Interaction, authenticity and spoken corpora : building teaching materials for adult English language learners

This study investigated the needs and challenges of adult ELLs in the community college setting in the United States. The study was conducted in Western North Carolina (WNC), where administrators, teachers, and students of three different community colleges were interviewed. Interviews determined the needs and challenges of this group of learners, the language skills they are most interested in acquiring, and how effective current teaching materials are in helping meet their needs. Interviews were transcribed to detect patterns in participant responses. The learners were primarily interested in increasing speaking and listening skills so that that they could communicate in their communities in situations they encounter on a regular basis. Results from the interviews, as well as extensive research conducted regarding effective ELT for adult ELLs helped establish criteria for teaching materials that would be beneficial for this group of learners, specifically with speaking and listening. Textbook evaluations were created and applied to three textbooks that were commonly used within all of the community colleges that participated in the study. The evaluations were also applied to a corpus-based textbook that was created using the Cambridge Corpus of Spoken North American English, which focuses on spoken English, to compare with the other textbooks. The findings of this study suggest that there needs to be teaching materials, both textbook and computer programs, created for this group of learners that focus on the qualities of native spoken English within situations that adult ELLs in the U.S. will encounter in their day to day lives

Prediction of far-field acoustic emissions from cavitation clouds during shock wave lithotripsy for development of a clinical device

This study presents the key simulation and decision stage of a multi-disciplinary project to develop a hospital device for monitoring the effectiveness of kidney stone fragmentation by shock wave lithotripsy (SWL). The device analyses, in real time, the pressure fields detected by sensors placed on the patient's torso, fields generated by the interaction of the incident shock wave, cavitation, kidney stone and soft tissue. Earlier free-Lagrange simulations of those interactions were restricted (by limited computational resources) to computational domains within a few centimetres of the stone. Later studies estimated the far-field pressures generated when those interactions involved only single bubbles. This study extends the free-Lagrange method to quantify the bubble–bubble interaction as a function of their separation. This, in turn, allowed identification of the validity of using a model of non-interacting bubbles to obtain estimations of the far-field pressures from 1000 bubbles distributed within the focus of the SWL field. Up to this point in the multi-disciplinary project, the design of the clinical device had been led by the simulations. This study records the decision point when the project's direction had to be led by far more costly clinical trials instead of the relatively inexpensive simulations. <br/

An educational program in breast cancer screening for first-degree relatives of breast cancer patients

The purpose of this study was to evaluate an educational program for asymptomatic first-degree female, adult relatives of breast cancer patients designed to increase their participation in breast cancer screening. Two hundred patients were enrolled in the study when they came for out-patient breast cancer treatment at Bowman Gray School of Medicine. Each participating patient supplied personal information on either a sister, daughter or mother which enabled contact through mail and telephone with the relative. The relatives were randomly assigned to either experimental or control group with 191 completing the study. A posttest only research design was employed. Each member of the experimental group received a packet of mailed information and a nurse's phone call, both encouraging screening, followed by a posttest questionnaire three months later. Breast self-exam (BSE), clinical breast exam (CBE), and mammography were explained and participation in screening encouraged. Women in the control group were given the posttest questionnaire 3 months after their relatives were enrolled in the project, followed by the intervention. The efficacy of the Health Belief Model (HBM) to predict screening participation was also assessed

Performance guide for 24 Preludes for Piano, Op. 41 by Lera Auerbach

The 24 Preludes for Piano, Op. 41 by Lera Auerbach was composed in 1998 as a commissioned work for the Caramoor International Festival. In 1999 Auerbach further explored the 24 Prelude format producing two chamber works: 24 Preludes for Violin and Piano, Op. 46; and 24 Preludes for Cello and Piano, Op. 47. There are two additional sets of 24 Preludes in her collection, which are transcriptions of Dmitri Shostakovich’s 24 Piano Preludes, Op. 34 for cello and piano (2008), and for viola and piano (2010).The term Prelude originated in the fifteenth century for keyboard instruments, such as the organ, and for string instruments, such as the lute. It was a short piece that preceded other music, such as a fantasia or a toccata, during which the musician improvised and checked the tuning of the strings for instrumentalists and singers. In church organ music, a Prelude was also used to establish pitch and mode for liturgical service. Development of the equal temperament tuning system allowed the performer to modulate without the need to retune the instrument. During the 18th century, Johann Sebastian Bach composed Preludes and Fugues, The Well-Tempered Clavier, in all twenty-four major and minor keys. Several noted composers, such as Fryderyk Chopin, Alexander Scriabin, Claude Debussy, Dmitri Shostakovich, and Dmitri Kabalevsky explored the 24 Prelude format as a unified set of pieces. The convenience of a short Prelude allowed composers to group them into sets of twenty-four contrasting pieces following either the chromatic succession of major and minor keys, the sequenced circle of fifths progression, or as short tone-poem pieces written in unrelated keys. Auerbach’s 24 Preludes follow the structure of circle of fifth pairings modeled after Chopin’s Preludes, Op. 28 and Scriabin’s 24 Preludes, Op. 11. Her Preludes are short tone-poems that feature polystylistic writing, harmonic contrasts, color, and texture. Due to unfamiliar and complex musical language, it is often challenging to grasp the meaning of new music. Without an awareness of the composer’s life and an understanding of his or her unique style, the musical meaning may become distorted or misunderstood. This is why it is beneficial when composers play and promote their music, or when performing artists with a personal connection to the composer advocate their new music through performances and recordings. In recent years, Auerbach’s music has received considerable attention as she is becoming one of the most widely performed composers of her generation. As a virtuoso pianist, she continues the tradition of pianist-composers of previous centuries and performs her own solo piano works in recitals. Her music is intricately interesting, and deserves further attention in the area of research and performance. To further explore the concept of 24 Preludes as a standing work, Auerbach brings new sound, new ideas, and new compositional possibilities. This set of Preludes is an excellent addition to the solo piano repertoire and to the 24 Preludes collections of music literature. The total performance time for Lera Auerbach’s 24 Preludes for Piano, Op. 41 is approximately 40 minutes. The motivic and textural connections within the Preludes give this work a sense of unity. Auerbach’s own comments on the Preludes accentuate the importance of the order, which is intended to help its overall comprehension. However, it is possible to program these Preludes as a shorter set. In 1999 she proposed a version of this work as Suite for Piano, Op. 41a, which is a compilation of nine Preludes from the 24 Preludes for Piano, Op. 41. She grouped these Preludes per contrasting moods, and did not present them in their original order. Whether these 24 Preludes are performed as a complete set or as a suite, Auerbach’s usage of the former compositional format is original and her musical language is deeply personal. Lera Auerbach’s other two sets of original 24 Preludes composed as chamber works receive more attention from performers in recitals and recordings. When more artists are involved in the performance of new music, greater exposure will be provided. The purpose of this document is to bring attention to the 24 Preludes for Piano, Op. 41 from a solo performer’s perspective, to provide a performance guide, and a pedagogic analysis of selected Preludes

Pregnancy and Drug Addiction in Rural Areas

There is much research on the misuse of drugs and the lasting effects that theseactions may leave. However, there is less of a look into the substance abuse in ruralcommunities, especially for those who are pregnant. This research paper looks toinvestigate the information that is present on the topic of substance abuse amongstthose who are pregnant particularly within rural communities. Information wasgathered using peer reviewed literature to further understand the prevalence of thisproblem as well as the fetal outcomes that may arise from the use of substanceswhile pregnant. A thorough analysis of the literature helps understand the mainconcerns and provides a baseline of understanding the lasting impacts of substanceabuse during pregnancy. Post literature review, this paper provides a breakdown ofthe research and information present on this topi

Simple Metals at High Pressure

In this lecture we review high-pressure phase transition sequences exhibited by simple elements, looking at the examples of the main group I, II, IV, V, and VI elements. General trends are established by analyzing the changes in coordination number on compression. Experimentally found phase transitions and crystal structures are discussed with a brief description of the present theoretical picture.Comment: 22 pages, 4 figures, lecture notes for the lecture given at the Erice course on High-Pressure Crystallography in June 2009, Sicily, Ital

Resection of the primary tumour versus no resection prior to systemic therapy in patients with colon cancer and synchronous unresectable metastases (UICC stage IV): SYNCHRONOUS - a randomised controlled multicentre trial (ISRCTN30964555)

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Currently, it remains unclear, if patients with colon cancer and synchronous unresectable metastases who present without severe symptoms should undergo resection of the primary tumour prior to systemic chemotherapy. Resection of the primary tumour may be associated with significant morbidity and delays the beginning of chemotherapy. However, it may prevent local symptoms and may, moreover, prolong survival as has been demonstrated in patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma. It is the aim of the present randomised controlled trial to evaluate the efficacy of primary tumour resection prior to systemic chemotherapy to prolong survival in patients with newly diagnosed colon cancer who are not amenable to curative therapy.</p> <p>Methods/design</p> <p>The SYNCHRONOUS trial is a multicentre, randomised, controlled, superiority trial with a two-group parallel design. Colon cancer patients with synchronous unresectable metastases are eligible for inclusion. Exclusion criteria are primary tumour-related symptoms, inability to tolerate surgery and/or systemic chemotherapy and history of another primary cancer. Resection of the primary tumour as well as systemic chemotherapy is provided according to the standards of the participating institution. The primary endpoint is overall survival that is assessed with a minimum follow-up of 36 months. Furthermore, it is the objective of the trial to assess the safety of both treatment strategies as well as quality of life.</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>The SYNCHRONOUS trial is a multicentre, randomised, controlled trial to assess the efficacy and safety of primary tumour resection before beginning of systemic chemotherapy in patients with metastatic colon cancer not amenable to curative therapy.</p> <p>Trial registration</p> <p><a href="http://www.controlled-trials.com/ISRCTN30964555">ISRCTN30964555</a></p

Incompetence of Neutrophils to Invasive Group A streptococcus Is Attributed to Induction of Plural Virulence Factors by Dysfunction of a Regulator

Group A streptococcus (GAS) causes variety of diseases ranging from common pharyngitis to life-threatening severe invasive diseases, including necrotizing fasciitis and streptococcal toxic shock-like syndrome. The characteristic of invasive GAS infections has been thought to attribute to genetic changes in bacteria, however, no clear evidence has shown due to lack of an intriguingly study using serotype-matched isolates from clinical severe invasive GAS infections. In addition, rare outbreaks of invasive infections and their distinctive pathology in which infectious foci without neutrophil infiltration hypothesized us invasive GAS could evade host defense, especially neutrophil functions. Herein we report that a panel of serotype-matched GAS, which were clinically isolated from severe invasive but not from non-invaive infections, could abrogate functions of human polymorphnuclear neutrophils (PMN) in at least two independent ways; due to inducing necrosis to PMN by enhanced production of a pore-forming toxin streptolysin O (SLO) and due to impairment of PMN migration via digesting interleukin-8, a PMN attracting chemokine, by increased production of a serine protease ScpC. Expression of genes was upregulated by a loss of repressive function with the mutation of csrS gene in the all emm49 severe invasive GAS isolates. The csrS mutants from clinical severe invasive GAS isolates exhibited high mortality and disseminated infection with paucity of neutrophils, a characteristic pathology seen in human invasive GAS infection, in a mouse model. However, GAS which lack either SLO or ScpC exhibit much less mortality than the csrS-mutated parent invasive GAS isolate to the infected mice. These results suggest that the abilities of GAS to abrogate PMN functions can determine the onset and severity of invasive GAS infection