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A phenomenographic study of engineering students’ conceptions of learning English as a foreign language
Get PDFEnglish is widely recognized as the language of science in the globalized world, with many higher education institutions in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) adopting it as their medium of instruction. This study used the qualitative research approach of phenomenography to investigate engineering students’ experiences and conceptions of learning English as a foreign language at a university in the UAE. Four distinct conceptions of learning English as a foreign language emerged: Learning English as cultural experience, learning English as reward, learning English as global opportunity, and learning English as compliance. The findings revealed variations across four themes of expanding awareness within the phenomenon: the value of English as a foreign language, the nature of language, the source of language, and the role of others in language learning. The implications of these conceptions and variations in designing teaching and learning that engages students in deep approaches to learning are discussed, particularly in the context of mandatory courses in English as a foreign language
Multiwavelength observations of a new black-widow millisecond pulsar PSR J1544−2555
Get PDFWe report the discovery of a new black-widow millisecond pulsar, PSR J1544−2555, associated with the Fermi-LAT source 4FGL J1544.2−2554. Optical, radio, and gamma-ray observations confirmed its nature as a compact spider binary system. Optical photometry from ULTRACAM revealed a ∼2.7-hour orbital period, guiding MeerKAT observations that detected ∼2.4-ms radio pulsations. Subsequent timing campaigns using the Murriyang Parkes Telescope, the Effelsberg 100-m Radio Telescope, and the Nançay Radio Telescope allowed us to obtain a preliminary timing solution, which enabled us to find gamma-ray pulsations. The final timing solution, spanning 16 years of Fermi-LAT gamma-ray data, also displays orbital period variations typical of spider pulsars. X-ray observations from eROSITA indicate non-thermal emission, but the relatively low count rate prohibits the search for X-ray pulsations. Optical light curve modelling using Icarus suggests the asymmetry is best explained by a spot model, where uneven heating creates localised temperature variations on the companion. While the optical spectra we obtained are compatible with the physical properties we infer for the companion star, they were not of sufficient signal-to-noise to allow for radial velocity measurements, thus limiting constraints on the neutron star’s mass. The observed bluer colour near the light curve minimum suggests possible non-thermal emission from intra-binary shocks, supported by the presence of an X-ray source. This discovery exemplifies the proven capability of the Fermi-LAT catalogue in identifying millisecond pulsar candidates and highlights the role of optical surveys in detecting variable sources suitable for radio follow-up
A measurement of the high-mass τ τ¯ production cross-section at √s = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector and constraints on new particles and couplings
Get PDFReframing centre-left neoliberalism: New Keynesian theory, Third Way ideology, and the construction of an elite consensus in the US, Britain, and Australia
Get PDFThis article aims to contribute to a growing literature on the role of social democratic and progressive parties in shaping neoliberalism. We argue that existing literature has not fully recognised the unique intellectual and ideological traditions of the Centre-Left as a distinctive wing of neoliberalism. Much of this confusion can be resolved by examining the unique ideological contributions of New Keynesian economics in the context of a Gramscian political analysis. Focusing on Centre-Left Anglo-American governments in the US, Britain, and Australia throughout the 1990s and 2000s, we demonstrate how New Keynesian theories provided the intellectual justification for the Third Way’s ideological project and model of state interventionism at the height of the neoliberal period. While Centre-Left political parties in these Anglo-American states have recently sought to re-invent themselves under a new interventionist economic paradigm, we conclude by showing how they have continued to reproduce orthodoxies associated with the New Keynesian consensus
Concurrently fading away and strengthening: A cross-country comparison of foreign and local news beats
Get PDFOne of the structuring logics behind the creation of news beats is the geographical one: that is, national, foreign and local news desks. Foreign and local beats, in particular, have a lot in common: the coverage of different geographical contexts increases the diversity and plurality of views; reporting from geographical peripheries is always the costliest in terms of production; the audience is more dispersed; and geographical news beats can create a sense of belonging to the place and the associated community of people. The national news desk is traditionally considered the most important and it receives adequate research attention; the coverage of foreign and local news desks is scarcer. Our aim is to make a cross-country comparison of key national media in 13 countries, both quantitatively and qualitatively, with focus on geographical news beats. We aim to answer the following questions: How do selected national news organisations cover geographical news beats, specifically foreign and local news beats? How are these news desks organised in terms of production and staffing? How does this practice vary across selected national news organisations? The findings are based on a combination of executive semi-structured in-depth interviews and a byline analysis of news stories. The findings illustrate that economic pressures have a significant impact on the maintenance of geographical news beats, although concurrent international crises may reinforce their importance. We have developed a conceptual model based on four different groups of media with their similar editorial strategies as related to foreign and local news beats
Mapping the Role of Monomer Conformation in the Amyloid Formation of α-Synuclein Splice Variants
Get PDFAmyloid formation of the protein α-synuclein (αSyn) is a hallmark of pathogenesis in Parkinson’s disease, multiple system atrophy, and dementia with Lewy bodies. Research has predominantly focused on the 140-amino acid αSyn sequence, yet the SNCA gene can be alternatively spliced to generate several different isoforms, including αSynΔ3, αSynΔ5, and αSynΔ3Δ5. Here, we have used experimental and computational approaches to characterize these splice variants, in addition to the full-length αSyn, in terms of their monomer conformation and amyloid propensity as a function of changes in ionic strength. Kinetic analysis of amyloid formation, flow-induced dispersion analysis, and coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulations reveal a striking correlation between monomer conformation and the rate of secondary nucleation of amyloid formation, and we show that this is governed by both global conformation of the polypeptide chain and local contacts in the hydrophobic core domain and acidic C-terminal domain. By combining changes in amino acid sequences and ionic strength, our analysis reveals the importance of local contacts and long-range electrostatic interactions in driving the kinetics of amyloid formation of αSyn
DLco, Kco and FVC/DLco in suspected systemic sclerosis-associated pulmonary hypertension: insights from the ASPIRE registry
Get PDFObjectives
There are limited data comparing parameters reflecting gas transfer used to assess the likelihood of pulmonary hypertension (PH) in patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc) and regarding the impact of transitioning to Global Lung Initiative (GLI)-predicted values.
Methods
632 patients with suspected SSc associated PH were identified from the ASPIRE registry. Spirometry and CT reports were reviewed to identify significant lung disease. ROC curve analysis and correlations of the 3 markers of gas transfer with pulmonary arterial pressure were performed.
Results
Correlations of GLI-derived values with mean pulmonary arterial pressure were: DLco% r=−0.45, Kco% r=−0.42 and FVC%/DLco% r=0.37. Correlations in patients without lung disease were: DLco% r=−0.51, Kco% r=−0.44, FVC%/DLco% r=0.38, compared to patients with lung disease: DLco% r=−0.41, Kco% r=−0.39, FVC%/DLco% r=0.39. Area under the curve for the presence of PH in the overall study cohort was significantly superior for DLco% at 0.84 (optimal threshold 53%), compared with Kco% 0.74 (60%) and FVC%/DLco% was 0.74 (1.91), p both <0.001. Compared with European Coal and Steel Community-derived data, GLI-derived percent-predicted lung volumes were lower, DLco% and Kco% were higher and consequently FVC%/DLco% lower (p all <0.001).
Conclusion
DLco performed as least as strongly as Kco or FVC%/DLco% in terms of correlations with mPAP and diagnostic utility, regardless of the presence or absence of lung disease. Transitioning to GLI equations led to lower predicted spirometric volumes and higher DLco%. This should be considered when interpreting changes in values over time and when using screening algorithms
Bridging assessment and treatment for repeat suicidality in prisons: development and validation of a risk model
Get PDFUnified Distributed Machine Learning for 6G Intelligent Transportation Systems: A Hierarchical Approach for Terrestrial and Non-Terrestrial Networks
Get PDFThe successful integration of Terrestrial and Non-Terrestrial Networks (T/NTNs) in 6G is poised to revolutionize demanding domains like Earth Observation (EO) and Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITSs). Still, it requires Distributed Machine Learning (DML) frameworks that are scalable, private, and efficient. Existing methods, such as Federated Learning (FL) and Split Learning (SL), face critical limitations in terms of client computation burden and latency. To address these challenges, this paper proposes a novel hierarchical DML paradigm. We first introduce Federated Split Transfer Learning (FSTL), a foundational framework that synergizes FL, SL, and Transfer Learning (TL) to enable efficient, privacy-preserving learning within a single client group. We then extend this concept to the Generalized FSTL (GFSTL) framework, a scalable, multi-group architecture designed for complex and large-scale networks. GFSTL orchestrates parallel training across multiple client groups managed by intermediate servers (RSUs/HAPs) and aggregates them at a higher-level central server, significantly enhancing performance. We apply this framework to a unified T/NTN architecture that seamlessly integrates vehicular, aerial, and satellite assets, enabling advanced applications in 6G ITS and EO. Comprehensive simulations using the YOLOv5 model on the Cityscapes dataset validate our approach. The results show that GFSTL not only achieves faster convergence and higher detection accuracy but also substantially reduces communication overhead compared to baseline FL, and critically, both detection accuracy and end-to-end latency remain essentially invariant as the number of participating users grows, making GFSTL especially well suited for large-scale heterogeneous 6G ITS deployments. We also provide a formal latency decomposition and analysis that explains this scaling behavior. This work establishes GFSTL as a robust and practical solution for enabling the intelligent, connected, and resilient ecosystems required for next-generation transportation and environmental monitoring
From pathology to affirmation: disability philosophy in everyday life
Get PDFThis paper argues for an affirmative disability philosophy and research methodology. Even after four decades of critical disability studies, much of what we encounter in public spaces - in relation to disability - on a day to day basis remain untouched by this critical scholarship. With reference to composite narratives from two research projects and our own personal entanglements we consider dominant ways in which everyday philosophies of disability threaten to pathologise people with learning disabilities as objects and counter these by offering an alternative affirmative philosophy. We explore disability as affirmation; humane, unbounded, potential. This way of knowing disability should be a regular feature of common parlance and philosophical discourse and requires being informed by disabled people and critical disability studies scholarship. We explore the ways in which inserting disability-as-affirmation into everyday conversations and public life can have significant wider societal impacts through offering a more expansive philosophy of disability
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