Software Review: Meetup

Meetup (https://www.meetup.com/apps/) is an online platform designed to get people to share similar interests and to enjoy the social activities with other members offline. Users have access to a wide range of Meetup events that they may wish to participate in according to their interests, date and time availability, and location. Although Meetup is developed for general users, language learners can use the application to construct opportunities to communicate with the native speakers while enjoying their shared interests together. Access to such opportunities is not always easy for learners either studying the target language in their home country or studying the target language in a host country (e.g., Allen, 2010; Kim, 2011). As such, Meetup allows learners to identify events where they can meet native speakers who live near to their location and to interact with them using the target language in naturally-occurring settings

Learning languages and culture using HiNative

Review of HiNative Softwar

Perioperative immune responses in cancer patients undergoing digestive surgeries

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Th1/Th2 cell balance is thought to be shifted toward a Th2-type immune response not only by malignancy but also by surgical stress. The aim of this study was to estimate perioperative immune responses with respect to the Th1/Th2 balance in patients with gastrointestinal cancer.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Ninety-four patients who underwent abdominal surgeries were divided into three groups: gastric resection (n = 40), colorectal resection (n = 34) and hepatic resection (n = 20). Twelve patients undergoing laparoscopic cholecystectomy and 20 healthy subjects were served as control groups. Intracellular cytokine staining in CD4+ T lymphocytes was identified to characterize Th1/Th2 balance. Th1/Th2 balance was evaluated before operation and until postoperative days (POD) 14.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The preoperative Th1/Th2 ratio was significantly lower in patients with malignancy compared with control. The Th1/Th2 ratio of patients in all groups decreased significantly postoperatively. Th1/Th2 balance on POD 2 in patients with malignancy was significantly decreased compared to patients with laparoscopic cholecystectomy, but there were no significant differences among the four groups on POD 14.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Patients with malignancy showed an abnormal perioperative Th1/Th2 balance suggesting predominance of a type-2 immune response. Major abdominal surgeries induce a marked shift in Th1/Th2 balance toward Th2 in the early postoperative stage.</p

Relationship between medical examination methods and actual conditions of life for preserving visual acuity in primary and junior high school: Verification of the current vision test

The deterioration of children’s eyesight is on the rise. Children's lives have changed in a short period of time, such as an increase in blue light due to the use of electronic devices. It is necessary to consider non-traditional content of health guidance for prevention. The accurate visual acuity test is important to examine the effects of visual acuity and environmental or living factors. We examined the accuracy of the visual acuity test with the three stage Landolt ring for children from the relationship with the eye axial length. After performing a normal detailed visual acuity test of the children and the correlation analysis with the eye axial length, we examined the distribution of the eye axis according to the results of the three-stage visual acuity test by the Landolt ring. The number of children measured eye axial length was 13. The correlation coefficient between detailed visual acuity test and eye axial length was negative. According to the results of the three-stage visual acuity test, the distribution of the eye axis is good for the right eye: the average eye axis of “A” was 23.44 mm, moderate: the average of “B” was 22.58 mm. The average of the left eye axis for “A” children is 23.34 mm, for “B” is 23.08 mm, and for “C” is 23.7 mm. The correlation coefficient between the detailed visual acuity test and the eye axial length was negative on both sides, namely a negative correlation between the visual acuity and the eye axial length. There was a possibility of not correspondence between the three-stage visual test and the eye axial length. In the case of children, it was considered that their visual performance and answers were different because of their mood and physical condition on the day