Less is more

Pedagogical practices that are effective in content courses are often effective in CLIL courses too, yet one such practice – content compression – is generally neglected. Content compression is the purposeful reduction of the content to be taught; however, the CLIL literature often warns against the reduction and simplification of content for fear that it might harm students’ understanding of the subject content. This paper explains the ostensibly paradoxical result that content compression improves students’ understanding of content and shows why it is well suited to CLIL, if applied correctly. It presents content compression principles and techniques that are appropriate to content production and teaching practice in the CLIL classroom and shows how it was used to enhance language acquisition by students in a CLIL business course at a Colombian university over a period of three semesters. This experience suggested that content compression, in combination with other pedagogical practices, not only increased students’ linguistic confidence, but also enhanced their perceived learning in both content and language.

From relational equality to personal responsibility

According to relational egalitarians, equality is not primarily about the distribution of some good but about people relating to one another as equals. However, compared with other theorists in political philosophy – including other egalitarians – relational egalitarians have said relatively little on what role personal responsibility should play in their theories. For example, is equality compatible with responsibility? Should economic distributions be responsibility-sensitive? This article fills this gap. I develop a relational egalitarian framework for personal responsibility and show that relational equality commits us to responsibility. I develop two sets of arguments. First, I draw on relational theories of moral responsibility – particularly Strawsonian views – to show that valuable egalitarian relationships require responsibility. Second, I show why relational equality sometimes requires that economic distributions be sensitive to responsibility and choice. I also defend a seemingly paradoxical result: being committed to responsibility, relational egalitarianism not only justifies some distributive inequalities but some relational inequalities too. Overall, relational egalitarianism gives a nuanced and coherent answer as to why and how responsibility matters from within egalitarianism. That it does should be an important argument in its favour.

Intentional mind-wandering as intentional omission: the surrealist method

Mind-wandering seems to be paradigmatically unintentional. However, experimental findings have yielded the paradoxical result that mind-wandering can also be intentional. In this paper, we first present the paradox of intentional mind-wandering and then explain intentional mind-wandering as the intentional omission to control one’s own thoughts. Finally, we present the surrealist method for artistic production to illustrate how intentional omission of control over thoughts can be deployed towards creative endeavors.

An empirical analysis on the impact of non-performing loans on investment and economic growth and the role of political governance

Objective: To empirically analyze the link between nonperforming loans and investments along with the role of political governance. The estimation technique used is the fixed effects model including both the country and timMethods: e fixed effects. The dataset consists a panel of 103 countries with annual data over the period from 2000 to 2017. A unique composite political governance index has been prepared combining the six existing governance indicators via Principal Component Analysis (PCA). Findings: It is found that NPL has significant negative impact whereas, governance has significant positive impact on investments as per expectations. However, it is found that the negative impact of NPL on investment gets stronger in presence of good governance. This is a paradoxical result and further attempts has been made to rationalize the outcome. Applications: The study empirically proves the theory of negative impacts of NPL on investment in the economy. Furthermore, the role of political governance has been scrutinized. No prior works have been carried out on this topic. The paradoxical result in this study has opened up new areas for research. An extensive literature review has been provided along with a detailed discussion on the possible measures to tackle with the problems. JEL Classification: C3, E6, G0. Keywords: NPL; investment; political governance institutions; fixed effects model; composite political governance index

Intentional mind-wandering as intentional omission: The surrealist method

Mind-wandering seems to be paradigmatically unintentional. However, experimental findings have yielded the paradoxical result that mind-wandering can also be intentional. In this paper, we first present the paradox of intentional mind-wandering and then explain intentional mind-wandering as the intentional omission to control one’s own thoughts. Finally, we present the surrealist method for artistic production to illustrate how intentional omission to control thoughts can be deployed towards creative endeavours.

Homeostatic mechanisms may shape the type and duration of oscillatory modulation

The intricate interplay of neuromodulators, like acetylcholine, with homeostasis is well known. The interplay between oscillatory modulation and homeostasis is not. We studied oscillatory modulation and homeostasis for the first time using a simplified model of hippocampus. We report a paradoxical result: Ca-mediated homeostasis causes AMPAergic oscillations to become effectively inhibitory. This result, along with other new observations, means homeostasis might be just as complex and important for oscillations as it is for other neuromodulators.

MAGNETIC FLUX SCATTERING IN TRANSFORMERS

Existing methods do not allow measuring leakage reactance for each transformer winding separately, therefore, for simplicity, they are often assumed to be equal to each other. The purpose of the study is to substantiate the possibility of experimental determination of leakage reactance for each transformer winding separately. The dissipation reactance of each transformer winding separately can be determined by at least three experimental methods that give satisfactory agreement of the results. An almost paradoxical result – the capacitive nature of the leakage resistance of the inner winding of the transformer was obtained only for concentric cylindrical windings. It should not be generalized to other types of windings. The presented experimental methods are not tied to the character of the leakage resistance reactivity. They are universal - they can be used with any type of winding. The results obtained are recommended for use in the design and study of transformers.

Maintaining momentum on immunisation in Australia

The introduction of the National Immunisation Program 20 years ago was a catalyst for immunisation in Australia, resulting in significant improvements in immunisation coverage rates, reduced morbidity from diseases covered through the Program, and high community acceptance and support. At the same time, concerns about vaccine safety have grown, a paradoxical result of the success of vaccination and driven by a small cohort with strong anti-vaccination views. Vaccination is one of public health's greatest successes – while it's important to celebrate its success, we must also not become complacent. There is more work to be done, particularly to ensure those most at risk are also able to enjoy the benefits of immunisation.

The Risk of Variable Annuity Guarantees and Life Insurer Capital

Recently, concerns have been raised about the systemic financial threat potentially posed by life insurers. In part, these concerns have arisen because of life insurer involvement in the sales of variable annuity products with put-like performance guarantees. Guarantees expose life insurers to the market risks of mutual funds that are directed by their policyholders. In 2007, U.S. policyholders held about $500 billion in variable annuity accounts subject to guarantees issued by insurers. In this study we examine life insurer management of the risks of these guarantees, with emphasis on management of capital buffers. We introduce actuarial/regulatory and exposure-based proxies for these risks. Surprisingly, we find a robust and paradoxical result. In the years immediately prior to the Great 2008 Recession, the assumption of additional guarantee risk was associated with reductions in capital (contradicting the finite risk hypothesis),