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Εssay on Grenglish words of alimentary, culinary and gastronomical interest
No full textGrenglish is the unique linguistic variety used by Greek-speaking Cypriot migrants in the UK. It consists of words and phrases borrowed from English and integrated into the Cypriot Greek varieties that migrants brought with them from Cyprus. Grenglish is emblematic of the linguistic history and resourcefulness of Greek-speaking Cypriots in the UK and includes words and phrases that reflect the places, professions, interests and culinary trajectories of UK’s Greek Cypriots over the last century. The Grenglish Project aimed to document Grenglish directly from the community and leave a permanent record for generations to come. Greek-speaking UK Cypriots submitted Grenglish material on the dedicated website www.grenglish.org. Food featured prominently in the Grenglish material that we collected. This is a culinary and alimentary autobiography written using original material that was collected as part of The Grenglish Project. Grenglish words are indicated using emojis such as the ones Grenglish speakers use on social media. The Grenglish Project showed that the languages and culture of migrants, rather than ‘frozen in time’, continue to evolve after migration
Microbiological identification using MALDI-TOF and tandem mass spectrometry: industrial and environmental applications
No full textDetailed resource presenting the capabilities of MALDI mass spectrometry (MS) to industrially and environmentally significant areas in the biosciences
Microbiological Identification using MALDI-TOF and Tandem Mass Spectrometry: Industrial and Environmental Applications fulfills a need to bring the key analytical technique of MALDI mass spectrometric analysis into routine practice by specialists and non-specialists, and technicians. It informs and educates established researchers on the development of techniques as applied to industrially significant areas within the biosciences. Throughout the text, the reader is presented with recognized and emerging techniques of this powerful and continually advancing field of analytical science to key areas of importance.
While many scientific papers are reporting new applications of MS-based analysis in specific foci, this book is unique in that it draws together an incredibly diverse range of applications that are pushing the boundaries MS across the broad field of Biosciences.
Contributed to by recognized experts in the field of MALDI MS who have been key players in promoting the advancement and dissemination of authoritative information in this field, Microbiological Identification using MALDI-TOF and Tandem Mass Spectrometry covers sample topics such as:
-Oil microbiology, marine and freshwater ecosystems, agricultural and food microbiology, and industrial waste microbiology
-Bioremediation and landfill sites microbiology, microbiology of inhospitable sites (e.g., Arctic and Antarctic, and alkaline and acidic sites, and hot temperatures)
-Veterinary, poultry and animals, viral applications of MS, and antibiotic resistance using tandem MS methods
-Recent developments which are set to transform the use of MS from its success in clinical microbiology to a wide range of commercial and environmental uses
Bridging the gap between measurement and key applications, this text is an ideal resource for industrial and environmental analytical scientists, including technologists in the food industry, pharmaceuticals, and agriculture, as well as biomedical scientists, researchers, clinicians and academics and scientists in bio-resource centers
Holding two babies in mind: a narrative inquiry into the impact on a woman’s sense of self in the transition to twin motherhood
Get PDFOver recent decades there has been a large increase in multiple pregnancies (Newman & Luke, 2000). However, there is little research into the experiences of mothers who transition to twin motherhood, despite this group being identified in quantitative research as potentially vulnerable (Choi et al. 2009; Hay et al, 1990; Sheard et al, 2007; Thorpe et al, 1991; Wenze et al, 2015). Four mothers of twins ranging from 20 to 30 months were invited to narrate their experiences of the transition to motherhood and the impact on their sense of self, filling a notable gap in the research field. Narrative inquiry was the chosen methodology, embedding reflexivity throughout the research process with an awareness of ethics and power dynamics in the research relationship and wider culture which has traditionally undervalued mothers’ experiences. Women’s stories were analysed using The Listening Guide (Gilligan, 1982), aiming to capture the complex and multi-layered nature of the psyche, expressed through a multiplicity of voices (Brown & Gilligan, 1992) and understood within social and cultural frameworks (Gilligan & Eddy, 2017). The reader is invited to engage in depth with each participant’s story, which represent a chorus of (twin mother) voices (Riessman 1993). Themes noticed across stories were: Being/feeling maternal, Fairy-tale versus reality, Silenced emotions, Overwhelm, Isolation, The critical voice, Negotiating mother/career, Dynamic of four and Voices that speak to culture. The findings support therapists to reflect on the unique complexities of becoming a twin mother, in the context of a psycho-social culture of the mother-baby dyad as norm. They also aim to ignite questions about clinical work with twin mothers as a unique subgroup in the field of perinatal mental health
What’s in a name? Linguistic and legal aspects of company names, product and service names, trademarks, and brands
Get PDFNames have been given to commercial actors and products for centuries, as well as to activities traditionally grouped together as “trades” but now more often viewed as “services”. In Western countries during the 18th and 19th centuries major changes took place in the use of such names, under the influence of social and economic factors including industrialization and mass production, the growth of international trade, and the development of new techniques of advertising. Modern practices deploying signs as commercial “names” differ from earlier, established conventions in a number of ways: (i) how particular names originate, now including many being invented or selected through market testing; (ii) their typical verbal structure and types of entity they are given to; (iii) the functions such names serve, combining reference to commercial entities with indications of origin and promotional effects; and (iv) the need for names used for commercial purposes to comply with specialized bodies of rules that govern them. Drawing on earlier work by the authors (individually, together, and with others) the authors show how such names can be understood better by moving beyond paradigms available within a single discipline and bringing approaches in law and linguistics into closer dialogue
The happiness of students and staff at two public universities respectively in Hong Kong and London: A comparative analysis from the Confucian perspective
Get PDFHappiness is one of the important components in life and culture is considered having impact on happiness. Different cultures may define and perceive happiness dissimilarly. In particular, the collectivistic Confucian happiness is notably distinct from the individualist conceptions of happiness often seen as a feature of contemporary Western cultures. The virtuous considerations of Confucian happiness, according to Luo (2021), differentiate it from the individualist conceptions, where there are two levels in the Confucian happiness: (a) satisfaction of personal basic needs and (b) contribution to the social society at large (Zeng and Guo 2012), and group interests are accorded higher priority over individual interests.
Notwithstanding cultural differences, happiness studies have been biased to a great extent towards the Western conceptions. Happiness research in the Chinese context is not common, let alone studies from the perspective of Confucianism.
The current doctoral study adopted a comparative approach from the perspective of Confucianism to explore the perceptions of happiness of students as well as a few staff at the University DEF (pseudonym; “DEF” hereafter) in London and at the University NOP (pseudonym; “NOP” hereafter) in Hong Kong. There were four research questions: How would students and staff at DEF and NOP respectively perceive happiness? In what ways would responses at DEF be different from those at NOP? Would culture be a significant factor determining their perceived happiness? How could the findings be analysed and interpreted from the Confucian perspective? A bilingual questionnaire was prepared, incorporating the 48-item Chinese Happiness Inventory (CHI) as the measurement tool. The CHI combines 28 out of 29 dimensions from the Oxford Happiness Inventory (Argyle, Martin and Crossland 1989) with 20 Chinese culture dimensions (Lu and Shih 1997a), involving not only Western elements of individuality but also Chinese components of community. It is considered a culturally-balanced tool to measure happiness in the present study. Approval for the use of the CHI was granted by the first author of Lu and Shih (1997a) at the National Taiwan University. Questionnaires in both online and paper formats were sent out and there was a return of 213 completed questionnaires. Software employed was SPSS (version 28.0.1.1 (14)) and SmartPLS (version 3.3.7) for data analyses.
The findings revealed statistically significant differences in happiness between students’ responses from the two universities. In general, respondents at DEF had higher happiness values than those at NOP. In particular, there were significant differences, to various degrees, in students’ levels, modes and years of study. Significant differences were also identified in demographic variables including gender, age, marital status, number of children, nationality, ethnicity and religion. There was no significant difference between staff groups and student groups. There was no difference in the attribute of “highest educational level attained”, either.
The results of the present study pointed out that culture was a significant factor determining the respondents’ perceived happiness, but the anticipated Confucian values of respondents at NOP in Hong Kong may have been influenced by Western cultures. In addition to statistical interpretation, attempts were made to interpret the results from the Confucian perspective. The impact and limitations of the present study were discussed. Future studies were also suggested
Bulgaria’s deepening political crisis: An opportunity to separate the wheat from the chaff
Get PDFOn 2 April 2023, Bulgaria will face its fifth parliamentary election in the span of two years. To restore democracy and the rule of law, one must sideline all toxic actors – from those who inflicted damage on the country’s rule of law to the poisonous lookalikes flooding the political stage
Reasoning in criminal intelligence analysis through an argumentation theory-based framework
Get PDFThis thesis provides an in-depth analysis of criminal intelligence analysts’ analytical reasoning process and offers an argumentation theory-based framework as a means to support that reasoning process in software applications. Researchers have extensively researched specific areas of criminal intelligence analysts’ sensemaking and reasoning processes over the decades. However, the research is fractured across different research studies and those research studies often have high-level descriptions of how criminal intelligence analysts formulate their rationale (argument). This thesis addresses this gap by offering low level descriptions on how the reasoning-formulation process takes place. It is presented as a single framework, with supporting templates, to inform the software implementation process.
Knowledge from nine experienced criminal intelligence analysts from West Midlands Police and Belgium’s Local and Federal Police forces were elicited through a semi-structured interview for study 1 and the Critical Decision Method (CDM), as part of the Cognitive Task Analysis (CTA) approach, was used for study 2 and study 3. The data analysis for study 1 made use of the Qualitative Conventional Content Analysis approach. The data analysis for study 2 made use of a mixed method approach, consisting out of Qualitative Directed Content Analysis and the Emerging Theme Approach. The data analysis for study 3 made use of the Qualitative Directed Content Analysis approach.
The results from the three studies along with the concepts from the existing literature informed the construction of the argumentation theory-based framework. The evaluation study for the framework’s components made use of Paper Prototype Testing as a participatory design method over an electronic medium. The low-fidelity prototype was constructed by turning the frameworks’ components into software widgets that resembled widgets on a software application’s toolbar. Eight experienced criminal intelligence analysts from West Midlands Police and Belgium’s Local and Federal Police forces took part in the evaluation study. Participants had to construct their rationale using the available components as part of a simulated robbery crime scenario, which used real anonymised crime data from West Midlands Police force. The evaluation study made use of a Likert scale questionnaire to capture the participant’s views on how the frameworks’ components aided participants with; understanding what was going on in the analysis, lines-of-enquiry and; the changes in their level of confidence pertaining to their rationale. A non-parametric, one sample z-test was used for reporting the statistical results. The significance is at 5% (α=0.05) against a median of 3 for the z-test, where μ =3 represents neutral. The participants reported a positive experience with the framework’s components and results show that the framework’s components aided them with formulating their rationale and understanding how confident they were during different phases of constructing their rationale
Wolbachia and Spiroplasma endosymbionts in the Anurida maritima (Collembola) species group
Get PDFA large proportion of arthropods carry maternally-inherited endosymbiotic bacteria with which they have developed close relationships. Some of these endosymbionts are selfish genetic elements and manipulate their hosts’ reproduction to their own advantage, for example via cytoplasmic incompatibility (CI) or male killing. Here we report that the sexually reproducing collembolan Anurida maritima carries two endosymbionts (Wolbachia and Spiroplasma) and provide genome sequences for both bacteria. Phylogenomic analyses indicate that the Wolbachia belong to the A supergroup and that the Spiroplasma are sister to the Citri-Chrysopicola-Mirum lineage. A. maritima is considered a species group and consists of at least two distinct genetic lineages. We show that both lineages carry both endosymbionts. No homologs of the Spiroplasma male-killing gene SpAID were observed within our datasets. Homologs of the male-killing associated wmk and the CI inducing cifA and cifB prophage genes were detected in the Wolbachia genome. Phylogenetic analyses placed the cif genes in the poorly characterised Type V clade. The cifA and cifB gene sequences of the two Anurida lineages are identical. It therefore seems unlikely that the genetic divergence within the species group stems from cifA and cifB induced CI. Laboratory controlled genetic crosses and sex ratio studies will be needed to reveal any potential effect of the two endosymbionts on A. maritima’s reproduction
Down on the ground: the material memoir of the posthuman childhood researcher
Get PDFWhere (else) might the residues of observation take our enquires? This chapter proposes taking a confederate and speculative approach to ‘observation’ that traces the bodily immersion of the researcher within broader power structures that underline the material affects of ‘what counts’ when research is reconfigured. Observation in childhood research is typically associated with what can be seen and registered and so privileges a visual optics - of what can be immediately witnessed with the eyes (or camera lens). Researchers have become accustomed to making sense of what is seen; what observations can tell us about the child, in the moment, against some narrow imaginary. This chapter wonders what might happen when, and if, observation in early childhood contexts is mobilised in ways that elevate other optics – that allow observation to become sensed, haptic, bodily encounters whereby memories and hauntings (Tsing et al, 2017) of life in the Anthropocene are agitated and invite us to follow the tendrils. By working with Alaimo’s (2010, 2016) concept of transcorporeality this chapter deliberately asserts that human bodies (both the young child and adult researcher) are porous and materially-discursively altered by the landscapes in which they are shaped, and in turn shape. The ‘material memoir’ provides a means for the early childhood researcher to trace transcorporeality and so rupture ordinary knowledge practices by observing the material, entangled reality of ‘self’. Such memoirs involve negotiating ‘hazardous landscapes’ of risk and toxicity (Alaimo, 2010, p.17) in order to disrupt and enlarge ideas about what (else) ‘observation’ might become and make possible
Participation and hybrid integration in primary and secondary schools
Get PDFThe chapter discusses data collected in Early Childhood Education and Care contexts in Germany and Italy, as part of the CHILD-UP project. In particular, data from interviews conducted with children and professionals, and data from video-recordings of education activities are discussed. This chapter explores educators’ position with regard to migrant children’s integration and the relationships between integration and agency in ECEC. Three main threads emerged from the analysis of interviews: the rejection of the migration background as foundation for the categorization of children, to approach each child as a unique person; the observation of cultural diversity as a component of that rich personal identity that contributes to make each child unique; the importance of proficiency in the language of education for migrant children’s active participation. The observation of facilitative practice supports the idea that if children are valued as social agents in the here-and-now and their access to the status of authors of knowledge is facilitated, they are capable of construct, and co-construct, narratives of personal and cultural identities that can be exchanged in the negotiation of hybrid identities