Factors influencing on the english pronunciation proficiency level of students after finishing the third year of Bachelor of Arts in english, specialty : teaching major of the Foreign Language Department at the University of El Salvador

This research intends to present the problematic situation in a descriptive manner about the English pronunciation proficiency of third year students of the Bachelor of Arts in English, Specialty: Teaching Major of the Foreign Language Department (FLD) at the University of El Salvador. This report presents the circumstantial origins of the problem, its evolution, its current conditions (external and internal), its weaknesses and strengths as well as its most common techniques to evaluate oral skills, with the goal of providing a diagnosis which can establish effectively a remedial answer to this problem. Pronunciation, as a process of the production of sounds to make meaning, is one of the most important aspects of a person’s speech. Nevertheless, in some cases Pronunciation and its aspects involved, such as sounds, intonation, stress, rhythm and some others, are hardly taught in a classroom. This situation carries the students to communication problems in so many areas and aspects of their personal and professional daily life. The results of the research show some common pronunciation deficiencies in vowel sounds and also the students’ problem in the confusion and differentiation of sounds. It is also shown the students’ need to have a study plan with subjects that might help them out to improve their pronunciation. Moreover, it reflects the need for students to have more access to specialized resources to help their English pronunciation along with some other interesting findings

Non-pharmacological treatment of nausea andvomiting in women with breast cancer treated withchemotherapy.

Illamående och kräkningar hos kvinnor som behandlas med cytostatika mot bröstcancer är ettomfattande problem inom den onkologiska omvårdnaden. Många kvinnor upplever, trots välutvecklade läkemedel för att motverka cytostatika utlöst illamående och kräkningar denna, förmånga fruktade biverkan. Syftet med litteraturöversikten var att finna förebyggande ochlindrande icke farmakologiska metoder som kan hjälpa till att minska det cytostatika utlöstaillamåendet och kräkningarna som kan uppstå hos kvinnor med bröstcancer i samband medcytostatikabehandlingen och effekten av dessa metoder. Som teoretiskt stöd användes Orem´s egenvårdsteori och för att identifiera metoderna gjordesen litteraturöversikt med kvantitativa originalartiklar ur vetenskapliga tidskrifter. De ickefarmakologiska metoderna som studerades var akupressur, elektroakupunktur, yoga,fysiskträning, massage och utbildning.Användandet av dessa icke farmakologiska metoder visade på en minskning av cytostatikautlöst illamående och kräkningar, antingen som placeboeffekt eller som faktisk effekt. Sombifynd diskuteras ångest och stress effekt på illamående och kräkningar, eftersom metodernavisat sig kunna inverka och förbättra kvinnornas sinnesstämning genom suggestion.De studerade icke farmakologiska metoderna är förhållandevis lätta att tillämpa och är inte såtidskrävande. Även om metoderna visat en minskning av illamående och kräkningar utlösta av cytostatika, är kunskapsbasen med avseende på effekten inte fullständig och detbehövs mer forskning

Impact of single nucleotide polymorphisms and cigarette smoking on cancer risk and survival of patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma

Background: Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is a disease involving genetic and lifestyle risk factors such as smoking or high-risk papillomavirus (HR-HPV) infections. Objective: This study analyzed 92 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with smoking and HPV on HNSCC cancer risk and survival among HNSCC patients. Material and methods: Eighty-six HNSCC patients (48 non-smoking and 38 smoking) were consecutively included. Results: Differences were detected in the analysis of survival and SNP genotypes located in the CXCR2 and COMT. Five SNPs in genes PRKDC, TGFb, XRCC1, Cyp2A6 and CTLA4 were found to be different when comparing SNP genotypes in all patients and all controls as a risk of HNSCC. When comparing SNP genotypes among smoking patients and smoking controls, six SNPs in the genes PFR1, IL10, CCL4, IL6, Ku70, and PRF1 were detected. When comparing SNP genotypes, nine SNPs in CHRNA3, PRKDC, CHARNA5, IFN-gamma, ESR1, XRCC1, Cyp2A6, CTLA4, and COMT were different in non-smoking patients and non-smoking controls. No association was found between SNP distribution or patient survival and the impact of HR-HPV. Conclusions: The SNPs differed between smokers and non-smokers and could indicate a possible interaction between genetics and smoking. This could play an important role in a better understanding of the pathogenesis of HNSCC.Funding Agencies|Futurum, Academy for Health and Care Region Jonkoping County, Jonkoping, Sweden [936147, 942288]</p

A multidisciplinary perspective on the complex interactions between sleep, circadian, and metabolic disruption in cancer patients

Sleep is a basic need that is frequently set aside in modern societies. This leads to profound but complex physiological maladaptations in the body commonly referred to as circadian disruption, which recently has been characterized as a carcinogenic factor and reason for poor treatment outcomes, shortened survival, and reduced quality of life in cancer patients. As sleep and circadian physiology in cancer patients spans several disciplines including nursing science, neurology, oncology, molecular biology and medical technology, there is a lack of comprehensive and integrated approaches to deal with this serious and growing issue and at best a fractionated understanding of only part of the problem among researchers within each of these segments. Here, we take a multidisciplinary approach to comprehensively review the diagnosis and impact of sleep and circadian disruption in cancer patients. We discuss recent discoveries on molecular regulation of the circadian clock in healthy and malignant cells, the neurological and endocrine pathways controlling sleep and circadian rhythmicity, and their inputs to and outputs from the organism. The benefits and drawbacks of the various technologies, devices, and instruments used to assess sleep and circadian function, as well as the known consequences of sleep disruption and how sleep can be corrected in cancer patients, will be analyzed. We will throughout the review highlight the extensive crosstalk between sleep, circadian rhythms, and metabolic pathways involved in malignancy and identify current knowledge gaps and barriers for addressing the issue of sleep and circadian disruption in cancer patients. By addressing these issues, we hope to provide a foundation for further research as well as better and more effective care for the patients in the future.Funding Agencies|Linkoping University; Region of Jonkoping; Foundation for Clinical Cancer Research, Jonkoping; Futurum Academy for Health and Care; European CommissionEuropean CommissionEuropean Commission Joint Research Centre [H2020-MSCA-RISE-3DNEONET, H2020-MSCA-RISE-CRYS-TAL3]; Swedish Innovation Agency (VINNOVA)Vinnova; regional ALF-program; LIU-Cancer Network</p

Opposing inflammatory biomarker responses to sleep disruption in cancer patients before and during oncological therapy

BackgroundSleep disruption is known to be highly prevalent in cancer patients, aggravated during oncological treatment and closely associated with reduced quality of life, therapeutic outcome and survival. Inflammatory factors are associated with sleep disruption in healthy individuals and cancer patients, but heterogeneity and robustness of inflammatory factors associated with sleep disruption and how these are affected by oncological therapy remain poorly understood. Furthermore, due to the complex crosstalk between sleep-, and therapy-associated factors, including inflammatory factors, there are currently no established biomarkers for predicting sleep disruption in patients undergoing oncological therapy. MethodsWe performed a broad screen of circulating biomarkers with immune-modulating or endocrine functions and coupled these to self-reported sleep quality using the Medical Outcomes Study (MOS) sleep scale. Ninety cancer patients with gastrointestinal, urothelial, breast, brain and tonsillar cancers, aged between 32 and 86 years, and scheduled for adjuvant or palliative oncological therapy were included. Of these, 71 patients were evaluable. Data was collected immediately before and again 3 months after onset of oncological therapy. ResultsSeventeen among a total of 45 investigated plasma proteins were found to be suppressed in cancer patients exhibiting sleep disruption prior to treatment onset, but this association was lost following the first treatment cycle. Patients whose sleep quality was reduced during the treatment period exhibited significantly increased plasma levels of six pro-inflammatory biomarkers (IL-2, IL-6, IL-12, TNF-a, IFN-g, and GM-CSF) 3 months after the start of treatment, whereas biomarkers with anti-inflammatory, growth factor, immune-modulatory, or chemokine functions were unchanged. ConclusionOur work suggests that biomarkers of sleep quality are not valid for cancer patients undergoing oncological therapy if analyzed only at a single timepoint. On the other hand, therapy-associated increases in circulating inflammatory biomarkers are closely coupled to reduced sleep quality in cancer patients. These findings indicate a need for testing of inflammatory and other biomarkers as well as sleep quality at multiple times during the patient treatment and care process

Risk for relapse and death after adjuvant chemotherapy associated with SNPs in patients with breast cancer - A retrospective study

UNLABELLED: For the women breast cancer (BC) patients included in this retrospective study, the first line of systemic treatment in adjuvant modality for breast cancer (BC) after surgery was fluorouracil, epirubicin and cyclophosphamide (FEC). The aim of our investigation was to analyze the prognostic biomarkers for relapse and death of patients eight to ten years after chemotherapy in association with nausea and vomiting. METHOD: This retrospective study included 114 patients treated between 2010 and 2013. Blood samples for Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP) analysis before the chemotherapy treatment were collected. The medical records were used to determine relapses and death. RESULTS: Sixteen percent relapsed and 9 % died during the follow-up period. SNPs located in the genes ESR and CASP9 were associated with both relapse and death. CONCLUSIONS: Relapse and death were at a relative moderate level and consistent with other studies. Two SNPs in the Estrogen hormone receptor gene ESR1 and the apoptosis execution gene Caspases 9 (Casp9) were found to be associated with a higher risk of relapse and death. These findings suggest the possible value of blood biomarkers in the selection of individual treatments in the clinical setting

Survival Time among Young and Old Breast Cancer Patients in Relation to Circulating Blood-Based Biomarkers, Acute Radiation Skin Reactions, and Tumour Recurrence

Introduction: It has been suggested that age could influence the treatment-induced side effects and survival time of cancer patients. The influence of age on blood-based biomarkers, acute radiation skin reactions (ARSRs), and survival time of breast cancer patients was analysed. Materials and Methods: Two hundred ninety-three individuals, 119 breast cancer patients, and 174 healthy blood donors were included. Results: Before radiotherapy (RT), decreased levels of lymphocytes, interleukin 2, platelet-derived growth factors, and tumour necrosis factor but increased levels of monocyte-to-lymphocyte ratio, neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio, C-reactive protein, and macrophage inflammatory protein 1b (MIP1b) were detected in the patient group. All of the patients developed ARSRs and intensity of ARSRs was inversely related to the MIP1b level before RT. Fifteen out of 119 (13%) patients deceased during follow-up time. No influence of age (&amp;lt;= 50 compared to &amp;gt;50 years) on survival time was detected (p = 0.442). Tumour recurrence, found in 11 out of 119 (9%) patients, had impact on survival time of these patients (p &amp;lt; 0.001). Conclusions: The level of circulating MIP1b before RT was associated with intensity of ARSRs. Tumour recurrence, but not age, was associated with poor survival time. Analysis of circulating MIP1b was low cost, rapid, and could be done in routine laboratory facility. Since RT almost always induces ARSRs, the possibility of using MIP1b as a prognostic biomarker for ARSRs is of interests for further investigation.Funding Agencies|Jonkoping Clinical Cancer Research Foundation [110426-1]; Futurum [144631]; Medical Research Council of Southeast Sweden (FORSS) [567001]</p

Single nucleotide polymorphisms might influence chemotherapy induced nausea in women with breast cancer

Background Women receiving FEC (5 fluorouracil, epirubicin and cyclophosphamide) chemotherapy (CT) for breast cancer (BC) often experience side effects such as nausea and vomiting. Individual variations of side effects occur in patients despite similar cancer therapy. The purpose of this study was to investigate a possible genetic background as a predictor for individual variations in nausea induced by CT. Methods 114 women were included in the study. All women received adjuvant CT for BC. Self-reported nausea and vomiting was recorded in a structured diary over ten days following treatment. Blood samples were collected before the treatment and used for the detection of 48 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in 43 genes. SNPs from each individual woman were analyzed for their relation to the patient-reported frequency and intensity of nausea and vomiting. Results Eighty-four percent (n=96) of the women reported acute or delayed nausea or combined nausea and vomiting during the ten days following CT. Three out of the forty-eight SNPs in the following genes: FAS/CD95, RB1/LPAR6 and CCL2 were found to be associated with a risk of nausea. Conclusion SNPs in the FAS/CD95, RB1/LPAR6 and CCL2 genes were found to be associated with nausea among women treated with adjuvant FEC for BC. SNPs analysis is fast and cost effective and can be done prior to any cancer therapy. The association between individual SNPs and severe side effects from FEC may contribute to a more personalized care of patients with BC

Image_1_Opposing inflammatory biomarker responses to sleep disruption in cancer patients before and during oncological therapy.JPEG

BackgroundSleep disruption is known to be highly prevalent in cancer patients, aggravated during oncological treatment and closely associated with reduced quality of life, therapeutic outcome and survival. Inflammatory factors are associated with sleep disruption in healthy individuals and cancer patients, but heterogeneity and robustness of inflammatory factors associated with sleep disruption and how these are affected by oncological therapy remain poorly understood. Furthermore, due to the complex crosstalk between sleep-, and therapy-associated factors, including inflammatory factors, there are currently no established biomarkers for predicting sleep disruption in patients undergoing oncological therapy.MethodsWe performed a broad screen of circulating biomarkers with immune-modulating or endocrine functions and coupled these to self-reported sleep quality using the Medical Outcomes Study (MOS) sleep scale. Ninety cancer patients with gastrointestinal, urothelial, breast, brain and tonsillar cancers, aged between 32 and 86 years, and scheduled for adjuvant or palliative oncological therapy were included. Of these, 71 patients were evaluable. Data was collected immediately before and again 3 months after onset of oncological therapy.ResultsSeventeen among a total of 45 investigated plasma proteins were found to be suppressed in cancer patients exhibiting sleep disruption prior to treatment onset, but this association was lost following the first treatment cycle. Patients whose sleep quality was reduced during the treatment period exhibited significantly increased plasma levels of six pro-inflammatory biomarkers (IL-2, IL-6, IL-12, TNF-a, IFN-g, and GM-CSF) 3 months after the start of treatment, whereas biomarkers with anti-inflammatory, growth factor, immune-modulatory, or chemokine functions were unchanged.ConclusionOur work suggests that biomarkers of sleep quality are not valid for cancer patients undergoing oncological therapy if analyzed only at a single timepoint. On the other hand, therapy-associated increases in circulating inflammatory biomarkers are closely coupled to reduced sleep quality in cancer patients. These findings indicate a need for testing of inflammatory and other biomarkers as well as sleep quality at multiple times during the patient treatment and care process.</p

Single nucleotide polymorphism directed antiemetic treatment in women with breast cancer treated with neo- or adjuvant chemotherapy : a randomised multicentre phase II study. (EudraCT: 2015–000658-39)

Background/aim: The role of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the frequency and intensity of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV) in women with breast cancer (BC) is unclear. The primary purpose of this study was to compare/evaluate the effect of SNP-guided antiemetic treatment versus standard CINV treatment. Patients and methods: A randomised, factorial, phase II multicentre study design was used. Women planned for neoadjuvant or adjuvant chemotherapy with epirubicin, cyclophosphamide and fluorouracil (FEC /EC, with or without fluorouracil) for BC were randomised to SNP-guided antiemetic treatment (based on the results of SNP analyses) versus standard CINV treatment. Blood samples were taken before the treatment was initiated. Patient-reported data on CINV (during 10 days from onset of cancer treatment) and health-related quality of life (HRQoL), were collected before and after the first cancer treatment. Results: A total of 188 women were included. Overall, nausea was reported by 86% (n=129) of the patients during the ten-day period from the start of cancer treatment. The SNP genotype studied varied. In FAS-CD95, the genotypes AG and GG were overrepresented; in RB1-LPAR6, GG was overrepresented, and in CCL2, both AA and GG were overrepresented. We found no statistically significant difference in CINV between SNP-guided antiemetic treatment versus standard CINV treatment. Conclusion: SNP-guided antiemetic treatment could be as effective as standard treatment. SNP-guided antiemetic treatment of CINV is possibly useful in detecting patients with a higher or lower risk for CINV and thus may help in avoiding over-treatment with toxic components. CINV negatively affects the HRQL.Keywords: Breast cancer; chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting; single nucleotide polymorphism