The perfectionist call of intelligibility : secondary English, creative writing, and moral education

This article puts forward moral-philosophical arguments for re-building and re-thinking secondary-level (high-school equivalent) English studies around creative writing practices. I take it that when educators and policy makers talk about such entities as the “well-rounded learner,” what we have, or should have, in mind is moral agents whose capacities for moral dialogue, judgement, and discourse are increased as a result of their formal educational experiences. In its current form, secondary English is built mainly, though not exclusively, around reading assessment; around, that is, demonstration of students’ “comprehension” of texts. There is little or no sense that the tradition and practice of literary criticism upon which this type of assessment is based is a writerly tradition. By making writing practices central to what it is to do English in the secondary classroom, I argue that we stand a better chance at helping students develop their capacities for self-expression, for articulating their developing webs of belief and for scrutinizing those webs of belief. I thus wish to think about English and Creative Writing Studies in light of Cavell’s moral perfectionism, and to conceive of it as an arts-practical subject and a mode by which one might, in Baldacchino’s sense, undergo a process of “unlearning.” My arguments are tailored to the English educational context.

Extended–spectrum–beta-lactamases, cephalosporinases and carbapenemase-producing Escherichia coli in the human-dog interface

Tese de Doutoramento em Ciências Veterinárias na Especialidade de Ciências Biológicas e BiomédicasExtended–spectrum–beta-lactamases (ESBLs), cephalosporinases (encoded by the ESBLs and Ampc genes, respectively) and carbapenemase–producing Escherichia coli have become a major public health concern to both human and animal health. Urinary tract infections (UTI) are one of the most frequent bacterial infections in both human and companion animals. Uropathogenic E. coli (UPEC), belonging to extraintestinal pathogenic E. coli (ExPEC), is the most common bacterium isolated from companion animals. Moreover, the close contact of companion animals with humans creates opportunities for interspecies transmission of resistant bacteria and genes. E. coli from companion animals with UTI were found to harbour important antimicrobial resistance mechanisms and to belong to high-risk human clonal lineages, namely third-generation cephalosporin (3GC)-resistant E. coli O25b:H4-B2-ST131-H30/H30Rx, CC23 and ST648. In this work E. coli O25b:H4-ST131-H30/H30Rx was described for the first time in Europe in companion animals. Furthermore, the blaCMY-2 producing E. coli ST648 is the most common high-risk clonal lineage causing UTI in companion animals from the Lisbon area. Companion animals also seem to be reservoirs of bacteria and clinically important resistance genes, such β-lactams genes (classe A and C) which supports their role as reservoirs. The detection of faecal high-risk clone OXA-181-producing- E. coli ST410 strains that were closely related to uropathogenic clinical human strains was also an important finding and to our best knowledge was the first description in Portugal and Europe. These studies highligth the importance of companion animals as reservoirs of pathogenic E. coli harbouring important antimicrobial resistant genes. The emergence and spread of multidrug-resistant (MDR) E. coli in the natural environment by companion animal faecal contamination is also a concern towards animal and human health. These results point to need for control measures to prevent the dissemination of MDR ESBLs/AmpC and carbapenemases – producing bacteria from companion animals.RESUMO - Escherichia coli produtora de Beta-lactamases de Espectro Alargado e Carbapenemases na interface Homem-cão - A Escherichia coli produtora de beta-lactamases de espectro alargado (ESBLs / Ampc) e de carbapenemase tornou-se uma grande preocupação de saúde pública em termos de saúde humana e animal. As infeções do trato urinário (ITU) são uma das infeções bacterianas mais frequentes nos humanos e nos animais de companhia. A E. coli uropatogénica pertencente à família da E. coli patogénica extra-intestinal é a bactéria mais comum isolada em animais de companhia. Além disso, o contato próximo dos animais de companhia com os seres humanos permite oportunidades para a transmissão de bactérias resistentes e genes entre as espécies. Descobriu-se que E. coli de animais de companhia com ITU possuiem importantes mecanismos de resistência antimicrobiana e pertencem a linhagens clonais humanas de alto risco, nomeadamente, E. coli resistente as cefalosporinas de terceira geração (3GC) O25b: H4-B2-ST131-H30 / H30Rx, CC23 e ST648. Neste trabalho, a E. coli O25b: H4-ST131-H30 / H30Rx foi descrita pela primeira vez na Europa em animais de companhia. Além disso, a E. coli ST648 produtora de blaCMY-2 é a linhagem clonal de alto risco mais comum que causa ITU em animais de companhia na área de Lisboa. Os animais de companhia podem ser também potenciais reservatórios de bactérias e de genes de resistência clinicamente importantes, como os genes das β-lactamases (classes A e C). A detecção de estirpes fecais de linhagens clonais de alto risco E. coli produtora de OXA-181 ST410, relacionadas com estirpes clínicas uropatógenicas humanas foi também um achado importante e para nosso conhecimento foi a primeira descrição em Portugal e na Europa. Estes estudos destacam a importância dos animais de companhia como reservatórios de E. coli patogénica que contém importantes genes de resistência a antimicrobianos. O aparecimento e disseminação de E. coli multirresistente (MDR) no ambiente natural por contaminação fecal de animais de companhia é também uma preocupação para a saúde humana e animal. Estes resultados apontam para a necessidade de medidas de controlo para prevenir a disseminação de bactérias produtoras de ESBLs / AmpC e carbapenemases por animais de companhia.N/

Creative writing: mapping the subject

[From the introduction] My aim is to stitch together a three-part patchwork, to piece together some thoughts on: (i) Creative Writing as an academic discipline; (ii) the textual dynamics and contradictory cultural logic of the map; and (iii) knowledge, particularly the talk of ‘knowledge-based’ education that has driven recent reform in secondary education. Under the influence of Michel de Certeau and in light of an examination of the work of the map and of mapping, i will argue that Creative Writing, while it exemplifies a very real mode of knowing, is not and cannot be recognized as a site or space of knowledge by England’s current secondary-educational politics

Development of antibacterial hemp hurd/poly(lactic acid) biocomposite for food packaging

Contemporary research in food packaging is being progressively focused on the development of biodegradable food packaging from biobased materials for exploring alternatives to traditional, non-biodegradable petroleum based plastics. Consequently, bioplastics are increasingly gaining attention in the food packaging industry because of their potential of biodegradability and versatility in processing. The utilization of bioplastics however is limited because of their inherent shortcomings in thermal and mechanical stability. Recently, bioderived fillers and plant fibres are being extensively used to address the thermo-mechanical stability and to lower the overall material cost in comparison to the baseline bioplastics. Incorporation of biobased fillers and functional nanoparticles to bioplastics not only offers functionality but also enhances the cost-to-performance ratio of the biocomposites. To that end, this study focused on the development of cost effective, biodegradable, and functional food packaging material. Poly(lactic acid) has been used in food packaging to replace conventional petroleum based plastics, because it possesses higher mechanical properties, greater versatility in process selection and it is deemed safe for use in food contact. However, apart from the high cost, a major shortcoming of poly(lactic acid) is a slow crystallization, and hence often requiring an added nucleating agent. The addition of low cost biobased filler to poly(lactic acid) not only lowers the overall material cost but also accelerates crystallization kinetics acting as a nucleating agent. Industrial hemp hurd is explored as a biobased filler with poly(lactic acid) for biocomposites to lower material cost and to address environmental concerns associated with plastic recycling. However, a major concern for the combination of biobased fillers with polymer matrices to produce biocomposites is the weak fibre-matrix interfacial bonding. In recent years, several forms of glycidyl methacrylate-grafted polyolefins have been prepared through reactive extrusion or solution copolymerization to address this issue. The glycidyl methacrylate grafted copolymer is a potential compatibilizing agent for reducing the interfacial incompatibility in biocomposites. Hence, development of functional biocomposites for food packaging with poly(lactic acid) as bioplastic matrix, hemp hurd as biobased filler and glycidyl methacrylate as compatibilizer was the goal of this study. Accordingly, a biocomposite was developed using extrusion and injection moulding utilizing hemp hurd and poly(lactic acid) with properties comparable to poly(lactic acid) with grafting based interfacial compatibilization. Interfacial compatibility between poly(lactic acid) and hemp hurd increased with grafted glycidyl methacrylate in comparison to the noncompatibilized control, as corroborated by scanning electron microscopy fractography. The mechanical properties showed increases in the glycidyl methacrylate-grafted hemp hurd/poly(lactic acid) biocomposite, retaining 94% of the neat polymer strength, with increases in crystallinity at 20% (w/w) loading of hemp hurd. The impact strength data demonstrated that the addition of GMA possesses the potential of improving physical and mechanical properties of HH/PLA composites. The onset of thermal decomposition of the biocomposites obtained through TGA was marginally lower than that of neat PLA. The antibacterial property of hemp hurd is anecdotally reported, but not systematically investigated and reported. In this study, the antibacterial activity of hemp hurd against Escherichia coli was investigated. The antibacterial activity of hemp hurd inhibiting the growth of E. coli was significant. To further increase the antibacterial efficacy of hemp hurd, silver nanoparticles was encapsulated into hemp hurd that exhibited high effectiveness. The silver nanoparticles were synthesized into the hemp hurd using a proprietary method developed in collaboration with Ecofibre Pty Ltd. The inclusion of glycidyl methacrylate further assisted in elastic moduli and strength increase at 10–30 wt. % fraction of silver nanoparticle-loaded hemp hurd in poly(lactic acid), with 20 wt. % hemp hurd-filled biocomposite exhibiting the highest range of properties within the biocomposites investigated. Effective antibacterial activity was achieved with distinct decreases of 85% and 89% in bacterial growth at 0.025 wt. % and 0.05 wt. % loading of silver nanoparticle in the biocomposite. The biocomposites also maintained a safe level of heavy metal migration at 0.20–3.08 mg/kg which meets the European Union (EU) legislation (2002/72/EC), substantially lower than the permitted value of 60 mg/kg. Overall, the properties of these developed biocomposites demonstrated discernible potential in development of food packaging applications. Cost-benefit analysis was performed to assess the viability in commercial manufacturing for producing rigid food packaging. The biocomposite sensitivity and financial analyses provided data on the degree and magnitude of uncertainties related to investment to afford better product design, and establish the potential of PLA-industrial hemp biocomposites for food packaging applications. The findings of this study could create a platform upon which packaging designers, food scientists and engineers could initiate to employ biobased materials in their food packaging solutions

Uzroci požara vozila

U ovome članku osvrnut ćemo se na požare vozila koji nastaju samozapaljenjem. U praksi se često postavlja pitanje mogućnosti samozapaljenja vozila, posebno ako je vozilo u mirovanju. Ukoliko se radi o vozilu neke javne (poznate) osobe, koje je još k tome i renomirane marke, tada je sumnja još i veća. Zapaljenje vozila zbog tehničkog kvara (tzv. samozapaljenje vozila) relativno je rijetko ali se, nažalost, događa. Događa se kada je vozilo u kretanju, u stajanju s motorom u radu, kao i mirovanju kod parkiranog vozila s ugašenim motorom. U svim slučajevima, zadatak vještaka je utvrditi uzrok nastanka požara

Subject English as citizenship education

This article is equal parts educational history and political philosophy. We aim to remind readers that subject English (SE) and indeed state education emerge from the contradictory impulses of classical liberalism, and that, more than simply resembling citizenship education, SE emerges in the first instance as a form of highly normativising citizenship education. We further argue that, following England's recent educational reforms initiated by former Education Secretary Michael Gove, SE continues to be framed in moral terms consistent with citizenship education—again, of a highly normativising sort. England's current educational policy generally, and specifically the framing of SE, employs the language of liberal possibility, while ultimately espousing an invidious exclusionary and assimilationist politics. The framing of SE, moreover, is one that misrepresents the supposedly ‘rich and varied literary heritage’ it is supposed to exemplify and promote. The current political landscape in which the study of literature takes place is one where a crisis of liberalism is manifest (in terms of populism, radicalisation or apathy). However, we do not believe the answer is to retreat into a sealed, hermetic canon that excludes the reality that England and English literature are fundamentally multicultural and polyethnic. SE will be the poorer for not fully acknowledging and embodying this, for not enabling students to imaginatively and critically engage with characters and experiences that reflect both the present and long‐standing diversity of English society, as well as its present and long‐standing inequalities

Convolutional neural networks for modeling and forecasting nonlinear nonstationary processes

The object of research. The object of research is modeling and forecasting nonlinear nonstationary processes presented in the form of time-series data. Investigated problem. There are several popular approaches to solving the problems of adequate model constructing and forecasting nonlinear nonstationary processes, such as autoregressive models and recurrent neural networks. However, each of them has its advantages and drawbacks. Autoregressive models cannot deal with the nonlinear or combined influence of previous states or external factors. Recurrent neural networks are computationally expensive and cannot work with sequences of high length or frequency. The main scientific result. The model for forecasting nonlinear nonstationary processes presented in the form of the time series data was built using convolutional neural networks. The current study shows results in which convolutional networks are superior to recurrent ones in terms of both accuracy and complexity. It was possible to build a more accurate model with a much fewer number of parameters. It indicates that one-dimensional convolutional neural networks can be a quite reasonable choice for solving time series forecasting problems. The area of practical use of the research results. Forecasting dynamics of processes in economy, finances, ecology, healthcare, technical systems and other areas exhibiting the types of nonlinear nonstationary processes. Innovative technological product. Methodology of using convolutional neural networks for modeling and forecasting nonlinear nonstationary processes presented in the form of time-series data. Scope of the innovative technological product. Nonlinear nonstationary processes presented in the form of time-series data

P-hacking in Clinical Trials: A Meta-Analytical Approach

Clinical trials play a decisive role in the drug approval processes. By completing a p-curve analysis of a newly compiled data set that consists of thousands of clinical trials, we substantiate that the occurrence of p-hacking in clinical trials is not merely hypothetical. Medical and pharmaceutical research consists of both primary and secondary study endpoints. The primary finding covers the main effect, which directly influences the approval process, while the secondary outcome delivers further additional information. For primary p-curves, we observed an abnormal increase in the p-value frequency at common significance thresholds, while the secondary p-curves exhibited no such anomaly

Contribution à la formulation d’une pâte autoplaçante à base de matériaux locaux

Ce travail a pour but la formulation d’une pâte autoplaçante de ciment à base de matériaux locaux algériens (ciment binaire à base d’une pouzzolane naturelle algérienne et fillers calcaires de carrière). Plusieurs pâtes ont été confectionnées à partir du ciment, des fillers calcaires (substituant un taux croissant du ciment), du superplastifiant et de l’eau. L'ouvrabilité et la fluidité des pâtes formées sont déduites des essais del’étalement au mini-cône et du temps d’écoulement au cône de Marsh respectivement. A partir de ces essais considérés comme préliminaires, un domaine expérimental est déduit, a l'intérieur duquel les mesures sont possibles. Par utilisation de la méthode des plans de mélanges, le nombre d'expériences sera considérablement réduit, le problème a été mis en équations (sous forme de contraintes implicites) puis résolu numériquement. Des critères d'optimalisation sont vérifiés en plus des interactivités entre constituants pris deux à deux grâce à des essais faisant intervenir les multiples combinaisons en dosages de ces matériaux. En passant par des courbes des diagrammes ternaires, reliant les réponses étalements et temps d’écoulement des pâtes en fonction des dosages en constituants et en étudiant les fonctions de désirabilités sur chaque réponse: une composition de pâte autoplaçante est déduite.Mots-clés : Formulation, propriétés rhéologiques, plans de mélanges,  iagrammes ternaires, pâte de ciment autoplaçante