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Based upon thirteen months of ethnographic fieldwork among indigenous Mapuche people of southern Chile, this thesis explores two relational oppositions which are central concerns of both Mapuche people and the discipline of anthropology. The first opposition explored is that between self and other, focusing on how it is conceived differently from different positions within rural Mapuche life. Through this exploration, I emphasise an understanding of otherness as a relational category, which is more connected to ascertaining and describing what the self is not, rather than to the depiction of an embodied alterity. The second opposition I investigate is that between individual and society. More specifically, I look at the possibilities of constructing social relationships despite the strong emphasis Mapuche people put on persons as unique, unrepeatable, and often incommensurable, singularities. I demonstrate how and why these two oppositions are closely connected for the Mapuche. Such a connection lies in the fact that Mapuche philosophy proposes a radical singularism according to which the conception of everything is rooted in the individual person. As a result, the pluralisation of such conceptions is always, necessarily, a particularly personal extrapolation. The thesis is divided in three sections. In the first I explore the ontological foundations of Mapuche lived worlds, discussing the pillars upon which Mapuche people conceive their experiences and setting the scene for my overall argument. In the second section, through both ethnographical and historical sources, I attempt to explore how perceived differences and similarities are managed in order to create a sense of plurality. In the final section I elaborate an argument centred upon how Mapuche people conceive “the social”. Here, by discussing different ideas of what it means to be Mapuche, I conclude that Mapuche notions of sociality are in the antipodes of Western ones. Put simply, if in the latter sociality is based upon interactions embedded on given shared semantic fields, the Mapuche seem to maintain that shared semantic fields do not exist, and that they should, at best, be consciously created.

We report exploratory Chandra observations of the ultraluminous quasar SDSS J010013.02+280225.8 at redshift 6.30. The quasar is clearly detected by Chandra with a possible component of extended emission. The rest-frame 2-10 keV luminosity is 9.0(+4.5)(+9.1) x 10(45) erg s(-1) with an inferred photon index of G = 3.03(-0.70)(+0.78). This quasar is X-ray bright, with an inferred X-ray-to-optical flux ratio alpha(ox) = -1.22(-0.05)(+0.07), higher than the values found in other quasars of comparable ultraviolet luminosity. The properties inferred from this exploratory observation indicate that this ultraluminous quasar might be growing with super-Eddington accretion and probably viewed with a small inclination angle. Deep X-ray observations will help to probe the plausible extended emission and better constrain the spectral features for this ultraluminous quasar.

A study was made of the conversational patterns used by 24 children aged eighteen months to three years and their mothers. Tape recordings were made of the mothers and the children both in a free speech situation and while they were talking about a picture book. The mean length of utterance, frequency of usage of different types of utterance, and the way that these different types of utterances formed conversational units were examined, and related to the child's age, social class, sex, and whether the conversation was directed towards the picture book or was in a free situation. It was found that the child 1s mean length of utterance was related both to his age and to the situation. The patterns of utterances which made up the conversations were also related to both age and situation. It was also found that in the book situation the mother's and the children's speech became less complex and similar in form to the free speech of younger children and their mothers. The patterns of utterance types within conversational units was found to be very stereotyped with a small number of patterns repeated frequently. Computer sorting of these patterns showed that they did not often consist of more than two items, and higher order patterns consisted of repetitions of shorter frequently occurring patterns. The mother's speech was found to be related to their child's own level of complexity, but to be slightly in advance of the child's own competence. It was proposed that this kind of simplified speech would be a highly appropriate setting for language learning to take place.

We present the discovery of the X-ray and optical afterglows of the short-duration GRB 150101B, pinpointing the event to an early-type host galaxy at z = 0.1343 +/- 0.0030. This makes GRB 150101B the most nearby short gamma-ray burst (GRB) with an early-type host galaxy discovered to date. Fitting the spectral energy distribution of the host galaxy results in an inferred stellar mass of approximate to 7 x 10(10) M-circle dot, stellar population age of approximate to 2-2.5 Gyr, and star formation rate of less than or similar to 0.4M(circle dot) yr(-1). The host of GRB 150101B is one of the largest and most luminous short GRB host galaxies, with a B-band luminosity of approximate to 4.3L(*) and half-light radius of approximate to 8 kpc. GRB 150101B is located at a projected distance of 7.35 +/- 0.07. kpc from its host center and lies on a faint region of its host rest-frame optical light. Its location, combined with the lack of associated supernova, is consistent with an NS-NS/NS-BH merger progenitor. From modeling the evolution of the broadband afterglow, we calculate isotropic-equivalent gamma-ray and kinetic energies of approximate to 1.3 x 10(49) erg and approximate to(6-14) x 10(51) erg, respectively, a circumburst density of approximate to(0.8-4) x 10(-5) cm(-3), and a jet opening angle of greater than or similar to 9 degrees. Using observations extending to approximate to 30 days, we place upper limits of less than or similar to(2-4) x 10(41) erg s(-1) on associated kilonova emission. We compare searches following previous short GRBs to existing kilonova models and demonstrate the difficulty of performing effective kilonova searches from cosmological short GRBs using current ground-based facilities. We show that at the Advanced LIGO/VIRGO horizon distance of 200 Mpc, searches reaching depths of approximate to 23-24 AB. mag are necessary to probe a meaningful range of kilonova models.

There has been a steady proliferation of discourses concerned with neutral education in South Korea since the democratisation of 1987. The problem of educational neutrality has been raised particularly by conservative forces. This thesis offers a critical examination of the conservative use of educational neutrality. Three inter-connected questions guide the thesis. First, what events and elements are combined in the discourse of educational neutrality in what ways? Second, how do non-discursive practices (e.g. techniques of power) help realise the discourse of educational neutrality? Finally, how do teachers and students resist pressure to be neutral? In order to address these questions, by drawing on theoretical tools offered by Kim Dong-choon and Michel Foucault, I, first of all, contextualize the conservative use of educational neutrality in relation to war-politics where critical thought and action are punished and regulated in the name of protecting society. I then combine Critical Discourse Analysis with Foucault's genealogical approach in order to grasp multiple dimensions of the discourse of educational neutrality. The construction of the discourse of educational neutrality is investigated through an analysis of a conservative newspaper's editorials. The deployment of power techniques in the realization of the discourse of educational neutrality is examined through a genealogical study of how critical teachers' unions have been regulated and how history textbooks have been sanitised. Last but not least, I explore courageous speech activities carried out by teachers and students. Those speeches, as forms of resistance to the myth of neutral education, serve to introduce a break in war-politics that draws an arbitrary line between what is and what is not say-able and do-able. The thesis concludes by highlighting that education cannot be reduced to the mere transmission of technical knowledge from teachers to students. Rather, education should take on the task of regenerating critical thought and action particularly in a pluralistic democratic society where different individuals, values, and views coexist not in an antagonistic way but in a harmonious way.

<p> The United States is the leading country in the world with the highest concentration of incarceration of its people. At least more than half of those individuals who are incarcerated are parents to children under the age of 18 years old. Research identifies risk factors that children of incarcerated parents encounter, associated to their parent&rsquo;s incarceration, and suggests that regular visitation can serve as a protective factor to reduce these risk factors. Few studies report on the visitors&rsquo; perspective on their visitation experience or on prisons from different security levels. </p><p> This study takes a mixed-methods approach to fill in that gap. Using 72 self-reported surveys collected from caregivers who participated with Get on the Bus (GOTB) in 2011 and 2013 through 2017, this study provides a descriptive analysis of fixed-responses and thematic content analysis for open-ended responses. The prisons visited included three female and four male correctional institutions from different security levels in California. Using interviews of 11 individuals who participated with GOTB in 2017, this study provides a thematic content analysis of their responses. The prisons that they visited were San Quentin State Prison and FCI Dublin. Based on the participants&rsquo; responses, this study concludes that visitors are satisfied with their visitation experience with GOTB and favor these visits, as they promote parent and child reunification upon release of parent&rsquo;s incarceration.</p><p>

The proliferation and ubiquity of information technologies (ICTs) have transformed the working environment of organizations, making imperative the engagement of individuals with various technologies for the accomplishment of their work tasks. Although ICTs have offered significant benefits both to individuals and organizations, those advances have come with some costs. Recently, academic literature has shown an increased interest in the dark side or else the negative aspects of technology usage within the workplace, focusing on the stress that individuals experience due to the extended usage of ICTs called technostress. A considerable amount of literature has been published on the concept of technostress revealing its severe consequences on individuals, leading to huge monetary costs for organizations; however, few studies have investigated mechanisms for the alleviation of this phenomenon thus the need for further research is crucial. Addressing this call of research, the present study contributes to the technostress literature by adopting for the first time a mindfulness perspective. The current study aims to examine the role of mindfulness as an organizational mechanism that can mitigate the impact of technostress on individuals as well as alleviate its negative consequences. By following a mixed methods approach, the current study involved two phases; At first, a theoretical framework was developed, based on the transactional-based model of stress, in order to examine the influence of mindfulness on technostress as well as its impact on job related and IT usage related outcomes. By conducting a survey-based approach and exploring a sample of 500 working individuals, the developed model was validated through SEM analysis revealing that mindfulness constitutes a powerful mechanism that can effectively reduce technostress, increase job satisfaction while also enhance user satisfaction while utilizing ICTs for work tasks and improve task performance. During the second phase of the study, the thematic analysis of the collected data, derived from semi-structured interviews, validated the results of the quantitative analysis confirming the role of mindfulness in reducing technostress conditions; while also yielded deeper insights revealing a set of strategies that more mindful individuals deploy during technostress experiences. Overall, the current study enhances existing literature in the IS domain by revealing the valuable role of mindfulness in protecting individuals against the negative impact of stressful events occurring due to ICT usage while also providing substantial practical implications; By introducing mindfulness programs for their employees, corporate and HR managers can significantly improve employees' work life, increase individual productivity and enhance overall wellbeing at work thus ultimately improving the business performance and overall success of the organization.