Background: The castor bean is a large grassy or semi-wooden shrub or small tree. Any part of the castor plant parts can suffering from a disease that weakens the ability to grow and eliminates its production. Therefore, in this paper will identify the pests and diseases present in castor culture and detect the symptoms in each disease. Also images is showing the symptom form in this disease. Objectives: The main objective of this expert system is to obtain appropriate diagnosis of (...) the disease. Methods: In this paper, the expert system is designed for the ability of agricultural engineers to detect and diagnose disease of castor like as: seeding blight, alternaria blight, cercospora leaf spot, powdery mildew and wilt. This system presents the disease symptoms, survival and spread, favorable conditions and image for each disease. Clips and Delphi expert system languages are used for designing and implementing the proposed expert system. Results: The expert system in the diagnosis of castor diseases was assessed by farmers and agricultural engineers and they were satisfied and accepted with its quality of performance. Conclusions: The expert system is easy for farmers and people have experience in the plant of castor to detect and diagnosis the symptoms that may face this plant from several disease. (shrink)

The precise nature of microaggression purposely obscures the exploration of the intentionality of perpetrator and the quantification of the harm committed. The act fits neatly into a system that privileges some and validates their reality to themselves and to us. This paper explores microaggression and recommends strategies for avoiding its harms.

In this narrative, Fatima examines the interplay of critical consciousness, relational dynamics, and patriarchy within social-geographical spaces. Drawing on personal experiences, the chapter explores how patriarchal norms, internalized and perpetuated within intimate relationships and community networks, shape gendered expectations and limit agency from childhood through adulthood. While acknowledging the harms inflicted by these norms, it highlights the dual role of these spaces in fostering both oppression and connection. The essay looks at why simplistic solutions like geographic escape ignore the (...) interdependence and cultural norms intrinsic to relational spaces. Instead, it advocates for a nuanced understanding of the challenges and complexities of addressing patriarchy within these contexts. Ultimately, Fatima emphasizes that the feminist struggle lies not in abandoning these spaces but in fostering critical consciousness and collective efforts to undo patriarchal systems while paying attention to the nuances of social-geographical spaces. (shrink)

RESUMO Este artigo procura mostrar como a linguagem e o estilo empregados por Dostoiévski já em seu romance de estreia, Gente pobre, contribuíram para a grande inovação realizada por ele na forma literária. Ao tomar como objeto de representação a realidade prática de camadas inferiores da sociedade e adotar em sua obra uma linguagem também considerada de nível inferior, própria à maneira de se expressar dessas camadas sociais, Dostoiévski não só transcende todas as regras literárias estabelecidas como também as já (...) transgredidas até então, porque ele leva a sério não só a realidade cotidiana como a linguagem, o nível de estilo próprio a elas. Com isso ele se aproxima da representação séria e elevada da realidade cotidiana sem mudar as regras de estilo, como fizeram os franceses. O que ele muda é o ponto de vista, o foco narrativo, de um modo que não encontra precedente nem mesmo na literatura Ocidental. ABSTRACT This article seeks to show how the language and style employed by Dostoevsky since his debut novel, Poor Folk, contributed to the great innovation that he introduced into literary form. By adopting the practical reality of the lower strata of society as his object of representation and, accordingly, a low-style language, Dostoevsky transcended all established literary rules, as well as others that were already being transgressed. He took seriously both the reality of everyday life and its language, the style level proper to it. In so doing, he approached the serious and elevated representation of everyday reality without changing the rules of style, as the French did. What he changed is the point of view, the narrative focus, and he did so in a way that had no precedent even in Western literature. (shrink)

This paper presents the state of corporate social responsibility in Pakistan since it has been driven in the country by the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan, the UN Global Compact, and trade liberalization under the WTO. This study is based on responses obtained from 51 Pakistani companies and 20 MNCs. It was found that MNCs were found to be more socially responsible to customers, to suppliers in terms of their purchasing procedures, to the environment, to their employees, to the (...) community by contributing more to the community’s education and health, and in their greater commitment to ethics. Pakistani companies need to improve their performance on CSR to gain competitive advantage. (shrink)

Did you know that More’s Utopia was first translated into French in 1550, into Hungarian in 1910, into Mandarin in 1935, into Brazilian Portuguese in 1937, into Polish in 1947, and into Greek as late as 1970? Did you know that there were more translations of Utopia into French at the time of the Enlightenment and the French Revolution than at any other point in French history? That the readers of the second translation into Hungarian never got to know that (...) there was no private property on the island of Utopia? That there is a translation into Mandarin that, although it excludes most of the original paratexts, offers 191 individual illustrations and images? That the first direct translation into... (shrink)

The selling environment is becoming more and more competitive and organizations are trying to gain edge over the other companies. Producing quality goods is not enough. In such a scenario, organizations are trying to make improvements in their salesforce which can be made by making them more ethical. Therefore, it becomes important for the organization to know the factors affecting salesforce ethical behavior. This paper makes an attempt in this regard and explores the organizational antecedents of salesforce ethical behavior. The (...) findings of the review reveal that there are various organizational factors which have an impact on salesforce ethical behavior such as compensation plan, quota, top management, code of ethics, salesforce control system, ethical climate, and ethics training. Based on the findings, the implications and directions for future research are stated. (shrink)

Restorativeness is defined as the potential of the environment to re-establish certain cognitive capacities related to human information processing. The most frequently used instrument for evaluating the restorativeness of places is the Perceived Restorativeness Scale, proposed by Hartig and colleagues (1991). Later on, shorter versions of the Perceived Restorativeness Scale were proposed. The aim of this work is to evaluate the discriminatory capacity of the original and of a shorter Spanish version of the PRS, considering urban settings previously selected for (...) having different level of restorativeness, according to expert’s criteria. The study involved 244 students and used a 3 x 2 mixed experimental design, with two independent variables: Restorativeness of a place (between-subjects), which was manipulated by showing pictures of settings selected with varying levels of restorativeness (high, medium, low), and length of the scale (within-subjects), which was manipulated by asking subjects to fill in both the original and a shorter version of the PRS. The order of presentation of the two scales was counterbalanced. Results show an appropriate reliability for both version of the scale. Items of being-away, fascination, and coherence of the shorter scale correlate more strongly with the corresponding factor of the original scale, compared to the others factors. Both scales produce similar values for the perceived restorativeness of the different places, except for places with low restorativeness. (shrink)

Turiel and colleagues divided norms into two kinds: Moral norms and conventional norms. Moral norms are universal, concerned with welfare, justice, fairness, equality and/or rights, and rule/authority independent. Conventional norms are local, rule/authority dependent, and concerned with maintaining social coordination, preserving tradition, and avoiding punishment. This account has been challenged, and the existence of a crisp distinction remains debatable. In this paper, I defend a version of the moral/conventional distinction on the basis that people generally judge norms concerned with welfare (...) violations as moral, and that they distinguish between the morality of the action and that of the agent. I argue that we can make sense of the mixed data because people differ in how they perceive harm. Harm perception, rather than “objective” harm, is the relevant variable in knowing how people judge norms. To illustrate this, I explore why people perceive norms differently and how the moral/conventional distinction is reflected not only between cultures, but within them too. This should prompt us to reimagine the moral/conventional distinction to account for this diversity in perceptions. Doing away with the distinction risks misrepresenting both inter- and intra-cultural diversity in perceptions of harm. (shrink)

En 1985, mientras Val Plumwood navegaba sola en su canoa en el Parque Nacional Kakadu (Australia), un cocodrilo gigante de agua salada la atrapó, la ahogó y dio tres giros de la muerte con su cuerpo. Después de sobrevivir a este encuentro, Val empezó a escribir sobre la vida y la muerte en términos ecológicos y la existencia humana pensada como presa y comida para la naturaleza.

How do we know that what has happened to us is a microaggression? I claim in this chapter that our understanding about how we perceive microaggression is grounded in the cultivation and critical reflection about experiences of people who occupy marginalized social locations. My aim is to explore the nature of epistemic harms of microaggression in order to highlight how they diminish the microaggressed’s ability to generate and participate in making knowledge claims. I differentiate between the primary (direct) harm of (...) microaggressive acts, and the secondary epistemic harms that occur in the aftermath of the microaggression, particularly when the microaggressed attempts to convey their experience to others. I conclude with an analysis of the two secondary harms in hopes that it helps us explore a possible avenue of resistance to the epistemic harms of microaggression. (shrink)

The U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act has gained significant popularity in recent years across borders due to the increased investigation and penalties under the law. The following case is a real-life case that highlights the main provisions of the FCPA. Using cases in teaching an auditing or ethics course is much needed to develop students’ professional judgment, critical and analytical thinking skills and communication skills. Presently, there are a few cases that address the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and its effect (...) on financial reporting and auditor responsibilities about illegal acts. The Armor Holdings case is interesting and information is publicly available regarding the circumstances that describe the bribery act, lack of whistle-blower protection, the tone at the top, and the accounting treatment. In addition, the increase in actions brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission under the FCPA since 2010 heightens the relevance of this case and underscores the need for students to learn the skills necessary to ensure compliance with FCPA and related key regulations such as the Sarbanes Oxley and the Dodd Frank Act. Therefore, cases like this one provide a rich tool to navigate topics and enforce students’ learning of client’s illegal actions and their consequences. These skills are invaluable in practice. (shrink)

O presente artigo propõe refletir sobre a vivência ético-política-afetiva na comunidade. Discute-se três pontos principais: 1. Como se dá a ética, a política e os afetos em uma comunidade a partir da Filosofia de Espinosa. 2. Partindo-se da compreensão da dinâmica dos afetos como se pode compreender a liberdade e a servidão na vivência comunitária. Como a comunidade age ou não de tal forma que a liberdade ou a servidão, respectivamente, passam a ser vivenciadas no ambiente comunitário? O que poderá (...) favorecer a liberdade ou a servidão? 3. Proposta de uma ação compartilhada dos profissionais. O objetivo dessa análise é revisitar a reflexão sobre ética, política e afetos na comunidade e, a partir de Baruch de Espinosa, proporcionar uma análise que reatualize o que seja comunidade na perspectiva essa revisitação. O conceito de comunidade que esse artigo se refere diz respeito ao conjunto de pessoas que convivem no mesmo território ou no mesmo bairro e que, no quotidiano, vivenciam diversas experiências. Tem-se como reflexões principais que, mediante a compreensão da dinâmica instável dos afetos, os profissionais que ‘atuam’ em comunidades, poderão ter uma visão mais ampla sobre suas práticas e se as mesmas fomentam ou aumentam estados de servidão ou se, ao contrário, contribuem para a liberdade da comunidade e dos indivíduos. (shrink)

This essay is an autobiographical journey through my intellectual career. It is a reflection on how my mother tongue Berber and my identity as a woman have impacted my career to the extent that they are interlocked in my research agenda. My Berber identity inspired my graduate theses and subsequent linguistics work, and my identity as a woman inspired my endeavors to help create the first Studies and Research on Women Center and the first graduate Gender Studies Program in my (...) university. These two academic structures spearheaded the creation of similar centers and programs in Morocco and North Africa. The combination of my two identities is behind my introduction of the Language and Gender discipline in Morocco and North Africa and made of me a Berber feminist linguist. (shrink)

It is a common notion that utopias seem to gain particular relevance in a context of crisis. This may explain why, as in May 1968, social movements throughout Europe are resorting to the concept of utopia in order to respond to the current economic crisis. What seems to be at stake, now, is a changeover to a new paradigm. However, for the common citizen, the word utopia is still resonant with the vain hopes of May 1968 or with the failure (...) of the communist projects. This is why the recent publication of a special issue of the French daily evening newspaper Le Monde is so timely. Founded in 1944 and reporting a circulation of over 320,000 per issue, forty thousand of which are sold abroad, Le Monde has .. (shrink)

Dans cet article nous proposons une définition de l’éthique de la gestion et nous en identifions les conditions à travers une revue de la littérature. Nous postulons par la suite que l’éthique de la gestion diffère selon qu’il s’agit d’organisations publiques ou d’organisations privées. Nous montrons en effet que pour l’organisation privée, l’éthique est un engagement subjectif qui permet de pallier les lacunes d’une gestion instrumentale sans remettre en question les finalités premières de l’organisation. Tandis que pour l’organisation publique, l’éthique (...) a une essence positive et se trouve orientée vers la recherche de compromis sur les finalités mêmes de l’organisation. (shrink)

Overall, this book is indispensable for anyone wanting to have a richer understanding of how the Qur’an is read and interpreted within a feminist context. It is a wonderful synthesis of the work that has been done in the field thus far and provides tools necessary to seek out new avenues in understanding the Qur’an while still retaining a feminist spirit. Yet, in the end, this book does not disturb Muslim world order. It remains an overwhelming possibility for Hidayatullah that (...) interpretations which hierarchally differentiate between men and women may not be wrong. There is a comforting sense of resignation, or at least an affirmation of the ambivalence that Muslim mothers have transmitted to their daughters for centuries. We, feminist Muslims, are left with the same ambiguity with which we started the book. However, we now have a much deeper understanding of the nature of that ambiguity, and that perhaps is worth embracing in itself. (shrink)

O psicanalista húngaro Sándor Ferenczi elaborou uma teoria sobre a transição do princípio do prazer ao princípio de realidade, que permite complementar e aprofundar as hipóteses freudianas sobre esses princípios. De acordo com a sua teoria, esse processo envolve uma série de estágios, ao longo dos quais, gradualmente, a diferenciação entre o eu e o mundo externo é estabelecida e o sentimento de onipotência é abandonado. Freud e Ferenczi, contudo, não focaram a questão da maneira como o desenvolvimento da linguagem (...) verbal acompanha esse processo de transição entre os dois princípios, questão essa abordada pela psicanalista russa Sabina Spielrein. Esta autora complementa as teorias de Freud e Ferenczi, ao abordar o fenômeno em questão a partir de uma perspectiva diferente, ou seja, daquela do desenvolvimento da linguagem. Apesar da originalidade e da importância da contribuição de suas teorias para a compreensão do funcionamento mental, Ferenczi e, sobretudo, Spielrein são autores ainda pouco estudados, que merecem maior atenção e reconhecimento, o que justifica o resgate de suas teorias. Nesse artigo, abordamos algumas das hipóteses dos dois autores que permitem uma melhor compreensão do processo de diferenciação entre o eu e o mundo externo e de transição do princípio de prazer ao princípio de realidade. Nos baseamos na análise do texto de Ferenczi O Desenvolvimento do Sentido de Realidade e seus Estágios, de 1913, e nos textos de Spielrein O surgimento e o desenvolvimento da fala articulada e A origem das palavras infantis papai e mamãe, publicados, respectivamente, em 1920 e 1922. (shrink)

The research on the dark side of leadership is still in its infancy. We have contributed to this line of research by proposing that work alienation acts as an underlying mechanism through which aversive leadership results in reduced job performance. We further propose that psychological capital acts as an important personal resource that reduces the negative effects of aversive leadership in the form of work alienation. The proposed model gets its support from the conversation of resources theory given by Hobfoll (...) (1981) which suggests that stressful situation like an aversive leadership results in the loss of employee resources as a result of that he/she indulges in work alienation and shows poor job performance to retain back the lost resources. People with better personal resources in the form of psychological capital are better able to cope-up with the aversive leader behavior and make them able to avoid work alienation. It is a time-lagged study. The data for the current study was collected from 321 employees working in the service sector organizations, particularly universities, banks and telecom organizations, through personally administered questionnaires. The results supported the mediation and moderation hypothesis. Limitations and future research along with theoretical and practical implications are given at the end. (shrink)

This study is based on the natural resource based view, which examines the impact of holistic marketing orientation on business performance by defining the role of enablers and mediators. The drivers, including corporate social responsibility and environmental culture influence, are tested by analyzing the role of sustainable competitive advantage as a mediator. The analysis is based on 298 samples collected from top and middle-level managers working in the pharmaceutical industry. Structural equation modeling was undertaken using Smart PLS 3.2.8. The research (...) outcomes reveal that corporate social responsibility and environmental culture have a substantial impact on green marketing orientation. The results show that GMO has a significant direct and indirect impact on business performance while a full mediation of sustainable competitive advantage exists between the green marketing orientation and business performance. The outcomes will facilitate managers in green marketing strategy and decision making in the long-term, with 3-fold benefits in addition to strengthening their competitiveness. (shrink)

This piece contextualizes a discussion by liminal feminists on the identifiers ‘women of color’ and ‘Third World women’ that emerged from some uncomfortable and constructive conversations at the 2015 FEAST conference. I focus on concerns of marginalization and gatekeeping that are far too often reiterated within the uneasy racial dynamics among feminist philosophers.

One distinguishing feature of vertebrate oocyte meiosis is its discontinuity; oocytes are released from their prophase I arrest, usually by hormonal stimulation, only to again halt at metaphase II, where they await fertilization. The product of the c‐mos proto‐oncogene, Mos, is a key regulator of this maturation process. Mos is a serine‐threonine kinase that activates and/or stabilizes maturation‐promoting factor (MPF), the master cell cycle switch, through a pathway that involves the mitogen‐activated protein kinase (MAPK) cascade. Oocytes arrested at prophase I (...) lack detectable levels of Mos, which must be synthesized from a pool of maternal mRNAs for proper maturation. While Mos is necessary throughout maturation in Xenopus, it seems to be required only for meiosis II in the mouse. The translational activation of c‐mos mRNA at specific times during meiosis requires cytoplasmic polyadenylation. Cis‐ and trans‐acting factors for polyadenylation are, therefore, essential elements of maturation. (shrink)

ABSTRACT This article presents an overview of the Portuguese transposition of the European Directive on Good Clinical Practice (2001/20/e) concerning scientific and academic debates on bioethics and clinical investigation. Since the Directive was transposed into Portuguese law by its National Assembly, the bureaucracy of clinical trials has been ever more complex. Despite demands for swift application processes by the Pharmaceutical industry, supported by the European Parliament, the Directive's transcription to the national law has not always delivered the expected outcome. However, (...) this has led to an increased number of applications for clinical trials in Portuguese hospitals. In this article I revise bioethical publications and decree‐laws enabling an informed appraisal of the anxieties and prospects for the implementation of the clinical trials Directive in Portugal. This article also places the European Directive in the field of sociology of bioethics, arguing that Portuguese bioethical institutions differ from those of the US, and also from Northern European counterparts. The main divergence is that those people in Portugal who claim expertise in ‘legal’ bioethics do not dominate either the bureaucratic structure of research or ethics committees for health. Even experts in the applied ethics field now claim that ‘professional bioethicists do not exist’. The recent creation of a national Ethics Committee for Clinical Investigation (CEIC) in line with the European Directive on Good Clinical Practice (GCP) will not change the present imbalance between different professional jurisdictions in the national bioethical debate in Portugal. (shrink)