| 1. |
- Klionsky, Daniel J., et al.
(författare)
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Guidelines for the use and interpretation of assays for monitoring autophagy
- 2012
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Ingår i: Autophagy. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1554-8635 .- 1554-8627. ; 8:4, s. 445-544
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- In 2008 we published the first set of guidelines for standardizing research in autophagy. Since then, research on this topic has continued to accelerate, and many new scientists have entered the field. Our knowledge base and relevant new technologies have also been expanding. Accordingly, it is important to update these guidelines for monitoring autophagy in different organisms. Various reviews have described the range of assays that have been used for this purpose. Nevertheless, there continues to be confusion regarding acceptable methods to measure autophagy, especially in multicellular eukaryotes. A key point that needs to be emphasized is that there is a difference between measurements that monitor the numbers or volume of autophagic elements (e.g., autophagosomes or autolysosomes) at any stage of the autophagic process vs. those that measure flux through the autophagy pathway (i.e., the complete process); thus, a block in macroautophagy that results in autophagosome accumulation needs to be differentiated from stimuli that result in increased autophagic activity, defined as increased autophagy induction coupled with increased delivery to, and degradation within, lysosomes (in most higher eukaryotes and some protists such as Dictyostelium) or the vacuole (in plants and fungi). In other words, it is especially important that investigators new to the field understand that the appearance of more autophagosomes does not necessarily equate with more autophagy. In fact, in many cases, autophagosomes accumulate because of a block in trafficking to lysosomes without a concomitant change in autophagosome biogenesis, whereas an increase in autolysosomes may reflect a reduction in degradative activity. Here, we present a set of guidelines for the selection and interpretation of methods for use by investigators who aim to examine macroautophagy and related processes, as well as for reviewers who need to provide realistic and reasonable critiques of papers that are focused on these processes. These guidelines are not meant to be a formulaic set of rules, because the appropriate assays depend in part on the question being asked and the system being used. In addition, we emphasize that no individual assay is guaranteed to be the most appropriate one in every situation, and we strongly recommend the use of multiple assays to monitor autophagy. In these guidelines, we consider these various methods of assessing autophagy and what information can, or cannot, be obtained from them. Finally, by discussing the merits and limits of particular autophagy assays, we hope to encourage technical innovation in the field.
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| 2. |
- Allen, Christopher, 1964-
(författare)
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A Local Grammar of Cause and Effect : A Corpus-driven Study
- 2005
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This thesis puts forward a specialized, functional grammar of cause and effect withinthe sub-genre of biomedical research articles. Building on research into the localgrammars of dictionary definitions and evaluation, the thesis describes the applicationof a corpus-driven methodology to description of the principal lexical grammaticalpatterns which underpin causation in scientific writing. The source of data is the 2million-word Halmstad Biomedical Corpus constructed from 589 on-line researcharticles published since 1997. These articles were sampled in accordance with astandard library classification system across the broad spectrum of the biomedicalresearch literature. On the basis of lexical grammatical patterns identified in thecorpus, a total of five functional sub-types of causation are put forward. The localgrammar itself is a description of these sub-types based on the Hallidayian notion ofsystem along the syntagm coupled with the identification of the paradigmatic contentsof these systems as a closed set of 37 semantic categories specific to the biomedicaldomain. A preliminary evaluation of the grammar is then offered in terms of handparsingexperiments using a test corpus. Finally potential NLP applications of thegrammar are described in terms of on-line information extraction, ontology buildingand text summary.
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| 3. |
- Escaned, Javier, et al.
(författare)
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Safety of the Deferral of Coronary Revascularization on the Basis of Instantaneous Wave-Free Ratio and Fractional Flow Reserve Measurements in Stable Coronary Artery Disease and Acute Coronary Syndromes
- 2018
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Ingår i: JACC. - : Elsevier. - 1936-8798 .- 1876-7605. ; 11:15, s. 1437-1449
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- OBJECTIVES The aim of this study was to investigate the clinical outcomes of patients deferred from coronary revascularization on the basis of instantaneous wave-free ratio (iFR) or fractional flow reserve (FFR) measurements in stable angina pectoris (SAP) and acute coronary syndromes (ACS). BACKGROUND Assessment of coronary stenosis severity with pressure guidewires is recommended to determine the need for myocardial revascularization. METHODS The safety of deferral of coronary revascularization in the pooled per-protocol population (n = 4,486) of the DEFINE-FLAIR (Functional Lesion Assessment of Intermediate Stenosis to Guide Revascularisation) and iFR-SWEDEHEART (Instantaneous Wave-Free Ratio Versus Fractional Flow Reserve in Patients With Stable Angina Pectoris or Acute Coronary Syndrome) randomized clinical trials was investigated. Patients were stratified according to revascularization decision making on the basis of iFR or FFR and to clinical presentation (SAP or ACS). The primary endpoint was major adverse cardiac events (MACE), defined as the composite of all-cause death, nonfatal myocardial infarction, or unplanned revascularization at 1 year. RESULTS Coronary revascularization was deferred in 2,130 patients. Deferral was performed in 1,117 patients (50%) in the iFR group and 1,013 patients (45%) in the FFR group (p < 0.01). At 1 year, the MACE rate in the deferred population was similar between the iFR and FFR groups (4.12% vs. 4.05%; fully adjusted hazard ratio: 1.13; 95% confidence interval: 0.72 to 1.79; p = 0.60). A clinical presentation with ACS was associated with a higher MACE rate compared with SAP in deferred patients (5.91% vs. 3.64% in ACS and SAP, respectively; fully adjusted hazard ratio: 0.61 in favor of SAP; 95% confidence interval: 0.38 to 0.99; p = 0.04). CONCLUSIONS Overall, deferral of revascularization is equally safe with both iFR and FFR, with a low MACE rate of about 4%. Lesions were more frequently deferred when iFR was used to assess physiological significance. In deferred patients presenting with ACS, the event rate was significantly increased compared with SAP at 1 year. (C) 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier on behalf of the American College of Cardiology Foundation.
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| 4. |
- Allen, Christopher, 1964-, et al.
(författare)
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Collegial evaluation of online English for Specific Purposes (ESP) courses
- 2023
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Ingår i: EUROCALL 2023: CALL for all Languages. ; , s. 74-79
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper reports on a joint pilot study project between two universities in Ecuador and Sweden to develop a practical working framework for the evaluation of each respective institution’s online/blended courses in English for Specific Purposes (ESP). The basis for the evaluation is the Conversational Framework (Laurilland, 2012), later developed in the form of a MOOC course in online and blended learning. This course is offered by the Future Learn social learning platform, which offers a large variety of online courses from a consortium of universities worldwide. The teaching and learning of ESP is characterised as the development of learner concepts and practice through interaction between the instructor and learner peers through collaboration and interaction. The learning process in ESP is envisaged using the Conversational Framework in terms of six basic learning types: acquisition, collaboration, discussion, inquiry/investigation, practice, and production. Our work reports on the process of assessing each other’s online courses in terms of the extent to which opportunities are provided for students to engage in these learning types. Results from this pilot study suggest that the Conversational Framework can provide a simple, robust, and transparent basis for the initial evaluation of online courses.
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| 5. |
- Allen, Christopher, 1964-
(författare)
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Conceptions of Personal Learning Environments Among EFL Teachers at Upper Secondary Level in Sweden
- 2013
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Ingår i: 20 Years of EUROCALL: Learning from thePast, Looking to the Future. Proceedings of the 2013 EUROCALL Conference, Évora, Portugal. - 9781908416124 ; , s. 7-13
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- In recent years, virtual learning environments (VLEs) or course management systems (CMSs) have become commonplace in European higher education as well as making inroads into primary and secondary schools. VLEs such as Moodle, Blackboard and It's Learning offer educational institutions standardized packages in the form of a range of administrative, pedagogical and communicative tools. Teachers of English as a foreign language at secondary and tertiary levels are certainly no exceptions to this trend, employing VLEs as learning platforms to support a variety of ITC-based learning activities and tasks. VLEs have however attracted criticism from some quarters in that they may be seen merely as virtual embodiments of the classroom with all the restrictions which the 'physical' classroom has traditionally entailed (Weller 2007). Furthermore it has been argued that VLEs have failed to embrace the full advantages of Web 2.0 technologies or acknowledge trends towards informal learning afforded by social media etc. The response to this criticism has been the envisioning of Personal Learning Environments or PLEs which utilise the plethora of free, often collaborative online resources and tools now available to learners. This paper explores the conceptualisation of PLEs and their advantages / disadvantages vis-à-vis VLEs among upper secondary school teachers of English in Sweden on the basis of pedagogical principles put forward as part of the Open University's SocialLearn and OpenLearn matrices (Conole 2008). It is suggested that the mapping of the core frameworks of thinking and reflection, experience and activity, conversation and interaction and evidence and demonstration to a set of learning principles can provide the basis for the evaluation of PLEs as envisioned by teachers and learners.
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| 6. |
- Allen, Christopher, 1964-, et al.
(författare)
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Digital literacy and sustainability : a field study in EFL teacher development
- 2016
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Ingår i: CALL communities and culture. - : Research-publishing.net. - 9781908416438 - 9781908416445 - 9781908416452 ; , s. 14-19
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- This project introduces the concept of digital literacy at a practical level to a group of EFL teachers within the context of a single work place; a technologically well-resourced upper secondary school in Sweden. English teachers were provided with a theoretical and practical overview of the digital literacy concept as described by Dudeney, Hockly, and Pegrum (2013) before being given the task of each teaching a lesson. The teachers’ reflective experiences of incorporating digital literacy into advanced level English teaching were then evaluated through a focus group interview. The results obtained show the efficacy of incorporating small scale exploratory practice research projects alongside busy teaching schedules and administrative demands as well as developing teachers’ perspectives on Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in the English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classroom. In addition, the project has promoted synergies and collaboration among a school staff engaged in the long-term goal of continued professional development.
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| 7. |
- Allen, Christopher, 1964-, et al.
(författare)
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Exploring Digital Literacy in Student Teacher ICT Projects
- 2012
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Ingår i: Using, Learning, Knowing, EUROCALL Conference, Gothenburg, Sweden, 22-25 August 2012, Proceedings. - : Research-publishing.net. ; , s. 5-9
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- his paper reports on the evaluation of student teacher information and communications technology (ICT) projects in English language didactics in accordance with recently proposed frameworks of digital literacy in both language-teaching and wider working and educational contexts (Dudeney, Hockly, & Pegrum, forthcoming; Hockly, 2012; Pegrum, 2011). The challenge for teachers, regardless of what stage they are at in their careers, is to be able to operationalize in Hockly’s (2012) terms the notion of digital literacy in the foreign language classroom while at the same time encorporating these concerns into a task-based framework in which communication is balanced with a focus on linguistic form. Students in their second term of studies in language didactics were given the task of creating an ICT-based project in English, encorporating both internet and classroom-based inquiry activities aimed at either lower or upper secondary levels in the Swedish school system. The project brief given to the student teachers more VSHFL¿FDOO\DGGUHVVHGWKHLUDELOLW\WRSODQDQGRUJDQL]HDVHWRIOHDUQLQJDFWLYLWLHVDURXQGan extended webquest in addition to demonstrating the procedural usage of a wide range of ICT tools such as wikis, blogs, podcasts, etc. in English language teaching (ELT). The four areas of language-, information-, connection-, and re-design-based digital literacies, as proposed by Pegrum (2011), form the basis for the evaluation of the projects.
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| 8. |
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| 9. |
- Allen, Christopher, 1964-, et al.
(författare)
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Intercultural exchanges among pre-service teachers in Israel and Sweden as a path of introduction into the epistemology and practice of teaching
- 2021
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Ingår i: CALL and professionalisation. - : Research-publishing.net. - 9782490057979 ; , s. 18-22
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper presents the outcomes of a short intercultural exchangeproject involving pre-service English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teacher trainingestablishments in Sweden and Israel. The project comprised three online meetingsrecorded in Zoom in which student teachers gave feedback on each other’s projectassignments involving lesson planning and the use of spoken English in theclassroom. The sessions were moderated by a highly experienced teacher trainerwith contributions from other teacher trainers in the institutions involved. Withrestrictions imposed on physical meetings and student mobility by the Covid-19pandemic, the exchange helped to shed light on a number of perennial issues inEnglish language teaching methodology and offers a feasible model for futuresustainable virtual exchanges in EFL teacher training.
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| 10. |
- Allen, Christopher, 1964-
(författare)
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IT Training for Modern Language Teachers
- 1998
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Ingår i: LMS. - Språklärarnas Riksförbund. - 0023-6330. ; 2, s. 18-22
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Tidskriftsartikel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)
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