This study analyses the semantics of Kiswahili separation verbs, with the aim of exploring their categorisation, usage, and patterns of meaning extension. The research is grounded in Cognitive Semantics, drawing on Frame Semantics and Profiling and Base Theory. A qualitative approach was employed, using data from Kiswahili newspapers, storybooks, and other written sources. Thirty-four separation verbs were identified. The analysis demonstrates that these verbs map both concrete and abstract domains, featuring culturally grounded metaphorical extensions. They structure conceptual frames involving detachment, division, destruction, transformation, and exposure. Several verb classes emerged, including those expressing removal from surfaces, parting, cutting and breaking, opening, dispersing, and altering the body. Examples include bandua ‘peel off’, funua ‘reveal’, and pasua ‘split’, which extend systematically to figurative senses. Cultural factors also shape these verbs, as evidenced by chinja ‘ritual slaughter’ and keketa ‘circumcise’. Highly productive verbs such as mwaga ‘spill’ extend to reveal secrets or perform vigorously, while others exhibit more limited extension. The main argument of the study is that Kiswahili separation verbs systematically encode both concrete and metaphorical concepts of separation, reflecting embodied experiences and cultural practices through complex cognitive and semantic structures.
Memory M. Ntaimo, Bupe G. Mutono-Mwanza, Chikusela Sikazwe
The procurement of medical supplies and medications is essential for the delivery of public health services. It tends to convert allocated budgets into essential commodities that are accessible at the facility level. The Ministry of Health in Zambia operates within a regulated procurement framework. The Public Procurement Act No. 8 of 2020 governs this framework. Sector-specific institutions that are responsible for governance and supply coordination support it. Despite the implementation of electronic government procurement (e-GP) and regulatory reforms, planning delays, approval bottlenecks, and partial digital integration continue to be a major concern. This study examines the current procurement processes for medicines and medical supplies within the Ministry of Health using a mixed-methods design. Qualitative data from 30 Key Informant Interviews and 3 Focus Group Discussions were used to map the end-to-end procurement workflow, while quantitative data from 131 procurement-relevant respondents were analysed using correlation and multiple regression techniques. The findings affirm that procurement adheres to a legally compliant and formally structured cycle. While this is the case, operational constraints are primarily concentrated in the planning and approval phases. Qualitative data from key informant interviews further revealed that these constraints are largely due to the strong interdependence between procurement planning and budget approvals, which delays initiation of procurement activities, combined with multi-layered approval hierarchies that slow decision-making, and partial digitalization of procurement systems beyond the tendering stage. Correlations indicate that there are significant positive correlations between enhanced health care delivery and procurement planning and processes (r = 0.923), supplier relationship management (r = 0.875), procurement policies and systems alignment (r = 0.861), and procurement staff competence (r = 0.715). Regression analysis further demonstrate that procurement planning and processes have the most significant predictive influence (β = 0.394), followed by supplier relationship management (β = 0.283), procurement staff competence (β = 0.217), and procurement systems alignment (β = 0.195).
History of scholarship and learning. The humanities, Arts in general
الميزانسين تقنية سينمائيّة تعني سيطرة المخرج على كلّ ما يظهر في كادر التصوير كالإضاءة والديكور والإكسسوار والماكياج وحركة الممثّل داخل الكادر، ويتحقّق ذلك من خلال النصّ المكتوب قبل الفلمنة. وبما أنّ الشعر فن إبداعيّ يتتبّع خطى التطوّرات الراهنة فراح يستعير الوسائل التعبيريّة من التقنيات البصريّة الحديثة. ومن بين التقنيات الحديثة تُعتَبر تقنية الميزانسين إحدی تلك التقنيات التي أثّرت على الشعر المعاصر، ومن أبرز الشعراء المعاصرين الذين تجلّت في أشعارهم هذه الظاهرة هو يونس البوسعيدي الذي قام بإثراء ديوانه "مايسترو الوردة والبرق" من خلال اعتماده علی عناصر الميزانسين.
تعتمد هذه الدراسة على المنهج الوصفي- التحليلي للكشف عن تمظهرات الميزانسين السينمائي وعناصره الأساسية في ديوان "مايسترو الوردة والبرق" للشاعر العماني المعاصر يونس البوسعيدي، ومن هنا يهدف هذا البحث لبيان أهميّة دور الميزانسين السينمائي في الديوان المذكور ومدی إشراف الشاعر وإلمامه بهذا الفنّ لإثراء نصوصه الشعريّة. أبرز المحاور التي تطرّقت لها هذه الدراسة هي العناصر المرتبطة بالميزانسين كالإضاءة والألوان والديكور والأزياء وحركة الشخوص داخل النصّ الشعريّ. ومن أهمّ النتائج التي توصّل إليها البحث هي أنّ الشاعر اعتماداً علی عناصر الميزانسين استطاع أن يحقّق تناسقاً متكاملاً بين اللقطات الشعريّة. استخدم الإضاءة لكي تؤدّي دوراً بارزاً في استجلاء العناصر البصريّة التي قد تبدو الصور فيها ثلاثيّة الأبعاد. وقد جاء الشاعر بالألوان لتسهيل عمليّة القطع واللصق بين اللقطات؛ كما ركّز علی القِطَع الديكوريّة لإثارة شعور المتلقي وانطباعه في المشهد الشعري.
History of scholarship and learning. The humanities, Arts in general
The article is a discussion of the volume Bauhausowcy i neoplastycy o filmie i kinie. Artykuły — dokumenty — scenariusze 1921–1936 (Wrocław 2023), edited by Andrzej Gwoźdź. The anthology contains texts on film written between 1921 and 1936 by artists associated with Bauhaus and the Dutch group De Stijl.
This study aims to diagnose and analyze the effects of competency-based liberal arts British-American classical literature classes through learners’ competency achievement and its relationship to class satisfaction. This study also suggests a direction for integrated achievement of competency through classical education. To this end, pre- and post- competency diagnostic tests and a satisfaction questionnaire was collected from 78 students in this elective liberal arts classical literature class at H University. Independent samples t-tests, correlation analyses, and multiple linear regression analyses were conducted. As a result, first, the learners' communication skills, creativity, and problem-solving efficacy were improved. Second, learners were highly satisfied with developing interaction and collaboration skills among team members, and with improving their debate and discussion skills, suggesting that team-based instruction can be an effective teaching method in liberal arts education where learners are relatively less intimate. In addition, regarding the method of assessment, learners were most satisfied with an approach that put less pressure on paper-based exams, and perceived the increase in the amount of learning, the burden of preparation for performance activities, and the inability to check the visible evaluation results as the most difficult points. These results demonstrate the need for professional evaluation criteria and prior guidance regarding the class rubric. Finally, this study found that the improvement of the problem-solving efficacy of the participants did not affect class satisfaction, indicating that the instructor’s active role is needed, particularly when it comes to controlling the difficulty of competency performance activities, and when intervening on behalf of the student’s regarding their difficulties in learning. This study is meaningful in that it has confirmed that liberal arts classical literature education can play an important role in cultivating the competencies necessary for learners while maintaining the intrinsic value of the classics.
Résumé : Le changement de l’ère colonial à l’indépendance a des répercussions positives et néfastes sur les sociétés africaines. Ainsi, dans Xala Sembène Ousmane dépeint les séquelles de cette mutation dans une communauté sénégalaise dans la période postcoloniale. La problématique de cette recherche est le dilemme que traversent les autochtones après leur libération du joug colonial. Cette recherche se donne l’objectif de faire une étude psychanalytique de l’inconscient individuelle et collectif des personnages du roman pour déterminer l’impact de l’adultération de la culture et de la vie traditionnelle par la modernité. Pour ce faire nous nous servirons de la théorie psychanalytique pour analyser le comportement physique et la vie psychologique voire psychique des personnages. Les natifs conscients de la valeur de leur culture et tradition en profitent pour exploiter les vulnérables et acquérir des biens matériels et obtenir des gains financiers. Cette étude propose une analyse psychanalytique de Xala, en s’appuyant sur les concepts freudiens tels que le conflit entre le Ça, le Moi et le Surmoi, ainsi que sur les notions de désir, de castration symbolique et de culpabilité inconsciente. En examinant les comportements et les relations des personnages sous cet angle, nous mettrons en lumière les luttes psychologiques profondes qui sous-tendent les dynamiques sociales et individuelles décrites par Sembène.
Mots-clés : Psychanalytique, virilité, impuissance, tradition, modernité
Arts in general, Computational linguistics. Natural language processing
This article examines the key concepts, ideas, and recurring motifs in the work of Marek ”Rogulus” Rogulski, a Gdańsk-based artist who emerged in the mid-1980s and founded, among others, Fundacja Tysiąc Najjaśniejszych Słońc [The Thousand Brightest Suns Foundation] and the galleries C14~~~, Spichrz 7, and Spiż 7. Through an analysis of his actions, works of art, and theoretical writings, the article explores the central categories of energy and consciousness transformation, which Rogulski consistently investigated throughout the 1980s and 1990s. The primary interpretative frameworks include non-heterodox spiritual traditions (shamanism, New Age thought) as well as the anti-holistic premises of postmodern philosophy. Given the growing scholarly interest in positioning the art of the 1990s within the broader context of esotericism, this article argues for Rogulski’s artistic and theoretical practice as a crucial ele-ment in the reconfiguration of the artistic landscape during Poland’s transitional period.
History of the arts, History (General) and history of Europe
People with hearing impairment (the Deaf, Deafened and Hard-of-hearing) were immensely impacted by COVID-19. They had to figure out the meaning of the new pandemic-related terminology, and they had to suffice with hand gestures in the absence of face expressions and lip movements due to wearing face masks. In this study, we investigated the signs of 25 new and old pandemic related terms in Jordanian Sign Language (JSL), Unified Arab Sign Language (UASL) and International Sign Language (ISL). We found that each new term that spread during the Corona pandemic was signalled using approximately the same sign in all three languages under investigation. On the other hand, it was found that the old terms, whose meaning expanded semantically during the Corona pandemic, were signalled differently. To expand our quest, we conducted a survey of 120 hearing impaired people in Jordan to find out the impact of wearing face masks during the Corona pandemic on sign language users. This data was analysed using Rbrul software. The results showed that communication with either hearing impaired or hearing people was made difficult with the so-called “mask advisory” and “mask mandate”.
Nemanja Stanković, D. Todorović, N. Milošević
et al.
Combat sports and martial arts are often associated with aggressiveness among the general public, although data on judo and/or martial arts and aggressiveness seem to be unclear. This research aims to compare athletes who have trained judo for a prolonged time (minimum 5 years) and athletes from various team sports, primarily regarding the manifestation of aggression, but also regarding personality traits, emotional intelligence, and self-efficacy. Also, the potential predictive value of personality traits, emotional intelligence, and self-efficacy for aggression within subsamples of judokas and team athletes was tested. The research findings showed that professional judo athletes are characterized by a low degree of aggression, especially low indirect and physical manifestations of aggression. In addition, the personality traits Honesty-Humility and Openness to experience are well expressed, contrary to Emotionality and Extraversion, which are less pronounced. They are also characterized by moderate general self-efficacy. On the other hand, members of team sports produced the opposite results, as they are characterized by increased aggression, pronounced traits of Emotionality and Extraversion, somewhat less pronounced traits of Honesty-Humility, Openness to new experience, and less pronounced general self-efficacy. The percentage of explained variability of aggression is slightly higher in the subsample of team sports and constitutes 49.9% of the variability, while in the subsample of judokas it constitutes 47.8% of the variability of the criteria. Practical implications, limitations, and future research directions were discussed.
Some philosophers argue that martial arts training is maladaptive, contributes to psychological illness, and provides a social harm, whereas others argue that martial arts training is adaptive, contributes to psychological wellness, and provides a social benefit. This debate is important to scholars and the general public since beliefs about martial arts training can have a real impact on how we evaluate martial artists for job opportunities and career advancement, and in general, how we treat martial artists from different cultures in our communities. This debate is also important for children and adults that have considered enrolling in martial arts training programs but remain uncertain about potential outcomes of training due to the lack of research in this area. This article therefore contributes to the literature on martial arts by (1) outlining a framework that characterizes psychological well-being in terms of five elements, (2) discussing how results from empirical research support the hypothesis that Muay Thai training can contribute to psychological well-being by contributing to all five component elements, (3) discussing the psychological benefits of martial arts training from the perspective of an Everlast Master Instructor, and (4) discussing how martial arts training involves the cultivation of combat-relevant affordances.
Visual arts refer to art experienced primarily through vision. 3D visual optical art is one of them. Artists use their rich imagination and experience to combine light and objects to give viewers an unforgettable visual experience. However, the design process involves much trial and error; therefore, it is often very time-consuming. This has prompted many researchers to focus on proposing various algorithms to simplify the complicated design processes and help artists quickly realize the arts in their minds. To help computer graphics researchers interested in creating 3D visual optical art, we first classify and review relevant studies, then extract a general framework for solving 3D visual optical art design problems, and finally propose possible directions for future research.
Drawing on the analysis of the training, voyages and family and professional networks of gardeners at the German court, this essay looks at the reception of the French-style garden in Germany in the 18th century. The examples that German gardeners took as points of reference were not limited to the creations of Le Nôtre or to the royal gardens of the Île-de-France. During their long formative voyages, the gardeners visited different countries, such as Germany, Austria, sometimes Hungary and the Netherlands, and, from the 1750s, they increasingly travelled to England, where the new ‘natural’ garden was becoming established. Thanks to the competitiveness of the many German courts, the gardeners became a particularly mobile group. We will attempt to assess the role of French gardens in this European training.
The contribution focuses on pretend play, a kind of play that is found in children of all cultures and is easily recognizable by adults. The expression with which this type of play is labelled presents, in the common sense, a semantic aura that refers to a series of terms with a negative meaning such as falsehood, deception, error, illusion. Starting from the assumption that the understanding of the meaning of pretend play must be based on a distancing from the idea of truth as a reflection of reality, I’ll present and discuss some play theories which show, on the contrary, the necessity and the productivity of the “as if.” In line with this perspective, infantile pretend play will be considered as the prototype of an essential human experience to which particular attention should be paid, to be promoted with sensitivity and delicacy, and not to be used improperly as an instructional tool.
ABSTRACT This study examines Chinese universities’ incentive schemes for international publication in the humanities and social sciences (HSS). It analysed 172 incentive documents collected at 116 research-intensive universities in China, including monetary bonus schemes and career-related incentives. This analysis is complemented by interviews with six senior administrators at six Chinese universities and four journal editors to explore the policy-making process and impact of incentivisation. The study found that most universities actively promoted international publications, with variations and similarities in their incentive schemes. In general, more benefits were granted for SSCI (Social Sciences Citation Index) and A&HCI (Arts and Humanities Citation Index) journal publications than domestic publications. We conclude that such incentivisation showcases the influence of western standards and global benchmarking in the internationalisation of Chinese HSS, and that the incentive schemes may create a ‘Matthew Effect’ enabling SSCI and A&HCI journals to flourish, while deepening the divide between these and other journals.
ABSTRACT Recent developments in the region and in the Philippines have prompted the Philippine government to push for a new basic education curriculum. Along with these changes is the adoption of the new English curriculum known as the Language Arts and Multiliteracies Curriculum (LAMC). This article, therefore, sought to examine the K-12 English Curriculum in the Philippines from a 21st century learning perspective. The first section of this article briefly describes the LAMC and 21st century learning in both general and English language teaching-related terms. The discussion then reviews the specificity and coherence of the LAMC, how it is consistent with the principles espoused by 21st century learning, and how it is aligned to established language teaching and learning principles. The findings revealed that the current curriculum needs to improve its specificity, internal coherence, and integration of some essential principles of 21st century learning and language teaching and learning. The article concludes with the possible challenges in implementing the curriculum, suggestions for future design and implementation, and implications for future studies.