A hopeful future for mobile language learning

Mobile language learning has long inspired teachers and researchers to innovate, improve their classroom practice and enhance learning for their students, but the Covid-19 pandemic drew attention to more far-reaching educational challenges that could be addressed through the adoption of mobile approaches to learning. From a position of optimism and hope, the chapter sets out some of those educational challenges and the ways in which mobile learning offers multiple ways of responding to them. Language education plays a central role, as it aims to empower individuals and communities, to promote intercultural understanding and to connect people by equipping them to overcome linguistic barriers in communication. At the same time, teachers and learners are living through difficult times and any innovations should be introduced appropriately. The chapter outlines reasons to be hopeful, in the context of profound changes that are taking place in digital and online learning. It offers observations regarding interrelationships between languages and mobile technologies and their relationships with informal learning, where learners are leading the way. Out of these reflections arise some pointers towards possible and desirable futures for mobile language learning around the world

IQGAP1 and NWASP promote human cancer cell dissemination and metastasis by regulating β1-integrin via FAK and MRTF/SRF

Attachment of circulating tumor cells to the endothelial cells (ECs) lining blood vessels is a critical step in cancer metastatic colonization, which leads to metastatic outgrowth. Breast and prostate cancers are common malignancies in women and men, respectively. Here, we observe that β1-integrin is required for human prostate and breast cancer cell adhesion to ECs under shear-stress conditions in vitro and to lung blood vessel ECs in vivo. We identify IQGAP1 and neural Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome protein (NWASP) as regulators of β1-integrin transcription and protein expression in prostate and breast cancer cells. IQGAP1 and NWASP depletion in cancer cells decreases adhesion to ECs in vitro and retention in the lung vasculature and metastatic lung nodule formation in vivo. Mechanistically, NWASP and IQGAP1 act downstream of Cdc42 to increase β1-integrin expression both via extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK)/focal adhesion kinase signaling at the protein level and by myocardin-related transcription factor/serum response factor (SRF) transcriptionally. Our results identify IQGAP1 and NWASP as potential therapeutic targets to reduce early metastatic dissemination

New insights into morphological adaptation in common mole‐rats (<i>Cryptomys hottentotus hottentotus</i>) along an aridity gradient

Morphological adaptation is the change in the form of an organism that benefits the individual in its current habitat. Mole‐rats (family Bathyergidae), despite being subterranean, are impacted by both local and broad‐scale environmental conditions that occur above ground. Common mole‐rats (Cryptomys hottentotus hottentotus) present an ideal mammalian model system for the study of morphological variation in response to ecology, as this species is found along an aridity gradient and thus can be sampled from geographically non‐overlapping populations of the same species along an environmental longitudinal cline. Using the mass of five internal organs, ten skeletal measurements and 3D morphometric analyses of skulls, we assessed the morphology of wild non‐breeding individuals from five common mole‐rat populations in South Africa. We found that the body mass and mean relative mass of the spleen and kidneys in arid populations was larger, and individuals from arid regions possessed shorter legs and larger inter‐shoulder widths compared to individuals from mesic regions. Additionally, arid populations demonstrated greater skull depth, and shape change of features such as angular processes of the lower jaw than mesic individuals, indicating that these distinct geographic populations show differences corresponding to the aridity gradient, potentially in response to environmental factors such as the variation in food sources found between different habitats, in addition to different soil compositions found in the different regions. Arid populations potentially require a stronger jaw and neck musculature associated with mastication to chew xeric‐adapted plants and to dig through hard soil types, whereas mesic populations excavate through soft, looser soil and may make use of their front limbs to aid the movement of soils when digging. Aridity influences the morphology of this species and could indicate the impact of environmental changes on speciation and mammalian skull morphology

[Book Review] Sustainable justice <b>Sustainability for the Forgotten</b> <i>Gary E. Machlis</i> University of Utah Press, 2024. 262 pp.

The needs of marginalized groups must be central to sustainability goals, argues a sociologis

Navigating Commitments: A Two-Country Game Theoretic Model Assessing Citizen Influence on IEA compliance

In this paper, we present an innovative approach that integrates machine learning and game theory into a game theoretic model involving two countries, incorporating predictive citizen influence. As part of the research, we carried out two surveys to assess citizens’ attitudes towards climate change, and whether these were persistent over time. Using a machine learning model, we attempt to predict people's attitudes towards environmental risk. Using the predictions as input into a game theoretic model, encompassing factors that influence whether a country will continue to comply with their commitments made in ratifying an International Environmental Agreement (IEA). We explore the integration of machine learning predictions and game theory dynamics, providing insights into the potential and challenges of this interdisciplinary approach. Our findings reveal a significant discrepancy between the level of concern about environmental risk in the population and the sustained level of population concern required by the game theoretic model to influence governmental commitments Also, we delve into the reasons behind this discrepancy, and discuss potential strategies to mitigate the loss of focus on the need of societal changes to address the impact of climate change. The research presented is part of the broader research project investigating the engagement of citizens and NGOs to influence governments and intergovernmental bodies to uphold their commitments on climate change

Ethno-religious Minorities and Electoral Politics in Iran

The electoral politics of post-revolutionary Iran are often portrayed in Western media and academic analyses as an enduring battle between reform-oriented pragmatism and varying shades of conservatism. What is less well-covered is the experience of Iran’s ethnic and religious minorities in terms of their engagement with and experiences of electoral processes in the country. This article aims to advance understanding of political participation of ethnic and religious minorities and their place in the electoral system in Iran. The primary focus will be on presidential election turnout in three provinces which contain populations that are commonly understood to be largely distinct in both ethnic and religious terms from the Persian and Shi’i majority in the country – the largely Sunni provinces of Kurdistan, Sistan-Baluchistan and West Azerbaijan. The article uses data from official government sources, as well as interviews to highlight the local insights, to explore differences in election turnout in the three cases. In doing so, it illustrates the often stark differences between participation rates in these provinces compared to overall turnout. It also highlights how turnout has tended to peak around the rising popularity of reformist candidates, and underscores how participation tends to be influenced by the prominence of local leaders’ engagement with national electoral processes

Performance of a simplified strategy for formula constant optimisation in intraocular lens power calculation

Purpose: To investigate the performance of a simple prediction scheme for the formula constants optimised for a mean refractive prediction error. Methods: Analysis based on a dataset of 888 eyes before and after cataract surgery with IOL implantation (Hoya Vivinex). IOLMaster 700 biometric data, power of the implanted lens and postoperative spherical equivalent refraction were used to calculate the optimised constants (.)opt for SRKT, HofferQ, Holladay and Haigis formula with an iterative nonlinear optimisation. For detuning start values by ±1.5 from (.)opt, the predicted formula constants (.)pred were calculated and compared with (.)opt. Formula performance metrics mean (MPE), median (MEDPE), mean absolute (MAPE), median absolute (MEDAPE), root mean squared (RMSPE) and standard deviation (SDPE) of the formula prediction error were analysed for (.)opt and (.)pred. Results: (.)pred – (.)opt showed a 2nd order parabolic behaviour with maximal deviations up to 0.09 at the tails of detuning and a minimal deviation up to −0.01 for all formulae. The performance curves of different metrics of PE as functions of detuning variations show that the formula constants for zeroing MPE and MEDPE yield almost identical formula constants, optimisation for MAPE, MEDAPE and RMSPE yielded formula constants very close to (.)opt, and optimisation for SDPE could result in formula constants up to 0.5 off (.)opt which is unacceptable for clinical use. Conclusion: This simple prediction scheme for formula constant optimisation for zero mean refraction error performs excellently in our monocentric dataset, even for larger deviations of the start value from (.)opt. Further studies with multicentric data and larger sample sizes are required to investigate the performance in a clinical setting further

Promoting workplace retention during global crises: An international survey of the preventive role of psychological support among victims of social discrimination in long-term care facilities

This international cross-sectional survey examined the potential role of organizational psychological support in mitigating the association between experiencing social discrimination against long-term care (LTC) facilities’ healthcare professionals (HCPs) and their intention to stay in the current workplace during the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants included a convenience sample of 2,143 HCPs (nurses [21.5 %], nurse aids or residential care workers [40.1 %], social workers [12.1 %], and others [26.4 %]) working at 223 LTC facilities in 13 countries/regions. About 37.5 % of the participants reported experiencing social discrimination, and the percentage ranged from 15.3 % to 77.9 % across countries/regions. Controlling for socio-demographic and work-related variables, experiencing social discrimination was significantly associated with a lower intention to stay, whereas receiving psychological support showed a statistically significant positive association (p-value=0.015 and <0.001, respectively). The interaction term between social discrimination and psychological support showed a statistically significant positive association with the intention to stay, indicating a moderating role of the psychological support

The Homburg‐Adelaide toric IOL nomogram: How to predict corneal power vectors from preoperative IOLMaster 700 keratometry and total corneal power in toric IOL implantation

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to compare the reconstructed corneal power (RCP) by working backwards from the post‐implantation spectacle refraction and toric intraocular lens power and to develop the models for mapping preoperative keratometry and total corneal power to RCP. Methods: Retrospective single‐centre study involving 442 eyes treated with a monofocal and trifocal toric IOL (Zeiss TORBI and LISA). Keratometry and total corneal power were measured preoperatively and postoperatively using IOLMaster 700. Feedforward neural network and multilinear regression models were derived to map keratometry and total corneal power vector components (equivalent power EQ and astigmatism components C0 and C45) to the respective RCP components. Results: Mean preoperative/postoperative C0 for keratometry and total corneal power was −0.14/−0.08 dioptres and −0.30/−0.24 dioptres. All mean C45 components ranged between −0.11 and −0.20 dioptres. With crossvalidation, the neural network and regression models showed comparable results on the test data with a mean squared prediction error of 0.20/0.18 and 0.22/0.22 dioptres2 and on the training data the neural network models outperformed the regression models with 0.11/0.12 and 0.22/0.22 dioptres2 for predicting RCP from preoperative keratometry/total corneal power. Conclusions: Based on our dataset, both the feedforward neural network and multilinear regression models showed good precision in predicting the power vector components of RCP from preoperative keratometry or total corneal power. With a similar performance in crossvalidation and a simple implementation in consumer software, we recommend implementation of regression models in clinical practice

Female Agency in the Ancient Mediterranean World

Female agency in the ancient world has long been implicitly, and on a few occasions explicitly, examined in classical scholarship, but few of these studies begin with a unified theoretical framework or set of approaches (with some notable exceptions). Female Agency in the Ancient Mediterranean World departs from these important studies by beginning with a definition of the aforementioned concept of ‘female agency’ that acknowledges that all social agents, female and otherwise, were and are relational and multidimensional beings, and that agency was and is relational. This volume’s conceptual points of departure allow contributors to consider women as social agents in ancient cultures and as relationally embedded and integrated in various cultural systems, even under conditions of oppression, by providing contextualised examples of women acting on their varying degrees of agency. Contributions are organised broadly chronologically in order to trace the breadth and shifting patterns of female agency throughout the ancient Mediterranean world from the 7th century BCE to the 6th century CE. Case studies include Katherine McDonald on the dynamics of female agency in pre-Roman through a close examination of the epigraphic record; Karolina Frank on women’s oracular inquiries at Dodona and Brenda Longfellow on how Pompeian women, through their funerary inscriptions, can show, from different angles, the needs, desires, and agency of women from a range of social circumstances