Using folk songs as a source for dialect change? The pervasive effects of attitudes

The present article argues that the social category of ‘standardisation' has been instrumental in creating a Foucaultian discourse archive governing what may and what may not be stated on the subject of the history of English. It analyses the question of how language attitudes have been instrumental in creating the myths that have driven the discourse of Standard English since the 19th century, but it goes further than this by showing how language performance, in the form of folk songs in England, has also come under this same archive of standardisation. However, in both cases, i.e. language and language performance, it is argued that a below-the-surface alternative discourse has now gained enough force to seriously challenge the doctrine of standardisation and to necessitate the formation of new discursive contents for a social concept that is in serious danger of becoming hollow and outdate

Re-reading and rehabilitating Basil Bernstein

This article constitutes a re-reading of and an attempt to rehabilitate Basil Bernstein, both of which are important in light of the interpretation of Bernstein as a proponent of the verbal deficit view, and the general discrediting of his work on social class differences in the British educational system, as related to what he later called ‘codes’, by scholars like Jensen (Social class and verbal learning, Holt, 1968) and Labov (The logic of non-standard English, Georgetown University Press, 1970), in particular. Exploring whether the international criticism of Bernstein was justified entails both an analysis of articles written by Jensen (Social class and verbal learning, Holt, 1968) and Labov (The logic of non-standard English, Georgetown University Press, 1970) and by Bernstein, notably ‘Language and social class’ and ‘A critique of the concept of compensatory education’, both published in the first volume of Class, codes and control (Bernstein, Class, codes and control, Volume 1. Theoretical studies towards a sociology of language, Schocken Books, 1971). The article argues for the importance of contextualising Bernstein's thoughts on language and society within the socio-political climate framing his scholarship and the development of his ideas as a whole. We show that much of the interpretation of Bernstein is, in fact, a misinterpretation, for which Bernstein was only partly at fault. By rehabilitating some of Bernstein's ideas, it is possible to argue for their relevance today, especially with reference to salient connections between socio-cultural background and performance at school. Furthermore, Labov and Bernstein may not have been so far apart in their thinking as has previously been assumed

Re-reading and rehabilitating Basil Bernstein

This article constitutes a re-reading of and an attempt to rehabilitate Basil Bernstein, both of which are important in light of the interpretation of Bernstein as a proponent of the verbal deficit view, and the general discrediting of his work on social class differences in the British educational system, as related to what he later called ‘codes', by scholars like Jensen (Social class and verbal learning, Holt, 1968) and Labov (The logic of non-standard English, Georgetown University Press, 1970), in particular. Exploring whether the international criticism of Bernstein was justified entails both an analysis of articles written by Jensen (Social class and verbal learning, Holt, 1968) and Labov (The logic of non-standard English, Georgetown University Press, 1970) and by Bernstein, notably ‘Language and social class' and ‘A critique of the concept of compensatory education', both published in the first volume of Class, codes and control (Bernstein, Class, codes and control, Volume 1. Theoretical studies towards a sociology of language, Schocken Books, 1971). The article argues for the importance of contextualising Bernstein's thoughts on language and society within the socio-political climate framing his scholarship and the development of his ideas as a whole. We show that much of the interpretation of Bernstein is, in fact, a misinterpretation, for which Bernstein was only partly at fault. By rehabilitating some of Bernstein's ideas, it is possible to argue for their relevance today, especially with reference to salient connections between socio-cultural background and performance at school. Furthermore, Labov and Bernstein may not have been so far apart in their thinking as has previously been assume

Attention and regional gray matter development in very preterm children at age 12 years

Objectives: This study examines the selective, sustained, and executive attention abilities of very preterm (VPT) born children in relation to concurrent structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) measures of regional gray matter development at age 12 years. Methods: A regional cohort of 110 VPT (≤32 weeks gestation) and 113 full term (FT) born children were assessed at corrected age 12 years on the Test of Everyday Attention-Children. They also had a structural MRI scan that was subsequently analyzed using voxel-based morphometry to quantify regional between-group differences in cerebral gray matter development, which were then related to attention measures using multivariate methods. Results: VPT children obtained similar selective (p=.85), but poorer sustained (p=.02) and executive attention (p=.01) scores than FT children. VPT children were also characterized by reduced gray matter in the bilateral parietal, temporal, prefrontal and posterior cingulate cortices, bilateral thalami, and left hippocampus; and increased gray matter in the occipital and anterior cingulate cortices (family-wise error-corrected

Development of Design Criteria for Sensitizer Photooxidation Treatment Systems

Sensitized photooxidation is a physicochemical process that can degrade many toxic and refractory organic pollutants. A trace quantity of sensitizer added to the waste absorbs visible light; electronically excited intermediates then transfer the energy to decompose the waste. Engeineering design criteria were developed for industrial waste treatment lagoons that would use sensitized photooxidation. Design criteria were developed regarding optimum lagoon pH, optimum sensitizer concentration, depth and sizing of lagoons, dissolved oxygen requirements, and effect of temperature on photooxidation rate. Treatment of the refractory pesticides bromacil, terbacil, and fluometuron was investigated using methylene blue and riboflavin as sensitizers. Methylene blue-sensitized photooxidation of the three pesticides was most efficient at basic pH. The optimum pH of riboflavin-sensitized photooxidaction varied and was substrate-dependent. A model was developed to predict sensitized photooxidation rate as a function of lagoon depth. The model is based on light intesnity, sensitizer extinction coefficient, and an applied quantum yeirld, all of which are integrated over wavelengths of visible light. The model serves as the basis of sizing photooxidation lagoons. A dissolved oxygen residual of 1 mg/1 was required to maintain maximum methylene blue-sensitized photooxidation rate. At least 4 mg/1 dissolved oxygen was necessary to maintain riboflavin-sensitized phooxidation at maximum levels. Oxygen uptake rates in sensitized phooxidation reactions were proportional to the concentration of substrate. Temperatures from 10 degrees to 35 degreees Celcius had no significant effect on sensitized photooxidation rates. Using the model developed, a methylene blue-sensitized phooxidation pilot lagoon was designed to treat a 30 mg/1 bromacil influent concentraion to 0.1 mg/1 bromacil in the effluent. For an influent flow of 0.263 m^3/min (0.1 MGD) waste, a 0.1 mg/1 methylene blue concentration, 36 cm depth, and 1870 m^2 surface area are required. A cost analysis was performed which indicated that sensitized photooxidation lagoons appear to be cost-compentitive with other industrial waste treatement systems

Structural Classification of Metal Complexes with Three-Coordinate Centres

Attempts to describe the geometry about three-coordinate silver(I) complexes have proven difficult because interatomic angles generally vary wildly and there is no adequate or readily available classification system found in the literature. A search of the Cambridge Structural Database shows that complexes formed between any metal centre and three non-metal donors (18001 examples) usually adopt geometries that are quite different than ideal ‘textbook’ extremes of either trigonal planar (∼4% with α = β = γ = 120 ± 2°), T-shaped (∼0.05% with α = 180 ± 2°, β = γ = 90 ± 2°), or trigonal pyramidal (∼0.3% with α = β = γ = 110 ± 2°). Moreover, there are multiple variations of “Y-type” and “other” shapes that require elaboration. Thus, to assist in future structural descriptions, we developed a classification system that spans all known and yet-to-be-discovered three-coordinate geometries. A spreadsheet has also been constructed that utilizes the “shape-space” approach to extract the structural description from a user input of three angles about a tri-coordinate centre and the number of atoms in a plane. The structures of two silver(I) complexes of new N-donor ligands p-NH2C6H4C6H4CH(pz = pyrazol-1-yl)2, L1, and 2-ferrocenyl-4,5-di(2-pyridyl)imidazole, L2, illustrate the utility of this classification system

Incidence of ANCA-associated vasculitis in a UK mixed ethnicity population

Objectives: We aimed to estimate the incidence of ANCA-associated vasculitis in the UK and how this varied by ethnic group. Methods: We identified incident cases of ANCA-associated vasculitis between March 2007 and June 2013 in the Nottingham–Derby urban area from medical records using multiple sources. We derived the denominator population from the 2011 census, and we calculated incidence rate ratios using Poisson regression. Results: Overall, we identified 107 cases of ANCA-associated vasculitis, giving an incidence of 23.1 per million person-years (95% CI: 18.9, 27.9). The incidence among the white population was 25.8 per million person-years (95% CI: 21.0, 31.3) and among the black and minority ethnic (BME) population 8.4 per million person-years (95% CI: 3.1, 18.3). After adjustment for age and sex, the difference between ethnic groups was not statistically significant (incidence rate ratio 0.7, 95% CI: 0.3, 1.5, P = 0.3). Conclusion: Overall, the incidence of ANCA-associated vasculitis was similar to other epidemiological studies. Crude incidence rates were lower in the BME than in the white population, but this was partly explained by the older age profile among the white compared with BME population

Are existing biodiversity conservation strategies appropriate in a changing climate?

Many countries have conservation plans for threatened species, but such plans have generally been developed without taking into account the potential impacts of climate change. Here, we apply a decision framework, specifically developed to identify and prioritise climate change adaptation actions and demonstrate its use for 30 species threatened in the UK. Our aim is to assess whether government conservation recommendations remain appropriate under a changing climate. The species, associated with three different habitats (lowland heath, broadleaved woodland and calcareous grassland), were selected from a range of taxonomic groups (primarily moths and vascular plants, but also including bees, bryophytes, carabid beetles and spiders). We compare the actions identified for these threatened species by the decision framework with those included in existing conservation plans, as developed by the UK Government's statutory adviser on nature conservation. We find that many existing conservation recommendations are also identified by the decision framework. However, there are large differences in the spatial prioritisation of actions when explicitly considering projected climate change impacts. This includes recommendations for actions to be carried out in areas where species do not currently occur, in order to allow them to track movement of suitable conditions for their survival. Uncertainties in climate change projections are not a reason to ignore them. Our results suggest that existing conservation plans, which do not take into account potential changes in suitable climatic conditions for species, may fail to maximise species persistence. Comparisons across species also suggest a more habitat-focused approach could be adopted to enable climate change adaptation for multiple species