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The temporal governance of planning in England: planning reform, Uchronia and ‘Proper Time'
Get PDFAttention to the multiple temporalities of planning has gained recent further traction in the planning literature, and time is clearly implicated in how power and resources are combined in the governance of the built and natural environment. Time, and specifically the management of clock time, shapes planning practice. Moreover successive reform agendas in England have drawn heavily on temporal framings of ‘speed’, ‘efficiency’ and ‘delay’ as part of a neoliberal ‘timescaping’ deployed to promote growth. We discuss time theory in application to planning to contrast the opposing uchronic or perfect timescapes, balanced between neoliberal ideology and normative principles underpinning proper time for planning
Early oral language and cognitive predictors of emergent literacy skills in Arabic-speaking children: evidence from Saudi children with developmental language disorder
Get PDFPurpose: Although children with developmental language disorder (DLD) are known to have difficulties with emergent literacy skills, few available studies have examined
emergent literacy skills in Arabic speaking children with DLD. Even though Arabic language characteristics, such as diglossia and orthographic structure influence the
acquisition of literacy in Arabic-speaking children, research shows that oral language skills, such as vocabulary, and cognitive skills, such as VSTM, predict literacy in Arabic speaking children. Moreover, linguistic and memory abilities are impaired in children with DLD, including Arabic-speaking children. The current study examines the relationships between oral language, verbal short-term memory (VSTM), and emergent literacy skills in Arabic-speaking TD children and children with DLD. Method: Participants were 40 typically developing (TD) children (20 girls; aged 4;0 to 6;11), and 26 children with DLD (9 girls; aged 4;0 to 6;11). All participants were monolingual Arabic speakers and matched on age and socioeconomic status. A set of comprehensive Arabic language (vocabulary knowledge, morphosyntactic, and listening comprehension skills), VSTM, and emergent literacy (phonological awareness, and letter knowledge skills) tests were administered.
Results: The DLD group scored significantly lower than the TD group on language, VSTM, and emergent literacy measures. Results revealed that the contributions of oral language and VSTM to emergent literacy skills across TD and DLD groups were different. In the TD group, VSTM predicted emergent literacy skills, whereas in the DLD groups, both vocabulary knowledge and VSTM predicted emergent literacy skills.
Conclusion: This study rrepresents an important first step in understanding emergent literacy skills and their relationships to language and memory in Arabic-speaking children with and without DLD. The implications of these findings for clinical and education provision are discussed
The political economy of Indian indentured labour in the 19th century
Get PDFAbolition of slavery in British Colonies led to the facilitation of Indian indentured migration by the British Government. This form of migration came about when the discourse of economic freedom and individual liberty strongly resonated in British political-economy circles, following the work of Adam Smith and J S Mill. We analyse how unfreedom in indentured labour was rationalised when the rhetoric of freedom was essential to the dominant intellectual milieu. We consider why free labour was deemed unfeasible in the plantation colonies. We also consider the constraints that asymmetric information and bargaining posed to freedom within the institution of indenture. We conclude that indenture represented an uneasy compromise between the problems of slavery and the unattainable goal of free labour
Making the invisible visible: why menopause is a workplace issue we can't ignore
Get PDFThis commentary confronts the often-ignored issue of menopause in the workplace, a matter affecting a significant number of professional women. It critiques the cultural and institutional oversight of menopause as a symptom of entrenched ageism and gender bias. This silence is a continuation of historical gender discrimination, leading to a work environment that overlooks the needs of women undergoing this transition. We call for a leadership-driven change in dialogue, recognising menopause as a normal life stage and advocating for workplace policies that support women without compromising their professional identity. Menopause should be understood with the same sensitivity as invisible disabilities, necessitating similar accommodations and empathy. Additionally, the commentary examines the medicalisation of menopause.
What is already known on this topic – There is recognition of the challenges faced by women at work, but the specific issue of menopause has been insufficiently addressed within professional settings.
What this commentary adds – This commentary broadens the discourse, highlighting menopause as a significant yet overlooked factor in women's professional lives. It calls for leadership to foster a workplace culture that acknowledges and supports menopausal women, promoting a shift in policy and practice.
How this commentary might affect research, practice, or policy – The perspectives offered could guide research into the wider effects of menopause on workforce participation. Practically, it urges leaders to develop inclusive policies and cultures that support menopausal women, influencing organisational policies and health programmes to retain their expertise and contributions
Synthesis of dendritic self-immolative molecules triggered by reactive electrophilic alkylating agents: assessment for colorimetric disclosure of such agents
Get PDFThe development of efficient chemoselective self-immolative molecules for use as sensors necessitates optimization of the degradation characteristics of the self-immolative unit to permit effective signal generation (e.g. colour changes) in relation to the triggering event. One approach is to utilise degradable dendritic structures to allow multiple copies of signalling molecules to be released in return for a single triggering event. To this end, degradable isomeric dendrons featuring aniline-core units for the detection of reactive electrophilic species have been prepared and their reactions studied. A route employing protected phosphorous-borane adducts was key to their synthesis. Following deprotection of these adducts, to activate the self-immolative dendron, alkylation by an electrophilic species and subsequent elimination events, under basic conditions as employed for related molecules incapable of generating an amplified response, were investigated. These studies revealed, in contrast to the findings with other structurally-related self-immolative dendritic molecules, that the degradation profiles of these dendrons do not afford amplified responses in relation to the number of triggering events. In the light of the expenditure of resources required to generate well-defined dendritic materials, this study provides a cautionary perspective against the assumption that such branched molecules will always afford an amplified signal
Knowledge spillovers or R&D collaboration? Understanding the role of external knowledge for firm innovation
Get PDFExtant research has established that firms engage in R&D collaboration and access knowledge spillovers to enhance their innovativeness. We aim to take this conversation in a new direction by seeking to answer the question, ‘How does engagement in R&D collaboration with suppliers, customers, and competitors, both domestically and internationally, as well as access to knowledge spillovers from universities and other open sources, influence a firm's innovation?’ This is the primary goal of our study. The study develops a knowledge‐based view on knowledge collaboration and spillovers, explaining how a firm's decision to collaborate, as opposed to accessing knowledge spillovers, shapes its innovation outputs and propensity to innovate. The theoretical utility of this framework lies in elucidating how the distinct types of knowledge (basic or applied) transferred to a firm when accessing external knowledge create different mechanisms that influence innovation output. By analyzing data on knowledge spillovers and R&D collaboration from the innovation survey of firms in the United Kingdom over the period 2002–2014, we demonstrate that in most instances of knowledge combinations, the cost effect of knowledge sourcing exceeds the complementary effect of knowledge, leading to a firm's choice between R&D collaboration and spillovers. The study contributes to the innovation and R&D management literatures by explaining why this pattern emerges and demonstrating that these relationships are contingent upon the degree of collaboration and the level of knowledge spillovers
Problematising sharenting of supermoms in a neoliberal context
Get PDFThe representation of motherhood using digital platforms, which we call sharenting, can shape the socially constructed motherhood identity, i.e., supermoms in modern societies. Despite building a positive identity as mothers, supermoms may unintentionally violate their children's privacy, instrumentalise, and even monetise the children. We examine sharenting and supermom identities as manifestations of neoliberal repositioning women as mothers and employees with little consideration of their unarticulated struggles. Drawing on a netnographic study of social media practices, we analysed fifteen working supermom accounts with over two hundred thousand followers, where child-related content was shared and posted between 2019 and 2023. We find that sharenting is often employed to construct the identity of supermoms, yet it frequently leads to the exploitation of children for profit-driven purposes, thereby increasing their vulnerability. We contribute to the literature by offering empirical evidence that the supermom identity is a by-product of the neoliberal system, which normalises time-intensive demands on women in the workplace and caregiving roles. Furthermore, we highlight the adverse consequences of sharenting and provide critical insights into the privacy and security risks associated with child-related digital content
Pacific Decadal Oscillation-driven interdecadal variability of snowfall over the Karakoram and the Western Himalayas
Get PDFOur study reveals that the negative phase of the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO-) leads to increased winter (DJF) snowfall in the Karakoram and Western Himalayas (KH) from 1940 to 2022. Interdecadal variations in DJF snowfall during the PDO- are attributed to deep convection and adiabatic cooling near the tropopause in both the northwest Pacific and KH region. Additionally, a wave-like pattern characterized by a trough (anomalous cyclone) north of KH and a ridge (anomalous Tibetan Plateau anticyclone) east of KH in the upper atmosphere, along the northward shift of the DJF Subtropical Jet (STJ) was observed. A strong positive correlation between DJF STJ strength and DJF snowfall in KH as well as a significant negative correlation between DJF STJ strength and DJF PDO, suggests a wave response over KH to the direct forcing over the northwest Pacific Ocean. The intensified STJ across KH results in higher frequency of Western disturbances, leading to anomalous moisture convergence and increased DJF precipitation in the region during the PDO-. These findings hold significant implications for the decadal predictability of winter snowfall in KH by the various phases of PDO
Disciplinary tribes and the discourse of mainstream media expert opinion articles: evidencing COVID-19 knowledge claims for a public audience
Get PDFMuch applied linguistic research has investigated how experts from different disciplines - different “disciplinary tribes” - present knowledge claims, drawing on taken-for-granted disciplinary ideologies and epistemologies. However, this research has mainly focused on specialist to specialist communication rather than specialist to non-specialist communication. This article aims to fill this gap by examining a corpus of mainstream media “expert opinion articles”, written by experts for members of the public, on the topic of the Covid-19 crisis and published in The Guardian and The New York Times. The corpus included articles by experts in Medical Science, Medical Practice, Science, Humanities and Social Sciences, Law, and Economics. Using corpus-based discourse analysis, we consider the effect of discipline on the way that experts present and evidence knowledge claims. We compare the kinds of experts, their content focus, and forms of evidentiality seen in verbal evidentials used in the articles. The analysis identifies four discourse strategies: 1) deriving knowledge from experience; 2) invoking the knowledge of the expert community; 3) invoking vernacular knowledge; and 4) raising claims in argument or critique. Differences in disciplinary epistemologies lead to systematic differences in presenting and evidencing knowledge claims, even in texts primarily intended for a wide public audience