Thematic analysis without paradox: sensemaking and context

Purpose In this paper, the authors underpin thematic analysis with a philosophical and methodological dimension and present a nuanced perspective on the application of thematic analysis in a data-driven context. Thematic analysis is a widely used qualitative analytic method; it is perceived as a transparent approach that offers single meaning. However, through Husserlian descriptive phenomenology, this paper aims to examine issues regarding subject/object and multidimensional meanings and realities. Design/methodology/approach In most extant studies, thematic analysis has become a prescriptive approach. This emerging qualitative approach has been applied to a range of studies on social and organisational issues, knowledge management and education. However, despite its wide usage, researchers are divided as to its effectiveness. Many choose quantitative approaches as an alternative, and some disagree as to what counts as the definitive framework and process for thematic analysis. Consequently, the authors provide a level of validity for thematic analysis through emphasising a specific methodological approach based on ontological and epistemological positions. Findings Contrary to the common mantra from contemporary qualitative researchers who claim thematic analysis is often based on a static and enduring approach, the current paper highlights the dynamic nature of a thematic analytic approach and offers a deeper understanding of the ways in which researchers can use the right approach to understand the emerging complex data context. Originality/value Several insights regarding the literature on thematic analysis were identified, including the current conceptualisation of thematic analysis as a dynamic approach. Understanding thematic analysis through phenomenology provides a basis on which to undertake a whole range of inclusive approaches that were previously undifferentiated from a quantitative perspective.

Achieving Sender Anonymity in Tor against the Global Passive Adversary

Tor is the de facto standard used for anonymous communication over the Internet. Despite its wide usage, Tor does not guarantee sender anonymity, even in a threat model in which the attacker passively observes the traffic at the first Tor router. In a more severe threat model, in which the adversary can perform traffic analysis on the first and last Tor routers, relationship anonymity is also broken. In this paper, we propose a new protocol extending Tor to achieve sender anonymity (and then relationship anonymity) in the most severe threat model, allowing a global passive adversary to monitor all of the traffic in the network. We compare our proposal with Tor through the lens of security in an incremental threat model. The experimental validation shows that the price we have to pay in terms of network performance is tolerable.

Rasanirdharana (Assessment of Taste) of an Extra Pharmacopoeial Drug - Cissus Latifolia Lam.

Ayurveda literatures include the descriptions of many drugs in terms of their names, properties and therapeutic usage. But there are many drugs, despite their medicinal value and wide usage among ethnic groups, left unrecorded in the classical texts. These drugs are generally termed as Anukta dravya. Action of Anukta dravya can be explained with its rasapanchaka viz. Rasa (taste), Guna (quality), Veerya (potency), Vipaka (transformation) and Prabhava (special action). Among these attributes of a drug, Rasa is the only parameter which can be assessed by direct perception. Cissus latifolia Lam. is an extra-pharmacopoeial drug with several ethnomedicinal claims. So the Rasa analysis of Cissus latifolia Lam. was done in 30 volunteers using a structured questionnaire. On analysing the data, it was found to have Kashaya rasa (astringent) and Tikta anurasa (bitter).

Summary of the Performance of V2O5 Materials as Lithium Battery Cathode

Lithium battery has recently gained more and more attention worldwide. It has wide usage that range from toys to electric cars. Choosing a suitable material that best fits the overall performance as electrode for the battery is very essential. For cathode material, apart from the traditional and widely-used LiCoO2, LiFePO4 and so on, there are innovations that include the use of V2O5. Researches have been done focusing on how to further improve the performance for V2O5 cathode in terms of different structure, forms or combination with other chemical molecules. This research paper will make a summary of the materials derived from traditional V2O5 as well as their performances.

Review of tools for road runoff quality prediction and application to European roads

Pollutants discharged by roads may impact water bodies and soils. The best method to characterize road runoff is by monitoring, which is not always possible due to human or material constraints. Therefore, prediction tools can be a valuable method to manage road runoff discharges and protect the environment. The present work reviewed and evaluated international tools for road runoff quality prediction, in order to assess if an existing tool could be suitable for wide usage by stakeholders in Europe. Four tools from the USA and Europe were selected and tested at 22 road sites located in regions with annual precipitation values ranging from 500 to 1,000 mm, from 7 European countries. The results for the SMC of TSS, Zn, Cu, Pb and Cd showed coefficients of determination (R2) from 0.0,004 to 0.2890 for the different pollutants and tools. It was concluded that none of the tools could predict the road runoff pollutant concentrations, except for the country where it has been calibrated. The findings support practitioners and researchers all over the world, pointing out directions, and gaps to be filled, regarding the management of road runoff discharges and use of prediction tools.

The Genesis and Performance of Gender Focal Person Structures in Rwanda and Uganda National Agricultural Organisations: A Critique

Gender Focal Persons (GFPs) are commonly recruited by organisations as part of institutional efforts to mainstream gender. Despite their wide usage, these structures often struggle to achieve the intended goals. The underlying factors that explain their limited success are not well understood; yet, this would inform strategies for institutionalising gender in research institutions. This paper traces the genesis and operationalisation of the gender focal person structures in Rwanda and Uganda national agricultural research organisations, to unearth factors influencing their performance. Results presented are based on document reviews and qualitative interviews with scientists, managers, and GFPs in the two organisations. We found that the GFPs hinged on individuals and donors, and operated in an ad hoc manner without streamlined procedures. The structures were not embedded in institutional frameworks, hence their low visibility within the organisations. They were characterized by informality, voluntarism, unclear terms of reference, and accountability frameworks. We conclude that the ineffective performance of the GFPs in both organisations is explained by the informal approach used to establish, operationalise, and nurture them. Institutionalising the structure would require that the pioneering champions and donors successfully negotiate the embedding of GFPs into the mainstream; eventually, guaranteeing allocation of adequate human and financial resources from national budgets, as well as the establishment of accountability systems.

A Novel qNMR Application for the Quantification of Vegetable Oils Used as Adulterants in Essential Oils

Essential oils (EOs) are more and more frequently adulterated due to their wide usage and large profit, for this reason accurate and precise authentication techniques are essential. This work aims at the application of qNMR as a versatile tool for the quantification of vegetable oils potentially usable as adulterants or diluents in EOs. This approach is based on the quantification of both 1H and 13C glycerol backbone signals, which are actually present in each vegetable oil containing triglycerides. For the validation, binary mixtures of rosemary EO and corn oil (0.8–50%) were prepared. To verify the general feasibility of this technique, other different mixtures including lavender, citronella, orange and peanut, almond, sunflower, and soy seed oils were analyzed. The results showed that the efficacy of this approach does not depend on the specific combination of EO and vegetable oil, ensuring its versatility. The method was able to determine the adulterant, with a mean accuracy of 91.81 and 89.77% for calculations made on 1H and 13C spectra, respectively. The high precision and accuracy here observed, make 1H-qNMR competitive with other well-established techniques. Considering the current importance of quality control of EOs to avoid fraudulent practices, this work can be considered pioneering and promising.

A Rare Case of Rituximab Induced Allergic Interstitial Nephritis with a Good Response to Glucocorticoids

Rituximab is a chimeric anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody that has been widely used to treat CD 20 positive hematologic malignancies and some autoimmune conditions. Although usually well tolerated, an increasing number of serious complications related to rituximab have been noted with its wide usage. We report a 67-year-old man who developed biopsy-proven Allergic Interstitial Nephritis (AIN) after treatment with rituximab for his Primary Central Nervous System Lymphoma (PCNSL). Rituximab-induced AIN was confirmed by kidney biopsy, and his kidney function improved to his baseline with supportive care and four weeks of steroid treatment. While rare, AIN could be a possible adverse effect of rituximab. To our knowledge, this is the first case report of a biopsy-proven AIN from rituximab. The association of AIN and rituximab in our case necessitates a high index of suspicion to facilitate early detection of AIN and timely discontinuation of the offending medication. Keywords: Rituximab; Drug induced allergic interstitial nephritis.

Advances in IoT and Smart Sensors for Remote Sensing and Agriculture Applications

Modern sensors find their wide usage in a variety of applications such as robotics, navigation, automation, remote sensing, underwater imaging, etc. and in recent years the sensors with advanced techniques such as the artificial intelligence (AI) play a significant role in the field of remote sensing and smart agriculture. The AI enabled sensors work as smart sensors and additionally the advent of the Internet of Things (IoT) has resulted into very useful tools in the field of agriculture by making available different types of sensor-based equipment and devices. In this paper, we have focused on an extensive study of the advances in smart sensors and IoT, employed in remote sensing and agriculture applications such as the assessment of weather conditions and soil quality; the crop monitoring; the use of robots for harvesting and weeding; the employment of drones. The emphasis has been given to specific types of sensors and sensor technologies by presenting an extensive study, review, comparison and recommendation for advancements in IoT that would help researchers, agriculturists, remote sensing scientists and policy makers in their research and implementations.

MITIGATION AND AGGRAVATION OF IMPOSITION IN RUSSIAN-LANGUAGE UNIVERSITY PROSE (IN I. GREKOVA "DEPARTMENT")

Постановка задачи. На материале университетской повести И. Грековой «Кафедра» рассматриваются продуктивные способы реализации категории аггравации импозитивности в разно- и равностатусной коммуникации, институциональном и неинституциональном общении. Коммуникативная импозитивность традиционно ассоциируется с угрозой позитивному лицу говорящего. Необходимость данного исследования обусловлена, во-первых, слабой изученностью жанра с точки зрения прагматики, а во-вторых, - выявлением лингвопрагматических особенностей, характеристики которых можно проследить в художественном дискурсе (например, авторские ремарки). Результаты. Описаны результаты анализа университетской повести И. Грековой, иллюстрирующие широкое употребление вопросительных по форме высказываний. Импозитивность данных высказываний определяется контекстуально-усилительными элементами, интенсификаторами, разговорной, оценочной и эмоциональной лексикой с отрицательной коннотацией. Подобные элементы иллюстрируют определенную элитарность и надменность коммуникантов (особенно при равностатусном общении). Частотным является использование вопросительных по форме высказываний, модифицированных частицами а, же, ну, -ка. Кроме того, рассмотрены элементы просодии и эмфатической пунктуации. Выводы. Проведенные наблюдения позволяют увидеть продуктивные средства реализации аггравации импозитивности в русскоязычной университетской прозе. Problem statement. On the basis of the university novel "Department" written by I. Grekova, the productive ways of realization of the category of aggravation of imposition in different and equal status communication as well as institutional and non-institutional communication are considered. Communicative imposition is traditionally associated with a threat to the positive face of a speaker. The need for this research is caused by, firstly, the poor study of the genre in terms of pragmatics, and secondly - the identification of linguistic and pragmatic features, the characteristics of which can be traced in fiction discourse (eg, author's remarks). Results. The results of the analysis of I. Grekova's university novel are described in the article. They illustrate a wide usage of interrogative statements. The imposition of these statements is defined with the help of contextual-amplifying elements, intensifiers, colloquial, evaluative and emotional vocabulary with negative connotation. Such elements illustrate a certain elitism and arrogance of communicants (especially in equal communication). Frequent is the use of interrogative statements modified by the particles and, but, well, just . Besides, elements of prosody and emphatic punctuation are considered. Conclusion. The conducted observations allow us to see the productive means of realization of the aggravation of imposition in Russian university prose.