The relationship between incommensurable emotions and willingness to communicate in English as a Foreign Language: a multiple case study

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the link between Foreign Language Enjoyment, Foreign Language Anxiety and Willingness to Communicate in Denisa and Anda, two high school learners of English as a Foreign Language in Romania. Design/methodology/approach: Qualitative data were collected during a school semester including lesson observations, a written task and semi-structured interviews with the aim of obtaining retrodictive data (Dörnyei, 2014) in order to gain a better understanding of the nature and amount of fluctuation and change in participants’ Willingness to Communicate (WTC) in English over time. The approach is strongly influenced by Dynamic System Theory and is based on the concept of constructed emotions (Feldman Barrett, 2017a, b). Findings and Originality/value: The study revealed that WTC was related to the uniquely constructed emotions of Foreign Language Enjoyment (FLE) and Foreign Language (Classroom) Anxiety (FLCA) (Dewaele & MacIntyre, 2014) in dynamic, idiosyncratic ways, that took root during the first contact with English, extending into the present and the future. Learners’ personality and their experiences inside and outside the English classroom shaped their emotions which had direct and indirect repercussions on their WTC. The paper concludes that case studies into and WTC offer a crucial complement to quantitative studies as they highlight the fact that emotions cannot be essentialized (Feldman Barrett, 2017a, b) and that their relationship with WTC can fluctuate sharply over the short term and develop over the longer term, depending on a range of interacting learner-internal and contextual variables. FLE and FLCA do remain useful concepts at a super-ordinate level

Recommendations from the Spanish Academy of Dermatology and Venereology Psoriasis Working Group on the Management of Patients with Cancer and Psoriasis

[spa] Diversos estudios sugieren que los pacientes con psoriasis tienen un mayor riesgo de aparición de neoplasias, especialmente cutáneas, lo que podría estar asociado al uso de terapias para tratar la enfermedad. Además, la evidencia disponible sobre la seguridad de algunos tratamientos en este contexto y el manejo de estos pacientes es escasa. Así, las guías de práctica clínica con recomendaciones para el manejo de la psoriasis en el paciente oncológico son ambiguas. En el presente trabajo se recogen recomendaciones para el manejo y el uso de las terapias disponibles para estos pacientes. Estas recomendaciones han sido consensuadas por 45 dermatólogos del Grupo de Psoriasis de la Academia Española de Dermatología y Venereología utilizando el método Delphi, y tienen por objetivo ayudar a los especialistas en la toma de decisiones en la práctica clínica.[eng] Several studies suggest that patients with psoriasis have a higher incidence of neoplasms, especially of the skin, which could be associated with the use of therapies to treat psoriasis. Furthermore, the evidence available on the safety profile of some treatments in this context, and the management of these patients is scarce, which is why clinical practice guidelines with recommendations on the management of psoriasis in cancer patients are ambiguous. This study provides recommendations on the management and use of the therapies currently available for these patients. They are the result of a Delphi consensus reached by 45 dermatologists of the Spanish Academy of Dermatology and Venereology Psoriasis Working Group, and their goal is to help specialists in the field in their decision -making processes

A Sizer model for cell differentiation in Arabidopsis thaliana root growth

Plant roots grow due to cell division in the meristem and subsequent cell elongation and differentiation, a tightly coordinated process that ensures growth and adaptation to the changing environment. How the newly formed cells decide to stop elongating becoming fully differentiated is not yet understood. To address this question, we established a novel approach that combines the quantitative phenotypic variability of wild-type Arabidopsis roots with computational data from mathematical models. Our analyses reveal that primary root growth is consistent with a Sizer mechanism, in which cells sense their length and stop elongating when reaching a threshold value. The local expression of brassinosteroid receptors only in the meristem is sufficient to set this value. Analysis of roots insensitive to signaling and of roots with gibberellin biosynthesis inhibited suggests distinct roles of these hormones on cell expansion termination. Overall, our study underscores the value of using computational modeling together with quantitative data to understand root growth

Policy-driven monitoring and evaluation : Does it support adaptive management of socio-ecological systems?

Inadequate Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) is often thought to hinder adaptive management of socio-ecological systems. A key influence on environmental management practices are environmental policies: however, their consequences for M&E practices have not been well-examined. We examine three policy areas - the Water Framework Directive, the Natura 2000 Directives, and the Agri-Environment Schemes of the Common Agricultural Policy - whose statutory requirements influence how the environment is managed and monitored across Europe. We use a comparative approach to examine what is monitored, how monitoring is carried out, and how results are used to update management, based on publicly available documentation across nine regional and national cases. The requirements and guidelines of these policies have provided significant impetus for monitoring: however, we find this policy-driven M&E usually does not match the ideals of what is needed to inform adaptive management. There is a tendency to focus on understanding state and trends rather than tracking the effect of interventions; a focus on specific biotic and abiotic indicators at the expense of understanding system functions and processes, especially social components; and limited attention to how context affects systems, though this is sometimes considered via secondary data. The resulting data are sometimes publicly-accessible, but it is rarely clear if and how these influence decisions at any level, whether this be in the original policy itself or at the level of measures such as site management plans. Adjustments to policy-driven M&E could better enable learning for adaptive management, by reconsidering what supports a balanced understanding of socio-ecological systems and decision-making. Useful strategies include making more use of secondary data, and more transparency in data-sharing and decision-making. Several countries and policy areas already offer useful examples. Such changes are essential given the influence of policy, and the urgency of enabling adaptive management to safeguard socio-ecological systems. Highlights • Policy strongly influences Monitoring & Evaluation (M&E) of socio-ecological systems. • We examine M&E of 3 major European policies in 9 regional and national cases. • Policy-driven M&E is imperfect versus ideals of M&E to support adaptive management. • Attention needed to systems, social issues, sharing data, and sharing intended uses. • Examples from across Europe and different policies offer ideas for improvement

Relation between gut microbiome and inflammatory interleukins in psoriasis patients compared to healthy controls: an observational study

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