The silent experiences of young bilingual learners : a small scale sociocultural study into the silent period

This ethnographic study focuses upon the experiences of a small number of early years bilingual learners' during the emergent stage of English language acquisition - the silent period. Building upon historical understandings of sociocultural theory, Vygotsky (1986), Lave and Wenger (1991), Wenger (1998), Rogoff (2003) and Gee (2004) provide the platform upon which the evolution of sociocultural learning theory is applied and tested out in relation to the interconnectedness of the spoken mother tongue, thought, and learning. Legitimate peripheral participation is examined as a workable concept through which to explore the initial learning trajectory of an emergent bilingual learner whilst negotiating participation within, through and beyond the early years community of practice during the silent period. A multi-method ethnographic approach to data gathering adopts Flewitt's (2005) `gaze following', as an alternative means of participant observation through which to identify silent participation within an early years setting. Additional ethnographic methods include unstructured interviews with bilingual and monolingual participants, which are interspersed with significant auto-ethnographic accounts. Funnelling the data through thematic analysis facilitates both the emergence of significant patterns and the `encapsulation' of significant data within vignettes. Sociocultural theory is tested out against the research findings through the analysis of nine selected vignettes. The findings present the silent period as a crucial time for learning; distributed through a synthesis of close observation, intense listening and copying. Examining the silent period through a sociocultural lens tentatively reveals silent participation as a significant but lesser acknowledged contribution to the early years community of practice

The settlement of Romans and Italians in the Iberian Peninsula to AD14

The settlement of Romans and Italians in Hispania between the Second Punic War and the death of Augustus has attracted much interest and confusion over the last two centuries. Study in this field has been impeded by a shortage of evidence, combined with a tendency to approach the topic with preconceived ideas concerning its place in both Roman history and society. The present study seeks to understand the chronological evolution of the settlement process and the politico - juridical patterns of settlement status produced as a result. New light will be shed on this complex subject by exploring aspects of the settlement process which have previously been ignored or dismissed. The recognised, but rarely applied, division between `formal' and `informal' settlement types will be used to provide a framework for the study of the settlement process as a whole. Through this the wider effects of the circumstances in which individual acts of settlement took place can be better understood. This framework also allows the question of the motivational factors affecting settlers, as well as those influencing settlement founders, to be raised. These factors had a powerful ability to affect the way in which the settlement process evolved.The study is structured as follows: chapter 2 explores the current state of the evidence available and depicts the geographical background against which settlement took place; chapters 3 and 4 respectively examine the formal settlement of the peninsula during the Republic and under Caesar and Augustus; chapter 5 investigates the factors which may have influenced veterans of the Roman army in their choice to settle in Hispania; chapter 6 covers similar ground with reference to the urban poor of Rome who settled in Hispania during the Caesarian period; chapter 7 assembles the available evidence for concrete instances of informal settlement; chapter 8 attempts to identify possible participants in informal settlement and examines the question of motivation among these independent migrants; finally, chapter 9 draws together the general conclusions arising from the study

Relativistically rotating dust

Dust configurations play an important role in astrophysics and are the simplest models for rotating bodies. The physical properties of the general--relativistic global solution for the rigidly rotating disk of dust, which has been found recently as the solution of a boundary value problem, are discussed.Comment: 18 pages, 11 figure

Glycemic, Gastrointestinal, Hormonal and Appetitive Responses to Pearl Millet or Oats Porridge Breakfasts: a Randomized, Crossover Trial in Healthy Humans

Whole grain cereal breakfast consumption has been associated with beneficial effects on glucose and insulin metabolism as well as satiety. Pearl millet is a popular ancient grain variety that can be grown in hot, dry regions. However, little is known about its health effects. This study investigated the effect of a pearl millet porridge (PMP) compared with a well-known Scottish oats porridge (SOP) on glycaemic, gastrointestinal, hormonal and appetitive responses. In a randomized, two way crossover trial, 26 healthy participants consumed two iso-energetic/volumetric PMP or SOP breakfast meals, served with a drink of water. Blood samples for glucose, insulin, GLP-1, GIP and PYY, gastric volumes and appetite ratings were collected for two hours postprandially, followed by an ad libitum meal and food intake records for the remainder of the day. The incremental area under the curve (iAUC2h) for blood glucose was not significantly different between the porridges (p ˃ 0.05). The iAUC2h gastric volume was larger for PMP compared with SOP (p = 0.045). The iAUC2h GIP concentration was significantly lower for PMP compared with SOP (p = 0.001). Other hormones and appetite responses were similar between meals. In conclusion, this study reports, for the first time, data on glycaemic and physiological responses to a pearl millet breakfast, showing that this ancient grain could represent a sustainable, alternative, with health-promoting characteristics comparable to oats. GIP is an incretin hormone linked to triacylglycerol absorption in adipose tissue, therefore the lower GIP response for PMP may be an added health benefit

Homogenization Pressure and Temperature Affect Protein Partitioning and Oxidative Stability of Emulsions

The oxidative stability of 10 % fish oil-in-water emulsions was investigated for emulsions prepared under different homogenization conditions. Homogenization was conducted at two different pressures (5 or 22.5 MPa), and at two different temperatures (22 and 72 °C). Milk proteins were used as the emulsifier. Hence, emulsions were prepared with either a combination of α-lactalbumin and β-lactoglobulin or with a combination of sodium caseinate and β-lactoglobulin. Results showed that an increase in pressure increased the oxidative stability of emulsions with caseinate and β-lactoglobulin, whereas it decreased the oxidative stability of emulsions with α-lactalbumin and β-lactoglobulin. For both types of emulsions the partitioning of proteins between the interface and the aqueous phase appeared to be important for the oxidative stability. The effect of pre-heating the aqueous phase with the milk proteins prior to homogenization did not have any clear effect on lipid oxidation in either of the two types of emulsions. (Résumé d'auteur

Assessment of Chemical and Physico-Chemical Properties of Cyanobacterial Lipids for Biodiesel Production

Five non-toxin producing cyanobacterial isolates from the genera Synechococcus, Trichormus, Microcystis, Leptolyngbya and Chlorogloea were examined in terms of quantity and quality as lipid feedstock for biofuel production. Under the conditions used in this study, the biomass productivity ranged from 3.7 to 52.7 mg·L−1·day−1 in relation to dry biomass, while the lipid productivity varied between 0.8 and 14.2 mg·L−1·day−1. All cyanobacterial strains evaluated yielded lipids with similar fatty acid composition to those present in the seed oils successfully used for biodiesel synthesis. However, by combining biomass and lipid productivity parameters, the greatest potential was found for Synechococcus sp. PCC7942, M. aeruginosa NPCD-1 and Trichormus sp. CENA77. The chosen lipid samples were further characterized using Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), viscosity and thermogravimetry and used as lipid feedstock for biodiesel synthesis by heterogeneous catalysis