How do Foreign Language Teachers Maintain their Proficiency? A Grounded Theory Approach

The recent increase in studies using the L2 Motivational Self System (Dörnyei, 2005) to investigate language teachers’ engagement (or lack thereof) in professional development (e.g., Hiver, 2013; Kubanyiova 2009; Kumazava, 2013) shows the increasing interest in bridging the research gap between language teacher education and teacher motivation. With the aim of contributing to this body of motivation research, this interview-based study uses a grounded theory approach to address the issues of how foreign language (FL) teachers in two types of Italian high schools (college preparation schools and vocational schools) experience and respond to changes in their proficiency. Findings show the influence of these pedagogical contexts on teachers’ proficiency and engagement in development as well as the dynamic complexity of motivational processes. When dealing with professional development, FL teachers face two main decision-making moments: 1) deciding whether or not to engage in professional development activities; 2) maintaining their engagement with or without a supportive community. Their decision to engage often depends on the emotional dissonance between teachers’ actual and possible L2 selves. The results have implications for designing in-service professional development courses with a bottom-up approach that take into consideration teachers’ needs according to their school environments and enhance teachers’ L2 selves’ emotional guiding power

Interview with Matthew Poehner

Dr. Matthew Poehner is Assistant Professor of World Languages Education and Applied Linguistics at The Pennsylvania State University. He delivered a keynote address at the 2013 Second Language Studies Symposium titled Dynamic Assessment: Understanding Mediation. He was kind enough to speak with us after his talk

Orocecal transit time in patients with functional dyspepsia

Background: The importance of intestinal dysmotility in functional dyspepsia is a controversial issue. Goals: To investigate the orocecal transit time in patients with functional dyspepsia, as well as a possible association between intestinal transit and the presence of anxiety or Helicobacter pylori infection in these patients. Study: The participants in this study were 23 patients with dysmotility-like functional dyspepsia and 24 control subjects. Orocecal transit time was measured by the lactulose hydrogen breath test. The presence of anxiety was assessed by the Hospital Anxiety and Depression (HAD) scale. Results: No significant difference in orocecal transit times was found between patients (median, 55 minutes; 95% confidence interval [CI], 40-60 minutes) and control subjects (median, 50 minutes; 95% Cl, 40-60 minutes; p = 1). In the assessment, 15 patients (73%) scored for anxiety on the HAD scale, and 15 patients (65%) had positive test results for H. pylori. There was no significant difference in orocecal transit times between the patients with (median, 55 minutes; 95% Cl, 40-63 minutes) and those without H. pylori infection (50 minutes; 95% CI, 40-68 minutes; p = 0.85), or between the patients with (median, 45 minutes; 95% Cl, 40-68 minutes) and those without (60 minutes; 95% Cl, 40-63 minutes; p = 0.77) anxiety. Conclusions: Orocecal transit time is within the normal range in patients with functional dyspepsia. Anxiety and H. pylori infection do not seem to influence orocecal transit time in these patients.351212

Autonomic function in patients with functional dyspepsia assessed by 24-hour heart rate variability

The function of the autonomic nervous system was assessed in 23 patients with dysmotility-like functional dyspepsia and 12 healthy volunteers by analysis of 24-hr heart rate variability and a battery of five standardized sympathetic and parasympathetic cardiovascular reflex tests. Measures of heart rate variability were obtained by analysis of ambulatory electrocardiographic recordings using both the time and the frequency domain methods. The values of parameters reflecting vagal activity (HF, rMSSD) were significantly lower in patients with functional dyspepsia, Individual analysis of heart rate variability data identified at least one abnormal parameter of vagal function in seven (30.4%) patients, and in five of these the results of parasympathetic cardiovascular reflex tests were also abnormal. Our results suggest impaired efferent vagal function in a subgroup of patients with functional dyspepsia. This abnormality may play a role in the pathogenesis of the disease in these patients.471273

Food Intolerance, Diet Composition, and Eating Patterns in Functional Dyspepsia Patients

The aims of this study are to investigate dietary factors, food intolerance, and the body mass index data, as an indicator of nutritional status, in functional dyspepsia patients. Forty-one functional dyspepsia patients and 30 healthy volunteers answered a standardized questionnaire to identify eating habits and food intolerance, and then completed a 7-day alimentary diary. There was no significant difference in daily total caloric intake between patients and controls. Patients associated their symptoms with the ingestion of several foods, but in general maintained their regular intake, with the exception of a small reduction in the proportion of fat in comparison with controls (median 28 vs. 34%; P = 0.001). No patient was underweight. In conclusion, our results suggest that food intolerance has no remarkable influence on food pattern and nutritional status in most functional dyspepsia patients. Further studies are necessary to clarify the role of fat in the generation of dyspeptic symptoms.551606

Beneficial Effects of Long-Term Consumption of a Probiotic Combination of Lactobacillus casei Shirota and Bifidobacterium breve Yakult May Persist After Suspension of Therapy in Lactose-Intolerant Patients

Background: The efficacy of some probiotic strains for the management of lactose intolerance remains to be established. Aim :To evaluate the effects of a 4-week consumption of a probiotic product containing Lactobacillus casei Shirota and Bifidobacterium breve Yakult (10(7)-10(9) CFU of each strain) on symptoms and breath hydrogen exhalation after a lactose load in lactose-intolerant patients and whether the beneficial results persisted after probiotic discontinuation. Methods: Twenty-seven patients with lactose maldigestion and intolerance participated in this study, which comprised 4 hydrogen breath tests: baseline condition (20 g lactose), after lactase ingestion (9000 FCC units), at the end of 4-week probiotic supplementation, and a follow-up test performed 3 months after probiotic discontinuation. For each test, the area under the breath hydrogen concentration vs time curve (AUC(180 min)) was calculated, and symptom scores were recorded. Results: The probiotic combination significantly reduced symptom scores (P .05), despite the significantly higher (P = .01) AUC values after probiotic use. In the follow-up test, symptom scores and breath hydrogen AUC values remained similar to those found at the end of probiotic intervention. Conclusion: Four-week consumption of a probiotic combination of L casei Shirota and B breve Yakult seems to improve symptoms and decrease hydrogen production intake in lactose-intolerant patients. These effects may persist for at least 3 months after suspension of probiotic consumption. (Nutr Clin Pract. 2012;27:247-251)27224725

Gastric emptying and intragastric distribution of a solid meal in functional dyspepsia - Influence of gender and anxiety

Background: Gastric dysmotility and psychological factors have been implicated in the pathophysiology of functional dyspepsia. Goals: To investigate the influence of gender and anxiety on gastric emptying and intragastric food distribution in patients with functional dyspepsia. Methods: A standard gastric emptying test was used to study total and compartmental gastric emptying of a solid meal in 22 patients with functional dyspepsia (16 women). Comparisons of the data for dyspeptic men and women were made with 2 respective subgroups of controls (9 men; 9 women). The presence of anxiety and depression was assessed by the Hospital Anxiety and Depression scale. Results: Delayed gastric emptying was observed in 32% of patients with functional dyspepsia. As a group, dyspeptic women had a significantly longer half-emptying time as compared with dyspeptic men (119 +/- 41 min vs. 78 +/- 22 min) and to female controls (96 +/- 17 min). There was no difference in half-emptying times between male patients and controls. The initial activity in the proximal stomach was significantly lower for both men and women with functional dyspepsia in comparison with their respective controls. In addition, meal retention in the distal stomach of dyspeptic women was significantly greater than that in female controls. Sixteen (72%) functional dyspepsia patients had anxiety when evaluated by the Hospital Anxiety and Depression scale. Those patients who scored for anxiety showed significantly greater antral meal retention than patients without anxiety. Conclusion: Our study confirmed that prolonged gastric emptying in patients with functional dyspepsia is related to the female sex, while the abnormalities of the meal intragastric distribution appear to occur in dyspeptic males and females. Anxiety is frequent in functional dyspepsia and seems to be related to abnormal antral retention of food in these patients.38323023

TREATMENT OF DUODENAL-ULCER WITH PIRENZEPINE - A DOUBLE-BLIND-STUDY

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One-week dual therapy with ranitidine bismuth citrate and clarithromycin for the treatment of Helicobacter pylori infection in Brazilian patients with peptic ulcer

AIM: To assess the efficacy and safety of ranitidine bismuth citrate plus clarithromycin given for 1 wk in Brazilian patients with peptic ulcer. METHODS: One hundred and twenty patients with peptic ulcer were randomized in two treatment groups: (1) 1-wk regimen consisting of ranitidine bismuth citrate 400 mg b.i.d. with clarithromycin 500 mg b.i.d. or (2) 2-wk regimen of the same treatment. Eradication of the infection was considered when both the histologic examination and the urease test were negative for the infection 3 mo after treatment. RESULTS: By intention to treat analysis, Helicobacter pylori (H pylori) was eradicated in 73% and 76% of patients, respectively treated for 1 or 2 wk (P>0.05). By per protocol analysis, the eradication rates were 80% and 83%, respectively, in patients treated for 1 or 2 wk (P>0.05). Nine patients (8.2%) reported minor side effects. CONCLUSION: One-week therapy with ranitidine bismuth citrate and clarithromycin is safe, well tolerated and effective for treatment of H pylori infection, and appears to be comparable to the 2-wk regimen in terms of efficacy. (C) 2005 The WJG Press and Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.11233566356

Ceftriaxone in the treatment of spontaneous bacterial peritonitis ascitic fluid polymorphonuclear count response and short-term prognosis

Background/Aims: In this study, ascitic fluid polymorphonuclear (PMN) response, short-term prognosis, and factors related to hospital mortality were investigated in 62 cases of spontaneous bacterial peritonitis ocurring in cirrhotic patients treated with Ceftriaxone (1 g every 12 hours). Methodology: The diagnostic criteria for (SBP) were ascitic fluid PMN count <250 cells/mm(3) and no evidence of secondary peritonitis. Analysis of ascitic fluid samples were obtained on admission, and on the 4th and 10th days of antibiotic therapy. Results: The etiology of cirrhosis was alcohol in 63% of the cases, and 79.5% of patients belonged to Child-Pugh Class C. Ascitic fluid analysis showed positive cultures in 47% of the cases, and a marked decrease in PMN count during treatment (admission: 7762 +/- 2837; 4th day: 388 +/- 91; 10th day: 173 +/- 59 cells/mm(3)). Ascitic PMN was <250 cells/mm3 within 4 days of treatment in 33% of the cases. The hospital mortality rate was 24%, and was related to gastrointestinal hemorrhage, hepatic encephalopathy, renal failure and 4th day ascitic fluid PMN count. Conclusion: Ceftriaxone is a safe and effective option for the treatment of SBP.44171276128