Metaphor in the teaching of environmental science.

Studies of metaphors in teaching and learning have underlined the important role of\ud metaphors in reasoning, but have sometimes failed to show the effect of metaphor on\ud how scientific concepts are represented, and have sometimes overlooked hidden\ud metaphors in their attempts to be explicit about how metaphor functions.\ud This study investigates metaphor in the context of teaching environmental science. It\ud does not assume any simple correlation between surface linguistic cues and the\ud presence or kind of metaphor. Two theoretical approaches have been chosen,\ud Systemic Functional Linguistics (M. Halliday) which sees language as a social\ud construction of meaning, and Image Schema (M Johnson and G Lakoff) which has\ud developed in cognitive science and cognitive linguistics. These two approaches are\ud used to discuss examples of metaphors from a number of lessons which have been\ud observed and video-recorded, and in a variety of textbooks used as resource materials\ud in teaching environmental science.\ud The choice of environmental science as the subject matter arises from two of its\ud distinct characteristics. One is the fact that ideology triggers and shapes the interests,\ud decisions and choices of materials, issues, arguments, reasons, etc. But there is\ud nothing like one unique ideology, on the contrary conflicts of different ideologies\ud raise differences about what will be selected and how it will be represented. At this\ud point there is a special role taken on by metaphor. Metaphors provide the means for\ud creating differences and similarities, thus bringing together or keeping apart\ud ideologies. Second, the teaching of environmental science does not appear as the\ud teaching of science only, bounded from anything else, but is a blend of accounts of\ud scientific and commonsense knowledge. Metaphors appear at the overlapping points\ud where this blending takes place.\ud It is not the purpose of the thesis to question, or to contribute to, the theoretical\ud perspectives adopted. Rather, its interest is in how these perspectives provide, each in\ud their own way, insights into the nature of the discourse of teaching environmental\ud science, and thus to raise questions about its effectiveness

Olanzapine-associated neuroleptic malignant syndrome: Is there an overlap with the serotonin syndrome?

BACKGROUND: The neuroleptic malignant syndrome is a rare but serious condition mainly associated with antipsychotic medication. There are controversies as to whether "classical" forms of neuroleptic malignant syndrome can occur in patients given atypical antipsychotics. The serotonin syndrome is caused by drug-induced excess of intrasynaptic 5-hydroxytryptamine. The possible relationship between neuroleptic malignant syndrome and serotonin syndrome is at present in the focus of scientific interest. METHODS: This retrospective phenomenological study aims to examine the seventeen reported olanzapine – induced neuroleptic malignant syndrome cases under the light of possible overlap between neuroleptic malignant syndrome and serotonin syndrome clinical features. RESULTS: The serotonin syndrome clinical features most often reported in cases initially diagnosed as neuroleptic malignant syndrome are: fever (82%), mental status changes (82%) and diaphoresis (47%). Three out of the ten classical serotonin syndrome clinical features were concurrently observed in eleven (65%) patients and four clinical features were observed in seven (41%) patients. CONCLUSION: The results of this study show that the clinical symptoms of olanzapine-induced neuroleptic malignant syndrome and serotonin syndrome are overlapping suggesting similarities in underlying pathophysiological mechanisms

Two Large Left Ventricular Aneurysms in an Asymptomatic Patient

A 54-year-old man, smoker with uncontrolled hypertension, and history of a thromboembolic episode to the ophthalmic artery was subjected to transthoracic echocardiography which revealed very low left ventricular (LV) ejection fraction (20%) with a large dyskinetic- aneurysmatic area involving the middle and apical parts of the LV containing a thrombus. LV angiography showed the anterior aneurysm, as well as a second posterior wall pseudoaneurysm, confirmed by magnetic resonance imaging also filled with mural thrombus. This case, due to the absence of symptoms for over one year, posed a therapeutic dilemma and was treated conservatively

Oxytocin as a treatment for high-risk psychosis or early stages of psychosis: a mini review

Individuals at clinical high risk for psychosis (CHR-P) present as help-seeking individuals with social deficits as well as cognitive and functional impairment and have a 23–36% risk of transition to first-episode psychosis. The therapeutic role of intranasal oxytocin (ΟΤ) in psychiatric disorders has been widely studied during the last decades, concerning its effects on social behavior in humans. A literature search was conducted via Pubmed and Scopus, using the search terms “oxytocin” and “psychosis.” Six studies were included in the current review. There were differences in terms of demographics, intervention type, and outcome measures. ΟΤ may affect the social cognition skills of people at prodromal and early stages of psychosis, but its effect on clinical symptoms is ambiguous. Because of the high level of heterogeneity of existing studies, more original studies are needed to examine and clarify whether OT improves high-risk and early psychosis populations

Aortic Isthmus Pseudoaneurysm After Coarctation Repair as a Source of Thromboembolism

A 60 year old male, smoker with a past medical history of moderate hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, bronchial asthma and surgically corrected aortic coarctation with interposition grafting at the age of 17, was presented with four episodes of post-exercise lower limb thromboembolism within a period of two years. The electrocardiogram was normal and multiple Holter recordings showed no rhythm abnormalities. The cardiac transthoracic echocardiogram showed normal left ventricular dimensions and systolic function, normal right ventricle, bicuspid aortic valve with moderate insufficiency and mild stenosis, ascending aorta with a diameter of 46mm, and a pressure gradient across the aortic isthmus of 20mmHg. The cardiac transesophageal echocardiogram revealed no intracardiac thrombi or shunts and in addition neither dissection nor thrombus in the descending thoracic aorta was detected. Although the patient was subjected to multiple diagnostic imaging examinations, it was the Dual Source Computed Tomography with three-dimensional image reconstruction of the aorta that disclosed the detachment of the graft’s wall inner surface at the site of its proximal anastomosis with the descending thoracic aorta, just distal to the origin of the left subclavian artery, that resulted in the formation of a pseudoaneurysm which served as the source of distally embolizing thrombi. Moreover, in the distal thoracic aorta just after the graft’s distal anastomosis, a mild stenosis occurred due to intense intramural calcification. Although various therapeutic approaches were considered, the patient was finally taken to the operating theatre, where, via a left lateral thoracotomy, the preoperative findings were confirmed and the lesions successfully repaired

Glutathione and glutamate in schizophrenia: a 7T MRS study

In schizophrenia, abnormal neural metabolite concentrations may arise from cortical damage following neuroinflammatory processes implicated in acute episodes. Inflammation is associated with increased glutamate, whereas the antioxidant glutathione may protect against inflammation-induced oxidative stress. We hypothesized that patients with stable schizophrenia would exhibit a reduction in glutathione, glutamate, and/or glutamine in the cerebral cortex, consistent with a post-inflammatory response, and that this reduction would be most marked in patients with “residual schizophrenia”, in whom an early stage with positive psychotic symptoms has progressed to a late stage characterized by long-term negative symptoms and impairments. We recruited 28 patients with stable schizophrenia and 45 healthy participants matched for age, gender, and parental socio-economic status. We measured glutathione, glutamate and glutamine concentrations in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), left insula, and visual cortex using 7T proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS). Glutathione and glutamate were significantly correlated in all three voxels. Glutamine concentrations across the three voxels were significantly correlated with each other. Principal components analysis (PCA) produced three clear components: an ACC glutathione–glutamate component; an insula-visual glutathione–glutamate component; and a glutamine component. Patients with stable schizophrenia had significantly lower scores on the ACC glutathione–glutamate component, an effect almost entirely leveraged by the sub-group of patients with residual schizophrenia. All three metabolite concentration values in the ACC were significantly reduced in this group. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that excitotoxicity during the acute phase of illness leads to reduced glutathione and glutamate in the residual phase of the illness

HER2 and TOP2A in high-risk early breast cancer patients treated with adjuvant epirubicin-based dose-dense sequential chemotherapy

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>HER2 and TOP2A parameters (gene status, mRNA and protein expression) have individually been associated with the outcome of patients treated with anthracyclines. The aim of this study was to comprehensively evaluate the prognostic/predictive significance of the above parameters in early, high-risk breast cancer patients treated with epirubicin-based, dose-dense sequential adjuvant chemotherapy.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>In a series of 352 breast carcinoma tissues from patients that had been post-operatively treated with epirubicin-CMF with or without paclitaxel, we assessed HER2 and TOP2A gene status (chromogenic in situ hybridization), mRNA expression (quantitative reverse transcription PCR), as well as HER2 and TopoIIa protein expression (immunohistochemistry).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>HER2 and TOP2A amplification did not share the same effects on their downstream molecules, with consistent patterns observed in HER2 mRNA and protein expression according to HER2 amplification (all parameters strongly inter-related, p values < 0.001), but inconsistent patterns in the case of TOP2A. TOP2A gene amplification (7% of all cases) was not related to TOP2A mRNA and TopoIIa protein expression, while TOP2A mRNA and TopoIIa protein were strongly related to each other (p < 0.001). Hence, TOP2A amplified tumors did not correspond to tumors with high TOP2A mRNA or TopoIIa protein expression, while the latter were characterized by high Ki67 scores (p = 0.003 and p < 0.001, respectively). Multivariate analysis adjusted for nodal involvement, hormone receptor status, Ki67 score and HER2/TOP2A parameters revealed HER2/TOP2A co-amplification (21.2% of HER2 amplified tumors) as an independent favorable prognostic factor for DFS (HR = 0.13, 95% CI: 0.02-0.96, p = 0.046); in contrast, increased HER2/TOP2A mRNA co-expression was identified as an independent adverse prognostic factor for both DFS (HR = 2.41, 95% CI: 1.31-4.42, p = 0.005) and OS (HR = 2.83, 95% CI: 1.42-5.63, p = 0.003), while high TOP2A mRNA expression was an independent adverse prognostic factor for OS (HR = 2.06, 95% CI: 1.23-3.46, p = 0.006). None of the parameters tested was associated with response to paclitaxel.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>This study confirms the favorable prognostic value of HER2/TOP2A co-amplification and the adverse prognostic value of high TOP2A mRNA expression extending it to the adjuvant treatment setting in early high-risk breast cancer. The strong adverse prognostic impact of high HER2/TOP2A mRNA co-expression needs further validation in studies designed to evaluate markers predictive for anthracyclines.</p> <p>Trial registration</p> <p>Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry <a href="http://www.anzctr.org.au/ACTRN12611000506998">ACTRN12611000506998</a>.</p