294 research outputs found
An investigation into CLIL-related sections of EFL coursebooks : issues of CLIL inclusion in the publishing market
The current ELT global coursebook market has embraced CLIL as a weak form of bilingual education and an innovative component to include in General English coursebooks for EFL contexts. In this paper I investigate how CLIL is included in ELT coursebooks aimed at
teenaged learners, available to teachers in Argentina. My study is based on the content analysis of four series which include a section advertised as CLIL-oriented. Results suggest that such sections are characterised by (1) little correlation between featured subject specific content and school curricula in L1, (2) oversimplification of contents, and (3) dominance of reading skills development and lower-order thinking tasks. Through this study, I argue that
CLIL components become superficial supplements rather than a meaningful attempt to promote weak forms of bilingual education
An international comparative study of blood pressure in populations of European vs. African descent
Background: The consistent finding of higher prevalence of hypertension in US blacks compared
to whites has led to speculation that African-origin populations are particularly susceptible to this
condition. Large surveys now provide new information on this issue.
Methods: Using a standardized analysis strategy we examined prevalence estimates for 8 white
and 3 black populations (N = 85,000 participants).
Results: The range in hypertension prevalence was from 27 to 55% for whites and 14 to 44% for
blacks.
Conclusions: These data demonstrate that not only is there a wide variation in hypertension
prevalence among both racial groups, the rates among blacks are not unusually high when viewed
internationally. These data suggest that the impact of environmental factors among both
populations may have been under-appreciated
VKORC1 gene polymorphism as cardiovascular biomarker: Detection by electrochemical genosensors
Warfarin is an anticoagulant generally used to prevent cardiovascular diseases. Since of the low therapeutic index of warfarin and frequent complications of prevention or treatment, significant differences in individual doses of warfarin are needed to achieve prophylactic and therapeutic ranges. Recent studies have been reporting that genetic variants of vitamin K epoxide reductase complex (VKORC1) influence the response to warfarin and doses [9]. So, the genetic and pharmacogenetic information of the major cardiovascular diseases plays an important role in the identification of the cardiovascular risk factors and in the diagnosis and treatment of these conditions. This work addresses the development of a disposable electrochemical genosensor able of detecting single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in the VKORC1 gene. Analysing public databases, two specific 52 bp DNA probes, one with adenine (TA) and another with guanine (TG) SNP genetic variation were selected and selected and designed. The genosensor methodology implied the immobilization of a mixed self-assembled monolayer (SAM) linear VKORC1 DNA-capture probe and mercaptohexanol (MCH) onto screen-printed gold electrodes (SPGE). To improve the genosensorÂŽs selectivity and avoid strong secondary structures, that could hinder the hybridization efficiency, a sandwich format of the VKORC1 allele was designed using a complementary fluorescein isothiocyanate-labelled signaling DNA probe and enzymatic amplification of the electrochemical signal. Preliminary studies indicate that differences in the electrochemical answers were obtained depending of the hybridization reaction format. In fact, higher electrochemical intensities were measured when the hybridization reaction was performed with a complementary DNA (without SNPs). These results suggested that the sensor is able to discriminate between the complementary DNA and single base mismatch targets having a great potential for the DNA polymorphism analysis.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Development of electrochemical genosensors for the CYPC*2 gene polymorphism detection
Pharmacogenetic studies search for heritable genetic polymorphisms that influence responses to drug therapy. Pharmacogenetics has many possible applications in cardiovascular pharmacotherapy including screening for polymorphisms to choose agents with the greatest potential for efficacy and least risk of toxicity. Pharmacogenetics also informs dose adaptations for specific drugs in patients with aberrant metabolism. Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are considered one of the leading causes of death worldwide. To prevent cardiovascular complications and further loss of life oral anticoagulants (e.g., warfarin) are frequently prescribed to patients. Nevertheless, warfarin therapeutic agent presents narrow therapeutic windows with well-documented health risks. Some of these dose-responses are a result of specific single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) genetic variations present in a patientÂŽs DNA. Among them, determined SNP in the cytochrome P4502C9 (CYP2C9), namely the CYP2C9*2, gene has been identified as dose-response altering SNP. Therefore, the need for a rapid, selective, low-cost and in real time detection device is crucial before prescribing any anticoagulant. In this work an analytical approach based on electrochemical genosensor technique is under development to create a low-cost genotyping platform able to genotype SNPs related with the therapeutic response of warfarin. Analyzing public databases, two specific 71 bp DNA probes, one with adenine (TA) and other with guanine (TG) SNP genetic variation were selected and designed. The design of this electrochemical genosensor consists of ssDNA immobilization onto gold surfaces that act as the SNPs complementary probes. The hybridization reaction is performed in a sandwich format of the complementary ssDNA, using an enzymatic scheme to amplify the electrochemical signal. The electrochemical signal was performed by using chronoamperometric technique.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Mediterranean lifestyle index and 24-h systolic blood pressure and heart rate in community-dwelling older adults
Specifc foods, nutrients, dietary patterns, and physical activity are associated with lower
blood pressure (BP) and heart rate (HR), but little is
known about the joint efect of lifestyle factors captured in a multidimensional score. We assessed the
association of a validated Mediterranean-lifestyle
(MEDLIFE) index with 24-h-ambulatory BP and
HR in everyday life among community-living older
adults. Data were taken from 2,184 individuals (51%
females, mean age: 71.4 years) from the SeniorsENRICA-2 cohort. The MEDLIFE index consisted
of 29 items arranged in three blocks: 1) Food consumption; 2) Dietary habits; and 3) Physical activity, rest, and conviviality. A higher MEDLIFE score (0â29 points) represented a better Mediterranean
lifestyle adherence. 24-h-ambulatory BP and HR
were obtained with validated oscillometric devices.
Analyses were performed with linear regression
adjusted for the main confounders. The MEDLIFEhighest quintile (vs Q1) was associated with lower
nighttime systolic BP (SBP) (-3.17 mmHg [95% CI:
-5.25, -1.08]; p-trend=0.011), greater nocturnal-SBP
fall (1.67% [0.51, 2.83]; p-trend=0.052), and lower
HR (-2.04 bpm [daytime], -2.33 bpm [nighttime], and
-1.93 bpm [24-h]; all p-trend<0.001). Results were
similar for each of the three blocks of MEDLIFE and
by hypertension status (yes/no). Among older adults,
higher adherence to MEDLIFE was associated with
lower nighttime SBP, greater nocturnal-SBP fall,
and lower HR in their everyday life. These results
suggest a synergistic BP-related protection from the components of the Mediterranean lifestyle. Future
studies should determine whether these results replicate in older adults from other Mediterranean and
non-Mediterranean countriesThis work was
supported by FIS grants 19/319, 20/00896, and 22/1164 from
the Carlos III Health Institute, the Secretary of R+D+I, and
the European Regional Development Fund/European Social
Fund; and by International; REACT EU Program. Comunidad
de Madrid and European Regional Development Fund (ERDF),
European Union: FACINGLCOVID-CM project, Comunidad
de Madrid and European Regional Development Fund (ERDF),
European Union. MSP holds a RamĂłn y Cajal contract (RYC2018â025069-I) from the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universitie
Low Rates of Both Lipid-Lowering Therapy Use and Achievement of Low-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol Targets in Individuals at High-Risk for Cardiovascular Disease across Europe
Aims
To analyse the treatment and control of dyslipidaemia in patients at high and very high cardiovascular
risk being treated for the primary prevention of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in
Europe.
Methods and Results
Data were assessed from the European Study on Cardiovascular Risk Prevention and Management
in Usual Daily Practice (EURIKA, ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT00882336),
which included a randomly sampled population of primary CVD prevention patients from 12
European countries (n = 7641). Patientsâ 10-year risk of CVD-related mortality was calculated
using the Systematic Coronary Risk Evaluation (SCORE) algorithm, identifying 5019
patients at high cardiovascular risk (SCORE 5% and/or receiving lipid-lowering therapy),
and 2970 patients at very high cardiovascular risk (SCORE 10% or with diabetes
mellitus). Among high-risk individuals, 65.3% were receiving lipid-lowering therapy, and
61.3% of treated patients had uncontrolled low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C)
levels ( 2.5 mmol/L). For very-high-risk patients (uncontrolled LDL-C levels defined as
1.8 mmol/L) these figures were 49.5% and 82.9%, respectively. Excess 10-year risk of
CVD-related mortality (according to SCORE) attributable to lack of control of dyslipidaemia
was estimated to be 0.72%and 1.61% among high-risk and very-high-risk patients, respectively.
Among high-risk individuals with uncontrolled LDL-C levels, only 8.7% were receiving
a high-intensity statin (atorvastatin 40 mg/day or rosuvastatin 20 mg/day). Among veryhigh-
risk patients, this figure was 8.4%.
Conclusions
There is a considerable opportunity for improvement in rates of lipid-lowering therapy use
and achievement of lipid-level targets in high-risk and very-high-risk patients being treated
for primary CVD prevention in EuropeWriting support was provided by Oxford
PharmaGenesis Ltd, Oxford, UK, and was
funded by AstraZenec
Implementing Grover Oracles for Quantum Key Search on AES and LowMC
Grover's search algorithm gives a quantum attack against block ciphers by
searching for a key that matches a small number of plaintext-ciphertext pairs.
This attack uses calls to the cipher to search a key space of
size . Previous work in the specific case of AES derived the full gate cost
by analyzing quantum circuits for the cipher, but focused on minimizing the
number of qubits. In contrast, we study the cost of quantum key search attacks
under a depth restriction and introduce techniques that reduce the oracle
depth, even if it requires more qubits. As cases in point, we design quantum
circuits for the block ciphers AES and LowMC. Our circuits give a lower overall
attack cost in both the gate count and depth-times-width cost models. In NIST's
post-quantum cryptography standardization process, security categories are
defined based on the concrete cost of quantum key search against AES. We
present new, lower cost estimates for each category, so our work has immediate
implications for the security assessment of post-quantum cryptography. As part
of this work, we release Q# implementations of the full Grover oracle for
AES-128, -192, -256 and for the three LowMC instantiations used in Picnic,
including unit tests and code to reproduce our quantum resource estimates. To
the best of our knowledge, these are the first two such full implementations
and automatic resource estimations.Comment: 36 pages, 8 figures, 14 table
Cost of poor adherence to anti-hypertensive therapy in five European countries
The financial burden for EU health systems associated with cardiovascular disease (CV) has been estimated to be nearly âŹ110 billion in 2006, corresponding to 10 % of total healthcare expenditure across EU or a mean âŹ223 annual cost per capita. The main purpose of this study is to estimate the costs related to hypertension and the economic impact of increasing adherence to anti-hypertensive therapy in five European countries (Italy, Germany, France, Spain and England). A probabilistic prevalence-based decision tree model was developed to estimate the direct costs of CV related to hypertension (CV defined as: stroke, heart attack, heart failure) in five European countries. Our model considered adherence to hypertension treatment as a main driver of blood pressure (BP) control (BP < 140/90 mmHg). Relative risk of CV, based on controlled or uncontrolled BP group, was estimated from the Framingham Heart Study and national review data. Prevalence and cost data were estimated from national literature reviews. A national payer (NP) perspective for 10 years was considered. Probabilistic sensitivity analysis was performed in order to evaluate uncertainty around the results (given as 95 % confidence intervals). The model estimated a total of 8.6 million (1.4 in Italy, 3.3 in Germany, 1.2 in Spain, 1.8 in France and 0.9 in England) CV events related to hypertension over the 10-year time horizon. Increasing the adherence rate to anti-hypertensive therapy to 70 % (baseline value is different for each country) would lead to 82,235 fewer CV events (24,058 in Italy, 7,870 in Germany, 18,870 in Spain, 24,855 in France and 6,553 in England). From the NP perspective, the direct cost associated with hypertension was estimated to be âŹ51.3 billion (8.1 in Italy, 17.1 in Germany, 12.2 in Spain, 8.8 in France and 5.0 in England). Increasing adherence to anti-hypertensive therapy to 70 % would save a total of âŹ332 million (CI 95 %: âŹ319-346 million) from the NPs perspective. This study is the first attempt to estimate the economic impact of non-adherence amongst patients with diagnosed hypertension in Europe, using data from five European countries (Italy, France, Germany, Spain and England). © 2014 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
The ateneo as an effective model of continuing professional development:Findings from southern Argentina
Despite a sustainable research interest in different forms of teachersâ professional development, scant international attention has been paid to forms of professional development which are implemented in South America. Based on a qualitative research design, this study explores the impact of the ateneo as an innovative model of continuing professional development. An ateneo is a model which supports teacher reflection and change in teaching practices by concentrating on context-responsive practical issues such as lesson planning and delivery. The study was carried out with 22 teachers of English as a foreign language in southern Argentina. Data were gathered through the teachersâ lesson plans, whole group discussions, and the teachersâ final assignments to receive credits for completion of the ateneo. Drawing on thematic analysis, the participants envisaged the ateneo as a practice-oriented, dynamic, interaction-based, and personal as well as collective space for developing teaching skills and professional knowledge. In particular, findings show that the participants exhibited an improvement in lesson contextualization, sequencing and transitioning, maximization of resources, class time management, and reflective teaching. The study argues that the ateneo became successful given the shared teacher identity among the participants and the course tutors and the explicit focus on the teachersâ daily practices
Low Density Polyethylene (LDPE) blends based on Poly(3-Hydroxi-Butyrate) (PHB) and Guar Gum (GG) biodegradable polymers
- âŠ