The Advantages of the Shared Reading Experience for Bilingual Elementary Students

The Shared Reading Experience is a method being applied in the Cambridge public school system for bilingual elementary students. The objective of this paper is to discover why this method is effective. Consideration is given to language acquisition factors, reading methodologies, and the psychological and cognitive context of the bilingual child himself. A description of the procedure for presenting within the Shared Book Experience, and an explanation of the rationale for this procedure are contained in this investigation. The subsequent writing that the bilingual children produce finalizes this project. This paper is based on a two-month internship during the Fall of 1985 at the Longfellow Elementary School in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in a third to fifth grade classroom

MScMS-II: an innovative IR-based indoor coordinate measuring system for large-scale metrology applications

According to the current great interest concerning large-scale metrology applications in many different fields of manufacturing industry, technologies and techniques for dimensional measurement have recently shown a substantial improvement. Ease-of-use, logistic and economic issues, as well as metrological performance are assuming a more and more important role among system requirements. This paper describes the architecture and the working principles of a novel infrared (IR) optical-based system, designed to perform low-cost and easy indoor coordinate measurements of large-size objects. The system consists of a distributed network-based layout, whose modularity allows fitting differently sized and shaped working volumes by adequately increasing the number of sensing units. Differently from existing spatially distributed metrological instruments, the remote sensor devices are intended to provide embedded data elaboration capabilities, in order to share the overall computational load. The overall system functionalities, including distributed layout configuration, network self-calibration, 3D point localization, and measurement data elaboration, are discussed. A preliminary metrological characterization of system performance, based on experimental testing, is also presente

Usefulness of cancer-testis antigens as biomarkers for the diagnosis and treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma

Despite advances in our cellular and molecular knowledge, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains one of the major public health problems throughout the world. It is now known to be highly heterogeneous: it encompasses various pathological entities and a wide range of clinical behaviors, and is underpinned by a complex array of gene alterations that affect supra-molecular processes. Four families of HCC tumour markers have been recently proposed: a) onco-fetal and glycoprotein antigens; b) enzymes and iso-enzymes; c) cytokines and d) genes. A category of tumour-associated antigens called cancer-testis (CT) antigens has been identified and their encoding genes have been extensively investigated. CT antigens are expressed in a limited number of normal tissues as well as in malignant tumors of unrelated histological origin, including the liver. Given that cancers are being recognized as increasingly complex, we here review the role of CT antigens as liver tumour biomarkers and their validation process, and discuss why they may improve the effectiveness of screening HCC patients and help in determining the risk of developing HCC

Metal and Metal Oxide Transformation and Texturing Using Pulsed Fiber Laser

Thin films of amorphous vanadium metal were deposited on a glass substrate using the electron beam evaporator, these thin films were then exposed to a focused 1064 nm wavelength nanosecond laser pulses. The laser fluence was selected such that it was below the ablation threshold of the films, x-ray diffraction measurement revealed the formation of an oxide phase of vanadium after the laser exposure. The time of flight-secondary ion mass spectrometry data analysis showed a uniform elemental distribution of the elements on the films, whereas the Rutherford backscattering spectrometry results showed that the concentration of oxygen as a function of the laser fluence was increasing, hinting to the incorporation of the oxygen atoms in the films as the laser fluence increases. UV-Vis-NIR percentage reflectance measurements showed small evolution in the visible part of the spectrum due to laser exposure

Primary systemic treatment and concomitant low dose radiotherapy for breast cancer: final results of a prospective phase II study.

Abstract Background To evaluate the efficacy of preoperative low dose fractionated radiotherapy (LD-FRT) and chemotherapy in breast cancer. Materials and methods Patients with stage IIA–IIIA breast cancer, received LD-FRT (0.40 Gy bid, on day 1 and 2, for 6 cycles) to primary tumor volume and concurrent chemotherapy with non-pegylated liposomal anthracycline and docetaxel. Pathological response was assessed by Mandard Tumor Regression Grade (TRG). We evaluated the pathological major response rate (PMRR) as TRG1 and TRG2. The expected outcome was a PMRR of 60%. The accrual was determined by the single proportion powered analysis ( α = 0.05, power = 0.8). Results Twentyone patients were enrolled. No grade 2–4 acute skin and hematological toxicity was observed. TRG1 was obtained in 3 patients (14.3%), TRG2 in 4 patients (19%). The PMRR was 33.3%; it does not concur with the expected result, but is similar to that of chemotherapy alone. According to molecular subtype, 2/11 luminal A patients and 4/6 luminal B patients obtained a PMRR to preoperative treatment (35.3%); 1/4 basal like patients reported TRG1 (25%). Conclusions LD-FRT concomitant with primary systemic treatment has a good toxicity profile. The response rate is consistent with that of chemotherapy alone, and suggests different interactions between low dose radiotherapy and molecular subtypes. Additional investigations are planned

Changing in the post-surgery infective complications following the shortening of the antibiotic prophylaxis in the patients undergoing skin dermal substitutes reconstruction

Background: Bioengineered skin dermal substitutes (SDS) represent a novel therapeutic opportunity for restoring damaged tissue, both in massive deep burns, extensive full-thickness wounds, and reconstruction after cancer resection. Antimicrobial prophylaxis duration in such procedures has not been well established yet. The aim of the study was to evaluate the changing of infective complications following shortening of perioperative prophylaxis in patients undergoing surgical reconstruction with SDS. Material & Methods: Infective complications at the site of SDS were compared in two groups of patients: subjects undergoing surgical reconstruction between September 2014 and January 2016 (PERIOD A) who received a >24h-antibiotic prophylaxis, and subjects undergoing surgical reconstruction between May 2016 and June 2017 (PERIOD B) who received a ≤24h-antibiotic prophylaxis. Differences in the incidence of infection and pathogen prevalence were explored. Univariate linear regression analysis was performed to evaluate the risk factors for infection (sex, age, ASA code, perioperative antibiotic prophylaxis, site of SDS intervention, type of SDS, dimensions of surgical area, chronic renal impairment, and diabetes mellitus). Results: Between September 2014 and June 2017, 116 patients underwent a surgical reconstruction with a SDS. The 66.4% (n=77) of the study population was male, and the mean age was 73 years (22-92 years). Seventy-eight patients (67.2%) were positive for hypertension, 20 (17.2%) for diabetes mellitus, 16 (13.8%) for chronic renal impairment, 22 (19%) were former or current smokers, and 45 (38.8%) had an ASA code ≥3. In the 94.8% of the patients (n=110) the reason of surgical intervention was a skin cancer. Surgical SDS reconstruction involved the scalp in 44 cases (37.9%), the face in 28 (24.1%), the chest in 11 (9.5%), the arm or the hand in 9 (7.8%), the leg in 12 (10.3%) and the foot in 12 (10.3%). Among 116 patients undergoing SDS surgical reconstruction, 62 (53.4%) received a >24h-prophylaxis and 54 (46.6%) received a ≤24h-prophylaxis. The average duration of prophylaxis in the 2 groups of patients was 6.6 days and 0.5 day, respectively. Overall incidence rate of infection was 20.7% (24/116). The most frequently isolated pathogen was S. aureus (41.6%), followed by P. aeruginosa (29.1%), P. mirabilis (8.3%), and E. faecalis (4.1%). Patients undergoing SDS reconstruction in limb/foot had higher infection rate in comparison with those undergoing SDS reconstruction in chest/head (33.3% and 15.6%, respectively; p=0.034). No differences in the infection rate were observed between the patients who received >24h or ≤24h-antibiotic prophylaxis (22.5% and 18.5%, respectively; p=0.590). The two groups resulted similar for gender, age, comorbidities, ASA score, and type of skin cancer. No significant differences in pathogen prevalence were found (p=0.692). Conclusion: Antibiotic prophylaxis reduction to 24 hours or less demonstrated to be beneficial to patients undergoing surgical reconstruction with SDS. Shortening of antibiotic prophylaxis did not increase infection rate, and it allowed to reduce of 6 days-per-patient the antibiotic exposure

Infective complications in patients undergoing surgical reconstruction with dermal matrix: the Modena experience

Background: Bioengineered skin dermal substitutes (SDS) represent a novel therapeutic opportunity for restoring damaged tissue1,2,3. Antimicrobial prophylaxis duration in such procedures has not been well established yet. The aim of the study was to evaluate the changing of infective complications following shortening of perioperative prophylaxis in patients undergoing surgical reconstruction with SDS. Material & Methods: Infective complications at the site of SDS were compared in 2 groups: subjects undergoing surgical reconstruction between September 2014 and January 2016 (PERIOD A) who received a >24H-antibiotic-prophylaxis, and between May 2016 and June 2017 (PERIOD B) who received a ≤24H-antibiotic-prophylaxis. Differences in the incidence of infection and pathogen prevalence were explored. Results: Between September 2014 and June 2017, 116 patients underwent a surgical reconstruction with a SDS. The mean age was 73-years, 77 were male (66.4%), 78 (67.2%) were positive for hypertension, 20 (17.2%) for diabetes mellitus, 16 (13.8%) for chronic renal impairment, 22 (19%) were smokers, and 45 (38.8%) had an ASA score ≥3. In the 94.8% (n=110) the reason of surgical intervention was a skin cancer. Surgical SDS reconstruction involved the scalp in 44 cases (37.9%), the face in 28 (24.1%), the chest in 11 (9.5%), the limbs in 33 (28.5%). Among 116 patients, 62 (53.4%) received >24H-antibiotic and 54 (46.6%) ≤24H-antibiotic-prophylaxis. The average duration of prophylaxis in the 2 groups of patients was 6.6 days and 0.5 day, respectively. Overall incidence rate of infection was 20.7% (24/116). The most frequently isolated pathogen was S. aureus (41.6%), followed by P. aeruginosa (29.1%), P. mirabilis (8.3%), and E. faecalis (4.1%). Patients undergoing SDS reconstruction in limbs had higher infection rate in comparison with chest/head (33.3% and 15.6%, respectively; p=0.034). No differences in the infection rate were observed between the patients who received >24H or ≤24H-antibiotic-prophylaxis (22.5% and 18.5%, respectively; p=0.590). The two groups resulted similar for gender, age, comorbidities, ASA score, and type of skin cancer. Discussion: As far as we know, this is the first study that compared two perioperative antibiotic prophylaxis regimes in patients undergoing SDS reconstruction. Comparing the two patient groups (≤24-hour and >24-hour prophylaxis), no differences in the rate of infection were found. The result is very important: it shows that prolongation of prophylaxis in this type of surgical patients does not reduce the rate of infection. Shortening of antibiotic prophylaxis allowed to reduce of 6 days-per-patient the antibiotic exposure. It was surprising that only the reconstruction of the limbs, in comparison with other sites, was associated with a higher risk of infection (33.3 and 15.7 respectively). Nor the most critical patients (with an ASA score ≥3), nor patients undergoing major surgical reconstructions (surgical area >60 cm2) resulted associated with a higher risk. Conclusion: Antibiotic prophylaxis reduction to 24 hours or less demonstrated to be beneficial to patients undergoing surgical reconstruction with SDS. Shortening of antibiotic prophylaxis did not increase infection rate, and it allowed a reduction of 6 days-per-patient the antibiotic exposure. Randomized and controlled trials, with greater population, could give a more accurate response on the duration of antibiotic prophylaxis in patients undergoing surgical SDS reconstruction