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Reading Habits in Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey. This article focuses on the way Catherine Morland, Northanger Abbey’s heroine, is influenced and even guided by the literature she either chooses or is given to read. Her reading habits, as well as her changing typologies as a reader, influence both the development of her character and the narrative. This study also debunks the idea that Northanger Abbey is a parody of Gothic fiction, contextualizing book reading in an age when the novel was yet to be considered a respectable literary genre. REZUMAT. Obiceiuri de lectură în Mănăstirea Northanger de Jane Austen. Acest articol analizează modul în care Catherine Morland, eroina romanului Mănăstirea Northanger, e influențată și chiar ghidată de literatura pe care o alege sau care îi este oferită. Obiceiurile ei de lectură, precum și modul în care tipologia ei ca cititor se schimbă, influenţează atât evoluția personajului, cât şi narațiunea. Acest articol contrazice ideea că Mănăstirea Northanger este o parodie a ficțiunii gotice, contextualizând lectura într-o epocă în care romanul nu era încă un gen literar respectabil. Cuvinte-cheie: cititorul înțelept, cititorul avid, cititorul ipocrit, evoluția personajului, evoluția narațiunii, ficțiune gotică, teoria romanului

Porous alkali activated materials (AAM), can be obtained from waste glass powder and slag mixtures by alkali activation with NaOH solution. To obtain an adequate porous microstructure, the hardened AAM pastes were thermally treated at temperatures ranging between 900°C and 1000°C, for 60 or 30 minutes. Due to the intumescent behaviour specific for this type of materials, an important increase of the volume and porosity occurs during the thermal treatment. The partial substitution of waste glass powder with slag, determines the increase of compressive strength assessed before (up to 37 MPa) and after (around 10 MPa) thermal treatment; the increase of slag dosage also determines the increase of the activation temperature of the intumescent process (above 950°C). The high porosity and the specific microstructure (closed pores with various shapes and sizes) of these materials recommend them to be utilised as thermal and acoustical insulation materials.

Starting from the basic concept of territorial capital (all economic, cultural, environmental and social assets that ensure the potential development of the characterized area, i.e. the region), in the context of the development of business ecosystems, in relation to the new Sustainable Development Goals, and in view of the focus on a more sensitiv e cultural approach, the paper describes these concepts, and their possible connection to regional growth.

Homer’s “Odyssey”, viewed as a relevant literary source for Archaic Greece, has led to the development of different research domains through the medium of hermeneutics or text interpretation. One of these directions regards the reconstitution of social aspects pertaining to the Archaic Greek world. Given that Odysseus’ adventures unfold beyond the borders of the world known by the hero, Greek identity can only be rendered by exclusion, the exclusion of the Other: the reverse of the reprehensible deeds or aspects of the Other comes to define the real, or at least desirable, characteristics of the one operating the exclusion.

This paper looks at country-average results in surveys of student-achievements like PISA, PIRLS or TIMSS. As other recent papers do (Fensham, 2007; Minkov, 2008), I advance the idea that the between-countries differences are determined by cultural factors. Focusing on the macro-level, I discuss social values as part of the contextual determinants for student achievement. Values are defining features of the unwritten, but powerful, hidden curriculum (Cornbleth, 2002), and are likely to have strong impact on learning. I combine macro-data computed from the values surveys (EVS/WVS 1990-2008), respectively PISA, TIMSS, and PIRLS (1999-2009). Cross-classified models assess the effect of dominant social values on student achievement. The findings show that a society that places high value on autonomy in child rearing creates an environment for higher student achievement. Conversely, promoting authoritarian values as a priority for younger generations has the opposite effect. The effect is even stronger for achievements in mathematics.

It is well known that the denomination of constitutional state was introduced into the philosophy of law by Montesquieu. The concept was drawn up and substantiated by the German doctrine in the second half of the 19th century. Generally constitutional state is meant to be the state which is based on law, it functions and exerts its prerogatives according to law. The state uses the power of argument and the law as argument. A constitutional state functions according to the fundamental law, in Romania this is the Constitution. The Constitution substantiates, legalizes, argues, orientates and leads the whole activity of the state and its institutions – there is a large system of civil rights and liberties based on law, on Constitution that guarantees their existence and application. Author's biography Prof. Dr. University - Cluj-Napoca. Faculty of Physical Education and Sport.