The learning process model for intercultural partnerships

This paper addresses the issue of how learning can support intercultural effectiveness and is one of the outputs of the eChina-UK Programme. In this paper I synthesise theory and evidence from a number of fields in order to propose a practical model of learning that can be applied to intercultural collaborations. The aim is not to replace existing theories and models of learning but to draw on them in order to present a simple description that might be of value to those planning and managing international partnerships. Although much of what is said here relates specifically to intercultural collaboration I believe that many of the observations remain true of cross-sectoral partnership (which is, anyway, often intercultural as well) and of inter-professional learning too: indeed, there might be an argument for asserting principles of learning that contribute to effectiveness in working across boundaries in any long-term collaboration. The paper is divided into an Introduction and four further sections. Section 2 reviews the various streams of literature which have informed the current study and presents an argument for the particular approach to learning promoted in this paper on the basis of established and complementary research in a number of different disciplines. Section 3 contains a description of the learning model for intercultural collaboration which has been developed as part of our current research at the University of Warwick. The practical application of this model, and the implications for policy in cultural collaboration, are discussed briefly in Section 4. The final section summarises the work and looks forward to further research and development around the issue of learning in intercultural collaboration

The learning process in intercultural collaboration: evidence from the eChina-UK Programme

The eChina-UK Programme was established in 2002 and originally comprised a small number of projects in which British and Chinese teams worked collaboratively to develop and pilot e-learning materials in the field of education. Phase 1 of the Programme spanned the period 2003 to 2005 and produced a number of practical outputs (Spencer- Oatey 2007). Three follow-on projects were funded in Phase 2, which started in October 2005, and these included research reflecting on issues of pedagogy as well as the creation of further teaching and learning materials. These projects ran until 2007 and, in December of that year, Phase 3 of the Programme was put in place to capture insights from the experiences of all of the completed projects. The goal of Phase 3, therefore, was to draw out the learning from Phases 1 and 2 of the eChina-UK Programme with respect to the management of intercultural aspects of international education projects. In addition to the learning to be gained from the eChina-UK projects, the Phase 3 work included new research both into data generated in Phases 1 and 2 and into other sources of knowledge relating to intercultural effectiveness. The focus was on situating the learning from the eChina-UK projects into a wider intellectual context. The intention was to maximise the understanding of the intercultural management of international education projects and enable the production of resources for those engaged in current and future projects of this kind (Reid et al. 2009). This paper presents findings from one strand of the research carried out during Phase 3 of the eChina-UK Programme. The objective of this strand was to draw on data from eChina- UK and related studies in order to produce theoretical and practical insights into the nature of intercultural collaboration as a learning process. The focus on learning was primarily determined by the realisation (from analysis of the eChina-UK data and other studies of intercultural collaboration) that building intercultural competencies required significant attention to individual and group learning. Any practical recommendations and resources developed in Phase 3 of the programme would therefore need to pay attention to how participants managed their learning during an international partnership. Similarly, we might usefully be able to demonstrate how those planning such collaborations could benefit from embedding good learning practices from the outset of their work. The purpose of this paper is to summarise and analyse the findings from the empirical work carried out within this strand of Phase 3 research. I have set out elsewhere the theoretical background to this research and specifically to the development of the learning process model utilised here (Reid 2009a). That model will constitute part of the material available to researchers, managers and other practitioners through the Global People Resource Bank (www.globalpeople.org.uk) developed in Phase 3 of the eChina-UK Programme. None of this work would have been possible without the sustained support and co-operation of our colleagues in the various eChina-UK projects and at our funding body, the Higher Education Funding Council for England

Letter. On the activation of [CrCl3{R-SN(H)S-R}] catalysts for selective trimerization of ethene: a freeze-quench Cr K-edge XAFS study

Homogeneous chromium catalysts for the selective conversion of ethene to hex-1-ene are formed from Cr(III) reagents, amino-thioether ligands of the type HN(CH2CH2SR)2, and aluminum reagents. In this study the early activation steps are investigated by EPR, UV-visible and Cr K-edge XAFS spectroscopy; rapid stopped-flow mixing and a freeze-quench allows good quality EXAFS analysis of a species formed in ~ 1 second of reaction. This is shown to involve reduction to Cr(II) and deprotonation of a NH group of the auxiliary ligand. This 4-coordinate metal-center may act as precursor for the coordination of ethene and subsequent selective oligomerization

Experimental results for nulling the effective thermal expansion coefficient of fused silica fibres under a static stress

We have experimentally demonstrated that the effective thermal expansion coefficient of a fused silica fibre can be nulled by placing the fibre under a particular level of stress. Our technique involves heating the fibre and measuring how the fibre length changes with temperature as the stress on the fibre was systematically varied. This nulling of the effective thermal expansion coefficient should allow for the complete elimination of thermoelastic noise and is essential for allowing second generation gravitational wave detectors to reach their target sensitivity. To our knowledge this is the first time that the cancelation of the thermal expansion coefficient with stress has been experimentally observed

Vortices and Jacobian varieties

We investigate the geometry of the moduli space of N-vortices on line bundles over a closed Riemann surface of genus g > 1, in the little explored situation where 1 =< N < g. In the regime where the area of the surface is just large enough to accommodate N vortices (which we call the dissolving limit), we describe the relation between the geometry of the moduli space and the complex geometry of the Jacobian variety of the surface. For N = 1, we show that the metric on the moduli space converges to a natural Bergman metric on the Riemann surface. When N > 1, the vortex metric typically degenerates as the dissolving limit is approached, the degeneration occurring precisely on the critical locus of the Abel-Jacobi map at degree N. We describe consequences of this phenomenon from the point of view of multivortex dynamics.Comment: 36 pages, 2 figure

Activation of [CrCl3{PPh2N(iPr)PPh2}] for the selective oligomerisation of ethene: a Cr K-edge XAFS study

The activation of the ethene tetramerisation catalyst system based upon [CrCl3(THF)3] and N(iPr)(PPh2)2 has been investigated in situ via the reaction of [CrCl3{PPh2N(R)PPh2}(THF)] 1a (R=iPr) with excess AlMe3 in toluene. The Cr K-edge XAFS spectrum of the solution freeze quenched after 1 min reaction time indicated monomethylation of the metal with the resultant product being [CrClMe(ClAlCl3){PPh2N(R)PPh2}(THF)] 4a (R=iPr). After 5 minutes reaction time the XAFS spectra indicate that ~50% of 4a had been converted to a Cr(II) species, with the central core being high spin [CrCl2{PPh2N(R)PPh2}] 7a (R=iPr); a similar species, [CrClMe{PPh2N(R)PPh2}] 9a (R=iPr) was observed as its adduct with AlMe3 (10a) (R=iPr) when spectra were recorded on samples maintained a room temperature. Detailed analysis (EXAFS and XANES) indicated that 7a and 9a are stabilised by adduct formation of a Cr-Cl bond to the Lewis acids B(C6F5)3 and AlMe3, respectiveley. Modelling with DFT methods indicated that five-coordination was achieved, respectively by Cr-F (11a) and Cr-C (10a) interactions. In the presence of [Ph3C][Al{OC(tBuF)3}4], the Cr XAFS of the room temperature solution was inconsistent with the maintenance of a phosphine complex, but could be modelled with a site like [Cr2Me8]4- {Cr-Cr 2.01(2), Cr-C 2.14(4)}, thus demonstrating considerable variation in the effects of differing Lewis acids

Mirror coating solution for the cryogenic Einstein telescope

Planned, cryogenic gravitational-wave detectors will require improved coatings with a strain thermal noise reduced by a factor of 25 compared to Advanced LIGO. In this article, we present investigations of HfO2 doped with SiO2 as a new coating material for future detectors. Our measurements show an extinction coefficient of k=6×10−6 and a mechanical loss of ϕ=3.8×10−4 at 10,K, which is a factor of 2 below that of SiO2, the currently used low refractive-index coating material. These properties make HfO2 doped with SiO2 ideally suited as a low-index partner material for use with a-Si in the lower part of a multimaterial coating. Based on these results we present a multimaterial coating design which, for the first time, can simultaneously meet the strict requirements on optical absorption and thermal noise of the cryogenic Einstein Telescope

Spatiotemporal responses of trabecular and cortical bone to complete spinal cord injury in skeletally mature rats

Objective: Characterise the spatiotemporal responses of trabecular and cortical bone to complete spinal cord injury (SCI) in the skeletally mature rat in the acute (4-week) period following injury. Methods: The spinal cord of 5-month old male rats was transected at the T9 level. Outcome measures were assessed using micro-computed tomography, three-point bending and serum markers at 1-, 2-, and 4-weeks post-transection. Comparison was made with time-0 and sham animals. Results: Lower levels of circulating serum bone formation markers and higher bone resorption markers suggested uncoupled bone turnover as early at 1-week post-transection. Micro-computed tomography showed metaphyseal and epiphyseal trabecular bone loss was observed only at 4-weeks post-transection. The bone loss was site-specific with a more severe reduction in trabecular BV/TV observed in the metaphyseal (50%) relative to epiphyseal (19%) region. Metaphyseal trabecular bone exhibited a 110% reduction in connectivity density while the epiphyseal trabecular bone was unaffected. Cortical bone deficits were not seen over the time periods examined. Conclusions: The study demonstrates that the skeletally mature spinal cord transected rat model replicates the biphasic pattern of osteoporotic changes observed in the human SCI population, providing a relevant model for testing the efficacy of interventions against SCI-induced osteoporosis

Constraint propagation equations of the 3+1 decomposition of f(R) gravity

Theories of gravity other than general relativity (GR) can explain the observed cosmic acceleration without a cosmological constant. One such class of theories of gravity is f(R). Metric f(R) theories have been proven to be equivalent to Brans-Dicke (BD) scalar-tensor gravity without a kinetic term. Using this equivalence and a 3+1 decomposition of the theory it has been shown that metric f(R) gravity admits a well-posed initial value problem. However, it has not been proven that the 3+1 evolution equations of metric f(R) gravity preserve the (hamiltonian and momentum) constraints. In this paper we show that this is indeed the case. In addition, we show that the mathematical form of the constraint propagation equations in BD-equilavent f(R) gravity and in f(R) gravity in both the Jordan and Einstein frames, is exactly the same as in the standard ADM 3+1 decomposition of GR. Finally, we point out that current numerical relativity codes can incorporate the 3+1 evolution equations of metric f(R) gravity by modifying the stress-energy tensor and adding an additional scalar field evolution equation. We hope that this work will serve as a starting point for relativists to develop fully dynamical codes for valid f(R) models.Comment: 25 pages, matches published version in CQG, references update

Elucidation of the ebola virus VP24 cellular interactome and disruption of virus biology through targeted inhibition of host-cell protein function

Viral pathogenesis in the infected cell is a balance between antiviral responses and subversion of host-cell processes. Many viral proteins specifically interact with host-cell proteins to promote virus biology. Understanding these interactions can lead to knowledge gains about infection and provide potential targets for antiviral therapy. One such virus is Ebola, which has profound consequences for human health and causes viral hemorrhagic fever where case fatality rates can approach 90%. The Ebola virus VP24 protein plays a critical role in the evasion of the host immune response and is likely to interact with multiple cellular proteins. To map these interactions and better understand the potential functions of VP24, label-free quantitative proteomics was used to identify cellular proteins that had a high probability of forming the VP24 cellular interactome. Several known interactions were confirmed, thus placing confidence in the technique, but new interactions were also discovered including one with ATP1A1, which is involved in osmoregulation and cell signaling. Disrupting the activity of ATP1A1 in Ebola-virus-infected cells with a small molecule inhibitor resulted in a decrease in progeny virus, thus illustrating how quantitative proteomics can be used to identify potential therapeutic targets