Teaching disciplinary writing as social practice: moving beyond ‘text-in-context’ designs in UK Higher Education

This paper concerns the teaching of disciplinary academic writing in Higher Education in the UK and is motivated by the need to identify an EAP instructional design that will facilitate student writers’ engagement with disciplinary writing as a situated social practice. In the paper I describe and critique what I characterise as a ‘text-in-context’ genre-based pedagogy influential in EAP provision in the UK, and then sketch out the broad parameters of a ‘social practice’ instructional design, enactable within the context of UK Higher Education

RCD snubber revisited

Published versio

Introduction to the AdS/CFT correspondence

This is a pedagogical introduction to the AdS/CFT correspondence, based on lectures delivered by the author at the third IDPASC school. Starting with the conceptual basis of the holographic dualities, the subject is developed emphasizing some concrete topics, which are discussed in detail. A very brief introduction to string theory is provided, containing the minimal ingredients to understand the origin of the AdS/CFT duality. Other topics covered are the holographic calculation of correlation functions, quark-antiquark potentials and transport coefficients.Comment: 64 pages, 12 figures;v2: minor improvements;v3: references adde

An isoparametric approach to high-order curvilinear boundary-layer meshing

This is the final version of the article. Available from Elsevier via the DOI in this record.The generation of high-order curvilinear meshes for complex three-dimensional geometries is presently a challenging topic, particularly for meshes used in simulations at high Reynolds numbers where a thin boundary layer exists near walls and elements are highly stretched in the direction normal to flow. In this paper, we present a conceptually simple but very effective and modular method to address this issue. We propose an isoparametric approach, whereby a mesh containing a valid coarse discretization comprising of high-order triangular prisms near walls is refined to obtain a finer prismatic or tetrahedral boundary-layer mesh. The validity of the prismatic mesh provides a suitable mapping that allows one to obtain very fine mesh resolutions across the thickness of the boundary layer. We describe the method in detail for a high-order approximation using modal basis functions, discuss the requirements for the splitting method to produce valid prismatic and tetrahedral meshes and provide a sufficient criterion of validity in both cases. By considering two complex aeronautical configurations, we demonstrate how highly stretched meshes with sufficient resolution within the laminar sublayer can be generated to enable the simulation of flows with Reynolds numbers of 106 and above.This work was partly supported by EU Grant No. 265780 as part of the EU FP7 project “IDIHOM: Industrialization of High-Order Methods — A Top-Down Approach”. We would like to thank Dr. Tobias Leicht of DLR for asking a very pertinent question concerning the validity of the generated high-order mesh that we believe to have answered in this article. We also thank Jean-Eloi Lombard for his assistance in generating the mesh for Fig. 15

Optimizing the colour and fabric of targets for the control of the tsetse fly Glossina fuscipes fuscipes

Background: Most cases of human African trypanosomiasis (HAT) start with a bite from one of the subspecies of Glossina fuscipes. Tsetse use a range of olfactory and visual stimuli to locate their hosts and this response can be exploited to lure tsetse to insecticide-treated targets thereby reducing transmission. To provide a rational basis for cost-effective designs of target, we undertook studies to identify the optimal target colour. Methodology/Principal Findings: On the Chamaunga islands of Lake Victoria , Kenya, studies were made of the numbers of G. fuscipes fuscipes attracted to targets consisting of a panel (25 cm square) of various coloured fabrics flanked by a panel (also 25 cm square) of fine black netting. Both panels were covered with an electrocuting grid to catch tsetse as they contacted the target. The reflectances of the 37 different-coloured cloth panels utilised in the study were measured spectrophotometrically. Catch was positively correlated with percentage reflectance at the blue (460 nm) wavelength and negatively correlated with reflectance at UV (360 nm) and green (520 nm) wavelengths. The best target was subjectively blue, with percentage reflectances of 3%, 29%, and 20% at 360 nm, 460 nm and 520 nm respectively. The worst target was also, subjectively, blue, but with high reflectances at UV (35% reflectance at 360 nm) wavelengths as well as blue (36% reflectance at 460 nm); the best low UV-reflecting blue caught 3× more tsetse than the high UV-reflecting blue. Conclusions/Significance: Insecticide-treated targets to control G. f. fuscipes should be blue with low reflectance in both the UV and green bands of the spectrum. Targets that are subjectively blue will perform poorly if they also reflect UV strongly. The selection of fabrics for targets should be guided by spectral analysis of the cloth across both the spectrum visible to humans and the UV region

Novice ESL writers: a longitudinal case-study of the situated academic writing processes of three undergraduates in a TESOL context

This paper explores the situated academic writing processes of three ESL writers as they researched, planned, and wrote three modular assignments over the course of their first academic year on a UK university, undergraduate TESOL programme. Adopting a socio-cognitive perspective it focuses on the changing patterns of textual and interpersonal interactions that constituted the participants’ processes. Data were collected over the year from day-by-day audio-recorded activity logs and interviews, triangulated with tutorial records and textual material of various kinds (chiefly, outlines, charts, drafts, electronic correspondence). Data were analysed using qualitative procedures to enable the construction of detailed narratives of developing academic writing processes. The study (a) affirms a view of academic writing as a complex socio-cognitive process implicating a range of textual and interpersonal interactions, and identifies two distinct approaches to the writing of academic texts, both of which may lead to high-quality writing and (b) finds that some novice writers engage in textual interactions which provide information about genre, rhetoric, language and the communities of practice within which they write and that this may be one factor distinguishing more from less successful academic writers

An automated online instrument to quantify aerosol-bound reactive oxygen species (ROS) for ambient measurement and health-relevant aerosol studies

The adverse health effects associated with ambient aerosol particles have been well documented, but it is still unclear which aerosol properties are most important for their negative health impact. Some studies suggest the oxidative effects of particle-bound reactive oxygen species (ROS) are potential major contributors to the toxicity of particles. Traditional ROS measurement techniques are labour-intensive, give poor temporal resolution and generally have significant delays between aerosol sampling and ROS analysis. However, many oxidising particle components are reactive and thus potentially short-lived. Thus, a technique to quantify particle-bound ROS online would be beneficial to quantify also the short-lived ROS components. We introduce a new portable instrument to allow online, continuous measurement of particle-bound ROS using a chemical assay of 2$^\prime$7$^\prime$-dichlorofluorescein (DCFH) with horseradish peroxidase (HRP), via fluorescence spectroscopy. All components of the new instrument are attached to a containing shell, resulting in a compact system capable of automated continuous field deployment over many hours or days. From laboratory measurements, the instrument was found to have a detection limit of ~4 nmol [H$_2$O$_2$] equivalents per cubic metre (m$^3$) air, a dynamic range up to at least ~2000 nmol [H$_2$O$_2$] equivalents per m$^3$ air and a time resolution of ≤ 12 min. The instrument allows for ~16 h automated measurement if unattended and shows a fast response to changes in concentrations of laboratory-generated oxidised organic aerosol. The instrument was deployed at an urban site in London, and particulate ROS levels of up to 24 nmol [H$_2$O$_2$] equivalents per m$^3$ air were detected with PM$_{2.5}$ concentrations up to 28 µg m$^{−3}$. The new and portable Online Particle-bound ROS Instrument (OPROSI) allows fast-response quantification; this is important due to the potentially short-lived nature of particle-bound ROS as well as fast-changing atmospheric conditions, especially in urban environments. The instrument design allows for automated operation and extended field operation with twice-daily presence of an operator. As well as having sensitivity suitable for ambient level measurement, the instrument is also suitable at concentrations such as those required for laboratory and chamber toxicological studies.The authors would like to thank ERC (the European Research Council, grant no. 279405) for their funding of this study. Infrastructure at Marylebone Road was supported by NERC (the Natural Environment Research Council, Clearflo grant no. NE/H003231/1) and Defra (Department of Environment Food and Rural Affairs, contract AQ0643 Automatic London Network (2010-14) RMP 5442)

Mbd3/NuRD controls lymphoid cell fate and inhibits tumorigenesis by repressing a B cell transcriptional program

Differentiation of lineage-committed cells from multipotent progenitors requires establishment of accessible chromatin at lineage-specific transcriptional enhancers and promoters, which is mediated by pioneer transcription factors that recruit activating chromatin remodeling complexes. Here we show that the Mbd3/NuRD chromatin remodeling complex opposes this transcriptional pioneering during B cell programming of multipotent lymphoid progenitors by restricting chromatin accessibility at B cell enhancers and promoters. Mbd3/NuRD-deficient lymphoid progenitors therefore prematurely activate a B cell transcriptional program and are biased towards overproduction of pro-B cells at the expense of T cell progenitors. The striking reduction in early thymic T cell progenitors results in compensatory hyperproliferation of immature thymocytes and development of T cell lymphoma. Our results reveal that Mbd3/NuRD can regulate multilineage differentiation by constraining the activation of dormant lineage-specific enhancers and promoters. In this way, Mbd3/NuRD protects the multipotency of lymphoid progenitors, preventing B cell-programming transcription factors from prematurely enacting lineage commitment. Mbd3/NuRD therefore controls the fate of lymphoid progenitors, ensuring appropriate production of lineage-committed progeny and suppressing tumour formation.F.C. was supported by an EMBO long-term fellowship (1305-2015 and Marie Curie Actions LTFCOFUND2013/GA-2013-609409). Work in the Green lab is supported Cancer Research UK (grants refs. C1163/A12765 and C1163/A12526), Bloodwise (grant ref. 13003), and core support grants by the Wellcome Trust to the Cambridge Institute for Medical Research (100140/Z/12/Z) and Wellcome Trust-MRC Cambridge Stem Cell Institute (097922/Z/11/Z)