EPIdemiology of Surgery-Associated Acute Kidney Injury (EPIS-AKI) : Study protocol for a multicentre, observational trial

More than 300 million surgical procedures are performed each year. Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a common complication after major surgery and is associated with adverse short-term and long-term outcomes. However, there is a large variation in the incidence of reported AKI rates. The establishment of an accurate epidemiology of surgery-associated AKI is important for healthcare policy, quality initiatives, clinical trials, as well as for improving guidelines. The objective of the Epidemiology of Surgery-associated Acute Kidney Injury (EPIS-AKI) trial is to prospectively evaluate the epidemiology of AKI after major surgery using the latest Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO) consensus definition of AKI. EPIS-AKI is an international prospective, observational, multicentre cohort study including 10 000 patients undergoing major surgery who are subsequently admitted to the ICU or a similar high dependency unit. The primary endpoint is the incidence of AKI within 72 hours after surgery according to the KDIGO criteria. Secondary endpoints include use of renal replacement therapy (RRT), mortality during ICU and hospital stay, length of ICU and hospital stay and major adverse kidney events (combined endpoint consisting of persistent renal dysfunction, RRT and mortality) at day 90. Further, we will evaluate preoperative and intraoperative risk factors affecting the incidence of postoperative AKI. In an add-on analysis, we will assess urinary biomarkers for early detection of AKI. EPIS-AKI has been approved by the leading Ethics Committee of the Medical Council North Rhine-Westphalia, of the Westphalian Wilhelms-University Münster and the corresponding Ethics Committee at each participating site. Results will be disseminated widely and published in peer-reviewed journals, presented at conferences and used to design further AKI-related trials. Trial registration number NCT04165369

Incidental learning in second language acquisition

The term incidental learning is used, in applied linguistics, to refer to the acquisition of a word or expression without the conscious intention to commit the element to memory, such as "picking up" an unknown word from listening to someone or from reading a text

Bilingualism and Cognition

Scientific interest in the effects of (individual) bilingualism on cognition dates back to at least the first quarter of the 20th century, as illustrated by two articles that were published in 1923 on the relation between bilingualism and mental development (Smith, 1923) and between bilingualism and intelligence (Saer, 1923). In addition to engaging scientists, the question of whether and how bilingualism affects cognition also concerns policy makers, educators, and parents of bilingual families. The reason for this widespread interest in this issue plausibly is the high incidence of bilingualism and the appreciation that knowing about the way in which bilingualism affects cognition is a prerequisite for creating the circumstances that foster any of its beneficial effects on cognitive functioning while at the same time preventing any adverse effects it might have. In one domain of cognition, namely, language representation and use, the influence of bilingualism is ubiquitous, affecting all components of the language system, but there is also plenty of evidence to suggest that bilingualism affects nonlinguistic cognitive domains as well. In this entry the influence of bilingualism on language (verbal cognition) will first be discussed and, next, its effect on various aspects of nonverbal cognition

Lexical access in bilingual visual word recognition

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