Transition from Secondary school CLIL to EMI at University: Initial evidence from research in Italy

Through vocabulary tests, interviews with students and recordings of classes/lectures, we measured students' English vocabulary knowledge against the vocabulary in the teachers' talk, the nature of classroom interaction in the two settings and the students' approaches to their learning in general and their in-class listening strategies in particular. In this way we aimed to identify the challenges students faced in English-medium education in the secondary and tertiary educational phases

The European Reference Genome Atlas: piloting a decentralised approach to equitable biodiversity genomics.

ABSTRACT: A global genome database of all of Earth’s species diversity could be a treasure trove of scientific discoveries. However, regardless of the major advances in genome sequencing technologies, only a tiny fraction of species have genomic information available. To contribute to a more complete planetary genomic database, scientists and institutions across the world have united under the Earth BioGenome Project (EBP), which plans to sequence and assemble high-quality reference genomes for all ∼1.5 million recognized eukaryotic species through a stepwise phased approach. As the initiative transitions into Phase II, where 150,000 species are to be sequenced in just four years, worldwide participation in the project will be fundamental to success. As the European node of the EBP, the European Reference Genome Atlas (ERGA) seeks to implement a new decentralised, accessible, equitable and inclusive model for producing high-quality reference genomes, which will inform EBP as it scales. To embark on this mission, ERGA launched a Pilot Project to establish a network across Europe to develop and test the first infrastructure of its kind for the coordinated and distributed reference genome production on 98 European eukaryotic species from sample providers across 33 European countries. Here we outline the process and challenges faced during the development of a pilot infrastructure for the production of reference genome resources, and explore the effectiveness of this approach in terms of high-quality reference genome production, considering also equity and inclusion. The outcomes and lessons learned during this pilot provide a solid foundation for ERGA while offering key learnings to other transnational and national genomic resource projects.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

The LRP1 gene polymorphism is associated with increased risk of metabolic syndrome prevalence in the Serbian population

The determination of genetic background in metabolic syndrome (MetS) represents one of the necessary steps to prevent the disorder, thus reducing the cost of medical treatments and helping to design targeted therapy. The study explores the association between individual alleles of the LRP1 gene and the diagnosis of MetS to find correlation between the low-density lipoprotein receptor-related (LRP1) gene polymorphism and each individual anthropometric and biochemical parameter. The study included 93 males and females, aged from 19 to 65, divided into two groups. The genotype of each person was determined from the restriction fragment length polymorphism-polymerase chain reaction (RFLP-PCR) profile. Results indicated the association of the T allele form of exon 3 LRP1 gene with development and progression of MetS that further pointed out its negative impact on tested anthropometric and biochemical parameters. The presence of the T allele in patients multiplies the chance of occurrence of deviations from the reference values of body mass index (BMI), (4.24-fold) and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) (20.26-fold) compared to C allele carriers. The results showed that T allele presence multiplies the chance (4.76 fold) for the occurrence of MetS in comparison to C allele carriers. Correlation found that the T allele of the LRP1 gene with MetS determinants is not negligible, therefore, the T allele may be considered as a risk factor for MetS development

EFFECTS OF OVERABUNDANT MOOSE ON THE NEWFOUNDLAND LANDSCAPE

The long-term effects of introduced and overabundant herbivores on community development must be monitored and managed in an ecosystem-based forest management approach. This paper builds on previously published ecological descriptions and hypotheses offered on the effects of moose overabundance in Newfoundland. The island, in the absence of wolves, provides a setting for study of local irruptions in moose populations, which now affect an increasing area of the forest. Moose effects occur most often after natural disturbances and logging, involving unique forest succession patterns. We describe some of these changes, along with anticipated and realised changes in associated forest biodiversity. We offer suggestions to improve or refine monitoring of moose populations, especially at local scales, to detect cases of overabundance. Finally, we offer recommendations for the management of overabundant moose populations

Measuring sign language comprehension through spatial response

S. Naqvi, R. Spiegel, J. Ohene-Djan, D. Moore, and E. Hsiao, "Measuring sign language comprehension through spatial response," in Proceedings of Conference and Workshop on Assistive Technologies for Vision and Hearing Impairment: Technology for Inclusion, D. M. Hersh, Ed. Kufstein, Austrian Tyrol: Euro-Assist-VHI-4, 19th July 2006, pp. CD-ROM, euro-Assist-VHI-4

Measuring sign language comprehension through spatial response.

Proceedings of Conference and Workshop on Assistive Technologies for Vision and Hearing Impairment: Technology for Inclusion, D. M. Hersh, Ed. Kufstein, Austrian Tyrol: Euro-Assist-VHI-4, 19th July 2006, pp. CD-ROM, euro-Assist-VHI-4

Interferometric crosstalk reduction by phase scrambling in WDM integrated cross-connects

Interferometric crosstalk mitigation in a four-channel 2.5 Gbit/s InP-based 2×2 cross-connect using phase scrambling is reported. Bit error rate performance is improved from a large power penalty indicated by a floor at 10-8 to a penalty o

PMD induced transmission penalties in polarization multiplexed transmission

In this paper, we investigate for the first time chromatic dispersion and nonlinearity tolerances in the presence of polarization-mode dispersion (PMD) for polarization-multiplexed (POLMUX) 2 × 10-Gb/s nonreturn-to-zero (NRZ) transmission. In polarization-multiplexing, the interaction between fiber nonlinearity and PMD can lower the nonlinear tolerance beyond the tolerances evident when considering both transmission penalties separately; the combined penalties are significantly worse than in the case for non-POLMUX transmission. In this paper, we show, through simulations comparing POLMUX with non-POMUX transmission in the presence of nonlinearity, a reduction of about a factor of three in PMD tolerance. In addition, we show that the dispersion tolerance of POLMUX transmission is severely limited in the presence of PMD. For example, a 40-ps differential group delay (DGD) with worst case coupling of the polarization channels into the fiber lowers the dispersion tolerance, resulting in a 1-dB eye-opening penalty (EOP), from 1200 to 450 ps/nm. We conclude that the interaction between PMD, chromatic dispersion, and nonlinearity leads to the worst signal impairments in POLMUX transmission and increases the effort of using polarization-multiplexing as a modulation format. © 2005 IEEE

Foreign language learning and its impact on wider academic outcomes: A rapid evidence assessment

Background to the report:The Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) commissioned this Rapid Evidence Assessment (REA) with a view to understanding what is known from the research literature concerning learning a foreign language (FL) and its impact on students’ wider academic outcomes. The key questions addressed examine: i) the research identifyingwhat approaches to teaching FLs are being used and what variables impact on the effectiveness of these approaches; ii) the research which has examined the influence of learning a FL (or knowing another language) on other aspects of attainment; and iii) the impact of using a non-native language as the Medium of Instruction (MoI) on language learning and academic attainment. To address these questions, this REA first identified relevant extant synthesis literature (systematic reviews and/or meta-analyses) which wethenupdated by locating and reviewing more recent research that adopted either a Randomised Controlled Design (RCT) or a Quasi-Experimental Design (QED) as these research designs enable thedetermination ofunderlying causal relationships between variables.Thereview questions posed in this REA are fundamental to our understanding of Language in Education policies and attainment. The research discussed in this report will lead to a greater understanding of the key findings in the literature, together with the trustworthiness of these findings, and will in turn enable strategic decision making regarding future research programmes,fundingfor research,and policy making