“I Understood You, But There was This Pronunciation Thing…”: L2 Pronunciation Feedback in English/French Tandem Interactions

We hope that our data brings a valuable and fairly unique contribution to SLA research, helping to establish which errors get corrected and how it may have implications for setting priorities in L2 pronunciation teaching

The Provision Of Data From The COSMOS-UK Soil Moisture Monitoring Network

This paper describes the data available from COSMOS-UK, a new soil moisture monitoring network for the UK based on passive cosmic-ray moisture probes which are capable of measuring average soil water content over a circular footprint of around 350m in radius and depths of up to 0.5 m. Around 35 probes, with an associated array of meteorological and point soil moisture sensors, will be deployed across the UK in a network designed to best represent a range of soil and land cover types, complement existing scientific monitoring over a wide range of subject areas, and capture the variability in soil moisture over the country. Data will be automatically quality controlled and data streams will be openly and freely accessible via services and formats that conform to existing international standards, enabling integration with forecasting and data assimilation systems

Final Report: Task Force on Increasing Efficiency and Equity in the Use of K-12 Education Resources

On February 5, 2003, the Honorable John E. Baldacci, Governor of the State of Maine, signed an executive order establishing the Task Force on Increasing Efficiency and Equity in the Use of K-12 Education Resources, and charged it with the following duties: a. Examine all components of the K-12 education system in Maine to identify more efficient and equitable uses of resources. b. Examine state, regional, and local relationships with regard to school funding to determine practices that promote or detract from efficient and equitable use of resources. c. Consult with other study groups and stakeholders in carrying out its duties. d. Identify strategies used in other states to increase efficiencies. e. Identify incentives for improving efficiencies. f. Act as a working group to recommend to the Governor actions to produce greater elementary and secondary excellence, efficiency and equity. A copy of the entire executive order appears in Appendix A

Protein S

The Asp-His-His-Cys-Cys-rich domain-containing Protein S-Acyl Transferases (PATs) are multipass transmembrane proteins that catalyze S-acylation (commonly known as S-palmitoylation), the reversible posttranslational lipid modification of proteins. Palmitoylation enhances the hydrophobicity of proteins, contributes to their membrane association, and plays roles in protein trafficking and signaling. In Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana), there are at least 24 PATs; previous studies on two PATs established important roles in growth, development, and stress responses. In this study, we identified a, to our knowledge, novel PAT, AtPAT14, in Arabidopsis. Complementation studies in yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) and Arabidopsis demonstrate that AtPAT14 possesses PAT enzyme activity. Disruption of AtPAT14 by T-DNA insertion resulted in an accelerated senescence phenotype. This coincided with increased transcript levels of some senescence-specific and pathogen-resistant marker genes. We show that early senescence of pat14 does not involve the signaling molecules jasmonic acid and abscisic acid, or autophagy, but associates with salicylic acid homeostasis and signaling. This strongly suggests that AtPAT14 plays a pivotal role in regulating senescence via salicylic acid pathways. Senescence is a complex process required for normal plant growth and development and requires the coordination of many genes and signaling pathways. However, precocious senescence results in loss of biomass and seed production. The negative regulation of leaf senescence by AtPAT14 in Arabidopsis highlights, to our knowledge for the first time, a specific role for palmitoylation in leaf senescence

A Cationic Diode Based on Asymmetric Nafion® Film Deposits

A thin film of Nafion®, of approximately 5 microm thickness, asymmetrically deposited onto a 6 microm thick film of poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) fabricated with a 5, 10, 20, or 40 microm microhole, is shown to exhibit prominent ionic diode behaviour involving cation charge carrier ("cationic diode"). The phenomenon is characterized via voltammetric, chronoamperometric, and impedance methods. Phenomenologically, current rectification effects are comparable to those observed in nano-cone devices where space-charge layer effects dominate. However, for microhole diodes a resistive, a limiting, and an over-limiting potential domain can be identified and concentration polarization in solution is shown to dominate in the closed state.</p

The Relationship of Left Ventricular Trabeculation to Ventricular Function and Structure Over a 9.5-Year Follow-Up The MESA Study

Left ventricular (LV) trabeculation is highly variable among individuals and is increased in some diseases (e.g., congenital heart disease or cardiomyopathies), but its significance in population-representative individuals is unknown

Ionic diodes based on regenerated α-cellulose films deposited asymmetrically onto a microhole

Cellulose films of approximately 5 mm thickness, reconstituted from ionic liquid media onto a poly-ethylene-terephthalate (PET) film with a 5, 10, 20, or 40 mm diameter microhole, show current rectification when immersed in aqueous NaCl. For “asymmetric cellulose deposits” this rectification, or ionic diode behaviour, is then investigated as a function of ionic strength and microhole diameter. Future applications are envisaged in sustainable cellulose-based desalination, sensing, or energy harvesting processes<br/

Introduction: Special issue on knowledge and use of the lexicon in French as a second language

This is the first volume which exclusively focuses on vocabulary acquisition of L2 learners of French. All other volumes on the L2 acquisition of French have so far ignored this dimension. The issue is timely, because of the growing importance of vocabulary in the SLA research agenda, but also because research into vocabulary acquisition appears at the top of a list of areas in which teachers of Modern Foreign Languages are most interested (Macaro, 2003: 6).While it is difficult to assess the importance of all six articles for our understanding of lexical dimensions of language proficiency, it is clear that a key aspect of this volume is a methodological one: the tools and measures used in this study – many of which were developed by members of the M4 Applied Linguistics Network –make it possible to carry out valid and reliable analyses of learner’s knowledge across a range of national and educational contexts. The research community will also no doubt find it helpful to see how all tools and measures are evaluated in the different studies