empathy for users and stakeholders. The study was motivated by the importance that current human-centered design approaches give to empathy as an ability required to understand and connect with users and by the little empirical research that examines empathy development in design education. Methodologically, a mixed methods strategy was used to collect and analyze data from faculty and students in three undergraduate and graduate courses in industrial design offered by a major land-grant public research university in the southeastern United States. The findings of the study consisted of identifying strategies used by faculty to promote empathy in the design studio and categories of students’ expressions of empathy. These findings informed the conclusions herein presented as recommendations for educators to promote student empathy in their design courses.

«Puedo matar. Puedo hacer que la gente se mate por mí.» A Juan Borrás, el protagonista y voz dominante de esta novela, le acusan sus amantes, la policía incluso, de ser un vampiro, algo que él no comprende pero acaba aceptando. Su único crimen consciente, sin embargo, es el deseo, la persecución de la belleza. Solitario y en un principio ingenuo, Juan se deja pasivamente marcar por los otros, hasta que un día descubre que él mismo deja una marca en los que ama. «He sido tan verdugo de tantos.» ¿Será el amor la única forma hoy consentida del vampirismo? Perseguido y aislado, Juan decide salir de la tumba que es su vida de vampiro culpable para contar la historia de sus trepidantes peripecias eróticas. Y entonces aparece, asomada a una ventana que él acerca con sus miradas, Teresa, una mujer alegre, enigmática, que está dispuesta a escucharle a cambio de algo. Sobre estos dos personajes protagónicos, sobre su intensa y ambigua relación, sobre sus diálogos entrecruzados y su inesperado descubrimiento final, se articula El vampiro de la calle Méjico, la nueva y extraordinaria novela de Vicente Molina Foix. No están, sin embargo, solos. Juan es un restaurador de arte obsesionado por los mosaicos, y el libro enlaza alrededor de esta pareja central una galería de memorables figuras secundarias: el «Soldado Alemán» Rafael, ángel de los suburbios madrileños, Claude, la intrusa inteligente y descarada, el refinado homosexual Jeremy (en unos divertidos capítulos de iniciación erótica en Venecia), Laila, la bailarina del vientre vista como simbólica madre egipcia y, por encima de todos, ese retrato conmovedor, risueño y lacerante de Esteban, el muchacho que lleva más allá de todo límite el amor loco vivido con Juan.Contundente en el relato de la voraz sexualidad promiscua de su protagonista, cómica y trágica, ingeniosa y hondamente reflexiva, El vampiro de la calle Méjico es la gran novela de Molina Foix, escrita después de su debut como director de cine. Nunca el placer y el daño del amor, sus vuelcos y arrebatos, la necesidad fraternal de compartir el linaje del secreto, la angustia de la soledad y el privilegio del egoísmo, han sido tratados con tanta ternura y cruel sinceridad como en estas bellísimas, emocionantes páginas.