Language standardization in sociolinguistics and international business: Theory and practice across the table

This chapter addresses the issue of language standardization from two perspectives, bringing together a theoretical perspective offered by the discipline of sociolinguistics with a practical example from international business. We introduce the broad concept of standardization and embed the study of language standardization in the wider discussion of standards as a means of control across society. We analyse the language policy and practice of the Danish multinational, Grundfos, and use it as a “sociolinguistic laboratory” to “test” the theory of language standardization initially elaborated by Einar Haugen to explain the history of modern Norwegian. The table is then turned and a model from International Business by Piekkari, Welch and Welch is used to illuminate recent Norwegian language planning. It is found that the Grundfos case works well with the Haugen model, and the International Business model provides a valuable practical lesson for national language planners, both showing that a “comparative standardology” is a valuable undertaking. More voices “at the table” will allow both theory and practice to be further refined and for the role of standards across society to be better understood

Intestinal cellular localization of PCNA protein and CYP1A mRNA in Atlantic salmon Salmo salar L. exposed to a model toxicant

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The aim of the study was to examine the intestinal cellular localization of proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) and cytochrome P450 A1 (CYP1A) expression in Atlantic salmon <it>Salmo salar </it>L. exposed to a model toxicant. The stress response was induced by intraperitoneal injection of four salmon with a single dose (50 mg/kg) of the CYP1A inducer β-naphthoflavone (BNF) and intestinal tissue (mid and distal intestine; MI and DI) was sampled seven days later. Samples for histology and gene transcription analysis were collected from four exposed fish and four control fish. PCNA was assessed by immunohistochemistry, CYP1A mRNA was studied by <it>in situ </it>hybridization (ISH) and finally the transcription of five genes was quantified by real-time quantitative RT-PCR (real-time RT-PCR); two detoxifying genes (CYP1A and glutathione S-transferase; GST), a stress marker gene (heat shock protein 70; HSP70), PCNA and a gene marker of apoptosis (caspase 6A).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>PCNA protein and CYP1A mRNA were successfully localized in the intestinal cells (MI) of both experimental groups. At the cellular level, BNF significantly lowered intestinal cell proliferation and increased the CYP1A mRNA levels compared to the control group. The real-time RT-PCR data, which showed an increased mRNA expression both in the MI and DI of 139- and 62-fold, respectively, confirmed the increased cellular CYP1A mRNA levels detected using ISH. HSP70 expression was also up-regulated in the exposed fish. The other examined genes did not show any differential regulation in the experimental fish group.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This study showed that CYP1A mRNA had a specific intestinal cellular transcription pattern in Atlantic salmon exposed to BNF. At the cellular level CYP1A mRNA expression was always observed at or around the cell nucleus close to the basolateral cell membrane and at the tissue level CYP1A mRNA expression was most frequently observed in the basal and apex area of the intestinal folds. Taken together, a link between the intestinal detoxification system (CYP1A) and cell renewal system (PCNA) is indicated with these two processes being inversely correlated in BNF exposed fish.</p

Spatial transcription of CYP1A in fish liver

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The aim of this work was to study how evenly detoxifying genes are transcribed spatially in liver tissue of fish. Ten Atlantic salmon <it>Salmo salar </it>were intraperitoneally injected with 50 mg/kg of the strong CYP1A inducer β-naphthoflavone and liver tissue harvested seven days later. The liver from 10 control and 10 exposed fish were split into eight sections, RNA extracted and three reference (β-actin, elongation factor 1A_B(EF1A_B)) and two detoxifying genes (CYP1A and GST) quantified with real-time RT-PCR. The cellular localization of the EF1A_Band CYP1A mRNA in the liver of control and β-naphthoflavone treated fish was then determined by <it>in situ </it>hybridization (ISH) using EF1A_Band CYP1A biotinylated oligonucleotide probes.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The study shows that genes encoding phase I and phase II conjugating enzymes are unevenly transcribed in different parts of the liver of Atlantic salmon seven days after a single-dose of β-naphthoflavone exposure. Transcription of CYP1A and GST was higher in the middle section of the liver compared to the distal and proximal parts of the organ. The ISH data suggest that CYP1A transcription happens mainly in hepatocyte cells in the liver, and that hepatocytes in the vicinity of blood vessels respond stronger to β-naphthoflavone than cells further away from the blood supply.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Overall, the qRT-PCR and ISH results reported here suggest that gene expression analysis should be performed on as pure cell populations as possible. If bulk tissue samples are to be used, one should always check how evenly the target genes are expressed in tissue sections and organs in every study.</p

Method for passivating at least a part of a substrate surface

A method for passivating at least a part of a surface of a semiconductor substrate, wherein at least one layer comprising at least one a-Si:H passivation layer is realized on said part of the substrate surface by: - generating a plasma (P) by means of at least one plasma source (3) mounted on the process chamber (5) at a distance (L) from the substrate surface, at least part of the plasma (P) being injected into the chamber (5) and achieving a supersonic speed; - contacting at least a part of the plasma (P), injected into the chamber (5), with the said part of the substrate surface; and - supplying at least one precursor suitable for passivation layer realization to the said part of the plasma (P) via a plurality of injection nozzles (19) of an injector device (17), such that the density of the precursor at each injection nozzle (19) is lower than 12x1022 particles/m3

Design of a fast in situ infrared diagnostic tool

Conventional Fourier transform IR (FTIR) spectroscopes cannot be used to perform real time in situ IR reflection absorption spectroscopy at monolayer sensitivity for high deposition rates (a couple of tens to hundreds of nm/s) which can be obtained when using an expanding thermal deposition plasma. Therefore a new anal. tool has been developed. The tool is based on a fast optical scanner in combination with conventional grating technol. This results in a loss of spectral range with respect to FTIR spectroscopes, but a significant gain is obtained in time resoln. For the combination used this makes it possible to measure at time resoln. as low as 1.3 ms and resoln. of 24 cm-1 at 1000 cm-1. The absorption sensitivity for single reflection at the best time resoln. is approx. 10-2, but can be improved by using signal enhancement techniques. Here attenuated total reflection is used and the best sensitivity obtained is approx. 10-3, which is close to monolayer sensitivity for various absorption bands in the IR spectrum of silicon oxide films. Monolayer sensitivity can be obtained by averaging multiple spectra, however this will cause the time resoln. to decreas

The Status of Phonics Instruction: Learning From the Teachers

Increasingly alarmed by instructional mandates more founded on journalistic rhetoric and popular opinion than on research findings or practitioner expertise, researchers gathered survey data from teachers to better understand the status of K–2 phonics instruction. Data demonstrate that the overwhelming majority of these K–2 teachers teach phonics, rely on a published curriculum, and teach phonics in systematic and explicit ways. These findings contradict media assertions that reading classrooms are largely devoid of phonics instruction and that teachers fail to include phonics as an important element of their reading instruction. Implications include calls for researchers to explore what teachers can share that helps us better understand what happens in the name of classroom phonics instruction and for decision makers to assume an informed stance before mandating instructional practices based on a narrow understanding of the needs of young readers and the teachers who support them

Absence of the enhanced intra-4f transition cross section at 1.5 µm of Er3+ in Si-rich SiO2

We present measurements of the optical absorption cross section of the 4I15/24I13/2 transition at 1.5 µm of Er3+ ions embedded in SiO2 and Si-rich oxide, using cavity ringdown spectroscopy on thin films. The peak absorption cross section for Er3+ embedded in Si-rich oxide (10 at. % excess Si) was found to be (8±2)×10–21 cm2 at 1536 nm, similar to typical values for Er embedded in SiO2. The data imply that the silicon nanoclusters incorporated in Si-rich oxide do not enhance the peak cross section of the Er3+ 4I15/2–4I13/2 transition by 1-2 orders of magnitude, contrary to what has been reported in earlier work

Performance of transition metal-doped CaCO3 during cyclic CO2 capture-and-release in low-pressure H2O vapour and H2O plasma

The effects of transition metal doping of calcium carbonate on the subsequent performance of the material during CO2 release and recapture have been evaluated for calcination under low-pressure (~0.1 mbar) water vapour and water plasma conditions. The initial samples were prepared by precipitation method from analytical grade carbonate, calcium and transition metal (Fe, Co, Zn, Cu and Ni) containing precursors. The release-recapture properties of the sorbents were monitored over five cycles involving calcination at 1200 K and carbonation at 825 K. The most noteworthy effects were observed for the Zn-doped samples, which exhibited rapid CO2 recapture. Calcination in H2O plasma was tested to evaluate the potential for in-situ material processing as a means to counteract material degradation. The impact of plasma exposure during calcination on the looping performance was mixed and dependent on the specific sample composition. The performance of the Zn-doped CaCO3 was consistently improved by plasma calcination, yielding high uptake and better retention of carrying capacity over the five cycles. All samples exhibited a deterioration in carrying capacity over repeated cycles. The Zn-doped samples also performed best in this respect (least loss of carrying capacity). The beneficial effects of Zn-doping were dependent on the Zn-content of the precursor solutions used for material synthesis.</p

Expanding Thermal Plasma Deposition of a-Si:H Thin Films for Surface Passivation of c-Si Wafers,

We investigated the material properties of expanding thermal plasma deposited a-Si:H thin films, providing a record-low surface recombination velocity of 1.6 cm/s (at injection level of 1 1015 cm-3). a-Si:H thin films with different thicknesses have been deposited at a high deposition rate (1.2 nm/s) on both sides of low resistivity (1-5 Ohm cm), 260µm thick, n- and ptype c-Si FZ wafers. The material properties of a -Si:H films have been characterized by Fourier Transform Infrared diagnostic and Spectroscopic Ellipsometry. The surface passivation of the wafers has been determined by photoconductivity decay measurements of the effective carrier lifetime. The investigation points out that the growth of ETP a-Si:H films begins with the formation of a thin porous layer (&lt;10 nm) with a refractive index of 3.9 (at 2 eV) and a microstructure parameter (R*) of 0.50. Despite the open network formation at the a-Si/c-Si interface, a 7 nm a-Si:H film achieves a recombination velocity as low as 12 cm/s (at 1·1015 cm-3 injection level on ntype wafers). The good passivation is probably due to the large hydrogen content of the a-Si:H film, which terminates dangling bonds present on the c-Si surface. After this initial growth, a dense a-Si:H network develops with a refractive index of 4.3 (at 2 eV) and R* = 0.03. The surface recombination velocity decresses linearly with the a-Si:H thickness, achieving a record value of 1.6 cm/s (at 1·1015 cm-3 injection level) for 90 nm thick a-Si film on n-type wafers. As compared to hot wire CVD and radiofrequency PECVD techniques, ETP is capable to deposit thin a-Si:H films with outstanding surface passivation at higher temperature (250° C) and higher deposition rate (1.2 nm/s). The stability in time of surface passivation has been investigated. Effective carrier lifetime is found to decrease following a stretched exponential. Photo-electronic properties of a-Si:H are know to relax in time in a similar fashion. These results therefore suggest a correlation between the photo-electronic roperties of the a-Si:H/c-Si interface and a-Si:H bulk material