The French language: monocentric or pluricentric? Standard language ideology and attitudes towards the French language in twentieth-century language columns in Quebec

Quebec has a tradition of language columns, articles discussing questions related to the French language produced by a single author and published regularly in the periodical press (Remysen 2005, 270-71). This study examines the content and discourse of a sample of these language columns produced by six authors in Quebec during the 20th century to explore possible changes over time in the variety of French viewed as the standard or ideal French to aspire to. The article explicitly examines this question from the perspective of pluricentricity, little discussed in work on language columns to date, to test the hypothesis that there is a change over time from a strongly monocentric view of the standard to a somewhat more pluricentric view. The results show that while all the authors of language columns examined here adhere in varying degrees to a monocentric view of standard French, there is nonetheless a shift over the course of the century towards an acceptance of a more pluricentric model of standard French. These findings show the value of a small-scale, detailed qualitative approach in highlighting issues that deserve to be further explored. The French language: monocentric or pluricentric? Standard language ideology and attitudes towards the French language in 20th-century language columns in Quebec. Abstract Quebec has a tradition of language columns, articles discussing questions related to the Frenc

Les Chroniques de langage and the development of linguistic purism in Québec

The second half of the twentieth century has seen the emergence in Québec of a number of societies for the protection or promotion of the French language. Since the 1990s, new societies have increasingly been established online, with older ones also creating an online presence. Most of these societies publish journals which appear several times a year. An earlier study (Walsh 2013) has shown that the type of metalanguage used and the major preoccupations reflected by these societies on their websites and in their journals can be seen to reflect a moderately purist attitude (based on the theoretical framework for evaluating and measuring purism outlined by George Thomas 1991). This article presents the results of a similar investigation of a sample of chroniques de langage, columns dealing with questions of language, which appear regularly in journals and newspapers. The content and metalanguage of chroniques from two periods (1880–1889 and 1940–1949) will be compared, to determine whether the current-day purism displayed by Québécois language societies is reflected in an earlier period

Primary open abductor reconstruction - a 5-10 year study

Background: Gluteal tears are recognised as the source of pain over the greater trochanter. We investigated the outcome of primary open abductor tendon reconstruction with a 5 year follow-up. Methods: 165 consecutive hips underwent an open abductor tendon reconstruction, with all tears confirmed pre-operatively by MRI. Oxford hip scores (OHS) were assessed at the initial visit, and at 5 to 10 years. Results: The average pre-operative OHS was 22 (r: 7y – 34y) and average post-operative OHS was 40 a difference of 18 (p\u3c0.0001). Conclusion: Surgical reconstruction of degenerate abductor tendons should be considered in the presence of an MRI confirmed separation where clinical findings are consistent with the known tendon disruption. Open transosseous reconstruction reliably results in good pain relief at 5 to 10 years

Grassroot Power of Communities of Practice – The Case of SDG Literacy

With emerging consensus on an urgent need to address the potentially catastrophic issues of climate change, threats to the natural world and social injustice, Generation Z is spearheading a quiet revolution, elevating sustainability from desirable to essential. Achievement of the UN SDGs has emerged as a megatrend (Mittelsaedt et al., 2014) and universities are playing a key role in developing graduates’ sustainability knowledge, skills and mindsets (Andrews and Soares, 2017). To empower our students to solve ‘wicked sustainability problems’ (Levin et al., 2012) we, as educators, need to move beyond our discipline silos and develop cross-disciplinary collaborations that lead to innovations in our teaching, learning and assessment. We will present exemplars in practice emerging from a university-wide Community of Practice (CoP) (Wenger, 2015) in sustainability literacy called SDG Literacy which was established in 2020. The comprehensive nature of the SDG framework has brought colleagues from various disciplines together, such as business, engineering, chemistry, tourism, culinary arts and social work. The SDG Literacy CoP focuses on and promotes the enhancement of sustainability literacy and organically developing some of the key competencies listed under the new European GreenComp framework (Bianchi et al., 2022) among faculty and student cohorts. These growing impactful initiatives are aligned with Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) and the broader strategic aims of the university. Collaborative initiatives emerged such as co-creation of CPD in Education for Sustainability for staff, sustainability focused modules for students from different disciplines, creation of open educational resources (OERs), regular showcases of excellence of practice events, integrated assessments and development of collaborative industry-based partnerships. The SDG Literacy CoP and its growing influence within the university is an excellent example of the power of grassroot cross-disciplinary communities of practice to catalyse the promotion of sustainability strongly supported by our students - future leaders - and matched by the strategic university focus on people, planet and partnerships. In a call to action, we hope to inspire participants, by our story, to apply ideas of interdisciplinarity in practice. References Andrews, D., & Soares, S. (2017). Growing spaces: developing a sustainability–literate graduate. In DS 88: Proceedings of the 19th International Conference on Engineering and Product Design Education (E&PDE17), Building Community: Design Education for a Sustainable Future, Oslo, Norway, 7 & 8 September 2017 (pp. 328-333). Bianchi, G., Pisiotis, U. and Cabrera Giraldez, M., (2022). GreenComp The European sustainability competence framework, (No. JRC128040). Joint Research Centre (Seville site). Levin, K., Cashore, B., Bernstein, S., & Auld, G. (2012). Overcoming the tragedy of super wicked problems: constraining our future selves to ameliorate global climate change. Policy sciences, 45(2), 123-152. Mittelstaedt, J. D., Shultz, C. J., Kilbourne, W. E., & Peterson, M. (2014). Sustainability as megatrend: Two schools of macromarketing thought. Journal of Macromarketing, 34(3), 253-264. Wenger-Trayner, E. and Wenger-Trayner,B. (2015). Introduction to Communities of Practice Available at: https://wenger-trayner.com/introduction-to-communities-of-practice

The Relationship Between Cognition and Visual Statistical Learning

Visual statistical learning (VSL) allows humans to detect patterns from input and is a critical skill for information processing. Yet, the mechanisms behind VSL remain unclear. This pilot study (N=21) evaluated the relationship between VSL and cognitive-linguistic skills. All participants completed a brief assessment measuring their nonverbal and language abilities, and a VSL experiment. The experiment consisted of an exposure phase where 12 creatures were presented one at a time. A subset of creatures always occurred in temporal order while others never occurred in temporal order. After exposure, participants had to decide which creatures did (base triplets) or did not (impossible triplets) occur in order. The participants were above chanceat detecting the difference between base and impossible triplets demonstrating learning of the statistical regularities. There was also a significant positive correlation between accuracy on the VSL experiment and nonlinguistic abilities but not language abilities. Implications for these findings will be discussed

Empowering Responsible and Sustainability-Aware Business Graduates Through Digital Authentic Assessment

Business schools must engage in fundamental change to retain their legitimacy and position themselves as providers of solutions to urgent economic, social and environmental crises. Achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) has emerged as a megatrend and business education must enhance graduate skills to contribute to their achievement. The world requires the next generation of graduates to become responsible business leaders who will address wicked sustainability problems. Hence, we need pedagogy that enables students to become sustainability literate and thus develop appropriate knowledge, skills and mindsets. Authentic assessment provides transformative learning opportunities that empower students to achieve meaningful impact in the real world. Despite some recent research that connects authentic assessment and sustainability, there is a dearth of empirical research on authentic assessments for sustainability in business disciplines. We outline a pedagogical initiative designed with the aim of enhancing sustainability literacy among business students using innovative digital tools as part of authentic assessment strategy. We designed and implemented authentic assessment strategies that engage students with learning across a number of different delivery modes and in a ‘deep’ reflective manner with meaningful tasks. Business students on undergraduate, postgraduate and executive programmes follow the same format with some adjustments made to reflect the different discipline/module focus. This includes completion of: (i) a sustainability literacy test through the UN supported Sulitest platform, (ii) a written reflection on learning, stemming from the Sulitest that utilises the DIEP reflective model, (iii) the creation of digital artefacts such as a short video shared on LinkedIn; student activism involving contacting political representatives/brands; creation of social media content in partnership with sustainability-focused organisations; podcasts with invited guests; writing of opinion pieces for media; and creation of e-portfolios that showcase students\u27 work. We believe this deep reflection and awareness signposts efficacious action emerging from our transformative learning pedagogy, based digital authentic assessment design. This pedagogical approach equips students with sustainability-specific knowledge, global citizenship skills, digital skills, and creative and inquisitive mindsets

Discrete trajectories of resolving and persistent pain in people with rheumatoid arthritis despite undergoing treatment for inflammation: results from three UK cohorts

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an example of human chronic inflammatory pain. Modern treatments suppress inflammation, yet pain remains a major problem for many people with RA. We hypothesised that discrete RA subgroups might display favourable or unfavourable pain trajectories when receiving treatment, and that baseline characteristics will predict trajectory allocation.Growth Mixture Modelling was used to identify discrete trajectories of SF36-Bodily Pain scores during 3 years in 3 RA cohorts (Early RA Network (ERAN); n=683, British Society for Rheumatology Biologics Register Biologics (n=7090) and Non-Biologics (n=1720) cohorts. Logistic regression compared baseline predictor variables between trajectories. The role of inflammation was examined in a subgroup analysis of people with normal levels of inflammatory markers after 3 years.Mean SF36-Bodily Pain scores in each cohort improved but remained throughout 3y follow up >1 SD worse than the UK general population average. Discrete Persistent Pain (59% to 79% of cohort participants) and Resolving Pain (19% to 27%) trajectories were identified in each cohort. In ERAN, a third trajectory displaying persistently Low Pain (23%) was also identified. In people with normal levels of inflammatory markers after 3 years, 65% of them were found to follow a Persistent Pain trajectory. When trajectories were compared, greater disability (aORs 2.3-2.5 per unit baseline Health Assessment Questionnaire score) and smoking history (aORs 1.6-1.8) were risk factors for Persistent Pain trajectories in each cohort.In conclusion, distinct trajectories indicate patient subgroups with very different pain prognosis during RA treatment. Inflammation does not fully explain the pain trajectories, and non-inflammatory factors as well as acute phase response predict which trajectory an individual will follow. Targeted treatments additional to those which suppress inflammation might reduce the long term burden of arthritis pain

Embedding Sustainability Literacy in Business School Curricula through Reflective Pedagogy: An Exploratory Study of Student Reflections of the Sulitest

Purpose Sustainability has emerged as a megatrend affecting all aspects of management practice. SDG 4.7 has mandated business schools to provide education for responsible leadership and to integrate sustainability principles in their curricula. Faculty are challenged to mainstream sustainability through engaging pedagogy that inspires and offers concrete tools. Yet, pedagogy has been viewed as a key challenge to embedding sustainability in management education. Design / Methodology / Approach We highlight the role of reflection in promoting the enhancement of sustainability literacy in business school curricula, supporting our proposition that management education for sustainability must have a reflective dimension that engages students in deeper learning. In addition to exploring theoretical perspectives on sustainability literacy development through reflection, we draw on empirical evidence provided from a study of 300+ student reflective assignments, based on their experiences of the UN Sulitest, using the DIEP (describe, interpret, evaluate, plan) framework. Findings A thematic analysis of reflective assignments suggest that students engaged in thoughtful reflection that was transformative in nature, broadening their knowledge, questioning their mindsets and fostering change agency. Typical knowledge domains highlighted include: the circular economy, child labour, pollution, equality and clean energy. Students expressed emotions of shock, anger and surprise about the role of human affluence in unsustainable futures. Research Limitations Although our analysis paints a story limited to reflection coupled to just one learning experience, namely the UN Sulitest, future pedagogical initiatives might expand to additional tools for promoting sustainability literacy. Whilst it is meant to illustrate how elements of a sustainability literacy are developed, no data was collected to systematically evaluate transformational impact. We recommend further research to evaluate future transformation. Originality / Value Our findings contribute to the practical application of reflective pedagogy in promoting the enhancement of sustainability literacy and to a conceptualisation of the role that reflection plays in the pursuit of transformation. Moreover, it provides corroborating evidence to principles of deep learning for sustainability based on the SDG framework, emotional stimuli, advocacy and action

Streptococcus pneumoniae NanC. Structural insights into the specificity and mechanism of a sialidase that produces a sialidase inhibitor

This work was supported by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (UK) and the Medical Research Council (UK).Streptococcus pneumoniae is an important human pathogen that causes a range of disease states. Sialidases are important bacterial virulence factors. There are three pneumococcal sialidases: NanA, NanB, and NanC. NanC is an unusual sialidase in that its primary reaction product is 2-deoxy-2,3-didehydro-N-acetylneuraminic acid (Neu5Ac2en, also known as DANA), a nonspecific hydrolytic sialidase inhibitor. The production of Neu5Ac2en from α2-3-linked sialosides by the catalytic domain is confirmed within a crystal structure. A covalent complex with 3-fluoro-β-N-acetylneuraminic acid is also presented, suggesting a common mechanism with other sialidases up to the final step of product formation. A conformation change in an active site hydrophobic loop on ligand binding constricts the entrance to the active site. In addition, the distance between the catalytic acid/base (Asp-315) and the ligand anomeric carbon is unusually short. These features facilitate a novel sialidase reaction in which the final step of product formation is direct abstraction of the C3 proton by the active site aspartic acid, forming Neu5Ac2en. NanC also possesses a carbohydrate-binding module, which is shown to bind α2-3- and α2-6-linked sialosides, as well as N-acetylneuraminic acid, which is captured in the crystal structure following hydration of Neu5Ac2en by NanC. Overall, the pneumococcal sialidases show remarkable mechanistic diversity while maintaining a common structural scaffold.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe