Discipline-specific attitudinal differences of EMI students towards translanguaging

This study examines discipline-specific attitudinal differences in translanguaging when studying through English Medium Instruction following a mixed methods research design. The quantitative data for this study came from the Mathematics, Physical and Life Sciences (n = 173) and Social Sciences (n = 172) divisions of a major public university in Turkey. Semi-structured interviews were also conducted (n = 20). After conducting exploratory factor analysis to validate the questionnaire, we ran two independent samples t-tests to investigate the differences in the attitudes of the participants. Results revealed a statistically significant difference in the general attitudes towards translanguaging in the two divisions but not regarding their attitudes towards teachers’ and their own use of translanguaging in class. The qualitative analysis provided partial support for the quantitative analysis. The research suggests important implications by validating the translanguaging questionnaire in the Turkish setting and by highlighting discipline-specific differences observed towards translanguaging practices

The barriers and facilitators to physical activity in people with a musculoskeletal condition: a rapid review of reviews using the COM-B model to support intervention development

Objectives: The objective of this review of reviews was to identify the modifiable barriers and facilitators to physical activity in people with a musculoskeletal condition to influence intervention development. Study design: A rapid review of review. Methods: The Cochrane library and PubMed Central were searched for reviews using pre-defined search terms using relevant synonyms for “physical activity”, “barriers” or “facilitators”, and “musculoskeletal condition”. The identified reviews were screened for inclusion. The barriers and facilitators to physical activity identified in the included reviews were coded using the COM-B model of behaviour. Results: 503 reviews were identified with 12 included for analysis across a mix of conditions (n=3: hip and knee osteoarthritis combined; n=1: rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis combined; n=1: lower-back pain, hip and knee osteoarthritis combined; n=2 rheumatoid arthritis; n=1: knee osteoarthritis; n=1: spondylarthritis; n=2 chronic pain; n=1 lower-back pain) and designs (n=2: qualitative; n=6: quantitative; n=4 mixed). A multitude of interrelated factors influencing physical activity in people with a musculoskeletal condition were identified across the COM-B components. Conclusions: This review of reviews identified the complex nature of physical activity in people living with a musculoskeletal condition. The identified barriers and facilitators coded using the COM-B model should be considered by intervention designers to develop behaviour change interventions for population group

The last forests on Antarctica: Reconstructing flora and temperature from the Neogene Sirius Group, Transantarctic Mountains

Fossil-bearing deposits in the Transantarctic Mountains, Antarctica indicate that, despite the cold nature of the continent’s climate, a tundra ecosystem grew during periods of ice sheet retreat in the mid to late Neogene (17–2.5 Ma), 480 km from the South Pole. To date, palaeotemperature reconstruction has been based only on biological ranges, thereby calling for a geochemical approach to understanding continental climate and environment. There is contradictory evidence in the fossil record as to whether this flora was mixed angiosperm-conifer vegetation, or whether by this point conifers had disappeared from the continent. In order to address these questions, we have analysed, for the first time in sediments of this age, plant and bacterial biomarkers in terrestrial sediments from the Transantarctic Mountains to reconstruct past temperature and vegetation during a period of East Antarctic Ice Sheet retreat. From tetraether lipids (MBT’/CBT palaeothermometer), we conclude that the mean continental summer temperature was ca. 5 °C, in agreement with previous reconstructions. This was warm enough to have allowed woody vegetation to survive and reproduce even during the austral winter. Biomarkers from vascular plants indicate a low diversity and spatially variable flora consisting of higher plants, moss and algal mats growing in microenvironments in a glacial outwash system. Abietane-type compounds were abundant in some samples, indicating that conifers, most likely Podocarpaceae, grew on the Antarctic continent well into the Neogene. This is supported by the palynological record, but not the macrofossil record for the continent, and has implications for the evolution of vegetation on Antarctica

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

Genomic Dissection of Bipolar Disorder and Schizophrenia, Including 28 Subphenotypes

publisher: Elsevier articletitle: Genomic Dissection of Bipolar Disorder and Schizophrenia, Including 28 Subphenotypes journaltitle: Cell articlelink: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2018.05.046 content_type: article copyright: © 2018 Elsevier Inc