Streiten im Chat

While arguing in face-to-face communication is rather well investigated, there are almost no analyses on similar sequences of internet relay chats. Users of the IRC often revert to patterns of face-to-face communication, as it is for example shown in works on the phatic communication. But a lot of typical aspects of the modality "arguing" - as interruptions, overlaps, prosodic features etc. - can not be realized in the IRC. In exchange, this communication technology also creates new possibilities that are not available in face-to-face communication. In this article, I would like to ask what the consequences of these circumstances are for sequencies of arguing in the IRC. The main questions are: • How is the appropriate modality of interaction created? • What is the structure of sequencies of arguing? Which phases are identifiable (like cause, escalation, de-escalation)? • Which blockades of interaction are realized? • How is emotional involvement manifested? Besides these questions concerning the form of sequencies of arguing, also the function of these sequencies shall be analyzed. This question is important, because arguing in the IRC always is arguing in front of an audience and because the possible anonymity can have an influence on their function

Medial shaping from the outset: On the mediality of the second presidential debate, 2016

In the present article we argue that all communication is medial in the sense that every human sign-based interaction is shaped by me­dial aspects from the outset. We propose a dynamic, semiotic con­cept of media that focuses on the process-related aspect of media­lity, and we test the applicability of this concept using as an example the second presidential debate between Clinton and Trump in 2016. The analysis shows in detail how the sign processing during the debate is continuously shaped by structural aspects of television and specific traits of political communication in television. This includes how the camerawork creates meaning and how the protagonists both use the affordances of this special mediality. Therefore, it is not adequate in our view to separate the technical aspects of the me­dium, the ‘hardware’, from the processual aspects and the structural conditions of communication. While some aspects of the interaction are directly constituted by the medium, others are more indirectly shaped and influenced by it, especially by its institutional dimension – we understand them as second-order media effects. The whole medial procedure with its specific mediality is a necessary, but not a sufficient condition of meaning-making. We distinguish the medial procedure from the semiotic modes employed, the language games played and the competence of the play­ers involved

Mündliches Argumentieren im Spannungsfeld zwischen Kollaboration und Abgrenzung – Zu lokalen Gruppenidentitäten in schulischen Einigungsdiskussionen

There is a need for more precise descriptions of disfluency markers in the actual oral dialogic productions of learners of French as a foreign language to inform language pedagogy. This research aims at documenting communicative strategies used by learners of French when confronted with gaps in communication, namely phenomena of hesitation and repairs (repetition, self-correction and false start) occurring during SLA learners' spontaneous speech at different stages of proficiency. It is based on a longitudinal oral learner corpus of actual spontaneous speech by Jamaican learners of French. We will also compare the observed results with the descriptors available in the Common European Framework describing a conscious communicative strategy of self-correction and suggest pedagogical ways to improve oral communication

Xenon does not reduce opioid requirement for orthopedic surgery

Purpose: Is to test the hypothesis that 70% xenon has a relevant opioid sparing effect compared to a minimum alveolar concentration (MAC)-equivalent combination of N2O and desflurane. Methods: In this randomized, controlled study of 30 patients undergoing major orthopedic surgery we determined the plasma alfentanil concentration required to suppress response to skin incision in 50% of patients (Cp50) anesthetized with xenon (70%) or a combination of N2O (70%) and desflurane (2%). A response was defined as movement, pressor response > 15 mmHg, heart rate > 90 beats · min−1, autonomic reactions or a combination of these. At skin incision, alfentanil was administered at a randomly selected target plasma concentration thereafter the concentration was increased or decreased according to the patient's response. After skin incision, desflurane was adjusted to maintain the bispectral index below 60 and prevent responsiveness in both groups. Results: The Cp50 (± standard error) of alfentanil was 83 ± 48 ng · mL−1 with xenon and 49 ± 26 ng · mL−1 with N2O/desflurane (P = 0.451). During surgery five xenon and 15 N2O/desflurane patients were given desflurane at 1.0 ± 0.5 volume % and 2.5 ± 0.7 volume %. The total age adjusted MAC was 0.97 ± 0.07 and 0.94 ± 0.07 respectively (P = 0.217). The intraoperative plasma alfentanil concentrations were 95 ± 80 and 93 ± 60 ng · mL−1 respectively (mean ± SD;P = 0.451). Patients given xenon were slightly more bradycardic, whereas blood pressure was similar. Conclusion: Xenon compared to a MAC-equivalent combination of N2O and desflurane does not substantially reduce opioid requirement for orthopedic surgery. A small but clinically irrelevant difference cannot be excluded, howeve

Fully automated dried blood spot sample handling and extraction for BoHV-1 antibody testing by ELISA

This study is the first proof of concept of the DBS technology for Bovine alphaherpesvirus 1 (BoHV-1) antibody detection by ELISA after fully automated DBS extraction. DBS were prepared from nine BoHV-1 seropositive plasma samples spiked with erythrocytes. Spots were extracted automatically on a DBS-MS 500 HCT autosampler, as well as manually using a 3.2 mm puncher. DBS were equally prepared from 20 bovine seronegative EDTA-blood samples and extracted automatically. Extracts were tested in a commercial BoHV-1 antibody ELISA and results were compared with those from liquid plasma. Eight seropositive DBS samples were additionally tested in the ELISA after storage for four weeks at different conditions. After automated extraction all DBS samples yielded qualitatively correct results and were in full accordance with those obtained from liquid plasma. Automated extraction using a 6 mm extraction head was more sensitive than a 4 mm head. Stability of DBS was highest at - 20 °C and decreased with increasing temperature. Even after four weeks at 37 °C, most seropositive samples yielded a positive result in the ELISA. The minimal invasiveness, biosafety, and simplicity of DBS collection together with automated extraction represents an interesting, high-throughput compatible alternative to liquid blood samples for BoHV-1 monitoring or eradication programs

The drug titration paradox: more drug does not correlate with more effect in individual clinical data.

BACKGROUND A fundamental concept in pharmacology is that increasing dose increases drug effect. This is the basis of anaesthetic titration: the dose is increased when increased drug effect is desired and decreased when reduced drug effect is desired. In the setting of titration, the correlation of doses and observed drug effects can be negative, for example increasing dose reduces drug effect. We have termed this the drug titration paradox. We hypothesised that this could be explained, at least in part, by intrasubject variability. If the drug titration paradox is simply an artifact of pooling population data, then a mixed-effects analysis that accounts for interindividual variability in drug sensitivity should 'flip' the observed correlation, such that increasing dose increases drug effect. METHODS We tested whether a mixed-effects analysis could correctly reveal the underlying pharmacology using previously published data obtained during automatic feedback control of mean arterial pressure (MAP) with alfentanil (effect site concentration, CeAlf) during surgery. The relationship between MAP and CeAlf was explored with linear regression and a linear mixed-effects model. RESULTS A linear mixed-effects model did not identify the correct underlying pharmacology because of the presence of the titration paradox in the individual data. CONCLUSIONS The relationship between drug dose and drug effect must be determined under carefully controlled experimental conditions. In routine care, where the effect is profoundly influenced by varying clinical conditions and drugs are titrated to achieve the desired effect, it is nearly impossible to draw meaningful conclusions about the relationship between dose and effect

Human amniotic fluid derived cells can competently substitute dermal fibroblasts in a tissue-engineered dermo-epidermal skin analog

Purpose: Human amniotic fluid comprises cells with high differentiation capacity, thus representing a potential cell source for skin tissue engineering. In this experimental study, we investigated the ability of human amniotic fluid derived cells to substitute dermal fibroblasts and support epidermis formation and stratification in a humanized animal model. Methods: Dermo-epidermal skin grafts with either amniocytes or with fibroblasts in the dermis were compared in a rat model. Full-thickness skin wounds on the back of immuno-incompetent rats were covered with skin grafts with (1) amniocytes in the dermis, (2) fibroblasts in the dermis, or, (3) acellular dermis. Grafts were excised 7 and 21days post transplantation. Histology and immunofluorescence were performed to investigate epidermis formation, stratification, and expression of established skin markers. Results: The epidermis of skin grafts engineered with amniocytes showed near-normal anatomy, a continuous basal lamina, and a stratum corneum. Expression patterns for keratin 15, keratin 16, and Ki67 were similar to grafts with fibroblasts; keratin 1 expression was not yet fully established in all suprabasal cell layers, expression of keratin 19 was increased and not only restricted to the basal cell layer as seen in grafts with fibroblasts. In grafts with acellular dermis, keratinocytes did not survive. Conclusion: Dermo-epidermal skin grafts with amniocytes show near-normal physiological behavior suggesting that amniocytes substitute fibroblast function to support the essential cross-talk between mesenchyme and epithelia needed for epidermal stratification. This novel finding has considerable implications regarding tissue engineerin