Designing and Piloting a Tool for the Measurement of the Use of Pronunciation Learning Strategies

What appears to be indispensable to drive the field forward and ensure that research findings will be comparable across studies and provide a sound basis for feasible pedagogic proposals is to draw up a classification of PLS and design on that basis a valid and reliable data collection tool which could be employed to measure the use of these strategies in different groups of learners, correlate it with individual and contextual variables, and appraise the effects of training programs. In accordance with this rationale, the present paper represents an attempt to propose a tentative categorization of pronunciation learning strategies, adopting as a point of reference the existing taxonomies of strategic devices (i.e. O'Malley and Chamot 1990; Oxford 1990) and the instructional options teachers have at their disposal when dealing with elements of this language subsystem (e.g. Kelly 2000; Goodwin 2001). It also introduces a research instrument designed on the basis of the classification that shares a number of characteristics with Oxford's (1990) Strategy Inventory for Language Learning but, in contrast to it, includes both Likert-scale and open-ended items. The findings of a pilot study which involved 80 English Department students demonstrate that although the tool requires considerable refinement, it provides a useful point of departure for future research into PLS

Pure hydrogen low-temperature plasma exposure of HOPG and graphene: Graphane formation?

Single- and multilayer graphene and highly ordered pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) were exposed to a pure hydrogen low-temperature plasma (LTP). Characterizations include various experimental techniques such as photoelectron spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy and scanning probe microscopy. Our photoemission measurement shows that hydrogen LTP exposed HOPG has a diamond-like valence-band structure, which suggests double-sided hydrogenation. With the scanning tunneling microscopy technique, various atomic-scale charge-density patterns were observed, which may be associated with different C-H conformers. Hydrogen-LTP-exposed graphene on SiO₂ has a Raman spectrum in which the D peak to G peak ratio is over 4, associated with hydrogenation on both sides. A very low defect density was observed in the scanning probe microscopy measurements, which enables a reverse transformation to graphene. Hydrogen-LTP-exposed HOPG possesses a high thermal stability, and therefore, this transformation requires annealing at over 1000 °C

Perceived Masculinity/Femininity of Managers and the Feedback Environment

Past research suggests that the masculinity/femininity of a supervisor plays a role in the effectiveness of his/her leadership in organizations. This study looked into the relationship between the perceived masculinity and femininity of supervisors by employees and the feedback environment. The data for the research were collected from 66 men and 78 women in the United States who were working 20 or more hours per week using Amazon’s Mechanical Turk website. The survey was the combination of the supervisor subscale of the Feedback Environment Scale (FES) and a slightly modified version of the Personal Attributes Questionnaire (PAQ). Each of the seven dimensions of the Feedback Environment Scale were correlated with the ratings on the Personal Attributes Questionnaire. The results identified a relationship between the perceived masculinity and femininity of supervisors and the feedback environment. It was also discovered that femininity significantly correlated more with the feedback environment than masculinity

On the Finite Dimensional Laws of Threshold GARCH Processes

In this chapter we establish bounds for the finite dimensional laws of a threshold GARCH process, X, with generating process Z. In this class of models the conditional standard deviation has different reactions according to the sign of past values of the process. So, we firstly find lower and upper bounds for the law of \left ({X}_{1}^{+},-{X}_{1}^{+},\ldots,{X}_{n}^{+},-{X}_{n}^{+}\right), in certain regions of R^{2n}, and use them to find bounds of the law of \left ({X}_{1},\ldots,{X}_{n}\right). Some of these bounds only depend on the parameters of the model and on the distribution function of the independent generating process, Z. An application of these bounds to control charts for time series is presented

DISCONNECTED FROM THE FRONT LINES: LACK OF WARFIGHTER EXPERIENCE IN ACQUISITIONS YIELDS UNACCEPTABLE END STATES

Over the past few decades, the Defense Acquisition System (DAS) has been under constant fire by Congress, taxpayers, and warfighters for unacceptable cost, schedule, and performance outcomes. This plague has been well documented, discussed, and many potential corrective measures implemented over the years with futile results. This leaves the warfighter with delivered capabilities not meeting actual operational needs, routinely late to field, yielding them irrelevant, and coming with unrecoverable cost overruns. One significant area of the acquisition process, the focus of this research, has the most impact on a program’s outcome yet had the least amount of change: who represents the warfighter during requirements generation and management throughout the life cycle. A program’s requirements establish the end cost, schedule, and performance thresholds that, once a program matures, are extremely difficult to change without a sizable penalty. This research documents a correlation between troubled programs and poor requirements support due to an operational knowledge gap caused by a lack of proficient end-user warfighter representatives involved and empowered in the process. Related, due to the inherent differences in views, experience, and expectations between a career acquisition professional and a warfighter, data shows a need for a blended professional within the DAS. The research shows failure to bridge this personnel gap will predictably yield the same unacceptable results.Lieutenant Commander, United States NavyCommander, United States NavyChief Warrant Officer Three, United States NavyApproved for public release. Distribution is unlimited

Sequential Data-Adaptive Bandwidth Selection by Cross-Validation for Nonparametric Prediction

We consider the problem of bandwidth selection by cross-validation from a sequential point of view in a nonparametric regression model. Having in mind that in applications one often aims at estimation, prediction and change detection simultaneously, we investigate that approach for sequential kernel smoothers in order to base these tasks on a single statistic. We provide uniform weak laws of large numbers and weak consistency results for the cross-validated bandwidth. Extensions to weakly dependent error terms are discussed as well. The errors may be {\alpha}-mixing or L2-near epoch dependent, which guarantees that the uniform convergence of the cross validation sum and the consistency of the cross-validated bandwidth hold true for a large class of time series. The method is illustrated by analyzing photovoltaic data.Comment: 26 page

Influence of hydrological conditions on the Escherichia coli population structure in the water of a creek on a rural watershed.

International audienceBACKGROUND: Escherichia coli is a commensal bacterium of the gastro-intestinal tract of human and vertebrate animals, although the aquatic environment could be a secondary habitat. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of hydrological conditions on the structure of the E. coli population in the water of a creek on a small rural watershed in France composed of pasture and with human occupation. RESULTS: It became apparent, after studying the distribution in the four main E. coli phylo-groups (A, B1, B2, D), the presence of the hly (hemolysin) gene and the antibiotic resistance pattern, that the E. coli population structure was modified not only by the hydrological conditions (dry versus wet periods, rainfall events), but also by how the watershed was used (presence or absence of cattle). Isolates of the B1 phylo-group devoid of hly and sensitive to antibiotics were particularly abundant during the dry period. During the wet period and the rainfall events, contamination from human sources was predominantly characterized by strains of the A phylo-group, whereas contamination by cattle mainly involved B1 phylo-group strains resistant to antibiotics and exhibiting hly. As E. coli B1 was the main phylo-group isolated in water, the diversity of 112 E. coli B1 isolates was further investigated by studying uidA alleles (beta-D-glucuronidase), the presence of hly, the O-type, and antibiotic resistance. Among the forty epidemiolgical types (ETs) identified, five E. coli B1 ETs were more abundant in slightly contaminated water. CONCLUSIONS: The structure of an E. coli population in water is not stable, but depends on the hydrological conditions and on current use of the land on the watershed. In our study it was the ratio of A to B1 phylo-groups that changed. However, a set of B1 phylo-group isolates seems to be persistent in water, strengthening the hypothesis that they may correspond to specifically adapted strains

The Hudson Bay Lithospheric Experiment (HuBLE) : Insights into Precambrian Plate Tectonics and the Development of Mantle Keels

The UK component of HuBLE was supported by Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) grant NE/F007337/1, with financial and logistical support from the Geological Survey of Canada, Canada–Nunavut Geoscience Office, SEIS-UK (the seismic node of NERC), and First Nations communities of Nunavut. J. Beauchesne and J. Kendall provided invaluable assistance in the field. Discussions with M. St-Onge, T. Skulski, D. Corrigan and M. Sanborne-Barrie were helpful for interpretation of the data. D. Eaton and F. A. Darbyshire acknowledge the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council. Four stations on the Belcher Islands and northern Quebec were installed by the University of Western Ontario and funded through a grant to D. Eaton (UWO Academic Development Fund). I. Bastow is funded by the Leverhulme Trust. This is Natural Resources Canada Contribution 20130084 to its Geomapping for Energy and Minerals Program. This work has received funding from the European Research Council under the European Unions Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013)/ERC Grant agreement no. 240473 ‘CoMITAC’.Peer reviewedPublisher PD