This study investigates how minimalist narrative techniques in American modernist literature oblige us, as readers and critics, to be self-reflexive about the ethical basis of interpretation. Through a concentrated narratological analysis of Hemingway’s and Cather’s fiction, I identify three major elements of what I term the “simple text”—thinness, smoothness, and spaciousness—and I show how each category engages a hermeneutic ethics. By gesturing towards accessibility and straightforward comprehension while also producing moments of indeterminacy that subtly resist the reader’s inferences, the simple text challenges the reader to conceive interpretation both as a positive exercise of individuation and imagination and, simultaneously, as a potentially unethical mode of critical violation and imposition. My introduction contemplates the ethical foundations of Hemingway’s and Cather’s famous aesthetics of omission to argue that such simplicity conveys a complex theory of reader engagement. Chapter One defines “thinness” by examining “thin characters” in A Farewell to Arms and My Ántonia—characters whose simplicity makes them paradoxically unreadable in a way that foregrounds the nature of our accountability towards others. The second chapter, focusing on In Our Time and Death Comes for the Archbishop, defines “smoothness” as a simple paratactic patterning that challenges our critical desire to generalize meanings from particular experiences. While the smooth surface invites our interpretive touch, its structural integrity resists marking and inscription. The final chapter details the element of “spaciousness,” showing how open and simple settings in The Old Man and the Sea and The Professor’s House inspire, in the protagonists, moments of self-conscious interpretation of the nonhuman other and solicit a practice of accountable freedom. I argue that the foregrounding of such spaces proffers a subtle yet pointed critique of American individualism, but this critique is learned only through our encounter with the text’s interpretive limits. The study concludes by suggesting how these strategies both respond to and participate in specific criticisms of American democracy that circulated during the modernist period.

Inom redovisning finns en eftersträvan av enkelhet, vilket bland annat redovisningsstandarder syftar till att uppnå. Redovisningsstandarder kan antingen vara baserade på regler eller på principer och ska enligt standardsättarna besitta egenskaper som gynnar enkelhet. Hur användarna av redovisningsstandarder upplever enkelhet i standarderna är dock mindre betonat i litteraturen. Syftet med denna studie är att generera en ökad förståelse för hur användarna av redovisningsstandarder konstruerar enkelhet i redovisningen, samt vilken påverkan redovisningsstandarder har på konstruktionen. Studien har genomförts med ett användarorienterat socialkonstruktivistiskt perspektiv och datainsamling har skett genom ostrukturerade intervjuer med fem redovisningskonsulter där standarder ur regelverken K2 och K3 diskuterats. Detta har sedan analyserats genom att väsentliga citat bildat underkategorier samt kategorier. Studien når slutsatsen att användarna av redovisningsstandarder konstruerar enkelhet genom en legal konstruktion, avsaknad av alternativ, erfarenhet samt praktik inte teori. Vidare dras slutsatsen att redovisningsstandarder inte har någon betydelse för konstruktionen av enkelhet. / There is a desire of simplicity in accounting, and accounting standards exist due to this purpose. Accounting standards are rules- or principles-based and will, according to the standard setters, possess features that create simplicity. However, there is less focus in the literature on simplicity from the accounting practitioner’s point of view. The purpose of this thesis is to find a deeper understanding of how accounting practitioners construct simplicity in accounting and what role accounting standards play in the process. In this essay, a practitioner’s oriented social constructivist perspective has been adopted. The empirical findings have been collected through unstructured interviews with five accounting practitioners, where accounting standards from K2 and K3 have been discussed. The findings were analyzed through sub-categories and categories. The conclusions of this thesis is that accounting practitioners construct simplicity through; legal construction, absence of alternatives, experience and practice not theory. Furthermore it can be concluded that accounting standards do not affect the construction of simplicity.

Leisure typically has been regarded as a positive component in people's lives, and evidence points to its central rather than peripheral role in lifestyle. Further, studies of leisure suggest it is conducive to psychological well-being, to physical health, and to the stability of social groups. The extent to which people are able to reach this potential very much depends on leisure's role in lifestyle, the experience of leisure, and whether conditions in a consumption-oriented society facilitate such positive outcomes. For many, leisure in consumption-oriented lifestyles holds symbolic meaning. Important aspects of personal identity and meaning are found in leisure-related possessions and through leisure activities pursued. For others, leisure represents an internal, inner-directed process through which activities or behaviours are intrinsically motivated, freely chosen, and ultimately satisfying. In this study, lifestyle was conceptualized and operationalized using a 'voluntary simplicity' value orientation, focussing on four main value dimensions: (1) material simplicity, (2) self-determination, (3) ecological awareness, and (4) personal growth. The purpose of the study was to examine the role that lifestyle plays in the relationship between leisure and psychological well-being. A self-administered questionnaire was completed by adults enrolled in general interest and continuing education leisure courses. Five basic concepts were assessed in the questionnaire: (1) leisure participation, (2) importance of leisure activity to lifestyle, (3) leisure experience, (4) psychological well-being, and (5) lifestyle. The highest frequencies of leisure participation per month included reading books, magazines and newspapers, listening to music, and watching television and videos. Leisure experience was characterized by higher challenge and awareness, and lower boredom and anxiety. There was general support for voluntary simplicity values in lifestyle with personal growth, self-determination, and ecological awareness dimensions being higher and material simplicity values being the lowest. Lifestyles that more strongly embraced voluntary simplicity were associated with higher levels of challenge and awareness, and lower levels of anxiety and boredom in the experience of leisure. The self-determination, ecological awareness, and personal growth dimensions of a voluntary simplicity lifestyle contributed to heightened positive affect within psychological well-being, while lower levels of material simplicity increased negative affect (decreased psychological well-being). When all factors are taken together, a significant proportion of variance in psychological well-being is explained by the <I><b>experience</b></I> of leisure, especially <I><b>high challenge</b></I>, and <b><I>not</b></I> by <I><b>leisure participation</b></I>, and by a <I><b>voluntary simplicity lifestyle</b></I> characterized by self-determination, ecological awareness and personal growth values in the <I><b>positive affect</b></I> dimension, and material simplicity values in the <I><b>negative affect</b></I> dimension of psychological well-being. These results suggest that regardless of the type and intensity of leisure involvement, if through heightened awareness, higher challenge and lower anxiety are sought in leisure, especially as expressed within a voluntary simplicity lifestyle, then higher levels of psychological well-being may be achieved. Indeed, by reducing lifestyle complexity and lessening the focus on consumerism, the inherent value of leisure to well-being might well emerge to a greater degree.

The conception of the unity of God in al-Juwayni, one of the latest thinkers in the early Islamic kalam, is the subject of this thesis. Al-Juwayni, though an Ash'arite thinker was quite often open to Mu'tazilite thought, particularly that of Abu Hashim al-Jubba'i. He was also influenced by the philosophers. / With al-Juwayni the kalam's theory of the unity of God reached its ultimate resolution. That is to say, the theory of the unity of God was based on specific epistemological grounds, in the early period of the kalam. It had assumed its shape, and was therefore open to the possibility for establishing a new approach to the unity of God in the ontological sense. / The first chapter deals with the long historical debate about the unity of God. It introduces many aspects of al-Juwayni's thought, and touches on how al-Juwayni proceeding from an Ash'arite background adopted many of the Mu'tazilite's themes, in its Basrian branch. / The second chapter analyzes the theory of al-Juwayni on these issues and shows his contribution to the notion of the unity of God in his book al-Irshad. / The third is a conclusion which throws light on the possibilities opened by al-Juwayni to approaching the unity of God from different ontological angles. Such possibilities had, infact, emerged in al-Juwaynis thinking when he began to use different concepts, particularly in his book al-'Aqidah al-Nizamiyah. Thus after he provided in al-Irshad that God is existence itself, he generally avoided using the terms atoms and accidents. Instead, he viewed the universe as two kinds, necessary Being and possible beings. In this context the attributes of God as aspects of His essence would play a different ontological role, comprehended in the term al-takhsid s.

Det ”alternativa livet” kan ses som en motrörelse till urbanisering, ökad konsumtion och ett allt snabbare tempo i samhället. Detta är en kvalitativ studie med syftet att undersöka det alternativa livet. Sex informanter intervjuades om deras upplevelser och uppfattningar av det alternativa livet. Intervjuerna transkriberades och analyserades utifrån en induktiv tematisk metod. Gemensamt för alla informanter är att de vill leva enkelt utifrån grundläggande behov, leva nära naturen, reducera saker livet som de upplever mindre viktiga, anta utmaningar och få mer tid över för sådant de upplever meningsfullt. Genom reduktion upplever infomanterna en större livskvalité och närvaro i nuet. Kombinationen av individuella faktorer och en vilja att leva mer miljömässigt hållbart kan ses som de stora orsakerna till varför de intervjuade väljer att leva alternativt. Resultaten har tolkats utifrån behovsmässig teori, existentiell psykologi och Antonovskys Känsla av Sammanhang. / The “alternative life” can be described as a counter movement to the urban society, increased consummation and a stressful lifestyle. The aim of this qualitative study is to examine the alternative life on the countryside. Six informants were interviewed about their experiences and views about the alternative life. The data is transcribed and analyzed with an inductive, thematic approach. The informants want to live with more simplicity, intimate with their basic needs, live close to nature, reducing less important things in life, challenging themselves and having more time for things they find meaningful. The informants experience more quality in life and presence in the moment through reduction. The main reasons for the informants to live an “alternative life” are the combination of individual factors and a desire to live more environmentally friendly. The results have been analyzed from behavioral theory, existential psychology and Antovskys “Sense of Coherence”.

Thesis (D. Min.)--Concordia Theological Seminary, Ft. Wayne, 1994. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 130-132).

Textile design has long been known for its craft related and traditional ways of working. Different designers and artist have found a way of approaching the field from an unconventional perspective. The aim of this project is to demonstrate an alternative way of approaching the field by applying traditional methods to unconventional materials. By doing so the hope is to bring joy and playfulness to the field. As a final result the three groups consisting of nine objects present ways that knit can be used to sculpt and to lend flexibility when combined with stiffer structures, therefore giving way for movement and transformability. Object Poetry engages the viewer to interact and experience fun.

Although not all of the papers in the two Boletín volumes focus explicitly on the themes of the V Symposium, Lima 2006 —emerging order, power, and identity— several concluding trends can be drawn and discussed across South America and beyond. The attempt is to point out tendencies that cut across different regional and international contexts in order to understand the wider setting of this emergence. / Si bien no todas las contribuciones presentadas en estos dos números del Boletín se han centrado específicamente en los temas del V Simposio Internacional de Arqueología PUCP, realizado en Lima en 2006 —es decir, el surgimiento del orden, el poder y la complejidad— se pueden extraer y considerar varias tendencias y pautas de los casos que se han analizado de Sudamérica y fuera del ámbito de este continente. En otras palabras, se trata de buscar directrices regionales e interregionales con el objeto de entender este surgimiento en entornos mucho más amplios.

« La simplicité » est un principe essentiel de l’esthétique de George Sand, ce goût permanent marque non seulement la vie réelle de l’écrivain, mais aussi ses œuvres, surtout la série de romans champêtres et socialistes (1840-1853), dont le décor principal est la campagne berrichonne. Nous allons étudier successivement, en trois grandes parties, la notion de simplicité chez George Sand et son sentiment de la nature, la simplicité en tant que constituant de la nature humaine et enfin la simplicité considérée comme le comble de l’art. Les personnages sandiens, paysans ou aristocrates, s’unissant dans une vie idyllique, sont souvent empreints de la même caractéristique se présentant sous diverses facettes : rejet de l’affectation, absence de duplicité et de prétention, refus des artifices, goût pour le naturel et la transparence, ou sublime, naïveté, ingénuité, sincérité, candeur, etc.. Sur le plan esthétique, la simplicité signifie le non composé, le non apprêté, l’originel, le primitif, l’élémentaire, le caractère d’un ensemble formant une entité harmonieuse pouvant être saisie par une intuition synthétique. Tout cela se voit dans la musique populaire et les objets d’art créés par des artistes naïfs. La simplicité sandienne se présente aussi dans d’autres domaines comme les mœurs rustiques, la société et la politique, mais cela restera notre travail post-thèse. / Simplicity is a fundamental principle of George Sand’s aesthetics.The taste for simplicity has also not only pervaded the writer’s life but her whole work, and notably the socialist and country novels (1840-1853) taking place in the Berry landscape.Our purpose is to analyse firstly, Sand’s concept of simplicity and the way she perceives nature, then simplicity as a component of humanity and finally simplicity revealing consummate artistry. Sand’s characters, either peasants or aristocrats sharing an idyllic life, often show this same psychological characteristic under different features: reject of affectedness, absence of duplicity, taste for naturalness and openness, longing for sublimity, innocence, ingenuousness, genuineness, naivety, etc.Aesthetically speaking, simplicity refers to all that is not composed, not prepared, and, positively, to that what is genuine, primitive, and elemental. Simplicity is also accomplished in any harmonious whole perceptible through synthetic intuition, like popular music pieces and naif works of art.Sand’s concept of simplicity also operates in other fields like rural customs and habits and society and politics, as we will show in our subsequent research.

Stethoscopes are the most commonly used medical devices for diagnosing heart conditions because they are inexpensive, noninvasive, and light enough to be carried around by a clinician. Auscultation with a stethoscope requires considerable skill and experience, but the introduction of digital stethoscopes allows for the automation of this task. Auscultation waveform segmentation, which is the process of determining the boundaries of heart sound and murmur segments, is the primary challenge in automating the diagnosis of various heart conditions. The purpose of this thesis is to improve the accuracy and efficiency of established techniques for detecting, segmenting, and classifying heart sounds and murmurs in digitized phonocardiogram audio files. Two separate segmentation techniques based on the discrete wavelet transform (DWT) and the simplicity transform are integrated into a MATLAB software system that is capable of automatically detecting and classifying sound segments. The performance of the two segmentation methods for recognizing normal heart sounds and several different heart murmurs is compared by quantifying the results with clinical and technical metrics. The two clinical metrics are the false negative detection rate (FNDR) and the false positive detection rate (FPDR), which count heart cycles rather than sound segments. The wavelet and simplicity methods have a 4% and 9% respective FNDR, so it is unlikely that either method would not detect a heart condition. However, the 22% and 0% respective FPDR signifies that the wavelet method is likely to detect false heart conditions, while the simplicity method is not. The two technical metrics are the true murmur detection rate (TMDR) and the false murmur detection rate (FMDR), which count sound segments rather than heart cycles. Both methods are equally likely to detect true murmurs given their 83% TMDR. However, the 13% and 0% respective FMDR implies that the wavelet method is susceptible to detecting false murmurs, while the simplicity method is not. Simplicity-based segmentation, therefore, demonstrates superior performance to wavelet-based segmentation, as both are equally likely to detect true murmurs, but only the simplicity method has no chance of detecting false murmurs.