Getting physical with the market: a study of metaphors in the business times

This study investigates the metaphorical linguistic manifestations of the conceptual metaphor, market movements are physical movements, using Charteris-Black and Ennis’s (2001) notion of conceptual metaphors. Following a corpus linguistic approach for data collection purposes, it analysed 50 unique Business Times articles randomly identified from a total of 292 articles. An expert within the business context provided expertise in the interpretation of specific types of data derived from the corpus. The findings show that the metaphorical linguistic expressions generally concretise the abstract concept of the economy and market movements and mainly comprise of verbs and nouns. This paper illustrates some of the examples of the relevant metaphorical expressions and discusses how the domain of physical movements helps to structure the domain of market movements. The findings of this study, however, can only be generalised to the samples involved in this study

Malaysian parents' health literacy and perceptions regarding childhood vaccination programme

There appears to be a downward trend in children’s vaccination uptake among Malaysian parents as more and more parents chose not to vaccinate their children. Thus, suggesting a need to understand Malaysian parents’ perceptions and health literacy levels regarding childhood vaccination programmes through verbal communication in order to increase confidence towards childhood vaccination programmes in Malaysia. The purpose of this study is to understand how vaccinating and non-vaccinating parents’ health literacy levels and perceptions towards childhood vaccination programmes could affect the decision whether to vaccinate or not to vaccinate their children. This study uses an in-depth interview method and a discourse analytic approach to identify the key factors in determining parents concern regarding childhood vaccination programme including their health literacy levels. The paper presents findings from the study which include parents’ motivations towards childhood vaccination and the differences between a vaccinating parent and a non-vaccinating parent. The paper will highlight whether health literacy levels of parents influence childhood vaccination. It will also highlight why it is important to understand parents’ concerns regarding childhood vaccination programmes in Malaysia and to improve communication regarding childhood vaccination programmes and uptake between parents and health care professionals in Malaysia

The economy is an organism? A study of metaphors in Malaysian business times

This article applies Conceptual Metaphor Theory developed by Lakoff and Johnson (1980) to investigate the metaphorical linguistic manifestations of the conceptual metaphor the economy is an organism based on Charteris-Black and Ennis’s (2001) proposed conceptual metaphor. This study is a non-experimental descriptive study, which uses the corpus linguistic approach for data collection and the corpus for analysis of 50 share market news reports that were randomly identified. An expert within the business context was appointed to provide expertise in the interpretation of specific types of data derived from the corpus. The findings demonstrate that the conceptual metaphor: the economy is an organism is widely used in the corpus collected. The findings show that the use of metaphorical linguistics expressions (MLE) resistance in a way concretizes the abstract concept of share prices as it evokes the image of share prices as an animate entity that can move forward and be stopped by a force (resistance). The analysis above therefore, supports Charteris-Black and Ennis’s (2001) conceptual metaphor, the economy is an organism

Prognostic importance of the 6 min walk test in light chain (AL) amyloidosis

OBJECTIVES: In AL amyloidosis, organ response assessment is based on surrogates (eg, cardiac biomarkers). An objective functional test, such as the 6 min walk test (6MWT), capturing overall clinical improvement, is required. We aimed to evaluate the prognostic impact of the 6MWT at baseline and change following chemotherapy. METHODS: This study evaluated the outcomes of patients who enrolled in a prospective observational study at the UK National Amyloidosis Centre (2012-2017). Patients underwent comprehensive assessments inclusive of blood testing, echocardiogram and 6MWT at baseline and annually thereafter. RESULTS: In total, 799 patients were included within the study. Median baseline 6 min walk distance (6MWD) was 362 m (IQR: 231 m). 6MWD progressively decreased with worsening cardiac disease stage (458 m, 404 m, 331 m and 168 m for cardiac Mayo stages I, II, IIIa and IIIb, respectively (p<0.0001)). In patients with a baseline 6MWT of ≥350 m, the median overall survival was not reached (vs 30.0 (95% CI 23.2 to 36.8) months if <350 m and 5.0 (95% CI 2.8 to 7.2) months if unable to attempt 6MWT (p<0.0001). Following chemotherapy, only patients in a complete haematological response improved their 6MWD by 12 months (p=0.001). Improvement in 6MWD prolonged survival in patients with cardiac amyloidosis (p=0.005). CONCLUSION: The 6MWT is prognostic in AL amyloidosis. A baseline distance of ≥350 m independently predicts better survival. These data suggest that 6MWT has utility in AL amyloidosis for baseline prognosis and assessing response

The experience of hereditary apolipoprotein A-I amyloidosis at the UK National Amyloidosis Centre

INTRODUCTION: Hereditary apolipoprotein A-I (AApoAI) amyloidosis is a rare heterogeneous disease with variable age of onset and organ involvement. There are few series detailing the natural history and outcomes of solid organ transplantation across a range of causative APOA1 gene mutations. METHODS: We identified all patients with AApoAI amyloidosis who presented to the National Amyloidosis Centre (NAC) between 1986 and 2019. RESULTS: In total, 57 patients with 14 different APOA1 mutations were identified including 18 patients who underwent renal transplantation (5 combined liver-kidney (LKT) and 2 combined heart-kidney (HKT) transplants). Median age of presentation was 43 years and median time from presentation to referral was 3 (0-31 years). Involvement of the kidneys, liver and heart by amyloid was detected in 81%, 67% and 28% of patients, respectively. Renal amyloidosis was universal in association with the most commonly identified variant (Gly26Arg, n = 28). Across all variants, patients with renal amyloidosis had a median creatinine of 159 µmol/L and median urinary protein of 0.3 g/24 h at the time of diagnosis of AApoAI amyloidosis and median time from diagnosis to end-stage renal disease was 15.0 (95% CI: 10.0-20.0) years. Post-renal transplantation, median allograft survival was 22.0 (13.0-31.0) years. There was one early death following transplantation (infection-related at 2 months post-renal transplant) and no episodes of early rejection leading to graft failure. Liver transplantation led to regression of amyloid in all four cases in whom serial 123I-SAP scintigraphy was performed. CONCLUSIONS: AApoAI amyloidosis is a slowly progressive disease that is challenging to diagnose. The outcomes of transplantation are encouraging and graft survival is excellent

Impact of timing of stem cell return following high dose melphalan in multiple myeloma patients with renal impairment: a single center experience

High dose melphalan (HDM) followed by autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) remains the standard consolidation in transplant eligible multiple myeloma (MM) patients. The timing between HDM administration and hematopoietic stem cell return (HSCR) varies among institutions, with a 'rest period' of 48 hours (h) employed by some for patients with renal impairment (RI). We investigated the differences in hematopoietic recovery and HDM toxicity between MM patients with RI who had HSCR after 24 vs 48 h from HDM. Fifty MM patients with RI (48 h group; n = 31 and 24 h group; n = 19) were included. No statistically significant differences were noted in surrogates for hematopoietic recovery and HDM toxicity between both groups. Only one death occurred in the 24 h group. No patients required renal replacement therapy. Therefore, a 24 h period between HDM and AHSC infusion appears safe for MM patients with RI