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The granting of patents is qualified by the assessment of whether the said invention is obvious or involved an inventive step, and has some utility. The obviousness inquiry, based on the Windsurfing test, is a factual and objective inquiry, but its evaluative nature inherently requires some degree of subjective opinion or intuition from patent examiners and courts. The resultant uncertainty is demonstrated by the different outcomes of the Aktiebolaget cases heard around the world, where dependence on the notional person and derived expert witnesses is such that different results developed from the same facts and expert witnesses. This paper looks at the validity of the obviousness inquiry in light of these uncertainties. It concludes that invention duplication exercise evidence from the Australian Aktiebolaget case would be the most beneficial type of expert evidence for the current obviousness standard as it stands. However, it also find that obviousness may not be needed at all and that removing the inquiry may not be as detrimental as it first appears, but economic studies would be required to see its true effect.

This article presents a reconstruction of an important but neglected element of the trinitarian theology of Thomas Aquinas: namely, his teaching on the notional acts, the intratrinitarian acts attributed to the Divine Persons, and how they relate to individual Divine Persons. In the process, this article shows that, for Aquinas, and for medieval theologians more generally, although we can distinguish between the Divine Persons and their respective intratrinitarian acts according to our human mode of understanding, each Divine Person is, in reality (literally, in the res, or in the thing), nothing other than a single eternal act. This article also explains how thinking of the Divine Persons as divine acts offers significant resources for contemporary theology and corrects against certain perceived weaknesses of Aquinas’s trinitarian theology and relation-centered accounts of the Trinity more generally.

Many OECD countries have addressed the issue of increased longevity by mainly increasing the retirement age. However, this kind of reforms may lead to substantial transfers from those with shorter lifespans to those that will live longer than the average, as they do not necessarily take into account the socio-economic differences in mortality. The contribution of our paper is therefore twofold. Firstly, we illustrate how both a Defined Benefit and a Notional Defined Contribution pay-as-you-go scheme can put the lower social economic classes at a disadvantage, when compared to the actuarially fair pensions. In contrast to that, higher classes experience a gain. This is due to the fact that mortality rates per socio-economic class are not considered by either scheme. Consequently, we propose a model that determines the parameters for each scheme and class which would render the pensions fairer even when no socio-economic mortality differences are considered.

The article considers the notional nature and peculiarities of genus-species relations between the phenomena of opposition and oppositivity ; it also deals with the lexical-and-grammatica ways of expressing the latter in an English literary text. The study establishes that, besides the logical component, an opposition also expresses a subjective one, manifesting a communicants unique view on the communicative situation and thus displaying semantics of oppositivity. Unlike spatial, logical and grammatical oppositions, generally characterized by a symmetrical structure, the subjective (oppositive) opposition is asymmetrical. It is revealed that due to the structural asymmetry this kind of opposition is marked by greater semantic potential compared to logical and grammatical oppositions. It is proved that the complication of subjective oppositions with antonymous pairs, lexical and syntactical repetitions, antithetic units, oxymorons etc. extends the scope of meanings implied by them; and the use of subjective (oppositive) oppositions in a literary text themselves becomes an effective tool of contrast-building both on the lexical-grammatical and textual levels.

The article highlights the specifics of verbalization of the concepts ПОЛЕ/FIELD in the Ukrainian and English paroemia items. It also looks into the structure of these concepts, namely its notional component, as well as specifies isomorphic and allomorphic cognitive features of the concepts under contrastive study. It has been revealed that the concept ПОЛЕ gets broader objectivation in Ukrainian proverbial corpora in comparison with the concept FIELD, verbalized in the English paroemias which is predetermined by the geographical factor. The larger part of Ukraine comprises steppes and fields with rich soil which had an impact on the formation of the national character and outlook, the way of life and habits.

Interpretability, transparency, and auditability of machine learning (ML)-driven investment has become a key issue for investment managers as many look to enhance or replace traditional factor-based investing. The authors show that symbolic artificial intelligence (SAI) provides a solution to this conundrum, with superior return characteristics compared to traditional factor-based stock selection, while producing interpretable outcomes. Their SAI approach is a form of satisficing that systematically learns investment decision rules (symbols) for stock selection, using an a priori algorithm, avoiding the need for error-prone approaches for secondary explanations (known as XAI). The authors compare the empirical performance of an SAI approach with a traditional factor-based stock selection approach, in an emerging market equities universe. They show that SAI generates superior return characteristics and would provide a viable and interpretable alternative to factor-based stock selection. Their approach has significant implications for investment managers, providing an ML alternative to factor investing but with interpretable outcomes that could satisfy internal and external stakeholders. Key Findings ▪ Symbolic artificial intelligence (SAI) for stock selection, a form of satisficing, provides an alternative to factor investing and overcomes the interpretability issues of many machine learning (ML) approaches. ▪ An SAI that could be applied at scale is shown to produce superior return characteristics to traditional factor-based stock selection. ▪ SAI’s superior stock selection is examined using notional visualizations of its decision boundaries.

In paper short definition of a fractal is made, its basic properties are resulted, historical preconditions of origination fractal theories in a context of terms assemblage and function which development is observed from the moment of their origination before formation of their notional apparatus are in detail observed. Names, years of life and a photo of the scientists who have brought in the basic contribution to development of observed terms are resulted. As result of the retrospective analysis, it is shown that appearance of the fractal theory is the integral stage in evolution of mathematics and physics. Short listed the main routes of the fractal theory practical application in the field of radio engineering and electronics among which some scientists who have brought in a practical mite in development of a modern science and its practical applications are gated out. In particular, pioneers of fractal theory which application found wide practical application are resulted.

Purpose This paper aims to understand in-depth the concepts applied to the domains of organizational learning (OL) and learning organization, based on the notional perspectives of Professor Deborah Blackman and traces the evolutionary path of her academic journey and contributions in this regard. Design/methodology/approach A conversation with the distinguished academician, Professor Deborah Blackman. Findings How OL has pivoted around “shared mental models” that will enable in collective evidence-based decision-making across the organizational hierarchy. Originality/value The interactive session with Professor Deborah Blackman captured her ideas and critique pertaining to the theme of OL and the crucial aspect of “shared mental models” which promote “learning” in an organization. Delving deeper, it is seen that this trajectory offers the space and orientation to researchers and professionals to verify.

Nowadays Information Technologies (IT) are taking more and more stable position in the process of work organization in various companies, and particularly among medical organizations. Present-day scientific society has already begun to research the topic of IT integration particularities into the Health organizations. Current article is focused on this issue. Our team has planned and provided a systematic review to understand which barriers can appear in different medical centers during implementation of the innovative IT into working process. The review has been fulfilled according to the designed protocol based on the actual recommendations of Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses: The PRISMA Statement. In the course of the workflow we have explored 2050 articles complied with the requirements. As a result, 23 key publications have been chosen and analyzed in detail. After considering the list of issues and barriers associated with the IT Implementation into hospitals and medical centers have been highlighted and described. We have classified them to notional clusters depending on the reasons of their appearance as well. In addition our team has defined the list of practical recommendations following which the result of the IT integration will be improved, but the risk of a negative outcome in the future can be eliminated.

To reduce program risks, engineering methods capitalizing on modeling and machine assistance have been extensively investigated within systems engineering (and more specifically requirements engineering) literature over the past 20 years. However, there are few quantitative comparisons between model-based approaches and legacy document-centric approaches. Studies have shown that the lack of data regarding improvements of modeling has decelerated the adoption of model-based practices. To help address this gap, the authors conducted a screening experiment to compare the effects of modeling on an engineer’s ability to determine if a system has met its originating requirements. First, a notional acquisition program was created based on an unmanned aerial system, including originating requirements as well as both document and model-based design artifacts. Requirements were captured in both a traditional requirements document and a goal oriented requirements engineering model. System implementation data were capturing in both traditional document artifacts and a SysML model. Participants of varying experience levels used randomized combinations of document and model-based approaches to determine whether the notional system met its requirements. The experiment measured the review duration and accuracy, permitting analysis of the effects of model-based approaches for both requirements and system implementation data. The results of the experiment showed that use of a requirements model did not statistically effect the review. A system implementation model was shown to improve novice participants’ reviews, but did not statistically effect experienced participants. The results of this study should inform future research on the use of models, particularly the return on the modeling investment.

Purpose Many recently enacted financial regulations exempt smaller entities. While the literature on systemic risk provides efficiency justifications for certain exemptions, the efficiency rationale depends on measuring size appropriately. This paper aims to argue that notional amount, the metric used in derivatives regulations, is a flawed measure of an entity’s contribution to systemic risk. This study discusses an alternative size measure – entity-netted notionals or ENNs – which better reflects risk exposure as discussed in that literature and provides empirical evidence on these two metrics. Design/methodology/approach This study first discusses the relationship between the systemic risk literature and size-based exemptions. This study then describes the current metric and our risk-based alternative. Finally, this paper presents regulatory data on US interest rate swaps (IRS) and uses this to characterize some features of risk exposure. Findings The unique data set provides empirical insight into how well the size metric used in current regulations corresponds to a more theoretically oriented measure. This study finds the relationship between the metrics is fairly weak for entities for whom the size-based exemption will soon be ending, and provide an empirical basis for understanding why they differ. This study also provides evidence on the correlation of risk within this group of entities. Practical implications The paper has important implications for regulation of derivatives and financial markets more generally. To the extent exemptions for small entities make good policy, having the appropriate metric is critical. As such, the metric could be a valuable tool for regulators. Originality/value This paper examines the likely objectives of size-based exemptions from financial regulations and relates them to the systemic risk literature. It provides a unique empirical description of IRS positions, which allows us to examine the relationship between the metric used by regulators and our alternative.

The open pit mine production scheduling problem determines a sequence of three-dimensional, notional block extraction that maximises net present value (NPV) of future cash flows and satisfies techn...

PurposeSupply chain traceability and supply chain visibility have become a critical element for the effective management of contemporary complex supply chains. At their core is information sharing, which has been acknowledged as a key prerequisite for logistics and supply chain performance, but whose notional underpinnings have not been delineated fully, leading to interchangeable deployment of these terms. Addressing the shortcoming, this paper aims to establish a contrast between the two notions.Design/methodology/approachDrawing from systematic review protocols, a multi-disciplinary review scope is constructed wherein the synthesis is strategized to primarily channel implications for the scholarship of logistics and supply chain management. The review is aimed at addressing two research objectives: (1) how the notions of traceability and visibility in supply chain management develop contrast in terms of their thematic emphasis and (2) to attain an integrative understanding of the notional convergence and divergence between supply chain traceability and visibility for raising strategic recommendations.FindingsThe review outcomes help contrast both the convergence and the divergence between traceability and visibility in the supply chain environment, and the differentiated but fundamental role that information sharing plays within these notions to outline why they are not interchangeable.Originality/valueThe originality of the findings lies in the conceptual synthesis of the relevant literature from both technological and non-technological perspectives to ultimately draw logistics and supply chain management implications. The review also points out key strategic considerations to demarcate the notional boundaries of traceability and visibility in future research.

Este artículo tiene como objetivo discutir los principales conceptos relacionados con los modelos de contribución definida nocional (CDN) y analizar las experiencias de Suecia, Italia, Letonia, Polonia y Noruega. La metodología se basa en una revisión de la literatura. El principal resultado encontrado fue que la extensión de los modelos CDN como alternativa a los sistemas de pensiones depende del grado de proximidad al modelo genérico. Se recomienda analizar el modelo CDN como una alternativa para las reformas de los sistemas de pensiones considerando su capacidad para controlar los déficits estructurales. Como limitación, no se analizaron los posibles impactos sociales de la introducción de estos modelos. Este artículo es original porque cubre aspectos teóricos y prácticos de los modelos CDN. Se espera que este trabajo pueda contribuir a ayudar a los administradores públicos a tomar decisiones sobre reformas en los sistemas de pensiones.

The interest of researchers in the identification and study of codes, and the absence of their final list determine the relevance. The purpose is to analyze the main approaches to reading and interpreting the concept of "culture code" in a number of humanitarian disciplines, to identify their common and distinctive features. The article briefly describes main definitions of the culture code in semiotics, which considers culture as a sign system, analyzes some definitions of this concept and its classification in the interpretation of different authors. The experience of cultural codes’ consideration and their actualization in the context of cultural linguistics and ethnolinguistics are generalized. The results proved the multidimensional character and functional mobility of this notional concept. It was found that the main characteristics of the culture code are communicative capabilities, the ability to capture and transmit the content of values and meanings in a concentrated form.

Radicalization is a political, social, psychological and group process that leads to the circumstances where certain political beliefs are accompanied by the readiness of an individual or a group to manifest violent extremism and acts of terrorism in a direct manner. This paper is aimed at the analysis of the concepts of radicalization, extremism and terrorism, and the classification and explanation of different concepts of radicalization. The paper applies the methods of analysis, synthesis and classification. Radicalization is classified and explained through three general approaches: structural contexts, risk factors and the development of radicalization. The key result of the paper is the conclusion about the need for the scientific development of a comprehensive theory of radicalization. The synthetic integrative theory of radicalization development should take into account different and mutually conditioned dimensions of this process.

Introduction: This article focuses on identifying moral foundations influencing the development of new views on the interaction between nature and society. Particular attention is paid to the historical aspect in the identification of human moral reflections and human interaction with the natural world, demonstrating the connections between natural sciences, humanities and the moral aspect of human consciousness. Different Russian and international schools of thought on the interaction between society and nature have been considered, including those identifying moral foundations driving the assessment of the interaction between nature and society: dispositional and orientational approach, the value and positional approach, and moral and notional approach. The relevance of the study of the place and role of moral assessment of environmental problems in young people is underscored. Materials and methods: We present the results of an empirical study into the interaction between environmental positions, moral outlook and ethical foundations in students. The study used novel psychological assessment tools: personal moral and ethical responsibility assessment tool, EcO-30 environmental positions assessment tool and moral foundations survey. Results of the study: The obtained empirical data was used to build correlational and regressive statistical models. It has been observed that women’s choices are influenced by the moral foundation of “care” more often than men’s. Men demonstrate lower levels of environmental internality, biocentrism and general interest in environmental issues. In study participants reflection on moral and ethical situations is linked to biocentrism, while altruistic emotions are linked to both biocentrism and one’s interest in environmental issues. The regression model we built demonstrates the important role that reflection on global environmental issues plays in one’s moral and ethical sphere. It has been observed that increased existential responsibility is linked to lower interest in global environmental issues. Men demonstrate much lower rate of interest in global environmental issues. Conclusion: The data obtained makes it possible to interpret the psychological effects of the interaction between the personal values we studied and has predictive value. We observe that the ethical foundations for assessing one’s notions of the interaction between nature and society can be found at the interface between their personal moral characteristics and the structural elements of the environmental outlook.

This paper proposes Entity-Netted Notionals (ENNs) as a metric of interest rate risk transfer in the interest rate swap (IRS) market. Unlike the ubiquitous metric of notional amount, ENNs normalize for risk and account for the netting of longs and shorts within counter party relationships. Using regulatory data for U.S.-reporting entities, the size of the market measured by notional amount is $231 trillion, but, measured by ENNs, is only $13.9 trillion 5-year swap equivalents, which is the same order of magnitude as other large U.S. fixed income markets. This paper also quantifies the size and direction of IRS positions across and within various business sectors. Among the empirical findings are that 92% of entities using IRS are exclusively long or exclusively short. Hence, the vast majority of market participants are prototypical end users, and the extensive amount of netting in the market is attributable to the activity of relatively few, larger entities. Finally, some sector-specific empirical findings are inconsistent with widespread, prior beliefs. For example, pension funds and insurance companies are typically thought to be long IRS to hedge their long-term liabilities, and these sectors are indeed net long, but approximately 50% of individual entities in these sectors are actually net short.

Purpose This paper aims to propose two solution approaches to determine the number of ground transport vehicles that are required to ensure the on-time delivery of military equipment between origin and destination node pairs in some geographic region, which is an important logistics problem at the US Transportation Command. Design/methodology/approach The author uses a mathematical program and a traditional heuristic to provide optimal and near-optimal solutions, respectively. The author also compares the approaches for random, small-scale problems to assess the quality and computational efficiency of the heuristic solution, and also uses the heuristic to solve a notional, large-scale problem typical of real problems. Findings This work helps analysts identify how many ground transport vehicles are needed to meet cargo delivery requirements in any military theater of operation. Research limitations/implications This research assumes all problem data is deterministic, so it does not capture variations in requirements or transit times between nodes. Practical implications This work provides prescriptive details to military analysts and decision-makers in a timely manner. Prior to this work, insights for this type of problem were generated using time-consuming simulation taking about a week and often involving trial-and-error. Originality/value This research provides new methods to solve an important logistics problem. The heuristic presented in this paper was recently used to provide operational insights about ground vehicle requirements to support a geographic combatant command and to inform decisions for railcar recapitalization within the US Army.

In legal literature there is a big amount of definitions of corruption due to the complexity of this phenomenon. The article considers various legal and theoretical approaches to the definition of corruption. The Author mentions the problem of notional proximity of different definitions of corruption and proposes a method of identification of definitions which are close in meaning. The author also proposes to consider social and psychological aspects in definition of corruption as these aspects are regarded as an integral part of corruption.

The object of this research is the conceptual framework of surrealism as a literary trend. The subject of this research is the specific surrealistic system of concepts and paradigms implemented in literary texts. The author examines such aspects of the topic, as notional tools and the logic of interaction between the concepts of surrealistic theory, possibility for surrealistic system text analysis, specificities of correlation between surrealistic system, text, and surrealistic code as the regulatory structural formation that defines the general principles and rules of functionality of surrealistic system. Special attention is given to one of the types of notions of surrealistic system — incipits, which include such categories that launch the mechanism of inosculating the contradictions, i.e. “initiate” the realization of surrealistic; such categories Desire, Dream, Imagination, Freedom, Utopia, and Unconscious. The main conclusion of conducted research consists in recognition of possibility for description of surrealistic conceptual framework as a relational system, which includes functional interaction of the three types of notions (incipits, routers, and nodes) using the fourth type of notions (mediators). Functionality of similar typological network consists in actualization of the key principles of surrealistic code and their implementation in particular literary texts. The novelty lies in the fact that the combination of concepts of surrealistic theory and feature writing is analyzed as an open, non-regulatory system, which allows carrying out stylistic analysis of the texts that contain surrealistic elements. The research intuitions are corroborated by notional and functional analysis.

This paper will provide an overview of current options and specific concepts for a potential Mars Sample Return (MSR) architecture being jointly studied by NASA and ESA. Overall objectives and mission options will be described, including the architecture's constraints and notional timelines. The paper will highlight architecture-level trade studies, including specific elements and their status. The overall Sample Retrieval Lander (SRL) mission concept, including vehicle options will be described, including the Mars Ascent Vehicle (MAV), Sample Fetch Rover (being studied by ESA), Orbiting Sample container (OS), and tube transfer robotics systems. The concept and status of the Earth Return Orbiter (ERO) mission, being studied by ESA, and the Capture/Containment and Return System (CCRS) which would be the payload on the ERO, will be discussed. The information provided about possible Mars sample return architectures and concepts is for planning and discussion purposes only. NASA and ESA have made no official decisions to implement Mars Sample Return.

The use of a gender-neutral annuity divisor introduces an intra-generational redistribution from short-lived towards long-lived individuals; this entails a transfer of wealth from males to females and from low socioeconomic groups to high socioeconomic groups. With some subpopulations consisting of females from low socioeconomic groups (or males from high groups), the net effect of the redistribution is unclear. The study aims to quantify the lifetime income redistribution of a generic NDC system using two types of divisor – the demographic and the economic – to compute the amount of an initial pension. With this in mind, the redistribution (actuarial fairness) among subpopulations is assessed through the ratio between the present value of expected pensions received and contributions paid. We find that all subgroups of women and men with high educational attainment benefit from the use of the unisex demographic divisor. This paper also shows that the value of the economic divisor depends markedly on population composition. When mortality differentials by gender and level of education are considered, economic divisors are mostly driven by the longevity effect corresponding to gender.

Existing pay-as-you-go (PAYG) schemes based on notional accounts (NAs) have chosen the defined-contribution (DC) setting that forces the rate of interest credited to all individual accounts to change over time to ensure solvency. On the other hand, volatility of the rate of interest is the source of non-negligible disparities of individual internal rates of return (IRRs) both within and across generations. It is argued that these disparities represent a threat to the political appeal of PAYG DC systems, in particular in the present situation characterized by low growth rates of the contribution base. The paper uses a four-overlapping-generations model to prove that the DC setting is not a necessary ingredient of NAs and that their political appeal could be enhanced by extending their use to non-DC pension systems. In fact, redistributions can be avoided by crediting all individual accounts with a constant rate of interest while ensuring financial solvency by fine-tuning of the contribution rate to make the system's revenues grow at the same (constant) rate credited to all accounts. The proof requires constancy of the employment growth rate but not of average earnings. Changes in the employment growth rate produce small oscillations around perfect balance between contribution revenue and pension expenditure manageable with a small buffer fund.

Acknowledging the fact that not all languages seem to distinguish grammatically between mass nouns and count nouns, this paper aims to provide information on whether or not the count-mass distinction is expressed in the Sakurabiat language, which belongs to the Tuparic branch of the Tupian linguistic family. The paper presents a brief survey of the grammatical properties associated with notional mass and notional count nouns in Sakurabiat. The properties of constructions with nouns and numerals are described and compared to constructions with pluralized nouns and numerals. The question of individual versus event quantification with numerals, and the role played by quantifiers and comparatives are also analyzed. The Sakurabiat data contributes to the investigation about the expression (or non-expression) of a count-mass distinction in underrepresented and understudied languages.

In this paper we show that Guajajára has grammaticalized the distinction between mass and count nouns, but that the coding of this distinction is different from the systems of coding in classifier languages, number-marking languages, and number-neutral languages (Chierchia 1998a, 1998b, 2010; Wilhelm 2008). As a result, we conclude that Guajajára presents a challenge to the tripartite classification of languages proposed in Chierchia’s work, since Guajajára number marking is non-inflectional and optional when plural is already expressed by other quantificational expressions. Furthermore, in Guajajára notional mass nouns can pluralize and directly combine with numerals without the mediation of container or measure constructions in contexts where conventional and non-conventional container and units of measurement are implied. This last observation suggests that coercion is not a mechanism that operates in this language.

The article shows that in modern socio-political discourse the concept of spiritual commonality is usually associated with the Act of Unification of 1919, i.e. voluntary unification, “union” of the UPR and WUPR, which resulted in a single conciliar UPR. At first glance, such a merger seems obvious and may not provoke any discussion, but it does not. After all, according to dictionary data, in the XIX-XX centuries, the term “spiritual commonality” was used to denote “unity” and “indivisibility”, which were and remain superfluous characteristics of unitary states and ethnic nations. Moreover, using the concept of “spiritual commonality”, meaning “indivisibility” or “unification”, which is realized through the introduction of a common paradigm of existence and development, we thus emphasize the consciously constructed nature of socio-political and ethno-cultural unity and open the way to various political speculations. As shown in the paper, it is possible to get rid of the latter only if spiritual commonality is explicated as a concept aimed at emphasizing voluntary unity; in its process the worldview and value priorities being established and life guidelines being produced, which are recognized by all members of the community.

Pillar 1B (individual accounts) of the Chinese basic pension fund (BPF) have suffered from substantial underfunding due to a series of challenges such as rising longevity, conservative investment policies, and the fragmentation of the pension system. Using an asset-liability model (ALM) we investigate the effects of the pre-2015 and post-2015 limits on asset allocations, as well as no limits. We also investigate the likely effect on investment performance of transferring the pillar 1B funds to the Council of National Social Security Fund (NSSF) and raising the retirement age to 65. We find that an ALM is superior to an assets-only analysis, removing the limits on investment in domestic assets (but not foreign assets) would be beneficial, as would transferring the assets to the NSSF, and raising the retirement age. Finally, the official notional rate on individual accounts should be set at a realistic level.

There is a perceptible scepticism around armed robot in combat units - the question whether to use it or not. The EOD robots (EOD - Explosive Ordnance Disposal) won their way to war theatre already, but other support assets on UGV platforms (UGV - Unmanned Ground Vehicles) need to be trusted in future, too. One of the reasons for distrust could be a discussion gap between researchers and infantry units on the lowest tactical level. The article tries to set simple demands throughout infantryman-eyes perspective and it outlines needs for the UGV in the mechanized / infantry units in a first part. The second part outlines basic technical and tactical specification as a challenging list for development teams. Finally, the third part proposes two notional AAR (After Action Report) reports of units using UGV for support. The article sets basic questions of themes as the autonomy and controls of UGVs and UGV in ISTAR systems (ISTAR - Intelligence Surveillance Target Acquisition Reconnaissance).

PurposeIn this essay, the authors will describe several facets of their experience as women faculty of color in the academy during the pandemic, in order to explore how institutions might think of equity and diversity initiatives during the pandemic time.Design/methodology/approachThis essay discusses structural, leadership and individual considerations in supporting faculty from diverse backgrounds during the pandemic and beyond, by considering the typical strategies used by faculty of color to maintain active organizational memberships and how the pandemic has shifted those strategies.FindingsUltimately, this essay grapples with diversity as an institutional priority during the unique and shifting circumstances of remote work and teaching and research during the pandemic.Originality/valueThis essay provides insight into how institutions who want to maintain diversity progress during and postpandemic must be more thoughtful about the hiring structures, decision-making spaces and overarching missions.

Введение. Проблема интерпретации текста является одной из наиболее актуальных в современной филологии вообще и стилистике текста в частности. В этом плане представляет особый интерес исследование интерпретационной деятельности читателей на основе экспериментов, позволяющих судить о механизме смыслового развертывания текста в сознании адресата. Цель статьи – выявление некоторых важных для интерпретационной деятельности коллективного адресата (читателя) закономерностей на основе методологии коммуникативной стилистики текста и разрабатываемой в рамках данного направления теории его смыслового развертывания. Методика исследования. В соответствии с принятой в коммуникативной стилистике текста методологической базой использованы контекстологический и семантико-стилистический анализ, прием моделирования ассоциативного поля ключевого слова и экспериментальная методика. Она включает свободный ассоциативный эксперимент, а также рецептивный эксперимент и эксперимент по модифицированной методике шкалирования Ч. Осгуда для определения силы воздействия текста на коллективного адресата. Результаты и обсуждение. Исследование проведено на основе данных экспериментов по восприятию читателями стихотворения О. Э. Мандельштама «Дождик ласковый, мелкий и тонкий…» с опорой на теорию смыслового развертывания текста, разработанную в коммуникативной стилистике, реализующей коммуникативно-деятельностный подход к тексту. Теория смыслового развертывания текста включает исследование его лексической структуры, выявление текстовых смысловых парадигм разных типов, их взаимосвязи, анализ регулятивных средств и структур, текстового ассоциативного поля ключевого слова в сравнении с ассоциативным полем данного слова, выявленным в свободном ассоциативном эксперименте. Установлена зависимость смыслового развертывания поэтического текста от его лексической структуры дедуктивного типа и использованных автором регулятивных средств и структур; атрибутивов как регулятивной доминанты текста и контраста как основного способа регулятивности. На основе экспериментальной методики выявлена связь интерпретационной деятельности читателей (информантов) с лингвистическим и экстралингвистическим аспектами прагматического уровня текста и его подуровней: образного, эмоционального, идейного. Экспериментальные данные подтвердили связь прагматического уровня текста с информативно-смысловым уровнем. Определены факторы, влияющие на адекватную интерпретационную деятельность читателей: опора автора текста на типовые ассоциации, стимулированные ключевым словом, роль лексической регулятивности в управлении познавательной деятельностью адресата поэтического текста для выявления его глубинного смысла. Заключение. Предложенный подход к изучению интерпретационной деятельности читателя поэтического текста на основе его смыслового развертывания показал, что использование экспериментальной методики, основанной на опросе информантов, позволяет судить о некоторых закономерностях и механизмах воздействия текста и его элементов на формирование общей оценки и представления о содержании текста у читателей: роли их информационного тезауруса, способности воспринимать не только поверхностный, но и глубинный смысл. Выявлена зависимость процесса восприятия поэтического текста от его особенностей: общей регулятивной стратегии автора (эксплицитной и имплицитной) и использованных им регулятивных средств и структур, способа регулятивности. Introduction. Text interpretation problem is one of the most topical in up-to-date philology generally and in stylistics of text in particular. In this way the research of readers’ interpretative activity on the basis of experiments is of special interest, because it allows to judge steps of notional text explication in the addressee’s consciousness. The purpose of the article is to identify some patterns that are important for the interpretation activity of the collective addressee (reader) based on the methods of communicative stylistics of the text and its notional explication theory, developed in the context of this trend. Material and methods. Under the methodological base of communicative stylistics of text context and semanticstylistic analysis, a method of associative field of a key word’s modelling and experimental methodology are used in the article. It includes spare associative experiment as well as receptive experiment and modified methods of scaling by Ch. Osgud for detecting power of influence on collective addressee. Results and discussion. The research is done on the basis of experimental data on the reader’s perception of a verse “Light rain is tender, thin and delicate…” by O. E. Mandel’shtam with the use of the semantic explication theory, which is developed in the communicative stylistics of text, that realizes communicative and activity approach to the text. The theory of semantic explication of a text includes its lexical structure research, detecting of text notional paradigms of different types, their correlation, regulative means and structures analysis, textual associative field of a key word analysis versus associative field of this word, which is revealed during a spare associative experiment. Dependence of semantic explication of poetic text on its lexical structure of deductive type and author’s regulative means and structures, atributives as regulative text dominants and contrast as the main regulative method is determined in the article. Connection of interpretative readers activity (informants) with linguistic and extralinguistic aspects of pragmatic text level and its sublevels (figurative, emotional, ideal) is revealed on the basis of experimental methods. Experimental data verified the connection of the pragmatic level of the text with its informative and notional level. The factors that influence the relevant reading activities are identified. These factors are the following: author’s support to standard associations, which are stimulated by a key word, the role of lexical regulation in controlling of cognitive addressee’s of poetic text activity for revealing its deep sense. Conclusion. The introduced approach of researching interpretative readers’ of poetic text activity on the basis of its notional explication showed that the use of experimental methods with informants’ questioning makes it possible to judge about some regularities and steps of text’s and its elements’ influence on forming of common estimation and idea about text content, that readers have: the role of their informational thesaurus, ability to perceive not only deep, but also superficial sense. Dependence of a process of poetic text perception on its peculiarities – common regulative author’s strategy (explicit and implicit) and regulative means and structures and way of regulation – is detected.

The article presents a linguopoetic analysis of the language structure of the artistic concept «Mechanism», which plays an important role in organizing the artistic picture of A. Grin’s world. In the nuclear part of the concept, direct nominative designations of mechanical devices are concentrated; the first periphery includes lexemes with emotional and expressive connotations and the second periphery includes the vocabulary and phraseology associated with them. The conceptual analysis method, which serves as the main research tool in the article, made it possible to establish that the «Mechanism» hyperconcept, interacting with the «Justice» and «Disease» frames, is actively involved in the formation of the compositional-figurative and notional levels of A. Grin’s fantasy stories.

Judicial bias in sexual assault cases is generally associated with the conduct of sitting judges who engage in victim blaming and reserve the full protection of the law to ideal victims. However, this paper seeks to examine the role of the Canadian Judicial Council (CJC) in perpetuating sexist stereotypes in the legal realm. It does so by juxtaposing the CJC’s handling of two judicial misconduct complaints, one in which a male judge exhibited bias against women while adjudicating a sexual assault trial and a second in which graphic, sexual pictures of a female judge were posted on the internet without her knowledge or consent. The proposition offered is that the CJC’s gendered record in disposing of the two judicial misconduct cases was similarly informed by the notional ideal victim, further perpetuating sexism both in Canadian courtrooms and among the judiciary.

Purpose This study aims to demystify how the critical regulations affecting the bank competition have instituted, amended and fine-tuned over the years in India and its peers in Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS). The gaps in the regulatory practices influencing bank contestability and competition in BRICS nations are identified. Also, the regulatory convergence is tested by comparing the policies embraced in India vis-à-vis its peer nations. Design/methodology/approach A methodological framework by Barth, Caprio and Levine (2013) is adopted to construct various regulatory indices. The empirical analysis is based on information available in five rounds of the bank regulation and supervision survey conducted in 2000, 2003, 2007, 2011 and 2017 by the World Bank. Findings The empirical findings elucidate that although bank entry regulations have been liberalized over time, the bank contestability seems to be low in the BRICS countries, especially in India. This might be due to the substantial government ownership and the presence of notional powers that are conferred to bank supervisors. On comparing the bank regulations in India vis-à-vis its peers, the author find a strong convergence in licensing requirements for entry into the banking business, foreign bank entry mode, restrictions on conglomerate formation and adoption of prompt corrective action framework. Practical implications The study suggests that future policy initiatives in India need to focus on redesigning the banking structure by reducing the share of state ownership, permitting joint ventures and liberally allowing the entry of new domestic and foreign banks in the industry. In the years to come, regulators in India will continuously face the challenge of fostering bank contestability without jeopardizing bank efficiency and overall stability. Originality/value This study is perhaps first of its kind, which analyzes the inter-temporal changes in regulatory indicators to examine the variations in the competitive environment of the banking markets of BRICS economies in general and India in particular.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to propose the parametric bootstrap method for valuation of over-the-counter derivative (OTCD) initial margin (IM) in the financial market with low outstanding notional amounts. That is, an aggregate outstanding gross notional amount of OTC derivative instruments not exceeding R20bn. Design/methodology/approach The OTCD market is assumed to have a Gaussian probability distribution with the mean and standard deviation parameters. The bootstrap value at risk model is applied as a risk measure that generates bootstrap initial margins (BIM). Findings The proposed parametric bootstrap method is in favour of the BIM amounts for the simulated and real data sets. These BIM amounts are reasonably exceeding the IM amounts whenever the significance level increases. Research limitations/implications This paper only assumed that the OTCD returns only come from a normal probability distribution. Practical implications The OTCD IM requirement in respect to transactions done by counterparties may affect the entire financial market participants under uncleared OTCD, while reducing systemic risk. Thus, reducing spillover effects by ensuring that collateral (IM) is available to offset losses caused by the default of a OTCDs counterparty. Originality/value This paper contributes to the literature by presenting a valuation of IM for the financial market with low outstanding notional amounts by using the parametric bootstrap method.

The aim of the article. The issue concerning the specifics of notional architectonics of consciousness of future counseling psychologists is highlighted in the study and the existential-systemic approach to the reorganization of their «model of the world» is described. Methods. The «model of the world» of future counseling psychologists was studied using: A. Adler’s «The earliest childhood memory» method, F. Fiedler’s «Type of attitude toward others» methodology, modeling of «semantic universals» «model of the world» by A. Artemieva. The results of the research. Four plans for the analysis of the notional dynamics of the «model of the world» of future counseling psychologists are examined, in particular: the formation of the «model of the world»; the correlation between the subjective model of the world and the objective world; plan for the content and functioning of the «model of the world»; the development or reorganization of the «model of the world». The structure of the significant relations in the world of future counseling psychologists and the patterns that they use is outlined. There have been established such attractors: methods of comprehending the «World» as a source of fear, sadness, shame, anger, disgust to confirm their own values regarding subjective image; behavioral programs of avoidance, requests for help, accession, destruction, rejection as a means of confirming established contacts and means of interaction with the «World»; situationally-subjective and neutral-indifferent types of attitude towards others accepted as the most effective forms of the relationship between «Me» and the «World»; contextual semantic universals «resource and intention» and «dynamics» as the genesis of the development and strength of the personality system. The existential and systematic approach to the reorganization of the notional architectonics of future counseling psychologists is described, which involves not only expanding the horizon of the identification of oneself and the world as a research, defining and adopting personal expert zones, but also as searching and establishing notional relationships between elements of the system due to the development of multidimensional psychological identification of oneself and the world. Conclusions. The proposed diagnostic scheme for studying the «model of the world» of future counseling psychologists has ensured the construction of a notional model of the relationship between the constructs «Me» and «World». It has found out the parapharmal experience of constructing by the researchers their own architectonics of meanings, considering its genesis and primary components. Due to the multi-paradigmatic methodological foundations and the tasks of integrating experience with unlimited intrinsic intensity, the existential and system approach can be considered as an effective concept for creative change of «crystallized» patterns, the discovery of new vectors of life changes, self-organization and evolution, due to the intrapsychic focus of transformational work and objective orientation.

In this research, the authors utilized a survey to evaluate the notional values of the overall risk, the privacy risk, and the financial risk of using a credit card and an RFID-based E-payment serv...

The study of concepts can be considered one of the current directions in modern linguistics. This is evidenced by numerous theoretical studies of the concept, as well as a significant number of works devoted to describing specific concepts in different languages. This article discloses the notional content of the concept "robot," revealed by the analysis of Russian-speaking and English-speaking lexicographic sources.

Newman’s constant preoccupation with “connectedness” leads him to explore and to insist upon the importance of the relationship between the “notional” and the “real,” and therefore of that between theology and philosophy, on the one hand, and spirituality (in the sense of lived spiritual experience) and morality or ethics, on the other. This paper explores Newman’s expression of these ideas, firstly in his sermons and theological writings, and finally in the more philosophical context of the Grammar of Assent.

At least since the late eighteenth century, constitutions have been understood as emanations of the will of “the People,” as the ultimate expression of an inherent popular sovereignty. In the form of theories of constituent power, accounts of constitutional foundations blended notional or conceptual “descriptions” of the People, which anchored the political legitimacy of constitutional orders in the idea of hypothetical consent, with empirical claims that the nation’s actual people were represented in constitution-making processes through elected delegates and thereby were the authors of and gave consent to its fundamental law. As part of the third wave of democratization, there was an important shift in what popular participation consisted of—from indirect participation by elected representatives to direct, popular participation in the constitution-making process. As a matter of constitutional process, this led to the growing practice, and expectation, that major constitutional changes should be ratified through referenda.

The article presents results of empiric sociological research which had the aim to identify the cognitive aspects of a person’s loneliness. Analysis of the messages from one Internet forum made it possible to define the notional borders of loneliness understanding by those who have this feeling. On the basis of received material the author made a classification of the messages according to following aspects – number of responses, context of reasoning, borders of social distance, level of involvement into the discourse of responses’ authors. As a result, it was found that loneliness, long absence of understanding and relation with soulmates, is interpreted as a social deviation. On the contrary, short-term physical loneliness in spatial context is interpreted as normal routine of a reflecting person.

The article is devoted to the study of the notional component of the concept PAIN. The notion of concept is the basis of cognitive linguistics. This mental entity contains complex information about objects or phenomena and their interpretation in the human mind. Concepts occur as a result of our cognitive activities. Although of classifications of concepts varies, almost all the linguists agree on its structure. They single out the nucleus – the prevailing meaning and the peripheral meaning(s) – less prevailing, though still important. In addition, concepts are described as entities consisting of notional, figural and evaluative components. Concepts can be studied and understood only through verbalization which varies due to different factors such as age, sex, profession etc. The methods used to establish notional component of the concept comprise etymological analysis and the analysis of definitions. In the process of etymological analysis, archaic meanings of the concept have been singled out. The analysis of definitions has been conducted on the basis of English lexicographical sources. As a result, one nuclear meaning of the lexeme and seven peripheral meanings have been distinguished. Moreover, synonymic words, which can realize the additional characteristics of the concept, have been analyzed.