Using folk songs as a source for dialect change? The pervasive effects of attitudes

The present article argues that the social category of ‘standardisation' has been instrumental in creating a Foucaultian discourse archive governing what may and what may not be stated on the subject of the history of English. It analyses the question of how language attitudes have been instrumental in creating the myths that have driven the discourse of Standard English since the 19th century, but it goes further than this by showing how language performance, in the form of folk songs in England, has also come under this same archive of standardisation. However, in both cases, i.e. language and language performance, it is argued that a below-the-surface alternative discourse has now gained enough force to seriously challenge the doctrine of standardisation and to necessitate the formation of new discursive contents for a social concept that is in serious danger of becoming hollow and outdate

ANCA-associated vasculitis

The vasculitides are a heterogeneous group of conditions typified by their ability to cause vessel inflammation with or without necrosis. They present with a wide variety of signs and symptoms and, if left untreated, carry a significant burden of mortality and morbidity. The ANCA-associated vasculitides (AAV) are three separate conditions - granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA - formerly known as Wegener’s granulomatosis); microscopic polyangiitis (MPA) and eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis (EGPA - previously known as Churg-Strauss Syndrome). This review examines recent developments in the pathogenesis and treatment of AAV

Active paper for active learning

Recent research into distance learning and the virtual campus has focused on the use of electronic documents and computer‐based demonstrations to replace or reinforce traditional learning material. We show how a computer‐augmented desk, the DigitalDesk, can provide the benefits of both paper and electronic documents using a natural interface based on real paper documents. Many electronic documents, particularly those created using the guidelines produced by the Text Encoding Initiative (TEI), include detailed semantic and linguistic information that can be used to good effect in learning material. We discuss potential uses of TEI texts, and describe one simple application that allows a student's book to become an active part of a grammar lesson when placed on the DigitalDesk. The book is integrated into an interactive point‐and‐click interface, and feedback is related to the currently visible pages of the boo

Translating Culture: Reading the Paratexts to Aimé Césaire’s Cahier d’un retour au pays natal

Translating Culture: Reading the Paratexts to Aimé Césaire's Cahier d'un retour au pays natal — This article is concerned not with the linguistic translation of a Caribbean text, but with its cultural translation. It presents the argument that the paratexts to the multiple editions of Aimé Césaire's Cahier d'un retour au pays natal fonction principally as instruments of cultural translation. It also describes how the transfigurations of the Cahier's paratext over time and across cultures serve as markers for the changing epistemes of "Caribbean culture" and "Francophone Caribbean Literature."Traduire la culture : La lecture des paratextes au Cahier d'un retour au pays natal d'Aimé Césaire — Cet article traite non pas de la traduction linguistique d'un texte antillais, mais de sa traduction culturelle. Il présente l'argument que les paratextes aux nombreuses éditions du Cahier d'un retour au pays natal d'Aimé Césaire fonctionnent principalement en tant qu'instruments de traduction culturelle. Il décrit aussi comment les transfigurations du paratexte au Cahier à travers le temps et les cultures servent à marquer les épistémès changeants de la « culture antillaise » et de la « littérature francophone antillaise »

Attention and regional gray matter development in very preterm children at age 12 years

Objectives: This study examines the selective, sustained, and executive attention abilities of very preterm (VPT) born children in relation to concurrent structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) measures of regional gray matter development at age 12 years. Methods: A regional cohort of 110 VPT (≤32 weeks gestation) and 113 full term (FT) born children were assessed at corrected age 12 years on the Test of Everyday Attention-Children. They also had a structural MRI scan that was subsequently analyzed using voxel-based morphometry to quantify regional between-group differences in cerebral gray matter development, which were then related to attention measures using multivariate methods. Results: VPT children obtained similar selective (p=.85), but poorer sustained (p=.02) and executive attention (p=.01) scores than FT children. VPT children were also characterized by reduced gray matter in the bilateral parietal, temporal, prefrontal and posterior cingulate cortices, bilateral thalami, and left hippocampus; and increased gray matter in the occipital and anterior cingulate cortices (family-wise error-corrected

New technology for interactive CAL: The origami project

Origami is a three‐year EPSRC project that forms part of a general research programme on human‐computer interaction. The goal of this research is to investigate and implement new methods for human‐computer interaction, and to apply and evaluate their use. The research centres on the DigitalDesk, an ordinary desk augmented with a computer display using projection television and a video camera to monitor inputs. The DigitalDesk allows electronic and printed documents to be combined to give richer presentation and interaction possibilities than are possible with either separate medium. This paper examines the implications of such a system for CAL, and presents two prototype applications that demonstrate the possibilities

Spatio-temporal influence of tundra snow properties on Ku-band (17.2 GHz) backscatter

During the 2010/11 boreal winter, a distributed set of backscatter measurements was collected using a ground-based Ku-band (17.2 GHz) scatterometer system at 26 open tundra sites. A standard snow-sampling procedure was completed after each scan to evaluate local variability in snow layering, depth, density and water equivalent (SWE) within the scatterometer field of view. The shallow depths and large basal depth hoar encountered presented an opportunity to evaluate backscatter under a set of previously untested conditions. Strong Ku-band response was found with increasing snow depth and snow water equivalent (SWE). In particular, co-polarized vertical backscatter increased by 0.82 dB for every 1 cm increase in SWE (R2 = 0.62). While the result indicated strong potential for Ku-band retrieval of shallow snow properties, it did not characterize the influence of sub-scan variability. An enhanced snow-sampling procedure was introduced to generate detailed characterizations of stratigraphy within the scatterometer field of view using near-infrared photography along the length of a 5m trench. Changes in snow properties along the trench were used to discuss variations in the collocated backscatter response. A pair of contrasting observation sites was used to highlight uncertainties in backscatter response related to short length scale spatial variability in the observed tundra environment

A Bidirectional Analog VLSI Cochlear Model

A novel circuit is presented for implementing a bidirectional passive cochlear model in analog VLSI. The circuit includes a subcircuit for modelling the fluid in the cochlear duct, and a subcircuit for modelling the passive basilar membrane. The circuit is compared to the classical 1-D transmission line cochlear model and found to be equivalent. The approach leads to an unexpected fa.ult tolerance in the form of insensitivity to transconductance amplifier offset voltages. A 545-stage cochlea has been fabricated and demonstrates the expected wave propagation behaviour