Analysis of ceiling effects occurring with speech recognition tests in adult cochlear-implanted patients

This article presents a simple method of analysing speech test scores which are biased through ceiling effects. Eighty postlingually deafened adults implanted with a MED-EL COMBI 40/40+ cochlear implant (CI) were administered a numbers test and a sentence test at initial device activation and at 1, 3, 6, 12 and 24 months thereafter. As a measure for speech recognition performance, the number of patients who scored at the `ceiling level' (i.e. at least 95% correct answers) was counted at each test interval. Results showed a quick increase in this number soon after device activation as well as a continuous improvement over time ( numbers test: 1 month: 51%; 6 months: 73%; 24 months: 88%; sentence test: 1 month: 33%; 6 months: 49%; 24 months: 64%). The new method allows for the detection of speech recognition progress in CI patient samples even at late test intervals, where improvement curves based on averaged scores are usually assuming a flat shape. Copyright (C) 2004 S. Karger AG, Basel

Web 2.0 and Social Constructivism

The emergence of Web 2.0 and its related technologies has the potential to dramatically alter current educational practices. Because users now have the ability to rapidly create content and to engage in social interactions through the World Wide Web, we argue that Web 2.0 supports socially mediated, constructivist learning environments in ways that are becoming seamless. In this chapter, we describe the tenets of social constructivism and then discuss three technologies associated with Web 2.0 and explore how teachers and students could utilize them to promote constructivist learning

From in situ to ex vivo: the effect of autolysis and fixation on quantitative MRI markers for myelin

Ex vivo histology remains the gold standard against which MRI biophysical models, e.g. the MR g-ratio which characterises the fraction of a fibre’s diameter that is myelinated, are evaluated. The MR g-ratio model requires a measure of myelin density, for which magnetization transfer saturation (MT) has been used as a biomarker. However, changes occurring post mortem, e.g. autolysis, temperature changes and fixation, significantly alter the MRI signal. Here we investigate how these changes impact MT. We found that MT decreased post mortem but greatlyincreased upon fixation. These effects are similar to reported changes of other established MRI myelin-markers

Das deutsche Gespenst verflüchtigt sich allmählich: Die Darstellung Deutschlands in Weekendavisen

Jan T. Schlosser and Sandra Tyra Helms Das deutsche Gespenst verflüchtigt sich allmählich Die Darstellung Deutschlands in Weekendavisen. (The German ghost gradually escapes The depiction of Germany in Weekendavisen). The article is a qualitative and quantitative linguistic discursive analysis of articles in the weekly Danish paper Weekendavisen in a period from the end of 2020 to the beginning of 2011. The article concludes among other things that themes of National Socialism still prevail, but also that the depiction of Germany is no longer one of an enemy. Jan T. Schlosser and Lasse Holmgren Brunø, Genitiv på tysk - en undersøgelse af stil og brug (The German genitive case an examination of its use and style) The article examines how the genitive case is used in different style registers e.g. internet debates, fiction, officialese and legal texts. The examination utilizes a scale created by the Danish Germanist Peter Jørgensen of the stylistic use of the genitive case. This is supplemented by an examination of the specific genitive construction's syntactic function. This method makes it possible for the article to describe the use of the genitive case in modern German

Fatty Acid Elongation in Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis and Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) represents a risk factor for the development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and is characterized by quantitative and qualitative changes in hepatic lipids. Since elongation of fatty acids from C16 to C18 has recently been reported to promote both hepatic lipid accumulation and inflammation we aimed to investigate whether a frequently used mouse NASH model reflects this clinically relevant feature and whether C16 to C18 elongation can be observed in HCC development. Feeding mice a methionine and choline deficient diet to model NASH not only increased total hepatic fatty acids and cholesterol, but also distinctly elevated the C18/C16 ratio, which was not changed in a model of simple steatosis (ob/ob mice). Depletion of Kupffer cells abrogated both quantitative and qualitative methionine-and-choline deficient (MCD)-induced alterations in hepatic lipids. Interestingly, mimicking inflammatory events in early hepatocarcinogenesis by diethylnitrosamine-induced carcinogenesis (48 h) increased hepatic lipids and the C18/C16 ratio. Analyses of human liver samples from patients with NASH or NASH-related HCC showed an elevated expression of the elongase ELOVL6, which is responsible for the elongation of C16 fatty acids. Taken together, our findings suggest a detrimental role of an altered fatty acid pattern in the progression of NASH-related liver disease

IGF2 mRNA Binding Protein 2 Transgenic Mice Are More Prone to Develop a Ductular Reaction and to Progress Toward Cirrhosis

The insulin-like growth factor 2 (IGF2) mRNA binding proteins (IMPs/IGF2BPs) IMP1 and 3 are regarded as oncofetal proteins, whereas the hepatic IMP2 expression in adults is controversially discussed. The splice variant IMP2-2/p62 promotes steatohepatitis and hepatocellular carcinoma. Aim of this study was to clarify whether IMP2 is expressed in the adult liver and influences progression toward cirrhosis. IMP2 was expressed at higher levels in embryonic compared to adult tissues as quantified in embryonic, newborn, and adult C57BL/6J mouse livers and suggested by analysis of publicly available human data. In an IMP2-2 transgenic mouse model microarray and qPCR analyses revealed increased expression of liver progenitor cell (LPC) markers Bex1, Prom1, Spp1, and Cdh1 indicating a de-differentiated liver cell phenotype. Induction of these LPC markers was confirmed in human cirrhotic tissue datasets. The LPC marker SPP1 has been described to play a major role in fibrogenesis. Thus, DNA methylation was investigated in order to decipher the regulatory mechanism of Spp1 induction. In IMP2-2 transgenic mouse livers single CpG sites were differentially methylated, as quantified by amplicon sequencing, whereas human HCC samples of a human publicly available dataset showed promoter hypomethylation. In order to study the impact of IMP2 on fibrogenesis in the context of steatohepatitis wild-type or IMP2-2 transgenic mice were fed either a methionine-choline deficient (MCD) or a control diet for 2-12 weeks. MCD-fed IMP2-2 transgenic mice showed a higher incidence of ductular reaction (DR), accompanied by hepatic stellate cell activation, extracellular matrix (ECM) deposition, and induction of the LPC markers Spp1, Cdh1, and Afp suggesting the occurrence of de-differentiated cells in transgenic livers. In human cirrhotic samples IMP2 overexpression correlated with LPC marker and ECM component expression. Progression of liver disease was induced by combined MCD and diethylnitrosamine (DEN) treatment. Combined MCD-DEN treatment resulted in shorter survival of IMP2-2 transgenic compared to wild-type mice. Only IMP2-2 transgenic livers progressed to cirrhosis, which was accompanied by strong DR. In conclusion, IMP2 is an oncofetal protein in the liver that promotes DR characterized by de-differentiated cells toward steatohepatitis-associated cirrhosis development with poor survival