SMS as a learning tool: an experimental study

[EN] The aim of this experimental study was to find out the potential of using mobile phones in teaching English as a foreign language, specifically the use of SMS as a support tool in the EFL class. The research questions formulated were: (1) Is using SMS messages via a mobile phone an effective tool in terms of motivation and engagement? (2) What type of mini-lessons do subjects think are better to be sent via SMS in terms of effectiveness, engagement, and usefulness for their learning purposes? (3) What is the appropriate timing for the activities to be sent? (4) Did students who participated in the project perform better than the control group? This experimental study lasted two academic years. As this was a preliminary study of the viability of the SMS methodology, it was conducted with a small group of students (n=13) from the English Degree at the University Rovira i Virgili (Tarragona, Spain). During the first year we designed various types of activities and sent them though a period of 15 weeks. The aim of this first part was to answer the research questions 1 to 3. The second year, a new set of exercises was created. This time, the aim was to gather data to be able to answer the fourth research question. Both qualitative data (from the first year) and quantitative data (from the second year) were analysed. We can conclude that the subjects have found this experience engaging. The subjects preferred receiving short, direct exercises which could be answered immediately. They preferred receiving the SMS in the afternoon or evening and the results show that this methodology enhances the retrieval of memorized English language rules. The results of this study were presented at the EuroCALL 2011 conference in Nottingham and are the result of a research project funded by the Institut de Ciències de l'Educació (Universitat Rovira i Virgili).Gutiérrez-Colon Plana, M.; Gallardo Torrano, P.; Grova, ME. (2012). SMS as a learning tool: an experimental study. The EuroCALL Review. 20(2):33-47. https://doi.org/10.4995/eurocall.2012.11376SWORD3347202Cavus, N. and Ibrahim, D. (2009). M-Learning: An experiment using SMS to support learning new English language words. British Journal of Educational Technology, Vol. 40, No. 1: 78-91. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8535.2007.00801.xChurchill, D. and Hedberg, J. (2008). Learning objects design considerations for small-screen handheld devices. Computers and Education, 50: 881-893. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2006.09.004Cornelius,S., Marston, Ph. and Gemmell, A. (2011). SMS text messaging for real-ime simulations in Higher Education. In Traxler and Wishart, J. 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Best practices for fNIRS publications

The application of functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) in the neurosciences has been expanding over the last 40 years. Today, it is addressing a wide range of applications within different populations and utilizes a great variety of experimental paradigms. With the rapid growth and the diversification of research methods, some inconsistencies are appearing in the way in which methods are presented, which can make the interpretation and replication of studies unnecessarily challenging. The Society for Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy has thus been motivated to organize a representative (but not exhaustive) group of leaders in the field to build a consensus on the best practices for describing the methods utilized in fNIRS studies. Our paper has been designed to provide guidelines to help enhance the reliability, repeatability, and traceability of reported fNIRS studies and encourage best practices throughout the community. A checklist is provided to guide authors in the preparation of their manuscripts and to assist reviewers when evaluating fNIRS papers

Landscape of alcohol-related hepatocellular carcinoma in the last 15 years highlights the need to expand surveillance programs

Background & Aims: Alcohol abuse and metabolic disorders are leading causes of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) worldwide. Alcohol-related aetiology is associated with a worse prognosis compared with viral agents, because of the lower percentage of patients diagnosed with HCC under routine surveillance and a higher burden of comorbidity in alcohol abusers. This study aimed to describe the evolving clinical scenario of alcohol-related HCC over 15 years (2006–2020) in Italy. Methods: Data from the Italian Liver Cancer (ITA.LI.CA) registry were used: 1,391 patients were allocated to three groups based on the year of HCC diagnosis (2006–2010; 2011–2015; 2016–2020). Patient characteristics, HCC treatment, and overall survival were compared among groups. Survival predictors were also investigated. Results: Approximately 80% of alcohol-related HCCs were classified as cases of metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease. Throughout the quinquennia, <50% of HCCs were detected by surveillance programmes. The tumour burden at diagnosis was slightly reduced but not enough to change the distribution of the ITA.LI.CA cancer stages. Intra-arterial and targeted systemic therapies increased across quinquennia. A modest improvement in survival was observed in the last quinquennia, particularly after 12 months of patient observation. Cancer stage, HCC treatment, and presence of oesophageal varices were independent predictors of survival. Conclusions: In the past 15 years, modest improvements have been obtained in outcomes of alcohol-related HCC, attributed mainly to underuse of surveillance programmes and the consequent low amenability to curative treatments. Metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease is a widespread condition in alcohol abusers, but its presence did not show a pivotal prognostic role once HCC had developed. Instead, the presence of oesophageal varices, an independent poor prognosticator, should be considered in patient management and refining of prognostic systems. Impact and Implications: Alcohol abuse is a leading and growing cause of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) worldwide and is associated with a worse prognosis compared with other aetiologies. We assessed the evolutionary landscape of alcohol-related HCC over 15 years in Italy. A high cumulative prevalence (78%) of metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease, with signs of metabolic dysfunction, was observed in HCC patients with unhealthy excessive alcohol consumption. The alcohol + metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease condition tended to progressively increase over time. A modest improvement in survival occurred over the study period, likely because of the persistent underuse of surveillance programmes and, consequently, the lack of improvement in the cancer stage at diagnosis and the patients’ eligibility for curative treatments. Alongside the known prognostic factors for HCC (cancer stage and treatment), the presence of oesophageal varices was an independent predictor of poor survival, suggesting that this clinical feature should be carefully considered in patient management and should be included in prognostic systems/scores for HCC to improve their performance

The "Neurocentric" Approach to Essential Hypertension: How Reliable is the Paradigm of Hyperkinetic Hypertension? A Focus on the Sympathetic Nervous System Dysregulation in Essential Hypertensive Patients with Elevated Resting Heart Rate.

BACKGROUND: Clinic resting heart rate (RHR), is one of the cardiovascular parameters more easily measurable. In the general population RHR has been associated with total and cardiovascular mortality and higher rate of vascular events. OBJECTIVE: The case of essential hypertension is in some ways peculiar: in the past decades has often been attributed to hypertensive subjects higher values of RHR than healthy controls as a result of the effects of the different factors leading to the development of essential hypertension itself, first of all the presence of an increased tone of the sympathetic nervous system Methods: Several excellent articles debated the issue of autonomic dysfunction in essential hypertension; nevertheless of this, after various decades of debate, this issue is to-date unresolved. The aim of this review is to discuss the reliability of the hypothesis that elevated resting heart rate in hypertensive subjects is associated to high blood pressure and both to elevated sympathetic nervous system activity or rather if these three phenomena coexist in a limited portion of subjects being not necessarily linked each other with a causal relationship. RESULTS: The ascertainment of the exact proportion of the hypertensive subjects having sympathetic overdrive appears to be hard, not only due to the multiple interferences and the constant interplay between the various determinants of the sympathetic tone, but also because a significant uncertainty remains with regard to the validity of the methods used for assessing the sympathetic tone. CONCLUSIONS: To date, any threshold used to define tachycardia is arbitrary. The percentage of hypertensive patients with elevated RHR varies considerably between the various studies, first of all because the modality of assessment influences the results. The "white coat tachycardia" is a clinical entity that must be taken into account. Ambulatory heart rate represents a good diagnostic alternative, since nocturnal mean heart rate appears to be the parameter with the highest prognostic value, probably because is less conditioned by external factors, being more representative of the "real" heart rate of the subject