Not Your Cup of Tea? : An exploration of attitudes towards English as a lingua franca in Europe's cultural sector.

Over the past two decades, English has undeniably become the lingua franca of Europe, making it the language of choice for intercultural exchange between speakers of different native languages. However there is something of a dearth of research on attitudes towards this language phenomenon. This thesis investigates perspectives and opinions towards English, with a focus on the cultural sector of Europe. Using material from personal and Skype interviews with European cultural workers, I attempt to build a picture of how English as a lingua franca is viewed and expressed in narrative and discourse. I also explore the idea of suitability in relation to English as a lingua franca. A 2005 journal article in English Today by author Ross Smith concludes that “English is a poor lingua franca”. I argue against this claim using ideas from the interview material and Bourdieu’s concept of linguistic capital to assert that English is an effective lingua franca for Europe

Grammar, Technology, and a Bit of Evolution

Grammar, Technology, and a Bit of Evolution Technology has become an intricate part of our society; however, its impacts on education may run deeper than originally expected, especially in academic writing classes. In order to uncover technology’s impact on writing and consider the advantages and disadvantages of using technology, I describe the research of scholars Cynthia Selfe, Tim McGee, and Patricia Ericsson. These authors and their inspiring work reveal the benefits and drawbacks of technology, its overuse and underuse, how it has shaped our society, and ultimately, how it has shaped writing instruction. In my presentation, I argue that technology can be extremely useful—if used in moderation. In order to save and enhance our literacy experiences, teachers should utilize technology since it will be a useful skill when students enter the workforce, but teachers should also emphasize grammatical skills by employing handwritten essays. Through this research and analysis, I discovered that technology can be harmful as well as helpful, but in all, it is how it is used. It is up to us as students and teachers to use technology to our fullest advantage without crippling our grammar and writing development. Keywords: technology, grammar, educatio

Analysing olfactory and auditory sensescapes in English cities: Sensory expectation and urban environmental perception

Cet article analyse la manière dont les individus perçoivent une gamme variée de stimuli, notamment les sons et les odeurs émis par l’activité humaine, lors de leur déambulation dans les espaces publics des villes anglaises. La démonstration s’appuie sur deux études portant sur la déambulation sensorielle (sensewalking) menées entre 2004 et 2009 indépendamment l’une de l’autre mais avec un objectif identique. La première explore la perception de l’environnement olfactif, tandis que l’autre, s’attarde sur les expériences sonores urbaines. La comparaison des résultats montre que les expectations sensorielles modifient l’attitude des individus dans le milieu urbain en induisant des niveaux de signification et de compréhension variés. Par conséquent, il y a là un défi pour les architectes et les aménageurs de créer des milieux où la prise en compte de ces différents modes de perception pourrait conduire à des réponses plus adéquates. Si l’on convient que la perception (ou la non perception) des odeurs et des sons est fortement influencée par l’environnement, il est donc fondamental que le contexte initial soit prise en compte au moment de redéfinir et de gérer les aménagements sensoriels urbains.This paper examines the role of sensory expectation in people’s experiences and perceptions of a range of different urban environments in English towns and cities by focussing upon those related to smell and sound specifically. It draws from two separate but related sensewalking studies undertaken between 2004 and 2009: one exploring urban smell experiences, the other examining urban sound experiences. In drawing from, and comparing the findings of these two studies, sensory expectations are argued as highly influential in urban place experience and perception, providing different layers of meaning and understanding of place, and presenting challenges and opportunities for architects and urban designers when creating more human-centred places in the city. In addition, perceptions of the smells and sounds themselves are revealed as highly influenced by the environmental context within which they are, or are not, detected. As a result, the authors advocate a more proactive approach to the consideration of smells and sound information when designing and managing urban sensory environments

Opioids alter paw placement during walking, confounding assessment of analgesic efficacy in a postsurgical pain model in mice

Introduction: Hind paw-directed assays are commonly used to study the analgesic effects of opioids in mice. However, opioid-induced hyperlocomotion can obscure results of such assays. Objectives: We aimed to overcome this potential confound by using gait analysis to observe hind paw usage during walking in mice. Methods: We measured changes in the paw print area after induction of postsurgical pain (using the paw incision model) and treatment with oxycodone. Results: Paw incision surgery reduced the paw print area of the injured hind paw as mice avoided placing the incised section of the paw on the floor. Surprisingly, oxycodone caused a tiptoe-like gait in mice, reducing the paw print area of both hind paws. Further investigation of this opioid-induced phenotype revealed that analgesic doses of oxycodone or morphine dose-dependently reduced the hind paw print area in uninjured mice. The gait changes were not dependent on opioid-induced increases in the locomotor activity; speed and paw print area had no correlation in opioid-treated mice, and other analgesic compounds that alter locomotor activity did not affect the paw print area. Conclusion: Unfortunately, the opioid-induced tiptoe gait phenotype prevented gait analysis from being a viable metric for demonstrating opioid analgesia in injured mice. However, this work reveals an important, previously uncharacterized effect of treatment with analgesic doses of opioids on paw placement. Our characterization of how opioids affect gait has important implications for the use of mice to study opioid pharmacology and suggests that scientists should use caution when using hind paw-directed nociceptive assays to test opioid analgesia in mice

Correlation Between PlayerTek Performance Data and Fatigue as Measured by the RESTQ-76 Sport Over the Course of a Collegiate Soccer Season

Please enjoy Volume 6, Issue 1 of the JSMAHS. In this issue, you will find Professional, Graduate, and Undergraduate research abstracts, and case reports. Thank you for viewing this 6th Annual OATA Special Edition

Vision Screening Assessment (VISA) tool: diagnostic accuracy validation of a novel screening tool in detecting visual impairment among stroke survivors

PURPOSE:Screening for visual problems in stroke survivors is not standardised. Visual problems that remain undetected or poorly identified can create unmet needs for stroke survivors. We report the validation of a new Vision Impairment Screening Assessment (VISA) tool intended for use by the stroke team to improve identification of visual impairment in stroke survivors. METHODS:We conducted a prospective case cohort comparative study in four centres to validate the VISA tool against a specialist reference vision assessment. VISA is available in print or as an app (Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency regulatory approved); these were used equally for two groups. Both VISA and the comprehensive reference vision assessment measured case history, visual acuity, eye alignment, eye movements, visual field and visual inattention. The primary outcome measure was the presence or absence of visual impairment. RESULTS:Two hundred and twenty-one stroke survivors were screened. Specialist reference vision assessment was by experienced orthoptists. Full completion of screening and reference vision assessment was achieved for 201 stroke survivors. VISA print was completed for 101 stroke survivors; VISA app was completed for 100. Sensitivity and specificity of VISA print was 97.67% and 66.67%, respectively. Overall agreement was substantial; K=0.648. Sensitivity and specificity of VISA app was 88.31% and 86.96%, respectively. Overall agreement was substantial; K=0.690. Lowest agreement was found for screening of eye movement and near visual acuity. CONCLUSIONS:This validation study indicates acceptability of VISA for screening of potential visual impairment in stroke survivors. Sensitivity and specificity were high indicating the accuracy of this screening tool. VISA is available in print or as an app allowing versatile uptake across multiple stroke settings

Identification of iridoid glucoside transporters in Catharanthus roseus

Monoterpenoid indole alkaloids (MIAs) are plant defense compounds and high-value pharmaceuticals. Biosynthesis of the universal MIA precursor, secologanin, is organized between internal phloem-associated parenchyma (IPAP) and epidermis cells. Transporters for intercellular transport of proposed mobile pathway intermediates have remained elusive. Screening of an Arabidopsis thaliana transporter library expressed in Xenopus oocytes identified AtNPF2.9 as a putative iridoid glucoside importer. Eight orthologs were identified in Catharanthus roseus, of which three, CrNPF2.4, CrNPF2.5 and CrNPF2.6, were capable of transporting the iridoid glucosides 7-deoxyloganic acid, loganic acid, loganin and secologanin into oocytes. Based on enzyme expression data and transporter specificity, we propose that several enzymes of the biosynthetic pathway are present in both IPAP and epidermis cells, and that the three transporters are responsible for transporting not only loganic acid, as previously proposed, but multiple intermediates. Identification of the iridoid glucoside-transporting CrNPFs is an important step toward understanding the complex orchestration of the seco-iridioid pathway

Biomimetic chitosan-mediated synthesis in heterogeneous phase of bulk and mesoporous silica nanoparticles

Both bulk and mesoporous silica nanoparticles can be obtained in the form of granular aggregates using chitosan flakes as additive under very soft biomimetic reaction conditions.Puchol Estors, Victoria, [email protected] ; El Haskouri, Jamal, [email protected] ; Latorre Saborit, Julio, [email protected] ; Beltran Porter, Aurelio, [email protected] ; Beltran Porter, Daniel, [email protected] ; Amoros del Toro, Pedro Jose, [email protected]

Radially polarized light in single particle optical extinction microscopy identifies silver nanoplates

Quantifying the optical extinction cross section of a single plasmonic nanoparticle (NP) has recently emerged as a powerful method to characterize the NP morphometry, i.e., size and shape, with a precision comparable to electron microscopy while using a simple optical microscope. Here, we enhance the capabilities of extinction microscopy by introducing a high numerical aperture annular illumination coupled with a radial polarizer to generate a strong axial polarization component. This enables us to probe the NP response to axial polarized light, and, in turn, to distinguish flat-lying nanoplates from other geometries. Polarization-resolved optical extinction cross sections were acquired on 219 individual colloidal silver NPs of a nominally triangular nanoplate shape but, in practice, exhibiting heterogeneous morphometries, including decahedrons and non-plate spheroids. An unsupervised machine learning cluster analysis algorithm was developed, which allowed us to separate NPs into different groups, owing to the measured differences in cross sections. Comparison of the measurements with a computational model of the absorption and scattering cross section accounting for nanoplates of varying geometries beyond simple triangles provided insight into the NP shape of each group. The results provide a significant improvement of polarization-resolved optical extinction microscopy to reconstruct NP shapes, further boosting the utility of the method as an alternative to electron microscopy analysis

Moving biochemistry and molecular biology courses online in times of disruption: Recommended practices and resources ‐ a collaboration with the faculty community and ASBMB

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/163423/2/bmb21354_am.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/163423/1/bmb21354.pd