Heterogeneously catalyzed lignin depolymerization

Biomass offers a unique resource for the sustainable production of bio-derived chemical and fuels as drop-in replacements for the current fossil fuel products. Lignin represents a major component of lignocellulosic biomass, but is particularly recalcitrant for valorization by existing chemical technologies due to its complex cross-linking polymeric network. Here, we highlight a range of catalytic approaches to lignin depolymerisation for the production of aromatic bio-oil and monomeric oxygenates

International lower limb collaborative (INTELLECT) study: a multicentre, international retrospective audit of lower extremity open fractures

Trauma remains a major cause of mortality and disability across the world1, with a higher burden in developing nations2. Open lower extremity injuries are devastating events from a physical3, mental health4, and socioeconomic5 standpoint. The potential sequelae, including risk of chronic infection and amputation, can lead to delayed recovery and major disability6. This international study aimed to describe global disparities, timely intervention, guideline-directed care, and economic aspects of open lower limb injuries

Medium of instruction ideologies: accommodation of multilingualism in the bilingual regime of Navarre

The management of bilingualism in the Spanish autonomous community of Navarre is a source of tension. The implementation of English medium of instruction in the public educational system has clashed with attempts to break with the linguistic territoriality regime by promoting Basque schooling. This paper brings together ideologies on English and minority languages and explores how political practice is intertwined with language policy and planning and language ideology. More specifically, it examines the institutionalization of language ideologies through language policy-making in education and, particularly, through medium of instruction. The paper begins with a description of the bilingual regime in Navarre and an examination of how ideologies have shaped and legitimized language policy in education. It then moves on to an analysis of both Basque and English medium of instruction ideologies that inform policy-making. This paper shows that the dynamics introduced by multilingualism in education have had a reinforcing effect on previous language ideologies on bilingualism and, ultimately, have aggravated the language dispute. Finally, it discusses how medium of instruction serves as a terrain for language competition and as part of a broader struggle for language policy and institutional power

On the cross-linguistic validity of electrophysiological correlates of morphosyntactic processing: A study of case and agreement violations in Basque

The present study addresses the question of whether case and verb agreement are cross linguistically equivalent during sentence processing. This question is addressed by exploring the brain mechanisms involved in processing Basque, a Subject-Object-Verb (SOV) head-final language with ergative alignment, case morphology and multiple verb agreement. Basque speakers’ ERPs were recorded during an auditory grammatical judgment task. Participants were presented with correct and incorrect sentences addressed to study ergative case and subject and object verb-agreement processing. Incorrect sentences elicited, in all cases, a P600 component, an ERP effect repeatedly reported in previous studies that explored syntactic violations similar to the present ones, although in nominative languages. The results of this study show comparable ERP responses to both subject and object agreement and indicate that specific features of agreement (number versus person) have distinct ERP correlates, at least for multiple verb agreement. In addition, the ERP signatures for the ergative case violation were comparable to the ones found by previous studies on nominative case. Overall, the present study shows that the repair and reanalysis processes involved in verb agreement and case violations are sustained by equivalent neural mechanisms across language types