Romanian Thoughts (Text)

This text and translation into English accompanies the illustrated podcast in Romanian, created by Sabina Androne, a Masters student at the School of Languages and Area Studies, University of Portsmouth, as a part of a research project entitled ‘The Role of Student Audio Casting and Production in the Language Learning Curriculum’. The audio summary reflects on the contemporary situation of the Romanian nation in the post-Ceausescu era. The podcast can be used as a learning resource in several different ways: as a focus for discussion, aural comprehension or as a base for further research by students of the Romanian language

The Language of Literary Texts - Between Artistic Philosophy and Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy

AbstractThe fundamental goal of this paper is to provide several therapeutic approaches that are not exclusively imperative for the autistic preschool and school children. The prevailing impercipience of a text, or of a sentence is a result of the deficient semantic comprehension of a child with autism spectrum disorders. Children's literature contains a wide range of possibilities to shape language and its attributes by means of an original communication system, open to various interpretations, therefore providing numerous educational messages adapted accordingly to each environment, using a language that fosters thinking, reason. At the narrative level, the autistic child exhibits severe language deficits, because the narration of an event, situation, and fiction, despite the use of a special kind of language limited to only a few words, is almost non-existent.The encouragement of the communicative intention through an active literary language in which the present progressive verb is prevailing, the avoidance of static language, especially descriptions with no reasoning for the autistic student, the avoidance of narrative time and step-by-step story building games by means of audio, visual (videos, drawings), tactile stimuli, continuously doubled by the customary language of literary texts for children, the transformation of a character towards whom the autistic child exhibits an appropriate behavior, the transposition of the fictional reward into and as part of reality, irrespective of its social, verbal or physical nature, offered in the educational space by the educator, are only some of the effective approaches to changing the behavior of the autistic child

Abnormal liver function tests in acute heart failure: relationship with clinical characteristics and outcome in the PROTECT study

Aims: Episodes of acute heart failure (AHF) unfavourably affect multiple organs, which may have an adverse impact on the outcomes. We investigated the prevalence and clinical consequences of abnormal liver function tests (LFTs) in AHF patients enrolled in the PROTECT study. Methods and results: The LFTs comprised serial assessment of aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and albumin at baseline and during follow-up (daily until discharge, on days 7 and 14). The prevalence of abnormal LFTs (above upper limit of normal for AST and ALT or below lower limit of normal for albumin) was: at baseline AST 20%, ALT 12%, albumin 40%; and at day 14: AST 15%, ALT 9%, albumin 26%. Abnormal LFTs at baseline were associated with a higher risk of in-hospital death with odds ratios [95% confidence interval (CI)] of 3.5 (1.7–7.3) for AST, 3.9 (1.8–8.4) for ALT, and 2.8 (1.3–5.9) for albumin (all P < 0.01). Abnormal baseline and discharge LFTs had an unfavourable impact on 180-day mortality with hazard ratios (95% CI) for baseline AST, ALT, and albumin of 1.3 (1.0–1.7), 1.1 (1.0–1.2), 1.4 (1.1–1.8), respectively, and 1.5 (1.1–2.0), 1.5 (1.0–2.2), and 1.6 (1.2–2.1), for discharge AST, ALT, albumin, respectively (all P < 0.05). Analysis of LFTs trajectories (calculated as changes in LFTs over time) revealed that increasing AST and ALT on day 3 as well as decreasing albumin on day 4 were independent prognosticators of 180-day outcome (all P < 0.05). Conclusions: Abnormal LFTs are frequent in AHF at baseline and during hospital stay and predict worse outcomes. Whether this association is causal and what are the underlying mechanisms involved require further study

Análisis comparativo: referentes culturales en dos traducciones de England, My England de D.H. Lawrence

Treball Final de Grau. Grau en Traducció i Interpretació. Codi: TI0983. Curs acadèmic 2016/2017En numerosas ocasiones, la traducción de los referentes culturales supone un gran desafío para el traductor, puesto que debe tratar de encontrar las equivalencias más adecuadas en la lengua y cultura de destino. Lo que se pretende en este trabajo es analizar y comparar las decisiones tomadas por las estudiantes de cuarto curso de Traducción e Interpretación a la hora de traducir los relatos «England, My England» y «Tickets, Please» de D.H. Lawrence (1960) en su las prácticas curriculares, para su posterior publicación en España, y otra traducción del mismo relato publicada en 2004 en Argentina, centrándose en la cuestión de los referentes culturales. Si bien es cierto que la lengua meta de ambas traducciones es el español, las culturas de destino son muy distintas, lo que da lugar a diferencias significativas entre estas. La obra England, My England es un conjunto de relatos, uno de los cuales da nombre al libro, ambientados en la Inglaterra de principios del siglo XX. Es por ello que en dichos relatos se encuentran numerosos referentes culturales, que han supuesto dificultades añadidas a la hora de traducirse en la lengua y cultura meta, lo que ha determinado a estudiar en este trabajo las decisiones tomadas por los respectivos traductores. Con el propósito de, en primer lugar, observar qué técnicas se han empleado para la traducción de los referentes culturales en ambas versiones y, en segundo lugar, apreciar las diferencias de índole cultural entre estas, se han estudiado las técnicas propuestas por Hurtado Albir (2011). Posteriormente, para ordenar y clasificar por temática los ejemplos presentados, se ha decidido agruparlos según la tabla de categorías para el análisis de referentes culturales en la traducción de textos literarios presentada por Igareda (2011)

Low serum chloride in patients with chronic heart failure: clinical associations and prognostic significance

© 2018 The Authors. European Journal of Heart Failure © 2018 European Society of Cardiology Background: Low serum chloride is common in patients with chronic heart failure (CHF) and is associated with worse outcomes. We investigated the clinical and prognostic associations, including cause of death associations, of low serum chloride in patients referred to a secondary care clinic with suspected heart failure. Methods and results: Patients with echocardiogram and serum chloride were evaluated (n = 5613). CHF was defined as signs and symptoms of the disease and either left ventricular systolic dysfunction (LVSD) worse than mild [heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF)] or LVSD mild or better and raised amino-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) levels (>125 ng/L) [heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF)]. Hypochloraemia was defined as greater than two standard deviations below the mean in the local normal distribution

Clinical outcome of acute myocarditis in children according to treatment modalities

PurposeThere is currently little evidence to support intravenous immune globulin (IVIG) therapy for pediatric myocarditis. The purpose of our retrospective study was to assess the effects of IVIG therapy in patients with presumed myocarditis on survival and recovery of ventricular function and to determine the factors associated with its poor outcome.MethodsWe reviewed all consecutive cases of patients with myocarditis with left ventricular dysfunction verified by echocardiogram who had visited 3 university hospitals between January 2000 and September 2009. These patients were divided into 2 groups. Group 1 consisted of 23 patients (69.6%) who received IVIG alone or IVIG in combination with steroids, and group 2 consisted of 10 patients (30.3%) who received neither IVIG nor other immunosuppressive agents. Clinical manifestations, laboratory results, echocardiographic findings, and outcomes were compared between these 2 groups.ResultsOne year after the initial presentation, the difference in the probability of survival did not show statistical significance in IVIG-treated patients (P=0.607). Of the echocardiographic parameters on admission, a shortening fraction of less than 15% was associated with unremitting cardiac failure. Furthermore, anemic patients were more likely to have elevated N-terminal fragment levels of the B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) in the progressed group (P=0.036).ConclusionThere was no difference between the IVIG-treated patients and the control patients in the degree of recovery of left ventricular function and survival. Prospective, randomized, clinical studies are needed to elucidate the effects of IVIG treatment during the acute stage of myocarditis on ultimate outcomes

Optimizing fluid management in patients with acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF): the emerging role of combined measurement of body hydration status and brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) levels

The study tests the hypothesis that in patients admitted with acutely decompensated heart failure (ADHF), achievement of adequate body hydration status with intensive medical therapy, modulated by combined bioelectrical vectorial impedance analysis (BIVA) and B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) measurement, may contribute to optimize the timing of patient’s discharge and to improve clinical outcomes. Three hundred patients admitted for ADHF underwent serial BIVA and BNP measurement. Therapy was titrated to reach a BNP value of <250 pg/ml, whenever possible. Patients were categorized as early responders (rapid BNP fall below 250 pg/ml); late responders (slow BNP fall below 250 pg/ml, after aggressive therapy); and non-responders (BNP persistently >250 pg/ml). Worsening of renal function (WRF) was evaluated during hospitalization. Death and rehospitalization were monitored with a 6-month follow-up. BNP value on discharge of ≤250 pg/ml led to a 25% event rate within 6 months (Group A: 17.4%; Group B: 21%, Chi2; n.s.), whereas a value >250 pg/ml (Group C) was associated with a far higher percentage (37%). At discharge, body hydration was 73.8 ± 3.2% in the total population and 73.2 ± 2.1, 73.5 ± 2.8, 74.1 ± 3.6% in the three groups, respectively. WRF was observed in 22.3% of the total. WRF occurred in 22% in Group A, 32% in Group B, and 20% in Group C (P = n.s.). Our study confirms the hypothesis that combined BNP/BIVA sequential measurements help to achieve adequate fluid balance status in patients with ADHF and can be used to drive a “tailored therapy,” allowing clinicians to identify high-risk patients and possibly to reduce the incidence of complications secondary to fluid management strategies

Hemorrhage-Adjusted Iron Requirements, Hematinics and Hepcidin Define Hereditary Hemorrhagic Telangiectasia as a Model of Hemorrhagic Iron Deficiency

BACKGROUND: Iron deficiency anemia remains a major global health problem. Higher iron demands provide the potential for a targeted preventative approach before anemia develops. The primary study objective was to develop and validate a metric that stratifies recommended dietary iron intake to compensate for patient-specific non-menstrual hemorrhagic losses. The secondary objective was to examine whether iron deficiency can be attributed to under-replacement of epistaxis (nosebleed) hemorrhagic iron losses in hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia (HHT). METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: The hemorrhage adjusted iron requirement (HAIR) sums the recommended dietary allowance, and iron required to replace additional quantified hemorrhagic losses, based on the pre-menopausal increment to compensate for menstrual losses (formula provided). In a study population of 50 HHT patients completing concurrent dietary and nosebleed questionnaires, 43/50 (86%) met their recommended dietary allowance, but only 10/50 (20%) met their HAIR. Higher HAIR was a powerful predictor of lower hemoglobin (p = 0.009), lower mean corpuscular hemoglobin content (p<0.001), lower log-transformed serum iron (p = 0.009), and higher log-transformed red cell distribution width (p<0.001). There was no evidence of generalised abnormalities in iron handling Ferritin and ferritin(2) explained 60% of the hepcidin variance (p<0.001), and the mean hepcidinferritin ratio was similar to reported controls. Iron supplement use increased the proportion of individuals meeting their HAIR, and blunted associations between HAIR and hematinic indices. Once adjusted for supplement use however, reciprocal relationships between HAIR and hemoglobin/serum iron persisted. Of 568 individuals using iron tablets, most reported problems completing the course. For patients with hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia, persistent anemia was reported three-times more frequently if iron tablets caused diarrhea or needed to be stopped. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: HAIR values, providing an indication of individuals' iron requirements, may be a useful tool in prevention, assessment and management of iron deficiency. Iron deficiency in HHT can be explained by under-replacement of nosebleed hemorrhagic iron losses