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This article reports the findings of a diachronic study of acknowledgement practices in 300 randomly collected research papers published during three different periods (1998, 2004 and 2012) in the most prestigious American and European astrophysics journals written in English. In order to investigate the influence of these practices on authorship patterns, we analyzed the distribution over time of a series of quantitative variables (number, length and types of acknowledgements, mean number of words/number of acknowledgements per research paper and mean number of acknowledgements/number of authors per research paper, number of named and unnamed acknowledgees, number of identified and anonymous referees, and number of emotionally charged-words). Comparisons between periods were carried out and Student’s t-tests were applied to the quantitative results. Our main findings show that acknowledgements are very common in astrophysics since they are present in 96% of the whole corpus. Financial, mainly public, and instrumental supports are the most frequently acknowledged categories. The number and length of acknowledgements and the mean number of words/number of acknowledgements per research paper grow over time. Financial, instrumental and conceptual assistance, unnamed individuals and anonymous referees increase over time, whereas moral, editorial and unclassified supports, named individuals and identified referees, and emotionally-charged words decline. If we focus on each journal publication context, we can observe that the research papers published in the American journals include more and longer acknowledgements, with a higher mean number of acknowledgements per author, more financial and instrumental supports, and a lower percentage of emotionally-charged words, whereas the European journals contain more conceptual and editorial supports. All these data can be understood in the frame of growing scientific professionalism, while a detailed cross-journal analysis may occasionally suggest honorary/guest/gift authorship.

Fluorescence-guided surgery (FGS) and other interventions are rapidly evolving as a class of technologically driven interventional approaches in which many surgical specialties visualize fluorescent molecular tracers or biomarkers through associated cameras or oculars to guide clinical decisions on pathological lesion detection and excision/ablation. The technology has been commercialized for some specific applications, but also presents technical challenges unique to optical imaging that could confound the utility of some interventional procedures where real-time decisions must be made. Accordingly, the AAPM has initiated the publication of this Blue Paper of The Emerging Technology Working Group (TETAWG) and the creation of a Task Group from the Therapy Physics Committee within the Treatment Delivery Subcommittee. In describing the relevant issues, this document outlines the key parameters, stakeholders, impacts, and outcomes of clinical FGS technology and its applications. The presentation is not intended to be conclusive, but rather to inform the field of medical physics and stimulate the discussions needed in the field with respect to a seemingly low-risk imaging technology that has high potential for significant therapeutic impact. This AAPM Task Group is working toward consensus around guidelines and standards for advancing the field safely and effectively.

This paper presents a rhetorical analysis of the Introductions of Computer Science (CS) research articles from a specialized corpus with reference to “Announcement of Principal Findings” and “Statement of Value” steps within the framework of the “Create A Research Space” (CARS) model (Swales, 2004), conducted through corpus-based techniques. The results show that discoursal practices in CS are result-oriented and in various ways highlight the writers’ contribution. The results are explicitly described with embedded “value” statements in the elaborate explanations of the nature of the present research. The common linguistic indicators used for this purpose are “contribution”, “efficient” and “novel”. The discussion concludes with the suggestion to amend the CARS model for CS writers.

Writing is perceived as a difficult activity as it requires different competencies and abilities. Writing in a foreign language context is considered to be more difficult and needs special instruction. Considering today’s students’ interests and competence in information and communication (ICT) technologies, it becomes obvious that traditional writing instruction needs to be modified. This study suggests a new process writing model which is comprised of stages such as surfing, organizing, composing, revising, recomposing, and publishing. It is recommended that various online and offline tools, software, application and web sites can be integrated in the process. The primary aim with this technology-enhanced learning environment is to involve students in the writing process in an active way by making them use various digital tools in and out of the class and thus making them love writing. The study concludes that traditional pen-and-paper foreign language classrooms can be transformed into digital writing classes through integrating some digital tools into the suggested stages of the process. It is thought that this new digital writing process will help digital natives improve their writing skills as well as breaking down their prejudices towards foreign language writing.