There may be regular guys but there are no regular native speakers: lexis and native-speaker-like competence.

An analysis of different dimensions of meaning available to a native speaker (though with some variation across any given population of native speakers) in making judgments about English usage. Argues that research into such intuitions is essential in understanding lexis, alongside the kinds of electronic corpus analysis favoured by Swedish scholar Moira Linnarud to whom the Festschrift is dedicated

A Deep Infrared Search for AXP 1E 1841-045

Multi-colour (JHKs) imaging and photometry of the field of the Anomalous X-ray Pulsar AXP 1E 1841-045 is analysed in the light of new, accurate coordinates from Chandra (Wachter et al, 2004). From excellentquality images, we find multiple sources in and around the position error circle. Of these, none can be confidently identified as the infrared counterpart. The limiting magnitudes reached were J=22.1, H=20.7 and Ks=19.9$ (95% confidence).Comment: 8 pages LaTeX, 2 eps figures; ApJ accepte

Theory of optical imaging beyond the diffraction limit with a far-field superlens

Recent theoretical and experimental studies have shown that imaging with resolution well beyond the diffraction limit can be obtained with so-called superlenses. Images formed by such superlenses are, however, in the near field only, or a fraction of wavelength away from the lens. In this paper, we propose a far-field superlens (FSL) device which is composed of a planar superlens with periodical corrugation. We show in theory that when an object is placed in close proximity of such a FSL, a unique image can be formed in far-field. As an example, we demonstrate numerically that images of 40 nm lines with a 30 nm gap can be obtained from far-field data with properly designed FSL working at 376nm wavelength.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figure

The infrared counterpart to the magnetar 1RXS J170849.0-400910

We have analyzed both archival and new infrared imaging observations of the field of the Anomalous X-ray Pulsar 1RXS J170849.0-400910, in search of the infrared counterpart. This field has been previously investigated, and one of the sources consistent with the position of the AXP suggested as the counterpart. We, however, find that this object is more likely a background star, while another object within the positional error circle has non-stellar colors and shows evidence for variability. These two pieces of evidence, along with a consistency argument for the X-ray-to-infrared flux ratio, point to the second source being the more likely infrared counterpart to the AXP.Comment: 19 pages AASTEX, 4 figure. Accepted for publication in ApJ. Full resolution figures at: http://www.astro.utoronto.ca/~durant/1708.ps.g

Extinction and Distance to Anomalous X-ray Pulsars from X-ray Scattering Halos

We analyze the X-ray scattering halos around three Galactic Anomalous X-ray Pulsars (AXPs) in order to constrain the distance and the optical extinction of each source. We obtain surface brightness distributions from EPIC-pn data obtained with XMM-Newton, compare the profiles of different sources, and fit them with a model based on the standard theory of X-ray scattering by dust grains, both for a uniform distribution of dust along the line of sight, and for dust distributions constrained by previous measurements. Somewhat surprisingly, we find that for all three sources, the uniform distribution reproduces the observed surface brightness as well as or better than the distributions that are informed by previous constraints. Nevertheless, the inferred total dust columns are robust, and serve to confirm that previous measurements based on interstellar edges in high-resolution X-ray spectra and on modelling of broad-band X-ray spectra were reliable. Specifically, we find Av ~= 4, 6, and 8 mag for 4U 0142+61, 1E 1048.1-5937, and 1RXS J170849.0-400910, respectively. For 1E 1048.1-5937, this is well in excess of the extinction expected towards a HI bubble along the line of sight, thus casting further doubt on the suggested association with the source.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figure

Using literary texts in ELT: retrospect and challenges

This chapter uses reflection on the author’s involvement in the movement known as ‘language through literature’ or ‘pedagogical stylistics’ as a way into describing how the field emerged, its relations with different theoretical positions in English Language Teaching (ELT), and its main achievements as regards syllabus reform and methodological innovation. Arguments now made in favour of incorporating the study of literary texts into second-language (L2) English programmes are assessed, as well as some arguments commonly made against. The chapter concludes by identifying present and future challenges, ranging from specifics of course design and pedagogy through to a need to respond to the political imperative of vocational relevance in nearly all fields of education. Each kind of issue, the chapter argues, must be a concern for teachers and others who believe that both a cultural and a professional dimension in English language education are essential, if linguistics is to be ‘applied’ in socially relevant ways

Absorption Features in the X-ray Spectrum of an Ordinary Radio Pulsar

The vast majority of known non-accreting neutron stars (NSs) are rotation-powered radio and/or gamma-ray pulsars. So far, their multiwavelength spectra have all been described satisfactorily by thermal and non-thermal continuum models, with no spectral lines. Spectral features have, however, been found in a handful of exotic NSs and thought to be a manifestation of their unique traits. Here we report the detection of absorption features in the X-ray spectrum of an ordinary rotation-powered radio pulsar, J1740+1000. Our findings bridge the gap between the spectra of pulsars and other, more exotic, NSs, suggesting that the features are more common in the NS spectra than they have been thought so far.Comment: 18 pages, 4 color figures, 1 Tabl

Resistance to Nuclear Waste Disposal: Credentialed Experts, Public Opposition and their Shared Lines of Critique

This article asks the question whether, in regard to controversial technical decision-making, lay public groups advance different kinds of resistance than credentialed experts. This question is explored via a case-study analysis of one of Canada's major public controversies of the past quarter century—nuclear waste disposal. Having arrived on the policy radar in 1977, nuclear waste remained an internal government/nuclear industry matter until terms of reference for a public inquiry were announced in 1989. Several access points for public input followed that announcement: scoping sessions in 1990, comments received during 1994-96 on an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) prepared by Atomic Energy Canada Limited (AECL), nation-wide public hearings in 1996-97, and ongoing public consultation since 2002. This article focuses on the comments on the EIS, and discusses several lines of shared resistance: the expert judgment of AECL was disputed, the lack of peer review was criticized, accusations of unreliability were made, and general deficiencies in the EIS were attributed to narrow terms of reference and poor institutional culture. This article recommends the use of a dramaturgical approach to technical texts, and reveals the assumptions framing the dualist notion that one can unambiguously separate technical and social criticisms of technical projects.Dans cet article, nous nous interrogeons sur la spécificité des actes de résistance des associations citoyennes lors de controverses techniques. Nous explorons cette question par l’analyse d’une des controverses publiques les plus importantes au Canada au cours des dernières décennies : la gestion des déchets nucléaires. Arrivés sur la scène politique en 1977, les déchets nucléaires demeurent un enjeu limité au gouvernement et à l’industrie nucléaire jusqu’à ce que les termes de références pour une enquête publique soient annoncés en 1989. Les possibilités pour le public de faire valoir son point de vue se multiplient dès l’annonce de l’enquête : des séances d’information en 1990, la réception de commentaires entre 1994 et 1996 sur une étude d’impacts environnementaux (EIE) préparée par Énergie Atomique du Canada Limité (EACL), des audiences publiques à la grandeur du pays en 1996 et 1997, et une consultation publique continue depuis 2002. Cet article s’intéresse aux commentaires sur l’EIE, et discute plusieurs arguments que partagent les associations citoyennes et les experts techniques : la contestation du jugement expert de l’EACL, la critique de l’absence d’évaluation par les pairs, l’accusation de manque de fiabilité, et l’attribution des carences de l’EIE à l’étroitesse des termes de références et à une pauvre culture institutionnelle. L’article recommande une lecture dramaturgique des textes techniques, et révèle les conditions de notre incapacité à séparer clairement les critiques techniques et sociales des projets techniques

What future for interpretive work in Film and Media Studies?

Beginning with the commonplace that acts of interpreting individual films and other media works are central to media studies, this article argues that if such accounts are to be presented as interesting, or as the principal evidence for theoretical positions, then more serious engagement with mechanisms involved in meaning production is needed than is common in the field. The author traces interpretive approaches in media studies from various forms of textual determinism (e.g. approaches associated with ‘Screen theory’) through to reader-response criticism, appeals to interpretive communities, and New Audience Studies. Core issues in ascribing meaning to texts are outlined, in belated celebration of the detailed critique of film interpretation in David Bordwell’s often overlooked 'Making Meaning: Inference and Rhetoric in the Interpretation of Cinema' (1989). Proposing ways in which greater interpretive reflexiveness can be developed, the article concludes by discussing difficulties with the idea of ‘exemplary readings’: readings which are simultaneously exceptional or outstanding and yet at the same time examples of interpretive processes which are interesting precisely because they are assumed to be followed by any average or ordinary reader