Long continuously chirped fibre Bragg gratings for compensation of linear- and 3rd order-dispersion

For the first time long broadband chirped fibre Bragg gratings with a dispersion profile designed to compensate 3rd order-dispersion are presented. These results demonstrate how the increased demands for dispersion compensation at very high bit-rates can be met using chirped fibre Bragg grating

Frequency of educational computer use as a longitudinal predictor of educational outcomes in young people with specific language impairment

Computer use draws on linguistic abilities. Using this medium thus presents challenges for young people with Specific Language Impairment (SLI) and raises questions of whether computer-based tasks are appropriate for them. We consider theoretical arguments predicting impaired performance and negative outcomes relative to peers without SLI versus the possibility of positive gains. We examine the relationship between frequency of computer use (for leisure and educational purposes) and educational achievement; in particular examination performance at the end of compulsory education and level of educational progress two years later. Participants were 49 young people with SLI and 56 typically developing (TD) young people. At around age 17, the two groups did not differ in frequency of educational computer use or leisure computer use. There were no associations between computer use and educational outcomes in the TD group. In the SLI group, after PIQ was controlled for, educational computer use at around 17 years of age contributed substantially to the prediction of educational progress at 19 years. The findings suggest that educational uses of computers are conducive to educational progress in young people with SLI

Indigenous Resilience in Australia: A Scoping Review Using a Reflective Decolonizing Collective Dialogue

Contemporary definitions and understandings of resilience refer to an individual's positive adaptation to the experience of adversity. One of the challenges of this extant body of work is that the central concept of resilience is rarely questioned. Current understandings of these concepts, largely framed in Western understandings, are unquestioningly accepted, reframed for, yet not by, Indigenous peoples, and then are unchallenged when imposed on Indigenous peoples. A scoping review was conducted and reported in line with the PRISMA-ScR guidelines. The review involved the participation of local Aboriginal Research Cultural Advisory Groups who participated and approved the analysis of the findings and collaborated on the design and writing of the paper. Eight publications drew on Aboriginal constructs of resilience in examining the effectiveness of programs, processes, and practices to promote individual and/or collective resilience and well-being. Most studies emphasized the need for strategies to strengthen individual or community connection to culture to foster resilience. Six studies used culturally validated strength-based tools to measure resilience, while two relied on Western constructs. This review reveals both the distinctive colonial characteristics of adversity experienced by Aboriginal people and the range of coping strategies and protective resources that support the development of resilience within different Aboriginal communities in diverse research sites across Australia. Importantly, many studies confirm adversity is linked to the enduring legacies of colonization, continuous and cumulative transgenerational grief and loss, structural inequities, racism, and discrimination. These external factors of adversity are unique to Aboriginal populations, as are the protective factors that entail strengthening connection to culture (including language reclamation), community, ancestry and land (including management and economic development) which contribute to individual and collective resilience. These findings suggest that Aboriginal community resilience is strengthened through the collective experience of adversity, such as transgenerational grief and loss, and the resulting support structures and shared resources that are developed and maintained through cultural practices to strengthen the bonds and mutual reciprocity to participate in transformative strategies to address adversity. This review highlights that strategies such as building on community strengths, capacities, and resources is critical when strengthening resilience within Indigenous communities across Australia

Do emotional difficulties and peer problems hew together from childhood to adolescence? The case of children with a history of developmental language disorder (DLD)

Children and adolescents with developmental language disorder (DLD) are, overall, vulnerable to difficulties in emotional adjustment and in peer relations. However, previous research has shown that different subgroups follow different trajectories in respect of quality of peer relations. Less is known of the trajectories of emotional development. We consider here the possibility that development in these two domains is interrelated: that is, the trajectories of emotional and peer problems will proceed in parallel. We conducted longitudinal joint trajectories analyses of emotional and peer relations in a sample of young people identified as having DLD at age 7 years and seen at intervals up to 16 years. Potential influences on joint trajectory group membership were examined. Findings revealed five distinct joint trajectories. Emotional and peer difficulties do hew together from childhood to adolescence for just over half of the sample, but not all. The variables most clearly associated with group membership were pragmatic language ability, prosociality and parental mental health. This is the first study to examine joint longitudinal trajectories of emotional and peer difficulties in individuals with DLD. We demonstrate that development in individuals with DLD is heterogeneous and identify three key variables associated with personal and social adjustment from childhood to adolescence. Theoretical and clinical implications of these findings are discussed

Experimental Constraints on the Neutrino Oscillations and a Simple Model of Three Flavour Mixing

A simple model of the neutrino mixing is considered, which contains only one right-handed neutrino field, coupled via the mass term to the three usual left-handed fields. This is a simplest model that allows for three-flavour neutrino oscillations. The existing experimental limits on the neutrino oscillations are used to obtain constraints on the two free mixing parameters of the model. A specific sum rule relating the oscillation probabilities of different flavours is derived.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figures in post script, Latex, IFT 2/9

The Middle Way: East Asian masters students’ perceptions of critical argumentation in U.K. universities.

The paper explores the learning experiences of East Asian masters students in dealing with Western academic norms of critical thinking in classroom debate and assignment writing. The research takes a cultural approach, and employs grounded theory and case study methodology, the aims being for students to explain their perceptions of their personal learning journeys. The data suggest that the majority of students interviewed rejected full academic acculturation into Western norms of argumentation. They instead opted for a ‘Middle Way’ that synergizes the traditional cultural academic values held by many East Asian students with those elements of Western academic norms that are perceived to be aligned with these. This is a relatively new area of research which represents a challenge for British lecturers and students

Z' Decays into Four Fermions

If a new $Z'$ is discovered with a mass $\sim 1 \ TeV$ at LHC/SSC, its (rare) decays into two charged leptons plus missing transverse energy will probe the $Z'$ coupling to the lepton doublet $(\nu,e)_L$ and to $W^+W^-$, allowing further discrimination among extended electroweak models.Comment: 9 pages plus 1 figure (not included but available), UG-FT-22/9